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Create - PW 15 Release Date: 2 June 1994 Limitation: 1000 Macro 1.12.52 all tracks written by Pete Namlook and Charles Uzzell-Edwards
Create 1 and 2 represent the most mature of Uzzell-Edwards music in my view. Macro's one long winding track was the kind of thing that used to put me off FAX discs but I'm happy to chill out to this kind of thing once in a while, not least because this is an inventive and varied piece of music that can command your attention if you want to, or act as a kind of wallpaper music at low volume. Macro begins with fractured and echoing voice sounds on a dark shoreline while a giant generator crackles on the purple beach. Echoing drum and metal taps finally give way to a mournful and growing sound crossing which warms up the cold air. A stark cymbal sound gives way to a light beat that taps along in a slightly disjointed way but the effect is quite dramatic. We are no well away from the alien shore and somewhere in space as the format is set for an interplay between synth washes and light echoing sounds and the use of drums that, second time round, appear more persistent and the surrounding ambient warmth almost gives way to something resembling a theme that takes us out in a style similar perhaps to Psychonavigation.
(review by Rowland Atkinson)
Create is the second of the four collaborations to date between Namlook and Charles Uzzell-Edwards. Of the four I hugely prefer the first of each series to the respective second volumes. For some inexplicable reason though I actually bought volumes 2 of Create and A New Consciousness before volumes 1. Therefore Create 1 was not high on my shopping list of outstanding Fax titles to buy, but when I picked it up for next to nothing a while back I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually rather good.
It is one of those long, single-track Fax albums, conveniently indexed every five minutes or so. It starts out in a rather dark and sinister fashion, with a lot of rumbling and some extremely distorted voices just about audible in the background. It continues this way for the next fifteen minutes or so with various other clicks and static interference washing in and out of the of the left and right channels.
By the time the fourth track rolls around the beginnings of some more atmospheric drones start to make themselves felt and we slowly drift off into deep space territory of the kind found on Shades of Orion 2. The transition is gradual with the darker voices slowly being overtaken by deeper and more atmospheric string sounds. From here on the listener can just let go, let their mind wander and slowly be carried along with the music.
Towards the end of track 5 some echoing percussion bobs in and out of the mix for a couple of minutes until out of nowhere a huge hissing hi-hat cymbal makes its entrance just in case you were beginning to drop off. The cymbal scythes its way in and out of the strings for the next half hour or so, sometimes it drops away all together as Pete increases the intensity of the cosmic pads and our journey into outer space dips in another direction. Or sometimes they converge in a glowing mix of sound.
Overall this is a really nice album that whilst not particularly challenging is a very pleasant ride nonetheless.
(review by Richard Hughes)
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