- Mark Weddle
- Albums and Singles
Included are the original"Invaders.." 12" (the cream of the crop), the "Voodoo" 12" with OllieMarland and Polly Eltes, the "Blowout" 12", the title track from the"Tradewinds" LP with Ollie Marland, the "Fading" and "A Long, Long Way"12"s (minus the instrumental versions) and the entirety of the aptlytitled "Bedroom Album". Noticeably missing are all of the releases fromthe same era for Virgin and Island, the ones I'd much rather hear, suchas the collaborations with Don Letts, Keith Levene, Holger Czukay, JakiLiebezeit and The Edge. Wobble's work with PiL and of the past 2-3years is by far my favorite, thus my low expectations for "Early Years"were not surpassed. There are some pleasant and promising moments butnothing on par with his previous post-punk and later, more seriousoutput. Goofy, cheesy pop tendencies (least of which are often silly ortrite lyrics and vocals) and not so interesting experimentationspredominate, while the dub wise world sound he is best known for isonly in it's fledgling stages. Recording quality is a bit dodgy hereand there too, some tracks obviously mastered from inferior masters.It's somewhat curious that Wobble would choose to re-issue these ratheramateur recordings now. I recommend PiL's "Metal Box"/"Second Edition"and Wobble's other recent 30 Hertz discs instead. - samples:
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- Carsten S.
- Albums and Singles
It adds another shade of grey to the widefields of independent produced music - leaving no clue if the intensionis to connect these styles or if this is just the result due to theinfluences and likes of those involved. The accompanying info saysTausendschoen's music is rooted in the agreement that everything has anopposite which should be realized, and their music is "music for thecentre of your brain". Some sharp contrasts pointing out the oppositeswould have been welcome to keep the interested listener listening.However, late at night it is a lot more appealing than during daytimedue to the lengthy ambient structures and the general drifting mood.The nicely handpacked and limited bonus CDR (200 copies with additionalgraphic data 3" disc) shows the current state of this project. I guessthe main work are paintings, some of them can be seen atwww.t000schoen.de. If you feel like obtaining it
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- Graeme Rowland
- Albums and Singles
- Posset - Vernix
- Gommorrah - Darwin's Evil Lotion
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- Jonathan Dean
- Albums and Singles
Adult, Peaches,Fischerspooner and many other lesser known acts graced the stage, andafter the rubble cleared, we were left with only this compilation.The disc starts off on a killer note, with Fischerspooner's inspiredcover of Wire's "The 15th". It's hard not to love the infectious synthmelancholy of this gloomy pop song. The rest of the artists on the compyearn to reach the heights of this first track, with varying success.Memoryboy's "(There is No) Electricity" is a surprisingly powerfulpastiche of dark OMD-style electro. Morplay's "Check Your Pulse" is myfavorite track by far, a hilarious and ingenious Afrika Bambataa-styleelectro rap anthem. It sounds like the bastard child of Jonzun Crew andTechnotronic. Soviet turns in a very passable plagiarism of DephecheMode that shouldn't be enjoyable, but is. Robbie D. deserves somepraise for the Coil-style audio perversion of his track "Lotion." Therest of the artists engage in increasingly less and less interestingjuxtapositions of the same familiar clichés that make all EBM andDarkwave bands sound unlistenable and retarded. However, on the whole,this is an excellent compilation that successfully documents this scenein all of its inconsistent glory.
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- Fischerspooner - The 15th
- Memoryboy - (There Is No) Electricity
- Morplay - Check Your Pulse
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- Rob Devlin
- Albums and Singles
The end result comes out sounding like thesoundtrack to Gran Turismo mixed with cutscene music from NYPD Blue andthe keyboard demo on Casio keyboards, and set in the backdrop of"Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo." That's right: pretty uninspired,mostly keyboard-created drivel. And that's not to say it's withouthope. There are tracks on here that are passable, and they mostlyinvolve lush keyboards with samples, and clever changes in the middle.Most of this music, however, is just modern electronic mastery appliedto classic Detroit techno—Dykehouse hails from Kalamazoo—which makes itsound incredibly obsolete as well as repetitive. And when somethingcomes across that is genuinely stunning ("Humid Easel Hockey," forinstance), it only lasts long enough to get you addicted to thatstuttering beat and pretty keyboards, then it fades away. EvenParadinas himself, whose involvement is often both a blessing and acurse, offers a non-commital description of dykehouse on the Planet Muwebsite ("it was pretty good" and "so it's like Moodyman meetsAutechre, however awful that sounds" are the high points). There isextreme potential here. The high points on this CD blow the rest of itout of the water. I found myself wishing that the rest of the CD hadthe same sound of the fantastic triple-shot of "Hockey," "The Patina ofAccumulation," and "Kalamazoo." Sadly, that's the best it offers. Thenit disintegrates under the weight of a limited palette and lack offresh ideas. I'd like to hear more, perhaps downloading the MP3 albumhe has on the Planet Mu website. But this release left me as uninspiredas it sounds like Mike was making it.
