Record Reviews
Published In Repellent
By Shel Kimen
Title: Plea For Peace: Take Action, Volume Two
Artist: Various Artists
Label: Asian Man Records and Sub City Records
Plea for peace is a double CD compiled by Mike Park of Skankin' Pickle and Asian Man Records, representing the best and worst of pop punk. The project is a joint effort of Asian Man Records and Sub City Records to raise awareness about suicide and depression. Quothe the liner notes; "Every 17 minutes at least six Americans lose a loved one to suicide... more than 30,000 people each year." We all know how important music is to helping us cope with the myriad of fucked up things in the world, and this project takes that sentiment to a new level.
CD 1 is the weaker link, but not without merit. The first track, "911 For Peace" by veteran rockers anti-flag is outstanding. Anti-flag has been a band with half its original line-up since 1988. Never underestimate the power of experience -- experience playing together, touring together, and most importantly, writing songs together. This track, created especially for the compilation, demonstrates that experience -- in both style and production value. It's tight. Other notable tracks from the first disc include "Long Shot" from common rider, fronted by Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy with Mass Giorgini of Screeching Weasel, The Queers, and Teen Idols. "Stepping Outside The Circle" from Shadows Fall is also worthy. Unfortunately, good cause aside, I can't get too behind too much of the rest of the disc which reeks of anthem emo rock the radio, and MTV, loves.
The second CD should be the first. It's broader in style and just damn good. It ranges from Mike Parks folksy guitar and smart lyrics on "Give Up Everything" to perfect punk pop fronted by the only female vocalist on the compilation, Agent M of Tsunami Bomb. Incidentally, the tsunami bomb track is worth your entire purchase. "All The Boys" from The Plus Ones is another tight track -- as it should be with bassist Joel reader from the Mister T Experience and Louis Illades from Pansy Division. The Amazing Transparent Man (ATM) represents well with "The Ocean Is A Fuck Of A Long Way To Swim," not surprisingly another Mass Giorgini project. (This comp is riddled with punk rock superstars). Kind of surprising is the nearly post rock tune "The Start To This May Be An End To Another" by Moneen. It sounds entirely like Built To Spill clobbered southern Illinois heroes Hum in a moderately lit indie dive bar. It's really good.
Incidentally, don't play this CD on your computer or you'll get the annoying "Intro Data Track," likely to send the whole thing toppling. Nice intention, but super annoying.
All in all the compilation is worth getting if you like poppy punk. Over half of it is great and the other half is excused for the good cause. Proceeds from this record go to the Kristin Brooks Hope Center, a suicide prevention and outreach program. Figure you'll hear a lot of early 90's East Bay pop and for obvious reasons Screeching Weasel. It makes me wonder; whatever happened to Johnny Jughead?
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Title: This Is Unity Music
Artist: Common Rider
Label: Hopeless Records
Common Rider is Jesse Michaels from Operation Ivy, Dan Lumely from Squirtgun, and Mass Giorgini from some the greatest pop punk bands ever -- Screeching Weasel, Green Day, The Queers, and Teen Idols; that alone seethes credibility. Also, only two songs are over three minutes long, an important aspect for the integrity of any punk album.
I like it..
The first track, "Firewall," is interesting. It's got some weird melodic ska/swing/rockabilly twist going on without being any of those things. It's a new sound, and refreshing as compared to most of what's coming out of this very old scene. Another strong track, "Small Pebble," will be familiar to any of the Op Ivy fans, particularly for its lyrics -- political, emotional, and entirely about doing the right thing. As the album moves on a subtle pattern emerges: These guys have been listening to a lot of music from the 60's. "Long After The Lights Out," another odd clash of styles, harbors back to vocals a la The Yardbirds and "Time Won't Take Away" reeks blissfully of The Kinks.
In general, the album is consistently up and solid.
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Title: Do You Know Squarepusher
Artist: Sqaurepusher
Label: Warp Records
Lots of people need to buy this record, and probably will, for many reasons. First, Squarepusher is all famous and Warp Records is huge, so it's guarenteed to be everywhere and everyone will dote on it. Second, musically, it's exceptionally strong and borderline broad, has incredible flow, and offers an inspired live-recorded set from Japan. Third it's got an important political message about the commodification of music that many buyers will miss because of reason one: Squarepusher is famous and Warp Records is huge; a lot of people in pursuit of hip won't read the liner notes or study the composition. That's too bad. The manifesto-like essay could be interpreted as woe-is-me whining about life in the spotlight masked as situationist-inspired intellectualism, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt for very strong ideas worth reading.
