18 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

It has never been more clear that David Tibet lives in a completely idiosyncratic sphere of his own. Perhaps this is true for everyone, but Tibet's world seems particularly out of step with current trends in music, culture and thought. There is something terribly admirable and beguiling about that. Hypnagogue beautifully proves that Current 93 is continuing in its tangential orbit, and exists solely as the outlet for Tibet's poetic musings on Christ, cats, children, dreams, piety, horror, death, dread, decay and apocalypse. You're not going to find any concessions to glitch-pop or retro-electro here.PanDurtro

This EP is designed to be a prologue to an upcoming full length, and it consists of nine tracks or "chapters" of a long poem called, appropriately, "Hypnagogue: A Dream Prologue." Like many of Current 93's recent works, it's impossible to rate this album based on the music alone, which is mostly incidental. The main focus is on the poetry, and if the listener is not willing to carefully absorb Tibet's linguistic imagery, the point of the music is lost. The musical accompaniment is minimal: Maja Elliott's impressionistic, Debussy-esque piano is the sole instrument. Her sad, skittering melodies serve to underscore Tibet's rhymeless, alliterative balladry. There are times when the piano brilliantly punctuates a passage, and others where its complex swirl of sound competes with Tibet's intense delivery. David Tibet is an impressive poet, his style remiscent of mystical and abstruse poets like T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, and even Angus MacLise. The poesy is modern, but certainly not post-modern. There is no irony in Tibet's fatalistic prose, just a classic weaving of idiosyncratic metaphors that may or may not resonate, depending on the listener's willingness to listen and think about the complex symbolism. Like a true classical poet, Tibet even slips into Latin verse here and there. As a bonus, there is a web address on the inside cover where a PDF of the accompanying text can be downloaded, so that one can read along. From the topiary bunny on the cover to the obscure magical glyph at the front of the text, Current 93 and David Tibet defiantly resist any easy categorization. Though I fully expect that many people will find Hypnagogue hopelessly esoteric and even self-indulgent, I feel that it is a beatiful and unique work of art.

samples:

• Hypnagogue Chapter I
• Hypnagogue Chapter III
• Hypnagogue Chapter IX

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18 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

"Punk rocker gives it all up to make country rock" is not a story you'dexpect to hear, as more country stars venture out into pop territorythan the other way around. But that's exactly what Dameon Lee has donein his time outside the punk band he formed and left in 1999, Scared ofChaka. Holed up in Humboldt County, CA, Lee decided it was time to makemusic of his own, and for this he drew on childhood experiences, whenhe lived in rural New Mexico far from the nearest record store. Backthen he dove into his parents' record collection, absorbing anything hecould get his ears on. When he finally sat down to make music again,it's no surprise it takes on some of the qualities of the songs andartists he loves so much. Lowlightsis the culmination of all that Lee has heard and experienced, and it'sa fine debut record. With Dustin Reske behind the boards and playingmyriad instruments, Lowlights becomes a sparse but expansive-soundingband with true country leanings, complete with pedal steel, Rhodespiano, and tons of slide guitar. Lee has one of those voices: smoothbut a little gritty, soft, slightly whispered, but never off-key. Hissongs come from many different places, mostly from heartbreak, and areslower in tempo and flavored with characteristics of other bands, froma guitar sound to a vocal performance. At times, it sounds like songsso familiar, mostly because all of Lowlights tends to sound thesame on repeated listens. Lee keeps it all fresh, though, withstraighforward lyrics that touch the heart and the soul. This is theperfect summer porch record to be enjoyed while sitting on the porch orfront stoop in the heat of night, drinking some lemonade or whiskey,waiting for the sun to set. They say the best records fit the mostmundane of situations, and if that's true, Dameon Lee has a long careerahead of him with Lowlights.

samples:

• In the Distance
• Dim Stars
• Travelogue

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

If a keyboard cowboy steals your voice it might just serve your server right for trying to read and burn the last of the Mohicans. With one foul swoop Colin Newman proclaims punk rock meaningless and declares the joy of his latest bastard 'heavy metal dancefloor' bad vibing it up like there's no tomorrow. Those four negative horsemen Wire celebrate the art of stopping, which is where it's at - addictive repetitive mega-riffing retooled on hardrive and nailed down fast in paranoiac fits.Pink Flag

There is a lot of stopping but the big diginoise always starts up instantly, fleet of foot chasing rising temperatures. Three songs from this apocalyptic refraction of doomed cyber-slavery and secondhand information overload will have already battered your damaged drums long ago on the EP Read and Burn 01. Another trio burnt bright on the second 'close to creation cycle' six-song lowdown late last year, and the insanely catchy "Nice Streets Above," which is Send's only really upbeat tune, is lengthened a minute and seems to have gained more deep bass groove. This track was an early junkyard rifling in which Graham Lewis sampled and mangled a snatch of Colin Newman singing "Drill," but the mutation would be nigh on impossible to spot. Mutation is constantly hovering ghostlike behind many of the vicious scenes of Send. Cyclic evolution merges man and machine, catalogued obtusely in the closing pulsating monster "99.9" which might well be the most powerful track Wire have ever created, diving off sonar into unknown voids.

