As smarmy and friction-filled as the sexual position for which they’re named, NYC’s Scissor Sisters know how to let sparks fly. “Tits On The Radio,” a disco-draped reaming of Guiliani’s anti-skin initiative, is perhaps the finest protest song since 2 Live Crew’s tossed salad days. And SS’s buzz-worthy rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” you ask? So intoxicating that even Barry Gibb, Elton John, Marc Bolan and anyone else they cut ‘n’ pasted would sob sequined tears of joy.
Future Sound Of London Future Sound Of London Present Amorphous Androgynous the Otherness
Early ’90s technorganic darlings FSOL (a.k.a. Amorphous Androgynous) have finally gone prog. Brian “Stakker Humanoid” Dougans and Garry “Gaz” Cobain prepared for the millennium within the Galaxial Pharmaceutical studios, recording Alice in Ultraland-which ultimately became 2002’s The Isness. The binary pair then compiled the leftovers of the long, strange trip into The Otherness. Tracks like “Elysian Feels (Abbey Road Version)” and “She Sells Electric Ego” (written for Gaz’s LA pal Ian “The Cult” Astbury) subsume harpsichord and sitar plucks, zoning on psychedelia. Think Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd and King Crimson heaped with extra self-indulgence, cock-rock guitars and ELO samples.
Rosy Parlane Iris
Sometime Christian Fennesz-collaborator Rosy Parlane apparently constructs his recordings from sample loops, pianos, guitars and field recordings manipulated by digital means, but these named sound sources are barely discernible in his expansive drone pieces. Unlike fellow Touch artist Chris Watson, Parlane offers no clues or signposts as to the origin of his found sounds, and tracks are simply labeled “Part 1,” “Part 2” and “Part 3.” Like much drone music, Iris frequently hints at eschatological concerns, but Parlane chips at his tracks’ backbones with fidgety, skittering noise: The unidentified skree in “Part 1” is evocative of sounds as disparate as running water, close-contact recordings of ants devouring rotting fruit or static emanating from the sun.
Ellen Allien Remix Collection
Berlin-based techno songstress Ellen Allien seems simultaneously in love with the sonics of experimental electronic-the clicks and the crunches, the scrapes and the scrunches-and the form and frameworks of pop music. Delightfully, the producer/DJ manages to have her cake and eat it, creating the former from the palette of the latter. Her self-explanatory Remix Collection showcases her astute skill in managing this process, filtering tracks by the likes of Sascha Funke, Gold Chains and Covenant through the Allien aesthetic. The delightful collection’s sleeve shows branches of a tree feeding to and from Allien’s body, which could be a metaphor for the results of her remixing: The new versions are akin to mutant hybrids, their origins readily identifiable back to the originals, but also to Allien herself.
Alex Under Gris Oveja
Fresh out of Madrid, Alex Under brings on minimal techno love with his second release on CMYK Musik. In a beautiful demonstration of good taste, he matches Berlin and Detroit sounds, introducing funk-filled grooves and delicate rhythms for dancers who are light on their feet. For more of the same, Geoff White’s first release on fellow Spanish label Apnea, “Ique,” is a must.
Someone Else + Mistake Rip It Cookie Muenster EP
Foundsound’s debut contains three original numbers by Someone Else and Mistake, plus a wonderfully fun remix by Matthew Dear. Deep, pumping basslines emerge from processed, rice crispy crackling sound files, fusing the quirky and bizarre with a pop sensibility.
Todd Bodine Traffic Control EP
Todd Bodine presents a funky, minimal four-tracker combining a microhouse feel with razor-sharp rhythms. “For Nothing” is crunchy, lo-fi house; “Everything Goes” is a Detroit-style track that trades in strong rhythms set and alluring melodic textures; “Let It Roll”‘s electro-flavored house has a naughty swing; and “Radarstreams” bumps along in a Detroit Grand Pubahs manner with fat basslines and funky grooves. Versatile.
Apoll Quadrophobia EP
Swiss cheese Andr» Pollman puts forth bouncy minimal techno with tongue firmly in cheek. Robots joke and jest on the subtle but slamming “Monoplay,” the loping, personality-filled “Stereogame,” and the squelching “Two Rings Out,” which can expect support from Hawtin and company. Also on Punkt, P. Lauer’s “Free Entr»e For Girls EP” serves up Detroit-related pulse-bangers with oblique electro and disco punk references.
Martini Bros Love The Machines
On Love The Machines, Berlin’s DJ Cl» and Mike Vamp (better known as Mârtini Bràs) ride the fine line between obnoxious and irresistible-on purpose, it seems. Rocking out with their cocks out-it’s 1986!-the duo delivers 13 glittering electro-pop/techno-wave/robot rock ditties doused with quirky vocals, plunging basslines, stabbing synth-tones and razor-sharp percussion. The tracks are designed to charm you, annoy you and linger in your head for days; they’re playfully goofy and exceedingly serious at the same time.
Various Artists Illumination: Vol. 12
Pure techno is about timbres and tones. It sidesteps melody, thriving on production and sound processing. Techno-junkies hanker for mechanical repetition that induces four-to-the-floor hypnosis. You either love it or hate it. Berlin’s Tresor label perseveres into this heady chaos with a diverse, unmixed compilation that coincides with their nightclub’s thirteenth anniversary. The sampler gently commences with minimal ditties from Todd Bodine and Stewart Walker, followed by a synth-washy Savvas Ysatis number and loopyness from Pacou. From there, tracks from The Advent, Joey Beltram, James Ruskin, Dave Tarrida, Regis and others pound vigorously, digging deeply into the inner-depths of your skull.
