DJ Wank Chops 'presents. volume 1'-Fencing Flatworm-CDR

I hear many an argument over the gear people use to make music. 'I only use analogue beatboxes and synths' says one. 'Hey you madman, you mean you paid half a month wages to get a second-hand TR-XOX which thinks music is a part time job and works only after warming for an hour ?' says the other. 'I won 't pay Korg THAT much money for a crappy digital emulation of the best mini-modular synth in history, even if they put two more zeros in its name' says the third.

I don't really care about how people make music, except perhaps when they make it live cause I feel it's a lot more entertaining to see people playing with hardware gear than fiddling around virtual studios
on a laptop screen you can't even see.

What I do care about is the quality of the music people make and this record IS quality. Despite what the promo sheet says, it sounds as it could' ve all been made with Steinberg's ReBirth as well as its analogue aliases but regardless of what was used, it was abused to satisfaction and gave birth to a refreshing mix of funny old school techno (acid/house branch), 1970's space ambient, minimal dub and post-modern electronica, cause I know all those fancy names and I can make up lots of others in case I want to impress you lot. They say this release is 'as much fun as a well-lubricated sex toy' which I can't tell for sure cause I never could lay a hand on the lubricant. I do think this record is the best release on FFR to date which is a
most respectable performance.

from Empty #5, the newsletter of Burning Emptiness

from sunnydaysout website

DJ WANK CHOPS PRESENTS. Volume 1 CD-R (FFR or 16 Station Parade, Leeds, LS5 3HG, UK)
Wow, what a dreadful start. Irritating first track, horribly tuneless. Well, it can only get better. Thankfully, it does, track 2 is fine meaty electro, probably what I remember the Jedi Knights sounding like when I used to give a shit about this kind of music. Quite like this. OK, track 3, I'm getting into this now, maybe I DO give a shit? Still, the stench of big headphones and baggy-trousered London "skater" 32 year old men who think they're DJs always seems to pervade this kind of funky electronic music every time I hear it now. Not this CD's fault I know. Anyway, we're up to track 4 now, we missed out track 3, it was pretty good, track 4 isn't so good. But, as tracks 5 and 6 sail juicily past, this is all becoming much more hypnotic and insistent, with some nice spacey keyboard lines, and I'm going to admit that I think this is a pretty good CD. The last track is a special little thing, mr Wank Chops is coming over all serious, nice submerged beats and then airy keyboards; although, for a moment there, I thought it was going to mutate into Van Halen's "Jump". Would've been nice. 6/10