From gg2g4ink Sent Wed, Oct 22nd 1997, 07:09
From gg2g4ink Sent Wed, Oct 22nd 1997, 07:09
nobody has mentioned this, so...
CHEESY KEYS - Beef Pelmets (BOVINYL 005)
"i like traffic lights / i like traffic lights..."
Is this where all that progress has led us? the Casio sounds are only slightly
more refined than Dr. Kosmos' ill-advised solo foray - the HipHop beat is of the
$50 Yamaha preset variety. to Si Begg's credit, the CABBAGE BOY remix manages to
at least make a polyester purse out of this sows' ear. speed up-slow down-speed
up-slow down. it's like a rousing kindergarten game of "Stoop & Stand!" Bigfoot
lays down a decent enough euka-technoid mess of scratches, woozy bass, and
arrhythmic synth squalor (too) much like (recent) Neil Landstrumm. still, i'd
advise him to leave this one off his CV. "Penis Song," to my horror, is indeed a
drum'nbass-ic 'cover'(?) of that cringer from the Monty Python sketch. 'cover'
is too dignified for this one, methinks. the audio track from the sketch is
merely smothered in heavy - and utterly aimless - beats. it doesn't last more
than a minute, but it must be the nadir of music as we know it. what was that
Vogel was saying about all music coming to an end? here's your proof.
anyone remember the "Bright Eyes" catfood theme? ("bright eyes and a shiny coat,
will you take a look at that? Bright Eyes has that Bright Eyes look - and that's
the look of a healthy cat!" - it's all coming back to you now, in'nit?) that
faux- Can Can brass soiree... the clanging cowbells. YEESH! of all the detritus
to drag from the world of adverts...! would have at least been ironic had Morris
- or Howie B - done it. but this is just... well, "Love/Hate" isn't terrible -
there's some Acid in there, a little µ-Ziq, a touch of Bochum Welt - but i
can't get past that image of cha-cha-ing pussycats! guilt by association,
i suppose. the deadpan "who loves to hate the one who loves the one you hate to
love?" incantation is goofy enough to be catchy. you'll hear it again in a
better record someday. ANIMALS ON WHEELS does a tin-can drum'n'bass mash-up of
"Love To Hate." sounds like it was recorded on a Fisher Price portable tapedeck,
but that can be mistaken for 'charm' (if you're feeling especially benevolent),
and AOW doesn't really embarass himself with this remix. 'pusher-by-the-numbers
- with AFX's "maaaaaaaaaaashed potttaaaaaaaaatoes" vocal effect tossed about for
good measure - but it's lively and probably worth a spin or two. "Oyster
Song..." oh jeez. what a waste of good vinyl.
from the ridiculous to the sublime-
CELLULOID MATA - Fancy Binaries
Noise Museum/Oblique Soundscapes Serie, vol.3
a new(?) French bedroom 4-tracker who has fully absorbed his Bruce Gilbert,
Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse, and Autechre. i'm guessing that he heard a
Panasonic record (or ten) at some point. crude electronics - all overmodulated
sawtooth waves and lumbering beats - which are typical of the NWW-wave of
post-industrialists, the "it's not techno, damnit!" borderliners who just
enjoyed fiddling with a good primal beat now and again. there's something cold
and alien about _Fancy Binaries_ - it manifests itself in the ghostly blue
resonations of "My Asteroid Called Traci Lords" and translates into torrents of
white noise. a track like "Out Of The Afternoon Talking About R. Kern" develops
a solid groove out of its primitive components - a very simple bassline, a
rhythmic cold-steel-meets-grindstone loop, and looming Lustmordian textures -
and stands remarkably well alongside Porter Ricks or Unit Moebius. if _Fancy
Binaries_ has an antecedent, it would be Biochip C's STEEL album or the
Damm/Khan(?) RESTGERAEUSCH project. but serving up such imposing music in
impenetrable one-hour blocks (as both Mille Plateaux disks do) tends to make it
more wearying than coherent. Celluloid Mata's album is much more successful (and
considerably more digestible) as it is presented in controlled portions. the
(very-Seefeel/Namanax) processed groove of "Out Of The Day Talking About D.
Judd" and "Lost Where U're Lost" - bewilderingly gorgeous receeding halos of
beatless ambient warmth - balance the noise assault and prevent _Fancy Binaries_
from spiraling into undifferentiated earbleed excess.
cheers!
GuerillaG2-G4/ gg
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx
np: tangle edge - tarka
(palate-cleanser, they call it...)