It's a 2 CD set beginning with predictable rhythm and counter rhythm; it's careful and strategic. It's also got interesting threads of soul, elements of Tommy Boy style electro, and a poppy melody that isn't necessarily "happy." Actually, a lot of this record is abysmally dark and eerie, most likely a link to the political message. Expect Heavy. The second track, F-Train, feels something like walking underground in a castle where lots of people were killed - even though we're guessing it has something to do with New York. Mutilation Colony follows this same pensive trip. It's long, 10 minutes long, and excellently composed to tell a story that Eno and Jarre might want to tell but never quite did, as this same track wanders through noise and signal experiments and surprise almost beats with hints of Coil and Test Department everywhere. For nice contrast in the middle of the record he tends to listeners expectations with "Anstromm-Feck," clashing ghetto tech with video games and some blinky blasty Squarepusher drills.
Perplexing, and at first irritating, is the cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," which should never be covered -- partly because it's sacred and partly because it's nowhere near Joy Division's best. So why is it there? An easy, timely target is "24 Hour Party People," the historical fiction film about the Factory Records scene with some nice Ian Curtis suicide drama. Add to that the brand new box set on the shelves of 'The Complete Joy Division.' Maybe this is further comment on the commodification of music. And maybe it's a joke. However, it really feels like an honest tribute, to represent the musical styling of one of many, and a further attempt to un-pigeon-hole himself (a reference to musical ghettos he describes in the manifesto). Suffice to say, it's brilliant. And by the way, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," isn't a bad cover, though it is the weakest musical link - probably because it wasn't a very good song to begin with.
The live CD is complete passion with mixed up versions off the first CD and more creepy castle sounds. It feels good. It feels inspired. Turn down the lights and listen close.
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Title: Clicks & Cuts Vol. 3
Artist: Various
Label: Mille Plateux
I was a little disappointed when I got Mille Plateux's Clicks and Cuts Vol. 3 in the mail to review. I'm not sure why I was disappointed. Mille Plateux and its parent Force Inc. are in my top ten of labels, and have been for years. I liked Clicks and Cuts 2.
But something strange has happened in the world of minimal electronic and laptop music, or I should say, something strange has happened with me. It seems I've fallen out of love. I used o spend hours in record stores looking for the right bleeps, the perfect scritchy scratch, and that god awful high pitch screech that fades into a dubby blur.
But times have changed.
My boss at the record store calls it doctors office dribble, cocktail hour, or most insulting, car commercial music. Most times I'm inclined to agree. Instead of thoughtful, or dare I say intelligent, bobbles and quirps, I'd rather hear raw acid, terrifying sub bass, or the poppy throws of Metro Area's disco house.
That said, Clicks and Cuts 3 surprised me. A lot. It's fantastic. In retrospect I'm not sure why I should be surprised... Mille Plateux is almost always one step ahead and yet again proves it. The little promo piece that comes with the CD talks about excess and micro improvements to a genre at an accelerated rate, making it difficult to gage the change and innovation, or as they say, fill the space. They are filling it.
Clicks and Cuts 3 is sophisticated, deep, and most importantly full, even at its most minimal. It gets soulful with MRI's "Painkiller" and Luomo's "Melt" (though I prefer Painkiller's less obvious references), and at times deliriously raw and poppy as in Dat Politics "Bubble Queen." Frank Bretschneider does service to the electro-clutter travesty that's swarmed the world with a thoughtful breakdown with strategic nods to acid, funk, and the darker sides of a Berlin house party. It's traditional tracks (if you can call glitch traditional) are also worthy of attention, particularly "Nine Blind Men" by Donnacha Costello & David Donahoe.
"Box" by Rechenzentrum, is outstanding and kick starts the compilations more experimental side. The last three tracks on disc two are all varying degrees of wonderful, with more attention towards composition than sounds and beats and dubby breaks. This is where you'll find your long walks on ambient surf amidst strategic differential cuts, nice tones, and nice whispers.
Times have indeed changed. Hopefully all those newly budded, eager beaver laptop composers will get a chance to listen to this, to hear what craft and practice (and lots of analog gear and studio time) can do.
