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- Albums and Singles
album of the year
- Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
- Sigur Ros - ( )
- Low - Trust
- Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
- Notwist - Neon Golden
- Sonic Youth - Murray Street
- M? - Finally We Are No One
- Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
- El-P - Fantastic Damage
- Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
- Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
- Do Make Say Think - &yet &yet
- Keith Fullerton Whitman - Playthroughs
- Tom Waits - Alice
- Out Hud - Street Dad
- ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
- Books - Thought for Food
- Cornelius - Point
- RJD2 - Deadringer
- Nurse with Wound - Man with the Woman Face
- Deerhoof - Revilie
- Beck - Sea Change
- Antipop Consortium - Arrhythmia
- Black Dice - Beaches & Canyons
- Fennesz / O'Rourke / Rehberg - Return of Fenn O'Berg
- Legendary Pink Dots - All the King's Horses
- Tom Waits - Blood Money
- Liars - They threw us all in a trench and stuck a monument on top
- Clinic - Walking With Thee
- DJ Shadow - The Private Press
- Hrvatski - Swarm & Dither
- Isis - Oceanic
- Max Tundra - Mastered By The Guy At Exchange
- Ms. John Soda - No P or D
- Shalabi Effect- The Trial of St-Orange
- Biosphere - Shenzhou
- D?ek - From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots
- DJ /Rupture - Minesweeper Suite
- Legendary Pink Dots - All the King's Men
- Pan?American- The River Made No Sound
single or ep
- Wire - Read & Burn 01
- Wire - Read & Burn 02
- Autechre - Gantz Graf
- Coil - The Remote Viewer
- Yo La Tengo - Nuclear War
- Limp - Orion
- M? - green grass of tunnel
- Missy Elliot - Work it
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Dntel - (This is the dream of) Evan and Chan
- Kid 606 - Why I Love Life
- Savath and Savalas - Rolls and Waves
- Gold Chains - Straight From Your Radio
- I Am Spoonbender - Shown Actual Size
- Coil - Winter Solstoce Bonus CDR
best song
- M? - Green Grass of Tunnel
- Low - That's how you sing amazing grace
- Messy Elliot - Work It
- Sigur Ros - Nj?nav?in aka The Nothing Song
- Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher?
- Boards of Canada - 1969
- Interpol - NYC
- Legendary Pink Dots - The Unlikely Event
- Ms John Soda - Solid Ground
- Wire - 99.9
best various artist compilation
- Blue Skied an' Clear
- Brain in the Wire
- Urban Renewal Program
- Wire Tapper 09
- Seasonal Greetings
- 20 years of dischord
- Masonic
- 24 Hour Party People Soundtrack
- Disco Noveau
- In The Beginning There Was Rhythm
- Lost for Words
- Machinenfest 2002
- Rough Trade Shops: Electronic 01
- The Fire This Time
- 2 Many DJs - As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt 2
- Acid Mothers Temple Family Compilation: Do Whatever You Want, Don't Do Whatever You Don't Want!!
- All Tomorrow's Parties v. 1.1
- Badorb.Com Bless You
- Bip Hop Generation volume 5
- Chamber A Cold Springs Records Sampler
best single artist compilation
- Fennesz - Field Recordings 1995 - 2002
- Windy & Carl - Introspection
- Microphones - Song Islands
- Bj?k - Greatest hits
- Farben - Texstar
- ISAN - Clockwark Menagerie
- Smog - Accumulation None
- Bj?k - Family Tree
- Cabaret Voltaire - The Original Sound of Sheffield '78/82. Best Of
- Coil - Moon's Milk (In Four Phases)
- The Fall - Totally Wired
- Hrvatski - Swarm and Dither
- Rocket From The Tombs - The Day The Earth Met...
- Lesser - lsrmp3cd
- Ekkehard Ehlers - Plays
best double or multi-lp/cd release
- Windy & Carl - Introspection
- Blue Skied An' Clear
- Brain In The Wire
- Legendary Pink Dots - Chemical Playschool 11,12,13
- Acid Mothers Temple Family Compilation 'Do Whatever You Want...'
- Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted - Luxe and Redux
- Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher?
- Paul Westerberg - Stereo/Mono
- Throbbing Gristle - 24 Hours
- Bj?k - Family Tree
coolest unusual packaging
- Brain in the Wire
- Venetian Snares - a giant alien force more violent and sick...
- Bj?k - Family Tree box
- Sigur Ros - ( ) (what the hell's so unusual about this one?)
