Solaris never gets the props it deserves. Fuck those spoddy D&B purest wankers.
― Discordian, Friday, 8 August 2008 11:39 (fifteen years ago) link
yes!
― I know, right?, Friday, 8 August 2008 11:46 (fifteen years ago) link
erm, "purest wankers". Now there's an image for ya
― Discordian, Friday, 8 August 2008 14:02 (fifteen years ago) link
it gets the props it deserves for an album with 2 great tracks on it.
― jed_, Friday, 8 August 2008 14:12 (fifteen years ago) link
I can concede that "Junk" meanders a bit but this is an album that manages to cover all bases and never sounding awkward or disjointed.
I really can't understand what people have against it. The menace of his ealier stuff being stripped away perhaps? Why does it always have to be about dark vibes?
― Discordian, Friday, 8 August 2008 14:55 (fifteen years ago) link
Some people hate pretty tepid house music (generally) and Robert Owens (specifically) is what they have against it.
― Alex in SF, Friday, 8 August 2008 17:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Wow I don't remember hearing that LTJ Bukem mix, but I have definitely heard that transition before. Now I have to find that mix to figure out if it was something I may have recorded off the radio in like '97.
― rockapads, Wednesday, 13 August 2008 23:59 (fifteen years ago) link
That album is worth it just for Mine To Give
― I know, right?, Thursday, 14 August 2008 00:01 (fifteen years ago) link
"Goldie's best moments often = Rob Playford's best moments."Yeah yeah yeah and it's all Nico Sykes too and blah blah blah. Maybe Rupert might have benefited from an engineer.-- Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:52 (3 years ago) Link
Yeah yeah yeah and it's all Nico Sykes too and blah blah blah. Maybe Rupert might have benefited from an engineer.
-- Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:52 (3 years ago) Link
"Goldie's best moments often = Rob Playford's best moments. belong to 4 Hero"
― X-101, Thursday, 14 August 2008 16:38 (fifteen years ago) link
t'raenon sooooooooooo nice... my least favorite photek record for a long time but i am loving it these days.
― DONKEY CANCER in action (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Friday, 20 February 2009 14:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Has this been posted before? All Photek mix courtesy of Bailey on BBC 1xtra. Fine stuff - some of which I'd never even heard before.
http://www.mediafire.com/?yufyqxitmm0
Truper - Volume 2 (Street Beats)Studio Pressure - Jump Mark 2 (Certificate 18 Records)System X - Mind Games (3 rd Eye)Aquarius - Drift To The Centre (Looking Good)Studio Pressure - Fusion (photek)Aquarius - Dolphin Tune (Good Looking)photek - Rings Around Saturn (photek)photek - Say It (Prototype)photek - Consciousness (Metalheadz)Studio Pressure - Water Margin (photek)photek - One Nation (Prototype)photek - Seventh Samurai (photek)photek - Still Life (Remix) (Razors Edge)photek - Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu (Science)photek - Knite Vision (Science)photek - Something Else (Bleeps Tune) (photek Recordings)photek - Tuesday (Dub)Inta Warriors - Inta (Special Forces Remix) (Prototype)photek - Aleph 1 (Science)
― sam500, Monday, 23 February 2009 05:50 (fifteen years ago) link
huh, I am really enjoying Solaris
it only took 13 years for me to get to this point
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 19:46 (eleven years ago) link
I know the best little Vietnamese cybercafe...
― how's life, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 20:05 (eleven years ago) link
i haven't felt like listening to Solaris since it came out
― Koné 2013 (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 20:08 (eleven years ago) link
I only played it because I remember the overall reaction to it being similar to the backlash reaction to RAM; unsurprisingly I am enjoying it a lot more than RAM so maybe I'll be in the mood to really dig that album in 2026
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 20:15 (eleven years ago) link
Why did you check it out (at the time and now) Dan I thought you disliked Photek?
― Tim F, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:12 (eleven years ago) link
What? I loved Photek up until Solaris came out; I bought "The Hidden Camera", "Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu", Modus Operandi and Form and Function when they were released. I think you are confusing me with someone else?
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:17 (eleven years ago) link
i dug it out, it's better than i remembered. it's weirdly all over the place tho.
― Koné 2013 (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:17 (eleven years ago) link
the main reason I was not into Solaris was because I was so into the doomy drum n bass stuff he'd been doing before and was not at all in the mood to hear his take on loungy progressive house music
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:21 (eleven years ago) link
Okay must be confusing you with someone else from back in the old days.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:25 (eleven years ago) link
i've still never heard this because i loooooved photek and haaaaated house music at the time.
