click and go! Live shows: Numb/Crocodile Shop; CD Reviews: The Aggression, Whitelineoverride;Android Lust, resolution; Apoptygma Berserk, The Apopcalyptica Manifesto; Cleen designed memories; Cubanate, Interference; Front Line Assembly Comatose single; Funki Porcini, Let's See What Carmen Can Do;God's Girlfriend, Whore Damage; Paisley Babylon, The Alpha Wave Variations; Snog, buy me... i'll change your life;
Snog, buy me...i'll change your life
How much do I love David Thrussell. If youÕd like I can do a compare and contrast here. I love
David Thrussell as much as I love David Foster Wallace. I love him almost as much as I love my
cats Mungo and Henrey. I love him more than I love drinking overly sweet frozen alcoholic
beverages in cheesy outdoor downtown faux-chic cafes on hot summer saturday afternoons.
Thrussell is ice cream cake, good dreams, a bank error in my favor, beating my brother at
scrabble. So please keep all this in mind as you read this review. buy me... is shiny,
glittery, scarier than any stupid-ass summer thriller starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. ItÕs as good
as absolute zero is cold. And here. IÕll tell you why. ItÕs very very very different, different
from other dance oriented electronic and different from the other Snog releases.
ThrussellÕs reached way out here, like the limb heÕs out on can barely support him, and itÕs a
big big thrill. buy me... is much more Pink Floyd than it is Front Line Assembly. But the
basic Snog distaste of capitalism and consumerism is still all there. buy me... has
about as much nihilism as one could take in one cd. Spew it out baby. I can handle it.
Teach us Thrussell, we need it. Musically, buy me... is alot more varied than the previous
Snog cds, a lot of spaghetti- western- type geetar, slow velvety grooves. ItÕs sort of
funny. FÕrinstance, take a song like The Human Germ: here youÕve got this incredibly
sultry melody, and of course ThrussellÕs amazing bass vocals, and the lyrics are Evolution,
thatÕs passe... you see my friend, the earthÕs been poisoned by the human germ. Only
he could make the repudiation of all that most people hold dear sound so sexy.
Makes me wish there was a Snog compound somewhere. For those keeping score,
buy me... has yet another version of The Future, which is fine by me.
IÕd like to see a double cd of remixes of this song. This one is little denser and slower. And
The End is such a huge pay-off, a definite culmination of the themes expressed on the
rest of the cd. God, I canÕt wait to see this guy on June 6. I might explode like the chicken lady.
Oh, and by the way, I think I disagree with him about Radio Free Albemuth being a
better book than VALIS...
metropolis records
Cubanate, interference
IÕve probably told you all this before, but Marc Heal scares me. I donÕt know exactly
why.
HeÕs so animalistic. But not in a cute warm fuzzy way. HeÕs not a bear, damn it, heÕs
a bull. And interference just confirms my suspicions that this guy is a loose cannon. IÕve
never heard raw anger, hate, and desperation sound so catchy before. The new Cubanate
cd is
filled with infectious drums nÕ bass grooves. The sound is sparse and harsh. The lyrics are
evocative and threatening. ItÕs not the same old Cubanate. ItÕs electro-primal. I hear a lot of
people comparing this to Prodigy, but interference goes way past The Fat of the
Land in terms of experimental sound, song structure, lyrics... itÕs not a disposable pop
album, thatÕs for damn sure. Oh god, hinterland? This song is so kicking, and MarcÕs
singing if i could get inside you... and IÕm thinking uh huh, ok... eyes rolled
white like a shark in a feeding frenzy... oh, excuse me, IÕm back. IÕd much rather hear this
than
that little twitty elf-boy singing IÕm a fire-starter, twisted fire-starter. Oh, heÕs
so shocking. Please. I think even my parents donÕt find Prodigy to be all that
outrageous. And... nowhere on this disk are there samples of the bloody Tom Tom Club.
