Picture if you will, Gary Numan crashing his car into Fad Gadget's newbuilding. While their debut release follows in the vein of tons ofother new electro artists (see Adult, Le Car, I am Spoonbender, andG.D. Luxxe), something about FischerSpooner reaches deeper than theaforementioned. While the Ersatz crew prides themselves on sterilityand acute repetitive execution of their concept from release to release(Nikola's photography, screen printed road-sign looking icons for bandlogos, etc), Fischerspooner's presentation is lush, sexual, andbeautiful. From the suggestive sleeve art of a man's face covered inpoppy seed-laden cum, to the inside of the gatefold with burnt skin andmeat, peeling makeup, and glitter. In addition, there are full-colorprints on an almost textured cold-press rough sleeves, while eachrecordlabel is also in full color, and featuring pictures of the cover starwith tubes, wild hair, floating underwater or in the air.The music is not a far departure from our newest new-new wave ofelectronica. The beats are steady and consistent, the kick and bassdeep and rattling, without disorienting breaks or expectedjunglist-tweaked cymbals. The vocals are what really stand out here:male and female singers who are, without a doubt, singing. No radiostatic effects, no drone. It's like Section 25 or early Wake backed bythe women of ESG or 52nd Street. The sexual overtones are presentthroughout, more or less suggestive with the use of heavy breathing andwhispered vocals that become part of the orchestra and dragged out withthe constant use of vocoders. On the track, "Invisible", deep inhalingand exhaling open the song, rattling speakers as if he'sblowing in your ear. The last exhale is dragged out deep into the mixas the beat kicks in, returning later as the end trails of verses, likea Jesus and Mary Chain wash. The track reaches a pregnant pause halfway through, teasing with a kick in time before returning at half thespeed, with deep and breathy vocals. The effect is like continuing tofuck after stopping to catch your breath.
Another great track is their first single, "Emerge", which is available for download from their website: www.fischerspooner.com."Emerge" would probably more closely document their style and be aproper comparison to the remainder of the albums contents (save the sadand looming "Tone Poem" and the cover of Wire's "The 15th") and couldsafely be the bands statement of purpose: "sounds good, looks good,feels good too".(Emerge was remixed by Adult, and is available on the "Emerge Remixed"12" also on Gigolo.)
Their live performance has been described as rather over the top —morea rock opera and less a static "stand behind the equipment" electronicshow. Check the site for more info. Different and addictive, nostalgicand new, Fischerspooner is highly recommended.
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After a few singles and compilation appearances, a full length from theMiami-based duo of Josh Kay and Romulo Del Castillo has finallysurfaced. The dark, glorious sounds strike up imagery of being in anunderwater bell, sharing the space with numerous swimming creatures.Ambient soundscapes color an otherworldly scenery, with melodiesproviding a gloomy yet peaceful feel to that land. Never for once dothe ambient moods sound boring, however, as the bright melodies oftenbecome one with the rhythms. Other unfamiliar sounds merge with heavilyblurred and filtered beats, constantly in a state of change. Thepatterns they make with them are original and catchy, and change oftenenough to keep your dancing fun. After bring disappointed with theTakeshi Muto, I was a little wary about getting this record, but aftermany listens, I'm amazingly pleased. Fans of their other releases mightbe a little struck by how much the duo has matured into creating acollective full-length concept.
The overuse of the term "IDM" is increasinly irritating, given it'squite rare any of the stuff lumped into that category is intelligent,dancable or even music for the most part. Hence, the appearance ofthis, a 41-minute auditory reaction from everybody's favorite SanFranciscan electo jester. When I hear the title, "Mensa Dance Squad" Ipicture a crew of super nerds basing dance moves on formulas andequations. One of the ironies of the Mensa organization is that memberssimply test well and have to pay for their membership status, much likethe "IDM" category, it's all a bunch of bullshit. This is appropriatelypriced as an extended play single, as it's not got the conceptual tieslike Lesser's last full release, 'Gearhound'. Hit play on the compactdisc and instantaneously you're flooded with a perfect score forgetting trapped inside a video game machine on the fritz. The first sixtracks are all choppy stuttery post-gabber 1-2 minute songs, with titlevariations on "Mensa", strung together nearly seamlessly. Is thisintelligence or is Lesser just taking the piss outta the scene? Eitherway the tracks are fun, incorporating various elements of prettiness,static, signal noise and goofiness. The next three tracks are all newstuff, tied together with appropriate crossfades, but clearlydistinguishable from each other, the first being a vigorous energyburst, the second being a subdued cleaner melody, the third being arough abrasion not entirely unlike moments off the 'ConstantShallowness' CD from Coil. The disc is rounded out by the CD appearanceof Lesser's track from the European tour split with 606, "EpicAct/Awful Way to Go" (which shreads that obnoxious Faith No More trackinto little pieces) and a 9+ minute "Mensa Dance Squad" gabber-dubremix from 606 himself.
