The 'Lab are back and boy do they love The Beatles (well, they'rereally ripping off George Harrison's "When We Was Fab" from the 1980s,which is much lower on the cool-meter). Actually, it's rather nice thatthey're song-based again as opposed to the overtly wanky qualities oftheir last few releases. The faux-country acoustic guitar noodling andpedal-steel solos kill all enjoyment of this song started in the firstminute. Track two, "Long Life Love" might as well be a stoned outversion of the first track: it's slower and almost twice as long andmelodically and structurally begins almost identically. There is aprettiness factor but it's not enough to make it a good song, plus Pramdo it ten times better these days. The third track, "Canned Candies"sounds like a nod to an unreleased Mamas and Papas Christmas outtakecombined with chiming vibes, flute and la-las from 'Dots and Loops'while the last track picks up the energy but doesn't provide anythingcatchy to leave me with. Sadly I feel the group's seriously gotthemselves in a rut, using the same producers for the umpteenth time ina row, coupled with the strong feeling they have inhaled so much potthey can't write a good song any more. On the other hand, I might be abit too critical on an EP of songs which didn't make it to the album.(Or perhaps too grouchy about spending $10 on four crappy songs.) Therewas a time and place where I thought this band could do no wrong: aminimal amount of instruments wasn't a hinderance to their abilities tomake something magical and catchy. Their current sound may have a lotof shiny ornaments, but at the roots are rather empty songs. The bandhas become what they were seemingly anti in their beginning days:they've traded in low-fi for high fidelity low-distortion recordings.They once were trying to say they weren't 'adult oriented' or 'M.O.R.'but they're now primed for elevators in shopping malls. I haven't heardhorns like this since Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now". This EP is outnow through Duophonic in the UK and preceeds the full-lengther due nextmonth. Start twirling your finger.
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'Asylum' (their first deliberate Tarot card reference) firstmaterialized in 1985 and was considered by the group to be a troubledtime. The group's lineup had been fairly steady since the early daysbut their home base had recently moved from the UK to Holland. Songswith titles "Prisoner", "The Last Straw" and "This Could Be the End"symbolify the sentiments of a writer feeling trapped and a group on theverge of calling it quits. Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound wasbrought in to perform various production and editing duties. Popularfavorites include the violin-heavy "Fifteen Flies in the Marmalade,"the epic multi-part madness of "So Gallantly Screaming" and the classicsignature LPD sound of "Golden Dawn."
'The Golden Age' was originally released in 1989 and was the first longplayer to feature guitarrorist Bob Pistoor. While many LPD fans don'tconsider this one of their fave releases, it did give clubs the popularhits "The More it Changes" and "Blacklist" (included as a bonus trackfrom the 12" of the same name). The album features a couple of theirrecurring themes with the gorgeous "Hotel Noir" and swirlingneo-classical signature LPD style of "Lisa's Separation". The album wasproduced with Hans Myre and primarily featured a stripped-down lineupof the core three members at the time: Edward, Phil (the Silverman) andPatrick Wright on violins. Thus the sound was completed more byelectronics than conventional rock instruments. Rarely throughout the90s until now has the group performed any of these songs in concert.
Therecordings for Crushed Velvet Apocalypse began in 1989 with the albumsurfacing in 1990. Between 'The Golden Age' and this disc, theLegendary Pink Box surfaced too, a 3xLP set with 2 LPs worth of newmaterial. The Dots were on fire! Bob Pistoor, now a full-time memberopens the album with the familiar guitar work of timeless LPD classic"I Love You in Your Tragic Beauty." On other tracks Pistoor gracefullyadds sitar and wonderful bass lines. Saxophonist, clarinet and fluteplayer Neils Van Hoorn is also now part of the full time lineup but theviolin virtuoso of Patrick Wright has departed from the group. Thisdidn't inhibit the Dots from turning out what many point to as theirfavorite full-lengther. 'Crushed Velvet Apocalypse' showed a maturedsense of writing ability, coordinated musicianship, and a stellarproduction which can conjure emotions of love, awe and horror withinseconds of each other. Songs like "Green Gang," "Hellsville," "Just aLifetime," "The Death of Jack the Ripper" and "Princess Coldheart" areoften played live to very warm receptions. The back of the CD featuresa newly surfaced image, a stunning tribute to Pistoor (by means of abeautiful live picture), who died the following year after a shortbattle with cancer. 
