Robin Storey, a foundingand former member of Zoviet France, has endeavored for nearly a decadeas Rapoon. With "Cold War" he explores new means of expression whilereflecting upon the burgeoning war induced technology in the otherwise'beautifully stark' British countryside of his youth. The drum n bassportion of the title is somewhat misleading ... Storey has indeedembraced and implemented drums and bass as rhythmic elements but only afew tracks are as frantic as the d 'n b of, say, Squarepusher, Plug orold Photek. And judging from the few other Rapoon CDs (of which thereare dozens) I currently own, this is still very much signature Rapoon.21 tracks ranging from less than 1 to nearly 12 minutes are spread over2 discs. A thick and entrancing mix of ethereal/ghostly atmospheres,voices, samples and brief radio transmissions are melded well with thedrum loops. In most tracks the ambiance enshrouds the rhythm (ordispatches of it completely - always a plus for Rapoon) while in someothers the opposite is true. The results are positive save for 2particular tracks that sound too 'canned' and/or tedious for my liking.A copy of Sonic Foundry's ACID 2.0 for Windoze comes on disc 2 so youcan remix to your heart's delight. The next slated release from Rapoonis a re-issue of the 1997 album "Messianic Ghosts" on KlanggalerieRecords.samples:
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Typically, a 'DJ Mix'record will be a selection of other people's cuts strung together byone semi-popular artist in a continuous mix, sometimes the DJ will beusing their own remixes to somehow give the impression that their nameon the record makes it rather personal, in this case however, JackDangers has spun together a multitude of material that has beenswimming around on Tino Corp releases, all of which include productionin various capacities by Jack Dangers. Old collectors and new fanswould each find great things in this collection. Clocking in at over 61minutes, this collection pulls together not only some exclusive Tinobreaks, Meat Beat Manifesto songs, Loop Finder General tracks, remixesand other appearances, but the exclusive video "Tino's Factory"directed by Ben Stokes (DHS) adds the finishing touch. Also unlike tonsof other DJ mixes, many songs are included in somewhat close to theircomplete form with a refreshing varied tempo. For those who own theTino vinyl, this makes a perfect compact collection for bringing aroundon the walkman or for long drives. Others who have not yet heard theTino Corp records, a disc like this provides a great introduction tothe breakbeat experiments, collecting great dub, latin and tropicalbreaks along that have a flavor distinctly Jack Dangers. samples:
- Loop Finder General - Shave My Head
- Bo Square - Numbers
- DHS - House of God (Jack Dangers Remix)
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- Diane Lewis
- Albums and Singles
Fans of Pere Ubu willdefinitely want to check out the latest from Panopoly Academy ofEngineers. Complete with David Thomas-esque shrieks and squeaks,Panopoly Academy's third full-length release paints (or splatters) anoff-kilter post-punk soundscape. Pounding basslines and grindingguitars divert into watery, wandering interludes before lurching backinto jittery assault. The album's nine songs are grouped into threes,each its own suite, so that one track and the next often collide.However, each song definitely has an unpredictable arc of its own. "TskTsk" begins with a ticking twisting together of drums (Ryan Hicks),chewy bass (Pete Schreiner), and guitars (Marty Sprowles) that unravelsas soon as Darin Glenn's vocals intervene, "Your culture co-opt,contain." After only a brief return to the tension of its openingstrains, the track explodes into a funky twitch that subsides intosilence before winding up for a final handful of crashing chords and anunsettling chorus of chirpy, layered vocals. The entire album is densewith twists, jerks, and unexpected directions, every musical spasmproducing its own bizarre pleasure. Mm, battering rhythms...bleatingguitars... Depending on your usual musical inclinations, this sort ofthing can also be exhausting. While it's possible that such jaggedterrain could use some more developed passages, it's more likely theband's frenetic style just takes a little getting used to. Check itout. Previous Panopoly Academy releases can also be found underPanopoly Academy Glee Club, and an upcoming album will sport the namePanopoly Academy Legionnaires. Schizophrenia by any other name.samples:
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Following the AC/DC kickstarted with his EP, "Rock 'n Roll Singer," Red House Painters' frontman, Mark Kozelek has completely re-rearranged an entire album's worthof tracks for solo voice and acoustic guitar. Once again his choice ofAC/DC cuts come from the old Bon Scott-era, including reinterpretationsof tracks that appeared on last year's EP. The tracks are original inthe sense that any fan of Kozelek's knows he has a knack of completelyrewriting the music while keeping the lyrics intact, a trend going wayback to Red House Painters' eponymous third album from '93. While thisalbum is a homage, and shows a side of him even softer and moresensitive than the frequent distortion-filled guitar solo-stretchedlabel-dropping songs from RHP, I'm really aching for a new trick. Tohis credit, he has essentially made these songs his, as the convictionis resounding true from his voice. His talents as an acoustic guitaristand arranger are shining bright, as these hard-edge rock and rollclassics have almost become endearing love songs. One of my complaintsis that these ten songs, which total exactly 30 minute, could haveeasily been released on the same disc as last year's EP. Other thanthat, longtime fans shouldn't feel let down, 'Old Ramon' is scheduledsometime very shortly.samples:
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- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Robin Storey, a foundingand former member of Zoviet France, has endeavored for nearly a decadeas Rapoon. With "Cold War" he explores new means of expression whilereflecting upon the burgeoning war induced technology in the otherwise'beautifully stark' British countryside of his youth. The drum n bassportion of the title is somewhat misleading ... Storey has indeedembraced and implemented drums and bass as rhythmic elements but only afew tracks are as frantic as the d 'n b of, say, Squarepusher, Plug orold Photek. And judging from the few other Rapoon CDs (of which thereare dozens) I currently own, this is still very much signature Rapoon.21 tracks ranging from less than 1 to nearly 12 minutes are spread over2 discs. A thick and entrancing mix of ethereal/ghostly atmospheres,voices, samples and brief radio transmissions are melded well with thedrum loops. In most tracks the ambiance enshrouds the rhythm (ordispatches of it completely - always a plus for Rapoon) while in someothers the opposite is true. The results are positive save for 2particular tracks that sound too 'canned' and/or tedious for my liking.A copy of Sonic Foundry's ACID 2.0 for Windoze comes on disc 2 so youcan remix to your heart's delight. The next slated release from Rapoonis a re-issue of the 1997 album "Messianic Ghosts" on KlanggalerieRecords.samples:
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Oh yes, the digipack is a lovely shade of peach.
JAN JALINEK "LOOP-FINDING-JAZZ-RECORDS"
German Jan Jelinek has recorded since 1998, also as Farben and Gramm, and this is his debut album for Stefan Betke's (aka Pole) ~scape label. According to the press release Jelinek feeds '60s and '70s jazz records into his sampler to glean single seconds for source material. These micro loops are then cut and pasted into a sonic collage with aid of the sampler's modulation wheel. The result is not so much jazz but something similar to Chain Reaction styled wash techno and, not surprisingly, the minimized glitch dub of Pole. In fact, if it weren't for the press release, I would not have known that jazz was involved in this at all. Jelinek's ear for melody and depth is verily apparent in that he shapes the appropriated warm and fuzzy digital bits into eight pleasant 5 to 8 minute head nodders. "Moiré (Piano & Organ)" and "Moiré (Strings) create the shimmering pattern for which they're named through, apparently, piano, organ and string notes. "Rock in the Video Age" and "Tendency" are the most dance oriented tracks. That's about all I can say. Nice stuff. Oh yes, the digipack is a lovely shade of peach.
