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Phon.O, "Burn Down the Town"

Beingthe last night of the year I'm making preparations to head out, andthere are few better soundtracks to doing exactly that than this year's release from Phon.O,which is easily one of the best party albums of 2005. The sounds are dirty, fat, meaty, big, and bouncy: exactly what thedoctor ordered for a year that seemingly had a lot of more cleaner,quieter, introspective releases at the forefront of everybody'sminds. 
Shitkatapult (DE) / Tigerbeat6 (US)

After a brief under one-minute intro, "Ridin' Dirty" rides in in with abeat that is impossible to ignore and a hook sexy enough to get any assmoving.  It's easily matched with the fervor of songs like "313Dumpsta Railin'" and the preceeding single, "Trick Or Treat," aHalloweenish tune featuring chopped up guest pest vocals from Ms. Kevin Blechdom. While hervoice is a reminder that this is a Tigerbeat6 release, "Aufschwung OST"is a clear reminder that this is also a product of T. Raumschmiere'slabel, with a very Raumschmiere-esque swingy beat.

The remainder of the album is equally relentless, combining a penchantfor clean and classy German engineering with San Franciscan sexualhedonism.  "Busted in Da D," the album's other single features thesexual musings from MC Stadik 006 while the dancehall-influencedinstrumental "Bluehende Landschaften" keeps the feeling going by themealone.  The only break from form is in the more subtle piece "EnDuo Avec George W.," featuring lyrics (en Francais) by Noica Llanoswith very few samples from my president, but it's in no way calm,quiet, nor any less punchy than the rest of the album.

As the ball drops in a few hours, I can only hope whoever's providingmy soundtrack has the decency to use something as energetic andcorruptive as this. 

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