2350.org - Fanger & Siebert

I had heard this was abysmal but I'm glad I found a copy cos it is very good indeed. I don't like world/tribal style ambience as a rule but this really works and is subtle in its use of these effects.

(review by Rowland Atkinson)

This one has been around a while but, seldom gets a mention on the list these days. It isn't your typical dance music - rather rhythmic ambient and some dub, with nice touches of 70's thru 80's germanic type synth popping up. Opener, And Suddenly, rides along on a lively kick beat and digresses enough to hold your interest ... it's not spectacular though. Hinuit follows and is more towards a Basalt Boys thing, layered rhythms under floating melodies. It doesn't go anywhere particular but, I don't think they meant it to. Conspiracy leans in the old Fax school direction with toe tapping drum machine stuff and suitably weird effects yet, not just effects for their own sake so I still found myself sufficiently engaged. At the heart of this release is the seventeen minute Future Dub, driven along by lively rim tap and hi-hat work, this track works on two levels. Trance-like hooks draw you in, while the subtle changes in texture and tempo are varied enough to create a "listening" experience too. The Cage is a downright excellent slab of dark ambient techno ... I don't like to draw too many comparisons but, this really set me in mind of the Xangadix's, which is sufficient recommendation in itself. One of the things I like most about this release is the way it just gets better and better as it goes along and next up, Esala, is a highpoint. At first you'll think straightforward dub but, five minutes in and it takes a dramatic turn with the introduction of an insistent, tribal chant, heavily looped and echoed. As the incantation drills it's way into your brain (don't worry it doesn't hurt) other elements are alternatively layered in and then stripped off, leaving you totally hypnotised. Finally we have Twinkling Oasis ... at first I thought the player had kicked in Schulze's glorious Are You Sequenced, the similarities are that pronounced ! Interestingly though F&S predate that masterpiece by a year or so. The mood on this one is dramatically different from everything that has gone before, but it still belongs and I defy any Faxhead not to be swept along by it. My only complaint - it should have lasted twenty minutes, not ten.

(review by Paul Milligan)

I didn't buy this yesterday--it is a relic from my $20,000 FAX purchase a month ago--but since joanna did mention it I shall agree: Buy it. The comparisons to Autechre are not unwarranted. Though they aren't nearly as good (in the judgment of this drooling Autechre fan), Fanger & Siebert do take you on quite a journey through the same dark, bleepy subspaces.

(review by einexile)

Sort of like R2D2 on weed looking for the Jah of electronic Sheep. At times rather acidic, but when it comes to melodies, they quite often seem rooted in some sort of early 80ties Glam-electronics.

(review by sasha)

This is a marvelous effort by two newcomers to the FAX label. Sometimes light and melodic, and other times dark and trippy, there is a bit of everything here. "Hinuit" best exemplifies the free-floating musical side while "The Cage" offers up some serious "sparsed-out" trance. Minimalist in its approach, yet engaging in its results, only carefully-tuned ears will notice the subtle sonic hues and tonal dynamics of this record. Right up there on this listener's "best of" FAX list. 4/5

(review by zig)

I wholeheartedly recommend this CD...even for those of us not so into FAX. It sounds more at home on WARP and the similarities of sounds between them and Autechre are apparent. It's a little more experimental too.

(review by Brian {lunatiK})

*snort* got beats. I like it.

Seriously, it's a nice addition to my growing Fax collection, and a welcome change of pace to all the monochrome I've been buying. A lot of beats on this one, weaving interesting textures on top of some drones. Reminds me in places (oddly enough) of some early Skinny Puppy in the approach to using beats. Ambient drum and bass? (there's not much else goin' on here) A tough one to categorize. Ends with a more trancey sounding piece that is the standout of the bunch.

(review by sboyer)