German Jan Jelinek has recorded since 1998, also as Farben and Gramm, and this is his debut album for Stefan Betke's (aka Pole) ~scape label. According to the press release Jelinek feeds '60s and '70s jazz records into his sampler to glean single seconds for source material. These micro loops are then cut and pasted into a sonic collage with aid of the sampler's modulation wheel. The result is not so much jazz but something similar to Chain Reaction styled wash techno and, not surprisingly, the minimized glitch dub of Pole. In fact, if it weren't for the press release, I would not have known that jazz was involved in this at all. Jelinek's ear for melody and depth is verily apparent in that he shapes the appropriated warm and fuzzy digital bits into eight pleasant 5 to 8 minute head nodders. "Moiré (Piano & Organ)" and "Moiré (Strings) create the shimmering pattern for which they're named through, apparently, piano, organ and string notes. "Rock in the Video Age" and "Tendency" are the most dance oriented tracks. That's about all I can say. Nice stuff. Oh yes, the digipack is a lovely shade of peach.samples:
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
COH, "IRON"
"Iron" is the third full length from COH, aka Ivan Pavlov, follow-up proper to 1998's "Enter Tinnitus" and the second release from his own Wavetrap Records. It comes in a thin foldup with cover art created by hot iron pressed to media, the 'wavetrap' logo inside beneath the disc curiously misspelled 'wavecrap'. Past COH albums have been presented as 'pop' and 'disco' while this one is literally dedicated to 'heavy metal fans all over the world'. How serious are we to take this? Some track titles are obvious tongue in cheek takes on various 'classic' metal tunes: "Love Mites" ("Love Bites" by Judas Priest), "For Whom the Dell Falls" ("For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica) and "Rubbing Free" ("Running Free" by Iron Maiden). Others seem to reference other things: "Annum Per Annum [Pärt 2]" pays homage, at least in title, to the organ work of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt while "Now! [4'19" into 2000]" serves as sequel/reaction to the raster-noton "20' to 2000" series which COH took part in. Obviously Pavlov's wry sense of humor and irony (pun intended) are, as always, at play here too. Regardless, I do think that much of this is indeed influenced by metal music. The 8 tracks are within the 4 to 7 minute range and are undoubtedly songs with refined structures. Layers of computer derived clean/distorted tones, drones, static, squiggles, pops and plunks replace guitars and double bass drums with buzz saw vibrations and rhythmic pulsations. It certainly sounds and feels more like COH than Slayer ... quiet and playful in some places and quite ominous and 'heavy' in others. The joke may be on me, but either way I love it. Pavlov is currently expanding "Netmörk" from the "emre [dark matter]" compilation into a full length album to be released by souRce research recordings later this year .
"Iron" is the third full length from COH, aka Ivan Pavlov, follow-up proper to 1998's "Enter Tinnitus" and the second release from his own Wavetrap Records. It comes in a thin foldup with cover art created by hot iron pressed to media, the 'wavetrap' logo inside beneath the disc curiously misspelled 'wavecrap'. Past COH albums have been presented as 'pop' and 'disco' while this one is literally dedicated to 'heavy metal fans all over the world'. How serious are we to take this? Some track titles are obvious tongue in cheek takes on various 'classic' metal tunes: "Love Mites" ("Love Bites" by Judas Priest), "For Whom the Dell Falls" ("For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica) and "Rubbing Free" ("Running Free" by Iron Maiden). Others seem to reference other things: "Annum Per Annum [Pärt 2]" pays homage, at least in title, to the organ work of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt while "Now! [4'19" into 2000]" serves as sequel/reaction to the raster-noton "20' to 2000" series which COH took part in. Obviously Pavlov's wry sense of humor and irony (pun intended) are, as always, at play here too. Regardless, I do think that much of this is indeed influenced by metal music. The 8 tracks are within the 4 to 7 minute range and are undoubtedly songs with refined structures. Layers of computer derived clean/distorted tones, drones, static, squiggles, pops and plunks replace guitars and double bass drums with buzz saw vibrations and rhythmic pulsations. It certainly sounds and feels more like COH than Slayer ... quiet and playful in some places and quite ominous and 'heavy' in others. The joke may be on me, but either way I love it. Pavlov is currently expanding "Netmörk" from the "emre [dark matter]" compilation into a full length album to be released by souRce research recordings later this year .samples:
