I had Nerve's Prohibited Beatz and i think EP2. Now it looks like there is a whole pile of their stuff.
It is interesting, i actually prefer to watch video of him playing, than to listen to a record. Kind of the same way i feel about the Bad Plus Aphex Twin cover and stuff like that.
Like, the point of it is that it is played live, and i don't really get too much from just listening to the recording of it. There is too little to differentiate it from just normal 'premade' electronic/dnb stuff.
In a way i think this makes it even better, because it is one of those things that really there isn't a substitute for watching it. On the other hand, it may also indicate that to me, as amazing a drummer as Mayer is, in the end, maybe he is moastly just making kind of dull D'n'B tunes. Like, maybe he needs some crazier collaborators or something.
Like even here, as awesome as this is, the bass player is what is holding it back from really being something insane. It is like he is afraid to fuck up the song, so he just keeps doing the same sorts of things over and over, while on the other hand Mayer is willing to and does go completely out there more than a few times, fuckups and all. I mean it kind of makes sense, as this appears to be some sort of Sonor drums exhibition thing, with the focus therefore more on Jojo Mayer and his drumkit than on crazy drum and bass music, but really, this is kind of the same feeling i got from the records also, broken up in parts and sections with some pretty fucking cool sounds/playing.
I should probably catch up with the newer stuff they have done though.
Just the same, i would like to see Mayer do something with someone properly goofballs and able to match him with the ability to push out from the structure of things in places. Isn't Squarepusher a bass player? Or what about someone like Bill Laswell?
