20 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

Hard to disagree with a lineup which features guest vocalists like KidCongo Powers, Julee Cruise, Jon Spencer and Diamanda Galas, right?Unfortunately I don't see myself listening to this disc all too often.While the last few Khan releases have been rather hypnotic explorationsof beat-filled electronics, this offering seems to try to accomplishtoo much with too little backup, going for that 'crossover potentialmarket'. Khan has fallen into a gap, traveling down a beaten path whichhas proved disappointing for predecessors like U.N.K.L.E., Bomb theBass and Recoil: overloading an album with a different singer on everycut. In all cases each artist had established themselves in aninstrumental capacity but when they added the voices, the musicsuffered, gaining sound effects while losing the power of a good tune.To its credit, it grooves with a sweaty, dirt-bag sleazy style which isnot entirely like Khan's previous releases on Matador. On the wholehowever, I'm not moved.

 

samples:

• The Wolf (vocals by Khan)
• Say Goodbye (vocals by Julee Cruise)
• Aman (vocals by Diamanda Galas)

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20 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

One really negative thing I can say about this debut from Manitoba isthat it sounds like so many other artists I've already heard. Sure,it's catchy. It's toe-tapping, energetic and pulsating. But it was allthese things the first time I heard [insert electronic/remixer/DJartist here] do it. There are moments here that remind me of Tortoise,Daft Punk, Moby, Mark Isham, Bob James, Phil Collins (ack!) and more.That they're all together on the same record isn't a bad thing (exceptfor Phil Collins), but it also takes the originality out of theexperience. If I was in a coffee bar and heard this music on thespeakers, I wouldn't complain. Nor would I rush over and ask who itwas. It's that ineffectual to me. The album has it's moments, however.I really like moments of "Paul's Birthday," and "Mammals vs Reptiles"is mildly intriguing. The major difficulty is that the music neverreally seems to engage the listener. I felt very little while listeningto this release. In fact, "Start Breaking My Heart" seems to go out ofits way to distance you. The constant big beat wonderness and cut andsplice "magic" is lost on me, and most of the songs would TOTALLY WORKWITHOUT IT. It feels like the work of an artist who started out tryingto impress rather than develop a unique sound. I'm sure Manitoba wouldbe a great remixer. But with original material, I'm just left wantingmore. More originality, more substance, and more cohesiveness. So muchof it just feels thrown together. I'd file this one under "BuyerBeware": worth a listen, but try before you buy.

 

samples:

• Dundas Ontario
• Mammals vs. Reptiles
• Paul's Birthday

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20 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

As a taster cum sampler for the current Touch UK tour featuring thesethree audio explorers in cahoots with three different visual artists,this works up an appetite. It's just a shame it's missing Manchester bysuch a distance as the Fennesz track here is particularlymouthwatering. The Viennese maestro has surpassed himself again. Wherehis previous excursions into sampled guitar noise sculpting have maybehad precursors in the shape of Bruce Gilbert's seismic groundshifter'Ab Ovo', the overloaded sensory bombardment of prime My BloodyValentine and the digital lock skips of Oval, Christian Fennesz iscertainly carving out a distinctive niche. This track his perhaps hismost evocative evolution to date and is subtley emotive in a candlelitmemory haze reminiscent atmospherically of Labradford's 'Mi MediaNaranja' peak, but as if the whole album had sped by in a heat hazedfive minute blur. Hazard specialises in bleak ambient drones with snowyclose miked rumbles suggestive of vast deserted frozen expanses.Biosphere seems quite ordinary and inorganic in comparsion, presentingtwo remixes of precise clinical beat politeness underpinning sampledspeech. The cover is another nice bit of Touch co-conspiritor JonWozencroft's conceptual photography. Three images of trees at differentangles and diurnal illumination make apt visual accompaniments for thethree sonic experimenters.

 

samples:

• Hazard - Meteosat
• Fennesz - C-Street
• Biosphere - When I Leave (Finely Tuned Version)

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13 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

