BILL LASWELL

AMBIENT COMPENDIUM

This is a compilation of edited material taken from the Subharmonic and Strata catalogs. Track 9 on each disc are new tracks. Track 1 on each disc is a CD-Rom program for PC. Track 6 on disc two is the same as "Najm-Al-Din", which can be found on both EXCURSIONS IN AMBIENCE, and the Stoned Heights Divination release, LIGHT IN EXTENSION.



 Disc one : Dark Massive (Ambient)
  1/  "Fractint" - CD-Rom Track
  2/  Descent -                                  (Laswell)                     6.03
        Divination
  3/  Maps of Impossible Worlds -                (Laswell,Buckethead)          5.50
        Death Cube K
  4/  Angel Tech -                               (Laswell,Namlook)             6.59
        Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook
  5/  Aion -                                     (Laswell,Sharp)               6.46
        Bill Laswell and Jonah Sharp
  6/  Monochrome Existence -                     (Laswell,Inoue)               11.02
        Bill Laswell and Tetsu Inoue
  7/  Open Url -                                 (Laswell,Thaemlitz)           10.19
        Bill Laswell and Terre Thaemlitz
  8/  Distal Sonority -                          (Laswell,Harris)              11.17
        Bill Laswell and M.J. Harris
  9/  Broken Dream -                             (Laswell)                     7.28
        Bill Laswell

 Disc two : Disengage (Ambient Bass and Drums)
  1/  "Fractint" - CD-Rom Track
  2/  Tangier Space Draft -                      (Laswell)                     7.03
        Divination
  3/  Black Dawn -                               (Laswell,Namlook)             7.21
        Bill Laswell and Pete Namlook
  4/  Evil Eye -                                 (Laswell)                     7.47
        Divination
  5/  Ports of Entry                             (Automaton)                   11.42
      (The Future Is With Control) -	
        Automaton
  6/  Ancient Evenings -                         (Laswell)                     7.43
        Divination
  7/  Zurvan Akarana -                           (Laswell, Sharp)              8.55
        Bill Laswell and Jonah Sharp
  8/  Asiyah Dub -                               (Laswell,Katz)                9.11
        Automaton
  9/  White Lies -                               (Laswell)                     6.21
        Bill Laswell

          All tracks created at Greenpoint Studio, Brooklyn, New York
          Disc one, tracks 2,3 & 9 and disc two, tracks 2,4,5,6,8 & 9 produced by
            Bill Laswell
          Disc one, track 4 and disc two, track 3 produced by Bill Laswell and
            Pete Namlook
          Disc one, track 5 and disc two, track 7 produced by Bill Laswell and
            Jonah Sharp
          Disc one, track 6 produced by Bill Laswell and Tetsu Inoue
          Disc one, track 7 produced by Bill Laswell and Terre Thaemlitz
          Disc one, track 8 produced by Bill Laswell and M.J. Harris
          Compiled and edited by Jean Pierre Sluys
Disc one : (3) Buckethead : guitars, sounds; Bill Laswell : bass, sounds.

Disc two : (2) Bill Laswell : sounds; DXT : turntables; (4) Bill Laswell : bass, sounds; Jah Wobble : bass, sounds; Jeff Bova : sounds; (5) Nicky Skopelitis : guitars, treatments; Lili Haydn : violin; Tetsu Inoue : electronics; Bill Laswell : bass, beats; Robert Musso : treatments; (8) Bill Laswell : bass, sounds; Gabe Katz : bass, sounds; Sly Dunbar : beats.

1996 - M.I.L. Multi Media Inc. (USA), ESP8508 (2CD)

REVIEWS :

Just what the world needs, a 2CD compilation of the overprofilic Billy L. This is actually a greatest hits of sorts from the godly, now departed, Subharmonic label. The tracks are culled from Divination's Akasha and Dead Slow, Death Cube K's Dreamatorium, Visitation, Cymatic Scan, Web, Sominific Flux, Psychonavigation, Automaton's Jihad and Dub Terror Exhaust, and Ancient Evenings. Dark Massive is the isolationist disc, being minimal soundscapes. Disengage is "ambient bass and drums" which is the biggest reason to purchase it. There's some hip-hop, dub, jungle, and much more on it. The best track, however, is the previously unavaliable (there's a unreleased on DM, too: "Broken Dream") "White Lies", which features excellent soundscapes, and a beat/bassline that could make Wu-Tang's The RZA jealous. Worth the money for this track alone. Don't worry if you already have a few of these, they're all remixed.

Overall - 5/5

Creaig Dunton (courtesy of the False Prophet Campaign website)