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- Graeme Rowland
- Albums and Singles
It's worth hearingjust for Boredoms' two chord big drum hoedown and the spoken wordtwilight psychedelia of Bardo Pond, whose warped eastern percussion led'White Turban' is the highlight. 'White Turban' builds wonderfullyhypnotic layers of tidal guitar ebb and flow over which IsobelSollenberger recounts a disjointed tale of something queer likestarlight. Boredoms gain big kudos for their long instrumental windtunnel which sounds unlike anything else they've done but couldn'treally be anyone else. Sonic Youth play a restrained sparse fireflyflickering instrumental that segues neatly into the more distortedUnwound who sound here like they could almost be the same band withtheir ghost piano, skittering footsteps, thick chunky bass andoverloaded drums. This track pisses all over everything from theirdisappointing "Leaves Turn Inside You" album. Dead C also sound oddlyas if they're paying distorted homage to Sonic Youth circa "Bad MoonRising", although this is probably unintentional, and the joyous racketthey kick up seems less artfully considered with drums even moredistorted than Unwound or Boredoms. Stephen Malkmus shrugs off a tweethrowaway demo tune about 'good kids' which becomes pretty irritatingafter repeated listening, whilst Papa M despairs of how to tell someonehe loves them in a maudlin folky style. Catpower also does the folkything but whereas Papa M sounds convincingly fraught about his wordsblowing away and deploys emotively effective dynamics, Catpower juststrums bland and forgettable. Table top guitar mangler Kevin Drumm andSatan's Tornade (Merzbow and Russell Haswell) end it all with somesuitably apocalyptic laptop noise. Drumm has more textural variation inhis track whilst Satan's Tornade go hell for weather in random digitalstorm clouds. All tracks are exclusives except for the ever bland andboring sickly sweet Stereolab and the much feted hip hop combo CannibalOx, who leave me feeling indifferent as they hang Zeus on the crucifixand scream Phoenix. - samples:
- Boredoms - Super Now
- Satan's Tornado - Amalgamated Computer Experience
- Unwound - Behold the Salt
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- Rob Devlin
- Albums and Singles
And what a findCrowley is. First, he fits in nicely with the other artists on Ba DaBing!, as his releases are understated, small enesemble affairs (thistime it is Kate Ellis on cello and Thomas "Hulk" Haugh on drums).Secondly, he gains serious cred on "Family" through the production workof Steve Albini, who, thankfully, just lets the music speak foritself—mostly. Lastly, there are so many flavors here that fans ofBonnie Prince Billy, Red House Painters, Badly Drawn Boy, and theaforementioned Drake will all find something to pique their interests.In fact, if there's any complaint about "Family," it's that some of itsounds almost too much like other artists. The chiming, faded guitar,solemn piano and cello with very simple drumming are very much WillOldham in nature, and Crowley's voice is an interesting mix of MarkKozelek, Oldham, and Drake. It's the melodies and lyrics that setCrowley apart, and show immense promise for his future. Somewhatunfortunately, the next release US audiences will hear is actually hispast, but if it's even a shadow of this it should be a lovely listen. Ilook forward to his next studio release as well as an American toursometime in the near future (I hope). - samples:
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- Carsten S.
