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Goppa
Various artist compilations can be difficult to peg down, especiallywhen the styles flip-flop from track to track. Goppa relaunched theirlabel earlier this month with this ten-song compilation of allexclusive pieces by musicians either from Ireland or who frequentlywork in Ireland. Thankfully it's not another one of those beer drinkingcomps with green covers that show up sometime in mid-March, but it doesopen with a piece by The Tycho Brahe, which is undeniably rooted infolk music. The high pitched voice and acoustic instrumentation is longforgotten by the time the short electronic bit by Daniel Figgis is infull effect. Surprisingly enough, Aranos' vocal/violin contribution andthe twittering, comical collaboration between King Camera and Volcanothe Bear (sounds like a muppet being spanked) are brief and over in ablink, while the following track from The Jimmy Cake is a welcomedlengthy bit of improv drones with bells and horns. The elusive MelanieFinch is perhaps unknowingly reaching for the Diana Rogerson award forthis comp, with an uncanny Aranos-like violinist backing her up alongwith drums, detuned guitar and sloppily played bass guitar. Nurse WithWound has donated the slightly shorter, slightly altered, 'slightlygreen librarian mix' of "Die, Flip or Go to India," which originallyappeared on the Current 93 collaboration, 'Bright Yellow Moon' lastyear, while PKD's track, "In Circles, Back to Back," is experiencingborderline techno disorder with it's thumping repetitive electronicbeat for the first half. The disc is rounded out by a short,forgettable dark post-goth bit by Belinda Quirke and a fantasticsurrealistic horror ride from Artificial Memory Trace equipped withsub-end rumblings and an arsenal of unidentifiable sounds which tenseup and break like a loose floor panel which cracks underneath you,plunging you to an impending doom right before you wake up. For anintroduction to a number of these artists, a little more artistinformation might be nice, but much like the tape-only compilationsback in the 1980s, the mystery is half the fun.
samples:
- The Jimmy Cake - Perfect Smoke (live)
- Melanie Finch - Cursed
- Artificial Memory Trace - Various Dimensions of Ornary
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Hefty's Immediate Action series has almost been revived with this EP from Telefon Tel Aviv. The first wave of the series came as a flood of limited 12" singles, some were entirely of one artist and others were collaborative works matching up a couple Hefty frends and mainstays. While this disc keeps up the mish-mashing of folks—with remixes from Slicker, Prefuse 73 and the first appearance of female vocalist, Lindsay Anderson (of L'Altra)—its non-limitedness and CD format make it seem like a completely different beast. To me, this EP doesn't feel like it's part of a multi-part multi-artist compilation, but an appropriate stopgap between last year's fantastic debut from Telefon Tel Aviv and the follow-up, whenever that's due to arrive.Hefty
The opening track, "Sound in a Dark Room," is a brand new recording and the first time a guest vocalist has actually sung for the band. It keeps with TTA's tradition of clean instrumentation, chopped up electronic beats and strong bass guitar work while the vocals add an entirely new dimension to the music. While some might like this added bit of personality to the somewhat robotic sounds of the duo, I can't say I'm completely sold on the idea of a vocalist in the mix, especially as the song becomes a wishy washy love song once words become audible. The other non-remix track on here, "8 Track Project Cut," was recorded back in 1999, and, while the choppy beat techniques and crystal sound of their debut can be hinted at here, it sounds sterile enough to be an electronic music student's midterm. The Slicker remix of "TTV" doesn't do much different than the original version on the album while the short alteration of "Fahrenheit Fair Enough" by Prefuse 73 is almost an instrumental hip-hop by numbers at this point. You know it's the dog-end of a year when things are becoming almost too predictable.
