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Following up Flesh Eating Ants' 2002 debut—an extraordinary double LP re-issue of Edward Ka-Spel's Tanith and the Lion Tree—are a trio of Cevin Key-related projects. Each has received the same aesthetically pleasing transition to analog: the audio direct-metal mastered to colorful 220 gram audiophile vinyl and the artwork altered and expanded to gatefold sleeves. Knowing those specs and just simply inspecting them, it's clear that it doesn't get any better than this. Each is well worth their price.
Involution was a 1997-98 collaboration with Bree and Paris (Christian Death, Shadow Project, EXP), the last to be recorded at the then Vancouver based Subconscious Studios. Key apparently served primarily as producer rather than a composer of the album. Regardless, it certainly sounds like Key-inspired minimalism as abstract electronics tangle with oddly timed blips and beats. As it did then, this disc still strikes me the same. Several tracks seem underdeveloped and/or lacking in depth, similar to Key's 1997 solo debut Music For Cats. Each side has two definite standouts. "Clairaudience" kicks into gear in the third minute as noise passes the passive beat like motorcycles on a highway constructed of synth pads. "Trapheezeeoh" nonchalantly switches from pleasant future funk to theremin ambiance and back, the latter third of the track stripped down to a taut bass figure. "Acid Clambake" is the lengthiest track at seven minutes and probably the moodiest. It begins and ends noisily but the mid-section eventually relies solely on the gentle strains of strings and tiny twirls of sound. "Blind Timefold" has Key's signature subtle melodies flirting about in the background and that makes the track. Fortunately, the CD's hideous artwork has been cast aside in favor of new collages and an alluring masked and silver body painted female on the back. This one is limited to 200 hand-numbered copies and the vinyl is translucent purple with light pink streaks.
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III Steps Forward was volume three of last year's Subconscious Communications "From the Vault" limited series. Key and Phil Western compiled unused and re-worked tracks spanning 1996's to 2000's Effector and beyond. Stylistically they combine the harder edged rhythms of pre and post-III work with touches of III's sleek ambiance and minimalism. "Sticky Glandstin" and "Walking, Talking" splatter percussion, sound effects, squelches and wide-sweeping synth waves to great effect. They're great reminders that no one else sounds quite like Download. "Dakota" methodically pumps along until it unexpectedly gives way to lush ambient billows. "Resilient" and "Ratail Comb" are lesser tracks more concerned with battling beats than progressive song structures. "The Itch of Trepanning" boldly staggers a mid-tempo groove while the driving bass line of "Manmade" is laced with Download style drum 'n bass. "Nor" is the lengthiest at six minutes and most atmospheric of the bunch, the rhythm taking a back seat to thick whorls of synth pad and a distant animal howl. It's a showcase in Download's gentler side and would have fit in nicely on III. "D.O.G." and "P.U.P." are loving tributes to Key's dearly departed cats, both tracks tamer and imbued with an appropriate sense of sadness. After some silence the brief but melodically cute hidden track "Bolantinis Pivoli" pleasantly caps the album off—and that's just what it feels like: an album (despite being a compilation). It's the perfect companion to III and Effector. New and improved artwork here as well with photos of a Buchla Electric Music Box modular synthesizer, presumably Download's and presumably used on these tracks. This one is limited to 420 hand-numbered copies and the vinyl is translucent blue with dark purple streaks.
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Plateau is Key and Western's project geared more towards the chill-out scenes of the dance floor or grass bars. Over the years the clear cut line between it and Download has been smudged some, but generally Plateau tracks are centered around hypnotic minimal grooves. Iceolator was volume four of "From the Vault" and it collects outtakes from 1996 to 2001. It was just begging for a vinyl release—the first Plateau to hit vinyl since 1997's Dutch Flowers. The album is split about half and half between ethereal and melodic tracks and harder and weirder tracks. The severe rhythms of "Manali Cream," "Peacemaker," "Great White Shark," "Sunburst," and "Sweet Tooth" might harsh your mellow some man. But then again, maybe not, depending on how much you've already smoked. My favorites are the title track, "Champagne," and "Nevilles Haze," which have milder rhythms and are sprinkled with pretty sound potpourri. "Buddahs Sister," "Kali Mist," and "Greenguy" are on the lighter side too, lighting up a variety of ganja-toking trances. Dance or chill, they work (I've happily done both). This one is limited to 420 hand-numbered copies and the vinyl is white with light green streaks.
