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16 December 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Just in time for the holidays is the reissue of V/Vm Test Records' veryfirst Christmas single! Included on the new 3" are all six tracks fromthe original 7" single plus a brand new Christmas treat for 2001: atimeless terrible Paul McCartney tune that time forgot, "Pipes ofPeace". Sure, we all know that the Stockport crew are a bunch of hacks,but there's something amazingly charming about the sounds of deformedclassics threadded through hosts of effects, banks and glitches alongwith creepy new takes on irritating joyous songs unavoidable like thatSalvation Army guy with the bell who won't stop. After a long day ofavoiding grouchy drivers, pushy shoppers and everything else that comesalong with the holiday season, it's nice to throw on something hauntinglike Animal's "Oil Come All Ye Industrial" or the chopped-up audiocollage of Prof. Broxburn's "Christmas Fractions and Brandy Snaps" atunbearingly loud volumes. I think that's even James and Andy singingkaraoke on the V/Vm live show 1997 track! And to think these guys claimto have never heard of Nurse With Wound!

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16 December 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Solid State is, without a doubt, the best IDM album released in 2001.Now, them's fightin' words, I know - but let us consider thecontenders. Brothomstates' "Claro" was an excerise in derivativenesswhich went absolutely nowhere. "Drukqs"? No, thank you, 1996 was fiveyears ago. "Confield"? Very interesting and pushing experimentalboundaries, but not something you listen to often. "Double Figure"?Now, there's a contender, but.. anyway, Solid State rules. The twoDutch brothers known as Funckarma have singlehandedly tapped into thatamazing Tri Repetae-style of IDM, added some real instruments, and madean album that sounds brand new while feeling delightfully familiar.What I'm trying to say is that Solid State is clearly influenced by themasters, Autechre - but never so much that it sounds like a ripoff orsomething unoriginal (*cough* Funkstorung). What really sets it apart,though, is the beautiful (and real) instrumentation - upright bass in"Lolala," sighing violins in "Bace"... lush sounds that give it anorganic edge the likes of which you only find in something like, say,Plaid's latest album. But electronic-noodling fans, fear not, sinceSolid State delivers those goods too: just listen to "Nuncas" and feelthe way the synth squiggles between your ears.... it's classic. Trulyclassic. These guys clearly aren't getting the recognition they deserve.

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16 December 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Just in time for the holidays is the reissue of V/Vm Test Records' veryfirst Christmas single! Included on the new 3" are all six tracks fromthe original 7" single plus a brand new Christmas treat for 2001: atimeless terrible Paul McCartney tune that time forgot, "Pipes ofPeace". Sure, we all know that the Stockport crew are a bunch of hacks,but there's something amazingly charming about the sounds of deformedclassics threadded through hosts of effects, banks and glitches alongwith creepy new takes on irritating joyous songs unavoidable like thatSalvation Army guy with the bell who won't stop. After a long day ofavoiding grouchy drivers, pushy shoppers and everything else that comesalong with the holiday season, it's nice to throw on something hauntinglike Animal's "Oil Come All Ye Industrial" or the chopped-up audiocollage of Prof. Broxburn's "Christmas Fractions and Brandy Snaps" atunbearingly loud volumes. I think that's even James and Andy singingkaraoke on the V/Vm live show 1997 track! And to think these guys claimto have never heard of Nurse With Wound!

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16 December 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

You know those collaborations you read or hear about and you think toyourself 'now that's gonna be cool' but then you finally hear it andare completely underwhelmed? Ok then, lets file this one in that bin.
Iceland's Kitchen Motors label has been unifying and challengingdifferent artists with their commendable Motorlab series, this beingthe 3rd installment. They approached Adamson and Pan Sonic to compose avocal piece for Iceland's HljÑmeyki choir and that they did this pastApril in Reykjavik. For about 12 and 1/2 minutes, "The Hymn of the 7thIllusion" aimlessly treks through windy terrain, simple vocal 'ahhhs'and bass reverberations being somewhat of a guiding light. It's aminimal bore that never achieves any sort of tension or serves any sortof purpose. After a silent 24 second interlude, an even more dull 23minute glitchified remix by The Hafler Trio only adds insult to injury.A tremendous waste of potential all around that doesn't even begin totap the talents of those involved. Me, I semi-patiently continue towait for the new Adamson album, "Nothing Hill", due out early next year.

