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TheLiaisons Dangereuses LP is something of a sought-after, hard-to-findgem, but only among a select group of retro-beat enthusiasts andpostpunk dance collectors, and certainly not the music community atlarge. This is not a very important or influential album in the grandscheme of things, mostly because of its near-total obscurity. LiasonsDangereuses is made up of Chris Haas, who played synths for post-punkindustrial innovators DAF, and Beate Bartel, the bassist for thepre-Malaria female punk trio Mania D. They named themselves after RogerVadim's sexy film adaptation of the seminal erotic novel of 18thcentury France. Their goal was to make darkly erotic electronic dancemusic that would be redolent of 18th century Paris, with its shadowyabsinthe bars, decadent dance clubs, and general attitude of sexualliberation. For the most part, they succeeded, and in the process theylaid down an early template for most of the industrial and [a-hem] EBMdance music that would follow throughout the 80's. The album opens with"Mystere dans le Brouillard" (transl: Mystery in the Fog), whichcombines a Joy Division bassline with a clanging beat, and gothiccabaret-styled vocals by Haas. The song is filled with processedwindchimes and shrill noises that evoke the creepy atmosphere of Parisafter dark. Things get a little more high energy with the minorunderground dance hit "Los Ninos del Parque" (Children of the Park),where a menacing Georgio Moroder beat shares space with Haas' barkedlyrics and Bartel's incoherent shrieks. The telltale heartbeat of"Aperitif de la Mort" ('Cocktail of Death') comes on like an absinthehallucination, with its creepy alien synths and atonal metal scrapings.This track is immediately reminiscent of Death in June's earlysynthesizer-based works. The only other track that really stands out is"Peut etre...Pas," an irresistably funky track that avoids the gothposturing of the rest of the album and find its way into avant-discoterritory. This is true Mutant Disco - an unholy marriage of LarryLevan, Arthur Russell and Cabaret Voltaire.
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DJ/Producer Rjd2's 2002 debut album, Dead Ringer,showed his talents for hip-hop beats and instrumental soundscapes tomake catchy, danceable, yet intelligent music. Captializing on thesuccess of the album, Def Jux has released this 2-CD EP of remixes andnew tracks, with the second disc featuring multimedia content. Theremix CD is a tricky issue these days. It used to be the bastion ofalternate mixes and guest appearances, where these days it's usuallyjust filler to tide fans over until the next record. Because of thatfear, I can see why someone would be pressed to spend eighteen bucks onthis, and it seems Rjd2 himself agrees, calling it "not even an album"in the thanks section of the liner notes. True fans will find somethings interesting here, particularly the live DJ sets from the BetaLounge and the Bowery Ballroom, and the animated video for the titletrack. As for the music section, this is really what a remix EP shouldbe like, as the remixes are almost reinterpretations. The title trackmakes its appearance to start off, as is customary, and then the partyreally gets started. The "Ghostwriter Remix" is beat heavy andgroovier, with keyboards taking the lead. The real treat is in themiddle with a new guitar line and the same horns and vocal refrainmaking it a great club track or fine driving music. The "Final FrontierRemix" features some nice rhyme skills from multiple MCs with new beatsand samples from Rjd2, though the repeated "We're HERE!" gets old thesecond time it's heard, just like the original. The new tracks of "BusStop Bitties," and "Sell the World" are real treats, as they're justtwo great tracks with top-notch beats and great grooves that are moreDavid Holmes than Rjd2. The instrumentals are just filler, sure, butthey're great to drive down the street to impress, or to throw in yourown ingredients if you're a DJ yourself. All in all, this is not a badvalue with all things considered, and the packaging is really cool. -
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Though he's the producer of some of the most successful mainstreamalbums ever, Daniel Lanois' own music has been decidedly left ofcenter. On previous albums, he's made otherworldly sounds escape fromthe speakers, dancing and Save grooving on occasion with the needs of thehuman condition. As a producer, Lanois has always succeeded in bringingacross the best in any artist. On this, his first album for Epitaph'sAnti label, he finally succeeds in bringing out the best in himself. Itseems independent music is becoming more like independent film in thesense that the directors who make edgy films that garner notice but notan audience start making lower cost, artistic fare. Lanois, one of thekeynote speakers at SXSW this year, is the perfect front runner for asimilar movement for producer/musicians, and this album is a goodstart. The first two tracks, "I Love You," and "Falling at Your Feet,"are pure love, pure need, pure beauty. They feature Emmylou Harris andBono, respectively, so they are also the more mainstream songs on thealbum. This is perfect Lanois formula material: write the musicyourself, sing most of it, but bring in the heavy hitters to nail it tothe wall and make it art. After these two tracks, though, Lanois isleft to his own devices, where he's showed promise before but couldnever soar. Soar he does, and it's mostly due to the band. He has theright players in Daryl Johnson, Brian Blade, and Malcolm Burn, and hisvoice has never sounded so grounded and earthy. On the title track,"Sometimes," and "Slow Giving," he sounds like a minstrel with all hisdreams intact and the experience of the ages. The instrumentals showoff the musicianship that we're used to from his soundtrack work andguest work on other artists' albums, but there is a cohesion that wasonly hinted at before. The album is a real success for Lanois, andhopefully he can finally find the audience he deserves.
