October 3, 2007

Mate of the bloke (Luke Vibert)




It’s easy to cast the major players of the 90’s Warp scene by type. There’s Aphex Twin, the merry prankster, also the most insane: the dude lives in the vault of a bank and drives tanks in his parent’s front yard in Cornwall. Squarepusher's the egomaniac Wunderkind: rightly or wrongly, he’s proclaimed himself “the supreme musical genius of my generation.” Then there’s Luke Vibert: the most level-headed of the three, at least in his public manifestations, he’s been chugging along putting out a whole slew of records without calling attention to himself. He’s used a number of different names and dabbled in a few different styles (the disco-heavy Kerrier District alias being my favorite) without ever venturing too far into one sound or another.



Does slow and steady win the race? Well, he’s already outlasted Aphex Twin – although I don’t believe that Aphex has really quit making music for good – and one imagines that when Squarepusher runs off into the woods to go bang on trees with long metal poles, Vibert will still be releasing something with a squiggly synth line and an absurd vocal sample. Here’s to you, Luke, you model of consistency!




Luke Vibert - Brain Rave [Chicago, Detroit, Redruth, 2007]

Kerrier District - Illogan [Kerrier District, 2004]


ps. nice hiero sticker

5 comments:

Peter Robinett said...

Dude, you guys are just going through my favorite artists and telling me new stuff about it - I love it!

Dan said...

thanks, peter!

Justin said...

I would also like to add that Vibert utilizes a great concept that ties all his differing styles of electronic music together. If you listen to all his many aliases, from Wagon Christ to Plug to Luke Vibert, he repeatedly uses a select handful of samples. For example, listen to "Swet" on "Chicago, Detroit and Redruth" and "Tally Ho!" on "Tally Ho!" - they both use this ludicrous, cartoonish sample. That's just one of the many examples.

Anonymous said...

hey dan,
i have had the new album for awhile now and love it. i have to say brain wave and argument fly are my favorites. thanks for posting his older stuff got to check it out.

at times the beats sound a bit dated but other than that i find it to be a good listen!

oh and what do you think of new young pony club? pitchfork likes them! that was sooo surprising to me!

-mIke!

Dan said...

i dunno, i haven't heard young pony club to be honest... what's it like? that whole kerrier district album is great, by the way. justin is actually the one who turned me on to it!