Adverse Effect (Vol.III.) #3, Winter 2006/2007 Edition

'A'

AABZU/PHYIR 'The Shape of Lost Things' split CD (Simple Logic, Poland, 2005)

  Aabzu is the collaborative platform between Zenial/Palsecam's Lukasz Szalankiewicz and fellow Polish solo artist, Maciek Szymczuk. Together, they embark on a ride into electronica's more atmospheric outskirts. One minute, babbling tones and clicks greet sweet wafts of female voice and then, elsewhere, Aabzu are working away at the vaguely jazzy slices cementing the beats on some older Ninja Tunes releases. Fine shit. Alternatively, ex-Cop Shoot Cop's Jim Coleman's Phyir resides in an avenue somewhat more beat-centric. Likewise, little jazzy touches inflect an electronic soundbed, but the seven cuts mostly tend to fall too close to an already dated club's lounge space. It's okay but, compared to Aabzu's take on matters, slightly backwards-looking. Next time, somebody should grant Aabzu an album of their own. (RJ) www.simlog.tk

LEO ABRAHAMS 'Scene Memory' CD (Bip Hop, 2006)

  Gentle and refined meditations created by real time guitar playing and a number of software-generated effects, following Abrahams’ feeling inspired by Morton Feldman’s minimalistic ideas to isolate the notion of ‘Abstract Experience’. Each of the twelve pieces paint an evocative enough cinematic space not unlike some of Eno’s work; which, given that Abrahams has collaborated with him on several albums, doesn’t exactly come at you like an unprovoked assault with a claw hammer. All the same, Scene Memory certainly catches a guitarist intent on soundtracking an imagination as colourfully as possible and, for the most part, it’s a successfully mesmerising affair. Only the the slightly mannered nature, if anything, really gets in the way of proceedings, but it’s warm enough. (RJ)www.bip-hop.com

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE 'The Cosmic Inferno' CD (Vivo, Poland, 2006)

  Two lengthy mind-rockers from these unbelievably prolific, Kawabata Makoto & Tabata Mitsuru-led Japanese freakballs. Sounds like In Search of Space hurtling towards a black hole created by Brainticket to me. No bad thing, I guess. Especially if significantly lubed by impossible quantities of alcohol ‘n’ shrubbery after the sun has long gone down... (RJ)www.vivo.pl

ADULT. 'Gimmie Trouble' CD (Thrill Jockey, USA, 2005)

  It’s a big shame that this Detroit trio’s music neither lives up to the promise of vocalist Nicola Kuperus’ fantastic photographs forming the album’s artwork or, indeed, founder Adam Lee Miller’s statements concerning it representing some kinda antithesis to the vacuous surroundings. Coupled to the fact he, in turn, seems to regard Adult.’s non-corporate/D.I.Y. stance a rare virtue these days (clearly, he ain’t lookin’ in the right places), it’s hardly surprising that Gimmie Trouble peddles the very same robo-punk stutter heard in the equally retro-glazed Radio 4 and their ilk. To a generation who’ve never heard Malaria, Kleenex and other ‘shouty female’-fronted groups from the early ‘80s, this mebbe does smell as fresh as a newborn baby’s first chuff, tho’? File next to Asja Auf Capri and have done with it... (RJ) Thrill Jockey, P. O. Box 08038, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. www.thrilljockey.com

AKRON/FAMILY eponymous CD (Young God, USA, 2005)

  Following on from the major success he scored in bringing Devendra Banhart to popular attention, Michael Gira returns with Akron/Family, the latest set of Brooklyn prodigies to find a home on his Young God label. He's obviously impressed with them, since they played as backing band on his recent Angels of Light album, and subsequently toured with him in the same role.

  Superficially you might peg Akron/Family as emanating from the same loosely composed avant/psych folk scene that spawned Banhart (as well as many other currently exciting names), but they really seem to be taking things in some quite different directions. Their debut album, a multi-textured patchwork apparently pieced together from three albums' worth of accrued material, pulls together blues, country, fingerpicking folk, sugar sweet Beach Boys style harmonising and occasional bursts of dissonant guitar noise. The wide ranging instrumentation takes in banjo, accordion, brass and organ, as well as inventive use of other sound sources, such as the creaking chair infiltrating itself into the background on ‘Italy’. Taken together with the vaguely cultish trappings with which they surround themselves, and the esoteric "natural curiosities" making up the cover art, there's almost a sense of old-time vaudeville here, like some kind of backwoods medicine show, maybe a forgotten figment from the imagination of Mark Twain.

  Musically, the nearest comparisons I can make would be the spaced-out eclecticism of the likes of Mercury Rev or Flaming Lips, or maybe the skewed melodies of Animal Collective. With their fluid tempos and the sky kissing falsetto of Ryan Vanderhoof often in evidence they even bring to mind Jeff Buckley, with ‘Running, returning’ in particular, as it reaches its peak, sounding like a lost outtake from Grace. The best moments on Akron/Family for me are those that are the most minimal, such as ‘Afford’, and especially the opening track, ‘Before and Again’, which is a thing of pared-down perfection with its gently picked guitar, desultory bleeping and mournful cello set against a gently keening vocal lament. I'm somehow not so keen on the more epic leanings to be found elsewhere on the album, for example ‘Franny’, with its martial drumming and brass building to a jubilant finale. I'm not sure if it's something about the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach that engenders a sense of archness or artifice I find difficult to get around, or maybe there's just something about their sound that's too rich to digest, like eating a big chocolate cake all in one go. Those reservations aside though, there is plenty worth hearing here, and this is a debut which is never less than intriguing. (IC)www.younggodrecords.com

FORTNER ANDERSON 'Six Silk Purses' CD (Wiredonwords, Canada, 2006)

  Different musicians from his home city were enlisted to manipulate the six spoken poems here by Montreal’s performance poet Fortner Anderson. Together, they conjure a world where their excursions to all from occasionally rhythm-addled musique concrète, electro-acoustic and even, during the last couple of minutes of Sam Shalabi’s take on ‘A Day’, airy Middle Eastern music pinned down by a ney, play out a perfect accompaniment to the originally sourced poetry. Generally, it falls nearer Christian Renou’s camp than, say, Henri Chopin’s, but the steady ebb & flow of all the contributions creates a natural and exhilarating whole all the more remarkable for the fact it’s only Anderson’s second such album in around seven years. An exquisite listening experience that positively commands yr attention like little else. (RJ)www.wiredonwords.com | www.fortneranderson.com

ANGELS OF LIGHT 'Sing' Other People CD (Young God, USA, 2005)

  Arriving from a hard day's slog at the sweat-house to find a new AOL album awaiting you represents one of the very few true nuggets of enjoyment life can throw yr way. On this, the fifth such release (excluding their website-only mail order albums), the overall sound snags Gira (and co.) at his most immediately accessible yet. Tethered to a sheen enhanced by fellow YGR artists Akron/Family's own embellishments, "'Sing' Other People" pushes a lolling Lee Hazelwood-ish swagger into a refrain at once steeped in bullet-ridden tradition and a yearning to explore new life. In this sense, it's a combo which has long worked for Gira and harks back to the Swans' own mid-'80s transition from stripped-down rhythm bastards to a group whose converging of layered acoustics and dark psych-folk with full-on, post-punk or even industrial dynamics proved itself to be way ahead of the general mindset at the time.

 It's these very same inflections that continue to seep into AOL. For all the original intention this time to whittle the sound back to a sparse and mostly acoustic setting, there's much to be said for the way each of the songs barely strays from Gira's irrefutable ample vision. And whilst he would himself (quite rightly) baulk at taking such credit for everything clearly at work here, it's still fair to claim that it is purely because of his keen sense for sonic adventure that it's used in the first instance.Gira has always struck me as somebody very much locked into his own personal
mission, yet will do whatever he can along the way to keep it interesting (for both himself and the listener) or, far better still, exhilarating. After all, there has always been something hugely cathartic to anything he has put his hand to...

 "'Sing' Other People" has twelve cuts that typically (I understand...) started life for Gira as home-grown acoustic workouts. These were then subsequently comfortably padded by Akron/Family's impressive array of gtrs, banjo, piano, organ, sax, etc. as well as by a handful of other musicians on double bass, cello, vocals, violin and mandolin. Most striking, however, is the fact nothing so much as a key or string appears out of place, despite the considerable amount of instrumentation used. Everything's utilised purposefully and with good reason. Furthermore, the occasional nod aside, only 'Michael's White Hands' really steps into the same kinda mantric clothes much of Gira's work has been known for over the years.

  All else, each one a tribute to a different friend of Gira's, generally refines and reconfigures a sound to pastures previously only glimpsed on earlier AOL releases. Porch twang and firelit folk strains are pushed to the fore, yet leave enough room for the little stabs of avant-stumbling that have long helped define this group. Beyond that, "'Sing' Other People" is shaded more playfully and pushed into areas that are comparatively more generally listenable (in the wider sense) but never once compromise the old razor blade-concealed-within-an-apple approach now long instilled. As the press release indicates itself, the overall sound is more relaxed and catches Gira feeling his most comfortable during recording in years. Ultimately, it's precisely this which shows and, well, that's reason enough in itself to either continue or learn, finally, to pay attention.(RJ) www.younggodrecords.com

ANGELS OF LIGHT & AKRON/FAMILY 'Akron/Family & Angels Of Light' split CD (Young God, USA, 2005)

  No sooner had I been given an opportunity to recover from both Akron/Family’s debut and AOL’s previous albums when this li’l beauty arrived. Akron/Family deliver eight songs that take their already skyward-bound arrangements soaring to heights my adrenalin can barely cope with. The borderline chaos inflecting their work is still very much in evidence, yet remains stitched into place by a keen pop sensibility which never loses its grip on the dynamics and, indeed, some of the most phenomenal vocal harmonies heard this side of The Beach Boys. ‘Future Myth’ is a particular highlight and proved itself even moreso when I caught these boys live in Wroclaw in late 2005.

  The split is then rounded off nicely by five more Gira-helmed cuts, one of which is a moving rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘I Pity the Poor Immigrant’ and another a different version of ‘Mother/Father’, first heard on the Swans’ 1994 album, The Great Annihilator. Once again, Akron/Family themselves flesh out Gira’s vision without overstepping the mark, adding suitably tortured screams and serrated sounds to ‘The Provider’ and the distinctive air of an otherworldly barbershop choir performing at a wake to the final song, ‘Come for My Woman’. One can almost feel the chemistry at work here and, heck, the only question presently troubling me is in wondering whether any of these people can put a foot wrong. I’d like to think not.(RJ) www.younggodrecords.com

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE (feat. Vashti Bunyan) 'Prospect Hummer' CDEP (FatCat Records, 2005)

  Feel good acoustic music for a sunny day. The vocals beguile, in what is becoming a trendily folksy way and can for a while make the world seem a better place than it is.

  Vashti Bunyan was signed to Decca Records in the '60s and put out a single ('Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind'), written by Jagger/Richards. Glowing reviews at the time touted her as 'the new Marianne Faithful' but the Immediate label failed to release subsequent singles. Becoming disillusioned with the music business, for a time Vashti lived in a tent, behind Ravensbourne College of Art, before setting off in a horse and cart, for the Isle of Skye, in 1968. This took two years and it was whilst on the road she wrote what was to become a cult folk album, Just Another Diamond Day.

  In 2001 this album was re-released on CD and Vashti has since taken tentative steps back into the music industry. The collaboration with Animal Collective came about when they met in Edinburgh, in 2003, supporting Four Tet.

  This 4 track CDEP centres around three harmonised vocal tracks, which sound fragile and almost naive but belie the hidden strengths of Vashti Bunyan’s talent. (CP) www.fat-cat.co.uk

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Feels CD (FatCat Records, 2005)

  FOf all their albums so far, Feels captures Animal Collective sounding more spirited and wildly rockin’ than ever. Firstly, whereas the previous Sung Tongs saw them whittled down to, essentially, a core duo of Avey Tare and Panda, this one not only once more seizes the full band strategy but also combines it with MÚm’s Kristin Anna Valtysdóttir’s piano work and occasional contributions from Eyvind Kang (Sun City Girls, Mr. Bungle, John Zorn, etc.) on violin. The results are a healthy push forward to a zone where the tumultous Animal Collective sound remains both identifiable and spattered with an abundance of inventiveness that wraps itself around you like a suit of touchstones. It’s as tho’ these boys have a very natural understanding of the pulses that they’ve either learnt from or, indeed, those which course ecstatically throughout their own work.

  Opening track, ‘Did You See the Words’, furnishes us with a perfect setting for the rest of the album, bringing with it an impassioned array of layers held in check by sweeps ‘n’ slides, glistening piano melodies and Tare’s infectious vocals. From this point on, the proceedings course through everything from the hammer-pounding & tortured genius of ‘The Purple Bottle’ to the gently shuffling liquidscape of ‘Bees’ and ‘Banshee Beat’’s heart-rending slow-burner. Songs that, irrespective of tempo or mood, remain propelled by conviction and a yearning to continue exploring all possibilities.

 What really comes across is the notion that Animal Collective, a group whose path has embraced everything from folk and psychedelia to electronica, share the same handle on their sound and its roots that others such as Brian Wilson and Phil Spector have before them. Outside this, they then possess a capacity to tease or fuck around with it like few others presently around.
Feels might well represent AC at their rockiest yet, but its terrain is as charming as it is occasionally rugged and violent. Fuelled by an energy and the same sense of excitement, insight and wonderment inherent since they began, it falls gracefully into place like the product of real intuition it genuinely is. How are they going to top it, I wonder? (RJ) www.fat-cat.co.uk

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE 'Sung Tongs' CD (FatCat, 2005)

  Following on from FatCat's repackaging of AC's first coupla (o/p) albums, "Spirit, They're Gone..." and "Danse Manatee", last year, "Sung Tongs" generally catches 'em in a more refined 'n' melodious frame o' patchwork. Although underpinned by the very same knots of schizoid gristle they have favoured from the outset, the air carved here is an appropriately hallucinatory take on, say, The Byrds being hit on by Can and, I dunno,
Pimmon or somesuch. Otherworldly vocal harmonies, yelps and pyro-whoops are smattered liberally alongside catchy acoustic gtr strums, quilted electronic fragments, peculiar babbling, hypnotic bliss-outs and an incredibly pop sheen destined to snap them from their present dwellings. What comes across more than anything else is a group (usually, literally, a collective but down to a duo for this particular release) fully prepared to try their hands at anything they feel like because they are capable of carrying it with an inventiveness of almost dizzying proportions. Absolutely every song here dazzles like little or nothing else around. Energetic and abstract or absurd in a good way, they colour a corner only Animal Collective themselves can hide in. "Sung Tongs" catches the sound of minds exploding wildly and perfectly. And, no question, we need as much of that as we can possibly get right now.(RJ) www.fat-cat.co.uk

ANOTHER HEADACHE 'Pushing the Envelope' CDEP (Thisco, Portugal, 2005)

  The first sign of life from David Bourgoin of Irrational Arts’ own musical endeavour since the ‘Serendipity’ e.p. on Dirter Promotions back in 1994. Collecting four pieces lasting only 20 minutes in total hardly indicates a prolific artist either, but what we get to hear within that duration helps redress the balance. Sample-bound tunnels of sound, vacillating loops, crackle, cuckoo-clock overload, gentle gtrs and the contents of a psychiatric patient’s head spilling form the basis to a psychedelic ooze owing something to both Faust and NWW as much as its own intentions. Do we have to wait another 11 years for the next release, I wonder...? (RJ) www.thisco.net

ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS 'I Am A Bird Now' CD (Secretly Canadian, USA, 2005)

  The first album by New York songwriter, Antony, plunged headlong into a dark and tormented cabaret world of broken hearts, lost dreams and personal trauma like little else treading the boards between the avant-garde, balladeering and contemporary music. I Am A Bird Now, however, pushes an already highly unique approach into even more complex or dare I say sophisticated realms. The nearest parallels of which can only, at a pinch, be drawn with Scott Walker’s work of the past three decades, Nina Simone’s torchlit tenderness and Bowie’s countless finer moments; in terms of both Antony’s fantastic vocal range and the settings that carry it so well.