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Crunch Pod Media
IDM is easily be one of those styles that most people just don't get.And that's good. Because most people don't know anything about goodmusic. That's right: the vast majority of the populace is made up ofsheep that don't know any better. Or cattle. Cattle that need to beled. Cattle that need to be roped up and put where they belong. We needa cowboy. And sure enough, riding over the plains comes Big Tex, readyto bring us the sounds of cattle 'rassling. Welllll, not really. Thesound of Big Tex is one that can rope you in, but only if you're anintense lover of the machine-noise style. Otherwise, it's a real bigturn-off. There is certainly a lot of promise on this disc, andconsidering it took Tex a while to put it all together he's probablygot it in him to better this set. 'Authentic Songs' is really adisjointed set, with the album starting and stopping with all theprecision of a skipping CD player. In fact, there isn't a compositionwith real substance beyond knob-tweaking and squelching until theeighth track. There are a few interesting rhythms, but they eitherdon't last long, or they never build past the point of introduction."Gravy Mouse," though, is where Tex lets loose and the boogie gets laiddown. After that, it's a thoroughly enjoyable listen, with "Beat Me"and "10,000 Gallon Hat" leading the drive. There are some throwaways orinterludes in between here and there, but, again, a lot of skill andprowess at work that will someday blossom into a great album.'Authentic Songs' is a fine debut, though, and well worth aconcentrated listen.
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Repeat albums are never bad and never great, though it seems like each one is just a shade away from one or the other. I'm not sure what could push these guys over the edge into greatness, but perhaps there is a tension that I expect in contemporary improvised music which is just not present here. What I'm percieving as a lack of tension might also be an ambivalence on the musicians' part about what exactly the group is about; are they trying to be pretty and melodic? an electronic improv band? ambient music? It's hard to tell. What might, in some other case, be an interesting break in genre comes across here as merely an underdeveloped idea.
The duo, made up of Jason Kahn (a drummer who has fully embraced electronic processing) and Toshimaru Nakamura (a former guitarist who misleadingly describes his current instrument as "no-input mixing board"... misleading because he's playing the electronics which process the board's internal feedback as much as he's playing the mixing board itself), establish broad loops of bell-like tones and allow them to sway over and under each other for six-minute intervals. It's lovely, if somewhat uninspiring, and the seven tracks on "Pool" are essentially variations on one sonic idea. I find their latest album to be fine as background noise...while not as insipid as typical "ambient" music, it establishes a mood of tranquility ans statis more than it demands my active attention.
Nakamura, who established himself a few years ago as a guy whose sonic language resided mainly in the highest registers, has surprised me lately with his range, and his subdued playing here is no exception. There are no piercing sine-tones on this album, only graceful liquid shimmer and the occasional smooth crash of struck metal. The rhythms are more subtle and fluid on "Pool" than on Repeat's more overtly pretty "Select Dialect" CD from last year, which for me makes "Pool" a more intruiging listen. Still, I cannot find anything stronger to say about this album than: it's a lovely noise. Not great, not terrible, not a major statement nor terribly distinctive, but certainly enjoyable for an hour. I wonder, though, if it couldn't have been more than that.
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Mandragora Records 
I am a sucker for evil primitive psychedelic sludge. This obscure NorthCarolina crew is banking on the fact that there will be one of me bornevery minute to buy their records. Anchored steadfast in the darkerregisters of sound and philosophies, this band makes a lot from alittle, suctioning tribal rhythms and fierce winds through statickyburlap. This is unintended ghost voice recordings type of stuff—lots ofreversed sounds for the backmasking fans out there. Manybands/musicians out there could take a lesson in heavy atmosphere fromthese guys. If you are looking for points of reference, I'd saysomewhere between Gravitar and early scary Current 93 (sans vocals).They do have a unique sound, though, and an impressive range over the14 tracks on this CD. My only complaint is that some of the bestmusical ideas are cut short - I would love to see them expanded live.
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Mego
This is the first Mego release which my ears have considered completelypointless. Pure are undeniably technically adept, but these eighttracks—mixed together in a nearly one hour long flow—build up nothingmore than a meaningless sinister ambience. 'Noonbugs' is a kind ofmicro glitch-meets-some-suffering-jazz-influenced crossover attempt butthere's nothing exciting about it, nor does it leave any impressionafter the CD is finished. The tracks take a long time for littledevelopment, and the use of voices in "Ivan" or the surprisinglystraight drift of "Flew" are sparse highlights which aren't rewardingenough for sitting patiently through the other seemingly endlesstracks. Pure stay clearly out of their possibilities and have presenteda perfectionist's work which seems to have lost all emotion duringproduction.