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The Monday night crowd at any bar is probably an interesting bunch. On their latest album, Arab Strap gives us their rendition of that crowd as thirteen songs comprised of their gloomy, downtrodden, and defeated thoughts. Amid drunken hazes and empty hookups, the pub patrons reveal the conflicts and regrets that led them to their early week retreat.Matador
"The Shy Retirer" kicks things off with a quick, programmed drumbeat and a bouncy acoustic accompaniment. Were it not for the lyrics, this could almost be an upbeat song. Instead, the speaker mourns his lack of social skills and longs for any kind of connection but finds himself incapable of doing what he needs to start one. The introspective bent continues with the stumbling, yet delicate "Meanwhile, at the Bar, a Drunkard Muses." The shots must start to kick in on "Fucking Little Bastards," as a furiously primal drum beat and a swirling noise-fest of guitar engulfs bitter words about the speaker's fake friends. The outburst fades quickly however, and the songs return to the somber mulling. "Loch Leven" continues Arab Strap's exercise in local color, beginning with ambient rain and a bagpipe introduction, setting the scene for yet another missed connection in the foggy streets of Scotland. The longing, lovelorn "Act of War" is a beautiful ode to a careless lover, with a straining violin counterpointing the speaker's world-weary attitude as he intones "you've always been clumsy / be it with tables at your work / or with my heart." Following that track is the far less poignant "Serenade," which spills out a leering advance over Casio keyboard drum beats. "You're the kind of girl I want to bathe and dance with" probably isn't going to score any points. Still, the song is an interesting character study, and musically intriguing. Monday at the Hug & Pint is a perfect album at three in the morning, after another unsuccessful night at a favorite club or bar (against better judgment). While the concept is a bit of a downer (we could have used just a little break from melancholy), Arab Strap captures it very well, from the articulate musings on love to the base, lecherous impulses that invade our minds in our weakest moments.
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The age of easily downloadable software and cheap replication of CDs has its downsides: music is much easier to create and distribute (leaving the task of finding something good much more difficult). It keeps getting easier for any computer-abled person to assemble a bunch of sounds, toss them together and sound like pretty much whatever they want—either an excessive group or a solo noise "artist" with an arsenal of effects. Surely musician and composer (and re-composer) Kieran Hebden understands this, which is probably why for his third full-length release as Four Tet, he has exercised a refined sense of restraint. Here, he has taken a conscious step back from the maximalistic tendencies on his last album, Pause, patiently letting the songs play out more often than cutting a tune to a short sound-byte-style radio hit.
It's almost as if he has re-tooled his thinking into making Four Tet sound like an actual group of a fixed amount of musicians. While the substance is still being created from pre-existing material, this fictitious ensemble now seemingly use as many sources as they can all play together. The result isn't a mindblowing extravaganza, but a cool, subdued treat. "Hands" serves as a perfect album introduction with shuffling drum beats while the first single, "She Moves She" delicately marries sampled guitar riffs with a steady drum beat. Somewhat expected Four Tet instrumentation springs up like the harp sounds on various tunes including "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth," which has got to be one of the most hypnotic songs I have fallen in love with this year, and the hurried fast-forward sounding digitized samples, which rear their head on "Spirit Fingers." I appreciate the chance to hear songs played to their natural demise and many of the album's 10 tracks thankfully stretch over the five minute mark, with slow builders like the 9+ minute "Unspoken" and the album's closer, "Slow Jam," which is oddly remeniscent of some of the finer Fridge guitar-driven album closers. For those with good connections, a video of "She Moves She" is available here. Hebden will be on tour as Four Tet with Prefuse 73 and Manitoba starting this month. All the dates are listed also at the Domino site.
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Noxagt are a drastic brutalist Norwegian trio who play hardcore metalstripped to the rawest basic uncompromising sludged out skullfuck.Forget all that emotoyboy shouting and cod-operatic yodeling that getsin the way of many an act, these dudes have binned that along with allthose silly posturing guitar solos. Actually they've binned the wholedamn guitar, with Kjetil D. Brandsdal's black-as-winter-molassesdowntuned bass taking centre stage in a thick distorted viola bolstereddroning stew of head banging inebriation. They call it Nor-Wave and youcan too if you need to pin a fairly meaningless hook in it. If you haveeven the barest basest interest in hardcore that pushes back theboundaries of instrumentation and density then Noxagt will make you onehappy brain-melted monkey. They've been perhaps curiously compared toShellac and while the two bands have very different modes of onslaught,there is perhaps a similar questing intelligence underlying their pushand shove. Viola player Nils Erga does also manage to coax some neatsqueals and screeching scrunch-noise from his four-strings that mightbring a smile to Steve Albini's face. Maybe a better comparison wouldbe Flying Luttenbachers slowed down and buried alive? Drummer Jan Kyvikkeeps the rhythms hard, pounding and unrelenting, like some disgruntledelephant with a bee on its tail, only a lot more precise. They up theadrenalin levels a little towards the end, with buried screams pulling"Swarm" buzzing and babbling to cathartic abandon. The final track "Webof Sin" is so relentlessly ominous it could bring on a whole shedloadof apocalyptic aping. Noxagt have just begun a tour of the UK and thedates are at the Load site, as is an MP3 of the second track "CupidShot Me," which paints a fairly representative picture of the albumoverall. If you come to the Manchester gig on Wednesday 7th say helloas I'll probably be on the door. Read More