- Boards of Canada - Geodaddi (book style) (or this one?)
nicest cover design
- Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
- Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
- Low - Trust
- Sigur Ros - ( )
- Shalabi Effect - Trial of St Orange
- Boom Bip - Seed to the Sun
- Nurse With Wound - Man With The Woman Face
- Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
- M? - Finally We Are No One
- Return of Fenn O' Berg
best rerelease/repackage/reissue
- Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted - Luxe and Redux
- Boards of Canada - Twoism
- Stars of the Lid - Avec Laudenum
- Flaming Lips - Finally the Punk Rockers are Taking Acid and The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg
- 23 Skidoo - The Gospel Comes to New Guinea
- Fridge - Eph
- HNAS - Melchior
- Don Cherry - Orient
- Gary Wilson - You Think You Really Know Me
- Nurse With Wound - Automating Volume 2
worst album you bought
- Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi
- Current 93 & Nurse with Wound - Music for the Horse Hospital
- Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher
- Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
- DJ Shadow - The Private Press
- Future Sound of London - The Isness
- Beth Gibbons & Rustin' Man - Out of Season
- Cex - Tall, Dark, and Handcuffed
- David Bowie - Heathen
- Download - Inception
most anticipated disappointment
- Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O. (you only waited two years? that's not much anticipation, come on)
- Sigur Ros - ( | )
- Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
- Future Sound of London - The Isness
- Audioslave
- Autechre - Gantz Graf
- Cex - Tall, Dark, and Handcuffed
- Destroyer - This Night
- Trans Am - TA
- Low - Trust
guiltiest pleasure
- Eminem - The Eminem Show
- Kylie Minogue - Fever
- Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
- Justin Timberlake - Justified (you wouldn't admit this if the poll wasn't anonymous)
- Andrew WK - I Get Wet
- Doves - The Last Broadcast
- Queen of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
- Belle and Sebestian - Storytelling
- Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Out of Season
- Missy Elliott - Under Construction
band of the year
- Sigur R?
- Low
- Interpol
- Acid Mothers Temple
- Coil
- Flaming Lips
- Legendary Pink Dots
- M?
- Wilco
- Wire
best solo musical artist
- Keith Fullerton Whitman
- Jim O' Rourke
- Tom Waits
- Jessica Bailiff
- Venetian Snares
- Beck
- DJ Shadow
- Fennesz
- El-P
- Cex
new act of the year (band or solo artist)
- Interpol
- Liars
- The Books
- Xiu Xiu
- DJ /Rupture
- Limp
- Christmas Decorations
- RJD2
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Devandra Bahnhart
- Ms. John Soda
- Out Hud
- Parlour
- Polmo Polpo
- Radio 4
best live show/concert experience
- Sigur R?
- Coil
- Godspeed You Black Emperor!
- Stars of the Lid
- Legendary Pink Dots
- Sonic Youth
- Low
- M?
- Cex
- Do Make Say Think
- Wire
- Jackie-o Motherfucker
- Explosions in the Sky
- ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
- Acid Mothers Temple
most overrated band/artist
- Interpol
- Sigur Ros
- Strokes
- Wilco
- Kid 606
- Radiohead
- White Stripes
- Vines
- ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
- The Streets
- Boards of Canada
- Eminem
- Sonic Youth
- Cex
- Godspeed You Black Emperor!
most irritating band/artist
- Eminem
- The Strokes
- Interpol
- The Vines
- Radiohead
- Avril Lavigne
- Kid 606
- Nickelback
- Ryan Adams
- Sigur Ros
lifetime achievement
- Sonic Youth
(only one band can win it per year)
Band/artist with most detestable audience/fans
- Godspeed You Black Emperor!
- Eminem
- Radiohead
- Interpol
- Phish (who could smell worse than godspeed fans but are agreeably far less pestering)
Most obligatory
- Low
- David Bowie
- Skinny Puppy / Kevin Key
- Autechre
- Boards Of Canada
- Coil
- Godspeed You Black Emperor
- Sonic Youth
- Squarepusher
- Current 93
Most annoying reissue
- Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches (stay tuned for next year's three-CD edition)
- Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
- Boards Of Canada - Twoism
- The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
- Incredible String Band reissues on Collector's Choice
Worst comeback
- Suicide
- Soft Cell
- Guns 'n Roses
- Future Sound of London
- Sex Pistols
- The Rolling Stones
- Boards Of Canada
- Beck
- Julee Cruise
- Al Gore
most prolific artist who really shouldn't be so prolific
- Merzbow
- Acid Mothers Temple
- Venetian Snares
- Legendary Pink Dots & every single one of those side projects
- Jim o'Rourke
- John Zorn
- Kid 606
- Mick Jaggar
- Robert Pollard
- Ryan Adams
biggest scam act
- Interpol
- DJ Shadow
- The Vines
- Fischerspooner
- Kid 606
- Acid Mother's Temple
- Current 93's limited editions
- Merzbow
- The Strokes
- Andrew WK
miss congeniality
- M?
