Was that Kosmik Kommando? Merzbow? Pan Sonic? No, it was twelve littleold gameboys strung up on gallery walls and singing their scoredbattery powered noises through cheapo cheapo speakers. Matt Wand, he ofStock, Hausen & Walkman and Hot Air records, has been performingsolo recently on gameboys and has been collecting the old machines fora while. Like Philip Jeck's 'Off The Record' installation with racks oflooping record players, part of the idea was to walk around and hearhow the sounds shifted and crossed and complemented and deadened eachother as they burbled, squealed, whooshed and crackled. Mr Wand hasmade available a souvenir of this event in the form of a tiny little 3"CD with 21 minutes of edited highlights. He's known for his humourousapproach to music though, and even after going to a private view of thegameboy orchestra after this was recorded, I can't work out if thenumbered sequences on the insert really relate to the score or if he'spulling our legs. Apparently the game Tetris was an inspiration for theinstallation. Whatever, the results here make strangely compellinglistening and don't sound like anything else he's done before.
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Loud. Before I describe or review this CD in any length, one word can describe it perfectly: loud. This is probably the loudest album I've ever heard, and certainly raises the bar on intensity more than any other power electronics album I've ever heard.
I honestly don't know what Austrians find so amusing about pretendingto be Japanese. The humor wears incredibly thin on the current releasefrom Hans Platzgumer and friends on the Angelika Köhlermann label. Thedisc features ten cover tunes, in an effort which seems to imitate afictitious Japanese karaoke group. Included are versions of Kiss' "IWas Made for Loving You," Soft Cell's "Seedy Films," The Who's "AcidQueen" and Frank Zappa's "Bobby Brown." While it begins on a mildlyentertaining note, by track 6, the disc actually becomes painful tolisten to and screams to be ejected, as their version of "Get Down MakeLove" mimics the NIN version moreso than the Queen original. Even moreirritating is the inclusion of their take on Olivia Newton-John's"Let's Get Physical" — something I never ever want to hear again, notfrom Goldfrapp nor fucking Revolting Cocks. Platzgummer has worked witha whole host of others including Gerhard Potuznik, who has mastered asimilar genre of Austrian camp with his G.D. Luxxe outfit. Queen ofJapan, however, fails. I mean, come on, who buys this crap? There'sbetter cover versions circulating around on childrens discs and moreentertaining jokes on the V/Vm records.
After various collaborations, guest appearances and the spectacularSoft Cell shows here's finally the new album by this remarkable Artistwho's always somewhere over the rainbow, caught between pop stardom andthe underground around midnight. The second release on his own labelBlue Star but with proper distribution settings now hopefully morewidely available.
I'm a sucker for cowboy films. The kind of south of the border,gun-running, robbing banks, poor luck, cactus and tumbleweed epics thatSam Peckinpah and John Wayne used to make. Migala, though they may notknow it, write perfect soundtracks to modern westerns. I picture a bandof cowboys, running from the law and some grave mistake, staking it outin some dirt town everytime I put on "Arde," their first US-releasedfull-length. It's like Latin post-rock, but that's generalizing, and Ihate to generalize. Easily the greatest thing Belle and Sebastian'sStuart David is responsible for (he championed the band to Sub Pop),Migala create gritty soundscapes with twangy guitars and, sometimes,Leonard Cohen-esque vocals. "Arde," meaning "it burns," has a tragicflair to it, as each song seems to highlight some tragic moment intime. The album cover even features the end result of a tragic carwreck. As flavorful as this music is, what makes it stand out and grabthe listener is the sextet's use of ambient noise. Static, distortedguitar, xylophone/vibes, and keyboards add great range and depth towhat may easily become a tired sound after a few tracks (I lovewesterns, but do I own the soundtrack to "Stagecoach"?). Migala don'tstay too long on any one idea, and they don't ram their music down yourthroat. As dark as it may be, these songs have a playful quality tothem, bringing forth an inherent dichotomy I love to listen for. Letthere be no doubt: Migala are magical, and "Arde" is a whollyworthwhile listening experience.
Errr... hmmm. Italian electronic musician Bochum Welt's latest offeringis quite a departure from the usual Hymen fare. Although Hymen isbilled as the "technoid" subdivision of Ant-Zen (little differencebetween the two these days), "Fashion" fits right in with all the otherC64/Sidstation/Amiga "videogame" music that seems to be coming indroves out of Finland these days. Clocking in at somewhere around tenminutes (four two-and-a-half minute songs), this 3" CD offers little inthe way of content or length. If you're familiar with the new wave of"retro IDM" that's popular these days, you've heard this CD before; ifyou're not, it's basically light techno constructed from very simple"bleeps and bloops" - you know, Amiga, Gameboy, etcetera. The inclusionof atrocious "vocals" by the Italian-accented "Andy" only makeseverything worse, and removes any possible enjoyment that may have beenhad. I can't recommend this at all, honestly - it's short, boring, andthe whole "retro video/computer-game" thing has been done several timesbefore with much better results (8 Bit Rockers, Atom Heart, etc.)
