Apollon {aleatorical}

ISonomu Erkki Luuk

Kicking off with some distorted chords and reversed/time-stretched vocals growling, 'Aleatorical' is the kind of album you'd want to spin on parties to deplete the dance floor with a contemptuous statement. An ingenious album, with no conventions at sight, no particular style, no nothing beyond the composition laying its dark polymorphic experimental egg into rhythm and ambient alike. The result is a ghastly hybrid with historical/mythical connotations clanking in titles likes 'Kathumi', 'Questions of King Milinda' et al. These are in turn supported by hidden radio mantras and something of the sort buried deep in the mix. The demoniac who probably did this hasn't left us many clues, nor have we much to compare it with, making the recording all the more indispensable. Tracks like 'Another American Flag' and 'The Rape of The Lock' carry the potential of the darkest minimal dance music imaginable, countless others just spook their listener on sight. In either way, it works, and vocal parts and exertions of the sort of 'Scorpion Factory pt3', 'Still Numb', 'Love, Wisdom and Will', 'The Rape of The Lock' and others are especially welcome.

Bis!
 

feastofhateandfear.com
This could have been one of the best CDs I've gotten in some time. A sort of Muslimgauze (of which Apollon composer Martin Lee-Stephenson had collaborated with on a few occasions before Bryn Jones' untimely passing) meets Autechre. Mantras, eastern instrumentation (or Australian, as in digeridoo), blips, static, hum and a beat. There is one major, major flaw. I have never found myself removing a CD from any power electronics, noise, ambient, glitch-techno or IDM, but I actually took it out to see if it was damaged. The volume goes up and down constantly, which is terribly annoying! Sometimes it's totally turned down, other times it's turned up so loud it peaks the speakers. And I do understand glitch-techno, but here the skips and pops seem really out of place, though plainly contrived. After "Issac the Blind" - a minimalist IDM track - it almost stops, or at least gets better. "Another American Flag" was the closest thing to what Timbaland has been doing (without the hip-hop vocals - or any vocals for that matter). I actually like it that I can't figure out if "I've Been Here Before" is a warped jazz record or a slowed-down recording of flies swarming. The final track "Love, Wisdom and Will" fits it's New Age title as it's a 13 minute low hum of ambient soundscapes.



Doppler 20:20 {art électrique}

Outburn 12 - May 2000 - Audioclectica (Rodent EK)

With an analog ambience, tinkering electronic textures, and drum 'n' bass beats, this debut release from Martin Lee-Stephenson's Doppler 20:20 tints the audio airwaves with a wide, yet cohesive, array of captivating experimental tracks. While the stiff spitfire snares and bouncing ball electonics of "Changing" and "Diary of a Lost Man" are maddening, this well balanced album contains more accessible tracks such as "Sine Gentleman Please" and "Sharp Shame". But perhaps the strength of Art Electrique comes from the much more dub organc and occasionally creepy atmospheres of "And Now Where", "Cantankerous" and "Bed Spring". Like a sucessful artist's gallery showing, everyone will have their personal favourite from Art Electrique.

100 years of low electrique art(gg)
London's Martin Lee-Stephenson is a prolific producer who appears to adopt a separate alias for each new concept. His solo and combo credits, including projects with pop singers, dub dissidents, world-music illuminati, and eccentric vocalists, make for quite a dossier.For those keeping track, Doppler 20:20 is one of Lee-Stephenson’s preferred pseudonyms—meaning only that he's used the name more than twice since the debut ART ELECTRIQUE. ART ELECTRIQUE defies easy characterization, but this tends to be a given with Lee-Stephenson's work. The album, created in part with Dave Milea and Law & Auder label cohort Phil Earle, is best approached as a single, evolving soundscape. Doppler 20:20's glittering, FX-laden digitalia morph into slippery ambient-techno environments ("Dada"), unsettling sample collages ("Cantankerous"), spiky, splintered breakbeat jolts ("Changing"), and lushly melodic drum-and-bass ("Sine Gentlemen Please" the wraith-riddled "Sharp Shame"). Eastern sensibilities and convoluted, dub-styled treatments infuse "Bed Spring," "Diary of a Lost Man","Me in Carnation" and "Seed". Lee-Stephenson seems intent on providing a complex and beguiling electronica experience rather than a cobbled-together collection of floor-filler trax. ART ELECTRIQUE succeeds, ending with "And Now Where", a dark, disorienting ambient construct and a question only Lee-Stephenson can answer.