  Comprising ten songs spanning an almost perfect length of just under 36 minutes total, I Am A Bird Now is built from beautiful piano compositions, lush string arrangements and the kinda melodies guaranteed to harness any late night’s bout of introspection. From the opener, ‘Hope There’s Someone’, onwards, there’s a wonderful contrast embodying a sense of the grand in terms of the music and something extremely personal to what is conveyed within it. Antony’s own gender-crossing roles being the chief concern in the latter respect, while the music itself cascades and rises triumphantly like a villain now deemed a hero...

  What helps open new horizons here, however, are Antony’s choice of collaborators. Lou Reed hands in an appropriately hushed spoken introduction and some fine guitar lines to ‘Fistful of Love’; Devendra Banhart pops up on a couple of songs; gay legend Rufus Wainwright takes the helm on one of the albums hightlights, ‘What Can I Do?’, and Boy George sings alongside Antony on the plaintive ‘You Are My Sister’. No matter what you may think of any one of these choices (Personally, I’d say Lou Reed’s long stopped being an artist of any true merit in his own right while, on the other hand, Boy George never really has been but has probably been equal measures more subversive and opened more minds as a person than Reed ever could).

  Clouding the boundaries between gender and sexuality provides the main theme to all of this work, but there’s a sensitivity at stake which anybody with a real heart will be able to relate to. Let’s just hope it won’t be another few years until the next album...(RJ) www.secretlycanadian.com

ARDEN 'Conceal' CD (Stilll, Belgium, 2005)

  Conceal is the product of an international collab. unit’s three day ‘production bender’ in Belgium, apparently. The resulting morass of electronic textures and labyrinthine gush, however, does little to suggest the six people involved oughtta hurry themselves together for a follow-up sesh, unfortunately. Hazy minimalistic shimmers & swirls simply cop from most else of a similar disposition but for the ‘drama’ afforded by several passages of white-hot rhythm overload that, mebbe the more convincingly delivered ‘Smashed Computers and Bad Luck’ aside, seem stitched on purely for the hell of it. I dunno, I realise Belgium’s not one of the world’s richest countries for cultural ‘enlightenment’ but there’s far more to it than what this bunch have tried to stamp there.(RJ) www.still.org

ASJA AUF CAPRI 'Novi Ronde' CD (Difficult Fun, 2004)

  Punchy enough debut amalgamating mutant electro-funk rhythms, proto-punk shouting ‘n’ deadpan vocals (in German, no less!), hefty jabs of keyboard menace, the occasional gtr burst and spooky melodies. Once in a while, such as on ‘Licht’, everything gives way to a wash of rudimentary analogue electronics barely a world away from early Cabaret Voltaire. Generally, however, Novi Ronde toys with strategies already coined by long gone post-punk German outfits such as Malaria, Der Plan and Liliput, yet reconfigures ‘em enough for that somewhat more contemporary NYC-based disco-punk stance. It won’t shake much beyond this context, but who’s to say they give a shit about that? (RJ) Difficult Fun, Unit 75a Regents Studios, 8 Andrews Road, London, E8 4QN. www.difficultfun.org

AVIA GARDNER 'More Than Tongue Can Tell' CD (Intr-version, Canada, 2005)

  Pretty sublime aggregation of sugar-frosted rhythms, melodic string sweeps, porous electronics and air of nostalgia, forming the perfect setting to Jenna Robertson’s gently swaying & tender vocals. Akin to a number of others digging new holes into electronica’s more progressive fabric, this album works for both its never standing still and constantly trying out different ideas. The overall effect isn’t far removed from stumbling upon a secret garden and finding the most perfect music to bury yr reflections in there. Subtleties, delicate streams of buried noise and what initially seem like carefully employed imperfections all hang around enough to pad everything out with a warm ‘n’ natural feel ideal for the proceedings. If Avia Gardner only exists as a construct or figment, as indeed ‘she’ does, then it’s one deserving to be heard by all but the most ignorant of people... (RJ) www.intr-version.com

'B'

BAND OF PAIN 'Through The Past Darkly' 2CD (Fin De Siecle Media, Sweden, 2006)

  The first disc of this double set dips a gnarled toe into Band of Pain’s hefty back catalogue, sifting through selections from the four albums and the Sacred Flesh OST released between 1994 and 2006, including an alternative version of ‘Kooa.ibb + ilvilu.m’ (from Reculver) and two previously unreleased pieces, ‘Funhouse (for Karla)’ and ‘Towards the Void’. Anybody unfamiliar with Steve Pittis’ Band of Pain should be prepared for some of the richest and most ‘morphic twilight atmospherics found this side of Lustmord and, indeed, it’s little wonder that Stephen Meixner (ex-Contrastate) has also stamped his presence occasionally along the way, too.

  Disc Two gathers a further 8 singles and outtakes, from between 1995 and 2000, which further illustrate the facts Steve’s music has been surprisingly ideal for the confines of the odd stray 7” and that a lot of care and consideration goes into what actually makes it onto his releases in the first place. Certainly, what he considers outtakes should be enough in themselves to shame most purveyors of so-called ‘doomy’ ‘ambient’ music into weeping all over their mostly childish cod-horror splutterings.

  Yes, Steve’s a very good friend of mine and we’ve also worked on many things together in one capacity or another since we shared time in our old group, Splintered (heck, I can even be found contributing vocals to ‘Fracture’, on the first disc here), but what comes across in Band of Pain is so rarely touched on elsewhere you’ll have to believe I’m gripped by nothing but objectivity. The inventiveness and carefully woven strands of humour and reference points add up, ultimately, to a person whose keen ear for fleshing out certain moods is in an entirely different league. (RJ) www.findesieclemedia.com

BATTERY OPERATED 'Re: cord' CD/DVD (C0C0S0L1DC1T1, France, 2005)

  On their Chases Through Non-Place album from a couple of years ago, Battery Operated sniffed at an identifiable sound borne of pleasantly knitted digital patchworks in a comforting mist. Here, however, they collaborate with ten artists (Freiband, Richard H. Kirk, Gate and Kurt Ralske amongst them) who’ve been invited to commit a conspiracy theory to sonic, visual and written form. These results were then remixed by Battery Operated but, unfortunately for the most part, appear to be doing a little mutant dancing in, I dunno, Matmos’ shadows or somesuch. Behind all the tweaking of the wispy melodies, a gleeful enough electro swagger shuffles along but does almost nothing to prevent Re: cord sounding ultimately homogenised.

  The videos themselves tend to work much better, however, with the accompanying music on each seeming more suitably colourful. I’d like to hear how both this release and the already noted Chases... compare with their other two albums, though... (RJ) www.cocosolidciti.com

BEEQUEEN 'The Bodyshop' CD (Important Records, USA, 2005)

  Freek Kinkelaar & Frans de Waard’s Beequeen has for a while now been chiefly concerned with pushing the envelopes found in the mulch between hazy dronescaping & electronic music. Combined with an interest in rhythms and actual songs, their sound has often assumed more readily digestible shapes as well, but never moreso than on here, The Bodyshop; their very latest album.

  Produced by The Legendary Pink Dots’ guitarist, Erik Drost (who also plays on ‘Buzzbag Drive’), the eleven songs collected wander very nicely along a corridor flanked by colourful tendrils of psychedelia, electronica and spacey atmospherics to a place that wouldn’t feel entirely outta place in the house that Kranky built. Only on ninth track, ‘Admiration of the Rod’ (Oh yeah...?!), does everything give way to a minute or so of more prominent clanging around & avant-juttering which owes more to their post-industrial roots, but even this is tempered enough to tuck in very snugly.

  Of the other cuts, including a cover of Nick Drake’s ‘Black Eyed Dog’, two feature Antenne’s Marie-Louise Munck on vocals and a generally melancholic air permeates throughout. ‘The Dream-o-phone’ laps from a bowl of reflective & moist glitchworks before evolving into something more spectral; ‘On the Road to Everywhere’ delivers like Bowery Electric on a mission to Saturn and the already noted ‘Buzzbag Drive’ is a strut into a blazing desert after a relationship’s collapsed.

  Ultimately, The Bodyshop radiates with splendour enough to continue taking Beequeen to fresh fields and it should be the duty of any self-respecting listener to join them as soon as possible. (RJ) Important Records, 18 Childs Ave, Amesbury, MA 01913, USA. www.importantrecords.com

KEITH BERRY 'The Ear That Was Sold to a Fish' CD (Crouton, USA, 2005)

  Berry's delicate, zen-influenced aural structures have previously been released on Trente Oiseaux, Authorised Version and Twenty Hertz. This release for Crouton comprises one piece indexed into 9 shorter pieces. It's a delight to listen to and immerse oneself in. Gentle drones hang in the air, punctuated by insect-like high-frequency sounds and movements whilst later the entrance of strings and a piano add yet more layers. A recommended addition to his catalogue of works. (David Wells) www.croutonmusic.com

BIOSPHERE 'Dropsonde' CD (Touch, 2006)

  The last coupla albums I got by Norwegian Geir Jenssen's Biosphere caught him drifting sublimely into the kinda haze Eno would've been proud of. On
'Dropsonde', however, he's munching on pulses and rhythms again in order to redress a balance not really pronounced in his work since 2000's 'Cirque'
album. Although a number of the eleven cuts here sway softly like a soundtrack perfect for documenting the life of a snowflake, many bear witness to Jenssen's roots in techno's outer reaches. 'Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings' is held in place by what sounds like the repetitive juddering of a steam engine, 'Daphnis 26' draws from the minimal hypno-dub motions also found in the Basic Channel collective's work, and a considerable number of the remaining pieces are defined by those very same waves or mechanical loops of his earlier work. Whilst it remains hard to see where Biosphere can now go, it's both clear that everything here sits rather snugly and that, indeed, there's still space for it for the moment. (Richard Johnson) www.touchmusic.org.uk

BLACK SUN PRODUCTIONS 'Im Gengentil' CDEP (Sheela-Na-Gig Sha-Na
Penisring/Danhauser, Germany, 2006)

  Limited edition (333 numbered copies) taster of Black Sun Productions' recent album, 'The Impossibility of Silence', that includes an additional couple of exclusive cuts, 'Clear Skies & Dark Skies' and 'Das Gegenteil'. All four pieces lay down a deep, hypnotic and lunar-bound swirl of electronic textures, muscular pulses and heavy-set rhythms which at once work best when accompanied by the vocals of 'Clear Skies...' and owe something to the group they've previously collaborated with, Coil. All the same, it's pretty incredible and far-reaching stuff, stoked with the kinda atmosphere and imagination many can merely dream of. (RJ) Danhauser Org., PO Box 35 03 08, 10212 Berlin, Germany www.danhauser.org

BLINDEKINDER '[helfen baven]' CD (Everest Records, Switzerland, 2006)

  Okay, I’ve scooped this ‘un up alongside a handful of other titles to write about whilst away in a town I teach at that’s based on the very periphery of civilisation itself, but dumbly forgot to bring its accompanying info sheet. Whatever, it appears to be the product of two Swiss crazies, Jonas Kocher and Raphael Raccvia, who’re clearly intent on ravaging all manner of keyboard, dictaphone, ‘objets’, LPs, cassettes and other analogue sounds to the point they resemble anything from sections of the Evil Dead OST to Masami Akita warming up his equipment with a severe bout of diarrohea. Despite an array of cheesy ‘spooky’ synth lines and often dementia-addled samples seeping into the melee, I’m mostly reminded of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock and their cohorts’ work.

  Unfortunately, it mostly suffers for its seeming like the result of yet another mere dabbling with effects and suchlike rather than anything more comparatively significant. Still, another disc to hang in the garden as a bird scarer, right…?(RJ) www.everestrecords.ch

ALEXEI BORISOV & ANTON NIKKILA 'Typical Human Beings' CD (N&B Research Digest, Finland/Russia, 2005)

  Alexei Borisov is a Moscow-based veteran of the Russian underground scene, with a CV stretching back to the early '80s, while Anton Nikkila, from Helsinki, has been recording since the late '90s. Alongside their various solo projects they've been working together since 1994, and Typical Human Beings is the first fruit of that collaboration to make its way to a CD release.

  Operating somewhere on the borders between Industrial, improvised and electronic music, the eleven tracks on this album are worked from a palette of queasy slithering static, assorted clattering and clanking, and a range of sinister bumping, scraping and rumbling. Concessions to the more straightforward use of instruments occasionally intrude, such as the sluggish bass on ‘Radiotekhnika Solovya’, half hearted strumming of a detuned guitar on ‘Viva Rock'n'Roll’, and the distorted saxophone which appears on the title track.

  Against this is set the dense and absurd imagism of Borisov's belligerently muttered lyrics (random sample, as translated on the sleeve: "I scribble with pork fat back on the covers of magazines/The aroma of eau de toilette makes the news headlines/in the world of daylight's abundance"), offering a coldly jaundiced panorama of the detritus of contemporary Russian society. The overall effect is not dissimilar to what you might expect to hear if the narrator of Dostoyevsky's Notes from Underground had somehow managed to wander into a recording studio, and knocked out an album while he was there. (IC) www.nbresearchdigest.com

VASHTI BUNYAN 'Lookaftering' CD (FatCat, 2005)

  Arriving 35 years after her debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, this gathers eleven songs (lasting approx. 35 mins total) co-arranged and produced by Max Richter, plus featuring a number of guest musicians including Joanna Newsom, Adem and Devendra Banhart. Similar to Nick Drake’s first two albums (of which, one of Drake’s own accomplices, Robert Kirby, also appears), Lookaftering evokes a reflective mood riding on delicate strums, some equally melodious keys, a gentle array of wind instruments given to fleshing out exactly the right moments and Richter’s own use of swaying wine glasses on ‘Here Before’ and ‘Against the Sky’. Complete with Bunyan’s own sensitive voice flowing throughout the exigious and spatial forms at work here, this is a wonderful alternative to both autumn evenings and those childhood memories of ploughing through the heaps of leaves that punctuate them. In a nutshell, well done to the young Banhart for initially dragging her from her hiding. Let’s hope her muse stops for a while longer now. (RJ) www.fat-cat.co.uk

'C'

C.O. CASPAR 'Epitaph' CD (Waystyx Records, Russia, 2005)

  It’s some years now since C.O. Caspar released the rather notable LP, Fra de Skjulte 1, which was based on recordings made inside an abandoned fuel tank. The anticipation, naturally enough, was that there would be at least a second in the series. Well, as so often happens, the best made plans of mice and men, etc., etc. In fact, the original idea was for a series of five LPs, but that’s been cancelled and, instead, two twenty minute workings of the FdS source material, accompanied by distorted vocals, appear as the second half of this disc. The first of these pieces, ‘Die Kammer’, is musically similar to the original LP; drawn-out and echoing atmospherics, but the glutinous vocal effects hint at something madly sinister. On ‘The Slaughter’, meanwhile, the robotic voice over the hollow dripping and watery clanking is positively potty. And, as with all the vocalising on this, utterly incomprehensible (though supposedly going on about events in the Nazi concentration camps). On the first half of the CD are two tracks which originated as background music for an exhibition in Canada. Their respective endings are almost identical, but the more interesting of the pair brings to mind a sultry afternoon, and a drugged or deranged dame languidly spouting nonsense by the bank of a stream. A babbling biddy by the babbling brook, perhaps? Definitely; Janey, you’d nearly swear you were there with her! (MO) www.waystyx.com

MICHAEL CASHMORE 'Sleep England' CD (Durtro / Jnana, 2006)

  Most of you, I’m sure, will be already familiar with Michael Cashmore through his rather pronounced and extremely important involvement with Current 93. As a solo artist, however, he simply plays guitar (electric and bass) and creates wonderful pieces ideal for late summer strolls through the countryside or gazing at reflections in lakes. There’s a sober, melancholic strain to these twelve instrumentals which furrows similar plumes to those found in Labradford or even some of ‘70s Floyd’s breezier treks. But it works beautifully and is, quite frankly, an album I’ve already turned to countless times when I feel the (external) need to relax or generally attempt to escape those sagging ‘n’ nagging thoughts I guess we’re all susceptible to.

