This indeed is what it should all be about. Side one has three tracks,two different versions of the title track, "Sign" and another track,"COGWHEEL." As expected from the last release, "Sign" harborsTakemura's love for beauty and the voice, coupled with his ability tohack and chop away at sounds and beats electronically. The realexcitement happens when you flip the record over to side two. Now, Iset my timer to this one as it looked like it was pressed rather tight(the vinyl that is). Experts have claimed that only about 25 minuteswould fit comfortably on one side of a 12" record, played at 33 1/3RPM, right? The improvisational "jam" that takes place on side twofeatures Chicago friends Bundy K. Brown, John McEntire and Doug McCombs(all from Tortoise and related camps) clocks in just over 35 minutes.Right, that's not a typo! The piece is fantastic and might as well beanother one of those songs you always wished would appear on a Tortoiserecord. It starts off with a wonderful showcase of how all fourmusicians have a keen sense of improvisation and incredible talent tocreate cohesive noise with each other. It starts off like a jammingrockish jazzish tune, but then something goes awry, glitchiness ensuesin a dreamy audio bath of laptop fuckery with live instruments... I'mgetting flashbacks and almost begin dreaming that this could honestlybe "Djed 2!" Yes, I'm a fan and I love Tortoise music, but this tracksimply titled only as "Souvenir in Chicago" is a stunning performance,and it's something you knew these guys could do and hoped they woulddo, but never actually heard. This record only comes on vinyl and islimited to 2000 copies. Tortoise fans, Takemura fans shouldn't passthis one by, you'll regret it for years to come! And vinyl sure makesfor a great stocking stuffer!samples:
The Unutterable comes as a pleasant surprise, that is; two great new Fall albums in a row. 15 new songs. One of them ("Dr. Bucks Letter") is my fave Fall song right now. "Octo Realm/Ketamine Sun" is really great too, as is "Cyber Insekt". The songs on this disc combine 25 years of Mark E. Smiths experience in a very individual way.
Described on the Bungalow website as "style:lofidubhousediskopunknoise, bigbeat, stomping house, absurd samples,looped dialogues, glamour pop. Framed by the beautiful intro and outroyou are drawn into a different world." The intro and outro they refer toare mock Holiday Inn style lounge act audience introductions that I preferto skip over. This is Bungalows last release of 2000. The website tells us"Bungalow will change its structures and start a new partnership fromnext year on". I wonder just what that means. Bungalow introduced whatthey called 'clubpop' in the mid-90's. The sound was perfected in Japanon labels like Escalator, Readymade, and Trattoria. The 'easy' side ofBungalow found a home in Spain's Siesta Records, and the offbeat popin Spain's Elefant Records. That has left Bungalow in some sort of middleground - a little bit of this, a little bit of that, which I do not believe wasthe labels intention. I remember their early manifesto stating thatBungalow was to be a style as well as a sound; it was to be a gatheringplace for a world community of people who love technology, are notafraid of dance music, think Combustible Edison were way ahead of theirtime innovators, and still thrill to the sound of a good pop song. I'll becurious to see what the 'new structure' they speak of entails... As for thisrecord, nothing on it is as good as their side of the split 7" Bungalowreleased with them and Ursula 1000. Stereo Deluxe's song from that split("Groovy Boy") is not on this debut full length. The second song is theircurrent single "Soul Sauce", a horn infested big beat dance instrumental.There is a second version of the song later in the disc as well. Both arecompetent, but neither offer anything you haven't heard many timesbefore. "Lincoln Continental (feat. Lato)" sounds a bit like Two-Tone skaby The Specials or Fun Boy Three, though not as magical as they are."Riddle Me This" is one of my faves with it's (Batman TV series) Riddlersamples, though they are not used as creatively as even I could imagine.In fact, much of this album to me does not take full advantage of thesource samples they've used. Where I really expected to love this album Ijust find myself thinking that it is O.K.
I think they're actuallya quartet this time around. This disc is without a doubt my favoriteoffering from Mazurek and Taylor as the Chicago Underground. With JeffParker and Noel Kupersmith, the quartet leaves us with 15 well-definedpaintings which are much more matured to the sort of sketchwork soundof the very first releases. Songs are developed, foundations are builtand Parker's guitarwork and Kupersmith's electronics complete thepicture. I'm afraid to think I'm more fond of this because it stepsfurther away from a more traditional jazz sound the other discs havehad. Doesn't change the fact that I can truly say I enjoy listening tothis not only at home, but riding the train to work and even in thecar.