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- Jessica Tibbits
- Albums and Singles
LADYTRON, "604"
While browsing the website of a local record store, I happened to come across a soundfile clip of Ladytron's song "Discotraxx." This 90 second fragment was so impressive that I didn't hesitate to run out and pick up the Liverpool quartet's debut full-length, '604'. Slick, sexy, and well-produced tracks chock-full of synths and drum machines dominate the album, replete with absurdly contagious hooks. '604' opens with the erotic dissonance of sleazy instrumental "Mu-tron" and subsequently provides club anthems for the ebony-haired, black-clad sombre youths straight out of the Saturday Night Live skit "Sprockets." The vocals lend a dark side to the unadulterated electronic bliss: the icy, detatched lyrics, Ladytron's tongue-in-cheek salute to 80s materialism, are sung by the two female members of the group; one with a sugary-sweet voice which serves as an excellent contrast to the lyrics, and the other with a heavy Bulgarian accent contributing to the album's pervasive mock-Eurotrash aesthetic. '604' runs the gamut from Morodor-esque disco in tracks such as the brilliant "Playgirl" to the stripped-down pop sensibilities of Kraftwerk (Ladytron's "He Took Her To a Movie" bears a suspicious resemblance to "The Model"), yet manages add more unusual elements like bongos and a squeaky violin sporadically on various tracks. Despite all its marvelous melodies and decadent basslines, the one small disappointment of '604' is its anti-climactic finish: the two weakest and least interesting tracks on the album are the ones to close it out. Nevertheless, after it's all said and done, Ladytron does not fail to deliver a quite delicious release that hasn't left my CD player since I bought it.
While browsing the website of a local record store, I happened to come across a soundfile clip of Ladytron's song "Discotraxx." This 90 second fragment was so impressive that I didn't hesitate to run out and pick up the Liverpool quartet's debut full-length, '604'. Slick, sexy, and well-produced tracks chock-full of synths and drum machines dominate the album, replete with absurdly contagious hooks. '604' opens with the erotic dissonance of sleazy instrumental "Mu-tron" and subsequently provides club anthems for the ebony-haired, black-clad sombre youths straight out of the Saturday Night Live skit "Sprockets." The vocals lend a dark side to the unadulterated electronic bliss: the icy, detatched lyrics, Ladytron's tongue-in-cheek salute to 80s materialism, are sung by the two female members of the group; one with a sugary-sweet voice which serves as an excellent contrast to the lyrics, and the other with a heavy Bulgarian accent contributing to the album's pervasive mock-Eurotrash aesthetic. '604' runs the gamut from Morodor-esque disco in tracks such as the brilliant "Playgirl" to the stripped-down pop sensibilities of Kraftwerk (Ladytron's "He Took Her To a Movie" bears a suspicious resemblance to "The Model"), yet manages add more unusual elements like bongos and a squeaky violin sporadically on various tracks. Despite all its marvelous melodies and decadent basslines, the one small disappointment of '604' is its anti-climactic finish: the two weakest and least interesting tracks on the album are the ones to close it out. Nevertheless, after it's all said and done, Ladytron does not fail to deliver a quite delicious release that hasn't left my CD player since I bought it. samples:
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
I admit that up until a few weeks ago I'd never heard of The Stick Men, an early '80s Philadelphia 5 piece that specialized in the same sort of no/new wave/punk/funk as NYC's infamous James Chance and the Contortions. The Cuneiform Records press blurb promised an even more energetic version so I had to hear it. They're right.Cuneiform
The Stick Men kicked out the jams like James Brown on PCP. "Insatiable" collects the band's entire recorded output, 2 LPs from 1982-83, plus some live tracks and 22 minutes worth of live Quicktime video. Of the 22 songs, most are firecrackers less than 2 minutes apiece, though "Funky Hayride" and "Do Get Down" approach the 5 minute mark. The opening track "Legend of the Stick Men" probably best declares their mission: "we had a vision of dots and spots and synthesizer people modulating in knots, so here we am trying to do what we can, express yourself, we're Stick Men!" With 2 guys and a gal on vocals plus guitar, bass, drums, organ/synth and trumpet, the rhythm is solid and tight but thoroughly convulsive with many well timed riffs and breaks. The live tracks and video make it even more evident the amount of energy being exorcised by this silly lot. It all looks and sounds like a lot of fun. This is music for when you really, really need to be very, very awake .
