Just got a boxful today from Forced Exposure. The money I saved by not going
anywhere for spring break needed to go somewhere, I figure. I already posted
about the Like A Tim release, so I'll leave that alone. Here goes.
Nintendo Teenage Robots: We Punk Einheit!
DHR Ltd. CD008
This isn't quite what I expected. Alec Empire ran the 'phones output from his
Game Boy into his sampler and just chopped away. Cut-up repetitive game boy
funk. This takes a bit of the "blip, bleep" compilation concept and dips it in
punk rock ethic. No effects, no fancy edits, just gameboy samples looped and
cut for 17 tracks of carpal tunnel dementia. I couldn't listen to this whole
album all the way through at once, even in the background. Pan
Sonic or Ryoji Ikeda fans might appreciate this more. Kind of terrifying,
actually, that this record was ever made. Probably going to become a landmark
for the growing neo-nintendo scene, though.
Cylob: Rewind (cd single, but worth every $)
Rephlex Cat. 074 CD
Absolutely great. Fred, of Macintalk version 3 fame (Apple's built-in
text-to-speech synthesis software) delivers an admirably smooth freestyle
about the virtues of funky kickin' beats and the need for DJs in clubs
everywhere to play this track over and over again. Rewind the track! Spin the
record and take it back! calls the chorus, and I have, many many times.
Computer geeks everywhere should be playing this track as loud as possible all
summer whilst driving around in their assorted Toyotas. It's arranged like a
pop rap song, but anybody with the minimal decree of aural discretion will
notice immediately that something is dreadfully wrong here (it's dreadfully
catchy, for one thing). Should bother just about anybody who hasn't already
thought of computer-generated rap, and for those who have, well, here ya go.
So please give a shout to the Dee Jay: Ree Wind.
Source Direct: Exorcise the Demons
Astralwerks 6521-2.
This is going back to the store. Thank goodness we have a shop here in
Knoxville that takes returns on new, unopened CDs. They do such a profitable
business in used CDs that to rip the plastic off a new one once in a while and
put it back on the shelf isn't much of a loss. You're limited to three a year,
but hey, if I can get my money back for this cack, that's awesome. Those of
you without such generous and well-to-do CD outlets in your neck of the woods
would do well to steer clear of this release. The two tracks worth sitting
through on this album, 'Call & Response' and 'Capital D' were on the domestic
CDEP they released over a year ago. Those two are actually fine pieces of
work. Between that EP and the rest of this album, however, it seems a certain
pair in the d'n'b business have been taken ill with a serious case of
Photek-Wanta B... bad news all around. Nearly every song is dragged out to
eight minutes and for no real reason except for the fact that these guys have
completely forgotten how to arrange a track. The EP sent me on killing sprees,
running over pedestrians, dogs, and children en masse. This album, I stayed in 'Park'.
Dr. Walker & M. Flux: 16 Lovesongs for the Spicegirls
Harvest 4958142 CD
These aren't quite, uh, "love" songs; there are two tracks on here with the
title 'Jack These Spicey Slutz"...two! This record is all about annoying your
housemates and gang-banging random celebrities. I can't say it better than
Hrvatski on this one, folks. It Bumps. Unh. Yeah, baby. All right. Uhh. Mmm.
...Oh, sorry! Back to IDM. Last thing: you might need the warning that the
tempos have more to do with hard-core pornography in several cases than any
normal human concept of lovemaking. That's it. Now if you'll excuse me...
Herbert: Around The House
Phonograph CD01
Smooth house. Loungy without being obtrusively retro or cheesy, like some of
Matthew Herbert's past stuff as Dr. Rockit. Just smooth, all the way down.
Dani Siciliano guest stars on vocals on several tracks, but again remains
unobtrusive and the lyrical content never seems to carry the tracks where it
appears. Music for simple cocktails and Nat Sherman cigarettes, but not so
polished as to sound like a million other records. The found-sound percussion
loops won't let you forget who made this album. In its subtle, jazzy,
house-thump subversiveness, it's probably the weirdest record I've picked up
recently. Herbert's selection of noises will always slightly surprise me. This
man is unpredictable.
Co-Fusion: Co-Fu
Sublime CD5029
After I heard the remix this pair did of Ken Ishii (as Flare) on the "Re-Grip"
remix disc, I went ahead and got their album. It was that good (and I need
more Japanese stuff, to round out my collection). The best part of the this
story is the end: The album's even better. The drum programming here sounds
like Jeff Mills meets Squarepusher. It's hard, head-jacking techno, but the
fills and the sampled loops are all about bebop drum and bass. The rest of the
musical content owes more to blues jazz, funk and general Japanese harmonic
oddness; the songs probably couldn't stand on their own without the blasting
percussion, but together it works out like a charm. Between this and
Drexciya's The Quest, which I also just picked up finally, I believe my joints
are going to be sore.
Tom