The “Various Artists” rack of the hip-hop section at your local record store will yield countless “old school” sets–some solid, some weak. But this two-disc collection, compiled by music historian Ian Dewhirst, is one of the more enjoyable ones around. Disc One deftly documents the early ’80s–a time when hip-hop could be socially alert yet very danceable (“The Message,” “It’s Like That”) and was tailored much more to b-boys (“Break Dance”). Disc Two, covering the mid-’80s to early ’90s, isn’t quite as fun, and seems scattered (where are Public Enemy and Eric B. & Rakim?), but Dewhirst at least includes golden-era bangers from The 45 King and Jungle Brothers.
Various Artists Riton and Serge Santiago: We Love…Ibiza
Unless you’re into foam parties and Tiësto, the very word “Ibiza” probably summons a reaction somewhere between humorous disgust and a superiority complex. Well, this compilation just made things a bit more complicated–We Love…Ibiza is pretty darn good. On Disc One, Serge Santiago digs into percussive nu-disco with remixes by Morgan Geist and Quiet Village, but as the mix progresses, it grows a bit lifeless. Riton’s disc is more successful: His criteria seems to be anything with a dirty, jacked house beat (think Green Velvet’s “Shake and Pop”), and although his inclusion of Bonde Do Role and DFA might recall a Brooklyn warehouse rather than Ibiza’s Club Space, it’s a dance party just the same.
DFA Reissues Pylon’s Gyrate
Some bands break up and disappear for good. Others call it quits, but pop up in unexpected places for 20 years to follow. Such is the case with Pylon, the Athens, Georgia-based new-wave band whose tracks inspired many bands during the late-’70s and early-’80s, dropped off the face of the earth, and has now reappeared on none other than James Murphy’s and Tim Goldsworthy’s DFA imprint.
“Pylon has always been a DFA favorite,” says label manager Jonathan Galkin. “James Murphy has been DJing their records out since I have known him, as it fit so perfectly within the rhythmic rock and post-punk records he was weaving in and out of classic disco.”
Gyrate Plus sees the jagged guitar chords and scratchy, whispering vocals on the original Gyrate album (released in November of 1980) remastered and packaged with the band’s 7″ single “Cool” and its “10 inch 45 rpm” EP. An additional track, “Functionality,” is one of those previously unreleased gems that always makes a re-release worth picking up.
This isn’t the first time Pylon has emerged from the shadows since putting down the guitars in the late ’80s. The 1990 college-radio hit “Chain” saw the band in the spotlight again, as did a tour with fellow Georgians R.E.M. (back when R.E.M.’s music was still remotely digestible) But Gyrate Plus is a slightly bigger affair than the random gig here and there.
“Considering no one had ever issued Gyrate on CD, it seemed like an ideal and obvious place for DFA to commence what we hope is an ongoing change,” says Galkin. “To reissue and re-expose artists we admire that might not have gotten their full due the first time around.”
Gyrate Plus is out October 16, 2007 on DFA.
Tracklisting
1. Cool
2. Dub
3. Volume
4. Feast on My Heart
5. Precaution
6. Weather Radio
7. Human Body
8. Read a Book
9. Driving School
10. Recent Title
11. Gravity
12. Danger
13. Working is a Problem
14. Stop It
15. Danger!!
16. Functionality
M.A.N.D.Y. Preps Remix LP, Tour
Berlin-based duo M.A.N.D.Y. needs no introduction. Aside from founding Get Physical with pals Booka Shade and DJ T, Philipp Jung and Patrick Bodmer have released dozens of tracks and maintained a residency at Berlin’s Monza club since 2001. Now, the electro-house veterans add to their hefty catalog with 12 Great Remixes For 11 Great Artists.
Reinterpreting works from Roxy Music, Lindstrøm, Joakim, Rex the Dog, and others, the duo moves through mellow minimalism, driving vocal house, and peak-time pop in a matter of minutes. Ideal for DJs too cool to pop for the 12”s, 12 Great Remixes compiles every noteworthy remix M.A.N.D.Y. has composed over the course of their career. Like the recent 5 Years Get Physical (a collection of the label’s rarities, remixes, and alternate mixes), this compilation is another classic release for the iconic imprint.
Catch M.A.N.D.Y. live at one of their many forthcoming shows in Europe, America, and beyond.