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Artist: Donna Summer
Title: To All Methods Which Calculate Power
Label: Omeko
Perched on the rim of a tin can. I can see the bottom, though it's far fall past silver ribbed walls, to the floor of a warehouse party, with decorated children and raspy subs. They worked hard to get here. They worked hard to buy a sound system. They quibble at the cover charge and depending on who's working the door they may get in free.
Free.
Free to tell jokes, wander eerie soundscapes, dance like a happy raver, or space to a techno take on Hawkwind, as track 11 does on To All Methods Which Calculate Power, the latest release from Donna Summer.
If you don't know him yet, Donna Summer, a.k.a. Jason Foray, is a flagrant abuser of copywrite and antagonist of sanctioned styles. His music is chaotic, comedic, noisy, boisterous, and oddly nostalgic reworking samples from classic and progressive rock, hip-hop, disco, easy listening, and so on. He's a punk, in the most noble sense of the word.
The CD is riddled with novelty gestures, some which work better than others, and he certainly holds his own in the over-publicized "mash-up" community. But once the joke settles, which it does, an evolving, personal, style emerges. This is particularly evident on Warus Variations and WASP. Warus Variations twists careful polyrythms with warehouse party baselines, and a strategic use of both ambient and noisy breaks. It's danceable and smart. WASP reminds me of that tin can I mentioned earlier. It's dark with careful textures, and feels something like hearing a party through a maze of concrete walls. You know it's there, somewhere, but the distractions of space and conversation
interfere with the source. It's far away and thoughtful, leading into "Hawkwind (Reprise)" easily the strongest track on the CD, and also why you paid to get in.
If you like V/VM, Doormouse, Happy Hardcore, Kid 606, and classic rock, you'll be more than satisfied.
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Artist: Signer
Title: Low Light Dreams
Label: Carpark Records
As a DJ there are records you buy because you will play (with other records) and records you buy because you want to listen to them, straight through, because of the merits of their individual songs and how they play out in a larger theme or concept. Low light dreams, released by Carpark in August of 2000, is a record I would buy because of the former reason. It's nice enough, pretty enough, and has elements, particularly some of the ambient tracks, that I would find useful. I would call this record, I should say double record, a tool, and a fine tool.
But as a piece of work to sit home and listen to I'm not so sure about. It seems a little confused about what it wants to say, what style it wants to be, and though we could argue endlessly about the merits of postmodern notions of eclectic, non-linear constructions, the fact is I like a good story, with a beginning and ending, and a narrator that understands and capitalizes on a consistent voice. At times this record spits out uninspired dubby minimal techno, with simple rhythms and typically abused reverb, and at others we're left gazing on a receding tide, thoughtfully. I'm not convinced these chapters go so well together.
It starts serious, with washing, pulsing, swishing and swooshing electronic textures -- textures that too many artists, too often, begin their records with. I have at least a dozen versions of this particular soundscape, which is useful only because they all sound nice together, layered and sculpted, on top of each other. Low Light Dreams offers a few other ambient tracks I could see myself "using," and gladly, but few I'd curl up in front of the fire with.
That said, I can't seem to stop listening to, "Our Home," the first track on side D, and one certainly capable of standing on its own. What begins as pensive and melancholy, both attributes I like, transforms to an almost tangible, uplifting sense of hope, without turning sappy or contrived. The beats seem a little more complicated, thus interesting, and the song in general has a certain fullness that is really pleasant to hear over and over again. It's been on my turntable at home for a few weeks. The following track, "Night Is Blurred" is also strong, though not particularly original. It's a fair enough ambient piece with dark, soft, bass drums, contrasting highs, and dubby undertones (read: plenty of reverb), but nothing new, or dare I say, exciting.
I suppose if we were rating things with five gold stars, I'd give signer three as a record and four as a tool. What it lacks in originality it easily makes up for in compatibility (with all your other ambient records). This is not a dig, it's a strong recommendation, for a DJ. I'm sure I'll play it a lot.