- Cex
- Peaches
- Antony of the Johnsons
- Beth Orton
- Kylie
- Landing
- Low
- Matmos (who else asks you for a picture when you mail order a CD?)
- Missy Elliott (when has she been nice to you? when has she stuck around after a show to sign CDs??)
most overpriced release
- Bj?k - Family Tree
- TG24 Box Set
- Nurse With Wound / Current 93 - Horse Hospital
- Sigur Ros - ( )
- Coil Live set
most fetishable
- Peaches
- Avril Lavigne
- Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
- Bj?k
- Kylie Minogue
- Aphex Twin
- Cex
- Christina Aguilera
- Justin Timberlake
- Adam Forkner (Yume Bitsu)
most confessedly ignored by you
- 23 Skidoo (results may have been skewed by the description of this question, all apologies)
- Nurse With Wound
- Coil
- Acid Mothers Temple
- Flaming Lips
- Legendary Pink Dots
- Nirvana
- Pere Ubu
- Talk Talk
- The Fall
worst sellout
- Sigur Ros
- Ryan Adams
- Godspeed You Black Emperor
- Trans Am
- Moby
fave producer
- Steve ""I'm not a producer, I'm an engineer"" Albini
- El-P
- Jim O'Rourke
- Nigel Goodrich
- The Neptunes
- Timbaland
- Dr Dre
- John McEntire
- Phil Elvrum
- Colin Potter
who will break big next year?
- Cex
- Kinski
- Venetian Snares
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Black Dice
record label
- Kranky
- Morr Music
- Constellation
- Mego
- Def Jux
- Fat Cat
- Tigerbeat 6
- Temporary Residence
- Matador
- Ipecac
music video
(as seen on various web sites and CD-Rs in addition to non-music video channels, for those who think they're only seen on MTV)
- Autechre - Gantz Graf
- White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl
- Missy Eliot - Work it
- M? - Green Grass of Tunnel
- Clinic - Walking with Thee
- Interpol - PDA
- Notwist - Pick up the Phone
- ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Another Morning Stoner
- El-P - Deep Space 9mm
- Lightning Bolt - Power of Salad and Milkshakes
OTHER STUFF
movie of the year
- Bowling for Colombine
- Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers
- Spirited Away
- Punch Drunk Love
- 24 Hour Party People
- Adaptation
- Mulholland Drive
- Crossroads
- Donnie Darko
- Secretary
- Heaven
- Lost in la Mancha
- Star Wars Episode II - Attack Of The Clones
- Talk to Her
- The Ring
tv show
- Simpsons
- 24
- Sopranos
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer
- South Park
- Futurama
- The Daily Show
- Alias
- Oz
- That '70s Show
magazine/newspaper
- The Wire
- The Onion
- Magnet
- Grooves
- Careless Talk Costs Lives
- Entertainment Weekly
- Found
- Giant Robot
- Guardian
- New Yorker
book of the year
- Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
- A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram
- After the Quake: Stories by Haruki Murakami
- Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
- Love and Loud Colors by Edward Ka-Spel
fave actor
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Johnny Depp
- Adrien Brody
- Kevin Spacey
- Edward Norton
fave actress
- Julianne Moore
- Christina Ricci
- Nicole Kidman
- Winona Ryder
- Jodie Foster
fave director
- David ""I didn't direct anything this year, you clowns"" Lynch
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Micheal Moore
- Aki Kaourismaki
- Darren Aaronofsky
- David Fincher
- Martin Scorsese
- Peter Jackson
- Steven Soderbergh
- Todd Haynes
fave writer (book/tv/film/play,...)
- Chuck Palahniak
- Paul Auster
- Haruki Murakami
- Thomas Ligotti
- charlie kaufmann
best website
- Brainwashed / the Brain
- pitchforkmedia.com
- theonion.com
- homestarrunner.com
- allmusic.com
- Fakejazz.com
- Absorb.org
- aquariusrecords.org
- espn.com
- explodingdog.com
- four09.org
- kompaktkiste.de/
- news.bbc.co.uk
- projectbloodteam.com
- RecycleYourEars.com
most annoying trends
Gosh there's so many...