12 Great Remixes For 11 Great Artists is out August 28, 2007 on Get Physical.
Tracklisting
1.Tiefschwarz feat. Tracey Thorn “Damage (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix)”
2. Röyksopp “49 Percent (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix Edit)”
3. Lindstrøm “I Feel Space (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix)”
4. Roxy Music “The Thrill Of It All (M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade’s ‘I’m Your Pusher Man’ Re-Work)”
5. Rockers Hi-Fi “Push Push (M.A.N.D.Y.’s Pusher Remix)”
6. The Knife “Pass This On (M.A.N.D.Y.’s Knifer Remix)”
7. Joakim “Come Into My Kitchen (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix)”
8. Wessling & Schrom “Donauwellen (M.A.N.D.Y. Mix)”
9. Sugababes “Round Round”
10. Rex The Dog “P.R.O.T.O.T.Y.P.E. (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix)”
11. DJ Monique vs. The Voice Of Rita “Dreams (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix)”
12. Røyksopp “Sparks (M.A.N.D.Y. Remix)”
Tour Dates
09/07 Montreal, QC: Tribe (Patrick Bodmer DJ set)
09/08 Chicago, IL: Smart Bar (Patrick Bodmer DJ set)
09/09 New York, NY: Shelter (Patrick Bodmer DJ set)
09/10 Toronto, ON: V Fest (Patrick Bodmer DJ set)
09/13 Ibiza, ES: Monza @ Privilege
09/19 Berlin, DE: Popkomm @ Watergate
09/20 Belo Horizonte, BR: Deputamadre
09/21 Florianopolis, BR: Warung
09/22 Buenos Aires, AR: Pacha
09/27 Cordoba, AR: Peekaboo
09/28 Lima, PE: TBA
09/29 Maresias, BR: Sirena
10/07 Madrid, SP: TBA
10/12 Singapore, Singapore – Zouk Nightclub
10/13 Sydney, AU: The Gaelic Club
10/18 Brisbane, AU: Monastery Nightclub
10/19 Melbourne, AU: Prince of Wales
10/20 Perth, AU: Gilkisons Dance Studio
10/25 Athens, GR: Motel
10/30 Vienna, AT: Flex (Philipp Jung DJ set)
10/31 Munich, DE: Kraftwerk (Philipp Jung DJ set)
11/17 Zürich, SW: Kaufleuten
11/24 Bucharest, RO: TBA
12/01 Berlin, DE: Watergate
What Is It? Krautrock
When critics use “Krautrock” as a descriptor, they usually mean the mesmerizing motorik rhythms pioneered by Can and Neu!, as exemplified by “Mother Sky” and “Hallogallo,” respectively. Awesome touchstones for a genre, but they represent merely a tiny fraction of the music that emerged from Germany during Krautrock’s Golden Age (1968-1974).
Krautrock is a hydra-headed beast and, at its best, it consists of some of the most synapse-singeing sounds ever laid down. Influenced by American/Anglo rock–yet detached from it, and bursting to free themselves from the country’s shameful Nazi past–post-war German musicians imbued rock with an eccentric, often fantastical/kosmische [cosmic] perspective that brazenly departed from traditional sounds. “We were trying to put aside everything we had heard in rock ‘n’ roll. We had the urge of saying something completely different,” Faust’s Jean-Hervé Peron once told The Wire. Not coincidentally, hallucinogens back then were stronger, too.
Krautrock’s zenith can be heard in the best material by Can, Neu!, Faust, pre-Autobahn Kraftwerk, Cluster, Harmonia, Popol Vuh, pre-Phaedra Tangerine Dream, and Amon Düül, as well as in the peaks of about a dozen other artists not discussed by Julian Cope in his 1995 survey/manifesto, Krautrocksampler. Many works by these artists have become crucial components in the hipster canon and have influenced enough bands to fill several years of Coachella lineups.
For example, Cluster’s early LPs have had a profound impact on industrial music’s brainier practitioners, about half the Kranky Records roster, and ambient-guitar savants like Fennesz and Eluvium. Mid-period Cluster albums like Zuckerzeit and Sowiesoso helped to pave the way for electro pop, while the gentle cosmic mesmerism of Harmonia (Cluster with Neu! guitarist Michael Rother) influenced Brian Eno’s forays into deep-space ambient music (and coaxed him into collaborating with Cluster’s Moebius and Roedelius).