ThereÕs no posing on interference; itÕs 100% real original, primeval and
dazzling.
TVT Records
Android Lust, resolution
I think if I had to be someone else IÕd want to be Shikhee. But who wouldnÕt want to be the
person who is responsible for some of the most shockingly melodic and beautiful electronic
dance music? And sexy. ShikheeÕs breathy vocals laced over these dense electronic themes
make resolution one of the most enticing disks so far this year. ItÕs delicious and
terrifying. This girl makes dance music like great artists paint: layer upon layer of gorgeously
lush sounds with underlying infectious beats. Like a spiderÕs web, this disk is graceful and
powerful, and every song is positively radiant. And if you think it canÕt get any better than that,
it does. There are three versions of the outstanding and devastating track Heathen, two
of them remixed individually by Leif and Lars Hansen of Oneiroid Psychosis (the
underrated and talented Hansen brothers...).
Android Lust site
Tinman
The Aggression; whitelineoverride
Oh babee, you know what i like. tweaky electronics, fast beats and loud guitars. The
Aggression remind me alot of Acumen Nation, and i mean that in all the best ways.
deep enough without being overly glum, and hard as, uh, was going to say something
lewd. iÕll control myself. this is the problem when iÕm not getting any, i get too salacious in
other aspects of my life. i have no outlet, so to speak. i say Òso to speakÓ for the obvious reasons.
anyway... theyÕve got a remix cd coming this spring with remixes by Acumen Nation
and 16Volt, so you know iÕm gonna be all over that one. i donÕt think iÕve
had the opportunity to talk about 16Volt on the website, but readers of my old paper
zine cyberia are aware of my deep devotion to Eric Powell. actually got me in trouble with an ex.
but back to The Aggression! Sorry! well, it is aggressive, but it can get kinda
pretty at points too, like in permanent and disheveled star, which has a kinda of
mid 80s new wavy keyboard feel and a very sweet chorus. you know what iÕm gonna say: if
you like guitars in your industrial, youÕre gonna love this. adore it. put it on an altar and light
candles to it.
Tinman
The Aggression disinfo site
GodÕs Girlfriend, Whore Damage
IÕve seen a lot of pictures of Brigit Brat a/k/a/ GodÕs Girlfriend, but before
now I never had the pleasure of hearing her. IÕm surprised--the cd is a lot harsher than
I
expected, itÕs not all satirical (even tho there is a song featuring slim-fast shakes:
speaking of which, I adore that ethnically ambiguous woman on the slim-fast commercials who
says in that kinda gruff/tuff voice, ÒI know I look good. ThatÕs the confidence I have now...Ó).
For the unintiated (like myself), GodÕs Girlfriend is like a very acrimonious
bauhaus; taste her, babee, sheÕs bitter... but itÕs all god... And a lot of this was
recorded at home, but she must know what sheÕs doing because the sound is very good.
I especially enjoyed the very odd cover of the Mammas and the Pappas California
Dreaming; never before did I realize how goth that song is. And Lizard
World is a dense trip thru BrigitÕs weird universe with evil simplistic discordant
keyboards... creepy!Tinman
Cleen, designed memories
Ah, the softer side of Haujobb. Cleen has too many vocals to
sound really ambient, but just enough loops and echoes to sound spooky. Uh, it's
not drums n' bass, so don't believe the hype. It's danc-y enough, but more in a Kraftwerk
kinda way. It's not very far from solutions for a small planet, so I'm not too clear on
why the different name, unless they boys just feel there're too many haujobb produkts
flooding the market. You know you're gonna get this no matter what I say. I rather like it quite a
bit more than solutions... myself. It's more varied, a little edgier, the samplers are
funny at points...It's very smooth, goes down easy, just don't drink too much
kiddies, you're gonna go into a cleen coma. It's kinda sexy, a word I'd never
never use in conjunction with haujobb. Maybe it's that German accent. God I love that. BTW, I
was going to pick one particular song to write about for this review, but after listening several
times I really can't pick one out. designed memories is consistently good from start to
finish. Unlike with some haujobb cds, I think I'll be going back to this one for years to
come. In fact, I think this is going to replace coldcut in my walkman. Daniel Myer and
Thorsten Meier (haujobb) are not yet scheduled to play NYC on their tour! But they're
playing a little tiny place in DC (Heaven, August 26), so it's probably worth a road trip or a ride
on the dog.