The longest track is heralded by the shortest, a rare vocal appearance for that funny ol'professor of noise Bruce Gilbert, whose voice is buried in incomprehensible swathes of distortion as "Half Eaten" bounces gamely by on a jagged big beat tip flashing vivid images of burning oil wells into the listening mindbrain. This ravaged track is a wartorn counterpoint to Lewis' internet reportage machine-metal ode to the liberation of oppressed ladies, "The Agfers of Kodack." They do not take kindly to religious extremism and build up inexorably to find it "Spent" with drills and emergency alarm bells blaring against quick fix. No that isn't Killing Joke, sir. Amongst the four totally new songs, "Mr Marx's Table" will be familar to anyone who crossed the line and came a long way for a short stay at a Wire gig last year, but they've sped it up and remuscled it with hardwired precision.

The weakest new one, and probably the weakest track on the album, is "Being Watched" which has slightly corny lyrics wherein some voyeur junkie protagonist wants Big Brother to spy on him in what is essentially a remake of "Take It" but sounds much more in tune with eighties Wire than any other featured track. Even if you'd like to give it up you'd never have the choice with a track of such ominous doom laden brilliance as "You Can't Leave Now" where a metaphorical restaurant is ransacked by Greedy as the Devil Dogs are set loose to deface him. The trap is sprung but there is a way out. All across the planet fires burn high as Wire fans blow up their computers in a ritual spew. Maybe guitars will be the instruments of the future after all? This album is so good it'd be worth annihilating 99.9 per cent of the human race to hear it, but luckily thanks to the arch kindness of the Newman you don't have to do that and if you buy it from posteverything.com they'll chuck in a bonus CD of Wire decimating Chicago last year. It's not hard to hear another unique event. Does that road ahead look quite uncertain? -

samples:

• 99.9
• Read & Burn
• The Agfers of Kodack

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

Kitty-Yo
The straight-ahead pop music on this German trio's self-titled secondrelease tends to be based on the instrumentation of bass, drums, guitarand vocals with a leaning towards some electronic augmentation.Although the presence of synthesizer can be fairly liberal at timeswith a hint of drum machine, there's no great risk of it being overusedas it always seems appropriate within the context. Their choices ofcertain chordal intervals paired with obvious guitar and synth patchesat times remind me of some of the more mainstream British bands of the80s, which is a good thing. "Untem im Strom" leads off the disc with achoppy, jangly guitar progression matched with vocals that sneaks inthe rhythm section on the upbeat to steadily drive the tune through itsmarked sections. Of the disc's ten tracks, the dance-pulsed, graduallyrocking "Tremble" would be the only one sung entirely in English withthe remainder mostly in the group's native tongue. The cadence of thevocal delivery for some numbers feels a bit awkward at first until themelody becomes the focal point and the music settles in around it. Thewhispy vocals, strummy acoustic guitar and plucked bass of "Hannover"is lead by a steady, puffy-snared drum machine while mild pianoflourishes and buzzing slide guitar trickle throughout. "Stop" thrashesalong to bursts of siren keyboards, pounding tom-toms and dirty basswhich shift from jagged to slick and back again within the span of itsseventy-five seconds. Go Plus' musicianship is solid and theirsongwriting style is fairly consistent from track to track with somefairly cool progressions and hooks. For the most part, these keyelements are underused but there are some worthwhile moments.

samples:

