14 January 2001

Daniel Barychko

Albums and Singles

 I am amazed at the madgenius that is Richard H. Kirk, once again he manages to blur the linebetween music and noise as entertainment in a very thought-provkingmanner.

Kirk expands on ideas from more recent works including,"Loopstatic" and "Darkness at Noon"; using found sounds, sampled mostlyfrom shortwave radio, mixed with his signature "Clonk" and tribalrhythms. This time almost the entire song structure is built up fromthese odd test tones, crackles and overheard conversations. It is evenless synth-based than before, the samples ARE the instruments and Kirkputs these cut-up fragments together to invoke a cacophony of chaoticcomplexity reminiscent of an automated factory assembly line or thebridge of the Starship Enterpise.
Underneath an all-out barrage of sequenced sensorium and subsonic boomswe are spoonfed bytes of intercepted fascism - but we are toocaptivated by the "blinking lights" and weird noises to percieve all ofwhat is being said. Similar to recent works, the layered arrangementsgive you the feeling that something sinister is lurking behind thishappy industrial mayhem, something ominous, calculated and not easilydistracted. Is it music or noise with a beat?? You won't hear thismusic in any commericals and that's a good thing. For me, it has alwaysbeen about one's expectations- meeting Kirk's latest ideas andapproach. I notice every Kirk release has a particular quality to it—heobviously employs slightly different strategies, techniques andinstrumentation from one to the next—but he isn't interested inreinventing himself, just exploring new ideas and directions. He's atrue revolutionary 'artiste'. Remember that Al Jabr cover, I've oftenthought that we (his fans) are the hostages and Kirk is holding the gunto our head- ready to take us for a little ride, it may get rough, somemay be lost, but perhaps he'll return us safely and go back to makingthe slick techno he used to after the final installment of this trilogy(and we pay his ransom),...
To sum up my thoughts: I like this "Blacworld" CD. The seminalindustrial artist, the visonary "Dark Magus" of modern music has openeda window to a futuristic reality of technologic overload; of increasingsocio-political interconnection and manipulation at the dawn of theelectronic age. Take a look. - Daniel Barychko

samples:

• Yorkshire Ham
• Europeanz
• Financial Institutions

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14 January 2001

Mark Weddle

Albums and Singles

Remember Tricky? Theformer music media darling amicably parted ways withPolygram/Island/Def Jam in 1999 and now calls Epitaph branch Anti homealongside Tom Waits and Merle Haggard. Mission accomplished? This UK EP(also due out February 6th in the States) gives us a little over 16minutes with 3 new songs and 1 previously unreleased old one.

The soundis similar to the live guitar/bass/drums band setup of the precedingalbums "Juxtapose" and "Angels With Dirty Faces". The title trackcenters around a heavy guitar riff and Peter Gabriel's "big time, I'mon my way I'm making it big time" lyric sung by Tricky and another malevocalist, ad nauseum. Halfway through the 3 minutes it becomes apparentthat this is all the track has to offer. "Crazy Claws" begins promisingwith a lively snare loop, sexy bass line, and Tricky's whispered poetryabout a certain female. Unfortunately, a few minutes in two otherrappers take over (the first possibly being Mad Dogg from "Juxtapose",judging by the heavy British accent) and ruin it. "Tricky Versus Lynx(Live)" must be 'live in the studio' and I'm unsure of Tricky'sinvolvement as the only one rapping is someone other than Tricky. It'sthe weakest of the 3 new songs. Why Tricky relies on these guys isbeyond me ... their vocals pale in comparison to Tricky's and theirbraggadocio rhymes are tired and unnecessary. "Divine Comedy" wasoriginally released as a white label 12" in 1998 as reaction to racistcomments made by a Polygram executive and later became the morepolished and superior "Money Greedy" on "Angels..". Altogether the EPis very disappointing with half-assed outtake quality ideas and onlysmall glimmers of Tricky's lyrical and musical potential. Hopefully thedebut album for Anti out this summer will reclaim some or all ofTricky's past glory ...

samples:

• Crazy Claws
• Divine Comedy
• Mission Accomplished

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14 January 2001

Jon Whitney

Albums and Singles

Slammin' mutherfuckingballsy-ass shit. This debut CD release is probably the most excitedI've been about a new rock-genred band in as long as I can remember.The energy is fierce, the music is fast, funky and full of wakka wakkaguitars, crazy effects, beefy bass chops, electronic and organic drums,wild cheering, hoards of percussion and a splash of horns.