  It’s impossible to single out any one song as a triumph over the others here, too, because they all work their magic equally and compliment each other well enough to create what’s really, quite simply, a perfect album. What’s worth pointing out, though, is just how removed they are from the world C93 mostly operates in, musically. Yes, there are, understandably enough, occasional melodic refrains which wouldn’t sit uncomfortably on a C93 song, but the overall differences are very clear and only go to prove that Cashmore is a highly talented and truly versatile musician.

  I long to hear more. (RJ) www.durtro.com

CINEPLEXX 'Restar' CD (Testing Ground, Spain, 2006)

  Latest album from Sebastian Litmanovich, an Argentian, now living in Barcelona, whose previous endeavours include post-rockers Amerena Incident and electronics collage outfit Readme and Anthony. Over the nine cuts here, however, he offers a fairly straightfoward and refined strain of clicks-infused minimal tech-house that also gyrates near glades once traversed by Autechre or Markus Popp. It’s a pleasant enough listen, if somewhat guilty of not actually throwing up anything new. (RJ) www.testinground.com

ANDREW COLEMAN Tony Alva’s Hair CD (C0C0S0L1DC1T1, France 2006)

  Thankfully, this album tore at my immediate shuddering at its title’s honouring the barnet of ‘70s skateboarding legend, Tony Alva, through sheer virtue of the gently shaken hip-hop strides and breezy electronica being served like yr fave platter after a severe hunger spell. Throughout the twelve cuts representing Coleman’s third album (the previous two being for Thrill Jockey and Ninja Tunes), there’s a tight rein on the proceedings that never loses sight of a destination where reflection isn’t shown even so much as the door of complacency for the constant stream of nicely tailored, break-influenced scatter-beats strewn everywhere. Often filmic or melancholic sensibilities are either gripped by the melodic keys caught on ‘Rain and Dogs’, tugged along by lolling rhythms or irresistibly jarred apart by some restless tremors, overly creating a setting flooded with fecundity. ‘Not a Speculation’’s divine collab with Dose One of cLOUDDED, surely one of the most adventurously kaleidoscopic hip-hop units around, does little to betray Coleman’s intentions either. Nothing on this album trips over itself, oversteps any cleverness or, by the same definition, works the playfulness into spaces usually reserved for mongs. This is a seriously strong release and I await the next one with more interest than you can shake a stick at. (RJ) www.cocosolidciti.com

COLLEEN 'Mort Aux Vaches' CD (Staalplaat, Germany, 2006)

  It’s so rare anything that lands here actually incites palpitations enough to send one reeling towards investing in somebody’s back catalogue that such events are marked by a boner of such monstrous proportions it’s difficult to walk for a few days. Colleen’s entry in Staalplaat’s long running M.A.V. series is the latest arrival to have done precisely that, though. Collecting eight songs recorded for a Dutch V.P.R.O. radio session in 2004, it paints a very enticing portal to the world this French musician operates in.

  Utilising a wide variety of instruments, from zither to classical guitar to thumb pianos and beyond, she weaves a magical tapestry of sensual & melodic instrumentals so mesmerising it’s impossible to shake outta the reverie. Titles like ‘The Melodica Song’ and ‘The Cello Song’ pretty much give the game away to some of this multi-instrumentalist’s foundations, and I can imagine it works a treat live, where Colleen apparently cannot reproduce any of her songs, plus avoids prerecorded elements altogether. As gentle and beautiful as a balmy Autumn evening, the music here is perfect for escaping all the crap we have to wade through. Which, let’s face it, is about as good as it can get.

  Colleen has two other studio albums available so far, on the Leaf label. And, much the same as this neatly packaged, limited edition (500) release, I’d urge you to, like myself, use the internet to do yr homework on and put some plastic to use. Now, please, excuse me whilst I try find some more loosely cut jeans... (RJ) www.staalplaat.com

CONCEPT 7 'The Undeniable Constant' CD (Earthspike, 2006)

  Second album by a London group whose blend of ‘industrial techno’, guitars and malcontent vocal concerns about war, panic, paranoia and the usual gamut of themes is as tired and outmoded as it actually sounds. Makes me think of a stripped-down version of early Pitch Shifter or mebbe Godflesh, which, quite honestly, inspires nothing but the coldest of shivers to surf down my spine. A complete and utterly redundant exercise that chokes on so many clichés I’m surprised these puds haven’t just formed a tribute band. Adjectives such as dismal and dire now have an additional meaning, and it’s spelt out by Concept 7 (RJ) www.concept7.co.uk

COTI 'Lido/Lato' 2CD (Poeta Negra, Greece, 2003)

  Incredible works by Italian artist, Constantino Luca Rolando Kiriakos, who appears to traverse a plain hanging between, I dunno, Philip Glass and Max Richter or somesuch. Keys knock shapes into atmospheric textures destined to otherwise remain perhaps leaden, while simple movements touch on those spaces between dreams. Together with an imaginative array of other sound sources woven into the fray, Lido/Lato becomes a whole which gathers more sense with every listen. Too busy to be minimalist, it still remains indebted to such sources and yet reaches far, far beyond.

  Discovering such true gems in the boxes of review material piled up here really do help give everything a little more meaning. I honestly crave more... (RJ) Poeta Negra, 7 Skra Str., 54622 Thessaloniki,Greece . www.poetanegra.com

CURRENT 93 Black Ships Ate the Sky CD (Durtro/Jnana, Canada, 2006)

  This year has certainly been a good one in respect of the realisation of eagerly-anticipated new albums by at least two singularly-minded artists.

  Firstly, Scott Walker's 'The Drift' recently materialised to prove he hasn't either completely retreated or lost his touch and, secondly, David Tibet's C93 have delivered an album that's taken four years to finish and has been well worth the wait.

  True to the artistic vision which has informed C93's work since the late 1980s, yet still retaining many of their concerns prior to this period, "Black Ships Ate the Sky" is possibly their boldest, most fully-formed and overtly grand album to date. Beginning as a series of ideas Tibet had that were based on an intense dream of his, it has evolved into a vast statement that's been nurtured into shape by longstanding collaborators Michael Cashmore & Steve Stapleton as well as cellist John Contreras, Six Organ Of Admittance's Ben Chasny and a number of guest vocalists, including Antony, Will Oldham and Shirley Collins. Between all of them, they have conjured an album which exists way outside the scope we can expect from most groups.

  From the opener, sang angelically by Marc Almond, onwards, "Black Ships Ate the Sky" remains anchored to several threads; initially, the recurring reinterpretations of Charles Wesley's 'Idumaea' hymn from over 300 years ago and then, indeed, on to the four songs concerning the 'Black Ships' themselves and the many themes they in turn address. Death, judgment, innocence (or the loss of it), the apocalypse and suchlike permeate throughout but are hemmed in by a mild absurdist streak and, of course, some of the most highly accomplished music to have ever crawled from the same quagmire originally and almost unbelievably responsible for industrial music. String-laden, melodic, impassioned, intense, circular and mantric, the entire album consists of songs which each bring with them different shades whilst simultaneously complimenting their surroundings. Sorrowful at times, such as on 'Sunset (The Death of Thumbelina)', or at others steeped in the kinda haunting textures witnessed throughout 'The Dissolution of the Boat Millions of Years', there's plenty to offset the bouts of almost bare strumming or ascents to psychedelia-inspired refrains. Overall, the album has the weighty feel of something that has been thought about at great lengths, prodded at and reworked enough to warrant the four years it's taken to land. It feels important and is the result of somebody who cares deeply about doing the best he can with his creative impulse and understands that taking one's time is, by this definition alone, sometimes necessary. And, above all, it's the product of somebody who continues to ask questions (about himself and otherwise). Nick Cave could learn a lot from this.(RJ) www.durtro.com

'D'

ANDERS DAHL 'Hundloka, Flockblom-striga 1' CD (Häpna, Sweden, 2006)

  As debuts go, this is a pretty good one. Comprising three instrumentals, this album, named after a common weed found in meadows, arrives from a determined Swede who clearly has a grasp of the balance found between modern composition, minimalistic textures and improvisation (as well as botany). Each of the pieces, utilising everything from prepared speakers, a clarinet and guitar to a bouzouki and percussion, consists of several measured yet layered sounds that, oddly, can be snugly placed alongside anything from some of Japan’s PSF’s stable’s more ‘out’ releases and, say, Iancu Dumitrescu’s work. Which makes for a pretty satisfactory combination, really. Especially if perhaps tuned into this whilst surfing along the possibilities of a certain other ‘weed’.

  Distilled timbres waver alongside others either more creased or even, in the case of the second piece in particular, generally deeper and more raw. Essentially, contrasts are the order of the day here, but Dahl never lets them slip from his sight and, heck, together, they conjure the kinda visions usually reserved for a troubled mind that’s at least at peace with itself or resigned to the fact it’ll forever remain troubled.

  As noted, a fine entrance. But then, hey, I have a slightly troubled mind... (RJ) www.hapna.com

DE FABRIEK 'Neveleiland' CD (Plinkity Plonk, Netherlands, 2004)

  Neveleiland was originally released in 1983 as a private label limited edition of a few hundred copies, and quickly disappeared into the mists of obscurity. After 20 years Plinkity Plonk have briefly rescued it from that obscurity with this rerelease, though seeing as this is apparently also a limited edition (of 500 copies), I would expect that obscurity might soon beckon once more.

  Anyway, this is certainly one of the most bizarre discs I've ever come across, and worth getting hold of for anyone interested in the further reaches of old school electronic exploration. It consists of two tracks, clocking in at about 20 minutes each, and both based around recorded monologues augmented with queasy electronic accompaniment. According to the sleevenotes, on the first track we apparently hear a Moluccan soldier's account of how Indonesia became independent in the early '50s. On the second, an Icelandic farmer tells of how his life was destroyed by two witches. As I, unsurprisingly, speak neither of the languages concerned, it's pretty difficult to judge the accuracy of these descriptions, or whether there's any kind of thematic or logical connection between the two monologues. Whatever the case, you've got to admit this is a pretty unusual basis for making a record.

  Though it was recorded in the '80s, a lot of Neveileland is actually more redolent of the '70s. It’s heavily based around analogue synths, and while the label cites influences from Conrad Schnitzler and The Residents, I'd also chuck in comparisons with the frightnight soundtracks of the early John Carpenter movies, and the cheery melodies of Kraftwerk circa Radioactivity. Between and around the electronics are also to be found all sorts of sound effects - foghorns, birds chirruping, some kind of hideous animal growling - while primitive bass and nagging percussion occasionally surface. It's all like being subject to some fevered dream, where you drift in and out of lucidity while disquieting images loom at edge of your troubled consciousness. (IC) www.kormplastics.nl

RODERIK DE MAN 'Electrified Music' CD (Electroshock, Russia, 2004)

  Electrified Music features the work of Indonesian-born Dutch electro-acoustic composer Roderik de Man. Looking every inch the popular image of the electro-acoustic boffin, de Man is pictured on the inner sleeve of this CD standing in front of banks of computers and assorted technology, ready perhaps to embark on his latest commission from some obscure academy in a distant corner of Europe. The eight pieces covered here date from the late '80s to 2003, and employ electronic tape combined with a range of instruments, including flutes, harpsichord and trumpet, as well as tenor vocals on one piece.

  I've often found electro-acoustic music to tend towards the overly fussy, and from that angle I'd say that the most interesting pieces here are those that keep it simple. ‘Dark Intervals’, scored purely for tape, is the pick of the CD, with its rising and falling hums and drones, distant squeaking and intermittent clanging. De Man's work often highlights how the sustained tones of wind instruments interact well with electronics, as with ‘Sin Descanso’, for blockflutes and tape, which comes off like some demented tribal dance. ‘Czar Peter's Creation’, inspired by Alexander Pushkin's poem ‘The Bronze Rider’, also successfully counterpoints its harsh tranches of fizzing sound with the sampled voice of tenor Marcel Beekman. The more twiddly pieces just don't do it for me though, as with the convoluted harpsichord meanderings of ‘Chordis Canam’ and ‘Momentum’. (IC) www.electroshock.ru

DEMETER 'Pleasure Island' CDEP (Ark Records, 2005)

  Oh dear, it seems as tho' Garbage have actually inspired some contenders to the U-bend they're presently clogging themselves. My life feels so fucken
complete at times like this... (RJ) www.arkrecords.com

LOREN DENT 'Empires and Milk' CD (Contract Killers, USA, 2006)

  Evocatively titled debut from an American musician whose fifteen cuts here seem to glide effortlessly through similar shimmering glades both Brian Eno and, to a lesser degree yet on a more contemporary level, say, Stars Of The Lid have also found themselves lurking in. There’s a wholesome thematic quality to Empires and Milk, though, that, alongside its undeniable warmth and inventiveness, renders it far more than being yet another ‘ambient’ release. Melodic keys, breezy textures and chords as perfectly hewn and well-rounded as female breasts all reside comfortably alongside each other on pieces with titles such as ‘Shoot the Piano Player’, ‘A Silent Extinction’, ‘Colonial Blues’ and ‘Independence’. Loren Dent possesses a name that commands a second glance, and his music fully justifies it… (RJ) www.contractkillersrecords.com

TAYLOR DEUPREE & CHRISTOPHER WILLITS 'Mujo' CD (Plop, Japan, 2004)

  Mujo is this collaboration’s second album, following one for Sub Rosa in 2003. Pleasantly knitting together a series of tics, jitter-bursts, clipped phrases & suchlike from a series of jams utilising gtr, melodica, accordian and a synth, etc., it scuttles through a mellifluous setting hard to fault on its own terms. If, indeed, anything can be said against Mujo, it is simply in its ability to blend in with so many other such releases. What’s presently going on with the multitude of digital artists reminds me all too much of those identikit hardcore punk bands whose records I had to similarly wade through a coupla decades ago. Sure, Taylor Deupree & Christopher Willits here create something listenable enough to command several plays, but the problem lies in the fact I wouldn’t personally recognise this as being their album. Maybe it’s just me, though...? (RJ) www.inpartmaint.com/plop

DILATAZIONE 'Too Emotional For Maths' CD (Slowmotionpinguino, Italy, 2007)

  Knowing that Ulan Bator/Faust’s Amaury Cambuzat both produced and appeared as a guest on several songs on this Italian group’s debut automatically ushered my expectations to a significant height. And, indeed, although certain similarities exist between both Ulan Bator and Dilatazione, there’s a taut underpinning to the dynamics at work here which recall Calla rather more than Ulan Bator’s often cloudburstin’ spirals through near-imploding freeform territory. Only the fact both groups clearly owe a bow to post-punk and post-hardcore groups diverse enough themselves such as The Cure, the Bunnymen, MX-80 Sound, This Heat and Slint perhaps lays the stepping stones down. However, despite what could easily fall into a completely linear exercise in the wrong hands, Dilatazione (once again, like Ulan Bator before them…but that’s enough of these mentions) sprinkle everything with fresh sensibilities and a comparatively smoother hue. The idea of this mostly instrumental music being refined by some fantastic production, again, could have worked against it. Instead, it adds the desired whump wherever necessary (‘Ivano Menchetti’), maintains a buoyancy between instruments as wide-ranging as a vibraphone, synth, piano, trumpet and theremin, etc. besides the more ‘traditional’ rock ones, and ultimately allows for a livelier and keener setting. The final cut, ‘Tutto Si Dementico’, works itself up into a mighty guitar bliss-out Sonic Youth would be proud of as well, yet is all the better for its successful surprise ending. Another band to keep an eye on, then. www.dilatazione.org

