'Replicant rumba rockers' by Atom
by Ian Simmons
[ cdreviews ]
Using a variety of pseudonyms such as Atom Heart, Senor Coconut and Subsequence, the equally pseudonymous Atom has spent over ten years producing a collision of techno and latin sounds on his Rather Interesting label. Here, fellow florid pseudonomiser Burnt Friedman, who has appeared as Non-place Urban Field, Flanger and a myriad of other identities, gets the opportunity to rummage about in the Atom back catalogue, select his favourite moments and remix them, producing yet another fictional entity, the Replicant Rumba Rockers in the process.
Atom reckons his music seems like a cultural artefact from a remote future that does not give "authentic" preference over "fake", and that to an extent, pins one of this CD's weaknesses for me. Atom is exceedingly competent at capturing the latin idiom digitally, but in doing so he does seem to lose something essential. Acoustic latin music thrives on the flex and swing of having it generated entirely by humans. The digital version is just too precise and polished to feel right, giving it an intentionally cheesy fake feel that is somehow less than satisfying. It has affinities with session musician latin muzak but is too heavily informed by a left-field techno sensibility ever to fall into the trap of wallpaper blandness. In addition glithmeister Friedman's interventions disrupt the flow to a greater or lesser extent throughout, constantly catching the listener off-balance and throwing in something to grab the interest and stopping it becoming just a one dimensional "look, I can do latin digitally!" trip.
Having listened to Replicant Rumba Rockers in a variety of contexts over the last couple of weeks I have found it varying between affably entertaining and rather annoying. There is something just a little bit too self-satisfied in Atom's skill at rendering latin tropes digitally and a lack of a real urge to go beyond that in anything other than a superficial way, and only Friedman's remixing lifts this beyond the mundane.