- Electroclash
- Republicanism / Right Wing Politics / Bush Support / New McCarthyism
- War Mongering
- Mall Rock masked as Commercial Alt. Rock
- 80s Retro / Revival (see: haircuts/nostalgia/cocaine)
- Garage Rock/Crock/House/Pop/Revival
- Emo
- Concert Crowd Conformity Code (see functionless thick-rimmed glasses, unshowered NYC indie film hair look, girls who look exactly alike)
- Reality TV (especially discount celebrities like Anna and Ozzy)
- Cell Phones (at least turn them off at the movies, assholes)
- Major Labels/RIAA bitching/DMCA Reaction/Copy-proof CDs
- Bands that start with ""The"" and end with a plural noun
- Designer Dirt (see: bleach stains on jeans)
- Economic Instability (the kind caused by rich, white corporate assholes bringing everything down)
- Glitch (isn't that 1999?)
- IDM
- Polls
- Recycled goth
- Blind Patriotism / Nationalism
- Blogs
- White Hip Hop (that sounds white)
- Leg Warmers
- MTV (note to future voters: this is a channel, not a trend)
- Really low jeans on chubby chicks / butt cleavage
- Talking loud at concerts
dumbest category on this poll
- Best band you lied to your friends about seeing live
- this one
- most fetishable (put a ball-gag in it)
- Miss Congeniality (obviously you don't care when a band writes you back)
- Band/artist with most detestable audience/fans(stop bitching you obnoxious twit)
"
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So many things bother me about this three song single, that it's hard to imagine having this many conflicted feelings about so little recorded music. For starters, Lift To Experience wear the fact that they are from Texas on their sleeve the way some Texans sport "Don't Mess With Texas" bumper stickers on their Chevy trucks. Look, I'm from Texas too, but you don't see me out eveyday with my Texas Ranger badge on, and I don't start every record review with "even though I'm from Texas, I found this record quite interesting." The constant Texas posturing seems awfully condescending to all the folks from Texas who, like LTE, were more turned on by shoegazy indie rock than square dancing, knee slapping hootenany, and it's equally condescending to people who like squaredancing, because there's nothing wrong with that either! There are plenty of folks in Texas who can rock a good Cocteau Twins record anyday, we don't need LTE to remind us. A line about the band's Texas heritage even surfaces in the single's title track, and whether its supposed to be tongue in cheek or not, it just drags the credibility of the rest of the song down for me. The vocals alternate between painfully earnest choruses and half-spoken, disaffected verses reminiscent of Arto Lindsay or Lou Reed. The music in the background is sincere enough, kind of like what you might expect from people thrown into a culdron of indie rock, Country twang, and the Bible Belt. It was genuinely securing a grip on me when I opened the CD liner notes to read "Ladies and gentlemen we are playing with one guitar." Look again, it's really not necessary to point out something like that in such a way unless you are trying to make a point about how important or strong or incredibly unique your music is DESPITE the use of only one guitar. Maybe it's all part of a humor too dry for me to get into, but it sounds a lot like when popus jackasses like Rage Against The Machine say things like "we didn't use any keyboards or computers on this record." Frankly, I've heard a band with only a drummer and a bass player make more dense music than Lift To Experience, so the "one guitar" thing isn't doing much for me. Tracks two and three were recorded live for SBN, and have a live band sound, but as much as I like the songs, I can't keep the image of amped up Texas machismo out of my head. "These Are The Days" is a genuinely enjoyable single with a bonus video that gives you an up-nostirl view of the band performing that is at least worth a glance. If you can look past all the "Beers, Steers, and Queers" style Texas 'humor,' and take the band less seriously than they take themselves, you might find that it's a pretty damn good single.
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Mute
If 2002 has been a generally mediocre year for releases, it sure ashell is not going out without kicking and screaming. '24 Hours' arrivedon Monday, December 22nd, and, while I haven't had the time to pickthrough every last second of music on this 25-CD set (yes, it turns outto be 25 CDs for those who mail-ordered it!), everything so far hasbeen incredible. While the Sex Pistols and The Clash were "dressing"themselves as punks, their music was easily digestible pop/rock tuneswith enough of an attitude edge for the kids to dig. ThrobbingGristle's approach was almost the entire opposite, as the band dressedrespectfully on album covers and played various art halls (in additionto boys schools and rock clubs), but made music with far lesscommercial potential. Every concert lasted exactly 60 minutes,controlled by a timer which would cut the power on the stage at exactly60 minutes no matter what point the band were at. Every show wasrecorded and committed to cassette tape, and for this box, it seems aseverything is here from the very first to the very last second of eachshow.