DISKREPANT '33-12' CD (Fin de Siécle Media, Sweden, 2005)

  Apparently (though, unfortunately, I’ve not had the pleasure), Diskrepant’s debut, a shared CD with Des Esseintes, was akin to squeezing your forearm of your choice into the nearest available liquidiser and receiving a bloody good pulping for your troubles. With 33-12 (yet another release named after its duration), Per Åhlund has dispensed with the idea of being the Swedish Merzbow, taken some calming powders and instead emerged with a more contemplative and ritualistic two-parter. With more than a hint of (heavily) displaced prayer wheels and saffron robes, ‘Preparation for the Fourth Stage’ begins in near silence and slowly blossoms into a cloud of gongs (in esperanto?). ‘Entering the Fourth Stage’ follows and as seemingly befits any esoteric procedure, takes up less time than the initial spadework. However, anyone expecting a burst of divine illumination or a distinct about face in dynamics will encounter an emotional plateau that runs on fairly similar lines. A disc for those of us who’d welcome a (belated) answer to Coil (when they were in ‘Destroying Angels’ mode), or those of us searching for another take on the world according to Organum and Maeror Tri. (SP) Fin de Siécle Media, P. O. Box 388, 114 - 79 Stockholm, Sweden. www.findesieclemedia.com

ROGER DOYLE 'Charlotte Corday and the Lament of Louis XVI/ Passades Volume 1' CD (BVHaast, NL, 2004)

  Two old pieces (that were commissioned to celebrate the bicentenary of the French revolution) precede six new pieces of ‘passades’ from 2004. We’ll deal, fairly briefly, with the first pair to begin with; briefly because they’ve already been issued on CD (by Artware in 1992), and first because, well, that’s the way they are on the CD. Anyway, as we know, both Charlotte Corday and Louis XVI were among the many guillotined during the French revolution, and the tracks dealing with these events are essentially, and respectively, haunting and very vivid electro-acoustic and concrete collages. The ghostly Corday piece, featuring vocoded vocals from Operating Theatre collaborator Olwen Fouere, sees Doyle employ some devices that would later crop up on his Babel set; while the martial drum rolls, pipes, horses’ hooves, and child’s singing on the Louis lament combine well and produce a definite cinematic quality. And both have a certain 1980s NWW quality buried within. The ‘passades’, on the other hand...hmmm...

  A passade, apparently, is an equestrian term meaning to move back and forward over the same space, as a horse might do in dressage. Doyle is experimenting with this notion in sound, and each of the six ‘sets’ contain two or three related passades. At their best - as when a tinny clunking advances and retreats through searing swells, gravelly rumbling, and snatches of transformed voice - these trot along very nicely indeed. However, at other times the recurring cycles are too subtle, shall we say, and become monotonous and dull. It’s a perception not challenged by the front cover either, which unfortunately is about as boring and unenticing as you can get. (MO) BVHaast, Prinseneiland 99, 1013 LN Amsterdam, The Netherlands. www.bvhaast.nl

DUFUS 'Neuborns' CD (Iron Man, 2004)

  Although recorded in 2000/2001, this is the first release by a US group melding all manner of junkyard noise, psyched-out scree, spazzed-out yammer, cartoon party chaos & savage funk chops to their punk-primed sensibilities. I wouldn’t mind bettin’ they’ve got keen ears for Zappa, Zorn, Mike Patton, Boredoms & suchlike, but they actually smell as good as a cosmetically-pampered vagina. I wouldn’t wanna try dancing to it, though. (RJ) Iron Man Records, P. O. Box 9121, Birmingham, B13 8AU. www.ironmanrecords.co.uk

'E'

(ETRE) 'A Post-Fordist Parade in the Strike of Events' CD (Baskaru, France,
2006)

  Another release on this new French label by an Italian artist. (Etre) is Salvatore Borelli's platform and this debut album snags him locking all manner of different sources, guitars and field recordings to an often melodic digital collage that's at once warm, inviting and invigorating. Carousels of rhythmic splutter and chattering bridges of spatial crystals, buttoned to a keen ear for dynamics and atmosphere, take form over eleven cuts themselves dedicated to writers, film directors and artists such as Michel Houellebecq, Antonio Moresco, Harmony Korine and John Bock. Unlike so much music presently unspooling from this particular pond, the entire album breathes with an energy that successfully soaks up different dimensions. Absolutely nothing feels out of place or lacks a sense of genuine purpose. It's a fantastic display of what can be done when the mind is actually put to work and, rather importantly, proof as to why so many others amongst the 'software brigade' simply shouldn't fucking bother. Probably one of the best such debuts I've heard in a considerable while.(Richard Johnson) www.baskaru.com

ENDUSER 'Comparing Paths' CD (Very Friendly, 2005)

  Fuck, this reminds me of the one and only time I allowed myself to be dragged into one of Herne Bay's only two nightclubs/late bars (pre-licensing law change), all saucer-eyed 'n' stuped, by a pal who'd previously convinced it'd be worth visiting purely for the late drinking sesh and front line anthropology lesson. Needless to say, the whole sorry episode ended up as yet another one of the many disasters which generally constitute my life. Doing speed and ex in Herne Bay in itself should be bad enough as it is. And going to a place drowned in MC-fucked drill 'n' bass and being surrounded by primates even more monged than yrself (and that's before they've had some chemical supplements) teeters on the very precipice of wrist-slashing territory. In turn, anything that, whether by default or design, grimly serves as a little more than a reminder is, frankly, ROCK FUCKEN BOTTOM. Hearing myself scream whilst having my innards chewed by hungry rats would be preferable. Furthermore, capping it all, this isn't anywhere close to the most interesting or exciting progressive drum 'n' bass or breaks-addled music I've ever heard, either. All this does is tell you in no uncertain terms that life can be extremely shit at times and that y' shouldn't let anybody tell you otherwise. (RJ) info@cargorecords.co.uk

'F'

FLOPPY 'µ' 3” CDEP (Testing Ground, Portugal, 2005)

  From the darker side of ambient techno comes Floppy, to chill your perceptions. Labelled as The Bside Project, the 'fuck you, your mother, your father, your children, all I want is the money' sampled refrain of ‘Wonderful’ may prevent the playing of the song to your mother, but when should this be viewed as a handicap? Floppy is the solo project of Hungarian artist Andras Katai. It could be received as a little unsettling for a total stoner but ultimately this mini CD doesn't cover any radically new ground. The partially shaven headed and skinny Andras also performs live; perhaps this is where his experiments in sound and rhythm start to work. I suspect that music like this is now best downloaded onto an iPod and listened to with the rest of the world passing by. (CP) www.testinground.com

FLÖSSIN 'Lead Singer' CD (Ache, Canada, 2004)

  The very fact that I’m fucking outta my skull on booze right now is the only reason I’m not slamming this piece o’ shit far more than it warrants. This collab., comprising a member of Kid606 (Gosh, I’m so impressed I can hardly walk!) and a coupla other ‘tards, heads towards little more than a mash-up of erratic noise and, in turn, an exercise in futility and pointlessness. It ultimately sounds like little more than a buncha teens who stupidly believe they’re being ‘radical’ and ‘clever’ by patchworking all manner of half-baked ideas together in a storm destined to shake up little more than a desert. Fact is, however, these fucknuts are old enough to know better...

  If you feel yr life can be ‘improved’ in some way by such dreck, and at the risk of actually being the condescending bastard I really am, then you truly are beyond all hope. I jest not... (RJ) www.acherecords.com

FOREST JACKSON 'Cymbalism' CD (Mosz, Australia, 2006)

  Active under various other guises for a while now, Forest Jackson is the latest for Berlin’s Hanno Leichtmann and Cymbalism the debut album by it. Gathering seven tracks that span less than 40 minutes between them, Leichtmann furrows through a highly engaging soundworld of shifting electronics nudged into shape by measured rhythms, occasionally spaceward-bound dub, a vaguely menacing air, and his own schooling in jazz. The second cut, ‘Can’t Get Used to It’, also features Bruce Odland on vocals which further flesh out the generally paranoiac atmosphere. I dunno how the work here compares to Leichtmann’s other enterprises, but it seems like a vestibule worth going through. (RJ) www.mosz.org

FOURCOLOUR 'Letter of Sounds' CD (12k. USA, 2006)

  Latest from the prolific Keiichi Sugimoto, also otherwise known for his involvement with Minamo and Filfla. I’ve no idea how this compares to the previous coupla albums, but the combo of squelchy micro-structures, breezy tones and chiming keys evident on Letter of Sounds fall charmlessly near being both already familiar and slightly too sterile for my rather jaded palate. Besides already sounding like so much other such digital soup flavoured with fragmented, almost jazz-inflected, melodies, this doesn’t really go anywhere that the far more agreeable Minamo already transport us to. As such, if there’s a point to this, I’m afraid I can’t see it. (RJ) www.12k.com

'H'

THE HAFLER TRIO 'I Never Knew That’s Who You Thought You Were, Arts & Crafts Series (Volume 3)' CDEP (Important Records, USA, 2004)

  Oh shit. i’ve already missed the first two (and probably the rest of the entire series, the time it’s taken me to get this to the editor). Oh well, if this release is anything to go on, there won’t be too much variation in the other two largely successful CDEPs from H3O.

  This CD starts from where the superb Whistling About Chickens left everyone. An EP of exclusive new sound sculptures offers the listeners no new experiences. Basically, it’s manipulated field recordings of the Arctic circle and other such places which collaborator and H3O mainstay, Dr. Moolenbeek, has gathered on his journeys. I feel that the aforementioned 2CD covered this style of experimental sound research and I’d have preferred to have heard them progress with the dissolve & mutate approach that was perfectly executed on the phenomenal Kill the King. Personally, that resissue was one of my favourite releases of 2004 and was, simply, stunning.

  However, if you’re a fanatical aficionado of H3O, then this EP is going to sound fine and offers white, ice cold dirges which emerge and disappear into black silence, only to emerge again with their structures just slightly changed or evolved. Perhaps it’s all just a post-modern premonition of things to come (apparently, it’s going to get a lot colder in England in the coming years)? But, you know as well as I do that any reading into H3O’s work is only going to result in more puzzling and bewildering questions. If you attended any of their performances at The Horse Hospital during July 2004, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

  The packaging of this release, which was limited to 500, perfectly compliments the nature of the music. A deluxe, black print on a white background, three panel screen, exclusively designed by Andrew McKenzie himself. And, if that’s not enough for die-hard H3O enthusiasts, then fuck-off to Greenland. A worthwhile purchase all round, especially for the beautifully designed transparent disc inside. Simply superior. (DS) www.importantrecords.com

HEAVY SEALS 'Jazz Burst' CD (Troniks, USA, 2005)

  Heavy Seals’ Jazz Burst is a collaboration between John Wiese and Brace Paine. It’s 15 minutes of a Dada, almost slapstick take on noise. Rubbings and scuttlings rush past, silly noises are squeezed out, and splatters of comic dialogue appear here and there. The material also touches down in noisy jazz, with mutilated sax squeals, such as on the title track where someone is getting so down and nasty with the instrument that it almost lets out its last breath over a background of clattering. An appealing, adrenalin-pumped release which will, surely, induce the odd chucky from any listener. (RB) www.iheartnoise.com

ERDEM HELVACIOGLU 'Altered Realities' CD (New Albion, USA, 2006)

  Although this Turkish electronic musician has so far seen a considerable amount of his work appear on international compilations as well as in theatre productions, multimedia events and suchlike, Altered Realities is actually only his second album. Here, he delivers seven cuts using real-time acoustic guitar, various electronic effects and a computer where no pre-recorded elements, post-processing or editing were involved. Each piece is mostly built around gentle guitar chords which then occasionally give way to somewhat more crepuscular passages of mildly jutting angles, jarring psychedelia or crinkled tones. Although the ‘realities’ here aren’t generally altered as much as I hoped for, or as pushed as far as they are during the first minute or so of final track ‘Ebony Remains’, it’s hard to fault the breezy, soft-focus atmosphere Helvacioglu evokes throughout these works, and there’s likewise much to be said for the sense of space he’s clearly adept at commanding. A perfect place to visit after a long trip. (RJ) www.newalbion.com

JOHN HUDAK / JASON KAHN / BRUCE TOVSKY 'For the Time Being' CD (Cut, USA, 2005)

  For the Time Being showcases two untitled live duos, with John Hudak collaborating with Jason Kahn for the first piece and Bruce Tovsky for the second.

  Track one features both participants on laptop, performing on the occasion of Kahn's Winter installation in the Diapason Gallery, New York. Recordings of falling snow and field samples from Dobbs Ferry, New York, provided the basis for the performance, which gradually materialises through a series of barely perceptible crackles and rumbles, slowly building and then fading away. As it drifts onwards, distant gongs and bells appear to be sounding until we eventually return once more to silence. At times the field recordings are discernible, while at others we're in the realm of pure abstraction. It's perhaps fairly standard issue lowercase fare, but quite
persuasive nevertheless.The second piece is where the CD really stakes its claim. Recorded at the Roulette Festival of Mixology, also in New York, it features Hudak and Tovksy both playing real time processed guitar. A series of short high pitched individual notes produced by one player are woven around a succession of longer lower pitched spectral drones laid down by the other. The gradual accretion of the tiny ringing and chiming tones forms an iridescent crystalline mesh, which undulates slowly as the track progresses. As with all the best minimalism, nothing much changes but everything happens, and listening to it feels like your skin is alive with a thousand delicious pinpricks, or wave after wave of infinitesimal ecstatic shivers. With its incremental layering of discrete elements and general gorgeousness the piece is reminiscent of the work of Japanese electronic improvisers Minamo; definitely a recommendation as, for me, they're one of the outstanding acts on the current scene.

  Encased in a thick cut card sleeve decorated with impeccably minimalist geometric design, this CD is a thing of beauty all round. Well worth seeking out. (IC) www.cut.fm

HUMAN GREED 'Pilgrim: New World Homestead' CD (Omnempathy, 2006)

  The very fact that the credits on this second album by Scottish duo Human Greed includes a “doffed cap” to David Tibet and Steven Severin should well pave a way to the island they inhabit, even if not especially directly.
Pilgrim…, consisting of nine tracks in total, might bear similarities to some of Severin’s solo work or C93 in the sense that it burrows steadily into man’s deeper internal and external struggles but, sonically, it falls nearer some of NWW’s murkier musings or, closer still, Andrew Liles’ mindtrippin’.

   Rich, tormented and often foreboding textures form an absorbing palette from which looped passages spring, voices dreamily and briefly make their presence felt, and the sounds of distant sawmills battle with minimalist hums. Added to such powerful and effective ingredients arrives a sense of innocence being tarnished, too. ‘Wife and Child’ perfectly captures this notion, beginning with more dream conversation which breaks down into a series of the kinda black hole swirls more commonly found on more recent work by the now sadly defunct Coil.

  Sure, the reference points may be in place, but Human Greed possess both that all too rare depth barely found in such work and a genuine air of purpose-fuelled freedom. In a perfect world, more people would see Human Greed and the very best of their contemporaries for what they truly are: modern painters of our souls’ greatest and weakest points. And, in this sense, maybe it’s fair to surmise that this is where 21st Century ‘soul’ music really is? (RJ) www.omnempathy.com

'K'

KHANATE 'Capture and Release' CD (Hydra Head Industries, USA, 2005)

  Avant doomster Khanate’s Capture and Release brings you into the heart-warming tale of a serial killer stalking and capturing a victim.

  Let’s put my cards on the table, though. I was a big fan of Khanate’s last album, Things Viral, which, simply put, was one hell of a grim audio journey. With the headphones tightly in place and the lights out, you came back from your black stupor at the album’s end wondering where the hell you’ve been.

