21 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

No Label
Let's pretend that the copyright infringement/artists' rights debateabout these bootlegs doesn't exist here; we all have our opinions onthat issue, so let's get past it and talk about whether or not thesemixes are any good. The general theme of this mash-up mix is thepairing of an a capella hip-hop/r&b track with music from aseemingly incongruous rock song (or another distant genre). The mostfamous of these 17 tracks is probably Freelance Hellraiser's "A Strokeof Genius," the pairing of the Strokes' "Hard to Explain" with the acapella version of "Genie in a Bottle." Popular opinion is that the miximproves both original songs, and I tend to agree. Freelance Hellraiseris the most consistent DJ on the disc; his songs are the most seamlessand flow more naturally than most, particularly theNirvana-meets-Destiny's Child "Smells Like Booty. Pairing Eminem's D 12with Depeche Mode is pretty clever too. The cleverness of all thesesongs becomes the double-edged sword with this CD - do we like thesesongs for the skill and creativity that went into mixing them, or fortheir eye-rolling cleverness? If it's the latter, then at least you canregard this disc as a guilty pleasure. There are some decided duds -pairing "Satisfaction" with Fatboy Slim does absolutely nothing for me,and layering Public Enemy with Herb Alpert is too cutesy and doesn'talways sync up. But for every stinker there's a nice surprise, like DJFrench Bloke's bonding the Dead Kennedys' "California Uber Alles" withDestiny Child's "Jumpin Jumpin," which comes across more eerie thenclever, giving it more of an edge. Girls On Top have two tracks on thedisc that distinguish themselves from the rest by making moreinteresting musical choices, namely Gary Numan ("Are Friends Electric?"with Adina Howard's "Freak," I think) and Human League ("Being Boiled"with TLC's "No Scrubs"). An interesting note - mixing Celine Dion withSigur Ros sounds horrifically flawless. I don't think I'd realize itwas a mix if I didn't know any better, I'd just assume it was a badadult-contemporary hit.

 

samples:

• Freelance Hellraiser - Smells Like Booty
• DJ French Bloke - Destiny Kennedies
• Girls On Top - Being Scrubbed

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21 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Sub Pop
Is it just me, or is indie rock losing all of its edge these days? Itseems in recent months that the indie rock being released lately issuffering from the same illness that affects most genres over time:lack of inspiration. New albums from indie rock bands sound like otherbands from five years ago, but with a different singer, or with alittle more energy on the drums or guitar. They're running out of freshideas, and we all feel it. This new release on Sub Pop, the solo debutof Jason Loewenstein, former drummer of Sebadoh, has it all. The albumis original material, Loewenstein writes jangly, affecting rock, playsalmost all of the instruments, and has a capable voice. It'sunfortunate that it's so goddamned mediocre. It sounds like it was allrecorded with the exact same setup in the exact same room over a weekfive months ago. The guitars sound almost identical on every track, thevocals are at the same level with just a little reverb, and all thesongs rollick right along. But none of it stays with you past the firstfew listens. Nothing here is entirely memorable. Even the "fun tracks"- one is called 'Crazy Santana', and, yes, listening to it producesthat exact response - is stale and not even all that amusing. Iremember five or six years ago when bands like Devilhead were makingmusic that was altogether quirky and odd and had strange subjectmatter, and it was funny and just a little brilliant. You knew everyoneinvolved had taken loadsof drugs, but dammit it was good music. This is like Devilheadmellowing out, making most songs coherent (read: not singing about gayaffairs or covering 'Chocolate Bus' ever again), and just basicallybecoming lame. 'I'm a Shit' doesn't even touch the glory other bandshave perfected when it comes to self deprecation. And the token '80shair metal moment on 'Metal' is carbon copy perfect from bands likeHelloween and Heathen (why did most of those bands start with H or W?),but it goes nowhere, so it isn't even good filler. It's unfortunate,because Loewenstein is incredibly capable and has a lot of potential.And the Sebadoh influence is felt here, but I want him to get out fromunder its shadow. Maybe next time he can bring something fresh to thegenre and surprise us all.

