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With his third solo record after the dissolution of Royal Trux, NeilMichael Hagerty finally feels like he's hit his stride and is firmlyresiding in his comfort zone. There is an ease and confidence to thesongs and his voice on The Howling Hexthat suggests the sometimes novelist and multi-instrumentalist iscomfortable in letting his often juxtaposing styles just exist andletting the tape roll. The album is essentially three separaterecording sessions with three live tracks interspersed that seem to begrouped thematically after that to form four sections of the album. Alot of the songs don't even hit the three-minute mark, and sometimesthat's a shame but mostly it's just perfect. The aura of these songs isall over the map, with sometimes sexy horns and raunch driving theproceedings, sometimes standard bass-drums-guitar fueling the randomramblings. Over it all, the driving force is the volatile vocals ofHagerty, calling for your first-born child or the end of it all, andchanging, chameleon-like, for whatever comes next. The most impressiveaspects are the brevity and bare-bones approach to most tracks. Thereare no unnecessary ingredients, no noodling or canoodling, just what ittakes to finish the song off. And it all feels right. In fact, thelongest tracks are the live tracks, which are especially revealing,letting a hint of the raw power turn on in what almost seems likemostly improvised and extended versions of two previously releasedsongs from his first two records and a new long jam. There seems to bea warts-and-all approach at play, and maybe that's another reason it'sso refreshing, like it doesn't always have to be dense and calculated.Certainly it's not easy listening, but it sounds easier on the man whodishes it out, at least.
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Coldcut's 70 Minutes of Madness, DJ Shadow's Diminishing Returns, DJ/rupture's Gold Teeth Thief and now K.I.M.'s Miyagetogether present a convincing argument for the mix CD as a viable artform. With the sheer volume of recorded music available to the averagecrate digger — through record stores, internet auctions, GEMM, andfile-sharing — there is a larger palette than ever before for acreative individual to select and sequence a group of songs to delivera powerful aesthetic message, to alter perceptions of music and genre,and to entertain. K.I.M.'s Miyage, recently released onTigersushi, manages all three. Tigersushi is an online music communitythat specializes in leftfield dance and avant-groove. Their uniquemusical aesthetic cuts across avant-disco, krautrock, early industrial,leftfield house and modern IDM. Tigersushi Recordings, though barely ayear old, has already released a clutch of fantastic 12" singles, andtheir No G.D.M. compilation featured an impressively eclecticselection of forgotten vintage sides from the likes of Gina XPerformance, Material and Cluster. Miyage goes ten stepsfurther, kicking out a flawless set that had me scrutinizing thetracklist in wonderment. The mix is equal parts groovy and exotic,moody and surreal, fragile and extreme. There is a focused exotica viberunning through the tracks chosen, apparent from the first track, afield recording of wind blowing through an Aeolian organ on the SolomonIslands. It's the perfect lead-in for Arthur Lyman's Polynesian jazzexcursion "Ringo Oiwake." John Zorn plagiarized this track (withoutgiving credit) on his exotica album The Gift. It blendsseamlessly into a whimsical overture by French film composer Francoisde Roubaix. K.I.M. also contribute several transitional tracks to themix, using their considerable gifts to create the perfect rhythmicbridges between disparate musical ideas. Wevie Stonder's "Gypsy Chimp"is one of the most hilarious cut n' splice tracks I've ever heard, abizarrely infectious song that matches Gypsy fiddles with kazoos,jungle sounds and hicupping vocals. Cut to uber-diva Edith Piaf'sincomparable "Jezebel," and a slow dissolve to street performer andself-taught outsider Moondog's "Viking I," a beautifully primitivepiece for hand drums and xylophone. A quick journey through pipe organimprovs, Javanese tribal chanting, and Japan's wonderful Asa Chang& Junray, and we somehow end up in the middle of a rooftop-liftinggospel-disco meltdown mixed by legend Larry Levan. I'm not sure itmakes any sense, but I'm happy to be swept along in this idiosyncraticjourney. Jack-in-the-box melodies from Pierre Bastien and a treefalling in the woods segue into the overblown rock-disco of PsychicTV's "Ov Power," a welcome bit of nostalgia from the glory days ofGenesis P. After a terrific cut by cult rockers The Gun Club, the discends with K.I.M.'s rendition of The Smiths' paean to vegetarianism"Meat is Murder." It's given the laptop and vocoder treatment familiarfrom Schneider TM's cover of The Smiths' "There Is a Light That NeverGoes Out." Okay, so it's not an original idea, but it still worksperfectly, ending the disc on a note of politicism and melancholy.Simply put, this is a brilliant set, the one to beat for futurecompilers of eclectic mix discs.
