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R_GARCIA - NERD PARADE
(Brainwashed.com)
On his latest album,
Randy Garcia sings “Music is the only reason on this Earth for some of us
to stay,” and it’s a mantra that’s as catchy as it is bittersweet. Nerd
Parade is a celebration of life and music, and it’s just another in a long
line of quality home-brewed records from the Garcia’s criminally
overlooked Nophi Recordings.
Randy Garcia has quietly been building an empire in central and south
Florida, racking up an impressive catalog of releases that touch nearly
every corner of the vast field of electronic music. Whether he’s releasing
his own work under the r_garcia alias or putting out records by kindred
spirits, the same enthusiasm and sense of purpose permeates everything he
touches. It’s that enthusiasm that makes Garcia’s live performances so
magical, and also what makes Nerd Parade a fun, eclectic ride through
Garcia’s unique headspace.
It’s obvious that Garcia is a product in some sense of the Florida rave
scene, as his songs here all build and break to serve the impulse to
dance. His drum programming and beat chopping could easily land him in the
top echelon of dance music producers if making club and party music was
his only goal. Thankfully, he brings much more to the table on Nerd
Parade, showing that he’s equally comfortably coaxing melodies out of
bluesy guitar as he is bubbling along with sid-chip synths. This might be
the only album this year to mix tabla, electric guitar, amen breaks, Miami
bass, and over-the-top game melodies and make that improbable mix work.
With as much style hopping and genre mashing as Garcia does, there’s sure
to be a track or two on a record like this that just miss a particular set
of ears, but the reverse is also true: there’s something for everyone to
love here. Some of the synths are cheesy and the rhythms are occasionally
straightforward to a fault, but it’s all supposed to work that way. The
secret weapon for Nerd Parade is Garcia’s absolutely fearless pursuit of a
good tune. Melodies stick out in an almost embarrassing way until you
realize that Garcia’s well aware that he is the leader of the Nerd Parade,
and he revels in it. And while he occasionally breaks beats with the
ferocity of the darkest breakcore 12”es, but he does it playfully, in
service of a simple joy that makes his music something special and
transcendent of genre or style.
I hear that Garcia is working on a rock band side project now, and who can
say what will come after that? As I replay this record, I keep coming back
to the truth of “Music Is The Only Reason” and I realize that r_garcia is
one of those rare artists who makes music that is vital, unpretentious,
and pure fun. If Nerd Parade helps to remind me of what music means to me
along the way, that’s even better."
Written by Matthew Jeanes -- Monday, 21 November 2005
KALX - 10162003
(Igloomag.com)
(10.09.05) 10162003
is the cryptically titled debut release from one of the newest additions
to the Nophi Recordings imprint, Kalx. Based out of Florida like much of
his label-mates and electronic peers, Kalx brings a depth of texture and
focus to the otherwise playful output of Nophi.
Kalx fuses elements of dub, drum & bass, and hip-hop in a gritty mix that
resembles a thick dark fog. The rhythm syncopation accents the heavy
low-end that left my head nodding with a dirty swing all throughout the
release. The beats are eroded and heavily processed. Much like his
label-mates, Kalx accentuates the mix with 8-bit melodies through ethereal
reverb that smooths and evens out the frequency spectrum. Few, if any,
individual elements stick out of place, creating a sense of purpose and
progression, as if Kalx was telling us a story of urban life in the geek
heart of Sin City. 10162003 is a wall of finely tuned
rhythms of texture.
The opening track, "Tamdemica," sets the tone for the sonic assault to
follow. Deep tones and harmonics ask questions of dub, giving way to
ethereal synth responses that explode into rhythms reminiscent of Aphex
Twin's seminal Drukqs release. The rhythms move in and out of heavy
syncopation, centering around the hip-hop influenced kicks. "Elastik" is
the soundtrack to a cyberpunk film-noir, riding through city streets and
mental atmospheres. The next track, "Delete," centers around a frenetic
beat underneath ambient melodies. "Speck" begins subdued and soothing, but
the calm rises to a fever pitch as the Caustic Window inspired
beats rain down at 170 bpm. "Solar Chirp" stays true to its name as
hallucinatory pitch-bent pads blanket a pronounced and punctuated rhythm
soup that never quite falls apart. "Oranga" pays tribute to ambient drum &
bass in the LTJ Bukem vein while throwing in a few psychedelic sparkles. "Zoide"
slows it down with an 80s hip hop beat layered atop a calm bell melody.