 

samples:

• Codes
• I'm A Shit
• Metal

 

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21 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

intr_version
Giant green cyborg squelching through swampland suddenly soars skyward.Distant echoes of sad cornfields fluttering in late summer breeze. Theaftermath of destruction "World Remains" revolve in forlorn beauty."Ruin Her Slowly" pumps a chuggging fat mutant bassbeat for wistfulpiano chops to chime into the haunted night. Then again maybe its amusic box merry go round drowning slowly in molasses. If you haven'tyet got Bored of Canada and get a kick out of the Fennesz guitar /laptop interface, then the duo called Désormais are definitely makingthe kind of noise you should hear. Yes, I'm harping on the Fenneszcomparisons again, but those abstracted My Bloody Valentine noiseloopsvia laptop glitchscrapes are hard to place without reference to himthese days. This has the same heart tug melodic pull that 'EndlessSummer' had, but with a maybe more desolate and mournful feel, perhapsan endless autumn for leaves to flutter down from now on? Based inMontreal, Mitchell Akiyama began making this album with Cincinnatiresident Joshua Treble in the fall of 2001 and it seems that part ofthe year had at least a partial influence over the luscious sculptingsof their sound file exchanges. Most tracks spin revolving loops andslowly let more distorted melodic waves and dense static sheets unfurl,although occasionally a quick shift in pace occurs. Some of the titlesseem to imply a connection with restless internal states - "ViolentFeelings Often Pass" starts out calm but a tense heartbeat pulses andpumps the track to its ultimate escape. There's also a few nods tofailure, as if contemplative regret is the mood they were trying tocapture. "Just in Case We Lose" seems like a head on collision betweenthe classic abstraction of Stockhausen's 'Kontakte' and theaforementioned Fennesz, but it's over pretty fast. The following"Suspense de Vent" has a windblown oriental feel. "As Though" has adistant vinyl crackle atmosphere through which ghostly hymnal voicescall, as if Philip Jeck was in the house but the tape machines were onthe roof and a light rain was falling. It drops out drainwards, butthen crunches back in a faster echotechno canyon. 'Climate Variations'is a fine disc for all weathers as the title implies. Cranked up loudit rocks in a sublimely mind altering futurist fashion. Low levellistening allows total immersion in endless imaginative loops, a lovelyway to drift away. Each listen reveals more detail in the cracklingether variations, and each time the disc spins it just gets better. Myradar will certainly now be tracking Akiyama, who runs intr_version andhas released an album on Alien 8 sublabel Substractif, and Treble, whoruns aii and has previously released an album on Pitchcadet. Theintr_version website had a bubble movie that goes well with the music,but was bereft of information last time I looked.

 

samples:

• As Though
• Ruin Her Slowly
• Just In Case We Lose

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21 July 2002

Rob Devlin

Albums and Singles

Touch and Go
Over the past 10 years, Silkworm has released some pretty uniquealbums. Always abrasive while catchy, with odd lyrics and situations toread between the lines, they always bring it across with fervor andpassion. 'Italian Platinum' was again recorded with Steve Albini, andthe results are certainly Silkworm, but after ten years, the chinks inthe armor, or at least in this style, are starting to show. Yes, it's agood record. Yes, it would make your mother cover her ears (my mother,anyway). Yes, it's got great songs. But it's classic Silkworm. There'sless slower material this time out, and the guest vocals by Bloodshotartist Kelly Hogan add this album's freshness. But is it the bestSilkworm CD ever? Nope. Would you listen to it more than otherreleases? Nope. Would you love it just the same? Absolutely. The albumstarts of with '(I Hope U) Don't Survive', a song with the catchiestchorus I've heard in recent history ("And 'I love you' means 'I hopeyou don't survive' tonight"). And I dare say that's what's moststriking here, in that Silkworm is their catchiest on more than onesong, which could equate to them being more ((shudder)) "accessible."'The Brain', 'The Third', 'Dirty Air' and 'A Cockfight of Feelings' arepure pop splendor. 'Is She a Sign' and 'Young' are fantastic songs,ones that could easily cement the band's reputation as love songballadeers, if this were any other band than Silkworm. They never letit get that sappy, letting the guest vocalist shred the end of the songlike Marcy Mays on an Afghan Whigs number. And the ever-present storiesof drunkery are here again on 'White Lightning' and the fantastic'Bourbon Beard'. But overall, it's just another great Silkworm album.That's not a bad thing, but I keep waiting for something new to comeout of them. Something avant garde and noisy. Something defining. Andit's not here. But something tells me it's coming.