The Wire - February 1997(Rob Young)
Drenched in digital FX module obsessiveness, and clothed in a design by Mat Pyke (brother of Freeform's Simon) this ought by rights to fit squarely in the Worm Interface/Sheffield electronica camp. It does, only it's enriched by a germ of dub which seeds itself in tracks like "Bed Spring" and "Me In Carnation". "sine Gentleman Please" is a transcedent take on Aphex/Sqrpsr-style burp-beats, a tactic thta's rapidly losing its appeal. But inventive, tactile musical vision makes this worth seeking out.



Doppler 20:20 {Klanfarbenmelodie}



Alternative Press 130 May 1999 Dave Segal

Martin Lee-Stephenson masterminds this project and all who've heard his cuts on Law & Auder's two Avantgardism comps and its Eastwestercism collection know that his name guarantees quality. On Klangfarbenmelodie, Doppler 20:20 melds funk, drum & bass and classical minimalism into ingenious hybrids that show their roots, but in drastically altered forms.
"Studies In Scarlet" is a relentless, high-steppin' funk number accentuated with piercing sine waves. "weird Goin' Down" is a subtle, organic-sounding drum & bass track of impressive complexity (like Squarepusher, Lee-Stephenson plays bass). The mesmerizing "False Ratio" sets a Philip Glass-like minimalist motif against a slanted militaristic rhythm. "amen For Orchestra" posits what an early Stecve Reich composition would sound like threaded through a jungle track. "differnet Waves For A Paved Beach" integrates Indonesian gamelan into an intricate latticework of beats (talk about Eastwestercism). East conjugates fortuitiously with West again on "Babu Bubble", which loops a whining sitar snippet over a crackling foundation of exotic beats. "Where's The Funk?" answers its own question, albeit unconventionally (the rhythm's more Tony Williams than Clyde Stubblefield). "Just Friendly Voices" is the funkiest cut here, made all the more striking for its sampled foreign tribal chant. Such idiosyncratic touches, along with Doppler 20:20's nuanced programming and superior playing skills, make for an album of rare depth.
 

 

Exclaim Chris Twomey
This is a very nice breaks-oriented CD from Martin Lee-Stephenson, which was released last March (1998) in the UK but now has North American distribution. Stephenson has appeared under various names and collaborations on the Law & Auder compilations Avantgardism 1 and 2, EastWestercism and Minimalism. This, his second CD, features "The Avantgardist" from Avantgardism 1. He's also remixed Sons Of The Subway, Cranium HF and others. Doppler 20:20's quality listening-type drum & bass and funky breaks tracks will appeal to fans of Spring Heel Jack or Ninja Tune-type producers. "Amen For Orchestra" cleverly combines minimalist patterns with drill-ish effects. And he gets into world fusion with a Gamelan vibe on "Different Waves For A Paved Beach"; Indian sounds on "Babu Bubble"; Afro chants in "Just Friendly Voices"; and Inuit samples amongst the syncopated beats of "Throat Song." Remixes from this CD will be part of D.O.R.'s "The Organic / Electronic" series of twelve-inches.

The Wire - July 1998 Rob Young
Named after Stockhausen's theory of the synaesthesia of sound and colour, Klangfarbenmelodie notably contains "Amen For Orchestra", a deconstruction of the most famous Jungle breakbeat. Martin Lee-Stephenson, aka Doppler 20:20, may be joshingly cocking snooks at the early electronic pioneeres, but his own music is as fresh sounding as anything else in the pile this month. Where so much UK Electronica can be wearingly dour and wilfully non-committal, his music trample-samples a host of sources and rides on bold beats. "Babu Babble" hijacks an Indian violin and holds it hostage underneath a Photeky break; "strung Up" yokes in some ionospheric orchestral strings; "False Ratio" finds hom programming drum machines the way Jaki Liebezeit plays on "Vitamin C".