"Flack Ask" lashes back, throwing many microsounds at a quirky swing
rhythm underneath slow filtered pads. "Manah" keeps up the pace with a
similar theme that brings the listener into a space war that lies inside
your computer's circuits. "Aplasia" closes the album with a much subdued
rhythm section that steps aside and lets the atmospheric harmonies write
the final chapter of this release.
10162003 is a worthy debut from Kalx. It nudges shoulders with
glitchtronic mainstays like Larvae, Autechre, and Beefcake while stealing
from none.
RECOMPAS - DEFINITION
(Brainwashed.com)
Recompas main man Travis
Thatcher gave me a copy of his first album for Florida’s Nophi label
months ago, but I’m ashamed to admit that the disc sat at the bottom of a
bag and then the bottom of a stack on my desk until just now. I’m glad
that I finally dug it up as it’s quickly found a place in my year-end
“best of” list.
As the host of an
electronic music show on Georgia Tech’s student-run radio station and a
Tech grad himself, Thatcher’s music geek credentials precede him. I
expected his record to be something like a highly technical filter of his
influences, built around some insanely complex homebrewed software or
gadgets that he had engineered—something fidgety and maybe overly
ambitious. Instead, the process behind Definition is nice and
transparent, and the execution is nearly flawless. As I spin the record
more and more, I find myself transfixed with the sounds coming from the
speaker rather than absorbed in the workshop-like fascination with how
he’s pulled it all together.
The Recompas (sometimes spelled re com pas) sound is a
dub-tickled, low tempo collage of processed beats, synth melodies, and
scrap bits of noise that sound roughly familiar but don’t identify with
any particular scene. What I love most about Thatcher’s work is that it’s
dirty as hell, with loops that are scraped across gravel, beaten to death,
and then full of artifacts and wandering hints of noise that fill up the
space perfectly. Recompas plays with some primitive synth sounds that echo
'70s BBC sci fi music and game melodies, but the result never sounds like
a throwback or rehash. That by itself is a huge accomplishment.
But my admiration of what
Recompas has pulled off here extends mostly from the emotional weight and
depth of sound he’s managed to wrangle. “Bruxism” bristles with a lurking
dread and disembodied saxophone married with a skittery beat evoking the
best of the dub terror heyday, while “Pupal,” works a Tron-like melody and
some choice, dead slow percussion to great effect. “Appypolyologies” takes
a wonderful melody and builds it up with dubby bass and scattershot drum
programming creating a track that aches as it moves. The record is
confident and accomplished, intricate and banging at the same time, and it
finishes off with a trio of remixes from r_garcia, Tricil, and Retconned
that are all solid and varied, with plenty of Recompas’ personality still
in tact.
What’s most exciting
about Definition is that Thatcher has laid out a firm foundation
for his sound, and he’s announced his presence loudly. While the
record hints at stuff that might be found on Skam and Sub Rosa, it is
ultimately all Recompas: twisted, distorted, and cobbled together in a way
that is as effective as it is unique. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to
see a more well known label license this record from Nophi for a larger
release, and frankly it deserves as many ears as it can find. Unless half
a dozen shocking masterpieces drop out of the sky in the next 30 days,
this record’s definitely won a spot in my personal top 10 for the year,
and with any luck it will speak to many others the way it has spoken to
me.
R_GARCIA - NERD PARADE
(Igloomag.com)
"Randy Garcia is the
hardest workin' man in electronic music, or at least in Plantation, FL. An
accomplished multi-instrumentalist spitting out quality release after
release as the head of Nophi Records as well as his own punishing output
schedule, it's easy to forgive him if he treads the same territory once or
twice on an album, right?