Some of Krautrock’s most compelling output has sprung from groups with pronounced jazz and improv-jam elements: Embryo, Dzyan, Brave New World, Wolfgang Dauner and his Et Cetera project (whose Et Cetera is one of the greatest albums ever). And when it comes to infusing spiritual beauty and poignancy into exploratory rock and making New Age (uh-huh) a conduit to the deity of your choice, Popol Vuh and Deuter are unrivalled. Ask Werner Herzog.
Finally, Krautrock’s Big 4 deserve all the hype lavished upon them. Kraftwerk’s first three albums yielded unique amalgams of musique concrète and psychedelic experimentation that anticipated post-rock by two decades. Faust invested a Dadaistic spirit into a befuddling array of approaches, including drone (see the track “Krautrock”), whimsical pop, and collage. Neu! excelled at both gorgeous, glistening stasis and hypnotic propulsion that birthed one of the most satisfying rhythms ever (the aforementioned motorik). And Can is simply the greatest band ever when they’re on, which was nearly always from ’68-’76. Their bold excursions into mantra-like rhythms, innovative textures, and spellbinding melody have actually improved with age–a testament being their song “Vitamin C,” which has become a breakdance staple.
Wiley Playtime Is Over
All bounce, bravado, street, and soul, Playtime Is Over stretches like elastic to highlight the finer points of Wiley’s talent: his fiery delivery (“HyBoy”), his heartfelt love of his roots (“Bow E3” and “Letter 2 Dizzee”), and his ability to craft a full, darkly kick-ass pop tune (“Gangsters”). The sad thing is that a lot of the griminess and outright experimental nature of Wiley’s beats are gone. A few tracks stand out (“Eski Boy” lurches and thumps in some truly weird ways) but many of them go for the simple or the schmaltzy. Wiley’s magnetic personality is still there though, and that’s (mostly) enough to hold it.
Yesterday’s New Quintet Yesterday’s Universe
Otis Jackson, Jr. (a.k.a. Madlib) has an astounding ability to shapeshift genres at will. As if being an imaginary five-member group by himself wasn’t challenging enough, Yesterday’s Universe features 10 figment-like groups, all of them conceived in Jackson’s hyperactive mind. Covers–of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew,” for one–play alongside original gems like the beautiful “Cold Nights and Rainy Days.” This time he invites a couple of non-imaginary musicians to the fold (drummer Karriem Riggins and Azymuth’s Mamão), too, and he stretches beyond the straight-ahead jazz style, delving into Latin delights, leftfield freestyle, and lush ballads. Madlib has stirred up a jazz tour de force that’s one for the musical record books.
Animal Collective “Peacebone”
Following 2005’s Feels, the fun-loving, unpredictable experimentalists in Animal Collective gear up for the September 10 release of Strawberry Jam. Sure, the band played songs off this, their eighth studio album, for the better part of 2006, and the album’s first three tracks were leaked on June 12, but there are still remaining goodies to be heard. Check the full album for the full experience. Photo by Adriano Fagundes.
Videos: Handsome Furs, Aesop Rock, Caribou, Gudrun Gut
When the Handsome Furs make a video of live footage interspersed with stills of Cholas, you know you’re in XLR8R video country. Still, one might consider the more exciting video to be Aesop Rock‘s newest escapade, “None Shall Pass,” which features animated artwork from San Francisco-based artist Jeremy Fish. For the gloomy at heart, there’s Caribou‘s “Melody Day,” and what better way to cap off the week than with some femme-techno from Neubauten contributor Gudrun Gut, on “Move Me.”
VHS or Beta Bring on the Comets
Louisville, KY-based pogo-punk filter-funk group VHS or Beta aims for dream-pop arena rawk. From the first lucent cascade of chunky chords you can imagine guitarist Craig Pfunder at the front of the stage, one foot on the monitor and an arm outstretched toward the back row. Drawing on Daft Punk, Echo and The Bunnymen, Hum, and VoB collaborators My Morning Jacket, this third album’s meaty, metronomic world exhibits plenty of tensile and tinsel strength. Whittled down to a poppier trio, having parted ways with founding guitarist Zeke Buck, their affected new new-wave yowls are less overt even as swelling vocals more deftly anchor curling riffs and centrifugal thwacks.