 
samples:
 
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- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
TERRY RILEY "YOU'RE NOGOOD"
Terry Riley is one of the founding fathers of '60s 'minimalism' and this is the fifth release in an archive series from the Cortical Foundation. The 2 disc set presents for the first time live improvisations by Riley as 'Poppy Nogood' from an all night long concert at a Philadelphia art school in November of 1967. Disc 2 documents over an hour as Riley plays soprano saxophone through his self-made 'time-lag accumulator'. The short phrases are delayed and fedback, allowed to mingle, layer, drone, build and fade. The result is often beautiful and always relaxing. I wouldn't mind listening to this from 9 pm to dawn, as the audience did, possibly as background aura for much of that time. One of the attendees of the show was an owner of a Philadelphia disco who commissioned Riley to create a 'theme' for the club. Disc 1 is that theme, Riley using the obscure R&B song "You're No Good" as source material. The 20+ minute track begins with a few minutes of Moog synthesizer climax and then one relatively untouched run through of the original tune, which in itself is a funky and catchy dis on an ex-lover with female and male vocals. Riley then applies his tape loop manipulation techniques, first looping the title/final line and then feeding other parts of the song through delays. By the 14th minute Riley introduces some delicious line signal noise and then continues to thoroughly deconstruct the song for much of the remainder of the track, speeding it up beyond recognition by the end. The Cortical Foundation have once again done an excellent job of sound production and packaging (though I'm not quite sure how the atomic bomb explosion photos relate) to archive another worthy piece of Terry Riley's influential work.
Terry Riley is one of the founding fathers of '60s 'minimalism' and this is the fifth release in an archive series from the Cortical Foundation. The 2 disc set presents for the first time live improvisations by Riley as 'Poppy Nogood' from an all night long concert at a Philadelphia art school in November of 1967. Disc 2 documents over an hour as Riley plays soprano saxophone through his self-made 'time-lag accumulator'. The short phrases are delayed and fedback, allowed to mingle, layer, drone, build and fade. The result is often beautiful and always relaxing. I wouldn't mind listening to this from 9 pm to dawn, as the audience did, possibly as background aura for much of that time. One of the attendees of the show was an owner of a Philadelphia disco who commissioned Riley to create a 'theme' for the club. Disc 1 is that theme, Riley using the obscure R&B song "You're No Good" as source material. The 20+ minute track begins with a few minutes of Moog synthesizer climax and then one relatively untouched run through of the original tune, which in itself is a funky and catchy dis on an ex-lover with female and male vocals. Riley then applies his tape loop manipulation techniques, first looping the title/final line and then feeding other parts of the song through delays. By the 14th minute Riley introduces some delicious line signal noise and then continues to thoroughly deconstruct the song for much of the remainder of the track, speeding it up beyond recognition by the end. The Cortical Foundation have once again done an excellent job of sound production and packaging (though I'm not quite sure how the atomic bomb explosion photos relate) to archive another worthy piece of Terry Riley's influential work.samples:
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- Graeme Rowland
- Albums and Singles
IBM, "THE OVAL RECORDING"
Bruce Gilbert met up with Ilpo Väisänen and Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic during the Disobey nights where they performed individually. Since then, they've both played out together live and processed analog emanations for a John Peel session. Although the title is an acronym for their three foremnames, it is also obviously a continuation of their interest in the intersection of art and law.
