negative pH

NEGATIVE PH
Liminal Space
(Self-released)

With their first collaborative effort, Negative pH is already headed for commercial success. Armed with drum-and-bass techno rhythms and the raw intensity of a Casio keyboard on Redbull, Mike B and Isotope (Josh Fanene) bring back the days when clubs filled with people dancing to techno and rave. "Propaganda" evokes visions of Lords of Acid dancing in your head. But, unlike LOA, they change it up very fast. "Thalassa" starts ocean waves that evoke the Chariots of Fire theme, while "Eroica" exudes a Forest For the Trees/electronica/rainforest/tribal sound, and "Narkotique" reveals a Robert Miles influence. More, "Pressure" starts off very KLF and Utah Saints, but then enter techno rap. This album teases and tantalizes, and makes you want more. -- Allie Shaw - Hyperactive Music Magazine

‘Fully automatic drums’ and ‘a galaxy of gorgeous bass’ is only a metaphorical glimpse of powerhouse dimensions the drum’n’bass musical genre covers. There are many electronic bands that attempt to fill clubs with their pumping drum’n’bass sounds but few do it as well and as forthcoming as ‘negative pH’ does.

Warning! You are about to enter a world of ingenuity and brilliant craftsmanship.

‘Reanimation’ is a perfected current of fast paced drums and smashing bass that know no boundaries. With abstract effects filling the beginning sequence 'negative PH' pushes us into a wonderland of mood prodding bass and transcending effects that will leave the audience breathless. An entourage of smooth strings near the middle is the perfect mood defining touch to this masterpiece. There is little one can do but dance without shame or sit back and soak in the beautiful structure of this song. If this song were an object it would probably be a bulletproof vest. The best quality of this jam is that it is capable of prodding several contradicting moods in the human mind simultaneously. Aggression, exhilaration, and relaxation name a few. A barrage of metaphors and adjectives couldn’t possibly explain this song fully. If you are into drum’n’bass you should absolutely hear this song.

The skill and craftsmanship displayed by ‘negative PH’ is refreshing in this sometimes bland genre. One can’t help but sense a bright future for this up-and-coming duo.

Charisma: 8.50
Technical Skill: 8.50
Structure: 9.50
Interest: 8.50
Performance: 9.00
Arrangement: 9.00
Recording Quality: 9.50
Long Term Appeal: 8.00
OVERALL: 8.80 - Gods of Music

November 9, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Concert, CD boost local bands

Doug Elfman

On Thursday, a bunch of local bands head over to GameWorks to play an all-ages show. The bands on the bill are also on a local album called "Support Your Local Scene," although the full title of the CD has a curse word in it that won't get past my editors.

If you are saying to yourself, "I didn't even know that Las Vegas had a local music scene," then you are pretty much right on the money. There aren't many local bands in Vegas, considering this is a metropolis.

That's partly because there are very few all-ages venues in town. But Jillian's at Neonopolis and GameWorks have jumped into the all-ages fray, which is dominated by the House of Blues. The Huntridge Theatre is all-ages, but it's closed for the year for renovations.

The compilation album was put out by a student organization called The UNLV Polar Bear Club, which exists for local-music. The most striking thing about the 21-song disc is that it has a wide range of musical styles on it. There's metal, punk, alternative-folk music and hip-hop.

The best song, Negative pH's electronic DJ track "Propaganda," is good enough for a major-label album; the second half of the song is shockingly fun. Dirty Sanchez's "Rage & Anger" is a nice, grimy punk rock song that would have been perfect for slam dancing. And Infa Red's "Kart-Wheelz" has urgency in its rap.

There are some other decent songs, as well as some bad songs. But let's cut the CD a break. It's nice to see someone trying to help local music.

Thursday's lineup includes the bands GDB (ska), Jr. Anti Sex League (rock), A Beginner's Mind (pop-rock), Zerofingers (metal) and MC Randumb and Jewish Dave from the hip-hopping Polar Bear MC's.

Jewish Dave is Dave Rosen. He formed Polar Bear two years ago. He also works as a "lifestyle marketing representative" for one of the major music labels. That means he promotes major artists' new CDs in Vegas.

Rosen put out the album three months ago, but he's just now getting the concert together, because it took that long to book an all-ages venue.

"That's the big problem in our local scene," he says. "I can book a show 21-and-up anywhere in town. ... But the tough thing is all-ages."

The all-ages tag is important. Without it, attendance falls, and interest during a concert dwindles.

