The prolific, multi-instrumental and continually tasteful O'Rourke'slatest release appears to be following in the direction of last year's"Halfway To A Threeway" EP but with a slightly rougher edge. Althoughthe seven well-crafted tunes on "Insignificance" vary musically,drawing on 60's garage rock, 70's AM radio, a touch of tropicalia andalt-country with some damn fine pickin', they uphold the fundamentalsof a great pop record. Song topics seem to be about frustration andself-degradation with "It's All Downhill From Here", depravity on thedark "Get A Room" and the weight of triviality on the title track.Tongue-in-cheek titles such as "Memory Lame" and "Life Goes Off"further augment the unique lyrical content. The musicianship is nothingshort of complete. O'Rourke's choice guitar, bass, piano, Wurlitzer andvibraphone performances are consummated by a group of fine musiciansincluding Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, great simultaneous drumming on sometracks by Glenn Kotche and Tim Barnes , bassist Darin Gray, pedal steelfrom Ken Champion and cornet and sax from Chicago jazzers Rob Mazurekand Ken Vandermark. The disc's order of tunes flows nicely from startto finish, ending in a glitch frenzy, which may be the bridge to thelaptop oriented, soon-to-be-released "And I'm Happy..." disc. As with1999's "Eureka", you shouldn't have too much trouble spotting thisdisc's artwork on the wall of your local vendor.
#15 in the Fading Captain Series, this release from Airport 5 is thefirst LP Rob Pollard has recorded with Tobin Sprout since the latterleft Guided By Voices to focus on his solo career. Given those keypieces of information, one could probably form a pretty solidpreconception about the sound of this record and what they might findwhen listening to it. Let's face it: Pollard is one of those artiststhat you either love or despise. So those who don't Like any ofPollard's music with Guided By Voices or the plethora of other bandshe's in, skip right over this review. The other camp will be happy toknow that these two artists still make magic together, and it's in rareform all over this release. From the first track, "Burns Carpenter, ManOf Science," you're drawn in to that weird land where anything ispossible, at least lyrically speaking. And it's an amazing thing,considering that the music and words were recorded separately (possiblyeven written separately). Sprout is an amazingly talented musician,capable of playing all the components that make up your average bandstructure, and writing melodies that hold great hooks and fantastictwists and variations. And Pollard is just plain weird. Any man whowrites songs about bright paper werewolves or scientists creatingliquid forms of love has some issues to resolve. But together it makesfor fascinating music, as it has in the past. I'm glad theses twomusicians are working together again, because these initial results areproof that thos combination still works. I hope to hear more fromAirport 5 soon.
If you own any records from The Faint, Ladytron, Fisherspooner, I am Spoonbender, Adult, or G.D. Luxxe, owning no Fad Gadget albums is completely unacceptable. Mute began releasing Fad Gadget (their first signing in fact) back in 1979, and over the course of four full-length albums, Frank Tovey managed to firmly establish electronic music as a new form of punk, combining abrasive synths, punchy drum machines, the occasional vibrophone or other organic instruments, and clever lyrics. 
What if Tito Puente, Kraftwerk and electric Miles Davis had jammed ...what would that have sounded like? German electronic duo BerndFriedmann (aka Burnt Friedman) and Uwe Schmidt (Atom Heart, SeøorCoconut, etc.) may provide the answer with their Flanger collaboration,this being the third album in just a few years for Ninja Tune. Theirmusic is thoroughly jazz - warm, spacious, latino jazz - where everysound glows with clarity and every song comfortably glides over theeardrums, even when it's frantic. Vibes, electric and upright basses,guitar, synth, organ and some saxophone and vocoded phrases provide thepalette, framed within often complex and rapid rhythmic layers. It's aninternational affair all around with many live players recorded inSantiago, Copenhagen and Cologne, some track titles in French, Spanishand German, and the album title inspired by an essay by British sci-fiauthor J. G. Ballard. Uwe and Burnt seem to enjoy obscuring the linebetween what is programmed and what is 'played', only revealing thedigital enhancements and editing here and there, when they choose to.Not that it really matters mind you. The all important question is'does it have soul?' and the answer is a resounding 'yes'. It's anotherstellar 46 and 1/2 minutes worth of Flanger, more focused than ever.
For their Warp Records debut, Antipop present a 7 track EP that's donespinning in less than 17 minutes. Warp may seem like a strange placefor an MC trio to be, but APC's hip hop is as electronic and forwardthinking as anything else on the label. NYC's Beans, Priest and Sayidfastidiously flow mile a minute rhymes, as always, and are as involvedin the sparse yet phat production as producer/engineer/arranger/mixerEarl Blaize. "Tuff Gong" gets right up in your face quick, Sayidletting you know within the minute that he "have the need to tell whatI see". "Splinter" is as close as you'll get to verse chorus verse butlike "Vector", it's a bit too laden with annoying synth notes. Moog andsynth lines help propel the instrumental future funk groove of"Dystopian Disco Force". In "39303," Priest testifies, "I write like aman who can't read / feelin' the need / to seize his mind of reason / Ispit treason / MCs in season / vets freezin' / I rap like there'snothin' left to believe in / clumsily uneven," seconds before his voiceis panned to one channel and digital gurgles fill the opposite one.Next, "Pit," disorients with 2 minutes worth of veering tones, off/onbeeps and ping pong ball percussion, then "Perpendicular" adds another2 minutes of tasty piano and atmosphere enhanced hip hop beats. Thisdisc is all over the place, much like an APC album, but it's all themore obvious in such a short time span. And unfortunately, I'd say only4 tracks are really necessary (but hey, it's only ~$7) so here'slooking forward to the debut album for Warp set to drop early nextyear. In the meantime, get "Tragic Epilogue" and "Shopping CartsCrashing" if'n you don't already have 'em.
The use of 8 bit chiptune sounds has been extending beyond the insular video game world and into other genres.  Dusty old Nintendo consoles and Commodore 64 computers have been reprogrammed into musical instruments for years now, and there is an entire compilation album of artists using only the Game Boy based Nanoloop software.  Return of the Bloop Beep Buzz pushes this concept even further, using the even more primitive Atari 2600 as its primary source, resulting in a limited, but still unique sonic palette.
This album actually came as quite a surprise as soon as I started spinning it. I've always associated Wiese with hyper-kinetic, harsh laptop-sourced noise above all, and the seven tracks on this compilation instead show a tamer, more droning electronic sound, with the occasional bit of abstract electro-acoustic collage.
This "musical illustration" of the events occurring in the brain following a lethal stroke is a dramatic, chilling and emotional portrait. Musically, it is removed from anything else Nurse With Wound have done (even if it does touch on similar influences as the rest of Steve Stapleton’s body of work) as Bowers adds a more composerly hand to Stapleton’s surrealist drift. Bowers and Stapleton have crafted something unique that does not fit neatly into any categories, even amongst Nurse With Wound’s expanded horizons. This is draining, devastating and utterly compelling.
Two sides of a paranormal equation are presented in this cluster of songs. Decorated with primitive drums, avant drones, eclectic voices, and an array of stringed splendor, the two groups arrive at a meeting ground in the crossroads, with the arcane formulas of folk magic flowing down one street, and the poetic musings of a post-modern bard immersed in his lyrical wonderland on the other. Where one is ecstatic in the throes of Dionysian abandon, the other zones out into a haunted, rarefied Aethyr.
The year's first contender for top honors comes from violinist and composer Eyvind Kang. This new full-length on Ipecac sits among his major works, displaying a rare breadth of compositional talent, spectacular playing, and raw emotion.