• Hannover
• Tremble
• Unten Im Strom

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

Output
Hordes of NYC hipsters already know that the "mutant disco" punk/dancehybrid sound of the early 80's is experiencing a major resurgence ofinterest. The original heroes of the genre—bands like Liquid Liquid, 23Skidoo, A Certain Ratio, and Gang of Four—are being excavated andre-released. Inevitably, a legion of new artists are having a lot offun rediscovering these sounds and making their own form of retrodance/punk, with uneven results. Trevor Jackson's Output Recordings,home to a cadre of retro-disco and new-new-wave artists, have jumped onthis bandwagon in a big way. Trying to make their own 21st centuryversion of the seminal Disco not Disco compilation, Output has assembled some of the best songs and 12" mixes on the label for their Channel 2comp. The disc opens with 7 Hurtz' "Malibu," a shimmering retro-housetrack which tries (and fails) to sound like FPU's "Ocean Drive."Manhead's "Doop" is a fantastically corny bebop jazz-disco hybrid thatrecalls Miles Davis' ill-advised foray into dance and hiphop.Blackstrobe's dancefloor-stormer "Me and Madonna" is on the verge ofsounding like Gina X Performance's "Nice Mover," but eventuallydeclines into electroclash cliches. Possibly the best reason to buythis compilation is the only appearance of LCD Soundsystem's "Losing MyEdge" on CD. For those who don't already know, "Losing My Edge" is thefunniest, most infectious 12" dance single to be released in recentmemory. Over retardedly low-fi beatbox and bass hits, the DFA's JamesMurphy does a Mark E. Smith-style monologue boasting all of his hipstercredentials: he was there at the first Can show, he was there at theParadise Garage with Larry Levan, he was the first to play Daft Punk atCBGB's. At the end of the song, he yells out a hilarious roll-call ofevery so-called "hip" artist from the past thirty years: "This Heat,Pere Ubu, The Human League, The Normal, Lou Reed..." and etc. adnauseum. By removing the minor-key bassline andupping the disco quotient for their 12" re-recording of "Olio," NYCpunk-disco band The Rapture manage to sound a little less like The Curethan the song's first appearance on their debut Mirror. TheZongamin remix of Playgroup's underground dance hit "Make it Happen" isawesome, pushing the intensely rhythmic ESG-style sassiness that theoriginal only hinted at. Dempsey's "ODB on the Run" is a chaoticallyfunny avant-dance track about Big Baby Jesus' run-in with the law andthe disc ends with a weirdly out-of-place, laptop-treated guitar balladby The Boy Lucas. Like most compilations of this sort, this is aninconsistent listen with a few gems that may or may not be worth theprice.

samples:

• LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge
• The Rapture - Olio
• Playgroup - Make It Happen (Zongamin Remix)

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

Ace Records
I am definitely and unashamedly one of the legion of obsessive fans ofBrian Wilson. I wholeheartedly agree with all of the critics who nevertire of declaring Wilson a genius of pop songcraft and production. Ihave faithfully collected all the prime Beach Boys material—LPreissues, box sets, 45s, live albums, bootlegs, "Best Of" albums, etc.To my already absurd Wilson collection, I can now add this interestingarchival disc, recently released by Ace Records of London. Ace Recordsis a label for music collectors and junkies, specializing inre-releases of forgotten rock n' roll treasures and lost musicalexotica from the 18's and 60's. This disc may be their mostirresistable release yet, as it is the first to compile all of thenon-Beach Boys material produced by Brian Wilson in his sixties heyday.Someone has obviously gone to a lot of trouble to track down all thoserare 45s and lesser-known one-off projects. As an archival compilation,Pet Projectsis unparalleled. As a listening experience, however, the disc issomewhat more problematic. It is a pure pleasure to hear the first twotracks, a pair of Phil Spector-influenced teenage symphonies performedby Sharon Marie, a girlfriend of Beach Boy Mike Love. Wilson and Love'smediocre ballads are transformed by Brian's studio genius intoover-the-top orchestral blowouts, matching (and often exceeding) thebar set by Spector, Brian's hero and a huge influence on the evolutionof his studio sound. It's hard to remember that forty years before hestarted murdering B-movie actresses, Phil Spector was the innovator ofstudio-created, multi-layered pop masterpieces that influenced ageneration of producers. Spector and Wilson became the first "star"producers—their production genius was recognized as the primary elementof the music, more important than the song or the singer. Wilson andthree of his friends called themselves The Survivors, and cut a one-offsingle "Pamela Jean" with the instrumental b-side "After the Game." Thea-side recalls the classic Beach Boys sound of "Help Me, Rhonda," butthe b-side is an early preview of the complex, emotive instrumentaltracks that Brian would write and produce for Pet Sounds a couple yearslater. There is also a glimpse here of Brian Wilson, the acid casualty:Dean Torrance (of surf-pop duo Jan & Dean), using the fictitiousband name The Lauging Gravy, recorded a version of Brian's psychedelicbarbershop quartet song "Vegetables," originally recorded for thenever-completed Smile. The song sounds just as bizarre here as on the numerous Smilebootlegs. The rest of the disc is dominated by 45s released by Wilson'sgirl groups The Honeys, Rachel and the Revolvers and American Spring.Although most of these groups are long-forgotten for good reasons,there is a naive charm and excitement to songs like "Pray for Surf" and"He's a Doll" that recall everything that is wonderful and beguilingabout the girl groups of the early sixties. These songs would not beout of place on Music for Pussycats (the Boyd Rice-compiled love-letter to girl-group pop). Pet Projects is a unique, if somewhat frustrating, look back at the "lost" treasures of one of pop music's most fascinating talents. 

