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"Masters of the Scene: the definitive Abba tribute"
The effects of Abba's music is undeniably cross-cultural and timeless. From the freaky tourists with smelly breath at the NY record shops to the merch-spotting Chris Carter publicity photos, it's hard to find somebody who's life has not been touched. Over the course of a few years, a staggering 24 tracks have been gathered by this tiny operation out of Chicago which bridge the gap between one of the first bands I was fond of in my young childhood to the noisy, more abrasive sounds I'm enjoying in my adulthood. I find this collection both refreshing but question its sub-title.
Through the noise, there are some strong examples of artists who either take the task seriously or take their music seriously: people who thought "how could I reinterpret this song to put my own take on it," and get to the core of the brains of one of pop music's most successful songwriting teams, Anderson and Ulvaus. Unfortunately, there are a few too many tracks which simply play the original song in the background and do easy, lazy, pointless nonsense on top. It opens with a mistake I think, as Conned Ham's "Does Your Mother Know?" more strongly resembles the Beatles "Your Mother Should Know," followed by a rather bedroom-recording sound of Sockeye's "Take a Chance On Me," who at least demonstrate they know the music and probably like it too. Then, faster than you can say wife-swapping-Volvo-drivers, Kazumoto Endo blows the roof off with that maddening riff of "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme," bending it to uncomfortable, almost borderline unbearable levels. Absorb's "Super Trooper" is a very endearing vocal interpretation that resounds with the feeling of innocence truly in love with the material while Guilty Connector's noisy "Rock Me" is pure sun up at 3am sex (just remove the original from the background at the end please). The contribution from I and Kawabata "sure I'll appear on your compilation" Makoto is somewhat of a let down as the vocal rendition of "Eagle" (possibly one of Abba's most brilliant moments) could have potentially been incredible, but only ends up with a sparse musical arrangement (only synth samples and delays) to back up a rather timid voice. (I can only begin to imagine a boombastic distortion-filled Acid Mothers cover of "Eagle," and it's gooooood.) Another unexpected moment is the Irr.App.(Ext.) contribution, "Knowing Me, Knowing You," where the ever creepy Matt Waldron steps out from his psychotic vaginal ochra shield to bare all with vocals and acoustic guitar in a warped dementia style only he can do (the guy is a fucking genius). While most of the rest are amusing enough, (and a few include too many skipping/samplings of Abba) it's worth noting that with every purchase, a coupon is included for a cassette of "outtakes," this compilation noticably fails in the tech department - mastering gear might not be necessary for noise, but at least the levels could have been balanced from track to track. Or, perhaps this is the effect this is trying to give - that of a mix tape of some of your best friends in their basements doing their most personal impersonations of something everybody truly loves but is afraid to admit in public.
- Irr.App.(Ext.) - Knowing Me, Knowing You
- Foamula - Chiquitita
- Kazumoto Endo - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
