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The quote ‘History Is Bunk’ is accredited to Henry Ford (Chicago Tribune, 1916) and what a good title for Hefty Record’s two-part CD set of ‘collaborations, re-interpretations and new compositions’. Hefty is based in Chicago and is to be forever thanked for re-issuing Carlos Niño’s favourite album by Phil Ranelin Vibes From The Tribe.

While this compilation showcases a whole list of artists, Daedelus and Telefon Tel Aviv are probably the most well known. As part of the ‘underground’ scene, these albums act as a reaffirmation of where the label and artists have come from and were they are going to after some fifty releases.

For me, Ranelin’s trombone stands out on his contribution to the Chris Chase track ‘Deluge’ as it’s the closest to a ‘jazz’ track. As a (breakable) rule, the label features mostly electro-downtempo IDM artists. At the far end of that, the best example here of the minimal electronic ambience is the seven and a half minute Ryuichi Sakamoto remix of the Telefon Tel Aviv track ‘Sound In A Dark Room’ and a remix of ‘Axtel’ on Part 2.

Following on from having a track picked for inclusion on the Bass-Ment Classics CD, Dabrye has a remix of a track called ‘Snowbreaker’ on Part 1 which is a fine example of Detroit electronica with a hip-hop attitude. Dabrye was recently interviewed in Hip-Hop Connection about his new album Two/Three which got a top review on Fly.

Other exponents of forward looking experimental electronic music are Slicker (who kick off Part 1 with a fine electro-broke blip-bop instrumental and have a couple of remix tracks included on Part 2), Spanova (‘Absentminded’ is a little downtempo electro dubby jazz track) and Retina.it (particularly liked ‘Anticamera Dei Dubbi’ with its modern Eno/Byrne groove with a touch of No Wave).

Some tracks get a little too close to authentic 80’s electro pop for me but at the other extreme, there’s a track by L’Altra called ‘The Last’ which is a more Rough Trade indie electro with strings (very emotional).

The best of the lot for me is the Daedelus remix of Savath & Savalas (aka Prefuse 73) with ‘Paths In Soft Focus’. Other ones look out for are the ‘Super Group’ of STS9, Slicker and Retina.It on ‘Mackinaw Peeper Division’ and Hefty Cut Up Remix of ‘Outer City Sound’ (Jimmy Edgar).

Hectic Mix Nominations: Part 1 ‘Snowbreaker’ (Dabrye Remix), ‘Deluge’ (Benelli Mix) Chris Case feat. Rich Embach & Phil Ranelin, ‘Paths In Soft Focus’ (Daedelus Wishes You The Best Remix) Savath & Savalas

Part 2: ‘Absentminded’ Spanova, God Bless This Mess, This Test We Pass (Haruomi Hosono Remix) Slicker, ‘Anticamera Dei Dubbi’ Retina.it

Reviewed: V/A - History Is Bunk (Part 1) & (Part 2) (Hefty Records) Cat. No. HEFTY052 & HEFTY053 Release Date: April 2006

Links
www.heftyrecords.com
Hip Hop Connection September 2006 #204 p24 “114 pages feat. Blade, NEW FLESH, Inja, Elementz, Moorish Delta 7, Eighteen 18, DJ SHADOW, Beastie Boys, Rhymefest, Ghostface Killah, Travis Blaque, Loupe Fiasco, Deaf In The Family, DABYRE, AMP FIDDLER, Will Ashon, Trocabrahma, Beenie Man, Amir, M -1 plus articules on Stones Throw, Rodney P and Skitz, Top 50 Independent gems and ALSO INCLUDES FREE STONES THROW COMPILATION CD FEAT. TRACKS BY MADLIB, OH NO FT.BUCKSHOT, ROC C FT.POK DOGG & OH NO, DUDLEY PERKINS FT.MED, GEORGIE ANNE MULDROW, ALOE BLACC, KASHMERE STAGE BAND, PERCEE P, BARON ZEN & PEANUT BUTTER WOLF..”
www.prefuse73.com
www.retinait.com
Henry Ford on ‘Why History is Bunk’
‘History Is Bunk’ by Jez (August 1994)