"-Ma femme a des visions de grands chandeliers. Nous pensons aussi à detrès beaux escaliers... Mais on ne peut pas forcer les choses voussavez, elles se font naturellement."
L'argument tourne au drame. Il leur a déjà proposé une bourgadesympathique sur Pluton ("on est presque déjà chez les ploucs là-basaujourd'hui"), mais les deux autres ne captent rien. Il faut dire quela transmission se fait mal. Ils ne parlent que de faire le vide, etaucun degré de gravité ne pourra les aider à atterrir. Il pourrait leurdénicher l'appartement de leurs rêves avec vue sur aurore boréale encontinu, ­ça n'y changerait rien. D'autant que de nos jours, même lescampagnes sont boudées. Les ruminants s'y font kidnapper si souvent quela traite en devient une gageure. Les vaches tourmentées font tournerle lait. On les voit s'élever par troupeaux entiers, prenant un airbéat, ou plutôt ébahi, tandis qu'on les soustrait à la gravitation. Demal en pis, la voie lactée apparaît comme la meilleure perspective,hélas qui sait où elles sont emmenées. Quand les mamelles s'emmêlent...
"-Peut-être un de ces nouveaux lofts ? On leur prête un tel succès..."
Allez, encore deux gogos au ciboulot désactivé... On n'en sortira pas !Personne ne semble réaliser que dans l'eau cristalline de leurspiscines, les aliens ont toujours la voix qui tremblote. Ca vous prendpar les cheveux, c'est la nouvelle mode pour détrister les esprits. Ceslongues petites choses vertes au mouvement pendulatoire ne sont pastant des haricots que d'adorables petits lézards. Phobie ou consensus ?Les moyens modernes de déridation oxygénatrice ont dépassé toutes lesespérances primitives ! Ca vaut bien le détour...

 

samples:

• VI Scose Poise
• Bine
• Lentic Catachresis

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13 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

Whatever you've heard about this band, it doesn't do them justice. "TheMan Felt An Iron Hand..." is actually a shortened telling of the realtitle for the album, one that would make Fiona Apple cringe. It seemsan unlikely combination, this band called Lumen: stand-up bass,acoustic guitar, heavy-hitting drums, and accordion/organ. But it worksas a unique and vibrant sound. Little is known about the band exceptthat they are from San Francisco and two of the members are/were inother bands: Andee Connors from A Minor Forest and Jeffrey Rosenbergfrom Tarentel. And the song titles, simply roman numerals representingtheir track number, don't give anything away. The formation that isLumen exceeds all comparisons to any other bands, including those itsmembers are from. Supposedly, the members "collectively despisepost-rock," and it shows in the choice of instruments and often spaceycompositions. It's purely fascinating how they get some of these soundswith the bare instruments they've chosen! Sometimes, the arrangement istoo repetitious, as on the almost annoying "VII." But "III" and "V" arewhere the sound comes together in an amazing display of unity betweenthe band members. Intricate, pulsating, driven, and melodic as allhell, "The Man Felt An Iron Hand..." is as original an album as I'veheard this year.

 

samples:

• I
• V
• VIII

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13 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

The man behind Slicker and Hefty Records steps out from his protective shell to produce one of the finest soundtracks I have personally heard in a while. Hughes has certainly expanded his range from what has been the electro punchiness of previous Slicker releases to a conceptual effort which encompasses various styles of retro-fitted pseudo-pop post-electronica jazz-influenced multi-instrumentalist filmscapes. After about four listens in a row, my only complaint is that it's TOO DAMNED SHORT!

Hefty

Understood, this is only a soundtrack but this collection is a tease — at 18 tracks, it barely touches over 30 minutes. Nearly every song is strong enough to be developed into something much longer than a minute, and it would seem that the careful efforts put into every delicately woven track could pay off with longer tunes, yet only two break the three-minute mark. As a vocalist, Hughes has a style similar to a drunken Sam Prekop, something which other critics have disliked, but as a soundtrack I'm eager to see the film to make a better judgement on the vocal tracks. The music here is undeniably brilliant, with a moderate mix of live organs, bass guitar, organic percussion, lush strings, horns and electronics. Hughes has scored a variety of moods like the eerie glitch-driven "Red Room" or the 70s-era bass-driven soundtrack style walking tune, "Street Song." Hughes has obviously spent much of his life around both music and film and I'm hoping he brings more of the variety of work presented here into his Slicker guise.

 

samples:

• Street Song
• Quelou
• Red Room

 

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13 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

The quasi-anonymous Cerberus Shoal seems to be one of the most prolific and diversified bands that I've encountered. This Portland, Maine collective — and the constantly evolving lineup of the band merits that term — seems to have mastered a new style with each release. With 1999's "homb" cd on Temporary Residence, Cerberus Shoal delivered their exemplary thesis on dark, ambient rock. The dynamics and instrumentation, combined with minimal but rythmic percussion, fused together to make one of the most beautiful and original releases of recent years.

