Reviews:

Music: 9

Sound: 8.5

Rapoon has slowly entered into the extraordinarily diminutive and exclusive 'club' comprised of artists rendering music of both prolific and quality output. Interesting then that each of his more recent recordings has been varied enough as to make them each a sound excursion unto themselves. This newest CD finds Rapoon drawing from each 'segment' of his career with particular emphasis placed on the Ethnic impressions of his mid-nineties period, while brought up to date with a freshness that is novel and original. As is the case with many new music releases, there is very little in the way of liner notes that allow the listener to know which musician is doing what instrumentation. Yet the work vacillates between the darker hypnotic tunes, and dance(y); yet still mesmerizing - tracks. Perhaps we are not familiar with the patterns the rash of 'VS' recordings these last few years display, yet we are guessing that each artist takes a turn, a technique not quite so obvious on other recordings of the 'VS' type. Here, the exchanges are quite evident as the compositions are presented by way of such diverse atmospheres that the ensuing 'battle-of-the-bands' approach is clear. Each artist steps up, front and centre, as the other artist backs down a notch to work their magic in the background. Actually, this formula is great fun for listening, with equal time given to both musicians - lending an anticipatory nature to the proceedings as the listener waits for the subsequent 'round'. The choice of working with Kinder Atom place this recording firmly into the New School of Electronic artists, whilst retaining the sound that conspicuously contain Rapoon's trademark sonics that we've come to know and love. Due to lack of information we can only guess Kinder Atom may have supplied the 'newer' elements of the CD; yet the samples of Ethnic instruments; mostly of Mid-east origin, must be those of Robin (Rapoon) Storey. In fact, there were certain patches that recall "Errant Angels", and his newer release, :D-LEM: - all with the delicate beauty Rapoon is so adept at creating. Extraordinary churning chant amidst dark samples of looping mechanical sounds are pitted against the clearly recorded glitch-y electronics. This happens to be one of the unequivocally hypnotic CDs we've heard in a while, showing Rapoon's art in top form. 'VS' draws the listener in to it's sound-world where all is not what it seems; all is alien; and, for these listeners, made this CD one of the most memorable of the last five (or there about) recordings. Darkly intoxicating; no light-pretty tunes here; the work spirals into compelling vortex, recalling listeners to the live sets of :zoviet*france:

'VS' features amazingly complex sound sculpturing and found us sitting amazed and astonished at the unique sounds and compositional style, exclusive to Rapoon. When the 'trademark' wind instruments (flute?) are pitted against the strange ancestral percussion, while chanting echoes in the distant background the listener may feel as if witnessing a recording of a yet-undiscovered tribe. How may any adventurous listener NOT love this? We are not leaving the contributions of Kinder Atom out, it is simply the fact that Rapoon has such a unique and demanding sound quality that one cannot help but notice his offerings standing out in 3-D - impressive and demanding of the listeners attention.

Unlike the early works, this is a recording of superior resolution; no hand- held $19.00 Radio Shack mini-recorder presentation here. Even the murky patches are easily heard into; allowing the listener to absorb all the subtle nuances of sound.

The "Untitled" CD by Muslimgauze on Klanggalerie was one of our favourites of the latest batch of Em/Gee's releases and the Rapoon takes its rightful place among side of it in the 'must-have' category of New Music. Each moment is richly steeped in marvellous sounds and each subsequent listen proves that much more rewarding.

review by: Glenn Hammett
The Raging Consciousness
Copyright 2000

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Worlds fuse together, if not exactly collide, in the audio-collaboration of Rapoon Vs. Kinder Atom. Fans of Robin Storey's work will be pleased to know he comes out on top; his trademark watercolory smears of sound and neoprimitive rhythms dominate the recording with more-electronic accompaniment being added by Kinder Atom's percussive stylings.