The original 24 Hours box consisted of 24 cassettes (IRC 2through IRC 24 and IRC 26—see the web sitefor more specific details) plus two additional tapes of radiointerviews. (Look for it at online auctions for over a thousand dollarson average!) For the CD box release, 25 cassettes were remastered byChris Carter (the original master of IRC26 was lost but later recoveredafter the project was underway with IRC29 in its place). It'sfascinating to actually hear Genesis in his role as entertainer,front-man and stand-up comic, going from a jaded youngter in theearlier recordings, poking fun at the same-ness of Johnny Rotten songsto a more clever prankster by the end, leading crowds on, completelybullshitting them with an honest composure. The music also evolved overthe few years captured here, from the earlier years of making tons ofnoise to cold-calculated compositions, where band members Chris, Coseyand Sleazy would pay closer attention to each other, opting to remainsilent to let other parts shine through. The mastereing job by ChrisCarter is far better than I have even dreamed of, with many recordingsin stereo, either with different instrument assignment on either sideor a true stereo recording, most likely depending on what type ofmixing desk was available at the show. The included tidbits are alsonice to have too, but since this box cost so much, frankly I'm afraidto lose any of the stickers, pins, pictures, or patches. At theapproximate $220 price, however, this is something almost exclusivelyfor the fans. If I were to have any complaints at this point, it wouldbe for the lack of inclusion of the radio interviews, but there's stillmore live recordings yet to get the Chris Carter remastering attentionand resurface, so I'll be patient. This is enough music to hold me fora long time.
samples:
- Introduction/Very Friendly (from IRC04)
- Five Knuckle Shuffle (from IRC15)
- Weapons Training/See You Are (from IRC20)
- The World is a War Film (from IR26)
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The plan was to record an EP of cover songs. The coolest singer in rock music wanted to pay tribute to some of her influences, including Nina Simone, Patti Smith's epochal Radio Ethiopia album and Neutral Milk Hotel's "Comely." Then she changed her mind and instead recorded three new songs, an old Uzi number that never made it onto the classic Sleep Asylum and a couple of covers. The fans lucked out, as her songs are drastically superior to the ones she did eventually cover.
 
Lou Reed and Bob Dylan should shit blood to be songwriters even half as gifted as Thalia Zedek. Are you reading this Reed? You wasted an hour of my life with that turgid wankfest you call Ecstasy, and I'm not happy about it. Yeah, yeah, the pope in a silver castle my ass and don't you ever make the colored girls go do de do like that again, motherfucker! But enough of that ol' hasbeen, he was still pretty gritty when he knew what "Candy Says" with the Velvet Underground and later resurrected it in Berlin, but nevertheless it's the weakest cut here.
Thalia Zedek packs an emotional punch into every song as if the weight of the world is crushing her and singing is the only way to lift it off her back. There's this lone drum beat in the relatively upbeat opener "Everything Unkind" that reels like total emotional desolation. The opening lyric, "I got tired of waiting," is something any Lou Reed fan hoping for another album even half as rockin' as 'New York' can surely relate to. But enough of that ol' hasbeen, there's another one just round the corner and he has a nasal voice and a legion of rabid bootleggers under his thumb. The Dylan cover that gives the six song CD its title bears some similarities to "Temporary Guest" off Thalia's last album, except nowhere near as finely captivating. More equal to that stupendous album no doubt overlooked by idiots racing for the next big little thing are the two No songs. "No Fire" gets right under the skin of a slowly souring relationship then tears it right off. Meanwhile "No Substitutions" is the one that'll make old Come fans happy, with Mel Lederman's piano taking the place of bass. It seems Thalia has also stepped up the contribution of viola player David Michael Curry, and the only other old Come hand on board is drummer Daniel Coughlin.
Perhaps the most magical moment happens when Thalia covers her younger self. "JJ85" paints a dream portrait of youthful longing and unravelling, with a simple uplifting strummed riff that seems like the dark reflection after Blondie's "Dreaming" took a tumle through the tunnels underground in search of the doctor that the hopes were pinned on before a change of heart.