- Arthur Lyman - Ringo Oiwake
- Wieve Stonder - Gypsy Chimp
- Psychic TV - Ov Power
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Past volumes of !K7's DJ Kicks series have featured the estimable talents of Tiga, Playgroup's Trevor Jackson and Carl Craig, each taking their turn at the mixing table producing extended DJ mixes that combined newer underground club hits with classic dancefloor material and the odd crate-digging gem. They each had their moments, but for the most part, they were entirely predictable. I mean, who couldn't have guessed that Playgroup's mix would lean heavily on leftfield disco, or that Tiga would fill his set with uber-sassy electro? For me, the gratification of a great DJ mix lies in hearing unexpected juxtapositions of the alien and familiar, or unearthed vintage rarities recontextualized to sound modern. The new entry in the DJ Kicks series, mixed by Chicken Lips, delivers on this promise.
Chicken Lips eschew the notion of a continuous, danceable groove, focusing instead on all manner of retro-cheese, bizarro disco, boogie and psychedelic lounge to create an eclectic mix perfectly suited to headphone listening. In this sense, it shares more in common with DMC's artist-choice Back to Mine series. Chicken Lips are the British duo of Andrew Meecham and Dean Meredith, the same pair behind early-90's acid-house outfit Bizarre Inc. As Chicken Lips, Andy and Dean are masters of the disco-dub, a British movement utilizing loops of inane and/or obscure vintage dance sides. In a bid to prove their undying fascination with the Weird Groove, Chicken Lips open their unique set with the deeply odd kraut-lounge of Brainticket, one of the more eccentric of the 70's kosmische groups. This psychedelic oddity segues into Herbert's beautifully trippy re-assembling of Karin Krog's Northern Soul classic "Meaning of Love." Then Chicken Lips take a sharp right turn, dropping the novelty hip-hop of Jimmy Spicer's "The Bubble Bunch," which sounds uncannily like "The Bertha Butt Boogie" (fans of Rhino's Super Hits of the 70's will understand this reference). This madness somehow morphs into the proto-sampling of 4AD's Colourbox and the outrageously fucked rhythms of Nina Hagen's "African Reggae." An extended selection of mutant disco tracks pave the way for the esoteric house of The Paul Simpson Connection.
A short stop in the dusty dub of Rhythm and Sound and the phased avant-funk of The Raincoats' "Animal Rhapsody," and it's time to pull into Freak Station with the wacky Tropi-disco of George Duke's "Brazilian Love Affair" and Chicken Lips' own hard-hitting funk number "Bad Skin." It's an eclectic mix with loads of personality, and the best DJ Kicks yet, methinks.
- Karin Krog - Meaning of Love (Herbert Remix)
- Nina Hagen - African Reggae
- Chicken Lips - Bad Skin (DJ Kicks)
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The first volume of Serie Noire on Belgium's Eskimo Recordings was subtitled Dark Pop and New Beat.That mix was one of my favorites, with an impressive clarity of visionthat imagined a postmodern combination of great, forgotten 80's newwave (Vicious Pink and Executive Slacks), post-punk disco (Section 25),hilariously unexpected selections from seemingly off-topic artists (TheAlan Parsons Project and John Carpenter) and newer material thatslotted in perfectly (Metro Area). Serie Noire 2 is a sequel inname only, sharing none of the impeccable taste in track selection andseamless mixing that characterized the first mix. The tracks on Serie Noire 2are mostly uninspired, many of them wearing out their welcome after aminute or two, suggesting that The Glimmer Twins need to become morecomfortable with The Fader Button. Many of the tracks chosen for Serie Noire 2are of questionable worthiness, which tends to happen if you've beencrate-digging a little too long: eventually, you reach the bottom ofthe crate. Boytronic's "Bryllyant" opens the set, a mildly divertinggloomy electro track straight out of Miami Vice. It's the soundtrack toCrockett and Tubbs coked up, exploring each other's bodies. This seguesinto a couple of best-forgotten 80's acts - Savage Process andBlancmage - the former a crappy industrial-pop group trying to soundsexy, the latter a hopelessly cheesy new romantic band. Die Warzau is apoor man's Nitzer Ebb, and Nitzer Ebb were already a poor man's SkinnyPuppy, so their track "Strike To The Body" is about as awful as itgets. Congratulations to The Glimmer Twins for being the millionthrecent dance mix to include Liaisons Dangereuses' "Peut etre...Pas."Liaisons' self-titled LP was released in 1981, but its recent reissuehas made it far more popular now than it ever was in its own day.Giorgio Moroder's "Evolution" is one of the more boring rock-discotracks I've heard from the usually talented producer. Sandy Steel'scover of Delta V's "Mind Your Own Business" has some of the samefeminist energy as the original, but I still prefer the Chicks on Speedversion. P.I.L.'s "Death Disco" is one of the rawest punk-funk tracksfrom back in the day, but the "Megga Mix" included here renders it allbut unrecognizable. Some rather pathetic German new-wave bands end themix; nothing remarkable. Deejay Gigolos' recent New Deutschcompilation was uneven, but for my money, it was much more successfulat unearthing obscure German funk and industrial than these guys.Recent personal-choice compilations and mixes such as Ladytron's Softcore Jukebox and Felix Da Housecat's Bugged In have done a much better job of remaining interesting for their entire length. Serie Noire 2 is a waste of my time.