Offbeat tribalish drum textures are connected to more contemporary rhythmic structures in the 14-minute opener, Rhino Bone, a hypnotizing panorama which shifts a few times, but mostly just churns steadily ahead. Eventual ethno flute appearances presumedly originate from Storey's camp, while I would guess the faux handclaps are from Kinder Atom's. Slurry vocal streams flow in a Crosscurrent, soon to be joined by a rumbling presence which reveals a continual train-on-the-track clackety-clack rhythm. Big, swirling electron clouds convulse as an intro to Cookies; a pulsing dub riddim enters accompanied by streetwise percussion. Lighter (pretty, even) tones dance shapelessly behind in this incongruous (but not unwelcome) interlude of "music".

Back into areas of enigmatic listening, Blue Under Shadows emits a cloudy trail of phantom vocal drone, backed by a mechanical pulsation. The sound of Afternoon Rain (6:14) isn't at all what the title might imply; a billowing blanket of unknowable origins is loosely tied together by thumping strings; a more-distinct system of e-syncopation slips in to drum away on autopilot. Traditional dub-style features like drop outs and echoes decorate this second tasty treat from dubland, Cookies on Poon features another Laswellian bass run which undulates amongst sweet island mists. Those shapeless forms surge to the forefront in a hazily psychedelic cloud from which speedier percussion is the only thing to escape.

Persistent drumbeats cut through a gauzey haze as strange vocal patterns are spread over more-robotic incantations of Rhino Stone (16:16). Ethno-strumming rises to the top in a semi-abstract marriage of tribal/tecnhological sounds.

Rapoon is the U.K.'s Robin Storey; Canada's Kinder Atom are Gerald Belanger, Chris Drost and Heike Sillaste. The artists have their own respective homepages at: the official Rapoon website, and the Kinder Haus.

The collaboration of Rapoon Vs. Kinder Atom apparently took some time to complete, with pieces being mailed back and forth for a couple of years. The result is an 8.5 fusion which, to my ears, leans towards Rapoon's murkily neotribal sounds, with evidence of Kinder Atom's more electronic influences.

review by David J. Opdyke
This review originally appeared on AmbiEntrance July 29, 2000

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In this transatlantic faceoff, the latter apparently created seven tracks, sent them to the former in Newcastle who remixed them and added his own touches, before sending them back to Toronto for the final remixing and versioning by Kinder Atom, a three-man contingent. The result is a unique sixty-seven minutes which brings the rhythm, lately extremely (and beautifully) latent in Rapoon4s work, right to the fore, without overshadowing the distinctive Rapoon sound. The lengthy lead-in track "Rhino Bone" allows deceptively simple rhythms to wend and weave themselves in and out of one another, creating an irresistible tapestry of sparkling colour. Other tracks dampen the beat and bring the background into the fore, realizing an immersive and accomplished ambience. Especially welcome are two dub versions, "Cookies" and "Cookies on Poon", with fine throbbing bass and reggae rhythms. A thoroughly well-conceived and executed collaboration where the sum of the whole amount to something previously unimagined by the individual parts.

review by Stephen Fruitman

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Given that the folks in Kinder Atom used to be label-mates with Rapoon back in the DOVe Records days, this collaboration is partially a jam between old friends. However, for fans of Kinder Atom's playful beats, these tracks may come as a surprise. The disc has very few moments of danceable tempos and tends to favour Rapoon's slow-building, minimalist aesthetics. The seven tracks thus provide some interesting atmospheres. Helicopter-like patterns emerge out of the Gregorian drones on "Cookies," while electro winds gently hover over the dubby riddims and 808 mania on the subsequent "Cookies On Poon." A cut-up loop of hand drums recurs throughout the disc, particularly on "Rhino Bone" and "Blue Under Shadows." The disc could use a little more of Kinder Atom's melodic sensibility and some more dynamism in general, that is for those who don't have the acquired taste for such heady grooves. Subliminal for some, but sedative for others.

review by Prasad Bidaye
this review originally appeared on Exclaim August 4th 2000