  But, sadly, Capture and Release is a big let down. Firstly, the concept is tacky as hell and has been done to death. Secondly, a lot of the music sounds like outtakes from Things Viral and the ideas are stretched out to extreme lengths, with the first track at nearly twenty minutes and the second almost half an hour. Fine if there are enough ideas and atmosphere to hold the length together but, unfortunately, neither track does.
The only real stand out moment is towards the middle of the second track, where some wonderful & chilling hushed bass tones and Alan Dublin’s eerier whisper slides in like a knife work to a great, claustrophobic effect before exploding again with an off-kilter and grim funky bass(IC). www.hydrahead.com

KODI AND PAUSA 'In One Week and New Toys To Play' CD (Korm Plastics, NL, 2005)

  AGawd bless Frans de Waard. You can't help but admire a chap who goes out of his way to facilitate the creation of things that otherwise would've been just a stray idea. As part of his ongoing Brombron series of releases, he brings together folk who've wanted to work together on a project a step aside from their usual sphere but haven't done so either because of time or lack of equipment. This time the lucky two being locked into the mighty Extrapool studio are Natalie Bruys (Kodi) and Lukas Simonis (Pausa). Rooted in the ideas of early Sonix, Lukas work is more known for his scatter-jazz approach. Natalie's background is more in the vein of soundtracky plunderphonics and, on this occasion, her imprint leaves the deeper mark. The tracks are well structured and rhythmic by design rather than the random hit-and-miss usually expected from the world of plunder/improv. The use and misuse of electronica, banjos, synths and field recordings form a playful ambience, putting the lie to the myth that 'ambience' can only mean one thing. Comes wrapped in the, by now, de rigeur (French for 'fucking marvellous') card/paper origami deal. (HM) www.kormplastics.nl

'L'

LAST UNDER THE SUN 'All Empires Crumble' CDS (Iron Man Records, 2005)

  Four songs by a Birmingham hardcore punk outfit doing their utmost to support the now redundant and pointless Stop the War campaign. There's probably more chance of 'em turning to eurobeat and playing the gay club circuit during the next coupla years than their being able to stop any wars. Stop silly sloganeering hardcore punk bands who preach to the converted, is what I say... (RJ) Iron Man Records, PO Box 9121, Birmingham, B13 8AU www.ironmanrecords.co.uk

LEE MILLER 'The Futility of Language' CD (Musically Incorrect, Finland,
2005)

  Imagine if Circle had chosen to sniff around the stains left by Noiseville or AmRep instead of krautrock, Prog, jazz and psychedelia. They might've
then ended up sounding more or less like this fellow Finnish group. Which is, indeed, a sound that makes a lot more sense when either a little younger or off yr face on an inflammatory cocktail of amphetamines and ethanol but, like a pair of sturdy & reliable old boots, it's one that's good to have around nonetheless. Mebbe this is disposable and mebbe, f' sure, THAT'S partly the point with such cave-dwellin' pounding, but it's okay to soak yrself in it once in a while... (RJ) www.mir.blogdns.com

THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS 'Crushed Mementos' CD (Plinkity Plonk, NL, 2004)

  Until a few years ago, my relationship with the LPDs was founded largely in an indifference borne of ignorance. The few of their releases I’d actually listened to attentitively always seemed okay, but neither particularly special or, in turn, especially bad. Furthermore, I always dismissed Edward K-Spel’s vocals as, I dunno, wispy ‘n’ foppish. However, considering how prolific The LPDs have been since forming at the start of the ‘80s, I can now surmise it was perhaps both somewhat inevitable I’d simply missed out on their stronger work and was way off the mark about Ka-Spel’s very ‘English’, fey and often dementia-addled observations. Or, if I really wanna swing my tattered tail between my legs, mebbe I oughtta ‘fess that, fuck, I get things wrong sometimes. Either way (and helped immensely by a certain young Polish lady friend), I’ve done a lot of catching-up since realising my error...

  Although I still maintain that The LPDs churn out far too many releases for most of them to fully work, there’s much to be said for many of their albums and, equally, any number of songs or pieces from almost each of them anyway. Something particularly endearing (besides the distinctive voice) is, similar to certain peers who’ve also risen from the post-industrial / experimental music cassette network of the early ‘80s, the fact The LPDs don’t remain anchored to any one soundworld.

  Of all five cuts on Crushed Mementos, a collection culled from compilation & private tapes released between 1981 - 1983 (including from Third Mind’s wonderful Rising from the Red Sand documents), only the first section of ‘Close Your Eyes, You Can Be a Space Captain (version 2)’ really hints at their later songs, although even this soon slides healthily into an unsettling, cinematic dreamscape of slowed baby screams & babbling textures.
The other pieces likewise fuck around with collaged stretches of sound, erratic rhythm stabs, psychotic nursery rhyme music, eerie trawls through disorientating psychedelic organ drones, analogue wheezes, doom-laden guitar cycles and an occasional wink at their Residents collections.

  Although The LPDs more recent work is very clearly shaded by the areas covered here, it’s a credit to them they haven’t simply stood still. And, as an exercise in displaying precisely how their seeds of invention were initially sown, Crushed Mementos works a treat. (RJ) Plinkity Plonk c/o Acaciastraat 11, 6521 NE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. www.kormplastics.nl

TOR LUNDVALL 'Last Light' CD (Strange Fortune, USA, 2005)

  Dunno how this compares to his previous few albums, but it sniffs at the same air that, I suppose, C93 and Sol Invictus have breathed in years gone by. Textures weep into eachother and melodies curl up in their corners whilst Tor embellishes them with a vocal stamp not many worlds away from far too many nameless early post-punk groups. Everything hangs together quite nicely, but one can’t help but sense this all possesses the same kinda charm as one of those numbered colouring books we must’ve all once been given... (RJ) www.strangefortune.com

'M'

THE MAGIC CARPATHIANS PROJECT 'Sonic Suicide ethnonoise #1' CD (Vivo, Poland, 2004)

  After a somewhat clumsy and dubious start with first track, ‘The Place I Come’, which sounds like a thousand awful anonymous support bands from the ‘80s I’d have otherwise completely forgotten about, this Polish group actually hit a spot dovetailing perfectly with my present alcohol-saturated condition. Comprising ex-Atman members, I believe, they soon, thankfully, offset the previously noted mistake with a delve into territory borne, perhaps, of minds open to exploring only those narcs guaranteed to bring with them value for money...

  By the third cut, ‘Carpathian Herbs’, the sound is sprawling into the very same kaleidoscopic black holes normally reserved for mysterious patterns on rugs, whilst Anna Nacher’s vocals spiral into more or less the same kinda ether-zones only previously witnessed by HNAS or on Ash Ra Tempel’s Seven Up album.

  Without doubt, The Magic Carpathians are following a road that’s been unravelling for a few decades now, but there’s equally something alarmingly, and wonderfully, contemporary picking out new scenery along the way. And, although ultimately, I strongly believe psychedelia has assumed new, and often far more interesting, guises since its inception, I like the fact that certain groups can, today, still juggle different shapes from its rudiments. Amongst those that can, The Magic Carpathians reside somewhere near the top of the league and, heck, it’s a crying shame I don’t have some fucking grass for this right now...

  What more can I say...? (RJ)www.vivo.pl

ASHIS MAHAPATRA 'Orange Of' CD (True-False, Germany, 2006)

  Very nice meshing of almost celestial droneworks, tempered electronic buzzes, breezy melodies, lush shimmers and carefully checked infernos. With over 40 mins. of music, spread nicely over seven untitled cuts representing the result of several years’ worth of recording and editing whilst Mahapatra lived an performed in New York, Berlin and Delhi, Orange Of arrives as a finely sized debut that both cherry-picks several contemporary genres and leans towards Indian classical music for guidance. All the tracks possess an involving, finely-detailed rich and natural flow and, although they lap shores long touched by electronica and minimalism, feel poised with a purpose purely of their own. Reflective, warm and as enticing as a maiden’s smile, it’s encouraging to hear such musings gushing from such software-bound mulch. Shame the cover art seems rather half-hearted by comparison and lets it all down, tho’. (RJ)www.true-false.net

MI AND L’AU eponymous CD (Young God, USA, 2005)

  A pretty staggering debut by a couple who not only presently reside in some Finnish woodlands but, well, actually sound like they do, too. Over fourteen songs, they weave humble melodies that’re as enchanting as staring at snow through the comfort of a window but are further tenderised by lolling, breathy voices and occasional extra instrumentation or sounds. Once in a while, a hint of country swagger will seep into the (frozen) scenery, or a bout of solemn strings frogmarch the proceedings to near-Cale heights, such as on album highlight ‘A Word in Your Belly’, yet nothing loses sight of the gentle beauty at the very heart here. Some of the overdubs arrive courtesy of Julia Kent (Antony & the Johnsons), Akron/Family, Paul Cantelon and others, although absolutely nothing imposes on, or detracts from, Mi and Lau’s own wonderful acoustic guitar-led settings. And, keeping with the wintry theme somewhat, the whole album brings to mind a solitary snowflake’s fantastic, and always impressive, form. I hope this album commences the start of one white blanket that deserves to stick around. (RJ) www.younggodrecords.com

MICE PARADE 'Bem-Vinda Vontade' CD (FatCat, 2005)

  Continuing the Portuguese theme from their previous Obrigado Saudade title, this new CD from Mice Parade also picks up pretty much seamlessly from its predecessor in musical terms. It's a light as air confection of freewheeling jazzy percussion and flamenco tinged acoustic guitar, occasionally augmented by glissandos of piano or glockenspiel, and the odd interjection of fuzz guitar. Müm singer Kristin Anna Valtysd Ûttir supplies breathless girly vocals on a few tracks, providing counterpoint to the deadpan stylings of main man Adam Pierce.

  Bem-Vinda Vontade aims for, and I guess achieves, a kind of intangible Latin flavoured essence-of-summer feel, which may or may not be to your taste. Personally I can't help getting the feeling that this is music which is so damned pleased with itself that it'd eat itself up, if only it could. (IC) www.fat-cat.co.uk

MILENASONG 'Seven Sisters' CD (Monika Enterprise, Germany, 2007)

  Two words leapt from one of my many lint-encrusted crevices when I first heard this: Coco and Rosie. I then read the press sheet (something I usually, these days, try to do after hearing a new artist in order to form some completely virginal impressions) and noticed the same US group referenced there, too... but it’s probably realistic to suggest this is both lazy and slightly unfair. The twelve songs which make up Seven Sisters, the debut album by half-Norwegian, half-Slovenian, yet Germany-raised Milenasong, are more fragile and bear greater similarities with the ‘60s folk music she clearly already feels a huge affinity with, such as on ‘Nightlost Trains’, or perhaps even Cat Power. Only the contemporary production betrays the nodding towards earlier folk sensibilities, really, but such strands are far more prevalent than, once again, the knowing kookiness and ‘kitchen sink’ attire of Coco Rosie. Ultimately, Milenasong possess perhaps more straightforward, yet stronger, songwriting skills that operate a world away from the current crop of groups Coco Rosie fall so easily into line with. Only ninth cut, ‘How Ode’, strays nearer wilful ‘weird-out’ territory, with its ruffled backwards textures, deranged whistling sounds, broken yet alien melody, and overall slightly ghostly charm, but it mostly struts like a grand statement bursting with intent rather than something akin to the natural charm of the other songs. All the same, it demands to be listened to and, furthermore, simply pushes the more abstract inflections found on some other songs to lengths as logical as they are the very opposite.

  Seven Sisters, on top of everything else, makes for a fantastic debut album poised with enough promise to create a healthy and interesting career. I await Milenasong’s next step with much anticipation. (RJ) www.m-enterprise.de

MOLJEBKA PVLSE 'The Leaves of Their Songs' CD (Fin de Siècle Media, Sweden, 2004)

  Lengthy ice-scapes by this prolific Stockholm based artist whose work has often drawn parallels with Thomas Köner’s. All the same, it’s a deft blending of severely processed gtrs & electronics, with ‘Chorei’ peering more colourfully from the blanket due to a recurring melody rendering it perhaps closer to Stars Of The Lid or Labradford’s work. Otherwise, each of the six pieces at least assume new shapes as they drift along their typically twilight contours, bringing with them both a sense of the steadily meditative and an uneasiness which could readily crash at the first whiff of an Eno record given the wrong hands. (RJ) Fin de Siècle Media, Box 388, 114 79 Stockholm, Sweden. www.findesieclemedia.com

BARBARA MORGENSTERN/ROBERT LIPPOK 'Tesri' CD (Monika Enterprises, Germany, 2005)

  This is pretty ambient Teutonic electronics. They may claim an influence, from their separate trips to Istanbul, but this CD of work reflects more the artists’ current status as Berliners. The project began as 4 tracks for a 12" but the musical friendship developed until they had enough material for an album. Tesri is a Tukish word, meaning to accelerate; although to my mind this collection of songs meanders along more stream-like, in a pleasing non-confrontational way. Barbara Morgenstern has previously released three full-length albums. Robert Lippok is part of the electronic band To Rococo Rot. Instrumentation featured on this album includes piano, guitar, flute, drums, software synths and computer. This is perfect Sunday afternoon music for sore heads from a couple of accomplished electronic musicians. Relaxed and relaxing, this is almost glitched jazz. (CP) www.m-enterprise.de

JON MUELLER 'What's Lost is Something Important. What's Found is
Something Not Revealed' CD (Crouton, USA, 2005)

  Put bluntly, it's an album of processed drum sounds. That may not sound much to whoop about but Mueller's a longstanding practitioner at surprising us with the familiar. Taking a snare sound and morphing it into varied sounds - from drones to sizzling snaps - he's collaged them into lengthy sound installations designed to be played at high volume (groan!) in large empty rooms. Given that we don't all live in designer art galleries, he'll have to make do with us playing it in our cramped little dumps at low volume so as not to annoy the neighbour who keeps complaining to the landlord.

  Does it work? Yes and no. Somewhat tediously it starts with silence. But before you throw it onto the pile marked 'pretentious bollocks', keep it going. As the finely balanced tones and drones grow and swerve around, Mueller's minimal approach to composition allows awareness of space within the room. But the problem is it does not add to the sum of collective knowledge by the albums that went before.

  There is a reasoning behind his working methods for this album. For 2 years hair was collected from various individuals and placed in a box. No purpose, just done. The process followed to assemble the album refers to that hair box excercise. All very Arty I'm sure, but I have a problem with Artyness when it does not affect our lives in a profound way. Even Art that is playful, and no more, is fine by me. It brings a little absurdity into life, and that can only be a good thing. But ordinary stuff done and then heralded as profound Art is of no value at all.

  Also, distortion is a cop out. The brief moments where distortion is used feels like Mueller unwittingly pulling the rug from under his own work.
Excuse the rant, but from some musicians we expect only the best. Mueller is one of them. Here he is only treading water.