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Mush Records is churning out independent, largely instrumental hip hop records as if there was an urgent and fevered demand for crate after crate of lo-fi rare grooves distilled into abstract hip hop. While you can make the argument that instrumental hip hop is picking up the DIY torch that punks set down years ago, the unfortunate result is that the mass catalog of self-produced titles available offers the prospective listener with an impossibly broad range of records to weed through. Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician has thrown his beats into the mix with 'Wave Motion,' a largely uninspiring nodder that pushes all the right hip hop buttons but fails to ignite anything. The low-fidelity sound of tracks like "Watch Out" undermines the essential groove that Fat Jon is trying to create by drowning the sampled beats and lazy jazz riffs in what sounds like a demo-quality mix. There is good distortion and there is bad distortion, and the muddied kick drums and muffled bass here are definitely the latter. I don't know if there's an overriding feeling in the abstract hip hop community that if a track is too polished, that it isn't 'real,' but most of these tracks fail to inspire anything other than a simple tap of the foot. More careful attention to the knobs during the mix wouldn't save everything on 'Wave Motion,' however. Similar releases by instrumental heavyweights like DJ Vadim and DJ Krush demonstrate that instrumental hip hop can be expressive sans vocals, and other releases on Mush live up to that standard, but 'Wave Motion' has a way to go. This is the perfect soundtrack to your neighborhood's trendy coffee house, but it doesn't offer much more than a beat to sip your drinks by. Read More
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Smalltown Supersound
Jaga Jazzist are somewhat of a Norwegian supergroup: a ten-pieceensemble of several multi-instrumentalists including drums andpercussion, guitar, bass, keyboards, horns, woodwinds and tuba, withmembers from Röyksopp, Motorpsycho, Jazzkammer and BigBang. They manageto beautifully combine both modern and progressive jazz with rock andelectronic music for some awe-inspiring compositions. The disc'sopener, "Animal Chin," is a busy blend of live drum 'n bass rhythmswith long-lined Wurlitzer and sax ostinatos under some cool,multi-layered woodwind arrangements that sound like Roni Size jammingwith Oliver Nelson. "Going Down" is driven by some busy, yet subtlejazzy drumming and low-end pedals while some doubled up sax and organlines weave through angular acoustic guitar progressions and space agebachelor pad-type synth and flute flourishes. "Airborne" would be thetune that had me hitting the back button on several listens, not onlyfor its inherent coolness but also for its multiple layers in whichsomething new is heard each time. The tune opens as a tender ballad,with shimmering keyboards and a melodic bass clarinette, graduallybuilding to a scratchy electronic rhythm with upright bass and flutesadding tension until it blasts off into a full-on orchestral climax,complete with wailing sax solo and stabbing strings. "Lithuania" movesfrom a laid back rhythm section, vibes, twangy guitar and severalongoing melodies from the horns and woodwinds to a kicking, double-timesamba feel that lets the orchestration and arrangements really shine.This disc grabbed me right from the first listen with its strongcompositions and unique sound and is yet to let go. The best comparisonin its direction would be in line with what the Cinematic Orchestra aredoing, but on a much broader and larger scale. That in mind, Ninja Tune(the Cinematics label) are set to release this disc which should makeit a little easier to find, even with a different cover. With the yearend fast approaching I'm glad to state that this disc has made my topten.
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Extreme Records
A single piece spread across 14 tracks and nearly 67 minutes, this is aconceptual record based on the American dustbowl of the 1930s. Itinitially builds from a drone to a looping cycle of a simple ruralguitar lick and primitive percussion, with eerie whistles and ghostlyvocals weaving in and out. As the music progresses, the focus shiftsamong parts that eventually dissipate into the fog of something else,with a constant musical loop remaining relatively constant. Asmonotonous as that might sound, it's actually an interesting listen.Ranging from sparse arrangement to lush drones, there is a good varietyhere that defies categorization. I am somewhat reminded of GavinBryars' "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet," another long record built ona constant loop. While I'd have to say that Bryars' record is better,"Exodust" is a good effort and has actually improved in repeatedlistenings. Kiefer should have left out the spoken samples, though -it's obvious they were put in to reinforce the sense of time/place, butI think they are superfluous and distracting. It's the kind of CDthat's great to have on in the background- simultaneously relaxing andchallenging.