Thankfully, we don't have to.
Nerd Parade is the title of R_Garcia's latest full-length release.
Released summer of this year, it's the single most listened-to CD of my
2005. Every track stands out as a unique display of R_Garcia's mastery of
melody and rhythm as they span the musical spectrum and never get too old
or too repetitive. This album embodies the phrase emblazoned on Nophi's
bumper-sticker: "IDM is dead - we can all unfold our arms and dance now."
The album flows beautifully from start to finish, beginning with "Come One
And All", an oncoming train from the distance of amens and ambience as it
explodes into "Music is the Only Reason," one of the highlights of the
album. This song explores dance-heavy basslines and R_Garcia's crooning
voice on top of even more amen blasts. The beat may be tired, but R_Garcia
injects fresh life into it throughout this release. Nerd Parade continues
in the fine R_Garcia tradition of revitalizing lost game console sound
chips with tracks like "Polaroid Pussycat," "Hurry Up and Disappear," and
"Snowtime" which reminds the reviewer of the old TurboGrafx16 launch
title, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones. Somehow, Randy is able to capture the
feel of the games and digital experiences of yore with his own unique
flavor. As an aside - check out track 3 on his Monkey vs. Pig release,
which sounds straight out of Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. Pardon the
gaming digression, but it's critical to emphasize the Nintendo influence
that permeates R_Garcia.
"Bob the Steak" swings a tasty groove around a slide guitar riff and adds
a crystalline dimension of synthesis. This fades into one of my personal
favorite tracks, "Tablatar," one that's sure to move asses aplenty. A
chorus of tablas atop some slick guitar work drops into an infectious
crescendo of synth riffs that steadily build until the track explodes with
acoustic drums and final fantasy-like arpeggios.
R_Garcia explores harder drum & bass territory on the track "Mercy" like
contemporary Mike Paradinas with his "Approaching Menace" track off
Lunatic Harness. What should be out of place in the context of the
surrounding album is smoothed out by R_Garcia's trademark glitches and
tweaks amid expert rhythm programming. The next track, "Don't Fake the
Funk on a Nasty Dunk" stands out as a sure-fire body mover rife with
rapid-fire blips and dream synths at 150 bpm, with a tried-and-true
breakdown that never disappoints no matter how many times you have the
song on repeat.
"Biomagnetic" explores territory that Twilight Circus and Rhythm & Sound
are familiar with - deep space dub. R_Garcia proves his rasta mettle with
late-night bourbon street horns atop minimal sine bass and in-step beats.
"Estrus and the Terrasque" acts as a mental sherbet, cleansing the sound
palette with a texture filled wash of atonal soundscapes. "Sixes, Fours,
and Twelves" revisits the 16-bit themes of Street Fighter and Chrono
Trigger with a Tom Jenkinson-influenced amen treatment on top of
R_Garcia's bouncing filtered basslines. This leads into the title track
and what is most likely the most solid demonstration of R_Garcia's
multi-instrumental prowess. "Nerd Parade" begins with a solid bassline and
hyper swing jazz rhythms as soft lead synths percolate through the mix.
This drops out into a distorted acid bassline that erupts into a heavy
metal Randy shredding his axe with Manowar force. The electronics respond
back as the track progresses much like that of a story; an epic battle
between guitars and laptops that ultimately sees both sides joining forces
to create a sonic fighting force of extraordinary magnitude. To see
R_Garcia growl like Slayer into his mic as he plays this live is quite a
treat.
MIC MELL - MUFF UCKER
(Igloomag.com)
Releasing
uncommon and experimental music from their home-base in Central
Florida, Nophi Recordings pride themselves at releasing music that
challenges the senses with a unique flavor that is homemade, so you
know it's fresh.