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25 November 2001

Terry McGaughey

Albums and Singles

Anticipated and found were: the visions of beauty in the blindness ofchaos, the sound of confusion to adore, the overlapping of panic intosensuality, and the questioning angels in the shadows. The setting - asubterrenean sunset still from Orphee. So if it's good enough forCocteau then it's good enough for me - listless beauty and all that.What I hadn't anticipated was to find that Cyclobe have embraced evenfurther the peripheral vapour-trails left by Luminous Darkness, theirdebut, and created a stunning and completely unique take on what I callectoplasmic music: it feels like the sounds are leaking out of thespeakers and seeping into the listeners ear-drums. It has taken form,if that's the right expression, and unfolds over the seven tracks of'The Visitors'. Or it could also be the little specks of chaos onlyhitherto peeked at in Sun Ra moog solos, LSD-period Coil, earlyThrowing Muses and The Fall.
'The Visitors' is a constantly evolving, shape-shifting work that moveselegantly (or uncomfortably) between a state of grace and the struggleto hold onto that grace. "Brightness falls from the air" makes thisnotion explicit from the outset, the unsettled rumbling giving way hereand there to gentle swathes of melody and hideously warped keyboards.It shudders and vibrates at the same time, and is a devastatingcombination: the celestial is both welcomed and feared. Similarly for"The body feels light and wants to fly"; the sounds are so subdued, thestructure so viscous and arrested, that once it breaks free andactually flies, the listener is tempted to gulp for air.
"If you want to see that nothing is left" wraps its pulsing, subduedelectronic textures around a spiralling string section, each strugglingto overpower the other. In the end though, its the organic, bodilyaspect — the strings — that win. "Replaced by his constellation"literally replaces itself over and over, in an endlessly buildingserenade that could be mounting orgasm or encroaching panic; and whenit suddenly breaks free into a shimmering set of harmonies you realiseit is the former.
The apprehension and threat of Luminous Darkness is replaced by abarely restrained infra-music that seems constantly at the brink ofmetamorphosising onto a new plane that Cyclobe themselves can't forsee.The Visitors vibrates and crackles.

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25 November 2001

Juan Croucier

Albums and Singles

On first listen to Dntel's new album, you want to swear that it'sEuropean; yet another brilliant out-of-nowhere young German makingbeautifully skittery electronica on their laptop. But the first of manysurprises on this breathtaking record is that it's a product of LosAngeles native Jimmy Tamborello, with the magical help of a whole slewof friends.
The disc glides along with gorgeous vocal accompaniment from Mia DoiTodd, Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Chris Gunst, MeredithFigurine and Rachel Haden (That Dog). Thrown into the mix are alsoBrian McMahan of Slint/For Carnation fame (offering about two chordsworth of guitar on a track) and Paul Larson of Tamborello's formerband, Strictly Ballroom, on guitar. So what does all this do for thesound? A whole hell of a lot, apparently. Tamborello expertly chopsefficient phrases of vocals, guitars and keyboards into nearly flawlesspop songs that rival anything to come out this year. This is at themoment in my Top 10 for the year, just for the Mia Doi Todd andBenjamin Gibbard contributions alone.
It's fitting that most of the lyrics are in some way or another aboutlove. When Mia Doi Todd sings "How can you love me if you don't loveyourself / I love you," you just want to tear what's left of your heartout and hand it to Tamborello because you just know at this point thathe's going to make something better out of it. If you give a shit aboutRadiohead, Four Tet, Lali Puna or Boards of Canada, then you canrightly have your heart crushed and your mind blown for about $14 atyour local record store. Just look for the ambulance.

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25 November 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

I will never forget the night of December 14th, 1998. It was a Mondayevening downstairs at the Middle East in Cambridge. An unusually cold,desolate scene from what is typically packed and overbearingly hot. Theattendees got to sit down on chairs for a change and witness a largescreen with incredible black and white images of the trecherous seasoff the coast of the Aleutian Islands (Alaska). The film was 'DutchHarbor' and the Boxhead Ensemble were improvising the soundtrack as wewatched. Three years and three album releases have passed and theensemble has finally released something that doesn't have anything todo with 'Dutch Harbor', but I can still feel the chill. I stepped inthe car earlier this week late at night with the crisp, cold NewEngland air numbing my face. As I popped the disc on, everythingclicked into place. The dark drive wasn't so bad, there was nobody elsein the car and nothing to say but just sit and listen, watching mybreath in front of me, waiting for the heater to kick in. The recordingopens with a short violin, drum, acoustic guitar and background noiseintro, then moves onto a second track with familiar sparse guitar,strings and drums. It's hard not to sound like the Dirty Three whenboth Jim White and Mick Turner are involved, despite them beingcredited on the 'secondary' list of ensemble members. Boxhead Ensemblehas always been loose enough to sound improvisational, but collectedenough to sound composed. Bit by bit, other instruments are introducedto the mix, including double bass and more bowed strings. Over thecourse of the next few songs, the focus moves from empty andalone-sounding bits to a much warmer sound. Drones, chimes and basssounds eventually fill the space by the time the car heater has kickedin. By the time the sixth piece, the gorgeous "Requiem" comes on, thedrummer and guitarists have been silenced and the strings havecompletely taken over. Gentle guitar and drums return on the next tuneand an elegant interplay continues through the end of the disc. Thefeel returns to the earlier sense of chilly solitude, but at thispoint, the sound is majesitc enough to be an aural impression of agorgeous snow-capped Vermont mountain. It ends with a short epilogue,the instruments mimicing a bitter, cold wind blowing. Although they maynot have done it to somebody else's movie -this- time, the ensemble hasonce again created an appropriate soundtrack for the cold, outdoorexperiences of the northern hemisphere in the wintertime.