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San Francisco skateboarding legend and multi-instrumentalist (how'sthat for a resume?) Tommy Guerrero's latest full length disc is a coolblend of latin-jazz and funk grooves with a DJ culture type of feelwhile showcasing his solid guitar playing and knack for composing andarranging. Building on laid-back breakbeat samples, tracks such as"Organism," "It Gets Heavy," and "Thin Brown Layer," fatten up withelectric bass, the odd keyboard and multi-tracked guitars to providesome great riffs and underplayed soloing which give off an impressionof a controlled jam session that doesn't stray much from the intendedgroove. The gentle bossa nova feel of "Thank You MK" lays thegroundwork for bright sounding bass and warm sounding, jazzy guitars toprovide some simple yet beautiful chord progressions that in theoverall setting come across as being very meaningful. Less isdefinitely more. The more traditional latin rhythms and instruments of"Lost Unfound" cement the tune's groove for syncopated bass lines andchoppy guitar to move through minor sounding changes that subtly buildtension throughout repetition. Although Guerrero has a couple of guestdrummers and vocalists (most notably Lyrics Born), he plays all theinstruments throughout the disc's seventeen tracks; very convincingly.
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With the electronic music explosion of the 90s came a growth ofinterest in older electronic music and therefore an opportunity formore CDs of that material to be published. Sometimes these CDs make forgood listening but when not they still often make valuable referenceworks, documents of techniques and their pioneers and occasionallybrilliant time-capsules of a lost zeitgeist when making experimentalmusic was actually progressive. Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center 1961-1973is firmly in the reference section, with works from six composers whoworked in that studio over the years. Bülent Arel's "Postlude from'Music for a Sacred Service,'" is an avalanche of bleepy sounds withsuch an old-fashioned space-age sound that it reminds me a bit ofLaika. It could have been used theme tune on a weekly radio sciencemagazine program. Charles Dodge's "The Earth's Magnetic Field,"originally released on a Nonesuch LP with a fabulous cover photo, haslong been considered a computer music landmark but I do wonder ifanyone enjoys listening to it. It is based on a single-line melody thatfor musical purposes is essentially random and Dodge rendered it in1971 using computer synthesis. As a technical experiment it representsa big step forwards but today it sounds like random data being sent toa ragged old monophonic midi synth. Îlhan Mimaroglu's elegiac "PreludeNo. 8 (To the memory of Edgar Varèse)," assembled out of the sounds ofa harpsichord and a celeste, appropriately has a genuinely uneasy andunresolved tension. Inspired by Ussachevsky and early minimalism,Ingram Marshall based his "Cortez," on the tragic poem of the same nameby Snee McCaig. Much to my surprise it is the high point of the CD. Inthe middle the poem is read and the "Oh..." opening its fourth line isthe sonic source for all of the music, repeating over and over withvarious modifications. The atmosphere seems to convey the menace in theprophesy in the Aztec culture that contributed to their downfall at thehands of Hernan Cortez. The other contributions are by Daria Semegenand Alice Shields. The booklet contains much technical information thatmay be of interest to electro archeologists.
