Having both inspired and surfed the murky wave of the electroclashmovement (as well as breaking acts like Zombie Nation, Fischerspooner,and Tiga & Zyntherius along the way) International Deejay Gigoloslabel head DJ Hell claims to be looking towards the future. That beingsaid, Electronicbody-Housemusiccertainly seems to be mired down in the same old retro mold that madeDJ Hell famous in the first place. Disc one of this two CD set offersselections that teeter between electropop and tech-house, opening withquality material from heroes Underground Resistance and Metro Area.From here, however, the boredom sets in. Though there are a few momentswhere you think things might very well pick up again (in particular,Playgroup's cover of the Depeche Mode classic "Behind The Wheel"), thebulk of this disc reeks of the monotone trash that has turned thisretro trend from a nice idea to a gaping void of talentless snobs andposturing fashionistas. For every enjoyable and catchy electroclashtrack, there are at least a hundred pretentious and awful ones. Here,DJ Hell has opted to pick from the latter batch. While the first CDultimately failed to move me, the second disc nearly sent me into ablind fury. Here is a playlist of popular EBM tracks from the 80'srepackaged alongside a bizarre selection of techno and somewhat darkelectroclash cuts. Now how is it that DJ Hell, who resides in a countrywhere industrial music charts on the DAC, could be so completelyignorant of the music from this past decade of the genre? Is it thathe's trying to be nostalgic of his younger years? Even the two NitzerEbb tracks here were remixed recently ("Control I'm Here" by The Hackerand "Join In The Chant" by Thomas Heckmann) and he chooses not to evengive those a try here. Being an industrial DJ myself, it is my strongfeeling that he has absolutely no excuse for throwing together thissloppy "greatest hits" type collection with mediocre mixing (Traktor,anyone?) and expect to receive any respect from those who have beenmoving with the genre and its many splinters over the years. In anycase, retro-loving scenesters and trend vampires will adore hearingsuch tracks as Jay Harker's dismal cover of the gothic classic "BelaLugosi's Dead" while probably skipping through the pioneering "LoveCuts" by the woefully underrated Chris And Cosey. Can't everyone justgo back to listening to crappy rock bands and Austrian interpretationsof soul? - Chris and Cosey - Love Cuts
- Jay Harker - Bela Lugosi's Dead
- Metro Area - Miura
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