- Savage Process - My Heart Begins to Beat
- Giorgio Moroder - Evolution
- Sandy Steel - Mind Your Own Business
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I have a weak spot for good Detroit electro. I'm endlessly turned on bythose repetitive beats, that dystopian future groove, those analogpeaks and valleys. Because of this fetish, my collection contains farmore of this stuff than is probably healthy, but certainly favoriteshave emerged: Juan Atkins, Drexciya, Dopplereffekt and Cybotron, toname a few. I have also tuned in to the current of newer techno actspiggybacking themselves on the Detroit sound, and for the most part, Ihave been quite disappointed. Imitation may be the sincerest form offlattery, but it's also the sincerest form of boredom. Dr. Lektroluv'snew continuous mix of neo-electro acts highlights some of theseproblems. The first two tracks are perfectly realized classic Detroitsides, but then the mix takes a turn for the worse by lingering alittle too long on purposely weird, self-consciously retro stuff. Theproblem with "electroclash" is that much of the artists have forgonemusical inventiveness and production acumen in favor of veryheavy-handed, simplistic techniques that become dull after thirtyseconds. For all of their cleverness, a lot of these bands would have areal problem creating a track as good as Model 500's "Night Drive,"made twenty years ago without the benefit of a laptop. Some of theartists here are quite good: Octagon Man, Silicon Sally and thenow-ubiquitous Liaisons Dangereuses. Did all the DJs in the world meetover the summer and make a pact to spin "Peut Etre...Pas" untileveryone was completely sick of it? Radioactive Man's "Do TheRadioactive" is an interestingly textured track, not surprising sincehis volume of the Fabricseries was one of my favorites of the year. Ersatz Audio' Kitbuilderspipe in with an unbelievably overblown epic disco-house track withpretentious lyrics. The last part of the mix really loses steam, withweak tracks from the omnipresent Adult. and the overrated Crossover. T.Raumschmiere's glam-punk stomper "The Game Is Not Over" is probably myfavorite single of the year, but it feels strange sandwiched between aretarded retro track and the lightweight Oriental disco of Yellow MagicOrchestra's "Behind the Mask." In the final analysis, there isabsolutely no reason to buy or listen to this mix. Get one of thoseCD-burning programs that have a cross-fading feature and make your ownmix: it's bound to sound better than this.
- Silicon Sally - The Silent Years
- Liaisons Dangereuses - Peut Etre...Pas
- Radioactive Man - Do the Radioactive
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The idea of hip hop beats or samples mixed with other live instrumentscan go like crunchy or smooth peanut butter: it goes down easy or itneeds some chewing but either way it sticks to you. I like my peanutbutter smooth, and Loopian Zu lay it down with an even coat so that Idon't even need the second slice of bread. Then they throw on some oddand crazy improvisation that takes it to a higher plane that is stillsmooth, but can cause some confusion if you don't know where to pointyour ears or your mind. Not to worry, as it all plays out in the end asa very coagulated whole, where every move is not necessarily planned,but the members are firing on the same cylinders so it all feeds thebeast within. "Regents Park" is full-on mad drum glory with scratchesand squelches of fancy, mixed with killswitch classical vocals thrownin for good measure. Then, the fantastic two-part track fades in withsmooth horns and guitars before dissolving into cacaphonic noise andhorn and drum rambling that do Miles Davis proud. They blend theirinfluences with almost equal airing and time, not in some bouillabaissethat sounds indistinguishable. The horn section is the focal point ofmany tracks, and they nail it down tight. Loopian Zu are clever andsneaky, not blunt and unimaginative, and the main difference isartistry. "Nuso" is the flagship, with awesome solo voice question andchorus answer vocals, all anchored with the same dub or jazz basecoat.Some awkward moments exist within the same formula, like "Foot Prince& the Emergent Sea," which annoys with its "Love in an Elevator"beginning and muddled progression vocally and instrumentally. What itbuilds to is anti-climactic and meandering. No matter: they've alreadymade their point, and it's a small pothole on the highway. I still feltmoved by it, and didn't need anything to help wash it down.