Variant - March 1998 Robert H King
Martin Lee-Stephenson (aka Doppler 20:20) has surpassed the dub induced electro of last years phenomenal "Art Electrique" with his latest offering of symphonic collage experimentation. "Klangfarbenmelodie" is a collection of ethnically tinged smooth grooves, enchanting minimalism and haunting melodics all suffused with Stephensonís unique take on breakbeats and drum 'n' bass. Many club and DJ magazines are bemused with Doppler 20:20's approach and even confused as to what "review section" to file it under, such single mindedness epitomises all that is wrong with this countrys so called "experimental dance scene" in that it misses or is to blinkered to see the bigger picture. 1998 is a very exciting time for electronica / electronic music as the majority of those participating and creating refuse to be grounded in any hampering genre tagging and within the eleven tracks of Klangfarbenmelodie we have a perfect example of this refreshing approach to embrace and cultivate all musical fields. Thus Stephenson shifts with ease from the serene keyboard wash and ecstatic rhythms of "Weird goin' down" to the Gamelan inspired loops of "Different waves for a paved beach". Skip buying the fashion centric club mags for one week and buy this instead you wont regret it.

Mixmag - March 1998 Toby Manning
MELDING techno, world music, minimalist classical music, and the Krautrock (sic) suggested by the title, Martin Lee-Stephenson's second album is full of interesting ideas, but isn't quite so convincing in its execution. The open-ended motorik drum n' bass of "Weird Goin' Down" and the Tortoise-like atmospheric, xylophone tablas and strings of "Different Waves For A Paved Beach" never quite fulfil their promise. If "Beach" sounds like it should be a track on a Philip Glass record, "Amen For Orchestra", with its child-like key and string figures is definitely a kind of drum n' Glass, and one of the strongest tracks on the album. But most of the tracks here are half-developed, either taking too long to get to the point ("False Ratio") or drifting away from it too soon ("Strung Up";"Babu Bubble", with its scratchy strings and tamboura intro). In between are just too many characterless numbers ("Studies In Scarlet", "Just Friendly Voices").
 

DJ Magazine - 14-28 Feb 1998
An eclectric mish mash of sparse drum & bass, electronica and breakbeat ( of a kind ) results in an interesting and at times, quite mesmerising album from this band's second release.

Digipleasures - no 4 1998 Van Staart (Dutch)
Als stoomtreinen zouden rijden met een triphopbeat als ritmebox en huun stoom zouden afblazen in spoortunnel waarvan de binnenkant zwart ziet van de koolstofspetters, dan zou dat hetzelfde klinken als Studies In Scarlet, het openingsnummer van deze bijzondere CD. Hiermee is meteen de sfeer gezet van de CD. Triphop, drum 'n' base, ambiente achtergroonden, em wierde samples en vervlogen teksten vliegen over en weer. Gitaar, synths, drumcomputers, violen en ook echte drums worden niet geschuwd in dit meersterwerkje. Het meest lijkt de musiek op David Holmes en oop een rustige versie van Photek of Squarepusher, alleen is de muziek veel voller, en wordt er meer nadruk op ambient gelegd dan op het drum 'n' bass-gehalte. En dit komt het album alleen maar ten goede, er is veel meer variatie waardoorhet album tot het laatste moment blijft boeien. Luister bijvoorbeeld naar juweeltjes als False Ratio, Throat Song, Amen For Orchestra en Where's The Funk? Het duurt even een tijdje tot de kwaliteit tot je kale schedeldak, maar als dat eenmaal het geval is ...... oeoeoeoehhh! 8.0

Gonzo Circus - July/Aug 98 Axel Claeys (Flemish)
Deze twee, al lang aangekondige, releases op het avontuurlijke D.O.R.-label zijn een buitenbeentje in de allesoverheersende dictatuur van de danscultuur. Doppler 20:20 ofte Martin Lee Stephenson mixt een combinatie van drums, bass en keyboards tot een toegankelijke luisterbreakbeat- cocktail. Daarbij bezondigt hij zich niet aan een overdaad ans drums en kiest hij voor goed uitgekiende ritmes. Opvallend is de sterke productie en de uitgesproken functie van de bijgeluiden. Soms opteert hij voor een oosterse invalshoek ('Babba Bubble', 'Throat Song', 'Different Waves For A Paved Beach') dan klinkt het geheel weer iets industrancieler ('Studies In Scarlet') om verlogens (te) zemzoete synths te gebruiken. Maar dat ka het feest niet bederven, terwijl iedereen z'n hardste best doet om zoveel mogelijk op mekaar te lijken creeert Stephenson een eigen geluid. Niet meteen de gemkkelijkste weg maar door die originaliteit groeit 'Klangfarbenmelodie' naarmate het aantal luisterbeurten stijgt.