Mike Patton's band, Fantomas, has released another album, this time acollection of theme songs from various movie soundtracks. The majorityof the movies are in the suspense/thriller/horror genres, which fitsFantomas' schizoid attention span. I liked this record a lot more thanthe first Fantomas album ("Amenaza al mundo!"), it seems more cohesive,and it seems like the band is getting more comfortable with itself. Thesongs' veer into the familiar, such as "Theme from Godfather" and theobscure, such as the excellent "Der Golem" although even those familiarwith these songs will find something surprising in the band'sinterpretations of them: "Godfather" starts off with the accordion(played on melodica, I think,) motif so familiar from the movies andsuddenly breaks into a full on assault of crashing drums and poundingelectric instruments. Drummer Dave Lombardo's (ex-Slayer,) playing is ahighlight of the whole disc. Patton's yelps and screams are stillpresent, though not as annoyingly or pervasively as on solo material;here he's using his voice as an instrument, with a lot of melody. Someof the material has got me intrigued enough to look for some of thesefilms (still trying to find "Der Golem"). So what's the disc soundlike? A jazz-metal band doing covers of movie themes while trying tobranch out from jazz and metal to avant-guarde noisescapes, with some"California"-esque vocals. All 39 minutes are highly enjoyable andrecommended.
As if 4 separate volumes of the "Disburden Disciple" album weren'talready enough, here is an extra CD-R's worth of 'work in progress'tracks to tide the more rabid fans over in the downtime between the 1stand 2nd installments. Jarboe has long made her unfinished workavailable to the public to further reveal her creative process overtime and, perhaps, to help finance her life and future projects. Whatimmediately strikes me about the music on this disc is how wellproduced the tracks are even in a demo form. And though theinstrumentation is somewhat skeletal - some guitar, drum/bass loops,keys - it's not too terribly far off from finished product. Backworldguitarist Joseph Budenholzer and James Izzo, aka Thread, help providemusically while lyrically Jarboe continues to heal and grow. "ToForget" and "Lost" couple sweet vocals with pretty guitar melodiessplit across the stereo field. On "Feral" Jarboe unleashes severallengthy, cathartic bellows over spooky piano chords and atmospheres."Angel" and "Real Life" feature the electronic bass and beatprogramming, presumably by Izzo, that works so well with Jarboe'svoice. "Penance" specializes in gorgeous breathy vocals, outstretchedbass notes and pretty piano twinklings. "Notebook Fragments" and "W/outWords" are a bit more 'artsy' and dramatic, the latter expressingitself vocally with no words. The next "Disburden Disciple" looks to bevery promising judging from these supposedly rough sketches, possiblybetter than the first album which was also very good. "Dislocation" isavailable from The Living Jarboe web site for $15 signed . 
For the last few years, an amazingly dedicated girl with great taste inmusic has been building her London-based operation Rocket Girl into asmall empire of a label and mail order shop. "A Rocket GirlCompilation" collects tracks from the first handful of 7" singlereleases along with an entire second CD of unreleased and rare tunes.Contributors include Silver Apples, Windy & Carl, Fuxa, RoyMontgomery, Experimetnal Audio Research, and the precious collaborationbetween Low, Piano Magic and Transient Waves, "Sleep at the Bottom."While it's a great addition to a collection of anybodys who includesthe aforementioned artists, it serves as a fine introduction tonewcomers Loopdrop, PS. I Love You, and Pluxus, all who have otherreleases on Rocket Girl. While styles vary from quiet rock, dream pop,instrumental bliss and electronic ear candy, the quality remains high.The flow from track to track is perfect, and it makes me personallyache to hear the full-length releases from Loopdrop and Pluxus. Fans ofDarla, Kranky and Bedazzled labels be warned, you may become hooked ifyou aren't already.
I had never heard of Radio Birdman before hearing this CD. In fact,before I read the liner notes, brilliantly written by David Fricke ofRolling Stone fame, I thought that Radio Birdman might be a new bandtrying to create that hype machine around them by getting a whole bunchof people to say "No, they were contemporaries of the Ramones and theStooges. Yeah!" It all had a very Spinal Tap backstory to it. Then Iput on the CD. All I can say is it ate my words and thoughts right up.David Fricke says it beautifully in the notes: there hasn't been since,and there probably never will be, another band like Radio Birdman. Soit's good that Sub Pop is releasing this "Essential" collection, mostof which hasn't been available in the United States in 23 years. Theirfirst EP, "Burn My Eye" is included in its entirety, plus songs offboth their studio albums, and a few live tracks to give the listener anidea of what this band could pump out live, as many in America nevergot a chance to see that. From the opening notes of "Aloha Steve &Danno," which follow the sounds of the waves flowing in to shore, youknow you're in for a treat. This is almost surf punk: highly energetic,with snaky guitar lines and driving drum beats, and forceful,commanding vocals. It's all incredibly ahead of its time, from the teenrevolution cries of "New Race" to the sheer majestic glory of "DescentInto The Maelstrom." It's a shame they didn't release more. It's also ashame I've never heard of Radio Birdman. The time is now to spread theword, as Radio Birdman deserve their rightful place in the annals ofRock history.