  Presented in a suitably elegant 7 inch sleeve. (HM) www.croutonmusic.com

'N'

'Nature Morte OST' CD by ARBAN & STEVEN SEVERIN (Subconscious Music, 2006)

  Having not yet seen Paul Burrows’ psychological thriller for which the music on this release was scored it’s hard to put each of the nineteen pieces into context. However, taken on its own terms musically, this third such collaboration between Steven Severin and his wife Arban witnesses them furrowing some appropriately sullen yet occasionally breezier soundworlds. Heavily drawing from Severin’s own solo career into atmospheric electronics, Nature Morte shares less ground with the lighter touches of this work and instead expands on an interest in sketching ominous textures alongside mild post-industrial refrains. Sometimes the pieces sway near earlier Coil territory and at others, such as on ‘Deadly Comedown’, they adopt strings and assume a posture not far removed from, say, Michael Nyman’s. Beyond a wholesome enough cover of Suicide’s ‘Cherree’, ‘Numb’ is the only real ‘pop’ song on offer but, true to form, isn’t either fluffy or of the throwaway variety. All told, this soundtrack holds together nicely and both serves as another testament to Arban & Severin’s command of their domain and, indeed, an evocative enough invitation to see the film itself. (RJ) myspace.com/naturemortesoundtrack / www.steveseverin.com

NERVE NET NOISE 'Radio Life' CD (Staalplaat, NL, 2005)

  The word 'noise' is a bit of a misnomer. Japanese trio Tgomago and Kumakiri know better than to slob out. Having released four albums of electronica made using home made synths, for their fifth album they've taken it a logical step further, assembling software that turns mathematics into sound. As with their previous recordings, the results tend to sound less important than the process and intent. Maybe this new album of Pan Sonic-esque sounds are sharper and pleasingly more clinical than before but it still feels like their attentions are too tight in the process.It's not as radical as they assume. There are precedents. There's the old Soviet ANS machine that Coil used, which converts images into sound, and more recently there's a similar piece of software called the Metasynth, which converts your drawings into sound.Still, a pretty good album nonetheless, if clean, uncluttered electronics is your bag. (HM) www.staalplaat.com

'O'

OMIT 'Tracer' 2CD (The Helen Scarsdale Agency, USA, 2005)

  I have to concede this is the first I’ve heard from New Zealander, Clinton Williams’ Omit for a while, but Tracer represents what surely must be his finest work to date. As before, a seemingly large canon of analogue electronic devices, synths and loops are knotted together to form a basis from which rhythms jut out like bashed oil rigs and chilling ripples threaten to pull us under. From time to time, the trails and textures assume a similar position to those once harnessed by Cluster, tho’ remain cranked into an altogether more distressed gear perfect for those of us who feel even slightly alienated or adrift. Likewise, for what might be the first time ever, voices are employed to compound matters; occasionally sounding similar to a malfunctioning robot or recalling the dread stirred up by Plastikman on his Closer album. Either way, their appearance lends a weight to the proceedings I’d personally like to hear pushed further. Overtly, however, Omit fill out a space simultaneously haunting and haunted by paranoia. It’s far from being impenetrable and all too easy to get lost in, proving ultimately that Williams’ key is shining more invitingly than ever. (RJ) www.helenscarsdale.com

SIÔN ORGON 'Orgonised Chaos' CD (Experimental Seafood, 2004)

  Welsh Thighpaulsandra collaborator, Mr. Orgon’s debut album comprises six pieces operating entirely in the ether of a distant world. Ruffled electronics, seemingly random phrases, shifting passages of cosmic glue, percussive interludes, violin sweeps and, on ‘Orb of Indifference’, a well-tuned collab. with Dafydd Morgan’s Stylus all sit comfortably together like little beyond perhaps Delia Derbyshire mapping out even stranger yet equally alluring continents. Once in a while, voices also make an appearance, such as on last piece, ‘?#$*, with a title guaranteed to make about as much sense...

  All told, this is a strong debut, ripe with ideas and strong enough to make sense of each of them. If sonic chaos has a future, then it’s in the right hands here... (RJ) www.experimentalseafood.com

OUR BROTHER THE NATIVE 'Tooth and Claw' CD (FatCat, 2006)

  A nicely cobbled mish-mash of acoustic instruments, gtrs and all manner of samples and electronic wizardry forms the debut album by this young US outfit. Together with their use of wayward, almost helium-strained, vocal harmonies, gently tugged melodies and sensibilities not far removed from those that helped spawn the likes of Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, Akron/Family and Coco Rosie et al, "Tooth and Claw" makes for a clear enough statement of intent. Mebbe some of the dust sprinkled over proceedings appears vaguely indebted to the present flurry of American mavericks, but it's still tough to resist being pulled into most of the corners here. 'Catalpa', with its somewhat more measured keys and warbling, stands out as a triumphant nod towards even greater things, though. And I, for one, look forward to 'em. (RJ) www.fat-cat.co.uk

'P'

PANTALEIMON 'Cloudburst' CDEP (Durtro / Jnana, 2006)

  Four beautiful new recordings from Andria Degens, known also for her collaborative work with C93 as well as having produced two equally endearing albums under her Pantaleimon guise (besides, of course, being Mrs. Tibet!). The songs here once more catch her crafting a soundbed of plaintive melodies and mellow drones in a more or less contemporary folk tradition somewhere between The Iditarod and Six Organs Of Admittance’s more restrained offerings. Using an Appalachian dulcimer, bouzouki tambura and, on the final piece, her voice, Degens sounds as though she could calm the most tense people you may know. Shame, I think, the next album won’t be out for a while longer yet. (RJ) www.durtro.com

ANATOLY PERESLEGIN 'pASSION mODELS' CD (Electroshock, Russia, 2004)

  Another one from the nothing if not prolific Electroshock imprint, pASSION mODELS is a showcase of "synth fantasies for the symphonic orchestra" from Anatoly Pereslegin. The Moscow-based Pereslegin has worked on various operas and ballet scores since the late '90s, and in recent years has released a series of Biblically themed albums, of which this is the latest, based as it is around five pieces - ‘mATTHEW’, ‘mARK’, ‘lUKE’, ‘jOHN’ and ‘tHOMAS’ (don't ask me what the significance of the inverted capitalisation is though).

  Pereslegin essentially uses the synthesiser, and a small amount of sampled cello, to approximate the effect of orchestral instruments (particularly strings) warped, stretched, distorted and pitchshifted to create a slightly ghostly and off version of the traditional symphonic sound. At its best the
album suggests the jarring reverberance of Penderecki, without ever really threatening to achieve the nerve shredding intensity of that composer's work. (IC) www.electroshock.ru

PITA 'Get Off' CD (Häpna, Sweden, 2005)

  Fourth album from MIMEO’s Peter Rehberg, who until now has always been found housed by the Mego label. Culled from over two years worth of recordings originating as live work, the eight cuts here march through electronica’s more ravaged fields like an untamed computer on heat. Whether hitting out with sharp & abrasive textures, reeling everything back to more digestible levels or simply scattering a variety of fuck-off chunks over a sprawling backdrop of tones & tinkles, Get Off never fails to leave its mark. The overall sense behind the dynamics comes across like a vast wake-up call to those too complacent to angle such possibilities from their own digital crusades. What might first appear uneven or haphazard soon expands to a space guaranteed to reveal fantastic worlds with each listen. And who the fuck can fault that...? (RJ) www.hapna.com

PSYCHIC SPACE INVASION 'Book of Dreams' CDr (Elvis Coffee Records, 2005)

  Another one of Ian Holloway's quietly impressive releases. He's on a bit of a roll at the moment. His deft hand at this moody soundscape palava gets better with each release. Those who've compared him to Elph-era Coil are being a little generous in their praise and a little unfair on Holloway because his work is good enough to stand on its own two legs. The isolationist tones are spatial and resonate deep. The occasional dollop of heavy reverb is clumsy and only clouds what should be a clearly defined horizon. I do wonder if these recordings are merely a soundtrack to his interests in shamanism. While not being practical or ritual in feel, they do have a sense of a world created within the curve of a warp in time. That's how convincingly constructed these sounds are.

  It's a pity good work is being put out on CDr and on a label that has the word 'Elvis' in the title, but if that’s what it takes then so be it. (HM) Elvis Coffee Records, PO Box 160, Swansea SA1 6WB, Wales. http://ecr.homestead.com

'R'

RARG 'Rarg.1.' CD (Blue Ball, 2005)

  A debut that apparently took three years to make by a man clearly on a mission to avoid the traps set by most modern electronic music. Utilising sounds generated by all from traditional instruments such as gtrs & synths to “pint glasses normally used for lovely beer” & a “baking tray normally used for cooking pies”, etc., Rarg works up an array of convoluted soundstorms which fall somewhere near the river between Martin Archer and some of (the namechecked) Thighpaulsandra’s work. Clangs, clatter, fragmented melodies, scrapes and tortured textures dominate throughout, sometimes perhaps a little too obtrusively, but don’t outstay their welcome. Ultimately, it’s an interesting album that begs a few plays and promises much from the forthcoming three albums noted in the press release. (RJ) www.rarg.net

RASA L. ASAD 'Lahva' MCD (Thisco, Portugal, 2005)

  Dunno much about this, to be honest. It could be a group or an artist whose surname should consign this to the ‘A’ section. Whatever, its twenty or so minutes of penumbral drones and cyclical melodies moves enough to retain interest, but trips at the point of an overstated gloominess too clumsy to take seriously. (RJ) Thisco, P. O. Box 2274, 1107-001 Lisboa, Portugal. www.thisco.net

REIGNS 'We Lowered a Microphone into the Ground' CD (Johnson Family, 2005)

  Superb unspooling of melodic piano, breezy gtr and indiscernible additional sounds into a pleasant, minimalistic setting somewhere near Eno’s Music for Airports and Steve Reich, by a coupla West Country brothers with PJ Harvey, Spleen and Rob Ellis affiliations. At times, such as on fourth & fifth cuts, ‘Translating’ & ‘Buried Chandelier’, the general atmosphere assumes a posture shared by Labradford, but it just as quickly dissipates and returns to its own course. The final song, titled ‘Glassworks’, is doubtlessly named as a nod to yet another minimalist mentor, but I’d rather see this kinda bare-faced appreciation than a slippery walk through the hall of denial. We Lowered... makes a strong impression on this particular canon, which is an achievement in itself. (RJ) www.johnsonfamily.com

RF 'Views of Distant Towns' CD (Plop, Japan, 2006)

  Yet another album caught adrift on a sea of software splutterings and the comparatively warmer use of live instruments. This time, Californian Ryan Francesconi is the culprit and uses the premise as a means to explore the themes of isolation, escape & stillness of Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle book. All very well, but most of the gentle latticework of the tics, whirs, voices, strings & suchlike tends to lap too closely to the shores of dreariness for my rather more refined palate. It all ends up faintly resembling Müm if they were to be stripped of their soul & imagination and, in turn, kinda makes one yearn for isolation, or at least a place away from such nonsense, by comparison. Apparently, Ryan is also the head of both a prestigious music software company and a label called Odd Shaped Case. He should stick to them, I reckon... (RJ) www.inpartmaint.com/plop

RLW 'Ajatollah Carter' CD (Editions Zero, 2004)

  It's always worth hearing another Ralf Wehowsky album. Perhaps moreso in this instance because it's an overview of his work with the band PD during their life in 1980. The only constant was Ralf. The others came and went. In more ways than one.

  Their debut show, all 12 minutes of it, starts this elegantly presented album. The audience aren't too impressed by the relentless slow-thud dirge, so it makes for comical listening. What's really interesting, however, is how rapidly PD evolved within such a short space of time. Within the year, they incorporated electronics, with a sensitive hand, to the traditional instrumentation; putting to use their seemingly effortless knack for space and arrangement.

  It comes in a textured card gatefold, with handy sleevenotes, and is limited to a numbered edition of 444. Fine and simple artwork. It's a good thing to turn to when you need to make sense of things as they are now. (HM) www.void.gr/absurd

ROD 'All My Love' CDS (Underscan / Front End Synthetics, Germany / Ireland,
2005)

  Rod is from Dublin, and this EP allegedly represents "a truly emotional experience into his inner self" (really, who writes this stuff?). The title track is a slice of the cheesiest MOR triphop, a melange of slow motion beats, soft electric piano and acoustic guitar. It sounds a bit like something off the first Air album. After an initial feeling of revulsion, I actually found it oddly addictive and not without its charm. The remix, by Spectac, pretty much jettisons the entire thing and heads off in a more oblique direction in a fairly well worn Aphex patented style. The remaining two tracks barely register as they slip by. (IC) www.underscan.de | www.frontendsynthetics.com

'S'

MICHAEL J. SCHUMACHER 'Stories' CD (Quecksilber, Germany, 2004)

  NYC composer and installation artist Schumacher has already made something of a name for himself through his improv. work with Donald Miller and 2003’s critically acclaimed Room Pieces album. Stories more or less continues to work in the spaces opened by the latter, too, bringing together a number of musicians to share a fairly subdued yet constantly shifting computer generated soundbed that meshes all manner of microscopically-pulped instruments and voices.

  The first of the four lengthy pieces, ‘Still’, isn’t unlike a series of melodies, parps and tones having been stretched. The second, ‘Two, Three & Four Part Inventions’, on the other hand, is busier and comprises of more bleats, drips, melodic snatches, squeaks, belches and moaning voices; pretty much setting the tone of the rest of the album until some fantastic Midi piano accompaniment drifting in and out of fourth composition, ‘Pulse’, redefines proceedings somewhat.

  Stories is, above all, a highly accomplished album nothing less than rich and capable of revealing new dimensions during every listen. An achievement rare in itself when considering how much similarly-attired music exists these days. (RJ) www.quecksilber-music.com

SENSA YUMA 'Up Yours!' CD (Iron Man Records, 2004)

  I'm sorry, but do people still really listen to this kind of rehashed stuff, as being anything but a totally derivative dirge? This is old skool pub punk rock, from a pool of members who seem to have been at it long enough to know better. One of its biggest selling points may be one of the least tasteful sleeves ever. Depicting some unlucky sod’s arse, literally prolapsed outside of his backside. OK, so I'm not disagreeing with Sensa Yuma's sentiments in principle but this whole album just sounds so old and hackneyed. Politics could be said to be covered in 'Fuck the Government', adolescent urges in 'Luvin Hand' and alternative lifestyles (?) in '2 Car Family'. Don't expect any scintillating debate but there's a lyric sheet included, should you wish to sing along. Expect to see them passing through your town in a knackered transit van should you be resident anywhere in Europe. I have to admit I won't be there though. (CP) Iron Man Records, PO Box 9121, Birmingham, B13 8AU. www.ironmanrecords.co.uk

PHILLIP SOLLMANN 'Something is Missing' CD (Dial, Germany, 2006)

  Following a number of Detroit-influenced minimal techno releases since 1998, Phillip Sollmann’s first foray into more ‘conceptual’ territory, Something is Missing, strips their rhythms and, instead, opts to explore the very same spaces between that two installations of his did during the past couple of years. Over the course of five utterly astounding works of beauty, he charts a take on ‘static’ sounds that loll and sway just enough to both mesmerise and refrain from sinking into their own stillness. Acknowledged nods to La Monte Young, Charlemagne Palestine and so on aside, there’s something refreshingly enlivening to these proceedings which’re compounded all the moreso by, respectively, ‘Room Four’’s subtle wash of indistinguishable environmental noises and ‘Room Five’’s warm, vocal rendition of Jane’s ‘It’s a Fine Day’ (originally released by Cherry Red in 1983). Although this album sits very comfortably alongside some of the finest Minimalist compositions, it also hangs perfectly near the shores lapped by, say, Minit’s Now Right Here and some of Francisco Lopez’s work, rendering it possibly one of the most well dressed entries for a long, long time. I honestly can’t stop turning to it.(RJ) www.dial-rec.de

SRMEIXNER 'The Dictatorship of the Viewer' CD (Fin de Siècle Media, Sweden, 2005)

  Dunno whether this entry should go in the ‘M’ section, really, as Srmeixner is essentially the post-Contrastate guise for Stephen Meixner’s work. Whatever, this is the second album since his former group called it a day and this time catches him working alongside Adrian Morris who, I believe, is also his accomplice whenever he performs live. Unlike 2002’s Between the Lines (Dirter Promotions), however, The Dictatorship... appears less fully-formed. Plenty of interesting sounds arise from what’s otherwise a foreboding morass of labyrinthine loops and drones but, although it’s evident much work has gone into everything, this album seems to lack the scope Meixner usually grasps so successfully. In places, the ever-evolving rumbles, textures and early Tangerine Dream-esque keyboard slivers are simply either stilted or heavy-handed, with the overall effect amounting to something like Russia’s Artemiy Artemiev attempting ‘death ambient’ music. Previous work takes on more dimensions and, whilst The Dictactorship... perhaps falls short by comparison, it would be unfair to dismiss this completely. There’s plenty here to pull the listener in, but I’d be hard pressed to recommend this over any of Contrastate’s albums and, in particular, 1999’s fantastic Todesmelodie, released by France’s Noise Museum. (RJ) Fin de Siècle Media, Box 388, 114 79 Stockholm, Sweden. www.findesieclemedia.com

STYLUS 'Listen, Time Passes' CD (Stylus Recording Company, 2006)

  It’s a sad and sorry time we live in when Welsh sound-designer Dafydd Morgan’s Stylus still, seven albums on, remains very much akin to being at the heart of yet another highly secret society or exclusive gentleman’s club. Worse still is the fact Listen, Time Passes, itself a collection of 16 “missing links” from between the previous albums, is confined to being limited to an edition of only 100. Although this self-released item might feel less like a Stylus album ‘proper’, its limited nature undermines the quality of the music proffered. Even moreso when equally prodding the fact several of the remixes include exclusive works by Sion Orgon, K-188 and new (to me) French experimental artist Properol Y Colargol; each and every one as much a glistening jewel as Stylus’ untouched work.