On the latest release by Mic Mell (aka Michael David Mell), following last
years Results, Muff-Ucker dives full-throttle into a sea of
organized distortion, corrupted elegance and electronic hip-hop. Time
shifts, melodies collide, beats collate, and a peculiar funk is somehow
wrapped around each rhythm. Remixes by Machine Drum, R_Garcia, Colour with
Sound, Divinci, Cap'n Shiddy and La Mejor Seleccion transmit their sounds
on Muff-Ucker creating what could easily be called a remix album
composed of abstract drum'n bass, digital trickery, slippery techno and
melody driven electro-fusion. There's a permeating, world sound that
filters its way deep into the listeners ear while instrumental, organic
funk slithers between the 12 cuts on this CDr release. Not forgetting the
rather colorful yet peculiar artwork on Muff-Ucker, Mic Mell
creates a lively feel that runs parallel to its processed programming and
groovy tweaks, twitches and tenacity. You can't really go wrong with a $5
price-tag on this full-length.
MIC MELL - MUFF UCKER
(Orlando Weekly)
Although Mic Mell is
primarily responsible for the greatness of this 12-track CD, due credit
must be given to the collaborative aspect at play. Half of these tunes
were created on his own, yet by calling out to the corners of Orlando's
IDM scene for remixes of those tracks, Mell has crafted an album that's as
much a showcase for his talents as for the fascinating personalities at
play around town. Mic Mell's penchant for organic constructions results in
a fractured funkiness and he's unafraid to find a groove and beat it
beautifully (see "Flaggin' Traffic"), rather than scoot off all
brainy-like into glitch geometry. That, he leaves to his local
compatriots. R_Garcia, Machinedrum, DiVinci, La Mejor Seleccion, Colour
With Sound and Cap'n Shiddy all apply their respective remix magicks to
Mell's original tracks and, accordingly, "Muff-ucker" winds up a
fantastically diverse collection, subtly linked by Mell's vision.
Atmospheric touches dress up solid rhythm structures and the crystalline
quality of it all is quite special. Very nice.
REED ROTHCHILD - FIVE OCEANS
(E/I
Magazine)
From the initial opening
crystalline shards of reversed pads and an angelic choir on "The Loss and
the Finding" to the last droplets of ethereal strings and synths heard on
"Last Impression," Jess Stroup fashions an enjoyable cinematic electro
experience on Five Oceans, his latest album recorded under his Reed
Rothchild alias and as a newly minted member of the quality roster of
artists in the
Fateless Flows collective.
Midway thru "In A Sleep, In A Dream," the base of the rhythm pauses to
reveal a widescreen shot of lush chords floating above the clouds that
continue on "Airplane Sky" while "Holding Pattern" ascends back down to
ground level with a subtle approach. On "Five Oceans," the lead melody
mimics the wind combing the chords that sway like the ebb and flow of the
tides as the sunset melts into the horizon. The short "Magnum Opus" gives
us time to catch our collective breath after gasping at the beauty of
"Five Oceans" with warm guitar licks muzzling against a gentle flickering
moonlit rhythm. Sandwiched between the busy city window watching electro
of "Up Again" and "Fading Out & Coming Back Again" is the sad-eyed melody
of "Wonderkind." "The Precious" shows the funkier side of Five Oceans,
if not for less than a minute. "Headache Lullaby" sweeps the projectors
clean for a clear focus on "Last Impression," Five Oceans' closing
emotional high point that combines breathtaking strings and synths the
likes of which I have not heard since Moby's brilliant but criminally hard
to find Little Idiot album.
Anyone seeking out a soundtrack to accompany a long journey would be wise
to select Five Oceans, especially if the title track and "Last
Impression" will be connected to lasting memories. I'm certain there will
be many more forthcoming with the next Reed Rothchild release.
R_GARCIA - ANIMAL OUTLINE
(Sheila Scoville - WPRK Orlando)
R_Garcia is the sound of
a smile, and this smile lasts 74 minutes from ear to ear."