samples:
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Gravity / Sub Pop
Yet another in a recent onslaught of bands with names beginning with"the", The Rapture are a noisy three-piece post-post-punk outfit fromNew York City. The Rapture are riding a wave of trendy postpunkrevivalism, but have managed to emerge with a fairly unique identityand an engaging, dynamic energy on record. Judging by this first album,their recent SubPop EP, and the current underground hit 12" single "TheHouse of Jealous Lovers" on DFA, The Rapture have enough of their ownto add to their obvious early-80's influences to make their musicworthwhile. Bolstered by the strength of their DFA dance single, theirfirst album 'Mirror', which was originally released almost two yearsago, has been re-released on the Gravity Records imprint. This firstalbum finds The Rapture trio in a nascent form, producing gloriouslylow-fi noisy shit most closely resembling The Pop Group's 'Y' albumsodomizing an early Cure record. The album opens with the short, darkpiano dirge "in finite clock!" This quickly segues into the sound ofpolice sirens and a wall of scratchy, fuzzy garage noise on"NOTES>>>". The angular guitars and driving beat support thethroat-stripping lyrical screams, with the repeated chorus "I'm takingnotes from the underground..." The next track "OLiO" takes a cue fromearly Cure, with its goth-as-hell bassline and plaintive lyrics.Although I realize that doesn't sound like a recommendation, this is anawesome song. The next couple tracks utilize keyboard effects and drummachine, adding textural elements to The Rapture's spare, grittygoth-punk anti-songs. After another dark, atmospheric piano melody, thelast track is an appropriately hyperactive and chaoticremix/interpolation of "Notes" by Kid606. 'Mirror' is an impressivelynasty slice of raw punk-funk, and I would highly recommend like-mindedfolk waste no time in seeking it out.
samples:
The Rapture's new EP, out recently on SubPop, bears little resemblenceto the aggressively dark and abrasively gothic trio that recorded'Mirror'. They have a new bassist, and two years down the line theyhave dropped the Bauhaus posturing and stripped their sound down to aleaner, meaner brand of art punk, influenced by Wire and Gang of Four.Gone are the moody dirges and dark dance anthems. They have beenreplaced with upbeat, politically charged songs with a tight drumming,clipped guitars and repetitive lyrical rants. The songs have gotten abit longer and some contain abrupt tempo changes and otherself-consciously artsy techniques. The production is much cleaner, aswell. The title track opens the EP with its high-strung rhythms andear-splitting guitar. The zealously screamed vocals recall MarkStewart's clipped verses in The Pop Group's first two albums. In"Modern Romance" the vocals are pushed to the background as theear-splittingly non-melodic guitar lines take precedence. "Caravan" isa tense track, with a rhythm section that keeps phasing in and out ofexistence. The only song with anything resembling a melody isappropriately titled "The Pop Song", but the cacophonous andrepetitious refrain of "You're growing older/You're growing older"keeps the song from approaching any kind of mainstream aspirations."Confrontation" closes the disc, with a relentless, distortion-heavybassline and tribal dance rhythms recalling 23 Skidoo. This EP is asgood as 'Mirror' and points to a new direction for the band. I can'twait to hear their upcoming full-length.
samples:
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Staubgold
F.S. Blumm begins his second full-length album with measured, confidentguitar strumming and fretboard squeaks in a decidedly jazzy numbercalled "Folge." Despite the confidence, the song ends up feeling alittle hollow by the end, as if it never really reached the point whereit had intended to go, a disorientation which is symptomatic of thewhole album. Frank Schultge's polyinstrumental improvisations tend tomeander, sometimes aimlessly. The mood of 'Ankern' is largelyimprovisational, not directional or determined. F.S. Blumm createscompositions which rely on repeated melodic statements that change andflow into other statements. The repetitions between these statementsare like the sips of coffee between bites of morning toast (whole wheatwith the strawberry jam): moderately enjoyable and somewhat necessaryto drench the palette, but once the coffee sits around for awhile, itneeds refreshing. Blumm's music feels lighter on this release than onhis debut 'Mondkuchen.' It hops and it skips without ever reallyplanting its feet firmly in the ground to take a stand. The songs withthe most substance to them, like "Sprung," "Tal," and "Fehlsprung," allshare a cello which gives them some body, some voice, some resonance.These three songs get better with each listen, whereas most of theother songs have a tendency to be too playful and less focused and theyeventually evanesce like vapor. Of the more playful songs, "Abgebildet"is the most memorable with its brilliant guitar lines unapologeticallyending with a sudden cessation. The most delightful sound I heard onthe album was in the background of "Fehlsprung" towards the end, where,if you listen closely enough, you can hear what sounds like thecroakings of a castrated bull frog whose bellows skim across the pondlike a skipping stone. Despite the title, 'Ankern" does not feelanchored enough to hold much ground against Blumm's previous strongwork.