metropolis records
Apoptygma Berzerk, The Apopcalyptic Manifesto
I kept thinking I didnÕt know who this guy was. If only someone had just said those two little
words to me: Non-stop Violence...ItÕs definitely EBM, but with a slight techno edge.
Perfectly straddles those two genres. Which means basically everyoneÕs bound to like it.
It starts off with the twisted little ditty Deep Red: a very sweet sounding song about a
guy
who gets off on killing women. Perhaps this could be used for the American Psycho
soundtrack? Lyrically, AB is very much one-note: I hate (fill in the blank). Mostly itÕs ÒI hate
women.Ó Sometimes itÕs ÒI hate everyone.Ó But you know how it goes with this genre, youÕre
supposed to be spitting hate and distaste, otherwise the kids donÕt respect you. I wonÕt let it
bother me. I mean, you know IÕm out there everytime The Borg play Non-stop
Violence. Despite the fact that IÕm a pacifist (look, I know itÕs satire, donÕt
email me about that...). Hey this guy Stephan Groth is Norwegian, whatÕs he got to be
angry about? The domestic version of the cd has three bonus tracks: remixes of Ashes to
Ashes and Burning Heretics, and my favorite song on the disk WrackÕem to
Pieces. This guyÕs got a really sick sense of humor, I only wish that came across
more.metropolis records
apoptygma berzerk site
Front Line Assembly, Comatose MCD
Well, I know a lot of you donÕt really like the new Front Line Assembly...
cÕmon kiddies, give Ôem a break. TheyÕre still making some of the best harsh electronic dance
music. Hmm, this is some really entrancing cover art...anyway, Comatose is not one of
my favorite songs from FLAvour of the Weak (itÕs a little too retro for me at
points... I keep expecting Bill Leeb to be saying gimmee a Ôho if you got yoÕ funky
busfare...) so to be confronted with three versions, all named after drugs (ie, Comatose,
Valium 15mg and by the way kids, itÕs ketamine not ketamin like you have
it on the cd. ArenÕt there any proofreaders up there? Sorry. Hypercritical.) The Ketamin 45
mg (sic) mix is mostly instrumental, so itÕs a little more palatable. But none of these
mixes really kicks it the way they should. TheyÕre all so slow! HOWEVER, there is an
unreleased song on this MCD, Oblivion, so you completists will have to buy it. ItÕs an
ok song. ItÕs got some interesting elements. ItÕs a little more old-school FLA, almost
Noise Unit-esque...
metropolis records
Funki Porcini, LetÕs See What Carmen Can Do MCD
To give you an idea of where this guy is at, theyÕre on the same label as Coldcut.
Think of The Residents on rate-a-record; sometimes it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.
Mostly I can see myself in a cafe sitting and groovin'. Bizarre swinging jazzy electronic with
space age bachelor pad elements, weird-ass samples... makes me feel stoned just
listening to it, gives me spooky flashbacks to bizarre high school drug-related
excursions... iÕm bugginÕ, iÕm trippinÕ... perhaps he should be called Funki
Psylocibin?
ninja
Paisley Babylon, The Alpha Wave Variations
Ambient trippy sample-laden psychedelia. If Funki Porcini is
like 'shrooming, then Paisley Babylon is like spending several hours in a flotation tank
after ingesting a couple of hash brownies. Definitely one of those in the dark listening
experiences. It's rather arresting, compelling, creepy... Break out the hookah, boys, and don't spill
that bong water all over my carpet.
paisley babylon