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I was mesmerized the first time I saw Maria Moran, otherwise known asZipperspy, play at a gig opening for Zbigniew Karkowski, whom she blewout of the water with a commanding and enigmatic performance. Armedwith her laptop, Moran unleashed a fury of aggressive distortion andpulse-pounding beats. Upon learning a few months later of her newalbum, 'Glass Bomb Baby', by Darla sub-label Fuzzy Box, I was eager toget my hands on it as soon as possible. Sadly, I discovered that herrecord does not fully live up to the strength of her live act. Thealbum is a patchwork of convulsive gabber loops, electronic twitchesand twitters, vocal fragments, and eerie bits of instrumentation. Thetracks themselves are usually two minutes long or less, and seem to bepieces Moran has culled from various sources, such as live performancesand "phone machine in Oakland" (?). 'Glass Bomb Baby', despite beingunspectacular, is by no means dismissable. Moran's integrity and hardwork are evident. Perhaps Zipperspy just has to been seen to bebelieved.
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Reading, UK quintet Saloon emerge with their debut full-length album,following a steady stream of 7" singles over the past four years.Produced with assistance from multi-talented Mahogany frontman AndrewPrinz (who also was responsible for the album's eye-catching artwork),'(This Is) What We Call Progress' is ten songs of gently ebbingguitars, a smattering of synths, warm viola, exotic hints of melodicaand glockenspiel, and sweet female vocals. Saloon has a lot of goodideas and obviously are a gifted group of musicians (not to mentionhave a sense of humor with song titles like "Girls Are the New Boys"and "My Everyday Silver Is Plastic"), but their debut is somehowlacking the punch to really make them stand out from the crowd. Thatsaid, 'Progress' has those promising moments that lead me to believeperhaps the band has the potential to do this. "2500 Walden Avenue" isa dreamy, moody ballad that captures Saloon at their most creative."Girls Are the New Boys" exhibits their versatility and dynamism.Sadly, though, the high points just don't equal consistency. 'Progress'is charming and will likely please fans of rock in the vein of acertain farfisa-driven group, but is not a must-have.
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I have to preface this review by telling how I first discovered ToddGautreau's music back in my college radio days. I worked the overnightshift playing industrial and experimental music to the drunk and/orstudious kids at Boston University. Alone in the studio at 1AM,browsing the shelves for new music becomes a weekly activity. It washere that I found a dark ambient album (though nothing as grim as theCold Meat Industry I used to play) by a project called Tear Ceremony. Ireally enjoyed 'Film Decay' because it was different from so much ofwhat I was used to listening to. Later, however, we received a CD byanother project of Gautreau's named Sonogram. 'Heartbeat Submarines'was an impressive work, overflowing with positive vibes and ultra-warmsynth tones (such as on the excellent "Dresden Girls" and "ConcaveHeart"). Having said all that, the arrival (weak pun intended) of thisnew Sonogram CD in my mailbox was a welcome surprise. The same feelingsevoked from the prior album are present here on 'Arrival Lounge,'accompanied this time by more prominent yet still rather light beatstructures. The title track opens the album with a piano line similarto Radiohead's "Everything In It's Right Place," but instead of beingglitchy and bizarre, morphs into a smooth jazzy ambient piece. The pacestays relatively downtempo for the bulk of the album, increasing inpace occasionally like on "Portal", a drum n' bass track stuffed withSonogram's signature noodly synths. Some other highlights here includethe deep house groove of "Pixel Dust" and Moog-like textures of"Hummer." Though Gautreau seems to release exclusively throughSimulacra, I could easily see songs like "Dramamine" appear on somehigh-profile experimental labels out there, despite the ever-presentpop sentiments. In a day and age where Brazilian rhythms and rehashedbossa nova classics are appropriated by well-dressed Austrian DJs formartini swilling crowds in jet-set lounges (boy do I wish I was in oneof those right now), Sonogram gives a welcome alternative for thelaptop set desperately needing a break from all of Squarepusher noiseand Kid606 mashups.
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A good cover of someone else's song is often a tricky thing. You haveto capture the essence of the song without doing an exact copy of theoriginal. You have to find the right elements to make it your ownwithout damaging the integrity of the basis for your tribute. This iswhy most tribute records these days fail miserably. "Reservoir Songs,"the newest release from Crooked Fingers, does not fail in this regard.This five song EP is probably the best collection of covers I've heard,mainly because of Eric Bachmann's unflinching interpretation of thesesongs. Due to the nature of his sound with Crooked Fingers - muchfolkier and downtrodden than any of his work with Archers of Loaf -these covers are very sparse, with few instruments being used, thusgiving everything a poor boy beauty. This is also the first time on aCrooked Fingers release that Bachmann's regular touring ensemble joinshim in the studio. The songs sound like they were recorded live totape, with little over-dubbing, which also leads to a natural sound,warts and all. And his choice of covers? Not surprising, for the mostpart, considering Bachmann's work in this band. There's a KrisKristofferson cover, a Johnny Cash cover, and, since there are manycomparisons drawn between their voices, a Springsteen cover. It's thelast two that tweak the head a little on first listen. Crooked Fingersdoing 'When U Were Mine' by Prince? Fantastic harmonies, and basing thewhole thing around banjo make for a smooth ride. 'Under Pressure' byQueen/David Bowie? Luckily, Bachmann stays in the Bowie vain anddoesn't try for the Freddy Mercury notes. Bachmann has said in recentinterviews that he would like to release more covers EPs periodically,making a series out of them. In that case, I look forward to the nextone, as Bachmann truly has the essence right.
