v/a - qfg

Writing a review just when the cold medication starts to kick in is maybe not the best strategy, but then again it's always good to have listened to music under a variety of mental states before trying to analyse it. At least, that's my rationalization for starting this right before going to bed.

The shortest review possible of this is as follows: q = IDM, f = ambient, g = Industrial.

While it'd be nice to just leave it at that, nothing is ever that simple. There's 3 CDs in this compilation, each labeled with one of the letters of the title. Nothing in the liner notes (pictures of engine parts, I think) hints as to whether the letters stand for anything or not; it's a french label, so maybe it's supposed to be queue (ass), fesses (ass), and gaz (gas). Or not. Perhaps a better summary would be that q is medium speed, f is slower, and g is faster, with exceptions.

q is probably some of the best music to mosey down the street to. It's heavy (encouraging stomping and head-bobbing) but not manic (so you won't feel like rushing), most of the time. Much of it is dissonant, but often ends up combining melodies that take the edge off. Some of the tracks also tend towards trip-hop influences, so you can be all pimpin' in your stride. Track 7 (NKL _ Unfunk) was my favourite track on all three CDs when I first heard it, and still is.

Now, although I may have insinuated (and by insinuated, I mean actually wrote) that f is slower, but this is not strictly true; it just _feels_ slower, but not in a bad way - a very suspenseful scene in a horror film may feel like it's taking forever, even if it's only six seconds long. Many of the beats & ... repetitions (not sure that rhythms is quite the correct word) are actually faster than in q. The moods generated by this CD are completely different from q or g. They're closer to the sorts of things that pass through the psyche while lying in bed with insomnia in a pitch black room; kind of a quiet anxiety. Track 11 (Audioside _ Quelque Soit Le Régime) sticks in my head the most on this one.

g is like its own compilation. It veers between being pounding, aggressive, and fast, to ambient noise in the same vein as f, and back again, with a track or two feeling like q. However, it all belongs here, not there - it's all a level more abrasive than q or f. Track 6 (Zerogoki _ Layer 1 Weird) is kickass.

Overall, it's a good compilation - it's partitioned well with no dud tracks anywhere (although some may seem like it if you're not wearing headphones and the volume is low, especially on f). I definitely want to investigate several of the bands on it further.

Bob @ March 2005