Later that year, the Shoal (as bandmembers are known to refer to band) released "Crash My Moon Yacht" on the small label North East Indie. A perfect companion to "homb," this album marked the maturity of the band and created a stiro of anticipation for their next release. "Garden Fly, Drip Eye" is that release. Gone is the ambient droning, flowing percussion and Can-influenced atmosphere. Instead we have a more aggressive Cerberus Shoal, with very imposing vocals sung simultaneously by all six band members, further solidifying their collective status. Bursts of homemade instruments, childrens toys, and bombastic drumming bring to mind June of 44 if perhaps they had given up their prefered themes of travel in favor of surrealist love poems and an abandoned playground. "Garden Eye, Drip Fly" is not the record I was expecting from this album, but I wasn't surprised to hear it either. The band seems to be driving forward across sonic territory, experimenting with new sounds and styles and stretching the artistic and musical capabilities of each member to the max. Cerberus Shoal presents challenging music, music that is rewarding and strikingly creative, redefining itself constantly and refusing to stagnate.

 

samples:

• Garden Fly
• Drip Eye

 

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13 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

The debut release from Australia's Vibragun label is a 12" four tracktaster of the forthcoming 2cd various artists compilation of the samename. The rather loose guidelines for the project stated that a trackcould be in almost any style, "the one requirement is that it be athoughtful interpretation of the theme." So with that in mind, AtomHeart and 3 Australian artists - Pimmon, 8bit and Oren Ambarci - wentto work. Pimmon's "Morse:Fin" drearily drones along with Morsecode-like blips and an intermittent scratching sound. Atom Heart's "SEA(Stuffit)" is by far the best track (and, of course, the shortest) witha happy assortment of bass and machine sounds. 8bit's "Can't U Hear theRave?" (the worst title ever?) is a clippity clop chunk of techno withsonar bleeps that drags on for 6 and 1/2 minutes. Oren Ambarchi's "RingKing" (exclusive to this EP) is a very annoying 5 minute collection ofrandom metallic bangs. Yuck. Side B will never see my turntable'sneedle again. Neither will Side A now that I've made an mp3 of the AtomHeart track. Hopefully the 2cd will have more to offer than the 12".

 

samples:

• Atom Heart - Sea (Stuffit)
• Pimmon - Morse Fin
• 8bit - Can't U Hear the Rave?

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13 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

Atom TM is yet another pseudonym for Uwe Schmidt, the uber prolificChile based German expatriate best known as Atom Heart (and betterknown to me as Seøor Coconut and one half of Flanger). "Hard Disk Rock"was previously released on Rather Interesting's "Real Intelligence III"compilation in 1998 and I believe this 12" was also released by SpinylRecords in the US in 1999. Now Australian upstart Vibragun has seen fitto put it out again as their second release. Side A has 2 four minutetracks of robotic electro funk with sliced and diced glitches, beatsand computer generated voices repeating the title phrases. The titletrack is especially fun and funky while "8-Bit Boogie" is less so. SideB requires a slow down from 45 to 33 RPM. "HD Endless" is much thesame, mimicking the Kraftwerk classic for nearly 12 minutes andculminating in a pseudo locked groove. Pretty cool, though I do preferSchmidt's work as Seøor Coconut and with Flanger over this.

 

samples:

• 8-Bit Boogie
• Disk Rock (Don't Stop)
• Endless

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13 May 2001

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Albums and Singles

The more attentive experimentally-minded Manchester electronicaenthusiast might be able to spin yarns of Rotations nights upstairs ina small pub room just round the corner from where the Hacienda isboarded up. Organised by Gareth Bibby of RSI Recordings, these havefeatured appearances from the likes of Mild Man Jan, Magic City,Pendro, Modified Toy Orchestra and his own pedal hopping samplingproject Disco Operating System.
The first time I caught DOS in performance, the Pan Sonic influence wasapparent, and this was born out by the opening track on the Phonia 12",which also trod similar ground to some of Mick Harris' darker tracks.The System was certainly operating under its own steam by the time ofthe dynamic 'compact disc digital audio' CD-R, but following this acouple of live appearances saw whatever small Disco portion there everwas in these technoid endeavours dwindling. Stripped down minimal loopswere well to the fore.
This disc follows that trajectory, whirling round and round in a seriesof skillfully edited rhythmic loop constructions which revel intextural exploration underpinned by a playful but subtle sense ofhumour. Each of the fifteen tracks is an exploration of repetitionusually juxtaposing two different timbres, occasionally three. Tapsdripping in robotic precision give way to twittering comfortable sinewaves clogging the ether. Bells ringing joyfully 'Because Children AreMatter' back on to an accurate simulation of the hum of the crankyportable computer from BBC space opera Blake's 7. Well that broughtback some sonic memories, but now I'd like to hear the telephone cablelaser guns and teleport too. The pumping kaga-chug of the 'Weiss Squad'makes me feel like I'm resting my mindbrain on the engine of aspaceship made out of a discarded air freshener, as I try to download afrosty chunk of cryogenic toast. Have I earnt my final reward foracceptable behaviour yet?

 

samples:

• Because Children Are Matter
• Portable Mellotron Dream
• Weiss Squad

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