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Rating: Acid house, Detroit Techno, and IDM shout louder and louder. It's 1990.
The innovations of various electronic devices, like the seminal Roland TB-303, invade the minds of many, too many DJs. From the mid-Eighties, countless beats begin to circulate, enriched with vocal flourishes inspired by Cocteau Twins and Everything But The Girl. Highways of tight drum machines with breaks and odd times establish the landscape, free or sometimes even ghettoized, of all the various types of electronic music.
Originality and unexpected choices are the engines that fuel Orridge's life and his projects. They never approach a nascent sound/fashion/genre by following to the letter the successes of a popular name at any given time. The first works aim at a completely personal reinterpretation of that afro funky and more.
From "Tekno Acid Beat", the electronic territories are spelled out, foreseeing "Buried Dreams" by Clock DVA and Coil's "Windowpane" and "Snow".
The album "Towards Thee Infinite Beat" is a sea of fresh, enveloping, and unexplored ideas.
The infinite structures of the title track, where the classic house piano, which will earn Moby a lot of money, merges with the pulsating bass of rave ideology, are uncommon. Orridge's voice ignites like a storyteller among sequences and breaks. There isn't the continuous magma of bass and drum machines. There are restarts, stops, changes, and embellishments of the main rhythm.
The same goes for "Bliss", where the discussion on acid house is delved into even further. It's not a serious and intellectual revisit by the electronic intelligentsia, eh.. It's always and above all the wild and anarchic soul of that mischievous Orridge. Finally, we're embraced by pseudo raga inserts that enrich the roaring harmonies of this beat quartet.
"S.M.I.L.E" is very close to the landscapes of the New Order productions of the late Eighties, which were already beginning to decline at the time. That smooth, nostalgic, almost ironic vocal melody that compromises with the lively rhythmic section is the cherry on top.
"I.C. Water" perfectly studies the syntax, vocality, and spelling of Ian Curtis. Perhaps I would have liked it more if it had been birthed from Sumner's mind and Hook's dynamic bass.
The work concludes with the minimalism of "Jigsaw", another great example showcasing the surprising inspiration of the psychic combo.
In short, many beautiful things await you, joyful and smiling, in this infinite beat...
Tracklist and Videos
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