It's always fascinating to look back on a band's recording catalog andsee how much they've changed since those early days, especially whenthey put out a new CD that's superlative to anything they've put out.Unwound used to have a reputation as a Sonic Youth rip-off, usingguitar distortion and minimal vocals and building to an overpoweringcrescendo. It was almost dadaist in design: noise for noise's sake. Tohear a band that used to attack their instruments as much as theyattacked basic song structure forego most of that tradition in favor ofhaunting melodies neither abrasive nor pedestrian is impressive. Truethere are moments of noise, and these songs can really crank it up anotch. But most of the noise has been relegated to atmospherics, andthe songs have a more definite structure this time around. JustinTrosper really seems to have grown into his voice, as well, and thedouble-tracked vocals in areas are really quite lovely. "Leaves" is anambitious set, containing two CDs of new music with multimedia content.The multimedia selections are music videos of a sort, for "RadioGra" onCD1, and for "Scarlette" on CD2. The "Scarlette" video is animated,where the "RadioGra" video is compiled footage of whale rescues. Ineither case, the music is entirely appropriate for what you're seeingonscreen, the way good videos should be (if there are such things).Overall, "Leaves Turn Inside You" is a pleasant surprise, packed with alot of punch. If you've hear Unwound before, but haven't been listeningfor awhile, it might be a good idea to try this release out. Trust me:you will be impressed.
Portland-based Hochenkeit's second album "omu4h 4aholab" (which isapparently a transliteration of the Mayan phrase "400 boys") is acollection of space-rock jams that fall somewhere between early livePink Floyd and Amon DÙÙl II. The album opens with "Seen," a mellowtrack that builds a very Middle Eastern inspired groove around crashingpercussion and a Harmonium drone. The Pink Floyd influence on the bandshows through "Two Fish Kissing," this time with a rather Indiansounding drone and Turkish mandolin. The drones cease temporarilyduring the opening of "To Be Born Drunk and Die Dreaming," which buildsand twists not unlike a rather funky ragga, each member of the bandsoloing here and there until a screaming wall of noise has been built.The funk vibe continues into "Give Them To the Ants," where a groove isformed and Middle Eastern touches are improvised over it. "400 Boys" isthe first of a pair of fourteen minute jams that close the album. Itis, for the most part, a series of drones by guitar, Harmonium, violin,and sax, with the occasional appearance of cymbals. The song goes on alittle bit too long, though. "Please Turn Out the Sun" finishes thealbum nearly where it started, with Middle Eastern percussion and alight drone. It builds in a way that reminds me of the first Godspeedyou black emperor! album, methodically adding drums, guitar,synthesizer tones and sampled speech; the guitar and Harmoniumeventually take over and the song suddenly becomes a depressedpost-rock jam. Finally, the drones and percussion from "400 Boys"return for the last few minutes of the track. What Hochenkeit do withthe space-rock sound is nothing short of beautiful, and they do itwithout poorly repeating the 70s like many of their contemporaries.
Berlin's Kitty-Yo label continue their obsession with proto-pop withthe introduction of Max Hecker on this brand new 7"/CD single. On thetitle track, the lush production, catchy tune and uplifting melody isquite infectious by the time it reaches its climax, the text is almostpainfully repetitious. Almost the same can be said for the second song,"White". A rather dull verse goes nowhere, the vocals are so boringthey need overprocessing, but the chorus is still somewhat emotionallycharged. Getting there is not half the fun but the destination ismildly rewarding. Definitely worth a couple bucks, but not the price ofmost import CD singles. Hecker's got something, but it's still indevelopment. Give him a couple of years to begin wooing the worldwideaudiences. Disgustingly enough, I find these songs stuck in my headlong after they're over. He must be doing something right.
It comes to you in a plain plastic jewel case. Then again maybe itdoesn't, as there are only 954 of these double CD's from Lopez'floating label, Absolute. This release, facilitated by London basedlabel Touch, brings together one long piece from each composer,constructed with only white noise as a source material. Karkowski'smassive rumbling slow motion hurricane force white disc is the moreimmediately impressive of the two. With only white noise to manipulate,the soundfield is perhaps rather monochramatic, but there is no lack ofaction and the brightness and contrast controls are spun to theirextremes. It starts out deceptively quietly and rises to a floorshaking crescendo before abruptly cutting off. Slowly high sonicswooshes pan from speaker to speaker. It continues with variations onthese effects, and the dominant elements are a fairly constant deepbass drone and ever shifting mid to high end controlled bursts ofnoise. About halfway through it rises to obliterating whiteout, beforethe hurricane shifts to the calm eye for a while, with just a low pulseshadow left. Then slowly the whirlwind picks up again. Experience allthe fun of an avalanche from the comfort of your armchair!
The follow up to the excellent Laboratory Series One compilation, whichset the scene pretty well as far as new experimental music inManchester and nearby towns and hovels goes, is a 20 minute EP fromPlanetsounds main man Dave Clarkson. He used to drum for the rock freakout combo White Cube which also included notorious nutter Lord Mongoamongst its ranks and has more recently been spotted on stageperforming with the fluid and inventive Triclops collective. Under theguise of Illuminati he shows off the computer music side of hismultiple sonic personalities.
