MEOW MIX! (THREE NEW CDS FROM TIGEBEAT6)

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First up is the releasefrom Dat Politics titled 'Tracto Flirt' which uses glitches, pulses andbeats as the tools to bring the rather anthemic melodies across.
No titles, just times listed in this tasty electro pop(and click) collection. Dat Politics features members of Tone Rec andthis CD release is a reissue of the LP-only version that came out ontheir own Ski-PP label.
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Nextup, Baltimore-based 18 yr old Rjyan Kidwell releases his first fulllengther as Cex, aptly titled 'Role Model.' Kidwell's style is bumpyand groovy with charming melodies taking center stage. It might be hisfirst full-lengther, but it's hardly an amateur production. Kidwell'smastery of machinery and understanding of melodic elements andinstrumental balance are far superior to most cats twice his age. Thedisc never gets tedious, predictable and is always enjoyable. Kudos,Rjyan, you're my role model.
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Finally, the release from Medicine frontman Brad Laner and his jumpinto the laptop musician scene with his full-lengther as ElectricCompany titled "Exitos." Laner's motives explore the deeper, moresubliminial spectrum of electro glitch. He demonstrates that a minimalnumber of instrument sounds results in the magnified importance of eachsound as an individual element. Lost? Well, listen to this on a big setof speakers and you'll understand my point. The style on whole seems tochange rather erratically between each song, as if this was acollection of pieces almost thrown together, but every bit has placehere on the 60+ minute long gem. Perhaps he's been listening to thelikes of Mouse on Mars, Kim Cascone and Ryoji Ikeda and found his ownway to create things he likes in each.

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LAIKA, "GOOD LOOKING BLUES"

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Albums and Singles
Alas, finally out in the USA, Laika's third full-length release and one of my favorite full-lengthers of the year.
  Good Looking Blues collects 12 songsMargaret and Guy have been pulling together since 1998's "Sounds of theSatellites." More intense than anything they've released, this albumleaves the ambient subtlety of the last album in the dust. The spaceyechoey keyboards are still here, but this time a full band backs thegroup up with rich rhythms and organic percussion. Organic instrumentsjumping into the mix this time around include trumpet, bass clarinet,congas, turntables, flute and tamborine. Martha's voice never getsburied in an incredible production job pulled together from sessions athome and in various studios. The band should be touring this fall,don't miss it!

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THE DAMAGE MANUAL

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Albums and Singles
This is the debut selftitled album by The Damage Manual, following up the debut "1" EP fromthis past April, due out September 5th. The band'soutput, not surprisingly, draws heavily upon the collective input ofthe lengthy, intertwining resumes of it's four members - Chris Connelly(Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Murder Inc., etc.), Jah Wobble (PublicImage Ltd., numerous solo and collaborative projects), Geordie Walker(Killing Joke, Murder Inc.) and Martin Atkins (Ministry, Pigface,Murder Inc., etc.). A neatly packaged dream come true for many fans ofpunk/post-punk and modern 'industrial' rock. "King Mob" and "Denial" doit slow and hard with PiL "Metal Box" era slow bass lines and schrapnelguitar, thunderous beats and Connelly's half spoken/half sung and sexysmooth crooner vocals, respectively. "Age of Urges", "Sunset Gun" and"Stateless" explode with guitars and beats while Connelly resurrectshis Revco primal screams, especially on the latter one. "Top TenSevered", an observation on the sad state of affairs in the world ofmusic, alternates between lush, quiet sections and heavy guitar drivensections. "The Peepshow Ghosts", which was originally a solo Connellylove song, is now an even sexier, rockin' love song. "Expand" and"Broadcasting", both fairly tedious, really remind me of the moreexperimental drum and vocal driven PiL of the early '80s. Some violin,saxophone, sitar, vinyl scratches and drum loops appear here and there,as well as synth work by Lee "Bagman" Fraser of Sheep on Drugs, butalmost as an afterthought when compared to what the main members aredoing. There are too many hands at the mixing desk for the album's 9main tracks (Bill Laswell, Atkins, Walker and engineer Jason McNinch)which makes for a strange sounding album as Laswell's mixes are heavyon the bass and the others moreso on the guitar. Laswell, The Orb andJah Wobble also man the desks on the final 4 tracks, which are simplyoverkill remixes of album and EP tracks, all of which are good but nonebetter than the originals. "The Damage Manual" isn't perfect, but it'sa fine debut and makes good on what the hype promised. The bottom lineis this: these guys might be in their mid '30s to early '40s but don'tput them out to pasture just yet. They still want to rock and theystill do rock. I'm really looking forward to being pounded by thislive. A North American tour will hopefully commence later this fall ...