Recorded in 1990 and released in 1991, the lineup remained constantfrom the year before and the group's bonds had grown stronger throughvarious tours all over the world. Initially released as a single LP,double-CD (70+ minutes and a limited edition w/a bonus 3" CD single),this album went on to become their most successful release ever.Popular favorites include the tear-jerking surrealistic dark ballads"Third Secret" and "Belladonna", the pretty yet spooky "Charaderama" orsax and sequencer filled "A Space Between," which has given way to manyemail signature files with the popular EKS lyric, "we all have names."The apocalyptic nightmare of "The Grain Kings" has become a frequentlyused last song or encore number on recent tours and even "Disturbance"rears its head occasionally. The Maria Dimension was the first albumreleased on the newly forged partnership between PIAS and Caroline.Guilty only by association, the releases that were co-issued byWaxTrax! may have gained the LPDs some cred with the gothpost-industrialists but with the new deal on Caroline the space rockersand indie rockers now had better exposure to the crew. One of themagical things about the Dots is going to a concert and seeing allsorts of fans present. This period the Dots seemed to be flying high,1991 saw the US-release of the Pink Box and the recordings of 'FourDays' took place. The passing of Pistoor later in the year shook theband's foundations, the band soon recruited Martjin de Kleer and thelegendary Ryan Moore as they entered a new phase and called up oldfriends (Steven Stapleton and Patrick Wright) for the subsequent ShadowWeavers.
How's that for a concise title? Culled from five shows in the U.S. andEurope between late 1999 and mid 2000, Mark Spybey and friends werecommitted to digital tape by Michael Rother (Kraftwerk, Neu!), amongstothers. The bulk of the ten tracks are drawn from the last two DVOAalbums "Piss Frond" and "Frankie Pett..". The basic structure of thesemostly instrumental songs is about the same, the sequences sometimesextended or edited, then embellished upon by Spybey and collaboratorsNiels Van Hoorn (The Legendary Pink Dots), Dave Wright (Not Breathing),Ryan Moore (LPD at the time, Twilight Circus Dub Sound System), DarrylNeudorf (Abintra), Darren Phillips (Hellen Keller), Mark Gunderson(Evolution Control Committee), Frank Verschuuren (also LPD at the time)and Aimee Lane. All those extra improvised horns, keys and beats perkup many a song and help give DVOA a sturdy and fun live band feel andsound. "Sulphur" is the only one that Spybey really steps up to the micwhile Van Hoorn adds flute to the cello part. "Lost in Deming, NM" isapparently new, essentially Spybey solo on bass and sound debris loopswith longing wails from Van Hoorn. "Muffel", originally found on therecent Spybey/Harris 'Threesome' series disc "Bad Roads, YoungDrivers", explodes again here with sax squawking and Moore's heavy livedrums. "Redkerre" is extensively drawn out for nearly 17 minutes aselectro blips and beats skitter about like firecrackers beneath densepadded loops. "Puppet Show" is the finale and something tells me itneeds to be seen rather than heard to be fully appreciated - it wasn'ta feature of the 2 shows I saw on that tour. Unfortunately, forwhatever reason, Spybey chose not to include his celebrated d 'n brenditions of the Download instant classics "Sidewinder" and "BaseMetal". Darn. Otherwise, it's a fine document of live DVOA circa theend of the 20th Century . 