 

samples:

• (I Hope U) Don't Survive
• Is She a Sign
• Young

 

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21 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Genesungswerk
This EP is one of my favorite releases of 2002 so far. "Shanghai" is amonster shanty with a hypnotic desert groove. Heavy bass-lines arepaired with dead-pan vocals in a timeless electronic frame. The lyricsare about sailors without pity, capturing the innocent, lonely and lostwhile the harbor theme is omnipresent the whole duration of thisrelease. The title track is featured twice - over 9 minutes long on theA Side and in a shorter version which differs only slightly. The track"Valse Brute" is actually an instrumental waltz, pushing the seaman'satmosphere with an massive accordion melody even further while"Pasteuse Elegiaque" is more a chill-out ambient piece for the veryearly morning hours after a night out when all else are asleep.Kallabris have musical craftsmanship, artistic vision and a sense offinding the balance between humor, entertainment and melancholy thatmakes them rather unique.As the first release I heard by them I think they're definitively oneof the most outstanding acts of current German music and not to miss.

 

samples:

• Shanghai 45
• Valse Brute
• Pasteuse Elegiaque

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21 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Melodic
The Melodic label started in 1998 after hearing a demo tape from JamesRutledge, and releasing his Pedro EP in June of 1999. Over the pastthree years, they have released a dozen vinyl EPs and singles, and afew full-lengths on vinyl and CD. This is their first compilationrelease, and it's a collection of songs from artists with releases onthe label, and artists that they have received tracks from these pastthree years. Designed to be a cohesive listening experience - verysimilar sounding and feeling tracks from all artists - you're supposedto just put this on at a party or in your house and experience it. Andmost of it is pretty even and worth listening to. All tracks haveelements of electronics, and move along at a medium pace. And eventhough they're very similar, there is a diversity here underneath itall when you consider that these bands are from different backgrounds.Pedro is the only artist featured twice, and since he was the label'sfirst signing, it makes sense. But he is not the most enchanting artistthis CD features. Minotaur Shock, whose track 'Lady Came From BalticWharf' is gorgeous and moving, is a consistently worthwhile listen, andthere is great anticipation for the Lucky Pierre full-length later thisyear. But I was most impressed by the Empire State track, who are onWarm in the US. Having never heard them before, I liked the grooves andbeats from three guys in Athens, GA. The sampled strings and xylophonesmake it sound like one of those Dolby test discs at one point, withnoise coming from places that almost scare the shit out of you. Then,at the end, it just breaks into a fast-paced sound collage. Good stuffhere from Melodic, worth listening to if you're not familiar with anyof the artists, as it's a low-priced introduction to them all.

 

samples:

• Pedro - Seven Eight
• Empire State - The Elements of a Wish
• Minotaur Shock - Lady Came From Baltic Wharf

 

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21 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

spinArt
Reviewing something like this is almost completely pointless, as thefans will have jumped at the opportunity to buy this while the peopleon the fence probably couldn't care less. I, personally was a bigPixies fan during their heyday and am completely thankful to them forhelping end the reign of hair bands with makeup. This CD is the muchpassed around untitled 'purple tape' which includes nine songs fromtheir demo cassette not appearing on the eight-song album 'Come onPilgrim,' first released by 4AD back in 1987. The recordings match upperfectly together and the songs present a fine archive, released herein stunning demo tape glory without the wear of a cassette passedaround for over a decade. Much of the tunes are in an embryonic stage,just as raw as 'Come on Pilgrim' and more ballsy than anything FrankBlack Francis has ever recorded since their split. This may be thedownfall, however, as all of these songs (with the exception of oneexclusive: "Rock My Soul") were recorded and improved upon and releasedmuch later. In addition, the 18 minutes of music contained hereinalmost doesn't justify the $12 sticker price, so I say give it a whilebefore it pops up in the used bins. It's not going anywhere fast.