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02 January 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

They say history never repeats but almost unsurprisingly much of the 2000 Brainwashed Readers Poll looks closely identical to the first time we took the poll, 10 years ago. Thanks to everyone who participated in both rounds this year. Now it's time to go to your collections and dig out the music from 1999 for the nomination round (coming shortly)!

Album of the Year

1. godspeed you black emperor!, ""Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven""
2. Coil, ""Musick to Play in the Dark volume 2""
3. Sigur Rós, ""Agaetis Byrjun""
4. Current 93, ""Sleep Has His House""
5. Einstürzende Neubauten, ""Silence is Sexy""
6. A Silver Mt. Zion, ""He Has Left Us Alone, But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of the Room""
7. Broadcast, ""The Noise Made By People""
8. Coil, ""Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil""
9. Boredoms, ""Vision Creation Newsun""
10. Antony and the Johnsons, ""Antony and the Johnsons""
11. Current 93, ""Faust""
12. Shellac, ""1000 Hurts""
13. Gas, ""Pop""
14. Yo La Tengo, ""And then nothing turned itself inside out""
15. Do Make Say Think, ""Goodbye Enemy Airship the Landlord is Dead""
16. Electric Wizard, ""Dopethrone""
17. Amon Tobin, ""Supermodified""
18. The Legendary Pink Dots, ""A Perfect Mystery""
19. Boris, ""Flood""
20. Nurse With Wound / Aranos, ""Santoor Lena Bicycle""
21. Mouse on Mars, ""Niun Niggung""
22. Goldfrapp, ""Felt Mountain""
23. Dirty Three, ""Whatever You Love, You Are""
24. Sunn O))), ""00 Void""
25. Acid Mothers Temple, ""La Nòvia""
26. Primal Scream, ""Xtrmntr""
27. !!!, ""!!!""
28. Aix Em Klemm, ""Aix Em Klemm""
29. Death In June, ""Operation Hummingbird""
30. Mimir, ""Mimir (3)""
31. Biosphere, ""Cirque""
32. Christoph heemann & Andrew Chalk, ""Mirror of the Sea""
33. Irr.App.(Ext.), ""Dust Pincher Appliances""
34. Smog, ""Dongs of Sevotion""
35. Sol Invictus, ""The Hill of Crosses""
36. Explosions in the Sky, ""How Strange, Innocence""
37. Pan•American, ""360 Business/360 Bypass""
38. Avey Tare & Panda Bear, ""Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished""
39. Ryoji Ikeda, ""Matrix""
40. Songs: Ohia, ""Ghost Tropic""
41. Zoviet France, ""The Decriminalisation of Country Music (Themes for Tramway)""
42. Add N to (X), ""Add Insult to Injury""
43. Peaches, ""The Teaches of Peaches""
44. The Tear Garden, ""Crystal Mass""
45. The White Stripes, ""De Stijl""
46. 16 Horsepower, ""Secret South""
47. Clinic, ""Internal Wrangler""
48. Fly Pan Am, ""Sédatif en Fréquences et Sillons""
49. The Legendary Pink Dots, ""Farewell Milky Way""
50. The Microphones, ""It was Hot, We Stayed in the Water""
51. Luomo, ""Vocalcity""
52. Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, ""Sunset Mission""
53. Bowery Electric, ""Lushlife""
54. CoH, ""Mask Of Birth LP""
55. Lustmord, ""Purifying Fire""
56. Melvins, ""The Crybaby""
57. The Avalanches, ""Since I Left You""
58. The Fall, ""The Unutterable""
59. Twilight Circus Dub Sound System, ""Dub Plates Volume Two""
60. Flying Saucer Attack, ""Mirror ""
61. Plaid, ""Trainer""
62. Songs: Ohia, ""The Lioness""
63. The Third Eye Foundation, ""Little Lost Soul""
64. Aranos, ""Making Love in Small Places""
65. Edward Ka-Spel, ""Red Letters""
66. Hangedup, ""Hangedup""
67. Kid 606, ""P.S. I Love You""
68. Laika, ""Good Looking Blues""
69. Mirror, ""Nightwalkers""
70. Oval, ""Process""
71. The Sea and Cake, ""Oui""
72. Alva Noto, ""Prototypes""
73. Kid Koala, ""Carpal Tunnel Syndrome""
74. Mouse on Mars, ""Instrumentals""
75. √ò, ""Metri""
76. The For Carnation, ""The For Carnation""
77. Vladislav Delay, ""Entain""
78. Damon & Naomi, ""with Ghost""
79. Michael Gira, ""The Somniloquist""
80. Pole, ""3""
81. Pram, ""The Museum of Imaginary Animals""
82. Arovane, ""Atol Scrap""
83. Charlemagne Palestine, ""Karenina""
84. Chris Carter, ""Electronic Ambient Remixes one""
85. Colin Potter, ""And Then""
86. Francisco Lopez, ""Untitled #104""
87. Phill Niblock, ""Touch Works, for Hurdy Gurdy and Voices""
88. Scorn, ""Greetings from Birmingham""
89. Shalabi Effect, ""Shalabi Effect""
90. Cat Power, ""The Covers Record""
91. John Zorn, ""The Big Gundown""
92. Melt Banana, ""Teeny Shiny""
93. Mirror, ""Visiting Star""
94. Trans Am, ""Red Line""
95. Ulan Bator, ""Ego: Echo""
96. Anti Pop Consortium, ""Tragic Epilogue""
97. Aube, ""Seton""
98. Chicks on Speed, ""Will Save Us All""
99. The Hafler Trio, ""Hljóðmynd""
100. Ulver, ""Perdition City""

