Search - Hexstatic :: Rewind

Rewind
Hexstatic
Rewind
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

Hexstatic's Stuart Warren Hill and Robin Brunson are better known as visual artists than as musicians, having worked with Coldcut on the well-regarded CD-ROM portion of their Let Us Play release. Keeping to their strengths...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Hexstatic
Title: Rewind
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Ntone
Original Release Date: 8/22/2000
Release Date: 8/22/2000
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop
Styles: Ambient, Electronica, Big Beat, Trip-Hop, Dance Pop
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPCs: 625978204320, 5021392218120, 502139221818, 5051083020312

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Hexstatic's Stuart Warren Hill and Robin Brunson are better known as visual artists than as musicians, having worked with Coldcut on the well-regarded CD-ROM portion of their Let Us Play release. Keeping to their strengths, the debut release also includes a second CD of cutting-edge visual material, but the musical half stands up on its own with no difficulty. These two are obviously enamored with the electro style that was spawned in New York City in the early 1980s when the original South Bronx hip-hop sound met the avant-Eurodisco sound of Kraftwerk. The sound was innovative at the time and has, a decade and a half later, become a remarkably durable template for further exploration. Rewind starts a little predictably with an elevator music background and an orotund announcer saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by." That sequence segues into an answering-machine message that gets a little more interesting when Hexstatic turn the telephone company's three-note "Please hang up and try again" melody into a loop. The record hits its stride on the third track, "Deadly Media," in which a head-spinning blenderful of chopped-up words--syllables from several different languages--creates a linguistic whirlwind underpinned by classic Roland 808 beats. "Ninja Tune" takes more of a breakbeat approach with layers of congas supporting martial-arts movie dialogue. "Kids Can Dance" delves deep into mid-'70s style of "steppin' in it" funk, reminscent of Herbie Hancock. And the opening vocoder grunts on "Vector" and "Robopop" let you know you're in for the full electro treatment. "The Horn" returns to the breakbeat style for a keyboard-fueled groove paired with porn-soundtrack cries of ecstasy that together evoke the classic drug-trip segment from Brainticket's Cottonwoodhill. Finally, the CD's closer, "Bass Invader," continues the post-krautrock feel with melodic sequencers and sustained string-synth sounds over beats that sound like the world's funkiest video game. --Bob Bannister

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CD Reviews

Its all about the crazy videos...
mcpooyan | 09/14/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"i was first introduced to hexstatics work in the mid 90's on the early MTV amp, and ive been looking for more ever since...if you like coldcut, youll love this CD. i would describe his work as low-key and technologically minded, with a heavy emphasis on well chosen samples. the cd-rom that comes with it is one of the main reasons i ordered this album...very cool, retro - roller-ball defenderage-electronics.... contains videos for every track on the cd, and some of them have a "interactive remix toys" which let you remix the videos themselves in a simple kind of way."
Outstanding
mcpooyan | 02/12/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"These guys are simply amazing. Not only is the music absolutely top notch, but the videos on the second CD are nothing short of miraculous. 'Ninja tune' does an absolute credit to the record label and, as a track, has got to vie with any of your back catalogue favorites. 'Robopop' is another one I'd pick out, but it almost seems silly to pick out individual tracks from a great album like this. My only gripe is with 'The Horn' since the initial laugh of the porn samples (which is a bit of a dance music cliché since most albums seem to have one) soon tires.The videos are probably the best in dance music, but that's just my opinion. Even if you'd disagree, the second CD isn't just some 'bonus disk' it's an integral part of the whole and well worth your time.I can't fit enough superlatives into this review so just go and buy it!"
Mind-blowing audio/video talent!
Christopher Carneal | los angeles | 12/15/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is an absolute shame that a group this intelligent, creative and technically skilled in the new mediums of digital editing and audio sampling aren't making as big a financial gain from thier brilliance as the pop industry makes on it's own idiocy. From a more trivial angle, I don't know how these guys break even for the small amount of money they ask for such a power pack of entertainment for under 15 bucks. When you watch just one of these videos on the 2nd CD, it's obvious these guys spent months perfecting the visuals with state of the art equipment and concepts.Even if you aren't sure you'll like music (which is eclectic melodic electronica) spending some time with the included CD-ROM is guaranteed stimulating eye candy and worth the price of admission."