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Freek Funk was released by NovaMute on 20 October 1997. [20] [6] In the United States, where NovaMute also released the album, it was Slater's first release, although he had built up a following among "import fiends" in the country. [13] The title track was released as the album's first single. [13] It contained the B-side "Stomp", [21] a techno track incorporating broken beats. [22] Upon release, Freek Funk was critically acclaimed, [10] [23] and according to writer Justin Kleinfeld, it put Slater "on top of the electronic music circuit." [23] Dave Hoffman of PopMatters reflected that the album "was popular on dancefloors all over the world." [8] The album also was a relative commercial success in that it topped the dance charts. [24]
In a favourable review, Emma Morgan of Select wrote: "As palatable to techno-heads as to anyone kicked into touch by Daft Punk's recent triumphs, Freek Funk is a momentarily unifying force as dance music continues to divide and regenerate at light speed." [11] Option called the album "an enjoyable collection. It sputters by smoothly and coherently, a 75-minute set of logical progressions." They praised Slater for creating a unified album "suitable for solitary consumption," feeling this was unlike many techno producers who the writer felt would make "halfhearted" albums instead. Praise was given to the title track for being intricate without seeming "fussy or overwrought," and for "Bless Bless" for being "outstanding." [17] Vincent Brunner of Les Inrockuptibles felt that the album is "as much for dancers as for dreamers, provided they do not have short breath and low vision." He complimented the variety of styles and the music's "human" feel, and felt that Slater was "moving forward", describing the record as "a veritable kaleidoscope of techno." [16] Andy Crysell of NME hailed the album for reminding listeners of techno's "fantastical" sound. [19]
In their year-end lists of the best albums of 1997, Muzik ranked the album 18th,[ citation needed ] Nojesguiden ranked it 19th, [25] and OOR ranked it 33rd. [26] Tim Haslett of CMJ New Music Monthly wrote in December 1997 that Freek Funk was a "treat" and commented: "No wonder he counts people like Robert Hood and Carl Craig among his followers." He felt the album's "effect" was "similar to that of reaching a difficulty level in a video game that the game's designers hadn't planned for." [13] Among retrospective reviews, John Bush of AllMusic felt that the album was Slater's most precise and emotional album to date, while also noting its musical experimentation and variety. He concluded that Slater was "[o]ne of the few British producers who seem to realize that interesting sounds aren't quite as important as investing the music with spirit," and described Freek Funk as "one of the best techno LPs of the year." [6] Resident Advisor felt the record consolidated on previous Slater productions, such as the Al Sage collaboration "Freebase" and "important releases" released under the pseudonyms Planetary Assault System and Clementine. [14]
"Slater first became known for his work as Planetary Assault Systems on the Peacefrog imprint in the early nineties, bringing an aggressive edge and electronic swagger to the Detroit sound, but it was his long-player Freek Funk (1997) under his own name which crossed over to global dancefloors with its blend of deep acid and electronic funk."
Following the album's release, Slater discussed playing the album live, and announced to Select that he was going to perform a range of songs from the album and other sources on its accompanying tour. [4] Since its release, Freek Funk has gone on to be considered an influential album; Resident Advisor wrote that the album made an immediate, heavy impact on the techno and breakbeat scenes, and felt that it inspired "the next generation of electro-tinged breaks and nu-skool techno." [14] Slater was surprised by the album's influence, saying: "It was a great feeling, to be honest. I was trying to push the barriers of the techno thing. I was surprised." [14] Paul Cooper of Pitchfork felt the album was "ambitious and innovative." [27]
In 1999, French magazine Trax included the album in their unordered list of "The 50 Best Techno Albums 1989-1999,"[ citation needed ] while in 2017, Mixmag ranked the album at number 5 in their list of "The 10 best 90s techno albums". They said Slater delivered an "epic" album where "every track is potent to keep listeners locked in," and felt that the record "sounds like an invasion from an off-world colony of dance freaks." [15] That same year, they also included the album on a list of 20 notable electronic albums released in 1997, and told listeners to "revisit Freek Funk to remind yourself of the magic [Slater] conjured up 20 years ago." [12] Writer Paul Morley included the album in a list of 100 great albums "that map out the universe as it is because of Kraftwerk." [28]
All songs written by Luke Slater
Richard "Richie" Hawtin is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He became known for his recordings under the Plastikman and F.U.S.E. aliases. Under the latter, he released his debut album Dimension Intrusion (1993) as part of Warp's Artificial Intelligence series.