 

Single of the year

1. Coil, ""Queens of the Circulating Library""
2. Boards of Canada, ""In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country""
3. Current 93, ""I Have a Special Plan for This World""
4. Broadcast, ""Extended Play""
5. COH, ""Vox Tinnitus""
6. Broadcast, ""Come On Let's Go""
7. Broadcast, ""Extended Play Two""
8. Thighpaulsandra, ""Some Head""
9. Low, ""Dinosaur Act""
10. Sigur Rós, ""Ný Batterí""
11. Stereolab, ""The First of the Microbe Hunters""
12. Rachel's/Matmos, ""Full on Night""
13. cLOUDDEAD , ""Apt. A""
14. Add N to (X), ""Plug Me In""
15. Six Organs of Admittance, ""Manifestation""
16. Macha & Bedhead, ""Bedhead Loved Macha""
17. Black Dice, ""Black Dice""
18. Low & Spring Heel Jack, ""Bombscare EP""
19. Non, ""Solitude""
20. Arab Strap, ""Fukd I.D. #2""
21. Meat Beat Manifesto, ""Eccentric Objects""
22. Richard H. Kirk, ""Loop Static [amine ß ring modulations]""
23. Wire, ""Third Day""
24. Macha & Bedhead, ""Bedhead Loved Macha""
25. Kid606, ""GQ on the EQ""

 

Vault/Reissue

1. Coil, ""Astral Disaster""
2. Suicide, ""Suicide""
3. Swans, ""Filth/Body to Body, Job to Job""
4. Nurse With Wound, ""Alice the Goon""
5. Polygon Window, ""Surfing On Sine Waves""
6. Love and Rockets, ""Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven""
7. Cocteau Twins: A Collection (1982-1990), ""Stars and Topsoil""
8. Suicide, ""Second album + The First Rehearsal Tapes""
9. Love and Rockets, ""Earth • Sun • Moon""
10. Faust, ""The Wümme Years 1970-1973""
11. ESG, ""A South Bronx Story""
12. Sun Ra, ""Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 2""
13. Cosey Fanni Tutti, ""Time to Tell""
14. Organum, ""Volume One""
15. Section 25, ""Always Now""
16. Muslimgauze, ""Abu-Dis""
17. Organum, ""Volume Two""
18. Raymond Scott, ""Manhattan Research Inc.""
19. Organum, ""Birds' Wings Were Glued to Their Bodies and Their Feet Froze to the Ground""
20. Terry Riley, ""You're Nogood""
21. Alan Gorauger, ""La Planete Sauvage [ST]""
22. Chicks on Speed, ""The Re-releases of the Un-releases""
23. Peter Murphy, ""Wild Birds 1985-1995""
24. Sorrow, ""The Final Solstice II""
25. The Residents, ""Roadworms (The Berlin Sessions)""

