PSI49NET
To be honest, I was extremely sluggish in getting into electro (read:not electroclash, otherwise known as "the new black"). Though theclassic "Planet Rock" is a song that I recall fondly from my youth,spending summers in Florida with my family and hearing my cousin DJArson spin down there, I never appreciated bass enough to listen toelectro. Only recently did this change, when a friend turned me on tothe Two Lone Swordsmen side project Radioactive Man. As I blared his CDthrough my new DJ headphones, I realized that there was a sweet sweetLordy in heaven, and His name was Bass. Hunting for a similar sound(and eager to dodge all things fischy and adult in the process), thename Anthony Rother came up several times. At the prodding of a friendof mine with his finger on the pulse of underground electro, I pickedup 'Welcome To PSICITY,' a compilation on Rother's own PSI49NET label.Many of the songs here are by Rother himself, either alone or withcollaborators in the regarded Netzwerk moniker, and he usuallyimpresses. From the EBM stylings of "PSI CITY" and "Hot Body" to thesexy synthpop of "In The Studio" and the Kraftwerkian "Little ComputerPeople," Rother lets determined voices and corroding arpeggios run wildamid thick bass hits. The bass here is delightful and will happilydamage your puny stereo if played loud enough, so proceed with cautionduring your next drug binge. Other noteworthy tracks from outsidecontributors include Mulletronic's upbeat "Eeyore" and Froyd's "WeissesRauschen", a 4/4 head-nodder reminiscent of older Underworld (circa'dubnobasswithmyheadman'). This 2 CD set does have a fair bit of iffytracks, particularly from some of the non-Rother projects, but thatshouldn't stop the electro novice from investigating it. (Most Rotherfans already own it, unless they've been hospitalized). Don't worry,everyone. Miss Kittin wont get mad if you buy an electro album thatdoesn't include her in the credits. Do it for yourself. Do it for Bass!Amen!
To be honest, I was extremely sluggish in getting into electro (read:not electroclash, otherwise known as "the new black"). Though theclassic "Planet Rock" is a song that I recall fondly from my youth,spending summers in Florida with my family and hearing my cousin DJArson spin down there, I never appreciated bass enough to listen toelectro. Only recently did this change, when a friend turned me on tothe Two Lone Swordsmen side project Radioactive Man. As I blared his CDthrough my new DJ headphones, I realized that there was a sweet sweetLordy in heaven, and His name was Bass. Hunting for a similar sound(and eager to dodge all things fischy and adult in the process), thename Anthony Rother came up several times. At the prodding of a friendof mine with his finger on the pulse of underground electro, I pickedup 'Welcome To PSICITY,' a compilation on Rother's own PSI49NET label.Many of the songs here are by Rother himself, either alone or withcollaborators in the regarded Netzwerk moniker, and he usuallyimpresses. From the EBM stylings of "PSI CITY" and "Hot Body" to thesexy synthpop of "In The Studio" and the Kraftwerkian "Little ComputerPeople," Rother lets determined voices and corroding arpeggios run wildamid thick bass hits. The bass here is delightful and will happilydamage your puny stereo if played loud enough, so proceed with cautionduring your next drug binge. Other noteworthy tracks from outsidecontributors include Mulletronic's upbeat "Eeyore" and Froyd's "WeissesRauschen", a 4/4 head-nodder reminiscent of older Underworld (circa'dubnobasswithmyheadman'). This 2 CD set does have a fair bit of iffytracks, particularly from some of the non-Rother projects, but thatshouldn't stop the electro novice from investigating it. (Most Rotherfans already own it, unless they've been hospitalized). Don't worry,everyone. Miss Kittin wont get mad if you buy an electro album thatdoesn't include her in the credits. Do it for yourself. Do it for Bass!Amen!
samples:
- Anthony Rother - PSI CITY
- Studio - In the Studio
- Anthony Rother - Don't Stop the Beat
Thomas Brinkmann's third Soul Center album is the first for Mute'sdance division NovaMute. Soul Center is considered Brinkmann'selectronic funk outlet. Here, minimal mid-tempo grooves are looped andjazzed up with percussion layers, (sampled?) keyboard and saxophoneruns, and nicked spoken and sung phrases from classic Stax wax such asIsaac Hayes' 'Live At The Sahara Tahoe'. When I think of "funk" I thinkof the real deal: James Brown, Parliament / Funkadelic, Troublefunk,etc. I'm talking grit and sweat. You know ... funk. This ain't that.It's often just German techno wearing a goofy afro wig. As funk it'stoo sterile, as techno it's too cutesy. But as something in-between andsomething to dance to, this ain't that bad. A couple of tracks pique myinterest more than the others. The dubby groove of "Easy Goin'" isgreat alone but it gets even better when tasty keys reminiscent ofCoil's 'The Snow' are faded in on top. And "Who's My Girl?" really getsthings moving with a truncated vocal and piano riff rolled into athumpin' beat. Also on the disc is a cute video for "A Good One", thestop-motion adventures of the cover's robo-pooch.