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I sure do love it when an album which you have high expectations ofmeets and exceeds those expectations. Such is the case with the latest(and apparently final) offering from Heid, a Swedish dark ambient groupwhose hard-to-find debut and sophomore disc on Malignant provedthemselves a group of talented fellows. This album serves as a sort ofa "best-of," I always find it hard to appropriately describe darkambient music without lapsing into a mindless jumble of adjectives...but I have to say that 'Pilgrim' is wonderfully liquid and floaty.Despite the fact that some (or all? Not having heard the first album, Icannot say for sure) of the material here is culled from earlierreleases, the re-mixing and re-working of the tracks make them soundsplendid together and makes it sound like an individual album, ratherthan a compilation of previous pieces. Heid's members have now gonetheir separate ways (the death of one project resulted in the birth oftwo just as great, Survival Unit and L.E.A.K.) but this CD is a fittingepitaph to their work, though I do wish it had included new material toboot. The album works so well as a whole, though, that it all soundspretty much new to me, and should be sitting on top of my'CMI-dark-ambient list' for a while to come.
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Some will remember the Romans as a supergroup of sorts, comprised of members of LA's more aggressively strange bands Monitor, Human Hands, and the Los Angeles Free Music Society, among others. Whereas some of the members' previous bands were intellectual and confrontational art-punk, the Romans' music is much more straightforward and fun.
This CD reissues their 1983 LP, along with plenty of extra tracks from 1979 through 1984. Tunes like "Motu Tapu", "Footsteps" and "Nazarene" could be precursors of Shadowy Men from a Shadowy Planet's sideways surf-rock. Other tracks expose the band's roots nicely, as in the dark "Tuned Out" (whose bass-led, dramatic elegance suggests that maybe some folks outside of Boston were listening to Mission of Burma records back then) or the odd synthesizers and tape effects that pop up in unexpected places. The opening and closing tracks of heavy electronic drift are even more interesting when placed side-by-side with the surf tunes. But the mix of electronics and party-rock never feels forced or kitschy (as with recent Trans Am); it comes across as an honest extension of a single, multi-facted musical idea. The production is clearly the star of the show here, downplaying the jazz-guitar licks and bright horns with understated, dissonant keyboard lines that throw off the otherwise upbeat tunes just enough to keep things interesting.
 
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The second disc for this Finnish industrial/power-electronics act proves to be by far their strongest work yet. After a short stint of consuming as much power electronics/noise as I could, I sort of lost touch with it and have since not enjoyed it as much as I used to, save for some classic acts - one of whom is STROM.ec.Malignant
Recorded a while ago and finally released on Malignant sublabel Black Plagve (*THE* label for delays!), 'Neural Architect' is an intense, interesting, varied, and powerful journey through Finnish industrial. Starting off on a high note with the ultra-sub-death-bass of 'Peilikuva,' the album takes a refreshing varied journey through several types of sound - the aforementioned noisy malevolence of 'Peilikuva' or the rhythms of 'Herra' as well as some more subdued ambient pieces. This, my friends, is the way to keep power electronics interesting: variation. Just like Anenzephalia's live album released last year, 'Neural Architect' keeps your attention focused and your mouth watering by using - not abusing - distortion and noise. Slick and tasteful artwork by Salt (this guy has about ten thousand projects concurrently existing) rounds off the package and makes this a must-get for power electronics fans.