 

Various Artist Compilation

1. clicks_+_cuts (Mille Plateaux)
2. Emre [dark matter] (Source Research)
3. Compilation 2000 A.D. (Young God)
4. Wild Planet (Subconscious Communications)
5. Futurism & Dada Reviewed 1912-1959 (LTM)
6. Split Series 1-8 (Fat Cat)
7. Total 1 (Kompakt)
8. Putting the Morr Back in Morrissey (Morr Music)
9. Take Me Home - A Tribute to John Denver (Badman)
10. The Wire Tapper 6 (The Wire)

 

Boxed Set

1. [V/A], ""Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music 1948-1980""
2. Muslimgauze, ""Your Mines In Kabul""
3. Belle & Sebastian, ""Lazy Jane Painter Jane""
4. Merzbow, ""Merzbox""
5. [V/A], ""Xen Cuts""

 

Artist of the Year

1. Coil
2. Current 93
3. Broadcast
4. godspeed you black emperor!
5. Sigur Rós
6. Nurse With Wound
7. Einstürzende Neubauten
8. Antony & the Johnsons
9. Kid 606
10. Boards of Canada

Label of the Year

1. Threshold House/Eskaton/Chalice
2. Warp
3. Mute
4. Durtro
5. Kranky
6. Constellation
7. Mille Plateau
8. Thrill Jockey
9. Matador
10. Young God

New Artist of the Year

Silver Mt. Zion

Worst Album

1. Sleater-Kinney, ""All Hands On The Bad One""
2. GusGus, ""GusGus vs. T-World""
3. Hawksley Worksman, ""For Him and the Girls""
4. Maya Shore, ""Farewell to Introductions""
5. Raccoons, ""Raccoons""
6. The Clarke & Ware Experiment, ""Pretentious""
7. Cex, ""Role Model""
8. Kid Spatula, ""Full Sunken Breaks""
9. Sylvester Boy, ""Monsters Rule This World!""
10. Divine Styler, ""Wordpower2: Directrix""

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01 January 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Album of the Year

   1. godspeed you black emperor!, "Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven"
   2. Coil, "Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2"
   3. Radiohead, "Kid A"
   4. Sigur Rós, "Ágætis Byrjun" [despite the release being in 1999, the international distribution through Fat-Cat will qualify this release for 2000]
   5. Yo La Tengo, "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out"
   6. Current 93, "Sleep Has His House"
   7. two way tie:
      Broadcast, "The Noise Made By People"
      Legendary Pink Dots, "A Perfect Mystery"
   8. Antony & the Johnsons, "Antony & the Johnsons"
   9. two way tie:
      Amon Tobin, "Supermodified"
      Trans Am, "Red Line
  10. two way tie:
      Kid 606, "Down with the Scene"
      Primal Scam, "Xtrmntr"


BAND
OF THE
YEAR
    

   1. godspeed you black emperor!
   2. Coil
   3. Radiohead
   4. Sigur Rós
   5. Legendary Pink Dots
   6. Current 93
   7. Kid 606
   8. Low
   9. Yo La Tengo
  10. Antony & the Johnsons


SONG
OF THE
YEAR
    

   1. Coil, "Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)"
   2. Boards of Canada, "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country"
   3. Radiohead, "Idioteque"
   4. Antony & the Johnsons, "Cripple and the Starfish"
   5. Current 93, "I Have a Special Plan for This World"


MUSIC
VIDEO
OF THE
YEAR
    

   1. Outkast, "B.O.B."
   2. MDMFK, "Missing Time"
   3. Add N to (X), "Plug Me In"
   4. Eminem, "Will the Real Slim Shady Please Stand Up"
   5. Radiohead - all those little short video clips


NEW
BAND
OF THE
YEAR
    

   1. Antony & the Johnsons
   2. Goldfrapp
   3. A Silver Mt. Zion
   4. The Damage Manual
   5. Cex

      [note: Sigur Rós actually got the most votes but since their first album was released in 1988, they were disqualified. Their current album is their third album.]