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Artist: Club le Bomb
Title: Club le Bomb
Label: Erkrankung Durch Musique Records
And
Artist: Vostek
Title: Airplanes
Label: Erkrankung Durch Musique Records
On May 21, 1984, sporting an asymmetrical haircut and fluorescent green button down shirt that hung at my knees, I danced the mad mod shake at a Thompson Twins/Berlin concert in Chicago -- Berlin, the band most famous for 'Sex I'm a" and "Metro." That same year I also saw Howard Jones, New Order, Love and Rockets, and Depeche Mode. This is why I'm qualified to write about electro-clash and new wave music. It's been in my blood for nearly 20 years.
After Fischerspooner broke in 1999, the mad dash to electro-clash reminded the fashion world they had a purpose as it did Luxx, an aspiring, over designed, club/lounge in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Williamsburg was later renamed (among the in-set) as Berlinisburg -- with all it's music more or less an inbred cousin of the original Berlin (the band, not the city. It's confusing, I know.) But boy oh boy did the people come, in droves and droves, to hear and dance and play, with their mullets and mohawks, and hi-fi-lo-fi yada yada. Not surprisingly, the record labels, magazines, and hair gel companies of the world united to serve this growing niche of over-liberally-educated, trend-gobbling, fashionistas.
Predictably, all of this reflected badly on the music, which was good in 1984 and good now -- well, sometimes. I was nervous about reviewing these two EPs from Erkrankung Durch Musique Records -- one from Club le Bomb and one from Vostek -- as 90% of what could be called electro-clash is crap made by people who want to be cool over work on music. However, listening to these new CDs wasn't entirely disappointing.
Comparing the two, I'm partial to the Club le Bomb. First because it has 4 unique songs, whereas Vostek's Airplanes consists of three versions of a song I'm not sure is very good to begin with. It's candy, without the playfulness and irony of music that, from the beginning, evolved as a reaction to fashion, not vice versa. The rhythms are uninspired and dull. It makes me neither groove, nor think.
Club Le Bomb, on the other hand, plays with the plasticity of the movement and in good sonic form. Track three, "Out Of Europe," takes worthy jabs at the Berlin-New York connection, dealing blows to those who work hard to build a creative movement and then sell it out to the United States for Gap Ads and profit. Beyond it's political message, it's catchy, with strong, soulful, female vocals, and exceptionally well produced. It's driving and very danceable. I wish I had it on vinyl.
Track two, "End of the World," also takes on serious, complex, political issues, in this case, world destruction, using over-simplified, broken English lyrics with a male voice of unknown origin. The zips and pops, waving synthesizers, bizzy buzzing, and discordant melodies (with serious nods to the "A Broken Frame" album from Depeche Mode) all work well together. It manages to avoid being cheeky.
Keep an eye out for Club le bomb. They're on to something, beyond a bandwagon.
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Artist: Sole
Title: Selling Live Water
Label: Mush
Hip-hop is a loaded genre. It's loaded with civil unrest, racial and gender politics, and for the last few years it's also struggled under the pressures of capitalism to commodify it's many subversive messages. There are lots of debates to be had which ultimately have little to do with hip hop itself and are more a reflection of mass culture and social disorder. This is why reviewing Sole's latest release, "Selling Live water" is somewhat daunting. Sole is an insightful, white MC (race is important to some in evaluating validity), in an independent hip-hop movement that's been growing parallel on the east and west coasts for three or four years now (with a suitable rivalry, of course). Accordingly his stories are complex, and the musical influences that thread his crew, Anticon, based in California's Bay Area, are diverse, and at times, overwhelming.
His stories are about the movement itself, social politics, psychological dilemmas, the neighborhood, love and friends. Essentially it's a broad interpretation of his life, inspiration, and fear, which is a lot to cover in 15 songs. He sets up the story rationalizing his whiteness, telling us the only reason he's writing rhymes is because he's "not smart enough to write a book." I'm all for honesty, but don't much go for self-deprecation as a tool to win over an audience. Fundamentally the premise is flawed. If you aren't smart enough, why should I care what you have to say?
Fortunately, though, while the subject is too large, and he mocks his own abilities, he does in fact have a lot of worthwhile things to say, with incredible style. It's got all the flow, fast slow pace, of solid rhythmic tension, with a good balance of full and minimal expression. His choice of words and talent in using them is worthy of respect. He's also aware of deep social issues. "Shoot The Messenger" talks about the influence stories have on peoples live even though they may be personal explorations of the artist. His concern is that people interpret as advice or guidance any and all words that come through a microphone. It's about culture consumption without responsibility -- a very real issue for musicians with lyrics of any genre. Marilyn Manson and Metallica cause kids to kill themselves and others, and Elvis made people want to have sex -- absurd accusations. Other tracks are about his own hurt feelings and frustrations, family breakdown, drug abuse, public school, and politics.