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SPRING HEEL JACK, "DISAPPEARED"

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Albums and Singles
Spring Heel Jack push forward with their fourth release of this year.
  Disappeared is thefirst brand new full-lengther with all-new material to surface however.I guess it's taken this time for Thirsty Ear in the USA to catch up totheir European output... Regardless, the depths of their music hasexpanded in range over the last few releases. This CD of all-newmaterial has carried over their fondness of organic instruments (bothlive and sampled) and jazz rhythms but has left the overused samplesand pre-programmed sound synths behind. No longer is this the "drum andbass" band it used to be, with a collection of 4-8 minute songs justtossed together. Conceptually, this album flows and moves like an albumshould, with songs appropriately placed - mixing up songs of bombasticbeats between songs of deep introspection, flowing naturally into eachother rather than sounding like a collection of 12" singles. After afew more listens for myself, this will definitely become one of thosememorized instrumental albums—where you always know what's coming next.

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MARC GARTMAN, "THE HORRIBLE COCOANUT GROVE DISASTER"

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Albums and Singles
Two CDs this week I've pulled from the home-made bin as I think these folks are moving in the right direction.
  NYC's Marc Gartman has pieced together a one-offensemble to complete the pictures on his first full-length CD. Thepackaging that showed up at my door had the disc housed in a paintedtyvek sleeve with plastic printing and a hand-printed image of afactory looking thing, a neat fastener was glued onto the back to keepthe sleeve closed when not in use, but it sure is uncomfortable in theCD collection next to everything else. The music itself could easily bea session of seasoned jazz musicians playing a tribute to Louisville.Improvisational while introspective in nature, not afraid to play quietand meaningful. Instruments showcased include violin, melodica anddouble bass alongside acoustic guitar, drums and piano. LookoutRachel's! Through more investigation, I find out this ensemble as itexists on this disc will most likely never happen again. It's a shameas I would love to hear this incarnation live. The production isastonishing for a homemade release. Added effects on certain tracksinclude crickets and possible gunshots in the distance. Hard to believethis is a NYC based collective, as it could easily be music conceivedwhile sitting on a back porch at twilight, staring out into the fields,watching fireflies in the sunset! I'd love to flood this issue withmore sound samples, but hopefully three will be enough. For moreinformation (including how to get your very own copy), check out www.pushpinmusic.com.

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WILKES LAND, "DERECORDED"

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Albums and Singles
Second home-made release this week comes from Tulsa, OK?
  Remember listening to what was to bethe final Skinny Puppy insult, 'Last Rites' for the first time, andthat incredible piece called Download that at the end drifted off intoelectronic drones you wished could go on forever? Whether they'reconscious about it or hate Skinny Puppy, I finally feel like this hopehas been somewhat fulfilled with this album. Precious electronic dronesand soundscapes wash over this disc, and unlike other discs of dronea'la electronique, these songs start and end without going on way toolong. Sublime and dreamy, chimes and echoes play wonderful tricks withyour mind late at night with all the lights off. The titles make mecurious, however, with all of them sharing titles with popular classicrock hits of the 70s. It leads me to wonder if the originals providedinspiration or sound source... Drop an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you want a copy all your own.