Bruce seems to steer Pan Sonic away from cleaner tones and into the rougher more distorted textures they tend to save for climactic moments. IBM falls somewhere between the title track of Gilbert's phenomenal 'Ab Ovo' & the onslaught of nis noise opus 'In Esse' in terms of (un)easy listening, but maintains more of a semblance of continuous rhythmic structure. It makes the excellent new Pan Sonic CD 'Aaltopiiri' seem somewhat genteel in comparison. If fellow Wire and Dome man Graham Lewis' Ocsid project sometimes summons the sound of rampaging elephants then this is a mammoth stomp to the end of the tusk jousts. They are not just fiddling about, that's for sure! This will not go down well with the pop tone zone, but is probably easier to chew than the forty minute 'Soli' from 'In Esse'. It could be useful to compare it to the live Pan Sonic / Gilbert tracks on the 'Rude Mechanic' CD (Piano) - good as those tracks were, IBM is more focused and effective.
The 7" has two faster beatier tracks whilst the LP has three extended noise workouts which are really too dense to be described as drones. Parts sound like Pan sonic munched by grunge pedals. That Gilbert electric saw sound which seems like the death cry of CD's mangled by endless layers of distortion is alive and kicking and kicking and kicking. Who needs titles anyway?
The collaboration was recorded in 1998 at Vainio's London flat overlooking the Oval cricket ground. (Presumably the thwack of rubber on wood was heard between takes, but you'd never guess.) Perhaps due to Pan Sonic's opinion that "Too much digital processing 'eats' the sound" this release appears only as a pair of lavishly packaged 12" and 7" vinyl records on the ever eccentric and essential Mego label. Words of warning - if you get it by post be careful which way you open the sleeve (it has a kind of reversible gatefold design) as the 7" might fall out on the floor like mine did! No audible damage done - its so noisy you'd probably never notice anyway!
Bruce Gilbert met up with Ilpo Väisänen and Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic during the Disobey nights where they performed individually. Since then, they've both played out together live and processed analog emanations for a John Peel session. Although the title is an acronym for their three foremnames, it is also obviously a continuation of their interest in the intersection of art and law. Bruce seems to steer Pan Sonic away from cleaner tones and into the rougher more distorted textures they tend to save for climactic moments. IBM falls somewhere between the title track of Gilbert's phenomenal 'Ab Ovo' & the onslaught of nis noise opus 'In Esse' in terms of (un)easy listening, but maintains more of a semblance of continuous rhythmic structure. It makes the excellent new Pan Sonic CD 'Aaltopiiri' seem somewhat genteel in comparison. If fellow Wire and Dome man Graham Lewis' Ocsid project sometimes summons the sound of rampaging elephants then this is a mammoth stomp to the end of the tusk jousts. They are not just fiddling about, that's for sure! This will not go down well with the pop tone zone, but is probably easier to chew than the forty minute 'Soli' from 'In Esse'. It could be useful to compare it to the live Pan Sonic / Gilbert tracks on the 'Rude Mechanic' CD (Piano) - good as those tracks were, IBM is more focused and effective.
The 7" has two faster beatier tracks whilst the LP has three extended noise workouts which are really too dense to be described as drones. Parts sound like Pan sonic munched by grunge pedals. That Gilbert electric saw sound which seems like the death cry of CD's mangled by endless layers of distortion is alive and kicking and kicking and kicking. Who needs titles anyway?
The collaboration was recorded in 1998 at Vainio's London flat overlooking the Oval cricket ground. (Presumably the thwack of rubber on wood was heard between takes, but you'd never guess.) Perhaps due to Pan Sonic's opinion that "Too much digital processing 'eats' the sound" this release appears only as a pair of lavishly packaged 12" and 7" vinyl records on the ever eccentric and essential Mego label. Words of warning - if you get it by post be careful which way you open the sleeve (it has a kind of reversible gatefold design) as the 7" might fall out on the floor like mine did! No audible damage done - its so noisy you'd probably never notice anyway!
samples:
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