Title: Baltimore Label: Photek Productions Artist: Photek
Pounding vintage Bluenote biznizz picked up by Dom & Roland, Tech Itch, Teebee and Friction and all courtesy Photek.
― DJ Martian (djmartian), Saturday, 4 September 2004 01:24 (nineteen years ago) link
I have this track on an MTV drum n bass compilation I inherited, and it's okay. I've had a couple MRI's done and some of the sounds are similar (though I still think the MRI experience is more intense).
― Rockist_Scientist (rockist_scientist), Saturday, 4 September 2004 02:02 (nineteen years ago) link
― lethalfizzle, Saturday, 9 July 2005 09:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 9 July 2005 15:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ô¿Ô (eman), Saturday, 9 July 2005 15:41 (eighteen years ago) link
photek = sort of underrated at this point. remember, for a while he was pretty much the only person not using a palette of straight amen and think breaks.
― vahid (vahid), Saturday, 9 July 2005 15:49 (eighteen years ago) link
pale scrawny white guys are always always always classic
― harshaw (jube), Saturday, 9 July 2005 15:53 (eighteen years ago) link
Hahaha this might be why people aren't holding him in higher esteem.
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:04 (eighteen years ago) link
― strng hlkngtn, Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:06 (eighteen years ago) link
I think the main reason was that he came off as so dry and serious.
I don't remember "Relics", but "Presha III" and "Jump (MK2)" are both pretty good.
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:13 (eighteen years ago) link
― strng hlkngtn, Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― latebloomer: the Clonus Horror (latebloomer), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― jeffery (jeffery), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:44 (eighteen years ago) link
Goldie's best moments often = Rob Playford's best moments. Whereas Photek's best moments = Rupert Parkes imagination.
― jeffery (jeffery), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― jeffery (jeffery), Saturday, 9 July 2005 16:47 (eighteen 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 (eighteen years ago) link
― jeffery (jeffery), Saturday, 9 July 2005 17:04 (eighteen years ago) link
wrong and insane
― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 9 July 2005 18:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― Taste the Blood of Scrovula (noodle vague), Saturday, 9 July 2005 20:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Sunday, 10 July 2005 01:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 10 July 2005 01:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 10 July 2005 01:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Sunday, 10 July 2005 03:04 (eighteen years ago) link
― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Sunday, 10 July 2005 04:29 (eighteen years ago) link
A lot of his stuff is fantastic though, yeah. I'd say his golden period was '95-'96 - ie. the golden age of the "Metalheadz" sound but just before Modus Operandi.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 10 July 2005 06:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 10 July 2005 06:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― strng hlkngtn, Sunday, 10 July 2005 10:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― strng hlkngtn, Sunday, 10 July 2005 10:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 10 July 2005 11:13 (eighteen years ago) link
nothng but piles of asian drums on top of one another. nothing to do but twitch like a jellyfish on a butcher block
wow, probably the truest thing i ever said on ilm
some dude called "the law" assembled this all photek 93-97 mix. makes a pretty damn good case for photek's brilliance.
01.. Photek - Third Sequence - Astralwerks [1996] 02.. Studio Pressure - Jump Mk II - Certificate 18 [1993] 03.. Goldie - Still Life (Photek Remix) - Razors Edge [1995] 04.. Studio Pressure - First Sequence - Photek [1994] 05.. The Truper - Vol 1 A - Street Beats [1994] 06.. System X - Mind Games (Dub Mix) - Entity [1994] 07.. Photek - Consciousness - Metalheadz - [1994] 08.. Photek - The Hidden Camera (Static Mix) - Science [1996] 09.. Photek - Ni Ten Ichi Ryu - Science [1997] 10.. Studio Pressure - The Water Margin - Photek - [1995] 11.. Photek - One Nation - Sanctury [1997/2007] 12.. Phaze 1 - Natural - Timeless [1995] 13.. Aquarius - Drift To The Centre - Looking Good [1995] 14.. Code Of Practice - Infiltrate - Certificate 18[1995] 15.. The Truper - Vol 2 B - Street Beats [1994] 16.. The Sentinel - Pulse Of Life - Basement[1994] 17.. Therapy? - Loose (Photek Remix) - A&M [1995] 18.. EZ Rollers - Rolled Into One (Photek Remix) - Moving Shadow [1996] 19.. Everything But The Girl - Single (Photek Remix) - Virgin [1996] 20.. Photek - Rings Around Saturn - Photek [1996]
go geddit here: http://drumandbassmixes.com/thelaw.htm
― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 27 March 2008 17:26 (sixteen years ago) link
is burial the new photek?
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:11 (sixteen years ago) link
yes ... sort of
― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:12 (sixteen years ago) link
photek >>> burial
― Jordan, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:12 (sixteen years ago) link
he's a little bit bigger relative to the scene than photek was, and he's more "outside" the scene too
― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:13 (sixteen years ago) link
i want to say he's the new squarepusher but squarepusher was actively adversarial w/ drum and bass, whereas burial likes dubstep & 2-step, he's not trying to tear it down w/ something new.
and again, i think he crossed over more than squarepusher did. squarepusher probably sold less albums than goldie.
― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:15 (sixteen years ago) link
Rhythm & Sound ^ (Hyperdub + Skull Disco) * (2008 / 1996) = (Metalheadz + Photek Productions) ^ Basic Channel
― Kaliova, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:17 (sixteen years ago) link
thanks to this thread revive i went on a search for my copy of "something else...the bleeps tune" and i can't find it. i wanted to hear it again before coming onto this thread to proclaim its greatness.
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:17 (sixteen years ago) link
that equation is breaking my brane
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:18 (sixteen years ago) link
2008/1996 = breaks?
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:19 (sixteen years ago) link
mind, one of my favorite things about 2008 is the return of breaks in non-traditionally steppy musics
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:20 (sixteen years ago) link
Maybe... I was just writing gibberish really. Try listening to T-Raenon if you've got a headache. Hearing that for the first time, while reading an interview with him, where he mentioned that Black Dog's Bytes was his favourite record, made me a fan forever.
― Kaliova, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:22 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah the vibe of bytes is pretty much untouchable.
i think a digital music player needs to be invented where you can just drop in equations like that and then it plays them for you.
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:26 (sixteen years ago) link
i'm going to echo mr dan perry from upthread and point out that BDP and detroit techno refs made a lot of people dislike him!
― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:26 (sixteen years ago) link
gibberish or not it is quite appropriate on a photek thread. mr science of breaks himself.
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:28 (sixteen years ago) link
why would that make people dislike him?
― tricky, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:29 (sixteen years ago) link
i dunno. ask a british.
― moonship journey to baja, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:30 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't think the Artificial Intelligence and Drum'n'Bass lot mixed that much at the time, though I don't remember there being any animosity there. Anyway I got into both via the lowly NME so I'm not well-qualified to cover this...
― Kaliova, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:34 (sixteen years ago) link
i dunno why the dislike either, other than part of the pre-existing sniffiness re "intelligent" tag
― blueski, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:36 (sixteen 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 (ten years ago) link
I know the best little Vietnamese cybercafe...
― how's life, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 20:05 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten years ago) link
haha OTM re: Source Direct
― AMERICA IS ABOUT RESSLING (DJP), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 21:30 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (ten 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 (two weeks ago) link
I just rediscovered his 2012 DJ Kicks mix , so nice
― StanM, Wednesday, 10 April 2024 21:28 (two weeks 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 (two weeks 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 week ago) link