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Stefan Betke's excellent ~scape label has been quickly building a catalog around an almost singular fascination with filtered sounds. Branching off from Pole's warped vision of dub for dust particles, the label's releases have been nothing if not consistent in their approach to not-quite-danceable but still beat-oriented music. Staedtizism 3 offers what is perhaps the label's first real peek from behind the low pass curtain. Drawing on the rhythms and structures of hip hop rather than the jazz, dub, and micro-house influence of previous ~scape releases, this collection manages to incorporate the familiar ~scape vocabulary of muted melodic fragments and hissing beats into a new contextural framework. Cappablack even offers the comp some vocal cuts and genuine glitch-hop beat twisting that jumps off the disc like a Funstorung remix cued up in an otherwise laid-back downtempo mix. Likewise, Kit Clayton turns the filters and echo effects off and renders a hard-wired, disjointed jam with simple, soft chords that are swallowed by gurgling vocal splatter. John Tejada steps outside the ~scape box with scratching and fractured voices spilling out over an otherwise straightforward beat. Elsewhere, the collection covers much of the same beat-up, angular approach to digi-sliced hip hop featured on Dub Records 2001 compilation, Men With Boxes and other similar forays into the genre. While more of these tracks are fun for car rides, folks who have already amassed a collection of glitchy hip hop instrumentals from other labels may find Staedtizism 3 a bit redundant. Nevertheless, ~scape appear to be breaking out of their own, strictly defined box, if just for a moment, to offer the world a new kind of beat box for a new melinnium.- Jan Jelinek - Silver Circle
- Kit Clayton - Etymon No
- John Tejada - Cyberspace Visual
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There have undoubtedly been a few people waiting for a new release from Front 242 with their combat boots laced up and swimmer goggles strapped on for years now. I was one of them for a while, but after seeing the band live (in the daylight) on the Lollapalooza tour, and after experiencing the redundant fodder that was Headhunter 2000 years later, I was pretty sure the best thing for the aging electronic dance music pioneers was a quick amputation to stop their catalog from bleeding to death. Now, the group has released an EP and has a full length album on the way amidst a sea of side-projects that demonstrate varied success with remaining relevant in the post-glitch landscape of electronica. Happily, Still & Raw isn't the calamity I was bracing for. The first thing to notice is that Front 242 have mellowed with age, and quite gracefully if the tracks "Strobe" and "Loud" are any indication. The pulsating beats and sing-a-long chants are gone, but 242's knack for a simple electro melody is still apparent as the synths take center stage. Front 242 have always been handy with a bass line and the same holds true for the EP opener, "7Rain." The percussion is mostly tweaked and minimal, but brings the rest of the group's sound up-to-date, while sampled beats and muted pianos bring some new timbres to the palette. Front 242 are not the innovators they once were (listen to Geography and tell me THAT wasn't ahead of its time), but they still stand above the crowd when it comes to writing real songs and crafting sounds with a fine attention to detail. Jean Luc De Meyer's thick accent will be a welcome, if nostalgic anchor for old 242 fans. It's actually fun to hear him back on top of music that he was born to sing over. There's even a tenderness in the vocal part on "7Rain (GHost)" that demonstrates an attempt to take the music to new places, and that's refreshing. There are so many bands left over, even today, that are rehashing the best parts of Official Version and Front By Front but the men who wrote those songs and gave birth to what would later be casually known as "EBM" have left most of the cliche behind. Still & Raw isn't liable to turn the heads of those firmly glued to Mille Plateaux and Rephlex platters, but It's a worthwhile effort from an old standby that warrants a listen if you were a fan and at least a glimpse if you weren't.Read More
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When Robert Muso's first CD came out my felling was that it would havebeen kinder if Laswell had discouraged his sound engineer from crossingto the other side. But rather than being electronic ambience, TheMusique Concrete [sic]Ensemble—sound engineer Raphael Irisarri's project—is high-glosspost-rock ambience for Tortoise fans. At times it aims at plaintiverepeated guitar melodies and hits home in exactly the way somepost-rock does, that is, it seems to be saying that being able to writea decent melody (like, say, GBYE can) isn't important. Now, it's truethat you don't have to have much of a voice to be a great singer, butthat's a limitation of technique—it's quite another thing to usetechnique and production to try and bring life to a dead melody. It'sexactly the same problem with the rock-oriented drum machine tracks;the programmer seems not to understand what it is that makes good rockdrumming good. Stravinsky ditched his highly effective washes ofstrings fairly early, arguing that they are too easy and manipulative.Today, the same issue often applies to the not-quite-endemic washes ofreverberated guitar, synths and vocals; or the not-quite-obligatorybackground sound effects and samples folk use to fill out their music.Add to these the not-quite-ubiquitous hidden last track, the detailedlisting of archaic electronic instruments, the retro package design,and the Stockhausen, Ussachevsky and La Monte Young name drops (andmuch besides) from their web site and I think we have the clue to theproject's real intent. Normally, these elements would be entirelyirrelevant except for marketing purposes. Their overuse by both The MCEand Irisarri's label ECO, rather than being an indication of a bad caseof fashion victim syndrome, is, somewhat like the K-Foundation, apost-modern prank aimed at seeing how far they can push semiotics-basedmerchandising before their post-whatever audience catches on. Thatsaid, I admit to being entirely taken in by the cover art.Read More
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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. Read More
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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. - Read More
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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. Read More
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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. Read More