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25 November 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Chris Dooks, the musician behind Bovine Life, understands thatpost-techno electronic music need not be a dour affair with art-galleryjustification. His debut full-length CD is thoroughly fun andenjoyable, proudly home-made and full of inspired musical ideas, whilesitting within that strange gray area between dancable electronica andcontemporary computer music. One-finger melodies and concisecompositions (averaging two and a half minutes long) dominate thealbum, which is a nice touch. That Dooks uses very few elements in eachsong is to his benefit as well; he establishes an open and engagingatmosphere that persists even on the darker, more abstract pieces. Themost interesting aspect of "Social Electrics" is the home-made natureof the recordings. The album makes remarkable and inventive use of thetechnical limitations of DIY home recording; a Dr. Sample makes itspresence known many times, as does the factory pre-set hand-clapkeyboard sound, the telltale rise-and-fall swoosh of a ring modulator,and the unmistakable stutter of computer time-stretching. Evidence ofhuman interaction with the sound-producing materials is presentthroughout in the form of manually turned knobs and punched keys, quitethe antithesis to the faceless and flawless sheen of Raster-Music orMille Plateaux. I suppose it's similar to the raw sound of DATPolitics, so a fan of one artist would do well to check out the other.Pretty damn fun stuff.

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25 November 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Peaceful, serene, warm and endearing. I wonder if there's a farm where Thomas Morr harvests all the prettiest electronic music composers. Although Schnauss' album is actually released from City Centre Offices, Morr Music (you remember, that Lali Puna album you keep meaning to pick up) handles the worldwide distribution outside of the UK.

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City Centre Offices

Herr Schnauss has allegedly been doing music for years, yet this is his first major release. Thankfully, he has chosen to use only his six best songs, keeping it under 45 minutes. While the piano melodies, long delays, breathy synths, fluid beats and electronic bass lines are basic, there's something undeniably uplifting about the mix. I sense a strong underlying theme of motion throughout the disc, gently propelling the listener through topographic soundscapes, using some of the most key elements of sound creation and manipulation. Shimmering guitar sounds bring back memories of Cocteau Twins tricks, lush keyboards can easily sink the Boards of Canada and crisp beats are tasteful and never oppressive. 'Far Away' is absent of clicky glitches and is an incredibly clean recording, one which always prompts callers to my radio shows when being played. The perfect setting for a listening would probably be a long bus ride on a sunny day through changing autumn foliage.

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25 November 2001

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Every once in a while a record comes along that is so avant garde, sodifferent, so completely not like anything I've heard, that it almostdefies description. Starlight Mints almost do that. This music isobviously not aimed at radio, not aimed at any one test market, noteven classified by one genre that it's almost impossible to determinewho exactly would listen to it. I would recommend it to anyone wholikes the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev (no brainer there - HellfireMarketing represents all three bands in different capacities), but doesit really sound like any of them? No, not really. In fact, if I wasgoing to describe this, the best I could come up with is Spiders FromMars-era Bowie fronting an art-rock guitar band with a small stringsection, occasionally intermingled with interesting noises for maximumconfusion and effect. Which is funny, since I read ther bio afterforming that opinion, and it name checks Bowie, as well. I mean, it's areally confusing listen. The music grabs you immediately, and it won'tlet go. But where some bands sound like they're confused by their ownmusic, not quite sure how to focus, harness, or direct it, StarlightMints aural confusion is completely MANUFACTURED. That's right:Starlight Mints WANT you to be confounded by this noise. And it isconfounding, but utterly listenable. I mean I CANNOT TAKE THIS CD OUTOF THE PLAYER, it calls to me so much. But I don't know why. Is thatstrange? Yes. But so be it. The only complaint I have is that as thealbum goes on, some songs use similar chord progressions or structuresand dynamics as earlier ones, so it almost sounds gimmicky compared toearlier tracks. But it is always fresh. The lyrics are equally as odd:"sir prize" features the line "Shaking hands with the cats in themirror." And I don't think he means "cats" in that "Hey, that guy's apretty hip cat" sense. He means cats. With four legs and tails. "sugarblaster" says "Follow me to the echo machine." Weird. Try it out, as itis the strangest release you'll hear all year. And that's a good thing,really.

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