Albums and Singles

02 January 2000

Mark Weddle

Albums and Singles

Fehlmann is an electronicmusician with 20 years experience as a member of Palais Schaumburg andthe Orb, producer/mixer for Sun Electric, and as a solo artist andre-mixer.

Fehlmann is an electronicmusician with 20 years experience as a member of Palais Schaumburg andthe Orb, producer/mixer for Sun Electric, and as a solo artist andre-mixer. Last year's "Good Fridge. Flowing", also on Apollo / R + SRecords, collected 20 of his solo pieces from 1990 to 1998. "One toThree. Overflow" seems to be a collection of solo leftovers with 8 ofthe 12 tracks being re-mixes (of and by Fehlmann) and collaborations.This disc, beautifully mixed/produced by Fehlmann and mastered byStefan Betke (aka Pole) has the same ambient-IDM flavored techno feelas "Flowing". The songs are bright and fluid, sexy and sublime ...thumpin' grooves to dance or chill out to. It's not quite like the Orb,but you can definitely tell that he is a member of the Orb. Fehlmanndoes a fine job of re-mixing Charles Wilp's "Charlies Angeles" andInfiniti's (aka Juan Atkins) "Never Tempt Me" (which is unfortunatelymarred by insipid spoken word lyrics). It's easy to see why he is indemand for re-mix and production work. In turn, "Superfrühstück" and"Wee Wee Mademoiselle", both originally from "Flowing", are re-mixed togreat effect twice apiece by Plug Research and Fehlmann and To RococcoRot and Sun Electric/Willekes Wille, respectively. The "Superfrühstück"mixes are an especially tasty blend of ambiance, smooth bass and beats.The final 2 tracks are collaborations of a more ambient/experimentalnature: "Tuning" with Mute Records boss Daniel Miller and"FriedrichstraBe" with King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. Round itall off with 4 straight Fehlmann tracks mixed in and you have asurprisingly cohesive and solid 62 minutes of electronic music. As with"Flowing", this one features groovy minimal artwork courtesy of theDesigners Republic. Worth every penny of the $16.75 import price tag... - Mark Weddle
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02 January 2000

Jason Olariu

Albums and Singles

I feel a littleembarrassed browsing through my local record store's New Age section,but only a little. I find the latest album by the Brazilian group Uakti(wa-ka-chee), and am vindicated.

I feel a littleembarrassed browsing through my local record store's New Age section,but only a little. I find the latest album by the Brazilian group Uakti(wa-ka-chee), and am vindicated. Taking their name from a mythiccreature whose body is ridden with holes and makes wonderful sounds ashe runs and winds pass through him, Uakti here perform music composedfor them by Philip Glass. Nine of the ten tracks (the last composed byGlass for ballet) are inspired by the rivers of the Amazon, hence thealbum title. Mostly percussion-lead (from homemade instruments tomarimbas) with woodwinds and sparse keyboard accent, these pieces(which flow together seamlessly) don't really recall rushing water, northe calm babble of brooks. They sew together bits of tribal warmth andairy classicism onto a frame that sounds a lot like Steve Reich's"Music For 18 Musicians"-era melodic minimalism. Allowing your mind tofloat free of association and physical sensation, this music is perhapsbest suited for the waters of an isolation tank rather than tropicallocales... brilliant and beautiful, nonetheless. - Jason Olariu
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02 January 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Sometimes it gets quitedifficult to describe something without using comparisons to othersbefore them. While I really enjoy this, the charming and honest debutfull-lengther from Best Boy Electric, the slow and melodic musiccombined with the hesitant vocals screams of influence of Galaxie 500,Bedhead and of course, Low. Best Boy is based in Madison, WI andfeatures former Low bass guitarist John Nichols, who left the band tohead to college. The album was produced in Duluth by Alan Sparhawk fromLow and features a similar formula of simple drums, slow pace, melodicguitar lines, heart-felt bass strums and quiet keybaord backgroundaccompaniment. The lack of pop ditties and up-and-down stroked guitarsdoesen't necessarily warrant calling this "sad" music, so I'm confusedwhere people get off on accusing bands like this of being as such. Thisshould be an interesting band to watch develop over the next few years,as the singer sounds like he's just beginning to get comfortable withhis voice. Those fans of the above mentioned bands would probably enjoythis as much as I did while if slow-core or shadow-pop isn't yourstyle, it's most likely not for you. - Jon Whitney
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02 January 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Packaged in a flimsybaggy with a black and white book of artwork, Art-IC Culture in Swedenbrings this Aube release, constructed using only glass as the soundsource.artwork, Art-IC Culturein Sweden brings this Aube release, constructed using only glass as thesound source. While each album from Aube utilizes one non traditionallymusical source, the sounds and music are never dull or boring. Themusic on "Shade-Away" is considerably more pulsing and rhythmic thanolder somewhat droney recordings. It features tones of clanging glassin spots as well as low end scraping, looped and modified. Crunchedglass and crackling shards accent the appropriately titled track"Trample," while "Rebounce" sounds like it could be a bunch of drinkingglasses rustling underneath a repeated loop of other tones. Thepackaging for Aube releases is usually unique to each release andfrequently something completely new in general -- with examples likeMetal de Metal housed in a metal sleeve, Pages from a Book housed intorn pages from the bible or Aqua Syndrome packaged in a liquid filledpastic baggy thing -- this one is somewhat of a let down but I guess acouple of pieces of glass could be bought to house this CD with book. - Jon Whitney
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01 January 2000

