G.R.R.L.

Everyone knows what a producer Terre Thaemlitz is but he's also a good DJ, not in the deft Q-Bert/Jeff Mills turntablist manner but as a selecter, crafting cohesive and convincing narratives from a string of distinct records. This set for Made Like A Tree is an understated stunner, crafted entirely from Thaemlitz productions it's naturally consistent, but the blend between subdued house and beatless ambient is beautifully achieved, creating a wonderfully downbeat whole linked by gaseous synth swirls and jazzy piano interludes.

Thaemlitz's ivory twinkling can actually become quite dissonant, which upsets the usual mold of mindless jazz-house riffing, but it's so washed out by processing that it's easily overlooked. Listen up though and you'll hear Cecil Taylor-esque forearm chords and dynamic atonal stabs, doubtless played on the same overtly plastic midi piano used on her Rubato records.



I'd read about Thaemlitz's penchant for playing whole tracks, crossfading at song's end, but it's more complicated than that sounds, and in part closer to Michael Mayer's late beatmatch approach. The tempo is consistent(ly slow) throughout, and the beatless selections that link most tracks segue effortlessly, as do those with drums. It's inspired me to want to try and play records differently, and mix ambient more readily with rhythmic house music.

Right Click to Download: G.R.R.L. Mlat46

1. Terre Thaemlitz - There Was a Girl / There Was a Boy Declaramation [Mille Plateaux]
2. Terre Thaemlitz - Taking Stock in Our Pride [Mille Plateaux]
3. Terre Thaemlitz - G.R.R.L. : Face (Extended Dub Edit) [Comatonse]
4. Terre Thaemlitz - Double Secret [Comatonse]
5. Terre Thaemlitz - Chugga : Theme From Buck Rogers Light Rope Dance (500 Year Orbit Mix) [Comatonse]
6. Zeitkratzer & Terre Thaemlitz - Down Town Kami-Sakunobe [Zeitkratzer Records]
7. Terre Thaemlitz - Commodité Sexuelle [Mille Plateaux]
8. DJ Sprinkles - Brenda's $20 Dilemma [Mule Musiq]
9. DJ Sprinkles - Ball'r (Madonna Free Zone) [Mule Musiq]
10. Terre Thaemlitz - Chugga : Theme From Buck Rogers Light Rope Dance (Deep Space Probe Mix) [Comatonse]
11. Terre Thaemlitz - Systole.009 [Mille Plateaux]
12. Terre Thaemlitz - Residual Expectation [Caipirinha Productions]
13. Terre Thaemlitz - Resistance to Change - 4. Transformative Nostaligia [Mille Plateaux]
14. DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues [Mule Musiq]
15. DJ Sprinkles - Grand Cental Station. Pt. II (72hrs. By Rail From Missouri) [Mule Musiq]