Krzysztof Kieslowski's film "The Double Life of Veronique" has beendescribed as a romance about moments when we think we see ourselves ata distance; could there be more than one me? Well perhaps that's whatwas at the back of the mind of David Bennet of the heavily Sonic Youthinfluenced Stray Light when he chose the name, because this projectgives vent to his other persona, of e-bowed guitar dronescapes. Of thefive long, immersive yet spacious tracks, two are scored for bowedguitars and dedicated to minimalist painter Mark Rothko, whilst theother three are guitar improvisations that give a nod to Rafael Toraland Jim O'Rourke albums like 'Disengage'. The titles suggest that eachpiece could be a synaesthetic reflection on a particular colour. Eachtrack takes a constant drone as it's base and gradually unfurlsdrifting harmonics like watching the first rays of light creep over amisty morning horizon, until light engulfs the senses. It's a calm,reflective and beautifully blurred music that ought to appeal to fansof the less anchored members of the Kranky roster, particularly Starsof the Lid. In live excursions TDLV is augmented by a second droneguitar and violin, but for this disc it's all guitars. Hopefully thiswill be just the first step in a long and fascinating trip from deepestdarkest Manchester to head expanded eternal orbit around the planetJupiter. Available from: www.nameless-records.com 
The distinct writing, singing and playing styles of Karla Schickelefirst appeared in the trio Beekeeper, where Karla played alongside herbrother, Matt. The next step was in Ida where she joined the group,already in progress, and rounded the group out quite nicely with alower voice and a pianists touch. Finally, with the project known as K,Karla is in complete control and the results are breathtaking. "NewProblems" collects 12 tracks totalling just over 30 minutes, includingmost of the songs from the first CD-R that was being sold at lastyear's K concerts (the remaining one appeared on the split EP with Low)as well as a demo version of the now classic Ida tune "Poor Dumb Bird".Karla's a multi-skilled performer/player, with her fingers pluckingguitar and bass strings, tinkling the ivories and even wrapped aroundan oboe for the song "Figther Dove." On the disc, Karla is joined bysome of her closest friends including Tara Jane O'Neil of Retsin, Rodanand solo fame, Cynthia Nelson of Ruby Falls and Retsin, Michael fromIda and Ida Pearle, who's violin playing has graced Low, Ida, MagneticFields, Retsin, Naysayer and many others albums. Rose Thompson joinsKarla on the vocals for a couple tracks, and if you've seen the K showin the past few months, you'll know Rose is another top-notchmulti-instrumentalist, a force to reckon with and possibly the nextperson to surface from the scene with her own material. The songs rangefrom the gracefully subtle, melodic, minimal instrumentation of "Got aFeelin'" (a Mamas and Papas cover) and the album's openers, "*"/"NotHere", to the jam-rockin "Knoxville" (which sounds like it had to befaded, else it'd go on forever), the four-track charm of the "Poor DumBird" demo and "Telegram" to the bang-up production jobs on theinfectiously catchy "Reminder" and "Regular Girl" tunes. I wish theyhadn't faded so many songs out however, as I love to hear songs truly'end' without being cut short. Fans of any of the aforementioned bandsshould already have this, and if they don't they're truly missing anessential piece of the picture. Karla Schickele is truly one of myfavorite contemporary rock/pop writers.
Phil Western has at least a decade of experience in electronic musicand is currently a member of Download and platEAU. "Dark Features" isthe debut release from Vancouver based The Record Company and it picksup right where Western's 1998 solo album "The Escapist" (co-produced byTim Hill, who has also played with platEAU) left off. This is premiumtextured techno: a thick mesh of synth and sample ambiance andprogrammed beats with additional organic elements like voice andguitars. Phil's vocals appear on half a dozen tracks - they're moreunnecessary than they are annoying, ditto for many of the numerous,seemingly random spoken samples. "Fight No More", "Dirty" and "DMT"ride strong bass and guitar grooves, the latter one being as active asthe psychedelic substance it is named after with Western singing theword 'dimethyltryptamine' over a bright and bouncy pop riff. Gorgeousambient moments endure in several tracks, most notably the tail ends of"Embryo" and "Duke". "Bring That Home, Buffalo" is downright peculiarby throwing banjo playing into the mix. But the most surprising andstunning track of all, the one which will surely confound many alistener, is "Be the Fool". Here Western sings and plays acousticguitar solo for an emotional and atmospheric song that approaches thesound of late '80s American Music Club. Great stuff. I hope Westernfurther explores these heretofore unrevealed singer songwriter and popproclivities. Act now and three more techno oriented tracks areavailable on a bonus orange marble 10" with the first 300 orders directfrom the label at colourspeaks.com .
