electrocd

Review

Luke Martin, Splendid E-Zine, 3 novembre 2002

Podweek is a collection of tracks culled from the highly-personal output of Frédérick Blouin (aka Quebec’s Oeuf Korreckt). Though the disc covers a number of years — 1995-2001 — the uniformity of feel is surprising. There are no dodgy recordings, no unevenness of production; it’s pretty much quality all the way. Of course, when you’re in the realm of tracking, the limits of the sound generation devices — though it’s not explicitly stated, Oeuf Korreckt could be banging this stuff out on a supercharged (and superannuated) Atari ST — become obvious in terms of the tonal palette. Indeed, the album’s opener, Get Binary, could’ve be a GoldenShower release; it’s top-heavy on the chunky Atari sounding palette, and immediately puts one in mind of hours of retro gaming fun. But there’s something more in the mix across this selection of tracks than just a canny ear for good ol’ sounds. Screw my Samples comes closest to the Aphex Twin’s neck of the woods — delightful marimba or glass harmonica sounds over a frenetic drumbeat. However, the end of the tune sees it rapidly accelerate away with a fantastically meaty repeating organ riff; surprising, as are many of the tunes here, inasmuch as it’s an interesting escape from the box that one imagines is set up by any of the tunes in their first couple of minutes. Blouin’s style is that of the escapologist. We Have Arrived is perhaps an example of what Oeuf Korreckt does best: very simple, almost reflexive percussion, with a long-plucked bass-sound behind it, overlaid with organ that veers almost into the realm of cheese… but not quite. The effect is amazingly creepy; we’re in Future Sound Of London territory, perhaps, but with more paranoia. This is pretty much as good as the disc gets — it’s more of this sort of thing that’s craved. Forget rave-ups; the ambience speaks more effusively of Blouin’s talent than anything else on the disc, though that could be largely because it’s the newest thing here. If that is the case, whatever comes out next should be jaw-dropping. As a retrospective, Podweek is dazzling. The mix of big-booted dance, creepy ambience and cheese-grinned sunrise choruses is enough to wet anyone’s appetite for more. Get into it; it’s warm, it’s retro, and it makes you want to hunt down some tracking software for yourself. It’s that good.

The mix of big-booted dance, creepy ambience and cheese-grinned sunrise choruses is enough to wet anyone’s appetite for more. Get into it; it’s warm…