GothicVixen - October 2002
Boys and girls, run to the dollar store and get yourself some glowsticks, out of Oregon comes what might be some of the darkest techno to grace your local dance club. Dead Poets Society presents us with a mighty fine mix of percussion and keyboard sounds in thier release titled The Electric Haze. Fans of The Dust Brothers will be pleased with this darker twist on modern electronic music. (And why wasn’t any of this on the Fight Club sountrack I wonder?) Theres definately some trance, some dance, and something else that I can’t quite put my finger on, but its a good thing, indeed. While the ideas behind the music are not totally original, the way it’s presented is a bit left of tradional techno.
Precusionist Wa’s sounds are not as driving as most music of this genre, making it a good disc to just listen to if your not in the mood to dance, however Raven Nightshado’s keys make nicely flowing rhythms that are easily danceable.
With a bare minimum of vocals, and all of them being samples, the songs can be about whatever they inspire in the listener. Notable tracks include “I Dream of Japan”, which could easily be mistaken for traditional Japanese music, and reminded me of the cherry blossoms and the bum on the benches outside museums in Tokyo. While “Damn Fine Coffee” has some of the best precussion on the disc and might just give you the feeling of being wired.
Overall this would be a good disc to make a present for your favorite DJ or to play at your own parties. Just dont take to many hallucinogens before you try these sounds out, or you might just see the electric haze in a wholly disturbing way.
-Donna Janney
Dead Poets Society may ring a bell to most people as a group of kids going though adolescence and secret poetry readings from the movie of the same name with Robin Williams. Or at least that was what I first thought of when I saw the bands name on the CD titled Deprogramming. Deprogramming is the second CD that we havve seen this band come out with. The songs on this album are high-energy instrumental pieces that I could see in a variety of settings such as coffee houses and nightclubs. There is something to be said for such flexible albums.
I was perplexed by exactly how one would dance to this sort of music without popping a few pills first. Dead Poets Society has a pulsing beat that drives you into a trance like dance state with tracks like “Synners” and “Strung Out”. I would recommend this album as great ambient music for any shop or music collection.
-Christine Landrie