samples:
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Eskaton / Black Sun Productions
'The Plastic Spider Thing' is the name given to a sexual/ritualperformance art piece performed by Black Sun Productions. Black Sunappears to be primarily the duo of Massimo and Pierce—two pierced,tattooed fetish models, avid Coil fans and ex-rentboys. I have neverseen a performance of 'Spider Thing' in person, but from the extensivephotos and video clips on the Black Sun Productions site, it looks likequite a decadent form of theater—live gay sex and bloodletting occursin a room filled with taut plastic webbing. The sex act is turned intoa sadomasochistic, predatory dance of sorts. It looks fascinating, andmore than a little arousing. Massimo and Pierce have also done someon-stage interpretive nude dancing during many of Coil's recentEuropean live shows. Now comes this new release on Threshold House, a"soundtrack" for the performance piece, constructed by Black Sunassociate DraZen and consisting entirely of remixes and mutations ofCoil's recorded output. I would like to report that this CD is asadventurous and perverse as its performance counterpart. However,listening to this release several times, I feel that I may be missingsomething. Working from a palette of colors as vivid and diverse asCoil's, I really feel that something more interesting should haveresulted from a remix project such as this. The 15 tracks herecompletely remove rhythm and structure from Coil, and focus on longambient, droney material. A lot of cheap "Wave Studio" effects areapplied to the music, such as excessive echo, reverb, backwardsmasking, etc. In short, I don't think these remixes were very hard tomake, and I don't think much time or care went into this. DraZen hasslowed down and extended a lot of his "pet sounds" from the Coilarchives, and in the process the songs have completely lost theiroriginal meaning and genius. There are some extraneous heavily delayedvoices added into the mix that just seem rather annoying in thiscontext. The best moments are when Coil's music reaches us relativelyuntouched, as with the "Bee Stings" sample on track six. This releaseis somewhat useless for Coil fans. It doesn't really work as a "partymix", and it doesn't really serve to underscore any new facets ofCoil's original works. Separated from its performance context, itdoesn't work at all, except as a mediocre dark ambient release that youwill listen to once and then shelve.
samples:
- The Spider has to paralyze the Victim
- When the Victim is undressed, the Spider sets him in the desired position
- Hello Victim! Awake! The Victim gets back his freedom
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Mantra
I became intrigued with the idea of hearing Dot Allison's new recordwhen I read a quote from her citing Psychic TV as a band she reallyenjoys. I already owned her debut solo album, 'Afterglow,' which Ifound to be a guilty pleasure of a sultry, yet simple, pop record. So,the notion that she takes influence from PTV left the impression on methat 'We Are Science' might bear a reflection of the cult legend. Well,I didn't really notice such an influence, but I can report thatAllison's new record is a step away from the mainstream, radio-friendlyleanings of her last album. It kicks off with "We're Only Science,"full of low, throbbing beats, exotic synth-y touches and sexy vocals,and based on this, I was actually expecting a lot from the remainingtracks. While not a complete let down, the rest of the album is not aswell-developed as the opening cut. "Substance," which seems likesomewhat of an attempt to cash in on the current "electroclash" trend,is nonetheless catchy. "You Can Be Replaced" and "Strung Out" embracesome of the same straightforward pop aesthetic found on 'Afterglow,'and remain enjoyable, but unfortunately, the six other tracks arelargely forgettable. They're either slow and sappy or just plainboring. The US version of the album comes with two remixes, one of"Substance" by Felix da Housecat and one of "We're Only Science" byKeith Tenniswood of Two Lone Swordsmen (who also assisted in thealbum's production), both of which turn the originals into cheesy housemusic and are borderline tacky. Dot Allison strikes me as a genuinelytalented vocalist (she formerly fronted early '90s trip hop outfit OneDove) and songwriter. 'We Are Science' is a demostration of thedevelopment of her own style, but she still seems to have a long way togo.
samples:
- We're Only Science
- Strung Out
- Substance (Felix da Housecat remix)
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Cold Spring Records
Cold Spring might be more recognized as a distributor of dark ambient,neo-classical, death industrial and japanese noise music than as alabel, but as this compilation shows, this is unjustified. 'Chamber' isa fine selection of various neo gothic & post industrial sub genredmusic. The songs are culled mostly from recent releases but there arealso some exclusives like "Hail The Queen," the last track everrecorded by Folkstorm, a remastered version of the haunting"Mitternachtsberg" from Von Thronstahl and a preview of forthcomingalbum by The Days Of The Trumpet Call. The inclusion Mark Snow (knownas composer of the X-Files Theme) and Benedikt Middler is surprisingbut not necessarily unfitting, as their contribution is the title songfrom their score of "Nekromantik," a German splatter movie. Kerovnian,Schloss Tegal, Band Of Pain, Toroidh (the new project of the Folkstorm/ MZ.412 founder), Endrva and Von Thronstahl represent various shadesof dark and black ambient while Ignis Fatuus, The Days Of The TrumpetCall, A Challenge Of Honour dive more into the martial neo-classicalfields once explored by Laibach (and In The Nursery). Laibach are evenpresent with a version of "Die Liebe" from the soon to be officiallyreleased 'Neu Konserativ' bootleg album. The sincerity and powerfulrealization behind the ultra deep traks by Novatron and Sleep ResearchFacility distantly separate them from any 2nd or 3rd-generation "darkambient" cliches. This compilation is more than just a mid-priceintroduction, as it is carefully arranged to be enjoyed as a whole andcomplete piece (especially on rainy days or in the darker hours of theday). There lies much unexpected beauty and love hidden within—and outof darkness there comes light.