Deep house is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Its origins are attributed to the early recordings of Larry Heard, including his influential track "Can You Feel It".
Telegram is the first full-length and second overall remix album by Icelandic musician Björk, released on 25 November 1996. The album is a collection of remixes of several tracks from her album Post, which had all previously appeared as B-sides of the UK versions of the singles off Post, except the "Enjoy" remix which was previously unreleased. The cover was shot by Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. All of the songs on Post were remixed, excluding "The Modern Things" and "It's Oh So Quiet". The collection also included one new song entitled "My Spine" which was originally slated to appear on Post but was pushed out by "Enjoy", becoming the B-side to the UK "It's Oh So Quiet" single instead. The album has sold 228,000 copies in US according to SoundScan.
Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of North American and European house music of the late 1980s.
Chris Liebing is a German techno DJ, music producer and radio host and the founder of the record label CLR.
Carl Craig is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He has recorded under his given name in addition to a variety of aliases, including Psyche, BFC, and Innerzone Orchestra.
Homework is the debut studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 20 January 1997 by Virgin Records and Soma Quality Recordings. It was later released in the United States on 25 March 1997. As the duo's first project on a major label, they produced the album's tracks without plans to release them, but after initially considering releasing them as separate singles, they considered the material good enough for an album.
Novamute Records is the electronic dance music subsidiary of Mute Records, which was started in 1992. The label's staff included Mick Paterson (promotions), Pepe Jansz (A&R), and producer Seth Hodder, and it was originally set up to give UK releases to white label 12-inch singles and imports. In the United States it was distributed by Tommy Boy Records while the Mute parent label was distributed by Elektra Records.
Luke Slater is an English electronic musician, DJ and record producer, who has concentrated on techno since the beginning of the 1990s. He achieved break through commercial success with his tracks "Love" (1997) and "All Exhale" (1999).
Dave Angel is an English techno musician. Angel was born in Chelsea, London, England. He is the son of a London-based jazz musician, and the elder brother of rapper Monie Love. He had an unorthodox musical education; his father influenced him deeply, as did his friends and his environment, including the radio. He listened not only to Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, but also to soul music and funk. Even though he was playing instruments at 14 years old, including percussion, his musical development was not easy or straightforward.
Jochem George Paap, known by his stage name Speedy J, is a Dutch electronic music producer based in Rotterdam. His breakthrough came with the release in 1992 of the minimal techno track "Pullover". He released music as part of Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence series in the 1990s, including his debut LP Ginger (1993).
TNT is the third studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise, released in 1998 by Thrill Jockey. After Jeff Parker joined the band in 1996, Tortoise recorded TNT over the course of a year with drummer John McEntire acting as producer, editor and mixing. Taking influence from their remix material of the 1990s, the band recorded the album using hard disk technology in a "forward-then-back" approach, with members individually adding parts to tracks at different stages until the tracks were completed. As with previous albums, the band members also shared instrumental roles.
Peacefrog Records is a British independent record label based in London, England. The label produces releases in many different styles of electronic music, as well as branching out into folk and indie artists such as José González, Nouvelle Vague and Little Dragon. The label was started by Pete Hutchison and Paul Ballard in 1991. After the Lodger 303 EP, Ballard withdrew from Peacefrog Records. The record label subsequently released a number of techno records, by artists including Luke Slater, Moodymann and Suburban Knight.
Robert Hood is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often considered to be one of the founders of minimal techno. In 1994, Hood founded the minimal techno label M-Plant in Detroit.
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