31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

David Edwards deserves an "A" for effort on his debut full-lengthrelease as Minotaur Shock. The interplay of organic piano and guitarwith electronic instruments and sampled beats blends nicely in thisshimmery recordng of tinkling melodies and sharp rhythms. When I sawthe names Fridge and Four Tet dropped in writeups on this album,naturally my interest was piqued, but seeing those names made me expectsomething somewhat derivative of the two.
What Edwards is doing iscompletely different from the Fridge boys. It derives, however, morefrom the repetitive, glistening days of Aphex and Autechre mixed with alittle cheesiness of Isan and only a slight nod to Four Tet. While it'snot a bad thing, it is somewhat predictable, in the way that you knowthe first 40-second track is an intro, the second track will probablybe one of the strongest, and the ending will have that proverbialessence of finality to it. The production is great, the melodies arecatchy, yet I'm finding myself more interested in hearing how Edwardsdevelops as a musician. After a year of stunning electronic releases bygroups like Múm, Dntel, Ulrich Schnauss, Four Tet, and Telefon TelAviv, I'm honestly seeking out something more challenging and far moreoriginal. Keep us posted, Dave. - 

samples:

• Roman Answer
• Local Violin Shop
• Three Magpies

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

The scene is Brooklyn, NY. The time is present day (okay, 2001. This release came out last year, but I just found it for review). And the music is by... Hey! Who the heck are these guys? From Arena Rock Recording Co. comes this compilation of both unknown and well-known Brooklyn bands. And what better cause could there be but donating all the proceeds to the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition? Arena Rock has introduced us to some superior rock bands in the past, and Brooklyn has a history of being the birthplace for impressive rock. And the results are astonishing. This is, quite simply, the best 2-CD multiple band compilation I have ever heard.

Arena Rock

The established acts show off their strengths: They Might Be Giants bring a great rock record to the table, complete with quirky lyrics; Grand Mal is at their heavy-psychedelic best; Nada Surf donate a fantastic acoustic track with well-blended harmonies; and Elk City come off like Concrete Blonde with a fuzz bass. It's pretty impressive just taking the home team donations into consideration. And what about the little-heard from visitors? They hold their own, and, in some places, could teach the veterans a move or two. The Seconds come out of the gate ready to tear out your throat, with a punky Cure sound; Blasco try to break your heart with a very film noir, Giant Sand-like sound; Stereobate successfully combine Mogwai with Thurston Moore without sounding lame; and then recent Arena Rock signing The Mink Lungs want to groove you with their lo-fi slacker sound. Overall, the variety of sounds and abundance of bands make for a very disjointed but aurally pleasing mix. A great introduction to some great new bands, a worthy cause, and two CDs for one low price. Christmas can come a little early for you, too, this year. - 

samples:

• Weeds of Eden - "Radiate"
• Scout - "It's All Made Up"
• Elk City - "Three Ears"
• Stereobate - "False Porno Alarm (Surgery Mix)"

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

In the grand tradition of celebrities venturing forth from their meagerbeginnings to great acclaim and stardom, comes Claudia. Claudia, thelatest one name celebrity, the airline hostess, the actress (SaturdayNight Live, Sex and the City, and more), and now, the entertainer. Onher debut release, this CD single on Sourmash USA, Claudia introducesthe world to her voice, and opens her heart to us all.
Does shesucceed? Not all that well, no. But it IS her first release, and Isuppose we can forgive her that. This is a phenomenon that must beheard to be believed. Man, what a personality Claudia truly is. Andwhat better material to pick for sixties redux than a track popularizedby Skeeter Davis and another by Lou Reed? These songs just lendthemselves to the treatment. And Claudia has put together a fine bandfor the release, just so you know it's not a joke. Actually, the truthis the music and her voice together sound like what you can expect tohear in your favorite pub on karaoke night. And the voice that youexpect to be dazzled by is really buried in the mix, and sometimesthat's for good measure. But is that really what's important? No.Claudia is not here to show you the most beautiful voice you've everheard. Nor is she here to show you what a wonderful new approach shehas to this music. She's here to entertain you. She wants you to feelher emotions. She wants to be loved, and to love you. She wants you tostare at that photo on the front of the CDs for hours on end, longinglyhoping for it to wink at you and blow a kiss. And it's the style morethan anything else that's important for that. Not the music. The musicis secondary to the image. So what more do you need? Listen foryourself, and have an open mind for the ways and wiles of Claudia. - 

samples:

• I'll Be Your Mirror
• The End of the World

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

For this five track EP on Germany's Crippled Dick Hot Wax, omnipresent artiste Lydia Lunch teams up with Los Angeleno instrumental duo Tommy Grenas and Len Del Rio, aka The Anubian Nights. Strange bedfellows? Hardly. The Nights' solid grooves are both live and looped, drawing on smoky bar jazz, Martin Denny exotica and electronica.
Thankfully it's devoid of the tongue-in-cheek tackiness such a concoction could create. Lydia is simply, perfectly credited as "chanteuse". She is extraordinarily melodic here as she erotically exhales two short stories and an especially lusty poem. I imagine her words and voice are enough to make some homosexual men reconsider things. On 'Nothing But Trouble' she confessedly purrs "the trouble with being so bad is that it feels so damn good" then regales us with the sins of her trouble man. With an opiated whisper she tells us of a little man in the title track, "another hopped up bastard on a barstool" who'd "go in heat just like a little bitch" at the sight of any woman out on the town. 'Potango Tango' plays out like a horn-y Foetus production, Lydia insisting "your kiss tastes like an orgy" and "your kiss is my elixir" over a throbbing dance rhythm. The near instrumentals 'Guernicana' and 'Potango Tango (Rmx)' tastefully round out the suite. Everything from the music to the voice to the lyrics to the artwork is complementary on this release. I'm just about sick of it I've been listening to the damn thing so much. It's only April Fools Day, but I'm pretty confident this will be my top EP of 2002. -

samples:

• Champagne, Cocaine and Nicotene Stains
• Nothing But Trouble
• Potango Tango

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

Music should never be purely judged by how it sounds. It should also bejudged by how it makes the listener feel upon listening. Whatexperiences it inspires. What textures and emotions it invokes. Onthese qualities alone, Pilote takes the taco.Stuart Cullen receivedaccolades for his debut album "Antenna", and on this, his second album,he explores the same melancholy electronic ground, but with a moreinteresting and disturbing tone. I felt at once a myriad of emotions:'Paul Oakenfold', the album's opener is borderline schizophrenic withits slowed-down vocal sample and simple beat that belies the underlyinghorror, and made me feel like someone was watching me; 'FrenchCanadian' sounds like the soundtrack to the perfect crime, where avaluable piece of information is stolen, like a Mamet picture; 'TheFourth' made me feel like I wasn't doing enough for the problems of theworld, like the homeless; 'Nelson' made me want to start/join a FightClub. It's all very melodic, gorgeously constructed, and horribly densefor such a meager and simple structure, for the most part. Programmedbeats, jumbled vocal samples, keyboards, and synthesizers can make fora boring listening experience. Not with Pilote. While it has a heavytone, the album is very playful, and that inherent contradiction makesfor a compelling listen. This is one of my favorite releases of thisyear, based purely on the originality of the sound, and it was releasedin October of last year on Domino. There are a few moments that sound alittle too familiar. That keyboard sample on 'Paul Oakenfold' sounds abit too much like one the Lo-Fidelity All-Stars used on the Pigeonhed'Battle Flag' remix, and 'Junior' sounds very much like music one wouldhear on later episodes of Miami Vice. But again, it's all in theinterest of invoking a very pure, raw emotional response. And that,Cullen succeeds at beyond all doubt. - 

samples:

• French Canadian
• The Fourth
• Nelson

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

Department is an experimental industrial duo from Australia, who go bythe cryptic personas of Gatz and Spacious. Not much is known abouttheir past except that one of them (Spacious, I think) was in an early'90s Aussie prog-metal band called Vauxdvihl (pronounced: vaudeville)that apparently achieved minor cult status.

Department claims thattheir attitude is based on a "punk" aesthetic - "making strongstatements, keeping album lengths short and getting straight to thepoint." Well, maybe, but the music on these two self-released CDssounds more like a modern soundtrack for an apocalyptic student film.Department is mostly instrumental, with industrial drum machine beats,layered synths and guitars, processed samples, and lots of noise thrownin for good measure. On the whole the music sounds a few years dated,but there are definitely some intriguing elements within the mix. On'This Is Tension Avenue,' the first disc, the most notable track is"Detached," where a pleasant guitar line plays over synth drones andwhat sounds like stereo-shuffled radio clips. I could definitely dowithout the overbearing "Cure For the World," the only song withvocals, which makes fairly evident why Department is primarilyinstrumental, but the film-music synth washes of "Pulchrify" areengaging enough that it's worth a few listens.

samples:

• Cure For World
• Detached
• Pulchrify

'Exiting,' Department's more recent album, takes a step off to one sideby adding ultra-reverbed horns to the industrial jams of "From TheClutches" and "There's No End," and on the whole the music soundsslightly less serious, almost reminding me at moments of Mr. Bunglewithout the frontman/clownish vocal antics of Mike Patton. The mostinteresting track on 'Exiting' is "Baltra," a quiet computer-generatedpiece of bouncing and cycling tones, which is a pleasant departure fromthe intensity of most of the rest of the album. I think Department liketo think that they're more experimental or groundbreaking than theyreally are, which is not a big issue, but it makes me feel like there'sa lack of irony to this music which is sorely needed. Their biographystates, "Anti-corporate paranoia never sounded so good," and I hopethey're kidding, at least a little bit. Department is a nice additionto the industrial canon, though, and with their very tailoredindustrial film score sound, I wouldn't be surprised if they show up onan indie-flick soundtrack in Australia sometime soon. - 

samples:

• Baltra
• From Clutches
• No End

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

The biggest problem with Richie Hawtin's 2001 mix CD 'DE9: Closer ToThe Edit' was the hype and attention devoted to the techniques andsoftware used to create it. As gearheads and laptop geeks oohed andaahed over the new innovations and opportunities for experimental DJs,many people including myself found the result kind of dull.

It wasultimately a straightforward techno mix made with more than just amixer and two Technics 1200's. Big deal. Please forward all complaintsto the Customer Disservice Dept. Following a similar model, Algorithm,ironically another veteran Canadian techno DJ, presents his first mixCD almost as a response to the process-focused approach spearheaded byHawtin. The result, however, is infinite more interesting than 'CloserTo The Edit,' mainly in part due to better track selection. Whilelimited to a small backcatalog of Force Lab 12" releases, as well assome previously unreleased tracks from new signings, the quality ofthis material shines through. Force Lab's signature deep bass-heavyclicktechno & clickhouse evokes the futurism that Detroit technohas always promoted, but arguably lost hold of as it became more andmore dated. Algorithm takes advantage of his right to excessivefiltering as he submerges these dubby sounds even further withoutoffering the full release given by French house classics like "MusicSounds Better With You." However, with effected loops from mainstaysKid606, Kit Clayton, and Farben as well as up-and-comers like Yagya,OZY, and Posterboys Of The Apocalypse, who cares? This is ideallistening for late-night coding sessions, late-night afterpartying andlate-nite pornography downloading. - 

samples:

• track 2
• track 8
• track 13

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

This mysterious CD with an oversized package, which may or may not be aSub Rosa-related project, is a live recording of a 1999 collaborationin Belgium between electronic music giants Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic andChristian Fennesz. There are two 30-minute tracks: the first is acollaborative set between the two artists, the second is a solo set byVainio. As much as I like and respect both of these artists—Pan Sonicand Fennesz each released one of the best albums of last year—this CDleaves a lot to be desired. Vainio's work with Pan Sonic and his solowork as Ø often revolve around cold analog rhythms and stark soniclandscapes. Fennesz's trademark sound is his laptop processing ofguitar and other sounds, striking a unique balance between beauty andnoise. None of this is very evident on this collaboration. Onlyoccasionally is rhythm a factor, and much of Fennesz's textures areoverpowered by Vainio's blasts of feedback and distortion. Though therecording quality seems decent enough, Vainio is mixed a little louderthan Fennesz, and when Mika lets it get loud, Christian becomes barelyaudible. In theory, a collaboration between these two seems like agreat idea, but the members of Pan Sonic have a less-than-stellar trackrecord when it comes to releases with other musicians (i.e. the'Endless' CD with Suicide's Alan Vega; the 'IBM' LP with BruceGilbert). The only notable exception is last year's 'Wohltemperiert',Ø's disc with Noto. Fennesz, on the other hand, is usually quite goodwhen working with other artists—Peter Rehberg, Biosphere, etc. Here,however, it seems like the two artists are in their own worlds and notfocusing on the music as a whole. At one point, while Vainio iscreating loud swishes and swoops, you can hear what eventually became"Year In a Minute" on Fennesz's 'Endless Summer' disc very quietly inthe background—almost as if Fennesz was trying out new material in themiddle of the set instead of improvising. The Mika Vainio solo set isstandard Vainio. Five-minute stretches of silence interspersed withrandom bits of static compete with long stretches of analog ton.Nothing new, but may be interesting enough to the Pan Sonic junkie.There is almost no information about who released this disc; it seemsto be on a label called Audiosphere but it also says "conceived byAudioview/Lowlands ¥ Sub Rosa ¥ (Audio) Incident" on the package. Itseems to me like this disc and its unnecessary, DVD-like packaging is apretty blatant attempt to cash in on the Fennesz and Pan Sonic names.It's another example, too, of why it isn't necessary to release everylive recording of an electronic artist that exists. A collaborationbetween Mika Vainio and Christian Fennesz could result in an amazingdisc, but this is apparently just a chance encounter, not a wellthought out endeavor. Releasing it only detracts from the body ofimpressive work that both artists have under their belts. - 

samples:

• Vainio Fennesz
• Vainio

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

The Caretaker presumably took about three years to warp a sequel to his'Selected Memories From The Haunted Ballroom' because he was so busysweeping up all the offal, trotters and cabbage leaves left in the wakeof other V/Vm shenanigans. Now he's back with more slow strangedisembodied waltzes from the far side of some limbo lounge in adeserted wintertime seaside resort. Those old 78s get the dusty sloweerie treatment to prove each today doesn't lead to a tomorrow. TheCaretaker is stuck in time lock, a ghost spinning his decaying plattersto skeletal slow-dancers in a shadow world where the 1930s loopeternal. In other words this is more of the same, but if you ate a goodcurry last week you might want another one this week, and this week'smight just be spicier. The Caretaker cannot escape the past but hasshifted it into other hyper-spatial dimensions by dint of sonictrickery. You've heard about tech house and happy house and all that -this is haunted house. The first half summons some nightmarishapparitions, whilst the second half is populated by more friendlyphantoms which lurk in the netherwrold between wking and sleeping.Crooning downhearted, the Caretaker can't go on this way, and floatsslowly downwards through murky vistas of emptiness, each movementsending huge echoes through the cavernous dusty ballroom, until heunwittingly summons forth malign forces of the occult to do hisrumbling ambient bidding. These malign forces make a big nasty seasideorgan blare, whilst distant rainfall splashes relentlessly on, pushingThe Caretaker to the edge of a breakdown, but he wakes up from thenightmare singing gayly of robins and roses. Thus through cloudinessthe Caretaker ascends a stairway to the stars for a date with an angel.He hasn't noticed that the crowds are long gone and the ballroom isempty except for two men in pig masks sneakily setting up laptops atthe back. In space, no one can smell your tripe. - 

samples:

• Malign Forces Of The Occult
• On The Edge Of Breakdown
• It's All Forgotten Now

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31 March 2002

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Albums and Singles

If Clinic can be touted as "innovators of modern music" then the beingthat claims to be Cologne based guitarist Joseph Suchy must be sometrans-dimensional hyper-entity who beamed back here from the future toshow us the true path to giddy innovative heights. Herr Suchy seemsintent on pushing the six strings through as much laptop grop as hecan, and he can play the ass off the plank to boot. His busy soloing isstill just about recognisable as such much of the time despitepersistant machine deconstruction and particle accelerator bombardment.The main chunk of 'Entskidoo' is comprised of two suites of vertiginousimprovised computer mangled guitar meltdown. It's a soundscape inconstant flux - canvasses splattered red, quickly speckled yellow andpink and then filled in with pulsating green triangles, or at leastthat's how the synaesthetic analysis was testing last time I sniffedit. It'll probably appeal to fans of the rightly lauded Fennesz andlaptop / concrete side of Jim 'Chicagonogood' O'Rourke, and could giveboth of them a powerbook diddling to remember! This ought to get anyonewho drooled over 'Endless Summer' equally hot and bothered. It alsomarks the first Entenpfuhl release on CD, but the vinyl version has amuch nicer sleeve.
The alpha section of the first side opens with a cute little twang thatfires slight recall of J Mascis' contribution to the 'Guitarrorists'compilation, but is somewhat more meandering and freeform. This soontakes a darker turn as it duets with ominous digital rumble and rapidclick. For a fleeting partial clue, imagine Merzbow doing Hawaiianmusic for a few seconds. The guitar playing speeds up and cuts looseand the hard drive effects get denser and dronier as the trackprogresses through crisp vistas of happy noise. At the end of the firstsuite (vinyl side one) Suchy spews xylophone patters over churninggroans. There is always some kind of abstracted melodic pull no matterhow many distorted effects Suchy layers on. Some new idea springs forthevery few inches and there always seem to be new sounds lurking in eachlisten. The second suite (side 2 of the record) builds up densecrescendos until dropping back to multi tracked clean guitar pickingout a coda, as if to show the bare bones that "Entskidoo" hung it'sdissonant diginoise flesh on. The last couple of tracks are selfcontained and appear on a 7" single in the limited vinyl edition."Gump" sets a simple chiming riff that recalls Colin Newman's 'SingingFish' amidst a sea of swirling off kilter digi-flotsam, and seems to bea more compact and eloquent statement of the same intent that fired thebulk of the preceding long player. "Tijovo" takes a very different tackwith some unadorned sparse (presumably) improvised guitar pluckingaccompanied by (double?) bass and soft singing from Yvonne Cornelius.Overall I give this record an X and a Q although I'm not sure if therecord can make good use of such rare letters. In case you'rewondering, that's a good thing. If his three previous albums onTonschacht, Grob and Whatness are even half this inventive then they'llbe well worth investigating. - 

samples:

• Entskidoo A Beta
• Entskidoo B Alpha
• Gump

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