 

samples:

• Rock a My Soul
• Down to the Well
• I'm Amazed

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14 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

'Technoir', the first Hymen Records compilation was one of the best experimental compilations ever. Showcasing then-nobodies along with exclusive cuts from the popular Ant-Zen post-industrial roster, critics everywhere began to pay attention to the growing Hymen sub-label. 'Masonic' has a hard act to follow, but Hymen's evolution into "IDM for Rivetheads" and its ability to distance itself from the parent label paid off. With even the best of compilations, there are going to be at least some misses among the hits, so rather than humiliate those who do not shine as brightly (or are as dim as eclipses), I'll only focus on some of the very best of the bunch. If I had to choose the best track of the entire CD, then Beefcake would take the proverbial cake... errrr yeah.Hymen

Being completely fascinated by the consistently incredible output of these sleek plunderphonic masters, it was hard not to fall in love with their eclectic contribution to Disc One. Imagine an ADD-afflicted music prodigy composing a 4 minute track, and you'll get a sense of "ct2": DSP-effected drill n' bass, cinematic strings, and some jazzy horns. The king of sub-bass, Scorn (a.k.a. Mick Harris of Napalm Death and Painkiller), graces the same disc with more of his highly original dark dub on "The Distance Between". Picking up where his last Hymen gem ('Greetings From Birmingham') left off, this should hold over his fans temporarily until the 'Governor' EP and 'Plan B' CD, both due out shortly. Funkstorung's "Beinh" (from one of their Musik.Aus.Strom 12" releases) mixes machine clangs with overdriven bass pulses and clever lowpass filtering. Schizophrenic breakbeat wunderkind Aaron Funk drops another bizarre cut entitled "Parasitus" under his Venetian Snares moniker that is very much in line with his Planet Mu material. The disc ends with Sonic Draglogo's dirty 80's-esque pop song "Sister". Infested with distortion, banging drum loops, and quirky guitar hooks, this is quite possibly the weirdest thing Hymen has ever attached its name to... and I can't stop playing it. Gridlock open the second disc with the ambient "36:6:115." For the uninitiated, this track might almost be seen as uncharacteristic of the Hymen sound, but then the duo's rhythmic barrage bursts out of the speakers sometime around the 3 minute mark, and it all becomes clear. Somatic Responses offer "Whatever," a shattered breakbeat track with otherworldly strings and relentless noisy squelches. I never really got into their 'Augmented Lines' album, but now I understand what the fuss is all about. While the electroclash movement has embraced some of the crappiest retro new wave garbage possible, acts like Lilienthal, Red Sparrow, and Bochum Welt entertain with their respective oldschool sounds that are far more deserving of the attention wasted on the likes of Fischerspooner. In the midst of all this 8 bit glory, Xanopticon plops out a heaping pile of Squarepusher diarrhea on "Phase", exploding stuttering beat fragments and undigested corn kernals all over the place. This guy could be the next Venetian Snares. And you can fucking quote me on that. In that same vein, Fanny (formerly of punk heroes The Exploited) closes out this beefy compilation with an incoherant slab of cut-up, mashed-up electronic junk noise rhythms. So in conclusion: Hymen makes Warp seem gay as a cricket, and Alicia Keys is really hot. I mean, she's really really hot.

 

samples:

• Beefcake - CT2
• Bochum Welt - Neutron
• Xanopticon - Phase

 

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14 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

The vast worldwide sea of laptop and desktop musicians has simply become far too predictable with atonal noise-bursts and rhythmic clicking. While the revisit of Klang Krieg's 'American Breakbeat' album has some wonderful highlights, it's almost way too excessive at a staggering 34 tracks. Presented here are remixes and reinterpretations of the original release—29 contributions from North American electronic artists—by electronic artists from (almost*) elsewhere in the world. [*Note to Klang Krieg: Mexico is still part of North America.]Klang Krieg

Tracks like the reinterpretation of Matmos's "Count Tweekula" from Japan's Sonic Dragolo add a clever and even more comical twist by hijacking j-pop and exotica influences, cutting and pasting them into a vocalized mix that would make Ms. Solex proud. Chris Wood's string arrangement on Timeblind's "Jitter" is possibly one of the most beautiful songs on the compilation along with Syntetika's labelmates, Ambidextrous, (do yourself a favor and re-read the Syntetika review) make a serene, languid, melodic reconstruction of "Salty" by Blink Blink. I'm also epecially fond of "Melancholic Music Box," the Rosy Parlane reinterpretation of Hrvatski's "Insect Digestion Melody," reformatted for a thunderous music box and the Fibla remix of Marumari's "Super Botany," with pleasant Morr-like guitar sounds that easily jumps the tracks from the nerdy laptop boy express into the chin-scratching pseudo-electronica post-post-post rock shuttle. There's too many electro-fart remixes of Kid 606, however, and the good parts just don't seem to go on long enough. At the super-cheap price I paid for this set, however, those few low points can easily be overlooked.