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FUTURE BIBLE HEROES, "I'M LONELY (AND I LOVE IT)"

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Albums and Singles
This is the 80's synthpop side of Stephin Merritt - another excellent project by the gloomysourpuss that everyone now knows and loves.
  Christopher Ewen createsthe wonderful OMD-styled bouncey music, which blends quite nicely withStephin's hopelessly romantic words and voice. Claudia Gonson is alsoon this release, adding a nice variety to the EP by singing solo in thesong "Cafe Hong Kong" and backing Stephin in the remake of "Hopeless(remix)," which was previously on the last Future Bible Heroesfull-length, "Memories of Love." For fans of the Magnetic Fields, orheavily synthesized music, with a humourously depressing twist. Picturethe Pet Shop Boys meeting Leonard Cohen, but with smirky lyrics like"There's no use even trying, because it's hopeless. All of our dreamsare dying of overdoses."
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CURD DURCA, "ELEVATOR 3"

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This is the 4th album byVienna based artist Curd Duca for electronic label Mille Plateaux, 3rdin the "Elevator" series of 'digitalanalog mood music' and my personalfirst. The 48 titled tracks range from 6 secondsto a little over 2 minutes for a grand total of under 40 minutes. Thealbum samples an interesting variety of sources such as easy listeningswing and jazz records (elevator music), atmospheres and found soundswhich he then proccesses and/or adds subtle electronic accompanimentsto. The more musically oriented samples are generally messed about withand given new environments while the less musically oriented samplesbecome music through Duca's ability to make them sound appealing andpiece them all together. It's not all that much unlike something V/VMwould do except that most of this is much more subtle and seems moreserious. Munich vocalist Carin Feldschmid also adds hauntinglybeautiful and sultry tones to 5 tracks. The result is similar to thatof an old film score and is surprisingly cohesive considering theamount of tracks and diversity of sounds. And that is where Duca'stalent really lies. He's able to maintain a level of interest and rangeof moods throughout with evocative sounds in short doses. Random playalso seems to be just as effective and lets me extend the total playingtime to however long I desire. "Elevator 3" is curiously relaxing andmysteriously entertaining, soothing 'background' music for more thanjust vertical journeys ...

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SONOVAC, "HIGH-ON-TECH" EP

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You ever hear a name so much that you really should indeed check them out?
  You ever trust alabel given everything they've released you've really liked? Have youever come home drunk, checking email and seeing an announcement of newreleases from an online store and chose things without thinking much?Well, here's a perfect case. This CD single has me confused whether Ithink it's the next big thing or it's so fucking awful I think I willstart peforming stress and endurance tests on it. Loads of 14 year oldsare making music like this in their parents house, although I've heardlots of teenagers making music less weak and cliche than this shit. Ithas some weird enjoyable element to it, all the same... Maybe I justdon't get it. To me,it sounds like discount kitsch, with predictablesimple beats and trashy lyrics. Then again, people do indeed buyterrible music. (Cylob fans will enjoy this.) As for myself, morelistens and I'm more confused. Listen to the sound samples and decidefor yourself.

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SONIC YOUTH?, "MUSICAL PERSPECTIVES 5"

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Well, maybe it's not really Sonic Youth, but it does follow along the whole theme of the Musical Perspectives series.
  Number 5 is a full-length collaborationbetween Kim Gordon, DJ Olive and Ikue Mori. The chosen language of thisseries is, of course Japanese, but unlike volumes 1-3, this one comeswith translations. (Sell-out!) From the first minutes of the release,it feels as if the magic is back: the noise, the experimentalism that aguitar band always wants to do. 60 second sound samples do this albumno justice as each song has a multitude of parts and sounds, allentirely wonderful this time around, utitlizing Gordon's voice andguitar work, alongside electronic Japanese fuckery with environmentalsound sources and samples. Leave the pop records behind and exploresome Musical Perspectives today!

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"INVISIBLE SOUNDTRACKS 3"

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Albums and Singles
The latest in Invisible Soundtracks collections, volume 3, features Rothko, 310, Bass Communion, Bob Ellis and many many others.
  Next to each track on thedisc, the artist has listed their favoritecomposer/director/actor/film—whether it is related to their compilationsubmission is unknown by me at this time. I can hear influence forexample in 310's cut on here which gives the nod to Badalamenti/Lynchand the film "The Sheltering Sky." At over 74 minutes, this collectionof instrumentals from 16 excellent artists is worth having for acollection and for study-hall time music this year in school.

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  1. "L'AGE D'OR (THE GOLDEN AGE)"
  2. DRUMS & TUBA "WATER DAMAGE RE-ISSUES"
  3. BRIGHT, "FULL NEGATIVE (OR) BREAKS"
  4. FRED GIANNELLI, "TELEPATHIC ROMANCE"

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