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The music of Jan St. Werner and Markus Popp has always been, for me, aheartening, if predictable listen. While their separate activities likeOval and Mouse on Mars have seen considerable evolution over the years,St. Werner and Popp's collaborative project Microstoria has remained asomewhat static affair. Unfortunately, while previous installments inthe Invisible Architecture series joined several idiosyncratic artistsin collaboration or improvisation, this fifth volume features onlyMicrostoria, with no foreign body to alter their established sound.What's more, the music is a 2000 live performance containing only songsfrom the group's two latest albums, that year's Model 3, Step 2, and 1996's _snd.True, the seven songs here are some of Microstoria's best, and severalare extended far longer than their album versions, most notably adouble-length, eight-minute "Soso Sound." The lack, however, of any newmaterial, and the music's relatively strict adherence to albumprecedents, make this a mediocre release and unessential listening forprevious fans. New listeners, however, should find this disc a perfectintroduction to the work of two consistently fascinating music-makers.The live environment contributes to a looser sound with more roughedges showing, and highlights the aspect of Microstoria's music thathas always been the most appealing to my ears, the childlike abandonseen waning in the recent solo efforts of both St. Werner and Popp(excepting Popp's excellent So record). The latter's distortedrumblings and swift jump cuts have never been so wistfully assembled,coupling beautifully with St. Werner's meandering melodics, gathered aseffortlessly and organically from a guitar as from a PowerBook. Thelow-end has not been much a part of the duo's bag of tricks, but heredroning bass is surprisingly effective and often jarring, no doubtmeant to enliven the live experience but translating nicely to disc.That said, there is nothing too striking or really "new" about thisrecording, though it is anything but boring and certainly as beautifulas anything Microstoria has produced to date. Those hungry forsomething new might wait for the new full-length to be released soon.
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A sense of humor never hurts when there's no real central theme to spoil with it. Beginning with the plainly announced statement "I am the ruler of the world, ordained by God. I am George W. Bush," this razor-sharp EP never lets go, pounding the hell out of my ears with mortar shell beats and rapid-fire melody wiggles. It isn't exactly clear if 1-Speed Bike is trying be funny or just have a good time, but the results of his dashing drum programming and science-experiment melodies are zany and comic tunes.
"Bleeched Bumbaclot Warning" starts off as a series of extra hyper snare rolls and bubbling flasks before turning into an odd commercial for hallucinogenics use by slapping a strangely slow guitar and keyboard melody over the now spasmodic rhythm section. I somehow get images of small animals (in cartoon form) bouncing about my head while travelling through hyperspace in an episode of some really cheesey sci-fi flick. The Hrsta remixes included (as well as the second half of the CD) are a little less out-of-control and feature more droned out samples drooling under obviously live samples of drum performance. This isn't the most innovative thing in the world, but there's something humorous and oddly exaggerated about the whole disc and that only lends to its appeal. It would've been nice to hear some more comic commentary on the disc after laughing my ass off at the material on the first track, but the chill-out section at the end is a nice relief and contrast against the all out attack of the first half of the EP. I was surprised to hear this coming from GY!BE's drummer and quite frankly I was happy to hear such a drastic difference. Sure, there's a political message here, but how seriously should that be taken when "I am handsome like Donald Rumsfeld" and "I am believer in truth and justice like motherfuckin' Tony Blair" are uttered just about a minute apart?