Likewise, the music is all over -- blending traditional hip hop breaks with rock, electronic, and rabid experimentation with tape loops, abstract samples, and white noise. He uses all the parts well, but each of the styles could merit its own hour of exploration. It's a not so subtle communication that the issues within hip hop are broader than what society attributes to hip-hop (black) culture, raising the assumption that black culture is falsely narrow by mainstream understanding. It's a heavy record. It's dark. And it's provoking.
He may not have been shot in the face nine times or write the catchy tunes people sing to themselves on the subway, but it seems like that's the point. Communicating complex issues is a complex process and Selling live Water is a noble attempt that is beautiful on many levels. Moody. Emotional. Honest. Aware.
Still, I hope for the next record he picks a smaller subject, treating it like a chapter instead of attempting an epic meaning-of-life summary. There's so much going on in Selling Live Water, lyrically and sonically, that little gets the attention it deserves. And it should, because it's all very good.
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Artist: Dinky
Title: Black Cabaret
Label: Carpark
Hmm. The first time I heard this record I hated it. Too much nostalgia for not just old synthesizers, but old melodramatic melodies. It felt like the dozens of angsty mix tapes I made for my boyfriends in the early 80's.
But if at first you don't succeed... blah blah blah. I tried again. And sadly it wasn't much better the second time around. It's laden with all sorts of sonic legacy from the likes of The Sugarcubes, Book Of Love and the Fixx, and the pace from beginning to end seems stuck, like walking on a treadmill. Even so, the production value is certainly high -- it's crisp, clean, and probably sounds great in a big dark after-hours club. It's suitably slow and has some soulful cabaret vibe, as the title suggests.
I've become particularly fond of one track, "Thatthinggoin" which endlessly repeats incomprehensible lryics and "Ooooh aahh oooh oooh. It's got a nice rhythmic treatment of the vocal loops and never gets tired -- a long track that could be even longer. What does get tired is that the same treatment of the vocals on Thatthinggoing, done so well, is unfortunately used on nearly every other track -- the reverb, the slicing and rearranging of words, the fade from phrase to abstract vocal sound -- which takes away from its potential magic. Black Cabaret has its moments but mostly it's too much of the same. If you aren't paying attention the whole record could go by without noticing, which doesn't make it bad, just not exciting.
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Title: Modern
Artist: Ogurusu Norihide
Label: Carpark
I'm a sucker for pianos and acoustic guitars, slow melodies, and wandering melancholia. This record has it all, and some adorable little clicky beats on occasion. It has elements of 60's folk, and Susumu Yakota's piano compositions on the leaf label (Grinning Cat, Sakura, Magic Thread).
At times the record feels naïve in its simplicity, more could be happening to fill in the spaces (minimal doesn't have to mean barren). But at other times the tension of sound to silence seems perfect. There also seems to be something off in the production of the low end sounds, particularly on the guitar, it's slightly muddy. But likewise, other tracks are crisp and clear and especially nice on headphones.
A few tracks pick up the pace, and I especially like the last piece, checking in at a mere minute and four seconds, which is too bad because it could build more, for longer, and it's hard to imagine it not working. This is a nice ambient record that's very worth listening to.
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Artist: Curse ov Dialect
Title: Lost In The Real Sky
Label: Mush Records
http://www.dirtyloop.com/CurseovDialect.html
http://www.curseovdialect.com/
I heard a great hip-hop record last week. Two days later it arrived in the mail to review. Lucky me! Enter Curse ov Dialect, a five-member team from Melbourne, Australia featuring Raceless, Vulk Makedonski, Aturungi, August the 2nd and DJ Paso Bionic.
Most reviewers of this album point to quality production and 'multi-cultural' influences. It's been described as 'feel good' and 'like watching four different movies at once.' This is all true. What I'd like to add is that the lyrics are sharp, the composition is exceptional, and the rhythm of the album as a whole is like a well written book - full of interesting dialog, sparks of dramatic intrigue, and moments of pensive reflection. It's experimental beats, samples, and sounds are typical of Mush's output (Jel, Aesop Rock, Busdriver, Daedelus, and Radioinactive to name a few), as are the intelligent and political lyrics.
