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Anita Lane first came to music circa the late '70s via the Nick Cave-led posse The Birthday Party and later as a founding member of his solo band The Bad Seeds. Since the mid-'80s she has recorded some singles and the solo album Dirty Pearl and has collaborated with Die Haut, Bad Seed Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson, Einstüzende Neubauten and Gudrun Gut. In particular, Harvey is her longtime musical guru and is once again responsible for production and much of the instrumentation for this 10 song album.
Everything about Lane oozes sexuality, from the packaging photos to the girlish yet 'been there, done that' voice and words. Unsurprisingly, a Bad Seeds and Serge Gainesbourg shadow is cast over much of the album (even going as far as to borrow tape loops of mid '90s Bad Seeds jams for a few songs) plus string arrangements are provided by Bertrand Burgalat. A handful of songs - "Do That Thing", "Like Caesar Needs a Brutus" and "Do the Kamasutra" - are a bit too much, a bit too goofy or garish lyrically, approaching porn movie soundtrack musically. The rest find a better balance between sex appeal and song writing. Three impressive covers include Gil Scott-Heron's tell it like it is tale "Home is Where the Hatred Is" and the traditional "Bella Ciao". "The Next Man That I See" is the single and rightfully so, Anita invitingly cooing "and I think that I'll just make love to the next man that I see". In "A Light Possession" horns, keys and strings copulate under the sheets of a sweaty bass groove. I could go on but, well, you get the idea. This is Lane's most fully realized solo work to date, about half of which is really good.
 
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samples:
- The Weight of My Words (Four Tet remix)
- Winning a Battle, Losing the War (Andy Votel remix)
- Little Kids (Ladytron remix)
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Upon experiencing them live and then hearing "Gravitational Pull vs. the Desire for an Aquatic Life" a few years ago, SotL redefined for me the aesthetic of 'ambient' music and just how beautiful it can be. Now Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride (and others, including previous collaborator painter Jon McCafferty and film artist Luke Savisky) return with 124 more minutes of sleepy soliloquy.
Perhaps more so than ever they have shaped their signature sound clouds into orchestrated song structures, many being multi-part suites with readily identifiable movements. Loops and swathes of pure auditory warmth, often ingrained with or gradually overcome by the sweet strains of cello, wax and wane slow (e)motion melodies. Atmospheric location recordings, found sounds and a few obscured piano passages are also scattered throughout, not to disrupt or detract, but to help occasionally bring the heavenliness back down to Earth. This music engages, engulfs and expands the conscious and unconscious alike. This music is for rapid eye movement dreams, waking dreams and walking dreams alike. This music is ... simply gorgeous, nearly perfect. Stars of the Lid are set to tour Europe with Loscil next January.
 