- Charles Dodge - The Earth's Magnetic Field
- Îlhan Mimaroglu - Prelude No. 8
- Ingram Marshall - Cortez
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On her last album, Caitlin Cary displayed a more folk/rock/country hybrid sound than her fans were used to. True, mostly that was due to the differences in her sound from her former band Whistkeytown: the absence of Ryan Adams' trademark wail and the switch of Cary from background to lead vocals. She also seemed to want a more roots sound than Adams did, as he went more rock and she went more folk after Whiskeytown's demise. She wasn't without Adams on While You Weren't Looking, though, as he appeared on the bonus disc. This time, Cary went it alone, sort of, as she and her band came off the road with some bold new songs and went right in to the studio with Chris Stamey.Yep Roc
The results shown on I'm Staying Out are a return to form for Cary, as she rocks out more, but the whole album is stronger than anything she's done yet, period. Cary seems more comfortable in the leading role, and the appearance of Mary Chapin Carpenter gives her a bit more credibility. It's the songs, though, that are the real strength, as Cary has found a key group of musicians and songwriters that are guaranteed to create sparks. Bittersweet is still the primary flavor, with songs like "Sleepin' in on Sunday," and "I Want to Learn to Waltz With You," mixed with "Please Break My Heart," and the title track, which is about knowing when it's time to move on even though your partner is expecting you to walk through the door. It's not a perfect record for Cary yet, though, as most of the songs, while pleasant to listen to at first, are utterly forgettable on repeat listens. A few, though, hit the mark and stay there, like "You Don't Have to Hide," "Cello Girl," and "Please Break My Heart." It's on these where Cary gets in touch with classic country through a modern lens, and that's what makes it so stunning. She's improving, and there's no doubt she'll blow us away sooner or later, unlike Adams, who seems to get more and more discombobulated. Hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer for Cary to amaze us once and for all.
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This new mini-album by Asa-Chang & Junray doesn't point to a new direction for the group, but rather brilliantly confirms that the audaciously original musical experimentation heard on last year's Song Chang was far from a fluke. Percussionist Asa-Chang, tabla master U-Zhaan and programmer Hidehiko Urayama have produced another masterful album in the spirit of kidoairaku, loosely translated as "anything is possible."
Kidoairaku is a peculiarly Japanese approach to composition, where disparate elements are put together in an exciting, dramatic way that is as vital and immediate as pop music. Tsu Gi Ne Pu contains five tracks that encompass some of the myriad of possiblities offered by this approach. The first track 'Toremoro" utilizes sampled sound effects from the original Star Trek series - the chirp of the transporter, the whoosh of the automatic doors, the birdsong of the communication devices. Soon, a lulling shakahuchi melody is joined by the ever-present tabla. Five minutes in, the trademark tabla singing begins, this time edited to hyperrhythmic precision by Urayama's laptop expertise. This song is an exciting auditory experience, best experienced on an expensive set of headphones. 'Tsuginepu to Ittemita' is made up of high-pitched electronic drones, with more of the phonetic, staccato singing from Yoshimi P-We of The Boredoms. 'Xylophone' is the rare instance of an Asa-Chang and Junray song that you can actually sing along to. For its three-minute running time, Asa-Chang and Junray manage to reign in all of their random, abstract tendencies to produce an supremely catchy pop song. 'Kaikyo' matches a plaintive trumpet melody with field recordings of the ocean, and builds to a shattering climax reminiscent of Ennio Morricone on several tabs of Japanese acid. The disc closes with the short 'Kutsu No. 3', a slight piece featuring a sad trumpet, hypnotic harmonium and a playful chorus of digital blips and birdcalls. Fast forward ten minutes to an eight-minute hidden track with Yoshimi and Asa-Chang counting in Japanese against a background of shrill digital arpeggios.
Tsu Gi Ne Pu is a worthy follow up to Song Chang, and it makes me wish that there were more artists on the scene today that made high-concept experimentation this exciting and listenable.