Not to be confused with the similarly moniquered oldprog group, Berkowitz, Lake & Dahmer are certainly abit noisier, and probably don't stop at stickingknives in keyboards. Lord Pendro and Mr Oleum ofFflint Central have been afflicted by channeledrumblings from these disembodied ectoplasmic entitiesfor some time, and the only way they know how toexorcise the Satanic power of the drones and loopsthat take hold of their recording sessions when thistrio of restless spirits holds sway is to bung out aCD-R packed full of seventy minutes of what reallywent on there at the haunted red house from anotherdimension. Of course Lord Pendro has been known tobecome restless when imbibing vast quantites ofspirits of a different kind, but that is anotherstory.
While it's not my practice to review things nearly impossible to get, this CD deserves a mention. My first exposure to this Australian quintet was through their song on Fat-Cat's "No Watches.No Maps" collection of demo songs from bands they weren't going to pursue anything with at the time. What I heard can be described as somewhat derivative from an Aerial M/Tortoise/Fridge sound but their mastery of musicianship, songwriting and production skills are quite appealing. Inside the disc there was contact information listed, so I wrote to them and said I wanted to hear their album, with possible interest to send it to some friends at labels/distributors but I had no intention of writing about it.
It's times like this I'm happy to be a turntable owner and cackle withglee at all the dumb sods who got rid of theirs. Yes, exciting thingscan still happen in the world of vinyl. Kid 606 and a tiny assortmentof fiends have all contributed to a series of four brand new seven-inchsingles on the Tigerbeat6 label. Of the eight sides represented here,606 appears on three, the rest filled by usual castmembers Cex andElectric Company along with some newcomers Com.A, Timeblind and JosephNothing. For each track, the said artist has taken large chunks of rapand hip hop tunes, (much like the now legendary "Attitude" release) andfucked them up beyond the point of commercial acceptance. The endresult is much to my liking and would be for anybody else who prefersthe comical dementia in which the tb6 crew and v/vm hacks excel in.There's a bonus however, and here's the magic of the vinyl medium: atthe end of each side, as the main track falls into silence the needlefalls into a locked groove — in order to hear the bonus bits, you needto get up and manually nudge the needle into one of two bonus lockedgrooves per side! These grooves ain't nothin like that noise stuff Nonwas doing over 20 years ago, as quite a large portion are carefully andmathematically precise beat loops. Charming, tasty andever-so-rewarding.
As Glasgow's Tramway building evolved from train station into arts space, Zoviet France were present recording the ambient sounds for use in their commissioned themes for the Scottish Arts Council. Though you'd hardly believe it from the mostly non industrial nature of these very comfortable soundscapes. Five tracks range between five and twelve minutes apiece and the remaining four serve as in-between filler. In "Something Spooked the Horses" a constant warm drone and panning scratchiness are overlaid with yearning strands of pedal steel guitar. "Electron Gate" gently pulsates a bass loop as microscopic bits click and fuzz. "Pyroclastic Flow" is noisier with some possible power tool abrasion honed into layered drones. "Spiiltek" is dancing plastic chips and electronic blips which relinquish to the deep bass waves beneath. "Light Abrasion" closes with a higher pitched wall of sound and occasional cricket like chirping. All in all "Decriminalisation.." is an engaging work of auditory art. And it's as suited for busy high brow art rooms as it is lonely late night bed rooms.
