Tim Hecker's second outing on the Substractif sublabel of Alien8 with a 25-minute EP of DSP and plunderphonics based on none other than my favourite rockers, Van Halen. Fennesz's treatments of The Beach Boys and the Stones are one thing, but putting the opening riff from "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" (from which the EP's title is taken) through the lo-fi digital mangler, as Hecker does on "Introducing Carl Cocks", is a more unlikely idea. With Eddie's classic and beautiful riff teased slowly into a perfect granular blur, it's an outstanding track, though what it has to do with techno-lord Carl Cox is anyone's idea. The remainder of the tracks' samples are split between musical sources and bitter interviews, on-stage raps, and radio coverage of the band's disputes, with comprehensible titles such as "Sammy Loves Eddie Hates David" but the baffling "The Return Of Sam Snead", whose only connection with VH I know of is that he's in a load of Dead Pools with poor old Eddie.While some people view this record as a destructive fuck-you to spandex rock, I'd prefer to see it as affectionate, but in honesty neither conclusion is easily drawn. The music is more "Fennesz Plays" than V/VM, but unlike the pure tribute of Drop Nineteens' "Ease It Halen" (or the mindless cock-ragga pop mish-mash of Apollo 440's "Ain't Talkin'" cover), VH's rock bloat isn't put to one side, thanks to the soundbites of breakup bitching and egotism, and the hideous sketch of David Lee Roth on the cover. What's certain is that while Steve Albini could click his fingers and make AC/DC cool, this record is simply good clean fun for micro-fans. It isn't going to make Mark Kozelek sing "Hot For Teacher."
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