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- Date Released: November 7, 2006
- Genre: Electronic
- Style: Electronic Ambient, Electronic Experimental
- Label: Staubgold / Finetunes
Sonic meditational aid gets remixed by some of experimental electronica’s finest
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We Say...
The Buddha Machine is a small, battery-powered contraption which acts as a sonic meditational aid — gently exuding its lo-fi balm through the public and private spaces of Asia. When Christiaan Virant and Zhang Jian of Chinese duo FM3 decided to bend its entry-level technology to their own creative will, they kick-started a cult in experimental rock circles, and soon everyone from Brian Eno to Blixa Bargeld was singing the praises of this life-enhancing gadget. Jukebox Buddha puts together an entirely beguiling sequence of remixes by such illustrious devotees of the FM3 machine, as SunnO))), Adrian Sherwood and an uncharacterically blissed-out Bargeld. "Turn it on and forget about it" urges Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pelinek and Hanno Leichtmann's "BuddhaMachineCommercial." And the subliminal echo of those wah-wah pedal ads which used to turn up on old psychedelic compilations is entirely apt. By reasserting a nostalgic, pre-iPod ideal of how much music can properly be contained within a tiny box, Jukebox Buddha magically reanimates the '60's counter-cultural fantasy of Eastern mysticism.
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They Say...
One of the early-21st century's musical fetish items in the West was actually a fairly popular device in China for some years beforehand -- the Buddha Machine, a small speaker used for broadcasting snippets from Buddhist sutras on constant loops. After a number of them were reprogrammed by FM3 with their own sonics and fell into the hands of folks like Brian Eno, new ideas came to the fore -- thus Jukebox Buddha, featuring 15 acts using the modified device to create their own compositions. Less dedicated to the idea of employing the revamped Buddha Machine as an instrument than as a vehicle for reinterpreting and murkily looping musical elements, Jukebox Buddha is suffused with echo and fuzzy warmth, applying the intentionally minimal, basic sound of the device to each band's general aesthetic. Starting with Wang Fan's contrast of human voice with drones, "Xuanzhuan de Tuolounidi," the album flows like shadows over a concrete-covered urban vacant lot during a slow sunset, with the occasional lighter moments far outweighed by the darker ones. The aggressive collage of whines, found-sound recording, and electronic screeches on Aki Onda's "The Buddha in New York" could soundtrack whatever follows in the wake of Blade Runner and The Matrix, while the deep, echoing roll of Thomas Fehlmann's seemingly bottomless "Liquid Buddha" and Sunn 0)))'s "BP//Simple" show what depths can be further conjured out of the device. Gudrun Gut's slow beatfest "Rendering Buddha" and Jan Jelinek's collaborative effort with two others on the hilarious "BuddhaMachineCommercial" show two completely different ways to use the invention. Blixa Bargeld, intriguingly, does one of the gentlest efforts, "Little Yellow," consisting of little more than a minute's worth of bird calls and chirps, while Mapstation's own "Watching Paik's Video Buddha" is another brief slice of calm bliss.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Xuanzhuan De Tuoluonidi
|
5:44 |  |
| 02. | |
Gammler, Zen + Hohe Berge
|
3:53 | |
| 03. | |
The Buddha in New York
|
4:18 | |
| 04. | |
Karma-Cola
|
5:56 | |
| 05. | |
Liquid Buddha
|
3:20 | |
| 06. | |
Layer 02
|
4:59 | |
| 07. | |
Little Yellow
|
1:07 | |
| 08. | |
3 Tietä Valojen Taa
|
5:46 | |
| 09. | |
Rendering Buddha
|
4:14 | |
| 10. | |
Watching Paik's Video Buddha
|
2:22 | |
| 11. | |
BuddhaMachineCommercial
|
2:24 | |
| 12. | |
BP//Simple
|
10:06 | |
| 13. | |
A Dragon Lies Listening
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3:40 | |
| 14. | |
Winged Life
|
4:40 | |
| 15. | |
Dry Valley
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5:39 | |
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Credits
- Joe Preston - Producer // Miguel Frasconi - Glass Harp // Tom Weber - Producer // Johannes Frisch - Producer // Raz Mesinai - Engineer // Stefan Betke - Mastering // Stephen O'Malley - Producer // Jan Jelinek - Producer // Heike Aumüller - Producer // Zhang Jian - Compilation // Christiaan Virant - Compilation
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