- There's an Oil Tanker Named Condoleeza Rice
- Bleeched Bumbaclot Warning
- The Ground Is Really Unforgiving When You Fall (Hrsta Remix)
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"The Illness" bombastically opens the second full-length release onIpecac for Kid 606. It's a refreshing change from what seemed like anendless parade of songs entirely built on popular hip hop samples,which, frankly got really old, really quick. From minute one, we'redancing again: it's not a just a barrage of noise and it makes nearlyeverything since the last full-length record seem like filler. It seemsthat an attention on both song structure and fun stuff are being givennearly equally. However, some of my favorite elements like melody andconsistency within a few tracks are forfeitted by a strong attentiondefeceit, but it's always been a 606-ism, dating back to the VinylCommunication days. Much like his last Ipecac full-lengther (gosh wasit over three years ago already?) Kill Soundis much like a collection of sorts, providing slices of the variousstyles 606 has tackled over the years. There's plenty of nightmarishupbeat post-gabber noisefests like "Powerbookfiend" and the b-side to The Illness,"Ecstasy Motherfucker," while downtempo breathers like "Andy Warhol isDead" and the serene closer "Parenthood" are very pretty but a bit tooshort. Wayne Lonesome, a dancehall DJ/vocalist from Kingston arrives onthe scene (most likely through the Bug and Rootsman connection) to givevoice for "Buckle Up," which is probably the strongest track on thedisc (look for a hot 12" on the new offshoot Shockout). At times, riffsare started but neither strengthened nor mutated, making repetition ofideas and lingering memories a bit difficult. The psycho-dub bass riffat the end of "Who Wah Kill Sound?" for example aches to be exploitedand mutated, but is left pretty much alone. What is repeated, (orperhaps overused), are some of the samples used throughout differenttracks. (God I wish he gave up the "yeah, wow" bit was killed after thefirst song.) Those who have been able to catch 606 live this past yearhave probably noticed how much more dense the music seems to bebecoming, and in most respects, this album is a fun dance party, buthe's proven that he has the ability to make a few brilliant songscompletely over the top, and after seeing a fantastic live show, I maybe guilty of expecting something ever so slightly more on an album. Theaddition of the video for "The Illness," however, is awesome, as acartoon kitten tries to kill sound before sound kills him.
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Just when I thought I was through with all of these worthless bandswith "The" in the title — like it's something important that they're"The" anything — here comes one I adore, and will be listening to foryears to come. The Sems is essentially Pete Bogolub, who wrote andrecorded the lion's share of the album at home, bringing in somefriends later on to augment it and make it all sound like a soulbursting at its seams. His is a raw and simple indie pop sound, withspace rock leanings and fascinating melodies. Bogolub is shy about hisvocals, it would seem, as they are drowned out by the music anddrenched in effects, but his faint whispers are just what is neededhere and there. The music and subject matter take interesting twistsand turns, — sometimes separate, sometimes together — and it's a bitstartling but desperately wanted once I got used to it. The switch from"Harmless" (shoegazer) to "Stalker But Nice" (noise pop), on to"Curlew" (ethereal ambience) and then "Speak Softly" (more noise pop)is an especially jarring progression, but after that the album settlesinto a nice calm and even jangly pace. It's there that the braverycomes on a little more in instrumentation and vocals, but it's neverover a certain even keel, and that's where the real beauty is. Theearlier tracks have an unadulterated passion to be sure, but the latterhalf has sweetness and comfort to spare, with enough minor detours offancy to make the heart ache and the brain swell. These musings are notcomplicated or even challenging: just straight-ahead power pop withsome depth and definition. For Audraglint's first CD release and TheSems debut I don't think there are better results to be found.
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Both 2000's eponymous double album and 2001's New Electric Music have shown New Zealand's famed noise rockers moving (perhaps lurching) towards a more sparse, more seductive sound. Though any Dead C record will inevitably contain enough variety to postpone classification and prolong interest, the group's post-millenium output so far has predicted a steady increase in song quality, as well as more broad, stylistic refinement. The shoddily-produced, clattering heap of guitar, bass, and drum noise that was the signature sound of early Dead C has taken a thinner, more bottom-heavy, and more atmospheric form as of late, with concentration on complex textures and assemblage rather than riff torture.Starlight Furniture Co.
Surely none of this has been enough to alienate fans of the earlier, junkier, rockist style; the Dead C seems a band that consistently skirts expectation, only to receive little or no acknowledgement for their efforts. They've never quite escaped the stigma that reduces them to lo-fi, feedback-happy sludge rockers, and their fans strangely adore them for it. Do true appreciators of the Dead C occupy some hidden corner of the elitist camp, brandishing their treasure like some jagged crystal? I like to think so, though The Damned, like any new release by the band, has me confused. Half of the disc's six tracks are of the same ill-produced, tripping-over-itself, psych/noise thump that the C have mined for years. Elsewhere, songs like the aptly-named "Atmosphere," feature the group at their most hypnotic, riding waves of distortion, amp buzz, and shuddering guitar screech, patient in its development and highly effective. The louder, busier tracks do not work as well, often losing focus and drifting aimlessly, but on tracks like "The Provider," the band proves it can create thoroughly gripping, even unique music from the most derivative of forms. With each new release, the Dead C identity inches closer to what I've suspected they were all along, more of an institution than a unit bound by rules of time or progress. The group plays as if preaching, by compulsion. They may not be believed, but they will be heard. They may repeat and contradict, but the germ of what they are doing is always audible. Epic four-track noise jams to play on repeat: this is why I listen. 
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