"Don't go writin' in your schoolbook sonny, we want you to play football, don't be writin' in your school book sonny, don't go writin at all, we want you to play foot ball sonny, we want you to kick the ball, so don't go writin in your school book sonny, or you'll be the next to fall."
But there is something else here, something different. Curse ov Dialect is fast with a rich combination of contrast, harmony, and style. It's this combination that sets them apart. Musical influences stem from roots reggae and dancehall, Philly soul, drum and bass breaks, and even some British folk and prog rock, as well as traditional hip hop beats (if one could say there is 'traditional' hip hop). But they aren't just influenced, they are inventive and creative and at times find a new sound, a sound that will surely influence others. Likewise, lyrically they are diverse, moving from sing-song-y chorals to ultra tight MC free-for-alls, a difficult feat they seem to glide through effortlessly.
"Family Assorted," my favorite cut on the record, is borderline epic. At 9 minutes 12 seconds it's a non-stop party track, featuring 19 MCs including four females, Lioness, Beatrix, Kali, and Little G. (Rare, word to lady MCs!) It also has sound bytes from the Middle East and "The History of Psychedelic Folk from the UK." (Raceless told me he thought it was the Trees). The track highlights their diversity of style and influence in an extraordinary and powerful way and is easily worth the full price of the record.
"Lost In The Sky" is a keeper, and maybe even a must have, for any underground hip-hop fan -- east and west coast alike. And honestly I find their message to be "all coast" as Curse ov Dialect does a good job of rising above the many socially constructed barriers that divide us. One love.
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Artist: Christof Kurzmann
Title: The Air Between
Label: Charhizma
www.charhizma.com
Concept electronics. The Charizma website says "Fuck Dance, Let's Art." I'm going to try not to focus and the absurdity of such a false dichotomy, but it's difficult to not approach this record from a cynical and pessimistic perspective, considering that's where it begins -- Cynicism and pessimism. At least that's where the label is coming from. To its credit the label boasts a well-rounded and interesting bunch of artists, including Bernard Fleischmann, Marina Rosenfeld, and Otomo Yoshide.
Christof Kurzmann himself is interesting -- in the right context. Part of the context is sitting in your very very quiet room and spacing out to sporadic panning clicks amidst a warbling bass sine wave. It's probably suited best for the suburbs or a very high city apartment as I could barely hear the first half of this record with my window open. The breeze is louder.
The composition is a 46+ minute piece and with my headphones on I can hear it, and parts of it I even like. Sometimes the clicks evolve into complex rhythms and the warbles take on an almost melodic tone. At times it resembles minimal techno with a rusting metallic feel. But it's important not to evaluate this record in those terms because its intention is very different.
The story goes that Christof set out to make this piece for a festival themed "Deep Tone." He intended to follow usual structures for melody and rhythm, but had the misfortune of starting it the day the US army invaded Iraq. Being a political sort, he was angry and sad about the general state of the world and the following composition emerged.
"Thus, this album has become an account that documents the surrender of my musical and creative self to my social self, a document of mourning and sadness. Rather than being the result of my wishes, the air between is a reflection of my mood of resignation. It's a picture of the first days of war, when the air raids were still rare yet nonetheless vehement and disastrous. It's a portrayal of the air between - between the attacks, between hope and despair, between waiting and surrender." (A Note from Christof about the piece).
When I think about this while listening (in my headphones) I hear it clearly. I hear the thumping feet of a military power and I hear lost hope. The rhythmic bass is captivating and hypnotic even. The contrast of the silence is provoking. About midway through he starts in with a whirling hiss that could easily be planes flying and there is no mistaking the distant echo of bombs falling. At about 24 minutes I can imagine flying the plane myself, or traveling under sea. My ears want to pop, but they won't. It's frustrating, and I'm sure he's trying to communicate this feeling. Around 28 minutes I can take off the headphones and open the windows. It's louder than the breeze. More panning. More filters. More warble. Then it drops off almost symmetrically through the chain of bombs, airplanes and clicks. In a way I wish it weren't so literal, but he has a story to tell and he does it well.