Senzor Oct-Dec 98 Jan Willem Broek (Dutch)
Het D.O.R. -label brengt vaak electronische muziek uit, die ver boven de middelmaat uitstijgt. Dit is zeker het geval met de cd 'Klangfarbenmelodie'. Doppler 20:20, ofwel Martin Lee-Stephenson lat op deze tweede cd een breed scala aan geluiden en stijlen horen. Ambient-achtige geluidsweefsels dienen als onderstroom, waarin jungle, drum 'n' bass, trance en klassieke en vele etnische invloeden drijven. In 'Wierd Goin' Down' is op mooie wijze een This Mortal Coil- sample verwerkt. Het geheel doet wel denken aan het Transglobal Underground zijproject Auntie Horror Film. De cd kenmerkt zich door uitgedachte ritmes, origineele samples en combinaties en ie één van de betere in het dance-genre.



Doppler 20:20

- “One Small Step”

Avantgardism Vol. 2

1997

Drum n Bass / Abstract

Although he’s worked in a number of genres in the past 30-plus years that range anywhere from ambient, to trance, to acid house, to breakbeat hardcore, to trip hop, and more, London’s Martin Lee-Stephenson has had a foot firmly planted in the worlds of jungle and drum n bass pretty much ever since jungle first emerged in the UK in the early 90s. From starting out with the jungle group, Law & Auder, to working in the dnb/power pop trio, Moondogg, his jungle and dnb work appears to have run the full spectrum between weird and conventional. But Stephenson has always loved the weird, and sometimes that weird mixes with his dnb and spills over into one of his few solo aliases, Doppler 20-20.

Doppler 20-20 isn’t strictly dnb, though. Really, it’s mostly just abstract and experimental stuff. Stephenson kicked off the project in 1996 with his first Doppler album, Art Électriqué, released on his own little label, December Dawn. That same year, following its disbandment, Law & Auder relaunched as a label and quickly became known for its thematic, double-disc various artist compilations, all of which had an experimental or abstract streak to them, and were mostly comprised of idm and dnb tracks. Stephenson would contribute a wild, nearly seven-and-a-half-minute piece of abstract dnb to Law & Auder’s Avantgardism Vol. 2, in 1997 called “One Small Step.”

While both its title and its opening sample of Neil Armstrong’s famed “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” quote might lead you to think that this track sounds like space exploration, you’d be wrong, because rather than flying itself to the moon, “One Small Step” appears to be burrowing itself far beneath the ground instead. In fact, most of this song sounds like my man did a wee bit too many hits o’ acid and got himself trapped in one of those subterranean levels from Super Mario All Stars for a few hours. But rather than having that sharp and metallic melody of synth stabs from the SMAS score, Stephenson uses soft double bass tones instead. And to drive that Super Mario idea even further, he inserts a couple things that sound an awful lot like effects from the games, as well as a two-note tag of tweeting chimes that resembles when Mario is doing his numismatic thing. Truth be told, I guess one could construe this whole song as Stephenson’s own conception of what Super Mario music could be, but on drugs, because it’s also full full of harried drum n bass stutters, assorted bleeps n bloops, random noises, and stabs of staticky distortion, too.

Let Martin Lee-Stephenson write a video game score, please.

​

Moondogg {God's Wallop}



Outburn 16 Stacy Meyn

TRIP-HOP, BREAKBEAT PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE AND UNIVERSE: Moondogg are Derwood Andrews ( a founding member of Geneartion X) and Elizabeth Rose Westwood. As Westworld, the duo scored the chart-topper "Sonic Boom Boy". Now Moondogg, they are accompanied by producer Martin Lee Stephenson and special guest drum loop specialist Rat Scabies (The Damned). God's Wallop continues the vein of misery established by the acclaimed debut Fat Lot of Good. Sedona-tinged slide guitar (Andrews has resided in Arizona for years) slithers under Westwood's brittle vocals, littered with the urban speed beats of London and Los Angeles, provided by Stephenson. They practice catharsis through sound, each track jumping between admonishment and plea. Opener "Power Trip" is practically an instrumental with the almost Native American style chant of "I had to let you go". "Blood is on our Hands" could be from an even more tightly wound Portishead if they were brandishing jittery guitars. "Catch My Love" leaps swiftly into breakbeat paces and sneering vox. Follow with titles like "That Chill", "I'm Still Bleeding" and "Nothing's Sacred" and you get the blunt idea. The wicked beats and words of "Loaded Gun" are a half step away from a gonna-off-myself country classic. Alternately, "Righteous Life" is downright cheery - then "American Horse" blitzes on in and out, leaving one wondering what's really bugging Moondogg.