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J / Hypnotronic Groovaphonic / Jtronic (CD-R)
J covers a wide range of styles and genres on this self-released CD-R,
running the gamut from
technofied funk to trip-hop to Eurotechno to house to industrial sprawl.
Despite the disc's
humble origins, some real effort has been taken to make certain it looks --
and of course sounds --
impressive. And J succeeds admirably, with aid from divas Lori Vonne and
Break of Dawn,
who give the vocal tracks a solid house edge. Imagine shoving
Technotronic, Robert Miles,
Front Line Assembly and SPK into a blender and holding down all the buttons
-- that'll give
you some idea of the audio aesthetic at work. My only gripe: J
occasionally strays too far
into New Age turf, diluting the intensity of his more upbeat work. -- gz
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The Beta Band / The Three E.P.'s / Astralwerks (CD)
I've heard the Beta Band described as "like nothing you've ever heard
before", which
is a bit deceptive. It's not the melody, or the lyrics or any tangible
element of the
music. It's the potential. Any given Beta Band song is likely to
be a wild
collusion of folk, hip-hop, jazz, techno, pop, country or world elements,
coalesced into
a compact, palatable form that seems mind-bendingly obvious when you listen
to it.
Such mixing and matching could spell disaster (or scream "Gimmickry!") for
most other
bands, but the Beta Band pulls it off with a low key sprezzatura
that makes
The Three E.P.'s a rare treat. Unless you're an obsessed vinyl
collector on
a fruitless mission to find the ultra-rare slabs from which this domestic
release was
culled, this disc has all the Beta Band you need. Insert your own "beta test"
joke here, if you must. -- gz
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Chris Forsyth / s/t / Bottom Feeder (7")
Of unknown origin, Chris Forsyth's plainly packaged single is part cacophonous uproar and part relaxing repose. Done entirely with guitar, Forsyth’s music wisely avoids any vocal interruptions and lets his fingers do the talking; they do everything from caress to coerce
the guitar strings into an emotive state. Delicately balancing between
experimental and uber-fret-board gymnastics, these recordings are
surprisingly lively and bewitchingly good, placed within a medium that is
generally reserved for rock. -- am
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Anton Barbeau / Antology Vol. 1 / Lost Arts Productions (CD)
In a packed program, Barbeau introduces us to 17 of his best songs --
reputedly merely the tip of a veritable musical iceberg. Barbeau's work sports
a distinct quirky-British-pop aesthetic; though I've no idea if he's
actually
British, songs like "Whippy Diane" and "Beautiful Bacon Dub" have
more in common with Robyn Hitchcock, XTC et al than with most
stateside purveyors of surrealist pop. There's a retro flavor here, too --
the
fun and frivolity of early eighties new wave is alive and kicking on
Antology,
along with a Bowie-esque penchant for willful obscurity. In other words,
unless you only listen to love songs, you'll find Antology
distinctly entertaining. -- gz
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Aerial M / Post Global Music / Drag City (CD)
If you've heard any of Aerial M's work, you know it's already pretty
subtle -- smeary, understated chords that slip liquidly into your ears,
delicately sparse melodies of tinkling guitar notes, drumming as brisk
as the heart rate of a hibernating sloth -- in general, a pleasant lack of
urgency and a deceptive laxity of focus. The four remixes here --
from Flacco, Tied + Tickled Trio, DJ Your Food and the immortal
Bundy K. Brown -- reconstruct "Wedding Song" and other tracks,
molding their already soft tones into moebius strips of music. You
might call it Chillout Music for the Already Heavily Sedated. -- gz
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Electric Frankenstein / Blackout / Victory (7")
More prolific than a group of Catholics with an abhorrence of
anything contraceptive, Electric Frankenstein punches out the punk rawk
on yet another 7" release. Doing what they do best, EF offer two of the
better tunes I've heard from them. Both are chock full of gooey guitar and
savory, speedy tempos that’ll make the driest of mouths salivate for
more. Yes, it may be another derivative slab of simple three chord rock,
but it’s still all about the rock ‘n’ roll. -- am
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Cha Cha Cha / Love Theme from Cha Cha Cha / Motorway (7")
On the A-Side, the title track in its "80s synthetimix" incarnation: a
disco-funkified electronic disco treat, the refrain from which should be
familiar to anyone who grew up in the seventies. On the flip, the
samplerific "Ultimate Rhythm Machine" can be faulted only for its
brevity, while the "in the SpaceHonky Compound mix" of the title cut is
a subtler, loungier interpretation. The whole slab's damn near perfect. -- gz
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Fear of Pop / In Love (remixes) / Sony/550 (2x12")
If you're a novelty-track maven, you'll want to seek out this
promo double 12", which sports a variety of dance-oriented mixes of
the recent Ben Folds side project-cum-William-Shatner-collaboration.
If you're not, you might get some dancefloor play out of this.
Otherwise, the remixes by Attica Blues and Thievery Corporation will
wear out their welcome in short order. They're not bad per se -- they just fail to live up to potential. -- gz
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The Phasers on Stun / Chatting Up Birds b/w Get Lost / The Phasers on Stun (7")
This Thunder Bay five-piece offers upbeat, rubbery indie pop on
"Chatting Up Birds", suggesting a distant melodic relationship to very
early R.E.M. The flipside, "Get Lost", is more introspective -- almost
morose. Perhaps the birds from the a-side told them to get lost?
Regardless, the pleasantly warm production on this short-run 7" makes
these guys instantly likeable, and I hope we hear more from them soon. -- gz
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