The sound of Manchester‘s Working For A Nuclear Free City is a hodge-podge of jangly and noisy indie-pop, electronic music, and cinematic psychedelia-a recipe for either total brilliance or a complete bust. Although the elements sound familiar at first, the songs here are neither tired nor clichÈ Blighty bop. Rather, everything shimmers with sublimity. “Quiet Place” rolls with the tempo and tone of a long, sullen train journey, while “England” is a timeless, pastoral pop tune unconcerned with London city trends. The rest of the album offers equally anorak-safe Northern drift. Sounds like the work has paid off.
Superiority Complex Stand Up
If you long for the days when hip-hop still had a wry sense of humor, provided a tongue-in-cheek critique of America, and spouted zingy, “did he really just say that?”-type rhymes, then Superiority Complex is your new favorite group. SC MCs Poisoned Fetus and Iron Monk and producer Blackology might start a new True School era with this flawless album, which even flips A Tribe Called Quest’s classic “Butter,” music and all. Blackology’s beats mix taut, Large Prof-style drums with Jazzy Jeff’s melodic sample-ology. The Orlando trio flexes lovely on the Vince Guaraldi-looping “Seasons” and the soul-drenched “Love.”
Various Kammerflimmer Kollektief Remixed
Germany’s Kammerflimmer Kollektief aren’t post-rockists; they’re the second coming of Kraut rock in the style of Neu! and Amon Düül II. Their liquid, improvised, cinematic avant-jazz-rock is confounding, mysterious, and often rewarding. Put these sounds in the blender with IDM’s finest (David Last, Radian, Jan Jelinek) and the results can only be chin-strokingly remarkable. Things get cooking three tracks in with Néze’s rhythmic “Lichterloh” rework. Then clicky, Herbert-esque beats ignite KK’s broken piano and mournful horn arrangements before Jelinek turns the group‘s slow jazz into invisible audio ghosts, and Sutekh flips the dial to extreme sub-bass and crackle mode.
Forward, Russia! Give Me a Wall
Forward, RISD! might be a better name for these Brits, since they unleash a heavy, Les Savy Fav-like groove on their debut. No singer can match the charisma of L.S.V.’s beefy indie-rock provocateur Tim Harrington, but Forward, Russia!’s Tom Woodhead keeps things interesting, occasionally spazzing out but mostly sticking to the Bloc Party school of grandiose vocal stylings. Though the individually numbered (only) tracks can seem indistinguishable, the album is solid. It would be tempting to say that a band with so many well-worn influences works only in theory, but Forward, Russia! shouldn’t be written off.
Earmint Another Early Evening
While his debut isn’t the sonic palate-cleanser that his moniker implies, producer Robert Krums shows promise on Another Early Evening. Showcasing both his dense instrumentals and rapper-friendly tracks, it’s a respectable introduction that includes flattering references from contributing rappers like Chicago’s Psalm One and Diverse. Earmint’s steadily bubbling and recalibrating beats aren’t wedded to any one style, and the disc shuffles from the trampoline-bounce background of opener “The Flash Slang” to the languid “So Much For Nothing” and the slightly muted DJ Shadow-like stampede of “Cut to Carchase.” He’s not exactly the freshmaker yet, but he could be in time.
Basement Jaxx Crazy Itch Radio
Basement Jaxx boys Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton once had the house scene on lock, to the point where they had dancefloor dons like Erick Morillo contributing guest vocals to their records. Crazy Itch Radio continues a trend from their last few albums-folding in guest stars and different genres at the expense of their more explosive, straight-ahead sound-that provides diminishing returns. Silly lines (even by dance standards) and what sounds like a Muppet-led refrain tarnish the tight and glittery opening jam “Hush Boy,” while other uptempo tracks like Balkan-beat boogie “Hey You!” and the banjo bounce of “Take Me Back to Your House” are good but not “Good Luck”–great. As the dramatic operatic intro suggests, the Jaxx rose to fame by dropping full-bore, attention-grabbing tracks. Now they’re making songs that, compared to past efforts, are more relaxed and radio-ready.
Bodycode The Conservation Of Electric Charge
Monotone but not monochromatic, Bodycode is the dancefloor-destined guise of Cape Town-bred and Lisbon-based producer Alan Abrahams (a.k.a. Portable). Bodycode has a fierce single-mindedness without being a one-trick pony. “I, Data” is an unwavering track that references the original man-machines, Kraftwerk, but where Bodycode emerges fully realized is in the moments that feel less like the grimy industrial pockets of Europe and more like the tribal, prismatic expanses of Abrahams’ African homeland (“Gene Patch,” “Bounce Back,” and “Local Traffic”). Ranging between six and eight minutes, these melodic micro-edits strive and stride for feverish floor-filling insistence, and are successful more often than not.
Various Tommie Sunshine & Marc Romboy: Systematic Sessions Volume Two
After Atlanta enfant terrible Tommie Sunshine co-wrote “Silver Screen (Shower Scene)” with Felix da Housecat, he developed from glitzy kitten to bristly electronicat, as exhibited by the striated, acid-zigzagged grooves on his contribution to this two-CD mix. Sunshine‘s legacy, however, can be heard through Andrea Doria’s “Deep Throat,” as well as “Body Jack (Radio Slave Remix)” on Systematic label head Marc Romboy’s second disc. This CD, like Romboy’s own productions, comfortably straddles the pecks and pocks of Chicago, Detroit, Berlin, and Cologne and provides an enveloping, ketaminimal contrast to Sunshine’s gurgling electro-house.
Darkel Darkel
Forget The Wizard of Oz. “Be My Friend,” the first track on Darkel, answers the hypothetical question, “What if Dark Side of the Moon synched up with The Exorcist?” Darkel-JB Dunckel, the half of Air who explored weedy crooning on that duo’s Talkie Walkie–then follows the jam with a run of prog-pop, recalling everything from Beatles-esque jauntiness to Eno’s Here Come the Warm Jets. Whereas Air is seductive but sometimes studious, Darkel is detached from expectations so brazenly flirtatious, and an afterglow radiates throughout the blithe, sprightly release.
Merzbow Minazo Volume One
Japanoise killer Merzbow returns with four more powerful compositions in the name of animal appreciation and liberation. Comprised of captured field recordings from Minazo, a male elephant seal held in captivity in Tokyo until his untimely death in 2005, Masami Akita (a.k.a. Merzbow) colors an urgent sonic palate of subterranean bass, feedback, and distorted samples of the late Minazo that easily seep deeply into the psyche. Unlike some of Merzbow’s sporadically screeching avant-noise, Minazo manages to keep an ongoing tide of rhythm flowing, accenting his bass grumbles and fuzz from all angles.