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Artist: dafeldecker/kurzmann meet drumm/eRikm/dieb13/noetinger
Title: "S/T"
Label: Charhizma
www.charhizma.com
Though I'm still sore about the "Fuck Dance, Let's Art" on the Charhizma website (see Kurzmann review), there is no doubting the quality of this record. Werner Dafeldecker (on electronics and bass) and Christof Kurzmann (on g3 and electronics) worked with Kevin Drumm, eRikm, dieb13, and Jerome Noetinger to put together an outstanding piece of work.
It starts off strong with Kevin Drumm on guitar and eRikm on electronics, titled "Berlin 1." The piece is 20 minutes long, complex, and interesting all the way through. I can't listen without visions of dim halls, evil shadows, sneaking footsteps, and an early peak with a violent shoot out. What follows is a gorgeous, and quite creepy, ambient piece that pulses and throbs under a beautiful continual higher pitched noise stretch. Mmmm.
I'm also pretty fond of "Wien 1," by Kevin Drumm and dieb13. It's subtle and thoughtful and kind of coy in the best way possible. I just wish it weren't so short, but I suppose that's how flirts are. Scritchy scratchy clicky, not glitchy, and microtonal. Overall the mood is dark and the album as a whole has a nice range of minimal to complex, light to heavy, stark to full. I'd highly recommend that experimental electronic types pick this up.
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Artist: KPTMICHIGAN
Title: Player, Player
Label: Aesthetics
http://www.aesthetics-usa.com/
A neat record full of surprises. I like that! Kptmichigan (a.k.a Michael Beckett), from Germany (go figure), has an interesting take on experimental electronics. He makes almost pop like house-y and techno-ish beats with weirdo minimal noises.
It starts off sounding like the more ambient tracks on Kid 606's "PS I love you", full of textured and oscillating tones. But it very quickly picks up, clicking and popping it's way through a minimal techno track with chopped bits of organ synths. The third track "fon" is sort of almost kind of like house, with lots of in-the-red peaking melodies and buzzing popples. There is lots and lots of buzzing. In fact the whole first half of the record is pretty buzzy, and just when you get sick of it, he switches to a super clear, less choppy, less noisy melodic walk. "Knattern" is probably the most straightforward track (and still quite experimental) and would easily work into a dance set while "derber papa" would excite the Kevin Drumm and Boyd Rice fans.
Unfortunately the last song, "Hey Brother" is just plain disturbing. Not disturbing in the provocative challenging way, rather its hokey and frustrating and somehow wrong considering the rest this album accomplishes. It's yet another manifestation of the folk guitar + sweet electronic noises combined with annoying sentimental lyrics that seems to be pouring out of Berlin right now. I'm sure it comes from being tired of "mechanical electronics" and I'm sure it will eventually turn into a profound and wonderful musical evolution, but right now all of it, this and everyone else (except a few of the bright kids on Staubgold) are regurgitating mediocre baby junk. Ewww. It's cute and dainty, slight melancholia, and makes me think of san Francisco flowers and effervescent bubbles at a time when such trite hopeful delusion is more harmful than helpful. I'll save the rest of the rant for a political piece; I just wish Kptmichigan didn't jump on the bandwagon. Oh well. It's still a really good record.
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Artist: Vyter
Title: The Great Rubber Audio
Label: Stiffeels Music
www.g25productions.com
"Mix all ingredients together in a small container and whisk thoroughly. Slowly add cognitive dissonance, cold winters, heart break, and a lack of personal finances until mixture is smooth and clump free." The ingredients include a human male, 3 synthesizers, 2 guitars, one bass, one large sampler, one hot red computer (apple), a day job, and a few other odds and ends.
The above information, every drop of it, I've taken from the g25 productions website, the outfit that hosts Vyter. While I'm not sure I hear the cold winters and heartbreak, I do here some great experimental electro breaks. I mean really great. Slightly quirky. Somewhat playful. And definitely interesting. I'm practically in love with the first and last two minutes of "out clean." The middle is a little ironic and annoying, but it's only ten seconds and probably okay in the right context. "Heston" is a nice experimental ambient track, warm and swirling in a cosmic space sort of way. And the first few measures of "Reading" are almost certainly the work of someone who listened to Jarre's "Equinox" on repeat. "Poolside" is also good fun. Dark chunky minimal bass and a little house thing going on in the background. Sometimes the Casio tone noises get to me, but in general I think this record is worth picking up.