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Ever wonder what Black Sabbath would sound like if Ozzy and Bill Wardwere shot and killed, leaving a bereaved Tony Iommi and Geezer Butlerto play a slow dirge at their funeral while under the influence ofhorse tranquilizers? What if that sound were then passed through thedepths of hell and slowed down to last the entire day? The sound mightbegin to approximate the slow, doom-laden heaviness of Sunn O))), apair of doped-up metalheads from the Deep South. Sunn O)))'s musick isevil, neolithic metal sludge that was born out of Satan's ass. GregAnderson and Stephen O'Malley's strategy is simple: reduce heavy metalto its primal elements—guitar and bass, played slow and thick, like abarrel of syrupy magma being poured into a hole full of preschoolers.Nobody can actually play guitar this painfully slow, so Anderson andO'Malley make use of a variety of tape effects to achieve the properslow burn. Their two performances at the recent Autechre-curated AllTomorrow's Parties festival in England were certainly some of thehighlights of the event. Sunn O))) performed in Grimm robes, in frontof a huge stack of ultraloud speakers, flanked on the left and right bylive tape editors, and augmented by guest vocalists. For their firstperformance, the legendary Julian Cope joined Anderson and O'Malley toperform spoken-word poetry over the loud drones. For Sunn O)))'s secondshow, Odinist Runhild Gammelsaeter joined the proceedings, sportingsome bizarre Kiss-meets-Wotan face make-up. Runhild performed a seriesof vocal growls and ululations that focused the magickal energy of thebass and guitar rumbles and shot it out into the crowd. Sunn O)))'s newalbum title, White1, appears to be a nod to their last album Flight ofthe Behemoth, which had a completely black cover, and featured novocals and no guest appearances other than a remix collaboration withMerzbow. For this outing, Sunn O))) attempt to approximate their liveshows, with three long tracks featuring the same guest stars thatfrequently join them live. The first track, "My Wall," features SunnO)))'s trademark slow motion feedback riffs in the background, while inthe foreground Julian Cope does a terrific spoken-word bit that is bothingenius and hilarious—a long-form Odinist verse that mythologizes andcelebrates Anderson and O'Malley's transcendent wall of guitar drones.The painted up magician Runhild Gammelsaeter guests on the second track"The Gates of Ballard," a 15-minute fuzzy invocation of the sun thatgoes straight for your cerebral cortex with its mindbending drones.Amazingly, this song actually features drums, a true rarity in the SunnO))) canon. The third track, ominously entitled "A Shaving of the HornThat Speared You" is the most ambient track on the album, featuringmenacing distorted bass rumbles and randomly strummed electric guitar,together with ritualistic vocal intonations that seem to impregnateyour mind with dark thoughts. White1is Sunn O)))'s breakthrough record, effortlessly merging the minimaldroning of their early work with a host of like-minded collaborators,who push and expand their sound into their most tantalizinglyapocalyptic album yet. -
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Heavyand fluctuating drones, ponderous organic sounds, and subtle thematicshifts all add up to an album that is about as hard to describe as itis captivating. The swells of organ-like mumurs and the gentle hints of bird sounds and lilting winds on Over the Edgeshad a number of effects on me as I listened to it again and again. Atfirst the drones were too imposing—they seemed like a veil of shadowsthat hid the face of some insidious creature that might either drive meto the edges of insanity or attack me unsuspectingly. A second listenprojected images of impossibly high mountains choked at their peaks byunending snowfall and a third transported me into the nether reigons ofspace illuminated by the death and birth of stars. I've probablylistened to this album over ten times in the last seven days and itnever fails at lighting up my imagination and directing it to composeimages of vast, fantastic landscapes inhabited by perplexing andenigmatic creatures. Though much of the music is repetitous, the variedemotions and reponses it kindled in my mind never became old orunwelcome. The minimal number of sounds used gives me the oppurtunityto fill in the blanks and participate in the music as it wandersthrough the room. I could say this album is ghostly or creepy, but thatwould be oversimplifying its beauty. Andrew Chalk has composed anexcellent piece of meditative music capable of both relaxing andstimulating the mind and igniting the imagination in a flame ofunspeakable power.