The second various artist release from Source Research featurescontributions from Andrew Poppy, Leif Elggren, Coil, Cyclobe and COH.The problem with acquiring a lot of music is finding the time and placeto sit back and really absorb an album. Unfortunately a car was neitherthe right place nor the right time for my first listen to this. Carefulattention must be payed to this release, much like the RGB discreviewed earlier this year. At first, each of these collections seemlike a simple gathering of electronic pieces by some of the best in thecommunity. After a short while, patterns begin to emerge and a themecomes into view. Deep listening is much more involved than just readingsome liner notes and throwing on a set of headphones. Whereas RGB was acollaborative musical representation of the full color spectrum, thisrelease is basically the antithesis of that, with a focus on darkness,negative energy and the absence of existence in thematerial/tangible/visible world. Artists seem to have worked in theirown space, with very little collaboration or mixing up of the elementsat the end. It's a very cold and dark place, solemn and quiet. Thisdisc would make a great listening party soundtrack if everybody plansto sit in complete darkness and silence.
Like a mixture of Sigue Sigue Sputnik & TheFast. Totally new wave, as if I didn't just tell you that comparing him tothose two. Sigue Sigue Sputnik was Tony James band after he playedbass for Generation X. Tony James was responsible for the atrocious mixof The Heartbreakers 'LAMF ReVisited' when he and Johnny took themix money and played Doctor instead of making that record "bigsounding" like they were supposed to. They just washed the masters inreverb and trashed a legendary album until the original mix was reissuedseveral years later. Despite this judgment glitch Tony James was anincredible showmen and creative force. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were reviledfor their "Love Missile F1-11", though it became a classic of its genre.The Fast were a way ahead of their time band from NYC that combineda love of Sparks into a punky power pop that predated 'new wave' by afew years. You'd do well to check out another NYC band The Speediesas well. Their "Let me take your Foto" 7" is still 10/10. The Fast and TheSpeedies were peaking around 1979. The Fast have songs on bothMax's Kansas City compilations, plus some great 7"s and an LP. Back toSylvester Boy. There are a bunch of songs on this disc that are just sofine. Sonovac and Sylvester Boy are doing almost exactly the same thing,and the two of them are my picks of the week from the Other Musicsection of this weeks gullbuy. This CD is the first non Chicks On Speedrelease on their label. It is the third release of the label.
Howard Devoto assembled Magazine within months of departing the Buzzcocksin 1977. More artsy and dynamic than the punk he abandoned, Magazine's 5piece line-up (the only constants being Devoto and a young Barry Adamsonon bass) augmented vocals/guitar/bass with liberal use of piano, keyboardsand saxophone and drew influence from punk, post-punk, funk, new wave androck, as well as the literature Devoto devoured. In less than 4 yearsthey released 5 albums and numerous singles. "Maybe It's Right.." boxesup previously unreleased goodies and the highlights of their influentiallegacy on 3 fifteen track cds. Disc 1 covers the Real Life/SecondhandDaylight era, including "Shot By Both Sides", "I Love You You Big Dummy","My Tulpa", "Definitive Gaze", "The Light Pours Out of Me" and theinfectiously catchy "Rhythm of Cruelty". Disc 2 is The Correct Use ofSoap/Magic, Murder and the Weather era, including "A Song From Under theFloorboards", "Thank You", "Because You're Frightened", "Model Worker" and"Come Alive". Both of these discs feature alternative mixes and recordings,live songs and single A and B sides. Disc 3 is the real treat though with4 previously unreleased, live in the studio Peel sessions dating between'78 and '80. These sessions, along with the live songs from discs 1 and 2,show just how diverse, tight, edgy, explosive and cool Magazine could bewith solid versions of the big 'hits'. There's a lot of really vital stuffhere some 20 years on down the road. Other than the simple slip cases forthe discs, the ugly turquoise and yellow fold-up box contains a 28 pageinsert full of archival photos but, disappointingly, no liner notes otherthan track credits and no mention of re-mastering. Fortunately everythingsounds great and the music more than makes up for it.
A verylistenable 7 song EP with a Hawaiian theme. Each side of the brightyellow 7" starts off with a luau-styled instrumental that almost sounds'easy'. The second song on the A-side is a version of the cliché Hawaiiansong "Hula Hula". The third song is a version of Elvis' "Blue Hawaii" thatis my fave of the EP along with the first songs on each of the sides.Elsewhere things are warped up a bit in the V/VM fashion, but never tothe point that listening to the track is an act of art appreciation. This is agreat EP to buy if you don't have anything from them and would like tocheck them out, though their 2 CD "Aural Offal Waffle" 52 track setremains my favorite and most recommended V/VM disc.