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Artist: Blanketship
Title: Threeps
Label: G25 productions
www.g25productions.com
Blanketship is a quirky and also thoughtful producer of sweet, and also eerie, electronica that edges towards "exotica." There's a lot happening on this record and it's a little difficult to listen to all the way through. It's not bad, rather intense, and will sit better with some (like me) over others (who want to be coddled with daisy-pop).
There are plenty of nods to Bruce Haack, Raymond Scott and other 70's synth pranksters. I even detect a little Manheim Steamroller in there. But there's also a serious side -- Tonto's Exploding Head Band, Jean-Michele Jarre, Klaus Schulze. The songs have plenty of peppy IDM beats that bother me, but thankfully I think they bother Blanketship too, because they never last very long. He uses a lot of samples, many of which are dark dark dark a la nurse with wound and I detect some sinister aphex-twin-inspired melodies as well. Expect warm glowing chords. Peaking noise clips. Chunky bass-y beats. Time-stretched samples. Crying violins. Waling African singers. Asian whistles. Video game hallways. Creepy corridors. And smooth jazz of all things ("Sweetness" is something else). I can't imagine what it's like to organize this cat's sound library.
I'm attached to this record. It's exceptionally good at using play to communicate something very intricate and heavy (though I don't know what just yet), and he's obviously very schooled in electronic music history -- a big bonus in my book. I am yet to outgrow the 70's esoteric, oft-corny, sometimes beautiful, and absolutely geeky enthusiasm for electronic music. Blanketship is cool.
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Artist: B. Fleischmann
Title: Welcome Tourist
Label: Morr Music/Charizma
www.morrmusic.com
www.charizma.com
Double CD
It's a little edgy for Morr Music and a little soft for Charizma. It's a strong release for both. It's good. Disc one starts with an exceptional track, emotional but not cheesy, melancholy, but not distraught, micro buzz, some soft brush strokes, a sweet subtle beat, and a gorgeous melody. Track two, also strong, "Guided By Beats" brings in a pitch-shifting acoustic guitar with slow minimal melody and mid-tempo beats. The rest of disc one is a wash, a nice wash, of fuzzy guitars panning in and out blurring into fine mid-tempo rhythms. At times it's a bit jazzy for my taste, circa Chicago 1993 (Sea and Cake, Tortoise, etc). Even so, it's really well done.
The second disc is a single piece, slightly more experimental, and Christof Kurzmann and Martin Siewert get credits alongside Fleishmann for mixing it (hence the noisy interludes, radio tuning samples, and long periods of atmospheric buzz). So good! (My favorite part!) As on the first disc, there are jazzy elements I'd rather not hear, but they work with the whole and I recognize many people like moody saxophones. The pianos however, the pianos are beautiful. There are some brilliant moments for this record. It's very worth hearing.
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Artist: Deadbeat Vs. Stephen Beaupre
Title: It's a Crackhaus Thing
Label: Onitor (Distributed by Kompakt)
www.onitor.de
CD
Deadbeat's "Wild Life Documentaries" (Scape, 2002) is a classic dubby minimal techno record I'd hoped to hear more of in this new release on Onitor. To be fair it's a joint project, on a clickhouse label, distributed through Kompakt, so I really had no reason to expect a Scape sound. Oh well. It's still a fine record, more in the vain of Mathew Dear and Perlon than King Tubby.
The disc is split between tracks the artists with some collaborations. It's solid with rolling beats and appropriate clickity clack, a few novel samples -- female blues vocals, a cut up harmonica, jazzy bass, giggling girls, diva vocals, and sliced up house organs. There's a little dub near the end. It's a solid minimal house record with some nice twists.
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Artist: Dr. Wundt & Lone Star
Title: Makeout Bandit
Label: Dealin Records
www.dealinrecords.com
CDR
Psychedelic Limbo. Whistling birds? Reverb vocals in a haunting hall, kind of funny, kind of terrifying. The intro's are truly bizarre and the CD is wack, in the most very best way possible. Lo-Fi peaches? Warbled Fischer Spooner? Ragga Booty Bass? Unhappy Hardcore? I happen to know Dr. Wundt long ago released a 12" titled "Evil Teletubbies" so there's no reason to expect anything less than perverse from him. It's a great party record, silly, stupid, and wonderful. The booty bass influences are significantly better handled than the electroclash side, so hopefully we'll see more of that great bass in the future.