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Album of the Year

   1. Coil, "Musick to Play in the Dark, Vol.1 "
   2. Nurse with Wound, "An Awkward Pause"
   3. Autechre, "EP7"
   4. three way tie:
      Tom Waits: "Mule Variations"
      To Rococo Rot: "The Amateur View"
      godspeed you black emperor: "Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada"
   5. Stereolab, "Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night
   6. Labradford, "E luxo so"
   7. two way tie:
      Low, "Secret Name"
      Nine Inch Nails, "The Fragile"
   8. two way tie:
      Trans Am, "Futureworld"
      Jim O'Rourke, "Eureka"
   9. four way tie:
      Mogwai, "Come on Die Young"
      Add N to (X), "Avant Hard"
      Sonic Youth, "Goodbye 20th Century"
      Plaid, "Rest Proof Clockwork"
10. six-way tie:
      Angels of Light, "New Mother
      People Like Us, "Hate People Like Us"
      Pan Sonic, "A"
      Mouse on Mars, "Niun Niggung"
      Plateau, "Spacecake"
      Flaming Lips, "The Soft Bulletin"

BAND
OF THE
YEAR

   1. Coil
   2. godspeed you black emperor!
   3. Legendary Pink Dots
   4. two-way tie:
      Stereolab
      Squarepusher
   5. Low

SONG
OF THE
YEAR

   1. Aphex Twin, "Windowlicker"
   2. Coil, "The Dreamer is Still Asleep"
   3. godspeed you black emperor!, "Moya"
   4. Mogwai, "Stanley Kubrick"
   5. godspeed you black emperor!, "Blaise Bailey Finnegan, III"

MUSIC
VIDEO
OF THE
YEAR

   1. Aphex Twin, "Windowlicker"
   2. Bjork, "All is Full of Love"
   3. three-way tie:
      Add N to (X), "Metal Fingers in My Body"
      Beck, "Sexx Laws"
      Leftfield, "Afrika Shox"
   4. three-way tie:
      Lamb, "B-Side"
      U.N.K.L.E., "Rabbit in Your Headlights"
      Meat Beat Manifesto, "Prime Audio Soup"

NEW
BAND
OF THE
YEAR

   1. Angels of Light
   2. five-way tie:
      The Beta Band
      Cyclobe
      Plone
      Pole
      The All Seeing I

CONCERT
EVENT

   1. Labradford/godspeed you black emperor! (notably in various combinations including Low, Mogwai and Matmos)
   2. Trans Am / Pan Sonic
   3. Tom Ze with Tortoise
   4. Current 93 NYC
   5. four-way tie:
      v/vm
      Stereolab / Papa M
      Legendary Pink Dots
      Man... or Astro-Man??

BEST
LABEL

   1. Warp
   2. Kranky
   3. three-way tie:
      Thrill Jockey
      Mute
      Matador
   4. World Serpent
   5. Fat Cat
   6. Soleilmoon / Staalplaat

BEST
PRODUCER

   1. John McEntire & Jim O'Rourke
   2. Timbaland
   3. Jack Dangers
   4. Steven Stapleton
   5. Howie B

WORST
BAND

   1. three-way tie:
      Nine Inch Nails
      Limp Bizkit
      Backstreet Boys
   2. Korn
   3. six-way tie:
      Coil
      Britney Spears
      Blink 182
      Plone
      Marilyn Manson
      Kid Rock

WORST
ALBUM
YOU
BOUGHT

   1. Nine Inch Nails, "The Fragile"
   2. Tricky, "Juxtapose"
   3. Mogwai, "Come on Die Young"

BEST
COMP

   1. Warp's 10th Anniversary collections
   2. Reach the Rock Soundtrack
   3. v/vm, "AuralOffalWaffleTenPintsOfBitterAndABagOfPorkScratchings"
   4. five-way tie:
      Fight Club Soundtrack
      Matrix Soundtrack
      Eyes Wide Shut Soundtrack
      Matador's 10th Anniversaty
      Soundbombing II

