Hrvatski - Oiseaux 96-98

Keith Fullerton Whitman is Hrvatski. These days he generally records under his given name, but in the mid to late nineties he was creating drum'n'bass experiments that blew minds if you were lucky enough to find them. In this case, he produced the Oiseaux 96-98 album which compiles tracks he recorded from, guess what, 96 to 98! The easiest thing to compare this to would be Big Loada era Squarepusher, but that's not giving Keith the credit he is due. A graduate of Berklee, Keith infused the d'n'b rhythms of the amen loop with field recordings, krautrock stylings, noise, abstract designs and a curious love of birds. Oh yeah, and a really spaced-out remix of Pink Floyd's Cirrus Minor. All that said, he also made killer d'n'b tracks that will melt your speakers.

I can't do Hrvatski justice in text, so I'm just going to post this album for you to absorb. This was released in 1999 on Keith's own label, Reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge, and sold out two pressings lightning quick. It, and just about everything else he released on his own, has been out of print since, although he still has some releases available on Mike Paradinas' Planet Mu label and most releases under his own name are easily available, although they are far more sparse and experimental, usually focusing on processed guitar with field recordings. You can read more about Keith/Hrvatski at his extremely detailed official site, which will give you info about a number of his collaborations and alises.

If there were ever an album I wanted people to hear more than Crazy Wisdom Masters or God's Foot, it's this. Please take the time to download this one as it truly mind-blowing. This is a brand new rip from an original copy of the CD in V0 for optimal quality, so don't be concerned about the confines of MP3 in this case. Keith has tried to reissue this a few times over the years, once in a deluxe package with other tracks from this period and another time on vinyl, but none of these attempts have come to fruition. Maybe people think this is a dated sound, but I honestly believe this album rises out of the stereotype of drum'n'bass as there is nothing simple or pedestrian about the tracks. Again, the easiest comparison is Squarepusher, but that doesn't tell you anything other than there are beats. There is SO MUCH MORE here than just beats!

Hrvatski - Oiseaux 96-98
NOTE: Please download both files. You need both to unzip the album.
Part One
Part Two