― precious bonsai children of new york (Jordan), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:27 (eleven years ago) link
I haven't talked about Photek all that much here, I admit, but I am pretty sure he was among the names I would regularly drop on a.m.a as someone I loved (I'm sure I talked about Squarepusher more, though)
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:28 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah one of the old regulars used to complain that i'd put them onto Photek with a description that sounded more exciting than the music actually was and I was like I mostly preferred Source Direct anyway.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:30 (eleven years ago) link
haha OTM re: Source Direct
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:30 (eleven years ago) link
oh wow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyKuzY52hWU&feature=player_detailpage&list=PLUdmMccuxH2HJrCrFvMUa6g2VlyPvOpTI
― precious bonsai children of new york (Jordan), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:38 (eleven years ago) link
Brilliant! He's such a lad/geezer/geek.
Never really stopped listening to KJZ and Mine to give since they came out, 17 and 13 years ago. Wowsers!
― inventionsforjohn, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 00:03 (eleven years ago) link
Really wish there was a 10 minute version of the track Solaris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV1MoazXFNM
I think my favourite Photek aliases are Studio Pressure for the smoother stuff and Truper for the all-out layered chopped Amen/Helicopter assaults.
― Chewshabadoo, Wednesday, 15 May 2013 00:27 (eleven years ago) link
fitting that the Photek doc clip there starts out like a car commercial
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 15 May 2013 00:45 (eleven years ago) link
"Knightvision" aside (it's just okay in a moody 1998 2-step dancing thinkpiece kind of way) the "originals" half of Form & Function is pretty much unf***withable, amirite?
Esp the "Rings of Saturn" --> "The Water Margin" --> "UFO" final victory lap stretch.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 21:29 (nine years ago) link
yes sir
tho i pretty much love all of F&F tbh
― Chimp Arsons, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 21:55 (nine years ago) link
Oh yeah the remixes are mostly fantastic too.
I was just thinking in the context of the discussion upthread, if someone wanted to "get" Photek, listening to the back half of Form & Function would be a much better option than listening to Modus Operandi (though I like MO too).
― Tim F, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 22:07 (nine years ago) link
yes, forever. F&F was the only Photek record i owned and i listened to it to death. still sounds amazing.
― festival culture (Jordan), Tuesday, 21 October 2014 22:10 (nine years ago) link
was just bumping MO like 30 mins ago
― my jaw left (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 21 October 2014 22:10 (nine years ago) link
watch straight ahead off my flashlight ... there it is again
― the late great, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 22:39 (nine years ago) link
Classic. If for that alone. It spookily moves me ,everytime
― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Tuesday, 21 October 2014 23:29 (nine years ago) link
THIS TUNE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZmerb5gS4
Should get around to a Photek POX.
― Tim F, Thursday, 23 April 2015 14:33 (nine years ago) link
Tentatively scribbled this ten down a while back.
Aquarius - Drift To The CentreStudio Pressure - The Water MarginPhotek - ComplexThe Sentinel - TouléPleuThe Truper - Volume 3 BPhotek - Rings Around SaturnPhotek - The Hidden CameraPhotek - UFOAquarius & Tayla - Soul SearchingPhotek - Consciousness
― Thank You (Fattekin Mice Elf Control Again) (Noel Emits), Wednesday, 9 October 2019 10:44 (four years ago) link
God how I love Photek
― Goose Witherspeen (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 9 October 2019 13:31 (four years ago) link
If I hadn't seen the record with my own eyes I'd have thought this was a joke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3AVoBbzMsw
― feed me with your clicks (Noel Emits), Friday, 17 December 2021 18:30 (two years ago) link
Going back to Form & Function, this is still *the* Photek album for me. I got it on cd from Best Buy in high school, I don't know if I had somehow heard of him or was looking for drum & bass albums and chanced upon it. Still sounds incredible.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 27 March 2023 15:20 (one year ago) link
Really enjoyed Philip Sherburne's Modus Operandi revisit, and going back to that record:https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/photek-modus-operandi/
Also I'm finally old enough to appreciate Solaris, especially if I just think of it as some house record. The blown-out quality of the kicks and basses is nice, and the dubbiness.
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, 10 April 2024 20:15 (one month ago) link
I just rediscovered his 2012 DJ Kicks mix , so nice
― StanM, Wednesday, 10 April 2024 21:28 (one month ago) link
ooh, sounds like a good listen for the commute home
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 10 April 2024 22:04 (one month ago) link
Pitchfork piece was great. There’s a lot of electronic music from the mid/late 90s that I loved desperately at the time. These days a lot of it feels… of its time. I don’t want to say they’ve aged poorly but I just can’t separate them from their era (Squarepusher, u-Ziq, Bukem, Roni Size and others). All these years later this particular Photek album still captivates me. I always put it on when I really need to get into a state of intense focus (i.e. writing to deadline).
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 11 April 2024 01:30 (one month ago) link