samples:

• Sharon Marie - Run-Around Lover
• The Survivors - After the Game
• The Laughing Gravy - Vegetables

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

Silber
The many styles of Jon DeRosa are on full display these days, with new albums from Pale Horse and Rider and this project being released so close to each other. Where DeRosa is getting a lot of press these days for PHaR, it is Aarktica that started his journey into somber melodies, though for his latest, it seems the more song-like structure of the former informs the latter. Pure Tone Audiometryrefers to a hearing test that DeRosa had when he lost the hearing in his right ear several years ago. It is also the most rock-oriented of DeRosa's releases. Where previous Aarktica recordings were primarily drone and buzz, and PHaR very acoustic and downbeat, this music is full-sounding, almost playful in places, and very mapped-out. Sounds appear and disappear, spliced in and out with the skill of a surgeon, and everything dances around your ears like it was born to be there. The chilling vocals on the opening track almost drown out the science film wild track, and altogether it sounds like a chorus of technology, humanity, and the otherworldly. Elsewhere, the electro-pop returns, with electric guitar, programmed beats, and the sullen but liquid voice of DeRosa gracing the other tones. Then, real drums snap into focus, and the sound of a full band, something unheard of Aarktica releases, fills the speakers and pulses with raw energy. The harmony chorus vocals all over the record breathe real life into this material, so much so that it alone almost eclipses all his other work. This is not to say that DeRosa has left behind his old devices, as"Snowstorm Ruins Birthday" and "Water Wakes Dead Cells" clearly display. He has, however, found a growth, a leap forward, that was not expected, but certainly most welcome.

samples:

• Out to Sea
• The Mimicry All Women Use
• Snowstorm Ruins Birthday

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

Mute
When I learned several months ago that Goldfrapp's forthcoming second album was to be titled Black Cherry,my first thought was how fitting of a title it would be. After fallingin love with the sweet, dark, succulent meoldies on their outstandingdebut, Felt Mountain, I anticipated hearing what the band hadbeen up to in the studio for the past two and a half years. It seemsthat in the interim, Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have largelychanged their style. Straying from the moody, cinematic quality oftheir previous record, Black Cherry is a synth-driven,erotically-charged collection of songs combining Giorgio Moroder, Add Nto [X] and Olivia Newton-John circa 1979. Even Alison herself hasundergone a makeover: gone are the Heidi braids and muddy rubberboots—the eye-catching photo of her inside the sleeve reflects a crossbetween Elegant Gothic Lolita and Dorothy of Kansas.
"Train," the first single from the album, is bound for dancefloor fame.Alison is in full-on diva mode, and the thumping bassline and jaggedsynth rhythms are bound to make jaws drop from those who were expectingthe subtlety found on tracks like "Utopia" from Goldfrapp's debut. Thistrack is followed by the title cut, a meandering, bland mix ofuninspired string arrangements and monotone vocals. It is evidence ofone of the album's weak spot: the down-tempo songs, like this, "HairyTrees" and "Forever," are sappy and nearly indistinguishable. This timearound, Goldfrapp seem to be much more comfortable when they're overt.Their sexual themes lyrically reflect this as well, and have beenexpanded from Felt Mountainnearly to the point of being gratuitous. Hints of eroticism found onthe previous record have become morphed into naughtily playful lyricslike "put your dirty angel face / between my legs and knicker lace" onone of the strongest tracks, "Twist." Meanwhile, "Strict Machine"features a sexy beat throughout that resembles the cracking of a whip.
All in all, while Black Cherryis wholly entertaining, it does not bring to bear the inventiveness andemotional power of its predecessor. Additionally, Alison's voice doesnot show the range she's capable of (no yodeling this time around),although musically, the synths are very expertly and creatively handledby the duo. At its best, it's a sweet, dark, succulent pop record, butif you're searching for something mindblowing, best not to look here. 

samples:

• Train
• Black Cherry
• Twist

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

Music Fellowship
Part two in The Music Fellowship Triptychs series finds more of thesame beautiful instrumental noise rock, just from different talents.Kinski, Paik, and Surface of Eceyon have all gained acclaim for theirindividual and unique contributions to the drone rock landscape, thatis becoming more of a pastiche these days. All the groups havedifferent sounds when listened to separately, but together, as they arein this series, they tend to sound very much the same. This is notnecessarily a mark against them, however, as the more the music has thesame organic feel and structure, the more it comes off as a cohesiverelease and therefore more palatable. All three bands have newfull-length records coming out on separate labels later in the year,and if this EP is any indication those records could level a city. Onthe cleverly-titled "Keep Clear of Me, I Am Maneuvering WithDifficulty," Kinski continues with their typical sonic explorations,this time in one track with three separate movements. Completelyimprovised, the music blends nicely into each piece, slowly building tostart, then unleashing in a crushing rhythm and a bleeding, wailingdistortion of guitars. It annoys successfully, even while it impresses,then fades out in a lovely buzz and tremble meld of organ and synthsounds, as if the song wants to give your ears a salve. Paik doesn'twade in at all, just menaces with a brooding bassline and feedback.Echoed guitars join to up the noise factor, and then the hammer fallswith the measured persistence of the drums. Paik's second song, "Eva,"is lighter in tone, but a well-crafted selection that leads well intothe music of Surface of Eceyon. With no explanation as to the slightchange in their name (nor an explanation as to why both spellingsappear in the booklet), this brave collaboration between members ofLanding and Yume Bitsu with Phil Jenkins gives a taste of theirconception in their composition. "Concert of Stars" was recorded duringone of the band's early sessions together, though it sounds like anevolution of sound. Pure improvisation from the vessyl informs theirinstruments and minds to create a thirty-minute opus of ambient beauty.It certainly bears an appropriate name, too, as I could easily enjoy avisit to the planetarium if this was the soundtrack. This second partof the Tryyptych Series rivals the first and is worth a concentratedlisten, even if some of the music is better absorbed then heard.

samples:

• Kinski - Keep Clear of Me, I Am Maneuvering With Difficulty
• Paik - Spanish Holiday
• Surface of Eceyon - Concert of Stars

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11 May 2003

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Albums and Singles

Warp
At one time the main focus in hip hop music were the MCs; their socialand (at times) political messages relayed with quick-cut rhymes, cleverwordplay and attitude over a cool, sampled yet repetitive backingtrack. Over the last bunch of years, the role of DJ/producer has gainedas much, if not more attention than their MC counterparts, which, inturn, has pushed the envelope of the genre. With One Word Extinguisher,the second full length release as Prefuse 73, multi-aliased producerScott Herren continues to creatively fuse hip hop beats and samplingwith certain elements of electronic music to form a uniquecompositional style. A disc of mostly instrumental tracks, Herrenenlists the MC skills of Diverse to drive the synth-gurgling of"Plastic" and a brief rhythmic social commentary from Mr. Lif on theominous progressions of "Huevos With Jeff and Rani." The use of clippedvocal textures and spoken word samples also factor in throughout thedisc's 23 tracks. The steady polyrhythmic beat shifting of "The Colorof Tempo" plays off a choppy melody played by what could either be atwisted soprano saxophone sample or a really warbly synth patch for anupdate on some '70s instrumental soul music. Teaming with fellowproducer Daedelus, the speedy keyboard tremolo and human beatboxpropelled "Busy Signal (Make You Go Bombing Mix)" swells with stringsamples and sneaks in some bass clarinet for an upbeat yet surprisinglyeerie mix. The simple rhythm section groove supporting a sampledsaxophone motif, strings and simple xylophone on "Perverted Undertone"come across as paramount in feel for one of the disc's more subtlehighlights. Skateboarding legend Tommy Guerrero lends his soulfulmulti-tracked guitar playing to "Strom Returns" as the latin-jazzelement in the hip hop concept. Herren continues to update up the usualstraight-ahead beats with his clever use polyrhythmics as heard on lastyear's The '92 vs '02 Collection EP and the percussive sampling style from his Vocal Studies + Uprock Narrativesdebut. Over the span of sixty minutes, the tunes move between flashesof excitement and some great compositional grooves with a fewinterludes that give the disc a natural flow. With Prefuse 73 currentlyon tour, this new material will make a great live set even moreentertaining.

samples:

• Busy Signal
• Color of Tempo
• Perverted Under

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