DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records

Total Science – Algebra / Forcefield

1997

Today we head onto a couple of artists who are probably one of the most well known, and broadest in terms of musical output and without doubt, die hard workaholics in the studio. Whereas most people who have been in the game as long as they have, may find a box of DATs or a draw of lost floppy discs, these guys may have about 50-60 houses filled floor to ceiling, with music that they created. We did venture into Total Science during C.I.A. a fair bit, and it was their work on Timeless, C.I.A and the many projects as solo artists (as Q Project & Spinback) on Legend Records, that had them destined to make an appearance on Good Looking. I’m sure Graham Mew, Invisible Man, may have provided pretty decent references too, having worked with TS at Legend Records and having already released on GLR with ‘The Bell Tune’. Needless to say, the work here has an interesting tale from my own personal perspective. 

    First of all, I really struggled with accepting the tunes on this 12” back when I was 22 years old and forever seeking the something in life. The years between then and now have provided many de-misting moments when it comes to music though. Prime example right here. Of all the Good Looking music, the Total Science work has to be the music that has turned me around, switched the way I look at things and transformed this one wilting weed into the full blooming rose of sound. The true art of the music on this plate is in its mission to rejuvenate my soul.

   ‘Algebra’ on Side A is such a fucking incredible piece of music, and how it’s grown and grown in my own appreciation of it is one I’d never thought would happen in quite the sheer volume it has. Just take the beats for example. That pattern is one completely off the norm and works in ways I’d never imagined it could. The bass pinballs along with a sincerity and well mannered respect. The pitch ups and downs were a real trademark of their work around this time, and while at the time I thought it a little cheesy, it now sits in my head as touches of spellbinding creativity. ‘Algebra’ has this knack of getting inside your mind and throwing away the key. Don’t bother looking for it though, as it’s worth storing this for the rest of your days. The main riff provides a sensation of hovering above the prey below and tensing up every muscle before releasing the expulsion of stress and floating down for a banquet of paradise. 

   Side AA slides another first class envelope through the mailbox and tows ‘Forcefield’ from its orbit and across the galaxy, burning its underbelly and streaking across the canopy of the skies below, The beats are a little more snare based, as the bass hits the key riff, and the pitch bends work their magic again. It’s incredible how most of the music on my shelf provides me with the living photos of the time. Tunes like this though, feel like it is a wiser head on my shoulders these days, as it’s not a recollection, it feel it more a deeper understanding and historical appreciation of the music. Maybe that’s the teacher in me. Like I always say to my students, “I’m open to learning just as much as you”. Listening to the two tunes on this plate are probably the most prime examples that my learning still occurs with it every time I listen to it. Even after 33 years of spinning. My own personal future is on this record. It’s only now I seem to be grasping just how fucking incredible the tunes on here are. 

   A big shout to the Total Science legends, Jason Greenhalgh and Paul Smith. I just wonder how many tunes around this era they must have made and not been released. That would be one hell of a DAT dump and with the labels out there repressing, god only knows how much they’d gift us. We’ll have more from Jason ‘Q Project’ on both GLR & LGR. Total Science could turn exceptionally good tunes to practically any label. They’ll always be top rung in that aspect.