Fax On, Fax Off

by e i n e x i l e - revision 1.34 - last updated 7/17/96

Did I steal this name from someone? Sorry if it was you!

This is an opinionated page on the Fax label and its artists. The other guide uses a system of rating accessibility and tries to take something of an objective standpoint. My purpose in compiling this list is to provide you with a comparative list based on my own taste in music. If you and I agree, maybe you write down all the 9's and 10's and go buy them from Don Weir. If you think Modula Green and Chris Meloche are shit, perhaps you'll go off in search of UVOII "Sound of Heaven" or Organic Cloud at your local incense shop. Anyway, you get the idea.

I have written reviews for a number of these releases, and for the most part posted them to the Ambient list. These are in The Bile Repository, my review archive, which is not dedicated to Fax and thus may contain a number of other useful articles. I am in the process of linking the Fax reviews, and others written specifically for this guide, into the design, for a comprehensive overview of all the Fax and related that I have heard. If you have any of these old reviews lying around, especially the ones I posted to the 4AD list (or indeed any review I have posted) would you please mail them to me? I am going to have a lot of trouble digging this old stuff up.

With the exception of the reviews, the list of comparative ratings is now current and covers the approximately 100 Fax releases I have heard as well as a number of related items.

Comparative Ratings of Fax Releases

These are arranged chronologically with regard to when I first heard each release. Since this information may reflect on my feelings toward a given release, I felt that preserving this information was worth the sacrifice of a logical order. Also, my experience with Fax has, overall, been amazing and I could hardly recommend against going down this list one purchase at a time, good or bad, and having that same experience.

Please note: a questionmark indicates that at press time I had only a vague notion of what I thought of the record in question. In such a case, the rating given is a knee jerk reaction and should not be taken very seriously. Ratings range from 1 to 9 and then X for 10 because a 10 would fuck up my columns. ;) This rating is given only to the rare gem and may on occasion be lowered to a 9 if the X's become too numerous. This does not necessarily mean I have come to think less of the release so much as it reflects my desire to use the X rating to specify only the very best releases as compared to the merely brilliant and amazing. Also, if I am ever stupid enough to buy another Transonic release, a rating of 0 may be added just to relieve my inevitable nausea.

The Guide

Related Works

Releases by artists associated with the Fax label plus whatever their collaborators might have out that I find interesting and topical. Instinct Ambient is becoming a new favorite label of late.

And as an added bonus...

My Favorite Fax Folx

While there are few people involved with the label who can be expected to put out unimpressive work, I have some favorites who i would like to list here because, generally speaking, their work is underrated and almost invisible in the shadow of the likes of Fax Gods like Tetsu Inoue and Bill Laswell.
  1. Modula Green (redruM & Mark P.)
  2. David Moufang
  3. Chris Meloche
  4. Pete Namlook
  5. Charles Uzzell Edwards
  6. David Reeves
  7. Daniel Pemberton
Apologies to anyone who is wondering what the hell it is I'm talking about. I will add more more in the way of explanation here later on for those not lucky enough to be in the know. Until then I recommend you learn more about this way cool label at Charles Uzzell Edwards' page (which is a swell place regardless).
e i n e x i l e