  ‘Glass Dream One “Charly is Alone”’, as remixed by, indeed, Properol Y Colargol, delivered like something from OMD’s Architecture and Morality pushed into realms only Cluster could otherwise have dreamed of, is one of the many standouts.

  Sion Orgon’s remix of ‘Eisteddfod’, clearly sucking in the sometimes Stockhausen-strained air of his own work, likewise hovers around the top of the ladder.

  Coupled to Dafydd’s own wonderful and unique excursions into often nicely convoluted atmospherics, Listen, Time Passes makes for one limited edition release well worth vying for. (RJ) Stylus Recording Company, PO Box 155, Cheltenham, GL51 0YS. email: src@talbot.force9.co.uk / myspace.com/stylusdafyddmorgan

MACIEK SZYMCZUK 'Looking for Shooting Stars' CDr (Simlog, Poland, 2004)

  Although I’ll forever remain reluctant to promote too many CDr releases, there are occasions when we have to allow for exceptions. Such is the case with this Polish soundsmith’s work which itself arrives from a label very much devoted to cutting itself somewhat higher than the rest of the pack. Four very tasteful pieces woven from distressed micro-signatures, perfectly haunting timbres, submerged female voice and, on a couple of tracks, appropriate enough rhythms pretty much glide rather softly to an island of idle contemplation following an evening’s worth of chemical sweat. It’s all very plaintive, rather beautiful and certainly reaches further than most electronica. (RJ) www.simlog.tk

'T'

AOKI TAKAMASA & TUJIKO NORIKO '28' CD (FatCat, 2005)

  Built around lush melodies, meshes of electronic fizzes & pops, Niriko’s pleasant Japanese vocals and some occasionally distressed beats, 28 only appears several breaths away from labelmates’ Múm, really. However, what sets this collab. duo’s album apart is a slightly more airy approach. Everything gently floats along and, at times, feels so light that it’s hard to imagine how they pinned it all down.

  As electronica goes, I wouldn’t claim that this Japanese duo’s work particularly beats down any new paths, but it falls clear of being objectionable for such a predictable shortcoming... (RJ) www.fat-cat.co.uk

THINK ABOUT LIFE eponymous CD (Alien8 Recordings, Canada, 2006)

  This group has apparently been creating something of a stir back home in Montreal and, whilst I can understand the attraction of their lively and tumultous pop, I have to ‘fess it does little for me beyond inducing homicidal tendencies usually reserved for drunken English cunts on stag parties. Like Akron/Family or mebbe Animal Collective, there’s an often chaotic blend of vocal harmonies, keyboards and other instruments nailed down by tight yet convoluted percussion at work here, but it sounds both cloying and too smug to hit the same places. Besides, it’s hard to like anything possessing a credit for the main vocalist’s parents for blessing him with his “voice” amongst its sleevenotes. Or am I just bein’ a pedantic fucker...? (RJ) Alien8 Recordings, Box 666, Station R, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2S 3LI. www.alien8recordings.com

'U'

URKUMA 'Rebuilding Pantaleone's Tree' CD (Baskaru, France, 2006)

  Grizzled micro-knots, tones and tempered splurges are to be found at the heart of this debut, by Italian Stefano de Santis. Utilising a wide range of sound sources, including self-built instruments, electronic devices and a clarinet, de Santis eagerly takes us through a labyrinthine corridor woven in honour of the monk Pantaleone's weird 'n' wonderful mosaic floor in the Cathedral of Otranto. The overall effect is one where the disembodied gracefully greet the more earth-bound, or where tender sounds shuffle finely alongside those that are more obviously awkward or even obtrusive, at times recalling some of RLW's explorations or, indeed, the very idea of the mosaic itself being very slowly picked apart and scrutinised from all angles. The inside of the cover asks, "Have you ever given a musical instrument to an animal?" (a direct reference to some of the depictions on Pantaleone's mosaic). Personally, I haven't, but it's kinda good to imagine such a practice might well lead to to a record as inventive as this one. (RJ) www.baskaru.com

'V'

DANIEL VANGARDE & JEAN KLUGER 'Le Monde Fabuleux du Yamasuki' LP (Finders Keepers Records, 2005)

  During my occasional rummage through the vinyl section of a local specialist shop, I found this obscurity stashed away in the jazz section, next to a Cecil Taylor triple. Though, with the best will in the world, I can’t understand how it landed there. A quick glance at the sleeve could perhaps elicit thoughts of budget kung fu cash-ins (the second wave, circa. David Carradine) or even an eastern-themed collection from the DeWolfe libraries. What the cover actually contains is something slightly more off the wall than those two micro-genres could deliver and could only have appeared in the seventies.

  Its story begins with Vangarde and Kluger; two fairly experienced / successful composers from the French tin pan alley who initially conceived Yamasuki merely as a choreography exercise. This dance eventually swept its way through chic Parisienne nightlife and while its name was still fresh on everyone’s lips, good business acumen swung into action. The concept grew a là Topsy (or whatever her French counterpart is called) into an LP for the Biram label. The duo’s preparation for this, clearly going way beyond the call of duty, was to learn the Japanese tongue (!!) in double quick time...there’s dedication. Their aim was to fuse Japanese traditional musics with French pop/rock. A fairly bizarre remit, and their choice of hired hands seemed to border on the eccentric too. A fairly large children’s choir was drafted in for the vocal chores, singing Japanese lyrics from phonetic songsheets. On occasion, this chorale of innocents, augmented by faux shakuhachis and oriental flutes, is gatecrashed by the bellowing of a genuine black belt judo master (!) who apparently introduces the track titles. Compared to the fug of modern pop kulcha, with its collective IQ now in single figures, this makes for a mighty strange package.

  Equally odd is the story of one of the cuts; the vowel-friendly ‘Aieaoa’ (also a single). This was radically rejigged for the African market by a band from Zaire called Black Blood. I believe it became a club hit in the mid-seventies. The next decade saw a Paul Cook-assisted Bananarama cover it as their debut disc...all three gals probably under the impression that this number was cutting-edge Afrobeat. Little did they know that its origins lay buried in a little known curio that can be best regarded as The Langley School’s Music Project transported to The Water Margin. (SP) www.finderskeepersrecords.com

V/A 'The Breath of Forgotten Places: An Elvis Coffee Records Compilation' CD (ECR label, 2005)

  There was a time in the near past when you had to buy something from the label to get this seven tracks sampler CD. But now that they're giving their whole stock away, you can get free CDs and ask for this one too. It's a free for all. They'll all be gone by the time you read this, but you can tell your grandkids that when you were a lad labels would give you stuff for free.

  Psychic Space Invasion are the biggy on here and they do the 'hum and blop' thing very well, creating a soft tonal moodiness that resonates with memories of early ‘90s industrial-ambience while remaining a thoroughly modern Millie. Others on here are Jebus, Directive 4, Green End Listening Station, Swn (it's always a pleasure to hear anything by them), Ulysees Girelle, and The Buff Monkey Ensemble. Loops, scraped strings and samples play a large part of their collective work and, put bluntly, it sounds ineffectual. But I'm being overly picky. It's a freebie and useful to introduce you to new artists you haven't heard before. (HM) http://ecr.homestead.com

V/A 'Cryosphere' CD (Glacial Movements, Italy, 2006)

  Collecting nine international artists/groups, this album presents “a musical journey that transports the listener into glacial and unexplored lands where icebergs collide and where everything is frozen”, according to its booklet’s proclamation. And, yes, from Closing the Eternity’s ‘Pulse of Iceilence’ onwards, we’re pretty much treated to some lengthy meldings of Arctic shimmer, spacey swirl and soft drone-saturated pieces that are notable mostly for the fact they sound like the workings of only one mind. All the same, there’s some nice stuff on offer here, such as Tho-So-AA’s pleasantly bleep-filled ‘Crotesk’, Troum’s Bremen harbour-utilising ‘Giascei’, and Canadian Aidan Baker’s processed guitar-based ‘Beneath the Ice’. Complete with contributions also from Lightwave, Tuu, Netherworld and others, Cryosphere creates a satisfying atmosphere thankfully falling nearer Biosphere or Thomas Köner’s recordings than any hammy ‘dark ambient’ drivel. As both a concept in itself and a statement of intent for this new label, it at least appears promising enough from my admittedly rather humble vantage point, anyway. (RJ) www.glacialmovements.com

V/A 'Difficult Fun' 7” e.p. (Difficult Fun, 2004)

The very fact that this label’s named after the message in the run-out groove to Fast Product’s excellent comp. LP from 1979, Earcom One, pretty much garnishes precisely what’s on offer here. Four (new or at least relatively...) bands delivering a song each; Philosophy Queen, Antifamily, Heliogabalus and Asja Auf Capri. All of them seem beamed in from a time when the late John Peel was throwing The Raincoats, Minny Pops, Pink Military, Au Pairs, Malaria and suchlike at us, which was never entirely a bad thing, as far as I’m concerned. Philosophy Queen, Antifamily and Asja Auf Capri in particular all possess lo-fi, punk-ish D.I.Y. songwriting attributes that could easily slot into the ‘79 to ‘81 timeframe. Heliogabalus, meanwhile, wouldn’t appear outta place in some NZ bedroom chuffin’. All told, neither an entirely outstanding or bad little collection, but it’s missed the boat by a quarter of a century... (RJ) Difficult Fun, Unit 75a Regents Studios, 8 Andrews Road, London, E8 4QN. www.difficultfun.org

V/A 'The International Vicious Society' LP (university Of Vice Records, 2005)

At times the mind really does cartwheel. Just how did our curators ‘Laslo’ and ‘Gelsido’ (pictured on the sleeve as a beatnik Mr. Hyde and Uncle Fester respectively) locate all these drool-flecked slices of vulgarity? House clearances or plundering likely looking skips? As info is scant (regretfully there are not even any band biographies), I guess we’ll never know. This comp. collates a worldwide mixture of painfully obscure crud-a-phonic dance craze platters from the early half of the sixties. No doubt the majority created with an eye on the global (?) success of Joey Dee’s ‘Peppermint Twist’ and Chubby Checker’s odious ‘Let’s Twist Again’. Luckily, most of the sixteen tracks go beyond a mere garage/exotica fusion; either through crass ineptitude or by getting their wires crossed (in extremis).

  Europe claims most of the needletime, though ‘The Counter’ by the Popcorns - purportedly from the UK - most definitely has its origins over the pond, with the dance caller’s American burr being an immediate giveaway. Germany’s Max Gregor, however, is frighteningly authentic. His ‘Teenager’, with its lunk-headed cha cha rhythm and holiday camp organ would send even the squarest teen running for cover. As would fellow countryman Charly Cotton’s ‘Wilhelm Tell Twist’; a tenor sax vs. holiday camp organ classickal from the school of the bleeding obvious. After all that enforced jollity, Claude et ses Tribunes’ ‘Le Twist Familial’ comes as a welcome slice of ‘beat group Français’ - even though they’re more finishing school than behind the bike sheds. By the time we hit Italy things are on the upturn (in a good bad but not evil way). Ennio Sangustio’s ‘Habibi Twist’ has an enticing waft of the Persian bazaar, while the ominous shadows cast by The G. Intra Sextet’s ‘Hully Gully Tom Tom’ fits a Raymond Chandler atmosphere into a noir-twist exercise that’s mighty strange.

  It’s only when we turn our attention to the Americas (and various far-flung islands) that logical thort becomes truly unravelled. The USA’s Ralph Merterio shows himself to be in two minds whether to belly dance or twist, adopting a style akin to the (US) Kaleidoscope on the set of a kitsch beach party flick. After The Empala Six’s sluggish heavy gauged groove which puts treacle into Duane Eddy’s veins, it’s down to Mexico. Chico Moran, Quinteto Maravilla, Los Rockers and Los Electronicos all offer up boozy x-eyed derivatives of The Champs’ ‘Tequila’. The latter’s ‘A La Salud’, with its pedal steel swoops (surely worthy of space-age lounger, Esquivel), is a particular double lo-fi treat. As is Brazil’s Blackstones with ‘Os Monstros’, in which we witness a surrogate Bela Lugosi conjuring up a bat-infested cave ambience that’d be way too excessive for the likes of Joe Meek and Screaming Lord Sutch!

  Saving the most preposterous for last - what about ‘Don’t Be Krul’ by Iranian Mehr Pooya, which inhabits a zone beyond mere lunacy. A phonetic homage to Elvis, with a bout of guitar noodling that glues together all (?) of the solos from Bill Haley hits. WHY?! Then, from Tahiti comes the doctored (?) indigenous folk of ‘Maita Ereere’ by Coco, with the island’s only electric guitar running off a spluttering generator and the splendidly named The Black Magic’s ‘Surfin’ Gypsy’, who looks for the perfect wave through a pair of Hank Marvin specs - only in Indonesia!
For the trash aesthete whose fear knows no bounds, you’ll be introduced to another pocket of mindless activity that, to these ears anyway, appears to be more fun than the burgeoning Merseybeat scene and all that genre spawned...lovable moptops be damned! (SP)

  Note: No contact address - draw yr own conclusions...

V/A 'Nekton Falls' 3CD (Celestial Dragon, Germany, 2006)

  An admittedly slightly daunting ‘concept’ put together by Achim G. Reisdorf & Seetyca, after having been inspired by Hubert Sauper’s Darwin’s Nightmare and some other works on oceanography and marine biology, that collects pieces by 22 international moodscapers as well as a further 27 intros, outros, interludes and one additional piece by Seetyca alone. With contributions by Frans de Waard, i:wound, Roel Meelkop, NiD and others whose names I’m almost ashamed to admit I’ve never heard of before, such as Yannick Dauby, Hypersleep, Error, Mnortham and The Oval Language, Nekton Falls possibly navigates those pockets of mist or fog you’d expect but nonetheless leaps ahead through virtue of its doing it so well. It would be perhaps quite easy to readily dismiss much of the material here as being by the same person or, at best, the same few people. But this, I think, is both partly due to the nature of such music in itself and, equally, the fact these artists appear focused on their objectives. All the same, certain pieces stand out for either being a little more involving or because they play around with the premise, such as Hypersleep’s near electro-pop chillout tune and Swiss artist Franziska Baumann’s blend of what sound like heavily fucked vocalisations and sea shifts.