"The latest and greatest
from r_garcia 'Animal Outline' transforms the cold, vacant arena of
electronic music into a bopping, bleeping playpen for melodies that
skamper, thump, and bewitch. Ever the skilled ringmaster, r_rarcia
commands the reigns of this eclectic collection of shimmering snyths,
twisted and tangled samples, and skittering beats, uniting it all together
into a small yet mighty cohesive pop masterpiece. This is an unforgettable
album with warmth and all the right kinds of nostalgia."
R_GARCIA - ANIMAL OUTLINE
(Bob North - New Times)
"The r_garcia 'animal
outline' CD is amazing. I've been doing this stuff for a long time and
this particular CD is deep. In some ways, the tracks trace the history of
avant electronic music embracing everything from Wendy Carlos's Moog
waveforms and heavily reverbed ring modulations to John Cage piano
renderings of Schonberg twelvetone music. Webern is there, along with
LeJarren Hiller and Karlheinz Stockhausen...It's a masterpiece."
R_GARCIA'S
- ANIMAL OUTLINE
(Urb Magazine)
"Like a Kandinsky
painting, Animal Outline explodes with sonorous color and light in a
seemingly cacophonic way, but every brushstroke is deliberate. on "Spec
Racer," (r_garcia) juxtaposes piano arrangements with delicate beats that
complement each other exquisitely. The fact that he refrains from being
noisy for the sake of being noisy is entirely refreshing. Animal Outline
flickers and shines with adroit musical invention."
review by sabrina winogrond (for simon hawkins) issue #114 : march
2004
R_GARCIA - CHINESE FOOD
(Intellectos Magazine)
"Since late last year I
have been discovering the glorious and cunning sounds from the Florida
based label Nophi Records. This Nophi release by R. Garcia is another
winner which is very worthwhile. Garcia makes smooth, crafty, and melodic
IDM that evokes gentle thoughts and chill landscapes. Chinese Food like
the Nophi releases in general feature dynamic and imaginative IDM that at
times can rival the leaders of the genre on Rephlex and so forth. The
timely dramatic changes of "Pace Yourself" and the bubbling ease of the
next track show how talented Garcia is in making infectious IDM. He even
drops some dub/reggae beats on one track which works effectively. The
Nophi site has a quote from Garcia about the EP, "for two weeks, i ate a
lot of chinese food - the songs were in my fortune cookies." I will be
buying Garcia and other Nophi artists more Chinese food then ... " 8.5
out of 10
review by julian rant
issue
2 : volume one : february 2003
V/A -
NOPHI
COMPILATION TWO
(Intellectos Magazine)
Nophi
subscribe to the Warp/Rephlex ethic. Combining clicky intricate beats and
abstract sounds this compilation showcases leftfield electronica which is
neither indulgent experimental crap or simplistic preset electronica.
Keeping the balance in focus best is Triage displaying wistful
clicktronica and R_Garcia showcasing dreamy melodic electronica. The
sounds further on in the compilation from artists like SMU with the silly
and bleepy "Fucking, Sucking, and Clapping" gives this mix some color and
variety which is needed. The only drawback as with many electronic
compilations is how too many tracks blur into each other. Towards the end
the moodier track from Stellarcable and the lilting Opaeque track are
enjoyable. Overall, this compilation is a very engaging mix of sounds.
8
out of 10
review by julian rant issue 1 :
volume one : november 2002
BARCODE LOUNGER - TECH SUPPORT
(Intellectos Magazine)
This is a
highly engaging Nophi Release featuring Randy Garcia and Mike Mell. This
is a charming slice of groovy electronica which reminds me at times of
someone like Cyclob to even Bertrand Burgalat. The sounds on this disc are
warm and very soothing. This is where Barcode Lounger distinguish
themselves from most electronic artists. At worst Barcode Lounger can
sound like cheesy film music with a breakbeat, but that's not necessarily
a negative. The last track is a sprawling noisy piece which gives this EP
a more balanced vision. 7.5 out of 10
review by julian rant issue 1 :
volume one : november 2002:
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