CONCERT
EVENT
    

   1. Legendary Pink Dots/Dead Voices on Air
   2. godspeed you black emperor!
   3. Nine Inch Nails
   4. Coil at the Royal Festival Hall (2nd time)
   5. Wire


BEST
LABEL
    

   1. Kranky
   2. three-way tie:
      Constellation
      Thrill Jockey
      Warp
   3. World Serpent
   4. Soleilmoon
   5. two-way tie:
      Mille-Plateaux
      Ant-Zen


BEST
PRODUCER
    

   1. John McEntire & Jim O'Rourke
   2. Steve Albini
   3. Steven Stapleton
   4. Christoph Heemann
   5. Frank Verschuuren


WORST
BAND
    

   1. Limp Bizkit
   2. Creed
   3. Moby
   4. Radiohead
   5. U2


WORST
ALBUM
YOU
BOUGHT
    

   1. Radiohead, "Kid A"
   2. Download, "Effector"
   3. Coil, "Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil"
   4. Chicks on Speed, "Will Save Us All"
   5. Badly Drawn Boy, "The Hour of Bewilderbeast"


BEST
COMP
    

   1. Wild Planet
   2. OHM - The Early Gurus of Electronic Music
   3. Attitude
   4. Xen Cuts
   5. Chicago 2018


BEST
MOVIE
    

   1. Requiem for a Dream
   2. Dancer in the Dark
   3. Gladiator [??? don't our readers have any taste?]
   4. High Fidelity
   5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon


BEST
TV SHOW
    

   1. The Simpsons
   2. South Park
   3. Futurama
   4. The Daily Show
   5. The Sopranos


BEST
BOOK
    

   1. Neal Stephenson, "Cryptonomicon"
   2. "Apocalypse Culture 2"
   3. Dave Eggers, "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"
   4. Naomi Klein, "No Logo"
   5. Bill Drummond, "45"


BEST
ACTOR
    

   1. Russel Crowe
   2. John Cusak
   3. Philip Seymour Hoffman
   4. Ed Norton
   5. Kevin Spacey


BEST
ACTRESS
    

   1. Bjück
   2. Ellen Burntsyn
   3. Christina Ricci
   4. Kate Hudson
   5. Angelina Jolie


BIGGEST
DISAP-
POINTMENT
    

   1. US Presidential Election
   2. Y2K and no armageddon
   3. lame year for films
   4. miserable lives of the readers who think their lives suck
   5. Dancer in the Dark


EVENT
    

   1. Endless US Presidential Election
   2. New Year's Day 2000
   3. Coil live


WEBSITE
    

   1. brainwashed
      yuck!
   2. theonion.com
   3. nosepilot.com
   4. amihotornot.com
   5. heavy.com


HERO
    

   1. Ralph Nader
   2. assholes who voted for themselves
   3. George W. Bush
   4. Jon Whitney
   5. Dan Rather


VILLAIN
    

   1. George W. Bush
   2. assholes who voted themselves
   3. RIAA
   4. Al Gore
   5. Jon Whitney


MOST
ANNOYING
TREND
    

   1. Scooters
   2. Rap Rock
   3. "Whassssup" greeting (shouting or text messaging)
   4. cell phones
   5. Who let the dogs out