Thank God for Girls Against Boys. Yet another band that started on an indie, moved to a major, and now, back to an indie. Another band who once compromised for the big time, now compromises for no one. Another band that is reborn on their new album, throwing more energy out on tape now than they ever have. The only unfortunate label ever assigned to the band was that of "sex rock." Sure, their music is sexy. Sure, it's raw. And it's definitely not for the faint of heart. But it's not "sex rock." And "You Can't Fight What You Can't See" is arguably the most punishing record with which any of the band's members have been involved.
You'd be hard pushed to realise that samples from classical music formthe core of the second Illuminati EP, as they've mostly been utterlydistorted and pulverised beyond recognition. A middle aged electriciancommented that this reminded him of Soft Machine which is odd becauseDave Clarkson of Illuminati and Planetsounds is a big fan of theirs,but I'd never have thought it was something that sounded similar. WhenI mentioned the comparison to Dave he asked if it was the third track,"Glass Box Trap" which chucks a melodic keyboard jitter over thrummingdouble drone backbone, and a nasal voice muttering disgruntled andnebulous. If I was going to fling comparisons at Illuminati though I'dhave to mention Throbbing Gristle, particularly "DOA," but I think Idid that with the first EP. This one has the same picture on the cover,but inverted to negative and in some ways this a darker and moremenacing trip. A deep singular pulse beat opens the strange door onto amicroscope resolution for "Midget Germs" which vibrate ominously inhell spawned misery. Feedback screams and muffled moans punctuate thistortured cancerous eyeball injection. The poor germs don't stand achance when "Argenteum Atavism" squirts beatnoise bleach all over them.Crunching along in hectic overloaded abandon, this is what it mightsound like if Aphex Twin tried to put one over on Non. Just as themelody creeps in one final crash collapses into semi-ambient bleepscapegurgling. The fourth and final track swings "The Strange Door" shut anddesperate knocking can be heard from outside as the germs shut outsideslowly fizzle to their demise, and a new dawn of lush angelic keyboardbursts across the blackened sky. Distant thunder rumbles.
For everyone out there who fell in love with the brutal industrialrhythms of Speedy J's 'A Shocking Hobby,' be prepared for somethingvery different. 'Loudboxer,' Jochem Paap's latest CD on the alwaysenjoyable Novamute label, returns to his earlier days of Plus 8 styledminimal techno bangers and away from the noise that undoubtedly madethe Ant-Zen family tremble. However, the darkness of 'A Shocking Hobby'is still intact here, and the first mind-bludgeoning single "Krekc"makes that very apparent. Devoid of any clear melody, the album existsas an upward slope, increasing in intensity so that by the time tracknine ("Sevntrak") arrives, I'm reminded why my hard techno-obsessedco-workers can't get enough of this shit. Juxtapose this: machineschugging away with an assembly line fury while sweat drenched clubbersdance helplessly enslaved to the merciless beats. (Sound corny? Wellthen don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.) This is theessence of industrial, a style that has splintered beyond recognitionbut yet has found its way home somehow here. Presented as a continuousmix with a few carefully placed interludes ("Cement", "Inter Zil"),'Loudboxer' fails to displease those who like their music hard, fast,and strictly 4/4 for the dancefloor. Speedy J once again rivals alllike-minded peers in the genre.
