This disc is different. Nearly 70 tracks (35 slabs of vinyl and at least 35 "third records"). Lollapalooza-like crowd noise. Bass maxed out to the point of muddiness, though the bins at LR are quite clean. A quirky track selection that I enjoy, but that doesn't really bring out the most of Mill's set development capabilities. The set basically hangs in at 150-160BPM throughout all three segments, except for the -8 / thumbdrag wind down into X-102 Intro or the transitionless slam into the Mayday history lesson of an audibly worn, tried but true Strings Of Life.

Along with Beltram, pre-Plastik Hawtin, wicked Damon Wild et al, the trackselection includes a heapin' helping of Mills' own children, and justifiably so. I find it fascinating to simultaneoulsy hear Mills as artist and interpreter, bypassing the 1200's, mixers and bassbins for the CD listener so that we can hear exactly how he intended these grooves to be interleaved. Two simple minimalist mantras like Growth and Suspense do a thing of beauty make when overlaid and underwoven at Mills' hand. Even with creatures that aren't peas in a pod, like Hawtin's acid growler Overkill and the simple off kilter bleep of iO's, Eternal Sun, Mills stacks to good effect. He even collects the offering from those whom we alternatively classify as JM peers or wannabees, Surgeon and Claude Young. Respect.

Though not all the mixes are flawless, it's great to have Mills' technical turntable wizardry in a CD format that allows multiple cue and reviews for maximum appreciation. All we need now is an interactive CD-Interactive with video. The mixing is frenzied, aggressive, in your face and cocky, and there are plenty of tricks to be found. He can hit the bottom of the EQ so hard that the bottom drops out. Mills loves the backspin as transition glue, and he can crank it back very, very fast. He vollies back and forth between percussion and squelch with as much heat and frantic energy as a carnival in Rio. A simple driving house groove becomes a wicked razzmatazz rope-a-dope beneath the skilled hand of the Purpose Maker. When he drops a crowd favorite like Changes Of Life, he does it as a tease, allowing just a whiff of the well ridden track. He plays knick-knack-paddywhack with the Surgeon's goods, starting and stopping on the dime. Mills wickedly timestretches the vinyl to coax growling scary monsters and purring kitty kats out of the mix. The tricks are flashy and exciting, but it's the mixes that really improve with repeated listening. It's common knowledge that Mills does things with the wheels that 95% of the general public can't even perceive in real time, and if the number of subleties that keep creeping out of these mixes with each playing is any indication, I'll be popping this CD in frequently for some time.

1996. all rights reserved, all wrongs reversed.

Jeff Davis (pHlow)

jjdavis@xnet.com

http://www.xnet.com/~jjdavis/