  Getting back to the point, however, there’s nothing weak on here and, well, if I have any complaints they are only towards the choice of typography used on the artwork, the virtually impenetrable ‘clever-clever’ ‘system’ behind the contribution credits and the fact mebbe some more text concerning the concept itself would have proved useful. These aside, it’s otherwise possibly the most satisfying collection of ‘psycho-ambient’ music I’ve heard in a considerable while. Nice (RJ) www.sonic-dragon.com/?load=/celestial_dragon.htm

V/A 'Stilllysm' CD (Stilll, Belgium, 2006)

  Quite frankly, there are so many releases out now dedicated to the kinda melancholic-tarnished electronica to be found on this collection that it’s impossible to either keep up or muster so much as a tic of enthusiasm anymore. However, despite this perhaps glaringly obvious fact’s been painted any number of times before on, equally, any number of different walls, a cluster of saving graces typically straddle everything regardless. Opener, ‘Dream Feet’, by Mikale De Graff, for example, works itself around a guitar melody so delicate and hypnotic, before it gently builds towards something resembling Animal Collective on smack, that it’s nigh on impossible not to yearn for more. As openers for comps. go, it’s a particularly good one. From then on, gems amongst the remaining fifteen contributions include Off The Sky’s ‘Holiday Crash Plan’, which again is stapled to a lulling guitar melody, Victor Sjöberg’s atmospheric abstract-hop’s ‘No Beginning’, and Arden’s venture into filmic territory via the kinda sensibilities found on Thrill Jockey with ‘Locked in the Attic’ (rather surprisingly, given that I wasn’t bowled by their album). Although several other tracks coast along in an agreeable enough manner (Immune’s ‘Headfirst’ recalling a more world-weary Antony, for example), most of the remainder either resembles French pop stuffed through electronica’s blender or subscribes to a set of notions that wouldn’t have had ears twitching even a few years ago. Apparently, a full-length album by Mikale De Graff is on the way or mebbe even possibly out by the time you read this, tho’, Which is a little nearer my language. (RJ) www.stilll.org

'W'

RALF WEHOWSKY/BRUCE RUSSELL 'Sights' CD (Corpus Hermeticum, New Zealand, 2005)

  Corpus Hermeticum - a label specialising in “no-fi rumblings from the edge of the earth” reach their eleventh year with a successful cross pollination of two clearly defined working practices, in which sonic theoretician Ralf Wehowsky’s tempered/methodical approach runs across the more piratical, smash ‘n’ grab credo of The Dead C’s Bruce Russell.

  These recordings came to fruition during the latter’s euro jaunt during the early part of 2003 and consist of a postal collaboration (‘Second Sight’) that’s sandwiched between two live improvisations (‘First’ and ‘Third Sight’), both captured at Ralf’s Eggenstein Studio in Germany.
Even though Ralf is credited, at one point, with ‘playing the room’, they opt for a minimal instrumentation (a reverse Ummagumma back sleeve, if you like) that dishes out a maximal sound squall from the get go. The twosome’s six-strings and assorted vintage electronics create barbed, coarse, lyrical and, in some dark corners, refreshingly stunning blasts that occupy spaces between the ESP, FMP and Matchless frames of mind.

  ‘First’’s spacier segments even find time to take in threads of the early Tangs and The Cosmic Couriers. ‘Second’ is a series of garbled exchanges between the truncated blips of Bruce’s clavioline and kitchen ambience in surroundsound. A less cohesive experiment (blame it on the postal services) that’s saved by the humour found in the non-metric clatter of Ralf’s teaspoon salvo (see the Bonzo’s Sam Spoons for a more rhythmic showcase). ‘Third’ shows itself to be the most extreme piece, with Bruce’s disorienting oscillator clashing with his partner’s impersonation of metal furniture forced down a laundry chute and, later on, the thrum and pluck of gigantic rusted bedsprings - all channelled through one solitary electric guitar. A guaranteed window rattler, and that’s no lie.

  Another damn near essential instalment from an organisation that has yet to put a foot wrong. Extra points must go to the stylish cardboarded origami packaging which could have easily originated from an exclusive Swiss chocolate emporium. (SP) Corpus Hermeticum, PO Box 124, Littleton, Canterbury, New Zealand. http://noise.as/hermescorp

PIERS WHYTE eponymous CD (Ache Records, Canada, 2005)

  Reminiscent of many glitch, spit & crackle releases, this debut disc by Canadian Piers Whyte certainly is; however, underneath it all there are layers pointing to different directions. Plunderphonics is an applicable term here for sure, but there are some collages of field recordings and drones which flow very effectively side by side his machine gun fire outbursts of distortion and time-stretched layers. Well worth looking into, and one to watch in the future. (DW) www.acherecords.com

'Y'

YNEY 'Antarctina' CD (Electroshock, Russia, 2004)

  Yney are the trio of Yuri Orlov, Andrey Kireev and Igor Shaposhnikov, who recorded Antarctina over three summer days and nights in Moscow. The sleeve bears the slogan "Electronno Ecologico Movement From Russia" but in my monolingual ignorance it's hard to discern any more about what that might signify, as the remainder of the liner notes are in Russian.

  Spinning the disc reveals the boys to be purveyors of some fairly decent techno tunes. Given the title, and the fact that the word Yney apparently translates as "hoar-frost", you might expect this to be techno of the most chilly variety, a la Biosphere, but there is often an unexpectedly warm and languid sound at work here, with elements of funk and trip hop mixed into the equation.

  Personally, I'm all for austerity in my techno, so I'd say the best tracks on Antarctina are those that nevertheless remain at the more icy end of the thermometer. 'Appearance From Above' is an early highlight, with its sinuous bass set against bubbling bleeps and bloops, and the occasional squawking interjection of what sounds like a malicious tropical bird. 'Fly Out', with its oozing squelchy bass, recalls some of the great early Plastikman stuff, while 'Return to Bosom' enters a kind of dubby state of suspension, as the pace virtually grinds to a dazed halt. The more eclectic tracks, like 'Stroll', with its parping novelty tune, or 'Flight Over Continent', sporting jaunty brass trills, don't work so well. (IC) www.electroshock.ru

'Z'

ZENDEE 'Live in Lublin' CDr (Audiotong, Poland, 2005)

  During mid-2004, Hong Kong's DJ Dee (a.k.a., Li Chin Sung) and Krakow's Zenial collaborated live three times during the former's visit to Poland. Given precisely how disorientating and haphazard much of Li Chin Sung's album, Past (Tzadik, 1996), is, the work here has arrived as a comparatively polite surprise. Beginning with a series of soft tics and textures apparently generated from the sounds of water, a wonderfully steady heartbeat pulse soon rises and becomes the focal point before seguing into a sequence of well-mannered rasps & strands of space-whisper never once detracting from the overall atmosphere. It is only a few minutes further on when some slightly more abrasive babbling consumes proceedings for a short while but, even then, the general effect falls nearer, say, The Hafler Trio's outbursts rather than Masami Akita's meltdowns.

  An array of other crackles, dizzy shimmers, whirrs and suchlike then continue to float into view, hang around long enough to greet and interact with eachother before sliding towards a satisfaction they've done their job without outstaying their welcome. Further still, and a few minutes prior to the set's close at just over 27 mins. total, another muffled micro-beat goes into combat with a platoon of malfunctioning robots, bringing everything to a suitable climax.

  On the whole, it's a comfortably 'morphic listen anchored to the juncture where control can fall over a precipice at any point. And, alongside Germany's excellent Minit and A.F.R.I. Studios, very little really compares in today's rather crowded environment of electronics & laptop artists. Which is nothing less than refreshing. (RJ) www.audiotong.net

ZOVIET FRANCE 'Just an Illusion' CD (Staalplaat, NL/Germany, 2006)

  The third edition of one of many highlights in Zoviet France’s catalogue, originally released in, I think, 1990 and packaged in a special wooden box. Whilst the unique presentation has been jettisoned in favour of a standard jewel case this time, there’s no question concerning the quality of the music within. Middle Eastern or Asian sources blend perfectly with a series of spooling loops, banks of textures and post-industrial drones that’re both filmic and hypnotic. Once in a while, bursts of clatter creep into the fray that nod towards Zoviet France’s earlier work but the overall effect pulls you in like a tar pit, ultimately proving that some reissues truly deserve their place. (RJ) www.staalplaat.com

'LIVE'

David Grubbs/ Ariel Pink, at the Hanbury Ballroom, Brighton 11th June 2005

  Before you head straight for the bar, just for a change look at the building you're in. Look up. The painted dome that recalls it's more flamboyant sister, the Brighton Pavillion. The blood red walls, the art deco-ish uplights [You are beginning to sound like Lloydd Grossman - Ed.] and the soundman who has to climb up a tall squeaky ladder to get into his perch up in the sky. Civilized.

  Built as a mausoleum in 1892 for the (Siegfried) Sassoon family, it was soon converted into the ballroom it's better known for being. More recently it's been home to live shows from laptop jams to folky-types. It's a little room that's both quietly elegant and intimate.

  Ariel Pink are an outfit on Animal Collective's own label but that's about as far as the similarities go. Their brand of pop could've been straight out of a ‘60s High School Hop, with it's messy nods to the Monkees and Beach Boys (in their dreams). All that was missing were the adoring girlfriends with braces in the audience. Smart playing doesn't necessarily make for worthwhile listening (hello Jim O'Rourke.) And that bloody echo machine that smothered the vocals was irritating enough to make you want to yank the microphone out of the twitchy singer's hands. Their very lightweight nods to pop psychedelia suggests, at best, a passing aquaintance to the asprin and Cocal Colacombination you tried when you were 8.

 It's a pity they didn't have the severe microphone problems that beset Grubbs' early part of the set. Dueting on an acoustic guitar with a cellist turned out to be a fine idea. The laconic cello playing set the horizon on which Grubbs noodled away. And there's the snag. Grubb's has always been
a great player, especially at flat-picking, but it's always just this side of being a bit dull. What seems to be the problem is his vocals. They sound uninspired and don't live up to the standards set by his playing. The vocal melodies are banal and the lyrics uninspired. Which is a shame because during the moments where he allowed the playing to come through unhindered, they sounded good. Him and the cellist (I didn't catch his name) worked together well and it felt/sounded natural. But it was too clinical and precise, not allowing any sense of experiencing anything other than another night's entertainment.

  Hopefully, though, in future Grubbs will allow the cellist a few more moments in the spotlight.

  Not that there was a spotlight. Infact there were no lights. It was all done under the fading sunlight coming through the glass lined dome above. Like I said, civilized. (HM)

'READING MATTER'

'Rip It Up And Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984' by Simon Reynolds (Faber and Faber, p/b, 577pp, 2005)

  Born, perhaps, in the moment that John Lydon sneered "ever get the feeling you've been cheated?", the post-punk period was in retrospect a golden age of envelope-pushing rock, which has in recent times become a highly fashionable source of inspiration/plagiarism for a new generation of indie kids. It was probably the last period of rock that wasn't already recycled in the first place, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone got round to reviving it. Given the current fad, I guess the arrival of Simon Reynolds' weighty new tome on the era leaves him open to accusations of bandwagon jumping, but it seems that he embarked on the book when this resurgence of interest was no more than a distant rumour, so I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

  Reynolds is in my opinion one of the best British writers about rock and pop music of the last two decades. His work for Melody Maker in the mid to late '80s was certainly very formative on my years as a teenage music obsessive, and he has always remained unafraid to push his fervent and unashamedly erudite theorising on this thing of ours as far as possible. He is a writer who has always been fascinated with scenes, how they function socially, and how wider cultural, historical and critical parallels can illuminate them. He is always good at drawing out the underlying factors and tensions that fuel and ultimately undermine any period of critical mass in popular musical culture, and post-punk, aside from being the moment that birthed his own passion for music, is the ideal subject for his dissection. Punk was arguably a scene which was primarily important for its social impact, but post-punk, as Reynolds highlights, was a revolution in form.

  Setting out his stall early on, he asserts that punk itself was musically little more than a "back-to-basics rock 'n' roll revival [which] had its most provocative repercussions long after its supposed demise". This is supported in the opening chapter on PiL, with Keith Levene's contention that "the Pistols were the last rock 'n' roll band. They weren't the beginning of anything”. The implication is that the Pistols instead provided the musical full stop which cleared the ground for the beginning of something else. As Reynolds puts it, punk created a climate where "anything abnormal or extreme suddenly had a chance", and the moment was ripe for the sonic paradigm to shift away from long held assumptions about rock music's essential form and practice. In this respect the book's Orange Juice derived title is (perhaps somewhat glibly) right on the money: punk ripped rock up, post-punk started it again.

  Reynolds crucially highlights the fact that post-punk, in its focus on form, was in essence a modernist manifesto in rock music. The post-punk generation sought to revive a suffocated and ossified form by relieving it of the deadweight of its tradition (encapsulated in the dismissive epithet of the time - "rockism") and opening it up to a whole set of alternative idioms - krautrock, dub, disco, funk, electronic music, free jazz. Even where influences did derive from the more ostensibly recognised rock lineage, they were from deviant practitioners like David Bowie and Roxy Music, rather than from the habitual Elvis-Beatles-Stones canon. Reynolds also suggests that post-punk for many of its participants represented a turning away from America as the ideological / cultural beacon of rock, and towards a more detached European sensibility, symbolised perhaps in the prominence of Bowie's Berlin trilogy as a touchstone for many at the time. While the spirit of the American rock tradition might be said to have emerged from the rugged individualism of the Beats and Abstract Expressionism, this new European strain instead drew from the more oblique angles of Kafka and Camus, Dada and Futurism, Gramsci and the Situationists.

  Rip It Up does a good job of delineating the fascinating and abiding problem of the late '70s to early '80s period, namely the critical / ideological shift from post-punk to New Pop. Post-punk's modernist reaction against rockism had focused on a critique of form, but the next generation's development of this instead focused on concepts of identity and meaning, turning on a characteristically postmodern rejection of structuring oppositions - surface / depth, appearance/reality - which provided rock with its self identity.

  Pop music as a medium, never in hock to supposedly outmoded concepts of authenticity, began to be vaunted as the most radical way forward. As a consequence, music which concentrated on formal experimentation began to be viewed as irrelevant and self-ghettoising, while subversive appropriation of pop's strategies instead became the new critical order of the day, with bands like Scritti Politti and Heaven 17 achieving considerable success as a result.

  Reynolds clearly buys this whole "popist" argument to some extent, but he is also ready to concede that the "ironic" appropriation of the hedonistic Thatcherite pop model soon began to look no different to the unthinking celebration of it practiced in the wider pop market. As he puts it, "Buying in or selling out? Was there really any difference in the end?".

  For me, post-punk's drift into New Pop is the story of one of rock's most fertile and forward looking periods giving way to one of its most self-defeating and self-deceiving, a transformation whose reverberations are still being felt today. The distance between pop and the undergound has widened in the two decades since post-punk, with the result that the middle ground, music with an experimental/subversive edge that could also command a significant audience, has virtually disappeared (surely the reason why the weekly music press has become all but extinct since the early '90s). The inverted snobbery of popism still seems to have plenty of critical currency, and continues to be used as an intellectual big stick with which to beat the underground. Ending Rip It Up on a note of doubt, Reynolds reflects that while post-punk's commitment to change was what was so great about it, it actually brought about very little change, and asks: "all this looking to music for answers - was all that just a waste of energy". Maybe it's that moment of "won't get fooled again" epiphany that accounts for the critical endurance of popism's empty postmodern stance, but it's not something I've ever felt the pull of too seriously.

  If I've got any criticism of this book it would maybe be that it is overambitious in its scope. Possibly suffering from "mission creep", Reynolds gives more attention to the details of the aftermath of post-punk than I think is necessary; while the account of post-punk's demise is crucial I would have been happy for there to have been more pages on the immediate era itself, and less on the "New Pop and New Rock" era that followed. Also, considering Reynolds' reputation as a writer given to highbrow speculation, I actually found Rip It Up surprisingly (and slightly disappointingly) restrained on that front, with a lot of the book given over to basic nuts and bolts narrative of the rise and fall of the various bands and scenes covered. These are fairly minor quibbles though - overall this is an absorbing read from an always interesting writer, and a book which will unfailingly send you back to whole swathes of your record collection for an updated reappraisal. (IC)