Browse by Artist: SOYLENT GREEN

Artist:	SOYLENT GREEN
Title:	La Forza Del Destino
Label:	PLAYHOUSE (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	PLAY 018CD

"It's some 12 years now that Roman Flügel has been releasing solo music under various aliases like Acid Test, Ro70, Roman III, Roman IV, Eight Miles High, and of course Soylent Green. (Alongside his longtime partner Jörn Elling Wuttke, his various collaborative projects -- Acid Jesus, Alter Ego, Holy Garage -- go back further, at least 14 years to 1992's Remastered One.) Lots of numbers there; infinite formula for the aspiring music fan-cum-lab rat interested in cooking up his or her own acid test; plenty of potential timelines to be read out of more than a decade's worth of vinyl grooves. Dude's been so prolific that it's hard to say which of his aliases are the 'side projects,' the alter egos, so to speak, and which represent the core artistic statement. That's also the beauty of his work: its considerable range -- not eclectic-for-eclecticism's-sake, but merely inquisitive in the extreme. Soylent Green -- in which Flügel since 1995 has pursued classic, stripped-down house grooves of a decidedly Chicago bent -- sometimes felt like a side project. There were until now only a handful of records under the name anyway, and nothing like a full-length. The project felt a bit like a stylistic sorbet, the way Flügel must have cleansed his palette in between Alter Ego's main-room emphasis and Eight Miles High's more studied obscurity, crafting groovy little sketches with his eyes closed and his fingers glued to the pots and faders. Did I use the word 'classic' yet? Because this is it, hands down. Homage, revival, investigation, trip down memory lane: pick your angle, but La Forca del Destino is positively steeped in house's primitivist heyday, less holy garage than Windy City waist-winding, laid out with crisply minimalist drum programming and judicious splashes of keyboard coloring, unafraid to be melodic, but without a single extra beat or note cluttering up the proceedings. Stripped of retro's pretensions, neither resolutely analogue nor obviously digital, La Forca del Destino is classic without being throwback, simply a selection of grooves that, one suspects, have been rolling along forever, quietly circulating through a universe of circuitry, midwifed by nimble fingers turning knobs, but otherwise almost autonomous -- self-winding rhythmic miniatures, perfect little closed systems that do their thing without even being asked. Every B-movie fan knows that 'Soylent Green is people.' But this is no cannibalization. It's too idiosyncratic for that. It's acid without being 'acid,' minimal without being 'minimal'."

Artist:	SOYLENT GREEN
Title:	At The Gates
Label:	PLAYHOUSE (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$10.00
Catalog #:	PLAY 067EP

"It's been a while since the last Soylent Green record came out. 'Pass The Coke' leads off in a great funky way, clad in Hi-Tek gear and a very hypnotic effect on the dancers. A sound which goes straight to your head. Side 2 opens with this calm, nearly stoical stomper 'At The Gates'. Super-solid bassdrum, brilliant percussion, and a little echo predestine this track for the use at the start of the night on the one hand; on the other hand, it's also a good choice for the early morning hours--no question. 'Cold Showers' does not give you the feeling that you were having a cold shower, it's more like you need lots of 'Cold Showers' after dancing to it. A vehemently dashing shuffle created by Mr. Flügel and truly a monster to end this capital 3 tracker!"

Artist:	SOYLENT GREEN
Title:	La Forza Del Destino
Label:	PLAYHOUSE (GERMANY)
Format:	3LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	PLAY 124LP

Triple LP version of this Roman Flügel alias. "Homage, revival, investigation, trip down memory lane: pick your angle, but La Forca del Destino is positively steeped in house's primitivist heyday, less holy garage than Windy City waist-winding, laid out with crisply minimalist drum programming and judicious splashes of keyboard coloring, unafraid to be melodic, but without a single extra beat or note cluttering up the proceedings. Stripped of retro's pretensions, neither resolutely analogue nor obviously digital, La Forca del Destino is classic without being throwback, simply a selection of grooves that, one suspects, have been rolling along forever, quietly circulating through a universe of circuitry, midwifed by nimble fingers turning knobs, but otherwise almost autonomous -- self-winding rhythmic miniatures, perfect little closed systems that do their thing without even being asked."

Artist:	SOYLENT GREEN
Title:	La Forza Del Destino Remix
Label:	PLAYHOUSE (GERMANY)
Format:	12"
Price:	$10.00
Catalog #:	PLAY 134EP

Roman Flügel meets Matt "Radio Slave" Edwards. "La Forza Del Destino," which stems from Roman's solo album of the same name under his Soylent Green moniker, had to be lifted off the album as it is still gaining strong reactions from the dancefloor crowd. The first remix features plenty of heavy bass-shaker snare action. Very minimal, yet very effective. Flip over to side B and check out this monster again in its pure, original form. The mind-boggling robot groove will drive you insane.

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