samples:
- Von Thronstahl - Mitternachtsberg
- Endrva - Theme for an Imaginary Obsession
- Novatron - Angel
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Antifrost
A unique restriction was given to the artists for this compilation; allartists were only allowed to use a limited bandwidth of 200hz for theircontributions. Subsequently, Francisco Lopez, Zbgniew Karbowski, KimCascone, Coti, Ilious, Philip Samartzis and others work their waythrough frequency ranges from 0 to 17002hz. Most remain in the lowerrange from 0-200hz up to 490-690hz (Lopez, PG 13, Karkowski, Coti,Kawasaki, Ilios) while a few step into the middle 991-2298 hz (AS 11,Samartzis, Yoshida) and only Cascone and Jason Kahn work in the highestranges, from 14000hz to 17002hz. While the goal was -not- meant as a"tonal experiment for studio technicians," it requires a very goodstereo system to pick up the barely audible parts some pieces mainlyconsist of. What's lacking, however, is a sense for the extraordinarylike some of the Ash International releases have. Furthermore, theminimal nature of the pieces is puzzling, as they sound like they mighthave originally been completely different tracks simply run over with afilter, cutting out all but the desired 200hz spectrum. It's thislimitation that sometimes prevents a track from ever really gettingexciting. 'Suffer / Enjoy' is theoretically a success but in fact notan album to please anybody other than the hardcore sound experts.
samples:
- Philip Samartzis - Untitled
- Francisco Lopez - Untitled #131
- Jason Kahn - Untitled
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Hidden Art
If I could leave this year with one thought for each reader to hold, itwould be to consider how lucky you are. How lucky everybody readingthis is to have access to a computer and is literate enough to read,because, even if you're not reading these words on your own computer,you're probably living in a society where you can voice your opinions,vote, read, work, and educate yourself. It's ironic that after threeyears in the making, Grant Wakefield's project is finally availablejust as the USA and Great Britain are making plans to wage war again onIraq. Facts, samples, quotes and narrations alone usually end up in asea of public radio, where the words rarely fall on ears that aren'talready somewhat aware of some of the tragedies that have been carriedout through bombings or years of sanctions and inescapable radioactiveaftermath. What Wakefield has done is piece the words together withexclusive music from Aphex Twin, Bola, Speedy J, Orbital, and a numberof others. The story is arranged chronologically, from the pre-Europeanhistory, through the early 20th century, through events that lead up tothe Gulf War and its aftermath, the music underlines the narration andclimaxes at appropriate points of tension. While the messages at timesfeel somewhat force-fed through hip techno music, it almost feels likeit needs to be at this point, since the gung-ho messages from thewar-mongers is being even more force-fed through the media as news. Itsgoals, as described by the full title, are "deconstructing the GulfWar—a permanent record of the fate of Iraq and a guide to the languageof mass media propaganda." The story is, unsurprisingly more horrificbeyond imagination, with an angle not entirely unlike Michael Moore'sin "Bowling for Columbine," where the media is clearly exposed forbeing manipulated by superpowers and driven by capitalism rather thanfocused on facts and humanity. But don't rely on Wakefield's wordsalone: guests include President Bush (senior), Madeline Albright,Oliver North, comedian Bill Hicks, and numerous world leaders,unidentified soldiers and victims in their own words. It succeeds as acommentary and should be recognized as such. Wakefield isn't crying outagainst evil Western empires nor is he providing solutions forindividuals who do not wish to support the campaigns of their owngovernments. Thankfully, we're fortunate that one of the benefits of USmilitary funding gave us the internet, and Firethistime.orgpicks up where the recordings have left off, providing more informationto read and links for people to get involved. If you love the bands butfeel this is a glorified public service announcement, a second CD hasbeen provided with instrumental versions. Hopefully you will take thetime to hear the first disc out and make up your own mind for yourself.
samples:
- From the Cradle
- The Whore of Babylon(Pan Sonic)
- Say Hello to Allah (Aphex Twin remixed by Black Lung)
- ...To the Grave (Amba)
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