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Someone please take the vocoder away from Knodel. Like a joke that'skind of funny the first time and stops being funny soon after, Knodel'sTrans-Am-meets-They-Might-Be-Giants 80s-metal/synth-rock is cornywithout being very clever. Numerous references to "Knodel" - Knodellikes to rock, Knodel unchained, Don't fear for Knodel, It's a Knodelworld, etc - are probably hilarious to the members of the band, but inme they illicit the rolling of the eyes. The vocals don't help - whenthey're not vocoded (and they're vocoded a LOT) the two voices soundlike a duet between TMBG's John Linnell and the falsetto from "The LionSleeps Tonight." The choices in keyboard sounds leaves a lot to bedesired, too. Granted, there are a few moments on the disc that mightmake you think, "OK, Knodel's not THAT bad," but these moments are fewand far-between. The best moment on the entire album is the first 45seconds of the opening title track, and it's all downhill from there.It's not that I don't like music that has a sense of humor - I reallydo, and I even appreciate the cover of 80s cheese-metal group Manowar's"Kingdom Come" - but the music has got to be worthwhile at the sametime. I guess I should give Knodel credit for the fact that they'vebeen making retro synth rock for four years or so (since before it wasso dang hip), but do we really need another band ironically singing,"We wanna rock, we wanna rock you now"? Doesn't the joke ever get old?Apparently to Knodel, it doesn't.
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The first striking quality of Early Day Miners is the almostundisputable sense of unpretentious openness conveyed merely in theinstrumentation alone. The warm, inviting melodies are slow moving, butnever fragile or weak, often building to emotional climaxes as a numberof guitar layers each play unique roles, not entirely unlike some ofthe best Bedhead moments. Strings accent a number of crescendingmoments, but overall, a bigger presence would be much more appreciatedthroughout the record. The vocals, however, strike me much differently.Vocals are much more important than most bands realize. If a bandchooses to use vocals, then they need to clearly live and exist withthe amount of delicacy and care given to the other instruments. Two ofmy own biggest issues with vocals in general are painfully exhibited onthis album. First off, I cringe at double-tracked unharmonized vocals.There needs to be a strong reason when there's two singers or twotracks of voices going, and that reason should be harmony. My otherproblem is when vocalists are just too shy, timid, and the volumes justblend so deeply into the music that there's hardly a reason for them tobe there in the first place. For me, the second full-length album fromthis Bloomington-based group would as an excellent instrumental record,as their songwriting and playing talents are complimented by equallyimpressive production skills. My own personal favorite moment being theonly instrumental song, "Summer Wake," a gorgeous interplay betweenstrings, acoustic and electric guitar. In the end, it's the vocalswhich could either use a lot more TLC or just be scrapped.
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From the moment the slick snares and electro-tinged melodies on "Blind"sputtered from my stereo, I knew I was going to dig 'Iron City.' JeffMcIlwain, whose productions have appeared on labels like Isophlux andU-Cover, presents this fourth album of groovy IDM under the Lusine ICLmoniker, and makes me wonder why I've ignored him for so long. A sharedrelease between partners Hymen Records and Mad Monkey Records, "IronCity" ranges from funky post-electro workouts to Mille-Plateaux styledexperiments. Examples of the former include the video-game inspired"Tonic" and the aforementioned "Blind." "Bent" is a 4/4 head-nodderwith spacey dub effects that seem ripped off of an Force Inccompilation. This one would easily have fit on Force Lab's recentAlgorithm mix CD. I'd love to hear more of his work in this style. Themore abstract tracks like "Invisible" and the seemingly endless "TheFast Lane" are easily skipped over, but the hip-hop influenced"Perpetual" and "Scheming" redeem the CD and show McIlwain'sflexibility and range. While he's not about to be the next Timbaland orSwizz Beatz, that's pretty irrelevant to most IDM listeners who haven'tbought a commercial rap release since they were in junior high. Attimes, Lusine ICL can be a bit repetitive, but he manages to introduceenough new elements as tracks progress to stave off boredom. Unlessyou're some kind of improv fanatic, I doubt you'll have trouble findingsomething here to suit your listening needs.
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Sure it came out about a year and a half ago, but I just got my hands on it and felt like sharing. Tommy Guerrero was a full-time professional skateboarder, one who'd competed and skated with the best. He formed his own San Francisco-based skateboard company, Real Skateboards, several years back, and also gained notice as an talented musician in his own right with his debut release "Loose Grooves & Bastard Blues" in 1998.Function 8
Also from San Francisco, Gadget gained respect as a skilled DJ and beat composer, forming the Function 8 record and multimedia company/collective in 1995. Together, these two San Francisco natives pay homage to the city they love on "Hoy Yen Ass'n," a funky collection of songs featuring the guitar and bass stylings of Guerrero with the beat mastering and record scratching of Gadget. It's like Jet Black Crayon without live drums and with only one bass (both are also in JBC, who are STILL recording their much-anticipated debut album). It's funky, well-composed, and a kick in the pants. The record works best when it's just Gadget sampling vocals and composing beats with Guerrero making time on the bass. Guest vocalists John Gold. and Selavie aren't bad, but the songs before and after their appearances are far superior. These songs just get the body moving in all the right ways. 'RF Interference' is a soul-searching, organ and bass driven jazz influenced groove; 'Out the Village,' the following track, is shout-outs, hand claps, and funk bass. You can definitely sense the influences. It's a disparate work, but one that works on every plane it reaches for. Check it out.
 
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