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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Rupert Parkes launched the Photek project in 1994, after a mediocre career as a DJ and several singles under different pseudonyms (Code of Practice, Aquarius, Studio Pressure, Truper, Sentinel). With Photek, he aimed to experiment within the drum'n'bass genre, particularly drawing on his jazz experiences.
Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu and Fifth Column (Two Swords Technique, 1997) are actually inspired by Japanese martial arts and are not very suitable for dancing. U.F.O. (Metalheadz) and Into The 90s (Metalheadz) do not show particular taste. What made Photek famous is the highly cinematic drum'n'bass of the EP The Hidden Camera (Virgin, 1996), not so much the machine-gun breaks of KJZ but the title track adorned with spectral effects (jazzy piano chimes, languid ambient drones from electronic keyboards).
The two historic singles were collected on Risc Vs. Reward (Virgin, 1997).
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Modus Operandi (Astralwerks, 1997) is a triumph of recording techniques.
The all-instrumental tracks employ massive doses of sampling and electronics.
Photek's music has three elements to it. First comes the dance, which is never
pure energy, and it is often drowned in metaphysical atmospheres.
Hidden Camera builds a hypnotic texture of
neurotic drum'n'bass drumming, jazzy bass lines and sparse piano notes, then
lets cosmic drones and ambient strings sail on top of it.
The most propulsive track, Trans 7, is inhabited by a multitude of
subliminal electronic effects and is continuously changing below the
tribal surface.
Second, the psychological aspect, part Alfred Hitchcock and part noir.
Minotaur mixes disquieting tidbits of animal voices and metallic
reverbs coming from the sewers.
124, possibly the standaout here, has anemic beats immersed in gothic
humming of the bass and languid waves of synthesizers.
Finally, Photek loves to flirt with jazz and the avantgarde.
The syncopated synthesizer theme of
Aleph 1 is a bunch of androids dancing on a desert moon.
Modus Operandi is carried by a latin-jazz piano theme over a backdrop
of soul strings.
KJZ is a cross between a free-jazz jam for bass and drums and a
rock and roll drums solo.
The limit of Photek's rhythmic poems is that they often sound artificial and
cold.
(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Some singles from 1994–96 (in particular Seven Samurai, Rings Around Saturn, UFO, The Water Margin) and some previously unreleased remixes were collected on Form And Function (Astralwerks, 1998), and they show, all in all, how futile trends can be. The remixes on this album are embarrassingly banal: anyone equipped with this kind of electronic and digital machinery could produce remixes like these (though perhaps few would produce remixes so unoriginal). Both Book Of Changes and First Sequence are missing, which were perhaps the best of his early singles (and his masterpieces along with The Hidden Camera and Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu).
When he has the right inspiration, Photek is one of the postmodern intellectuals of the dance floor, but perhaps no one before him had ever managed to make dance music so boring.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
If Photek's previous albums had promoted him from drum'n'bass dj to avantgarde jazz composer,
Solaris (Source, 2000)
is a tribute to the music he left behind.
A techno album as he has never made before (Glamourama,
it revitalizes the genre while remaining true to Photek's neurotic aesthetics.
A few songs (Mine To Give, Can't Come Down) are truly songs (i.e.,
with a singer), a direct link to Chicago house.
A little drum'n'bass (Terminus) and a little trip-hop (Lost Blue
Heaven) prove his technical skills.
It only lacks the bold vision of early Photek.
Form And Function Vol 2 (2007) is another collection of remixes and
rarities.
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