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For instance, it includes a bunch of songs straight off the last three proper albums, like the popular favorites "Die Interimsliebenden," and "12305 Te Nacht" plus versions from CD singles that can still be found tossing around. Highlights include unreleased songs like 1998's "Scampi Alla Carlina" which almost made it to the Berlin Babylon soundtrack, the 1992 precursor to "Salamandrina" called "Snake," and the playfully amusing one-take collection closer, "Drachen" from 1993. Listening to modern EN, there's an undeniable feeling of an expressionless, cold-calculated effort, but outtakes are always good to proudly show a more personable side. The slightly stretched out version of "Architektur Ist Geiselnahme" opens the second disc and makes me yearn more for the 'Berlin Babylon' release. Its inclusion is a clear indication that what you're getting here is something incomplete, something that's not the entire picture. Live tracks are jumbled around with studio tracks, dates are completely out of order, styles don't flow comfortably, songs you know and can almost sing are followed by songs you've never heard before. Strategies Against Architecture is a conscious effort to contradict the rigid concept of an established structure (and a more eloquent way of saying "collapsing of new buildings"). In this case, it's the concept of an album. It works. However, you're at the mercy of the artist when it comes to listening to the record. The CD is designed not to be playable on computers (so you can't easily make your own CD comp and wipe out stuff you don't want to listen to) but you can always program songs out on your home deck.
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Okay, first things first: I know there are going to be some folks sitting at home reading this and rolling their eyes at the idea of a 'Feminist band' and sighing, "Yeah, I'm all for womens' rights and everything but you know, their music is all the same... and well, it ain't always that great. And like, how many times do I have to listen to yet another bitchy band simulating Hole or Babes in Toyland?" so, for those people, I've got three words for you: fuck that shit.
Now, I'm not suggesting you stop listening to these types of bands (if you haven't already), but what I am saying is that feminist music is much more than that and Le Tigre is certainly living proof of this. The songs on "Feminist Sweepstakes" are engaging, informative and in many ways, a lot of fun.
Much like Bob Dylan, Public Enemy or Billy Bragg, Le Tigre have successfully pulled of the feat of transplanting political activism into the pleasurable device of music without compromising or jeopardising their message. The album itself invites an exchange of ideas which challenge preconceptions of Feminism and female identity. But rather than adopt an antagonistic sneer of "I told you so. You suck," which doesn't help anybody by a long shot, Le Tigre have instead fostered a recognition that everyone (including themselves) have a lot to learn, as suggested by the lyrics of "Tres Bien." What this promotes is a healthy debate, if not understanding, between the artist and the listener/critic. That?s not to say that Le Tigre's approach is less confronting, because amidst the singable and danceable tunes of "Shred A?" "F.Y.R." and "On Guard?" they're still tackling some tough issues such as the continuation of female oppression, even in an era of so-called "liberation", which no doubt, some will find difficult to believe or accept. Make no mistake, these are not hollow complaints.
Musically speaking, "Feminist Sweepstakes" takes the retro themes canvassed on Le Tigre's eponymous debut as well as Kathleen Hanna?s earlier solo project, Julie Ruin, and develops them beyond the simple looped sample and drumbeat song structure. Generally, the songs on this album are more accomplished than their previous releases, and in this sense, it's encouraging to hear Le Tigre making a concerted effort to build their vocabulary not only as Feminists, but also as musicians. Besides the obvious new wave punk rock influence, Le Tigre borrow elements from other genres (similar to Chicks On Speed) which range from catchy mainstream bubblegum pop, to electronic dance, to cheerleading rally chants, to the use of skits and lyrical stylings of rap music. As such, Le Tigre's schizophrenic employment of various influences enables the band to dodge the "angry female rock" stereotype whilst at the same time, reinforcing the point that there is indeed more than one way to approach Feminism.
Explosive, dynamic, emotive, witty, profound and inspirational, Le Tigre possess a unique, raw energy coupled with ferocious intelligence which will make you go berserk on the dancefloor and maybe, just maybe, even make you a better person. How cool is that?
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Five films by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson have music featured on this compact collection. While over the last few weeks I have been listening to more soundtracks than ever, I've been finding that listening to them straight through (for many) can be quite repetitious. Themes frequently get repeated ad nauseam with jumbled up arrangements between instruments, scatterings of 1-minute tracks seem rather incomplete, and there's always a sense of something 'missing' — but that's just the nature of the beast. A collection like this, however provides a ton of well-developed music, carefully collected and organized, and sparks an interest in the works of both HÖH and Fridriksson.
Three tracks from 1991's award-winning "Children of Nature", seven from 1994's "Movie Days", six from 1994's "Cold Fever", two from 1996's "Devil's Island" and two proverbial selections from "Angels of the Universe" make up the tracklist. Hilmarsson's scores are heavy with emotions, subtly crafted in various ways, either with conventional instrumental foundation like bass guitar, electronic reeds, or deep and decadent echoes, topped occasionally electronic samples, choral voices and weeping strings. I still have yet to see any Fridriksson film but the sounds here are enough to suggest I'm in for some very heavy stuff. Play this one extra loud.
 
samples:
- Suurgata (from Children of Nature)
- Summing Up (from Devil's Island)
- Flight (from Cold Fever)
 
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With this in mind, I've never been compelled to state labels like Warpare past their prime or certainly eclipsed by other outfits that dowhat they did, circa 1995, better. (Though sadly, evidence issupporting that more and more these days.) I'm still just as eager togive a new Warp signing a try, as I would a new Morr Music or 12K disc.
So, I didn't feel guilty picking up the Brothomstates CD "Claro." Myfirst impression? "Will we ever be free of the Autechre StylisticStigma?" Admittedly, Brothomstates pepper "Claro" with a lot of niceAutechreisms that I enjoyed wholeheartedly, in spite of myself. Takenin light with Autechre's last album, the disappointing "Confield" (inmy player for a grand total of 3 listens), "Claro" is the best Autechrealbum this year. The beats are funky in a stilted way, and run farcloser to 80s electro and quasi-Detroit Techno than recent Autechreworks. And Brothomstates know how to craft a melody; I'll be damned ifsome of this doesn't remind me of my favorite Kraftwerk album "Ralf& Florian." I found myself grooving along on the train, and that'snot a bad thing at all.
I know that without the hype and critical acclaim of the poppyexperimentalism of Autechre, there would be no Warp records issue of"Claro." It's a good album; which probably won't be reviewed in apositive light by The Wire or well received by music snobbies. But,like Chris Clark's recent "Clarence Park," it is a strong effort by anartist who clearly wears his influences on his sleeve. And I see littlewrong with that.
When I'm looking for pleasant sonic trailblazing, I'd turn to Fennesz's"Endless Summer" or the myriad excellent 12K releases. But when I'mhankering for the days when Warp was putting out "Electronic ListeningMusic," Brothomstates's "Claro" makes a nice late-night snack.
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