13 January 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Yes, more Anthony Rother. This one is not as good as Little Computer People, but it's still good.It suffers, however, because it's only a single, and seven remixes of even the greatest song gets a little old. Biomechanik is taken from an earlier album by Rother, "Simulationszeitalter." Seven mixes are included on the disc as well as a pretty cool video, which I'll get into later. The music is standard Rother electro fare - which isn't a disparaging description - but a few of the tracks get pretty old. The Larry McCormick mix and Rother's own mix are the standouts in my opinion, but what makes this disc a "must buy" is the Biomechanik video included - a classy production that is sadly a bit short (less than three minutes) but what it lacks in length it makes up for in style. Mechanical imagery and two women lying naked on operating tables while white-clothed nurses/doctors (?) operate on them - bio-mechanics. That is what Rother is about. A worthy purchase, but look for something else if you're just starting out with Rother. - 

samples:

• E Master mix
• Larry McCormick mix
• video mix

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13 January 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Initial disclaimer: I'm not really a big fan of electro music (i.e. Drexciya, Bunker, Adult, etc. .. not the EBM stylings of Metropolis Records). Most of it just really bores me, and the "gimmicks" that seem to be found often within them (oldschool/retro sounds, vocoder vox, etc.) never really grab me. UNLESS, however, we're talking about Anthony Rother, the mastermind behind Little Computer People (and Psi Performer, and maybe some others). Mr. Rother uses the same set of tactics and gimmicks that I harbor disdain for, but for some reason, if Rother is at the controls, I LOVE the music. Such is the case with "Electro Pop," which is probably the catchiest album I've ever heard. All of the tracks are clearly heavily influenced by Kraftwerk (Little Computer People was actually a Commodore 64 game, I believe) and most of them feature ultra-catchy heavily-vocoded computer vocals. The lyrics are pretty cheesy Euro-English, but for some reason, I love them, and whenever I listen to the disc, I find myself chanting along: "TREAT ME LIKE A COMPUTER... SEX WITH THE COMPUTER... I AM A COMPUTER..." Sad, but true. Really a brilliant album and highly recommended. - 

samples:

• Electro Pop
• Follow the Leader
• I Am

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13 January 2002

Mark Weddle

Albums and Singles

The majority of NYC duo 310's catalog has been released by the UK'sLeaf label, part of the Post Everything collective, but this disc isthe debut from Manifold sub label Desolat Recordings.Desolat'smanifesto is simple and spot on: "dark > drifting > textures >no beats". The pre title "Short Stories by" is equally apt and, alongwith the unique b/w photo circa the 1950's affixed to every cover,further describes the mysterious character of this particular release.Fifteen untitled tracks, most 3 minutes or less, creepy crawl out ofstrangers' family albums, films and subconscious minds. There issomething to see here in most every piece, though it's often difficultto tell just what it is and when and where it took place exactly. Allsorts of hazy, sampled found sounds - movement, footsteps, churchbells, traffic, rain, crickets, background conversation, occasionalspoken words and utterances, etc. - and (some presumably appropriated)music are mixed with ambient drifts and left to loop. The effect ishighly cinematic, the aftereffect like an out of body experience ... - 

samples:

• 1
• 2
• 3

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13 January 2002

Graeme Rowland

Albums and Singles

New York-based composer David Shea is an exemplar of the old clichethat necessity is the mother of invention.The former pupil of MortonFeldman started merging sounds in a sampler as a means to an end. Hewanted to continue composing but had insufficient funds to hireperformers to play his ideas. This later evolved into the sampling ofmusicians playing hybrids suggested by Shea, which he thenrecontextualised via the hard drive. Since 1992 he's released a regularslew of CD's documenting his mixed up soundworld where a house anthemmight speed head on into a hardcore double kick drum Cantonese militarymarch as keys fly off the piano. Not surprisingly he's turned up onJohn Zorn compositions such as the dark masterpiece 'Elegy' but perhapsmore surprisingly he's also collaborated with Robert Hampson. Shea'sopus "The Tower of Mirrors" would probably be a better place to startif you haven't heard him before, but "Tryptich" offers three snapshotsof tracks he performed live throughout 2000 and shows how his tracksmutate and compress over time. He's been working on a much longersoundtrack to the Hindu epic the Ramayana, but 'Sita's Walk of Fire'documents otherwordly atmospheres before Sita walks through a wall offire after escaping the demon Ravana, and the carnivalesque whirlingcelebration and dancing afterwards. It mashes up sampled Easterninstumentation with nineties hyperdance moves into a heady swirl ofcolour. Although it's a different piece of music the horse dreamfantasy film soundtrack 'One Trick Pony' seems like what might havehappened if "The Tower of Mirrors" had been compressed to ten minuteduration, as Shea relies on similar tricks to suggest dream states - alaugh cutting the scene dead, eerie gongs and chimes and propulsivebeats. There's an Antipodean doing-ping rhythm that keeps everythingmoving and sounds like he might even be able to afford the musicianlyservices of Rolf Harris these days. His soundtrack to ancient Romantwisted tales 'Satyricon' is necessarily fuller as he's squeezed itshour into a third of its former duration, and it also seems slightlysped up. Some of what it gains in density it loses in development, butif you can say the same thing with less words, why not? The closingpercussive dash is even more cinematically frenetic and climactic thanit was before, especially after he's cut its 'Waves' aftermath toalmost nothing. - 

samples:

• One Ride Pony

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13 January 2002

Maurice Underwood

Albums and Singles

Arc starts things off with 2 tracks recorded live in Toronto - reallywell done, slithery tribal stuff a'la 'Culling'- era 23 Skidoo.

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13 January 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Arc starts things off with 2 tracks recorded live in Toronto - reallywell done, slithery tribal stuff a'la 'Culling'- era 23 Skidoo.Lots ofdrumming and percussive electronics with a soothing, nocturnal feel.Some glitchy electronics rear their head near the end of the firstpiece along with a soothing wash of keyboard harmony, all done toexcellent effect. I could do without the processed vocal but that'sjust my onus to bear. The second offering, 'Friction' has the samenocturnal feel but more somnambulant with echoed guitar, distortedpiano and tones stretched to the breaking point. Parts of this remindedme of the earlier works of Current 93 and then it would shift to almostEno-esque and then again to parts that sounded like Can while stillbeing wholly original.
Ashfordaisyak doesn't quite jibe as well in my opinion. The startingtrack 'Refugees' has all the usual clichés; distorted, delayed,clanking, walkie talkie vocals and screams pitch shifting into theupper registers - all told a rather pale Whitehouse imitation althoughthe tune is somewhat redeemed by the inclusion of cheesy electro-styledrums in the middle. The other two tracks don't fare much better - 'I'mPregnant' sounds to me like early sampler and tape loop experiments andthe final track 'Where do Balloons Go When They Die' has a 'pots andpans industrial' feel - lots of tinny metal clanking and ominousvocals. A good effort and some potential here, it just needs refining.
All told, the disc is worth the price for the Arc tracks especially forfans of the aforementioned C93, 23 Skidoo or even earlier, instrumentalCoil. Here's hoping we see more from both of these artists. -(Menschenfeind Productions - http://www.menschenfeind.com) 

samples:

• Arc - Triad
• Ashfordaisyak - Refugees

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13 January 2002

Carsten S.

Albums and Singles

Australian David Thrussell first emerged in 1991 as Snog in the worldof techno pop, and has since released well-reputed albums under thenames Black Lung and Soma.Theoretically, Thrussell should have had aneasy time getting this, or any particular record released. However,this time around it's spoken word.
Recorded between 1998-2001, Thrussell dwells deeper into the themesthat are omnipresent in his projects - but this time no groove norsplendid electronica to distract the listeners from the text. Over asupportive soundtrack of creeping electronica blended with jazzyinterludes he speaks about media influences, the state of civilization,mass manipulation and consumer habits with a dark sonorous voice.Obvious Aspects of daily life like plastic, oil, money or electricityare questioned effectively in an astonishing way.Read in the style of an imaginary American radio suspense story, thelyrics gain an ironic value which is not far away from self-parody. Atleast the impression resulting is anything than dead serious.Added for further enlightment besides extensive linernotes are someillustrations by himself and a CD Rom clip of "The Plastic Wars Pt. I".
This is a careful skilled concept album which does not sell newinsights or doctrines but cleverly uses available information and setsit in context to encourage THINKING ABOUT IT ALL - including questionslike "Does he really mean this seriously?" and "Is this fact orfiction?" - 

samples:

• A Majick, Majick World
• The Brilliant Seed
• Turn Muzak on Its Head

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13 January 2002

Mark Weddle

Albums and Singles

Though the V/Vm Test Records press release states this is the solodebut from classically trained Polish musician Jacek Toszek, I can'thelp but wonder if this is just one of the V/Vm lads hiding behind yetanother moniker.Dubious track titles such as "Cirrostratus OverNorman, Oklahoma 1927", "Massive Hornblended Character with DistinctTraceability" and "Consistent Prunes At The Speiss Lavender Trail" seemto support my theory. But regardless of who's responsible, the endresult - 40 minutes of melodious, textural ambiance - is really, reallynice. Much like The Caretaker's "Selected Memories from the HauntedBallroom" album from a few years ago, "cin" is also possessed ofghostly nuances. Many tracks seem to be borrowing music, some possiblyorchestral, then obscuring it in comfy blankets of fuzz, buzz, loopsand drones while others seem to do the same without any sourcematerial. Electronic insects, piano and a children's playground surfacemomentarily. Track 10, "Tartar Emetic", shows the first sign ofunruliness with louder, whooshing currents and minor glitches and,later, "The Atmosphere is Not a Perfume" gets even testier with mildlydistorted waves. Then "Mylonite" calmly wraps things up in staticsparkles and more warm padding. Nice, really nice. I love this softerside of the V/Vm catalog. A new Caretaker full length, "A Stairway ToThe Stars", is due out soon. -

