9 months after getting an account I finally make a post... better make it a good 'un
2007-01-07 by Hal BerstramPete Namlook & Ritchie Hawtin – A Million Miles To Earth (edit)
Hpy Nu Yr to anyone I haven’t got round to saying it to yet and I hope 2007 finds you serviced and ready for the round trip. 2006 saw me in a continual state of ‘getting round to posting something on dilate.choonz’ but I never sorted it out and was limited to the odd erratic comment here and there. Well I’m gonna try and make amends in 2007; here is something you will like if you are into the ambient end of early 90s “ambient techno”. The track is a collaboration between Pete Namlook and Ritchie Hawtin from their 1993 album ‘From Within’. Hawtin is a genius, who you probably know about already (Fuse, Plastikman etc.) Namlook runs his own record label called Fax records in Frankfurt and is a synth nut: in terms of sheer dedication to electronic music he makes Jean Michel Jarre look like George Formby. During Fax records’ peak period of 1993-4, Namlook was putting out around an album a week; that makes him by my calculations around 520 times more productive than, for example, Peter Gabriel, over the 1990s as a whole. 520 times better, too…
Namlook’s collaborations with other artists during this period often brought out the best in both contributors. Every track on the ‘From Within’ album is excellent but this is probably best of all, and so simple: some reverbed piano with Namlook’s patented ‘squawk softly through a ring modulator’ sounds, then a simple 4 note sequence comes in, Hawtin messes with the filters a bit, Namlook counters with some analog pads and long solo notes as the sequence drops out, then it comes back… etc etc. The track is actually 29 minutes long in its original version but developments after 11 mins or so are minor so I’ve faded it out then so that it’s a smaller download. There were 2 more Namlook/Hawtin collaborations and I may post something from the third one (in ‘97) at some point as it’s excellent too…
Download MP3 (0:00min / 0MB)
- Fax Records
- Namlook's record label, still going strong. Includes iTunes link to download all back catalogue
- Fax Fan Review Site
Comments 
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Good to hear a selection from you at last, Hal!
I remember the Namlook boom time you mention – I heard a few albums in 1993, mostly pretty good stuff, but it soon became impossible to keep up, especially on my limited student's budget.
My feeling was he should have been much more selective about what to release. Having ones own record label there will always be the temptation to just release any old twaddle, just because you can. Greater quality control would have made Namlook's back catalogue compelling, but as it is it's at best 50-50 if you'll get stunning ambient or over-long tedium.
Having said that, this one's a cracker – nice post! (Although I agree at the full 29 minutes probably over-long.)