"The all-ages show always seem to way outnumber" 21-and-up shows in turnout, Rosen says. "The over-21 crowd just seems to be there to gamble and drink."

So we need more all-ages venues. That's my soapbox for today. Thursday's show starts at 7 p.m. The $6 cost includes a $5 game card and a copy of the CD. That's at GameWorks, 3785 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

Doug Elfman's Night Beat column appears Tuesdays. - Las Vegas Review Journal

Negative pH is one of the most creative duo's that I've come across in my experiences with the online music scene. I know both of these guys for several years now, and personally, I feel that they have just scratched the surface in their unique production. They combine a sense of drum and bass along with ambient pads, hard rhythmic breaks, mind bending textures and shifts that make a person wonder where this style of music has been hiding among the other 1,523,638 styles of different electronic music. Hmmm, creating a style that's not neccesarily a style, that's quite an acheivement... and I feel that these two can do more than just pull that concept off, they can combine their talents to slap the word "genre" right out of the musical dictionary alltogether.

ARTIST INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. How long have you guys been creating music?

Josh: Since 2001, I think

Mike: According to one of Liminal Space's (our first track working together as Negative pH) individual track recordings... the created date says December 6th 2001. So somewhere around there.

2. How'd it first come about with you two working together?

Josh: Mike emailed me and this other guy I was working with. Said he liked my music (the other guy didn't do too much, really). So we met out at the barracks he lived in Helemano Hawaii. Stuff went rather slow at first, and we didn't really click until the third wheel got dropped.

Mike: Yeah, initially we did a lot of work together with Josh's old label. Generally radio commercials, small recording gigs, stuff like that. Then about 6 months after that I called him up and said "Hey man, uh, I noticed that when you and I make a track, its like a million times better than anything that we do solo so… want to work on some stuff?" and that's how we got started.

3. Army brat's eh? Who got into more trouble during their stay w/ Uncle Sam?

Josh: most definitely me. I got my start in electronic music from going to raves, clubs like the Buzz at the Capitol Ballroom in D.C., and hedonistic after-hours get togethers on the east coast

Mike: Yeah, I generally was able to talk myself out of any trouble that I got myself into, but from the stories he tells, Josh definitely did the craziest shit in the military out of the two of us.

4. Who works on what? Do you guys have specific parts of songs that you work on (i.e. Mike works on hats and pads, Josh works on kick drums and leads, etc.)?

Josh: I usually come up with the melodies, pads, rhythms. I think I turned mike on to the ethnic sounding drum stuff like Capoeira skins, and Japanese Taiko, Polynesian wooden drum patterns, that sort of thing.

Mike: I've always been a beat oriented guy, working a lot with breaks and crazy IDM type stuff, and generally my melodies were very simple riff type things... That's one reason why I think Josh and I work so well together because he writes this beautiful, complicated string/pad sequences and I usually put in the beats, effects, transitions and most of the underlying rhythm stuff and the end product usually is a very well rounded track.

5. So, you guys both lived in paradise, what's the best and worst part of living in Hawaii?

Mike: The best part is the fact that it doesn't get hot, and it doesn't get cold. It's just right all year around. Also the girls, Hawaii has some of the hottest chicks on the planet, and I was lucky enough to snatch up one of them for myself (my fiancé, Maile) the worst things, if you like driving, forget it. Number one, half the streets in the downtown area are one way so if you miss your turn plan on driving for a while before being able to turn around, plus just traffic congestion in general sucks. Also, no road trips. You can drive for four hours and end up right back where you left off. Overall it isn't bad and I can bitch too much about the living expenses only because I was in the military the whole time but Josh can vouch for that end for sure.

Josh: Fuck, it's expensive. Hawaii's cost of living is high and the wages are low. Land, food, and fuel are much higher than most places in the mainland. It's hard to find a good job even with a degree unless that degree is in social work, education, medicine/nursing, and I.T. The main good thing about Hawaii depends on what you like to do. If all you want out of life is to live with 3 generations of your family until you're forty, work in the service industry (hotels, restaurants, retail) and make at most $10.00 hourly, and then go out to blow your weeks paycheck on lap dances and "massage" parlors--Hawaii's great! But since that's not my thing, and the arts scene out here is really anorexic (people still listen to booty!).

6. You both don't live in Hawaii any more do you?

Mike: Yeah, I'm in Vegas right now. Trying to get my life back on track here.

Josh: I'll be moving to San Francisco on October 28th.

7. How does that work? Making music so far away from each other?

Josh: Lately, we haven't been doin - RadioAid.com