Walking the line between the improvisational and the organizational,chaotic and orderly, the Portland-based collective known as Jackie-OMotherfucker has released the second full-length CD for Road Cone(their seventh full-lenther in the grand scheme of things). It's acollision of opposing forces, as cold-climate bluesy rock meets afreestyle electronic assemblance, and would appeal to the Volcano theBear, Molasses, Boxhead Ensemble and Shalabi Effect fans of thespectrum. The album starts off with a heavy dosage of disorder with theten+ minute opener, following through with a guitar-heavy 14 minutelong tune driven by an 808-imitating drum machine. Through thefollowing few numbers the collective display their ability to mesh allinstruments without making too much of a mass. However, by the time itreaches "Something On Your Mind," I'm thankful most of the tunes areinstrumental. It's not that the singer has a bad voice, it's just thatthe lyrics aren't as profound as the singer might be thinking andneedn't be repeated as laboriously over the course of three minutes. Bythe time it reaches the last two tracks: "The Pigeon" and "Pray", therthe vibes, strings, guitar and wind instrument interplay is executedwell enough to paint an aural landscape of both beauty and sickness.The first of the two tracks builds from a quieter opening into a boldroar while the second calms everything down into a serene and coolending.
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Why oh why was this only released in Japan?!? "Shopping" quicklyfollowed up, followed in and flattened out the footsteps of the 2000full length debut "Tragic Epilogue" on 75 Ark. Anti Pop's trio ofverbally proficient vocalists - Priest, Beans and M. Sayyid - areaugmented by co-producer E. Blaize. It seems as if they belong to a subgenre of hip hop entirely of their own devise. The production isclinically precise and somewhat minimal, the bass and beats crisp andclear with electronic overtones. The rhymes are often tongue tyingblurs of abstract dictionary data (the lyrics are thankfully included).The first stanza of the first vocalized track "Angular" is one of manyexamples: "unto itself it's incomplete / but made complete by myconnection / the effervescent vestige of decimation / the decimal pointseven thousandth of a percent / possession with intent to make bent / Ibreak bread with tack heads / in flight unflawed with sight unseen /strongly configured with wire inside of a womb the size of an entireplanet born of fire". That all flows by naturally in about 18 secondsflat. And there's another 46 minutes after that. Meticulous mind funk.Oddities along the way include the bizarre future drama of "Excerptfrom the forthcoming epic: Dogland", the android vocals of"Technocracy", a few brief instrumentals including the city noisecollage of APC's home base "New York" and the surprising guitar sampleand female MC enhanced "Lazarus Pit" and "Verses", respectively."Shopping" was well worth the $24 it took to bring it Stateside. AntiPop have since signed with Warp Records (!) and their new EP "The EndsAgainst the Middle" should be out this November.
The most recent full-lengther from the English duo ISAN was released earlier this year on Morr Music in Germany. You might be familiar with their name from various remixes like the two on the Morr compilation, 'Putting the Morr Back in Morrissey' and their Seefeel remix on the Warp 10th anniversary remix disc or various other compilation appearances.
After being in print for nearly two years, the soundtrack for Fri¦rikÿÑr Fri¦riksson's critically praised film of the same name ('EnglarAlheimsins') has had titles translated into English and is finallybeing issued worldwide from Fat-Cat. By now, however, the Icelandicpressing has circulated enough for the most die-hard Sigur Ros fans,plus their two tracks were already featured on the Ny Batteri CD EP.HÖH should be no strange name to brainwashed readers, as his pastincludes works with Current 93, Psychic TV and Hafler Trio but havingSigur Rós in the title of the album is a slight misnomer (and a hugeselling point), as they only contribute two tracks. The film has beenreferred to by many critics as the best Icelandic film ever made.Hilmarsson's entirely orchestral score is quite short and featuresquiet, simple recurring themes. Out of context, the music is simplyokay and doesn't do much for me. While it's truly emotional, therecurring themes are a bit too repetitious for my liking outside of thecontext of the film. I suppose if I ever get to see the film, myopinion will most likely change, but for now most people will be buyingthis for the Sigur Rós tracks which are currently no longer in printanywhere else. As for the two tracks, the first is an adaptation of anold Icelandic lullaby, "BÕum BÕum BambalÑ". Like much of the music ontheir last album, it's both delicate, soothing, but never dull, itbarrels right into the next track, the thunderous "Dànarfregnir ogJar¦afarir" (Death Announcements and Funerals). This tune is Sigur Rós'arrangement of an organ tune played on Icelandic radio duringobituaries. I personally wouldn't consider this disc essential, butthose mildly interested can now purchase it now for probably around $15whereas that Icelandic import was a bit steep, stretching to $30 inmany places.
The latest in the trend of Russian-released collections has taken the form of a new comp from the Tear Garden. While every album from the group is still in print, this collection is worth mentioning for a few reasons. The type is entirely in Cyrillic, so it should be noted that there are two previously unreleased songs included, "Good Evening Houston" and "Good Night Little Lights" (unlike the last Tear Garden compilation, A Bouquet of Black Orchids which came with nothing extra).
While some may feel it's in poor taste to review something I'm actuallyco-releasing, I also feel it's in poor taste not to share my opinion onsomething I love so incredibly.
For many years now I've gone without a Lustmord disc in my collectiondespite many people trying to convince me I should have some. Whatlittle I've heard of Brian Williams' 20 years to date project failed toimpress me and now that I have this disc in my possession, well, I'mstill unimpressed. The 64 minutes of "Metavoid" rely heavily upon thesound design skills Williams has put to use for dozens of films thepast 7 years, including "The Crow" and "Strange Days". Dark ambientcurrents and growls, padded with strings and angelic voices, areinterrupted by effected voices and often clumsy tribal/industrialpercussion and sound effects. Drab, clich? and predictable with equallydrab, clich? and predictable track titles. I feel as though I'mpartaking in some sort of pagan funeral dirge. Yuck. It's simply tryingtoo hard to be dark with little subtlety, always the key to superioratmospheric music as far as I'm concerned. That said, there are a fewredeeming qualities such as the climactic build of the nearly 12 minute"The Eliminating Angel" and the pure ambiance of "Oblivion". Butoverall, I think these sounds would be better relegated to cinematicbackdrop .
One of the more recent releases in Raster-Noton's clear series, "Wohltemperiert" ("Probably") is another collaboration between √ò (Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic) and Noto (Carsten Nicolai, founder of Noton). Primarily recorded during the winter of 1998 in New York City with gear borrowed from Larry Seven, the disc comes in a transparent flip top Trimpak inside a card sleeve jacket. Nicolai's contributions are seemingly minimal as the high pitched tones and glitches that are his usual auditory signature are used here economically. It's the sparse hum and pulse which are Vainio's forte that make up the bulk of these 61 minutes.