BEST
MOVIE

   1. two-way tie:
      Blair Witch Project
      Being John Malkovich
   2. Eyes Wide Shut
   3. Fight Club
   4. two-way tie:
      American Beauty
      The Matrix
   5. two-way tie:
      Run, Lola, Run
      Dogma
   6. Sixth Sense
   7. two-way tie:
      South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
      Sleepy Hollow
   8. three-way tie:
      Princess Mononoke
      Iron Giant
      eXistenZ
   9. The Straight Story
10. Man on the Moon
11. American Pie

BEST
TV SHOW

   1. The Simpsons
   2. Futurama
   3. South Park
   4. That 70s Show
   5. X-Files
   6. two-way tie:
      Law and Order
      Just Shoot Me

BEST
BOOK

1. The Onion Presents, "Our Dumb History"
2. "Wreckers of Civilization," by Simon Ford

BEST
ACTOR

   1. Kevin Spacey
   2. Ed Norton
   3. three-way tie:
      Johnny Depp
      John Cusak
      Tom Cruise
   4. John Malovich

BEST
ACTRESS

   1. Christina Ricci
   2. three-way tie:
      Nicole Kidman
      Heather Donahue
      Annette Benning
   3. three-way tie:
      that chick in Run Lola Run
      Jennifer Jason Leigh
      Cameron Diaz

BIGGEST
DISAP-
POINTMENT

   1. Star Wars
   2. Y2K and all the other hype
   3. Blair Witch Project
   4. The Haunting

EVENT

   1. Columbine High
   2. Seattle Riots
   3. New Year's Eve
   4. Coachella Music Festival

WEBSITE

   1. brainwashed
      geez, can't you get more original!
   2. Superbad.com
   3. Pitchforkmedia.com
   4. Disinfo.com
   5. hamsterdance.com

HERO
   nobody got more than one vote
VILLAIN

   1. Bill Gates
   2. A four-way tie: Milosevic
      the Media
      Richard D. James
      George W. Bush

MOST
ANNOYING
TREND

   1. Pokemon
   2. gay teen bands (N'Sync/Backstreet/98 Degrees) / teen popstars (Britney Spears)
   3. three-way tie:
      Y2K fever
      Millennial surveys/polls
      Piercings
   4. two-way tie:
      Emo
      Cargo Pants

20 November 1999

Administrator

Albums and Singles

My pick of the week is the fourth album by this German group, released in 1998. Notwist is allegedly an offshoot from the Tied and Tickled Trio, a jazz rock influenced group who can be found on more remixes than original product, including the Aerial M remix album "Post-Global Music".

Zero Hour

For nearly all of the songs, the first measures start up in a wonderful electro glitchy rhythmic interplay, eventually kicking in to a fuzz-bass based pop tune, indie-pop (if possible) in nature. Music must evolve, and thus indie glitch-pop is born (?) as this album represents what you might get when you cross Coil with Magnetic Fields and Sam Prekop (of The Sea and Cake) at the vocals. Taking a break from the easy-melody pop, a few tracks break the electro mold and step over the line, rejecting vocals and adding a small horn section, living percussion players, nasty sounding organs and saxophone vs. drum break downs. Stereolab fans beware, as I have heard they're touring around with the band here and there for their current tour. The tunes keep your head bobbing, the melodies warm your soul and the electronics tickle your brain. Hunt this one out because Zero Hour isn't necessesarily an easy label to hunt down.

01 July 1999

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Just when you think Mute USA dropped the ball and turned their back on music in general (re: the exodus of classics such as Einsturzende Neubauten, Diamanda Galas and Nick Cave from the US label) they shock us all and strike a deal.

Mute

¬†

Mute US has entered a new market with German post-kraut-rock releases now due from To Rococo Rot, Kriedler and Schneider TM. "The Amateur View" is To Rococo Rot's first full-length release in the USA - preceeding this was the EP release on now defunct label Emperor Jones/Trance Syndicate as well as a couple European-only releases on City Slang and Kitty-Yo. To Rococo Rot take their music seriously and produce professionally with an audibly perfectionistic touch - a gentle yet appropriate blend of drum machines and live drums, sequenced and performed keyboards, samples and live bass. The tunes are pleasant, the tempo moves well throughout the entire disc, the sounce are slick and polished, there's nothing sloppy here. Don't let the title fool you, this album is anything but amateurish.