- Albums and Singles
OK, m a y b e he triggered the electronics with a trumpet and I coulddescribe his music easily like my imagination of LO REZ' cyber punk(see William Gibson). The sun rises above decayed industrial landscapesas he gives us a glimpse how a power pop version of The Hafler Triocould sound. All in nearly 20 minutes (with one short break).Loads of track titles (i.e. "Fiat," "Microsound and glitch & cutscan only lick my mafia ass," "She Male 808") and the design show asense of humour which can't be wrong. It will be interesting to watchand listen to his further progressions. -
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- Rob Devlin
- Albums and Singles
This release is many things: the soundtrack to MarkBorthwick's visually stunning art and photography, originally composedfor an exhibition at the Swiss Institute in New York in 1999; a bizarresound collage made up of acoustic guitar, spoken word, and electronics,all cut up for your pleasure/annoyance; an inspiration to Kim Gordon ofSonic Youth, which could be good or bad, depending how you look at it(a line from this release contains the words "a thousand leaves," whichis reportedly where the Sonic Youth album of the same name received itsmoniker); confusing and stunning at the same time. I listened to all 38minutes and 58 seconds in one listen, and I must say I wasimpressed/confused/stunned/annoyed/fascinated/dismayed. To tell thetruth I don't really quite know how to feel after the experience. It iscertainly an interesting listen, though, I feel, lacking without thevisual component. Although the packaging is well done and contains thecomplete text for the album with two Borthwick-taken photographsrandomly selected from four total, they are a poor substitute for thework that I feel this was inspired by or helped inspire. I wasreminded, strangely enough, of Tortoise's "Djed," and how the firsttime I listened to it I felt similar to how I felt about this project,a collaboration between Borthwick and TREVOR/hollAnd. So I listened toit again. And again. After several listens, I like it more, though I amjust as confused. And perhaps I should be. It's a lot to swallow, and Ifeel I may never fully understand it. But I dare you to try, and I hopeyou can. I just wish I could see the whole piece as it is intended tobe viewed. Then perhaps this release would have more meaning and wouldserver as a reminiscence for something incredibly moving. That's thesense I get from this. I'm missing too much. - samples:
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- Graeme Rowland
- Albums and Singles
This third CD of sixties Cale droneand bang is perhaps going to be of most interest to fans of the firstcouple of VU albums as it opens with two long duets with guitaristSterling Morrison. The first could be described as a primitive ambientSonic Youth prediction. 'Stainless Steel Gamelan' finds Cale andMorrison shimmering hazily for ten minutes or so, both hammering awayat one guitar. Cale counterpoints Morrison's beautiful arpeggios withthe gamelan like bashing that gives the track its title. 'At about thistime Mozart was dead and Joseph Conrad was sailing the Seven Seaslearning English' has a poetically fitting if lugubrious title. Calechops up viola drone with the pause button on a tape recorder, fuckingup time in a way which might have suggested the title's historicalnotions. It opens with a deep rolling viola drone over which Morrisonbounces screwdriver handle guitar flotsam. Nearly eight minutes intothe twenty six, Cale starts going amphetamine crazy on the pause buttonmaking hacked random squeakings that'll probably give people who regardRadiodead as 'experimental' a hard time, but should pose no problem topeople who feel that word is a better description of Nurse With Woundrecords. I've never heard anything quite like this before!A vaguely medieval flavoured jazzy trio with horse hoof cloppingpercussionist Angus Maclise and saxophonist Terry Jennings is pleasant,but doesn't really seem to fit in too well with the rest of therelatively exploratory music here. There's a fantastically noisyassault on a piano fed through Tony Conrad's 'thunder machine' (Vox ampreverb) with the suitably ravaged title 'After the Locust' which mighthave sat better on the second CD with the other Conrad duets. It goesout on a humourous lack of notes as Cale's recording of dense layeredviola drones is interupted by a fireman ordering him to go play faraway out in the country somewhere. Of course since then the drone hasled him and his nose far away to several different countries. -
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- Rob Devlin
- Albums and Singles
"Put Your Gloves On And Wave" is a perfectsophomore effort that highlights what worked the first time whileadding elements that make this time worth revisiting. The melodies andvoices are more haunting than ever, the strings are just as swoopingand grandiose (not losing a bit of their magic), and the addition ofbass and tiny guitar flourishes here and there add a power and chill tothe proceedings that equates to just the right amount of growth forthis Louisville ensemble. Just a little more drive, a bit more swing,and a touch of brevity in the compositions makes for smooth sailing.There's no desire to force any part of this music. Everything developsat its own pace, and changes direction if necessary, as though it had amind of its own. A few lyrical passages are a bit awkward ("Kisses fromwomen someone else loves, and I make them sleep with me"), even if thevoice(s) driving them are confident though understated. And ambientsounds that are added—finger snaps, train noises, backgroundvocals—create an ethereal feeling for some songs, right before thedriving energy returns. All in all, a marked improvement over theirprevious sound, and a worthy successor to any number of releases in myCD player. - samples:
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