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13 January 2002

Graeme Rowland

Albums and Singles

Comae was one of my ten favourite CD's of 2001..."Where the fuck are you?" was the witty title of one of RobertHampson's Touch Ringtones. Main fans could well ask him that veryquestion. Apart from the odd DJing stint and half a 12" from hisdub-beat persona Chasm courtesy of Fat Cat, he seemed to slip quietlyaway for way too long. He hasn't been idle though, and there's a newMain album due on the K-raa-k label in February. In the meantime, feastyour ears on this wonderful collaboration with Janek Schaefer. I wentto hear Philip Jeck and People Like Us play late last year and waspleasantly surprised when half of the unknown quantity on the bill,Comae, turned out to be none other than Mr Hampson and his laptop. TheComae CD, released by Rhiz, displays similar sound organisation tricksto the Main "Firmament" series, but the focus has shifted from guitarsas sound sources to environmental recordings. Mostly these are mergedinto an organic whole where the origins of the sounds are completelyrecontextualised, but occasionally familiar sounds such as rainfall orcrows cawing are hazily apparent. Comae accentuate the electronmicroscope feel of later Main recordings, taking found sound to alienenvironments. After sudden crackle eruptiung from silence, 'Dichroic'descends into revolving worlds within worlds where sound particlesblink in and out of existance over vast cavernous shifts of densedrone-loop. Often there's a deep slow bass pulse as higher pitchedsounds drop in and out and often attain a climactic resolution.Dynamics and relative volumes are broad and the stereo sound field isutilised effectively. The eight tracks merge into one another forming aseamless whole; 'Induration' cuts dead on a deep surging tide of soundas 'Trine' sets off a ringing backdrop for shards of spikey ethernoiseto float on and rapidly sink into without a trace. The first part of'Mere' seems to be the track in which both Robert and Janek let slipwhat they're best known for. It has a classic Main textured loop overwhich vinyl grooves crackle. Then it cuts abruptly with a rapid wave ofnoise and a more abstract second half follows. For a while it sounds asif they've caught a bee in a jar and the entrapped insect keeps rammingthe glass in futile escape attempts, but at the same time an amplifiedclose up of buzz from right under the bees wing echoes. 'Courou' buildsup into a fairly dense track which occupies similar terrain to JanekSchaefer's Fat Cat album "Above Buildings". 'Verglas' opens with somestarry high pitched brain tickles out of which an ever evolving droneemerges, and a strange machine rumbles. This is perhaps the most mindaltering track as the windy drones are subtley rotated from speaker tospeaker. 'Pavane' is haunting and windswept, a distant mutant pianoechoing hesitantly through memory fog as massive iron doors slam. Allis reduced to a dirty brown sludge before a resounding multi-huedclimax rises from the murk, like a slow motion film of a castlecollapsing in reverse. Comae was one of my ten favourite CD's of 2001,and the minute-long samples below really can't begin to do it justice -it has to be heard as a continuous hour long soundscape. - 

samples:

• Courou
• Pavane
• Trine

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13 January 2002

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Bless Ba-Da-Ben Goldberg's sweet heart for keeping the magic going... Publishing a +200 page book with a various artist compilation CD doesn't happen easily, overnight, nor is it probably financially rewarding. Thankfully he's got the support of a number of great writers and wonderful musicians which I'm sure make the realization of the project worth it. The writings in the fifth book (I can't call these magazine issues), as Ben describes, is lacking a thematic tie. The music, however (recorded especially for the compilation) is somewhat of a tribute to Raymond Scott's classic, 'Soothing Sounds for Baby' LP without doing any cover versions or reinterpretations of the original.

This volume's decidedly more electronic cast than volume 4 includes Cex, Solex, Flowchart, Marumari, Bogdan Raczynski and Arovane alonside a number of others I can't say I'm familiar with, but afterwards am surely interested in. The music and the book work well together, as the soothing, electronic melodies have allowed for some quality "me time" with the book without being obtrusive. [Anybody who has fallen in love with the prettiness of Mum — and I know there are a ton — shouldn't avoid this package.] The book entries are relatively short and entertaining, ranging from a short play, a profile on Boston's best record store Twisted Village, features on upcoming indie rock stars I've never heard of, Raymond Scott, Franklin Bruno and Drew Daniel discussing dissertations, and a ton of music reviews more brief than we've ever been here on The Brain. All this for under $8 even! Mahvelous. This would have been the perfect Christmas gift to a music-loving loved one. -

samples:

• Flowchart - The Goo Goo in U
• Marumari - Indigo Florist
• Cex - And Now the Babies Are Playing Mozart For Their Parents
• Alea - Lullaby

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