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31 December 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Barrelling forward with releases, John Hughes' Hefty Records has boldly issued a series of stellar limited edition 12" singles.First up was the Savath + Savalas 12" - something I missed, limited to 700 copies and now sold out. Second up is the debut of A Grape Dope, a delicious subsonic bass cochlear vibrating dub-friendly three-tracker from Johnny Herndon (Tortoise/Isotope), limited to 750 copies. IA003 is limited to only 525 copies and features two primo tracks from Twine, plunging deep and low with thick frequencies, lengthy intros and a disregard for conventional low-tempo high-fidelity. Side one is a chunky sexual feast, side two hypnotic and divine. Retina provides three top quality constructional head bobbers for the fourth in the series, also limited to 525 copies. The fifth 12" comes from Samadha Trio, limited to 850 copies and featuring four tracks of various origin. A studio tune opens with organic drums with space-jazz organ riding alongside a spacious fluffy electronic bubblebath, followed by a live-ish tune of bass, piano and drums with slick electronic mixing. And finally, the last in the series conveniently wraps things up with a couple remixes from The Aluminum Group, John Hughes, Slicker and Savath+Savalas as well as two new tracks from an entity called Process. Along with the minimal packaging and uniform design I must say I haven't looked at vinyl this gorgeous with grooves this deep and pretty in a long time. Glancing at their website, a forthcoming 2xCD release appears to have stuff from this series, but I sure hope nothing's left out as these 12" singles are quite astonishing.

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31 December 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

From Morr Music inGermany comes a wonderful offering of many of their fine artists. Don'tlet the title fool you, there's nothing to do with the former Smithslead singer on here. In the last few years, the electronic instrumentalrock hybrid scene in Germany has grown exponentially from what once wasonly a handful of acts who used to share loads of members. Collectedhere are some of the more prominent groups like The Notwist, Arovane,Lali Puna, Flowchart and the Tied & Tickled Trio. Disc one featuresfourteen new and exclusive cuts while disc two features fourteenincestuous remixes of many of the first disc's artists trading mixeswith others. Solvent remixes Kevin & Paul, Schneider TM remixesMicha Archer & Ms John Soda, while Kandis and the Tied &Tickled Trio remix each other. This provides a great introduction toMorr, which appears to be sort of taking off where Kitty-Yo decided toleave off when they pursued trashy cash cow kitch like Peaches andGonzales. Kudos to Morr for keeping the artwork alive.
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31 December 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

In an almostanti-post-kraut movement, Ladomat (who gave us the compilation 'L'ageD'or' earlier this year) has unleashed a two-disc compilation of theirown, showcasing their artists like Sand 11, Egoexpress and CommercialBreakup. Flying in the face of the instrumental movements (like theMorr comp exposed), these groups are clearly pop-minded. The groupssing (frequently in English) and bring a jovial bounce and step totheir brand of futurism without going completely off the deep end intosomething that would wear thin after the novelty is gone. Germans canrock as they proved earlier this year, now they're telling the worldthat Germans can smile and make fun artistic music without beingstereotypically overly serious stiffs or churning out disposablecartoon techno.
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31 December 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

The disc starts off verypromising. The rhythms are sexy and the music is rich in texture.Driving beats set the disc in motion from the start, but all of the funsoon begins to fade. What spoils the disc for me is when a guestvocalist either raps or sings. The rap is never interesting enough tohold my attention and the lyrics are rather embarassing to listen to.It's almost as if Red Snapper use vocals as a crutch for songs theyfeel need a better lead instrument, but when they keep them out, theintensity of the music grows to epic proportions. Going forward on thedisc, Red Snapper do however make some choices to keep other tracksinstrumental. A very nice option for tracks like the album closer,"They're Hanging Me Tonight," a wonderful play of overprocessed drums,guitars crying backwards and drone-like string samples.
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31 December 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

From Tonschacht inCologne, Germany comes this heavy slate, cleverly disguised as a 7"single. I honestly don't think I own a 7" record pressed this thick.Anyhow the three tracks which compose this single bring together bothHrvatski's technical expertise of precision electro-meddling and afondness for outside sources laying down constant voices to be carriedthrough with each composition. Keith Fullerton-Whitman makes songs andsomething like this is a tease to his fans out there waiting foranother full-lengther from the boy. Look for a remix project due outsometime in January. The single's limited to 500 numbered copies buthas seemingly had an easy time making the distribution outside ofGermany.
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