Search - Joey Beltram :: Places

Raw banging techno...kiddies and ravers look somewhere else

leviticus85 | kalamazoo,MI | 03/19/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"this is what i'd like to think of as "pure" techno. along with early jeff mills and robert hood's "internal empire" lp, this is definitely one of the best of it's style. some of the tracks are hard enough to scrape the enamel off you're teeth. repetitive as hell, but that comes with the territory. i was suprised to hear some dub-effects here and there, but mostly this focuses on acidy synths and machine like rhythyms. in fact, this is vaguely similar to the harder sides of house music and not quite as "smooth" sounding as most minimal, detroit styled techno."

Spacey, minimal, deep techno

bassjunkie303 | delawhere? | 11/14/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"beltram has been a guiding and originating force in the techno scene from it's inception (energy flash being one of the first techno dancefloor anthems for those oldschool enough to remember) this album finds mr. beltram working his craft on a collection of sparse, heady techno, showing off his finesse in the almost forgotten art of taking the listener on a mental "voyage" through the set. Although i say sparse, and minimal, it's not so much the absence of layers (indeed, there is a bit of layering here), but rather the way they come together, always just enough to fill each knob of the mixer without being "lush". the phrasing of the set works quite well, and the trim is outstanding in these tracks. This can be considered nothing but pure techno..."