 

samples:

• Buug - Kaylek 2 (remixed by Plastacas)
• Matmos - Count Tweekula (remixed by Sonic Dragolo
• Timeblind - Jitter (remixed by Chris Wood)
• Marumari - Sonic Botany (remixed by Fibla)

 

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14 July 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Touch and Go
"Hey you! Come on ever here! You've just been chosen!" Dance punkwaving away from retro futurist flourescent arcades of dayglo nothingbrought into the radioactive bubblegum world by the TV eye trio Enon -bright corners of 'High Society' seem rerouted from obvious drug pun.Initially "Old Dominion" rocket-rushes from speakers in chunky rockin'populous frenzy, twisting and spitting tuneful as if atomic men hadshaved the cartoon kitten, and brought on irreal visions of facelessladies walking poodles. These are the finest rockpops tune vibrationsto wobble my eardrums since that Wire EP you should all have heard bynow. You know John Schmersal used to be guitarist in that greatBrainiac band from Dayton, Ohio that stopped just as they peaked whensinger Tim Taylor's car crashed and killed him? John's been busy sincethen, relocating to do the Enon thing in New York, with a clutch ofseven inches and between two and five albums depending on which way youcut it. To find out which way you'd cut the cake, visit the band'shyper TV hellnation website (www.enon.tv),where you will also find more sounds including monthly net-only tracks.Since the excellent quirky 'Believo!' album there have been at leastthree big shifts in Enonsound. There's a catchier pop approach togadget strewn mix'n'scratch songfighting and a fuller, heavierproduction, courtesy of Girls Against Boys' Eli Janney. Newbass-singer-synthist Toko Yasuda, formerly of The Lapse and BlondeRedhead, brings some high vocal counterpoints and leads to offsetJohn's increasingly all over the range bunnyhop singing. She takes thelead on four of the fifteen songs, and the first of these, "In ThisCity," is a surprising sugarpop confection with breakbeat backing andan almost 'J-Pop' feel. Lots of silly effects are chucked on the John'svocals, and often the sillier the better, as on the mostBrainiac-Electroshock friendly tune "Native Numb," but Enon can just aseasily play it straight and get away quick after writing a killer tune.Just take for instance the insanely catchy hi-energy summerfun tones of"Salty" (Toko's finest lead) followed languidly by the almost RayDavies bitter mellowness of the title track, with it's sax and strings.Take the sweet drowsy lullaby "Count Sheep" and put it in your pipe andsmoke it before "Carbonation" business kills the radiopop active-kids.Meanwhile "Window Display" seems tailor made for radio stations toblitz the airwaves, even if it seems to be a song about marrying anandroid and breaking her remote control. Toko seems to play the part ofthe remote malfunctioning displaydroid on "Disposable Parts" where shesings of the futurejoy of replacing organs and limbs, whilst Johnmorphs into a impenetrable deep voiced daftbot. Underneath the almostchildish robot infatuation there are perhaps more serious themes ofalienation and disconnection lurking. Another song that'll have oldBrainiac fans grinning is the manic "Pleasure and Privelige," with it'surgent urges to wave fingers in the air. The most affecting song is theperky "Natural Disasters," especially the bittersweet reversesynthmiddle eight, and it's hard to hear the chorus without being remindedof Tim's tragic crash, as John sings a song of moving on, keepingplayful whilst some people want to draaag him back - it's probably thekind of anti-elegy Tim would've smiled at. Like the forthcoming Wiresmash "Nice Streets," this is an addictive pop fix that easily trouncesall those retrotrendy Electroclashers and rollrock-poseurs to amultifractured pulp. These songs hum with experigressive provivalistlife force and summertime hues. If this band aren't getting offered bigdollar studio deals, it's just more proof that biglabel A&R dudeshave ears full of pudding, as usual.

 

samples:

• Carbonation
• Count Sheep
• High Society

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