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The first time I heard Continental OP, the collaborative projectbetween Dave Pajo and Will Oldham, was on the label Temporary ResidenceLimited's compilation called "Sounds For The GeographicallyChallenged." I bought that record largely because of Continental OP'sappearance on it (I had been tipped off who the band members were) and,after listening to the playful but underwhelming song, regarded theproject mostly as a lark, never expecting to see the collaborativeeffort turn up again. But five years later, team Pajoldham havesurprised me by offering a collection of songs which serve as thescore/soundtrack for an independent short film called "Slitch." Onceagain, the project seems like a lark, as if the two were doing thefilmmaker Dianne Bellino a nice favor, producing a little chestnut:nothing as fancy or remarkable as the Dashiell Hammett character theband's name references. There are springy melodic tracks ("Faster"),Misfits punk rock approximations ("James Tired"), and simplistic songswith second-grade-music-class-instrument accoutrements ("Glock"). Themost resonant song is "La La La," an infectious Free Design inspiredharmony line which I found myself humming throughout the day. All ofthese sort of limp ahead clumsily with no signature sound contributedby either Pajo or Oldham and without any real direction, which bringsus to the film itself. On the flip side of the DVD is Dianne Bellino'sshort film "Slitch." The word "slitch" is an amalgam of "slut" and"bitch," and it is the appellation which the protagonist's bitter oldersisters assign to her because she is distracted in her behavior, aloofin her interactions, and (according to the sisters) often carefreeabout her sexual encounters. At our first glimpse of Slitch, she islying in the grass of some wooded parkland, having ostensibly justslept with the man next to her. She arises with a noticeable glint inher eyes, retrieves her underwear from the shrubbery, and is off. Thefocal point of the film is Slitch's interactions with the local surferdude, played fondly by Will Oldham. Oldham's surfer is as oblivious toSlitch's sexual advancements as she is heavy-handed in their delivery.He just wants to watch surfing videos and surf, while she just wants tohave sex. At one point they compromise and have ice cream. Besidesobserving Oldham, which is always fun, I was delightfully distractedfrom the film by trying to determine if the beach where Bellino filmedwas the same Rhode Island beach where I had spent a Fourth of July onceand a pal of mine had lost his car keys in the sand (they were latermiraculously found in a last ditch effort, but not before I had lenthim $40 to have a new key made. We are both still uncertain if that $40was ever recouped by me). Formally, the film is carefully shot andconsidered. It even has moments of looking delicate, such as Slitch'ssunsetted stroll on the beach or Slitch's silent mom grabbing a MillerHi-Life from the refrigerator, but nothing very engaging in terms ofstory or plot. The film's story is an innocuous Cinderella tale with nosense of danger or drama. Slitch's two evil sisters seem no moreoppressive than a gaggle of noisy geese, and her Prince Charming wouldrather jet off to Hawaii than bother deciphering Slitch's confusingmind state. We are asked to believe that Slitch has an alarming needfor sex, but we never really see this. She does not habituallymasturbate; there are no erotic posters of Corey Haim on her walls; andshe seems able to occupy herself with placid walks on the beach at duskwhile listening to her walkman. Sex seems almost as a healthy avocationto her, not a destructive obsession. The evil sisters ought to relaxtheir criticism of Slitch and take a moment between moustache waxes tograb a beer with mom.
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With the undeniable hit that the Kings of Convenience Remixesalbum became, it's unsurprising that the next move from singer ErlendØye was to continue on the electronic music path, employing theservices of many, leaving the acoustic guitar tunesmith days to liedormant. Unrest features ten songs, each with a differentelectronic music collaborator, each taking place in a different city.The concept is appealing for those who found some of thereconstructions and reworkings a spectacular accomplishment, as theinfluences of outside collaborators and remixers had a marvelouseffect. Without the tinkling guitars and folky vocals serving the basisfor the tunes, the truly unique identity is somewhat lost. While thesongs are somewhat catchy, like the fast-talking (almost rapping)"Prego Amore" with Jolly Music, the opener "Ghost Trains" with MorganGeist of New York and the discoey beats of "Sudden Rush" with Kompis,this album could honestly be another drop in the bucket in the trend ofnew techno pop, popularized by Morr related artists, The PostalService, and others. The most exciting direction unsurprisingly comesfrom Prefuse 73, who has integrated a number of horn, vibe, and guitarsounds into the mix, but only ever subtly and not tampering with theelectronic bass sound that drives the rest of the music. For the restof the record, it's a lot of tired drum machine sounds, sparseinstrumentation, and unchallenging vocals.
- Ghost Trains (with Morgan Geist)
- Like Gold (with Schneider TM)
- Prego Amore (with Jolly Music)
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