What can you say about 76 year old composer Francis Dhomont? You couldsay he's been given lots of prizes for his noises. You could say hetalks a good acousmatic game theory. You could say he wears an eyepatchover his right eye. He first grabbed my attention with his"Frankenstein Symphony" on Asphodel, a plunderphonic acousmatic journeyon which he skillfully cut up and stitched together various excerptsfrom works by his French Canadian contemporaries. He now tips his hatto perhaps his biggest inspiration. This sound cycle is a fiftiethanniversary homage to musique concrète pioneer Pierre Schaefer,specifically the first movement of his "Étude Aux Objets," from whichDhomont has sourced his raw materials. There are many furtivesimilarities to the Schaefer original, but Dhomont stretches thejourney out almost twice as long and eschews Schaefer's violent tapesplice edits, focusing and magnifying curiously questioning speakerpanning whirls into successive new smoothed out seascapes. In theopening funeral march, "Objets Retrouvés," the sounds seem to be askingthemselves what they are, curious to find themselves hanging aroundtheir own echoes. Dhomont breathes new life into them and gives themcelebratory purpose. The second cycle "AvartArsSon" paints in the skyfrom a more varied and clattering palette. Sounds loom into theforeground, shimmer and mutate. Latterly choral vox limbo over gluggingmystery spools. Bells ring out across the city full of gleeful honkingtaxis, soon washed away by tidal waves. This is the most cinematic ofthe four cycles, in that more untransmuted sound sources are apparentthan in relatively abstracted sequences elsewhere. The third cycle"Novars" was the first to be completed and is the hub around which theothers rotate, but since it is sequenced after "Objets Retrouvés"despite being completed seven years earlier, it seems like an extendedversion thereof. "Phonurgie" hones and magnifies elements from theprevious cycles casting long late summer evening shadows and deep poolreflections, folding mystery into myth. Latterly it seems as if severalglass instrument orchestras are playing cut up fragments in reverse asthey sink into the sea. A little recurring chuckle is a mirthfulreminder of how much fun listening can be.
Berlin's WMF Club is home for Saturday night Komfort.Labor events suchas Native Instruments' Native Labs. The company is maker of modularsound software Reaktor and I'm assuming that the 14 artists found hereused it for these exclusive tracks. Some of electronica's elite are ofcourse to be found here amongst the line-up: Kid 606, Jake Mandell,Richard Devine, Errorsmith, F.X. Randomiz, Rob Acid, Solar X, Kent,Vladislav Delay, Siegmar Kreie, Mike Dred, Nitrada vs. Vger, Vert andLazyfish. If anything, the resulting hour of audio proves that Reaktoris a really flexible environment for electronic music makers.Everything from looping soundscapes to inexplicable experiments tothrobbing techno is represented, though there's an especially strongemphasis on chaos and/or rhythm throughout. Of the lot, I'd say onlyErrorsmith's annoying metallic beat thing is worthy of skipping and Kid606's bland "Damn Dre Why You Always Hating On Me" doesn't live up toits cool title. The following three are my favorites: Mandell's"Broccoli Crisis" is a seriously storming dance number that would makethe most timid clubber get their ass out on the floor and move; F.X.Randomiz's "Danuni" melodically churns a granular mass of bits andbobs; snd Vladislav Delay performs his usual magic trick for "The SuperHas Left The Model" by skillfully turning microscopic digitalia insideout, almost at random. The interactive ROM portion might just be themost interesting aspect of the disc, that is, if I ever figure it out.A Reaktor-like application lets you graphically manipulate the "what","when" and "how" of Lazyfish's "Mewark-Stoderaft" on the fly. Fun, forawhile.
"Fantastic Damage" is a perfect description for this album of denselylayered beats that serve as a soundtrack for El-P's tour through adystopian urbanscape. Almost every beat on the album is so rich andevocative it seems a shame that El-P has to bark over almost every oneof them. Some of his lyrical concepts work well, as on the track"Stepfather Factory" where he effectively constructs and deconstructs acompany that churns out indistinguishable, abusive father figures. Thisis one of the few tracks where he takes his vocals down to aconversational level and it works really well. On too much of the albumthough, his vocals come off as monotonous yelling which undermines thepower of his intelligent lyrics. El-P has an uncommon problem for anMC—so much he needs to say that he is unable to fit all of his lyricsinto his allotted lines of verse. This problem of too many words to goaround is particularly noticeable on the verses of "Truancy". When heslows the rhymes down during the chorus, each lyric becomes more potentand fits well into the rhythm. He also uses an interesting approach atthe beginning of "Dead Disnee" where he adjusts his cadence and rhymescheme to mimic that of the early De La Soul single "Plug Tunin'".While paying respect to an earlier, more creative era of hip-hop, healso demonstrates how a varied rhyme style can compliment a song.Unfortunately, the rest of the song falls into his same abrasivelymonotonous pattern. Most of the album's lyrical content falls into the"conscious lyrics" category—which makes some of the slips into standardhip-hop homophobia all the more frustrating. 
Chris Brokaw should be familiar as guitarist from Come and Pullman and drummer for the New Year, Codeine and Consonant, not to mention all the other groups and collectives he's been playing out with recently - check out www.chrisbrokaw.com for the lowdown. And if his name isn't familiar then you have got some serious record buying to do! 'Red Cities' is his first solo album following a split single with Spanish band Viva Las Vegas.