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Fatlip
It's no secret that the pop music world owes an apology to Curve. Inthe early 1990s, the group recorded some of the most incrediblealbums—fusing distorted guitars with throbbing, punchy, dancable beats,topped off with super sexy vocals and abstract lyrics. The productiondream team of Flood and Alan Moulder resulted in a number of noteworthysingles and EPs (see the compilation, 'Pubic Fruit') as well as theirfirst two albums, 'Doppleganger' and 'Cuckoo.' (Additional producersover the years have included Steve Osborne [Happy Mondays, New Order,Placebo, Suede] and Tim Simenon [Bomb the Bass].) Their music waspraised by critics, adored by fans, respected by numerous notablemusicians, and used for TV commercials and futuristic movie previews.Their formula was soon completely (and admittedly) stolen, dumbed downand mass-marketed as Garbage, which may or may not have contributed tothe gap in time between albums. In 1997, the core duo of Dean Garciaand Toni Halliday resurfaced as Curve and haven't slowed down one bit.After a somewhat lukewarm release last year on Universal's Hip-Oimprint, 'Gift,' 'The New Adventures of Curve' is almost completelyDIY, recorded and mixed at home and available currently only throughmail order. Once again paired with Alan Moulder, the album shows anevolution of Curve, branching out into more daring territories. On theopening track, "Answers," the duo more deftly expands on the deepsounds of the beat-saturated minimalism they tried on previous releasesthan 'Open Day at the Hate Fest' and Dean Garcia's Headcase albums.Electro ballads like "Signals and Alibis," and the hypnotic "Sinner,"are never weak or flat, while the Garcia-sung rocking closer, "Joy," istruly a shock. (I'm still not quite sure whether I think it fits or notbut it sure is fun.) Their signature guitar sound and quiet/loud styleis neither gone nor forgotten, rearing its head on songs like thepowerful, aggressive future-pop gem, "Till the Cows Come Home," and theslower paced, balls-out "Nice and Easy." I sincerely hope they canpiece together a touring band and come back around. In the meantime,however, the band are working on a remix for a Gary Numan 25thanniversary compilation, according to their web site.
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Beggars Banquet
Speaking of Gary Numan, Beggars Banquet completes theirremaster/reissue project this month with the final two albums Numanreleased originally on Beggars back in the 1980s. Originally releasedin 1982, 'I, Assassin' continues on themes Numan began the previousyear with his 'Dance' album. Fashionably, Numan was still dressing likea 1930s gangster (a makeover after he got sick of looking like a StarWars extra), while musically, the rhythm section is easily mistakablefor the lineup on the prior year's 'Dance,' which featured Japan's MickKarn on bass and Queen's Roger Taylor on drums. While this top 10 UKalbum was preceeded by three UK top-twenty singles, "White Boys andHeroes," "Music for Chameleons," and "We Take Mystery To Bed," the mosttimeless songs have got to be the side two openers, "This is My House,"with a simple yet hauntingly famous synth melody blanketing thefretless bass guitar mastery, driving drums and Numan's neuroticvocals, and the catchy title track. Perhaps it's because these are theonly songs on the original eight-song album which are -not- litteredwith the electronic drum sound exploited for years by Prince and theRevolution (you'd know it if you heard it). Seven bonus tracks gracethe reissue, including both early versions and B-sides.
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For 1983's 'Warriors,' Numan underwent another image reconstruction,stealing both the outfit and the backdrop of Mad Max from 'The RoadWarrior.' (Click here to judge for yourself!)Ironically enough, this album has got to have been his woosiest todate. The rhythmic drive from the powerful drums was erradicated:either lowered in the mix or completely removed in some cases. Inaddition, female vocals were added, guitars were reintroduced in theform of undeniable wishy washiness and saxophone was more prominent.Perhaps this was partially to blame on the production by Bill Nelson (AFlock of Seagulls, Be Bop Deluxe, David Sylvian), but even the lyricsreflected a young Numan (only 25 at the time) who was already jaded andcynical, now probably near the point of exhaustion after eightsuccessful albums in the course of five years. On earlier albums, Numanwould assume a fantasy persona, the subjects of the songs on 'Warriors'sound more like they're from a man who's been completely trapped,caged, and is not in control of his own world. This can be seen fromsome of the first few minutes of the album as the first words out ofGary's mouth are "I fall down, no control somehow, no help now, myfavour slides." It's unsurprising that in his own life, he was goingthrough a number of struggles and by the end of the year, he hadsevered ties with Beggars Banquet. Mastered from the original tapes,the reissue of this disc features all the B-sides from 1983, along witha single version of "Sister Surprise," and the full-length version of"Warriors," along with the previously unreleased, "Nameless andForgotten," a fate he seemed to have been sealing with this record.samples:
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