30 January 1999

Administrator

Albums and Singles

I must admit I didn't know what to expect when hearing this, but I'm pleasantly surprised. This is the first (to my knowledge) first full-length official release from Russian sound engineer, Ivan Pavlov. Ivan is definately showing influences of a cross between Panasonic and Ryoji Ikeda, but it is definately his own. A pleasant surprise on this is the human element that has become so withdrawn from other music in this genre, his baby daughter Sasha appears on one of the tracks. I know it's nothing new, but it's something that fits well.
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30 January 1999

Albums and Singles

The second collaboration between these three, and what a fine disc it is. Low bass dub influenced music, the Mick Harris signature drum loops, and special effects by Eraldo Bernocchi. While Laswell and Harris have been mass producing music lately in the droves, the right combination always has a possibility of yielding a stellar product. Listen to this one loud.

30 January 1999

Administrator

Albums and Singles

01 January 1999

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Album of the Year

   1. Tortoise, "TNT"
   2. Autechre, (self titled, LP5) tied with Meat Beat Manifesto, "Actual Sounds + Voices"
   3. Legendary Pink Dots, "Nemesis Online"
   4. Massive Attack, "Mezzanine"
   5. Boards of Canada, "Music Has the Right to Children"
   6. godspeed you black emperor!, "f# a# to infinity"
   7. Coil, "Time Machines"
   8. Coil, "Autumn Equinox" (it's really an ep) tied with Ritalin, "Bedside Toxicology"
   9. Belle and Sebastian, "The Boy with the Arab Strap" tied with Current 93, "Soft Black Stars"
10. Sonic Youth, "A Thousand Leaves"

Band of the Year

   1. Coil
   2. Tortoise
   3. Meat Beat Manifesto tied with Legendary Pink Dots
   4. Autechre
   5. Massive Attack

Song of the Year

   1. Coil, "Amethyst Decievers"
   2. Current 93, "A Gothic Love Song"
   3. Meat Beat Manifesto "Acid Again" tied with Coil, "Moon's Milk"

Music Video of the Year

   1. Aphex Twin, "Come To Daddy"
   2. Squarepusher, "Come on My Selector
   3. Beastie Boys, "Intergalactic

New Band of the Year

   1. godspeed you black emperor!
   2. Boards of Canada
   3. Arab Strap tied with Ritalin

Concert Event

   1. Legendary Pink Dots
   2. Meat Beat Manifesto
   3. Tortoise / Isotope 217

Favorite Label

   1. Kranky
   2. Thrill Jockey
   3. Soleilmoon / Staalplaat
   4. Warp
   5. Nothing (for basically releasing Warp stuff most people said...)

Producer

   1. John McEntire
   2. Steve Albini
   3. Jim O'Rourke

Worst Band

   1. Marilyn Manson
   2. Backstreet Boys
   3. Matchbox 20
   4. Rammstein
   5. Barenaked Ladies

Worst Album You Bought

   1. Marilyn Manson, "Mechanical Animals"
   2. A four-way tie:
      Meat Beat Manifesto, "Actual Sounds + Voices
      Ritalin, "Bedside Toxicology"
      Front 242, "Re Boot"
      Tricky, "Angels with Dirty Faces

Best Compilation

   1. Coil & Friends, "Foxtrot"
   2. Pi Soundtrack
   3. We Are Reasonable People
   4. A Tribute to Spacemen 3
   5. Remix Dystemper

Best Movie

   1. Pi
   2. Saving Private Ryan
   3. The Trueman Show
   4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
   5. The Big Lebowski

Best TV Show

   1. The Simpsons
   2. The X Files
   3. South Park
   4. Sifl & Olly

Best Book

   1. "Smoke and Mirrors" by Neil Gaiman tied with "Lords of Chaos" by Michael Moynihan
   2. "About a Boy" by Nick Hornby tied with "A Man in Full" by Tom Wolfe

well, they didn't get many votes, but there's hardly any book readers any more...

Best Actor

   1. Bill Clinton tied with Johnny Depp

nobody could agree on the rest

Best Actress

   1. Christina Ricci
   2. Gilian Anderson
   3. Parker Posey

Parker can do better next year, come on guys!

Biggest Disappointment

   1. Titanic
   2. Waking up

I'm losing faith in our readership

Event of the Year

   1. Clinton Sex Scandal
   2. LPD tour the USA

this category's answers aren't helping either

Web site of the year

   1. brainwashed
   2. The Onion
   3. Warp Records tied with suck.com

flattery will get you nowhere

Hero

   1. me (yes, everybody voted for themselves)
   2. Edward Ka-Spel

Villan

   1. Kenneth Star
   2. A four-way tie:
      me (yes, voting for themselves again)
      Bill Gates
      Marilyn Manson
      my boss

Most Annoying Trend

   1. Swing
   2. Tommy Hilfiger
   3. Body Piercing tied with "Any trend"