The title of Pan Sonic’s latest means strength or duration-an appropriate one for a four-CD set of all new material by two of electronic music’s most overwhelming practitioners. The Finnish duo has always operated at the extremes, oscillating between shudderingly high-impact electronics and spare, painstakingly precise compositions. For the first half of this impressive set, Pan Sonic’s teeth are fully bared, and you may wonder if you have the fortitude to weather the brutal intensity of the maelstrom. Once the duo’s artic, quiet side finally emerges, however, you’ll find yourself pining for further sonic catharsis.
Faze Action Broad Souls
When Robin and Simon Lee released the fab Plans and Designs LP on Nuphonic seven years ago, they captured the attention of house heads starved for a bit of melody, a bit of sophistication, and plenty of soul. Broad Souls retains the artistry, sophistication and melodic sensibilities of their previous work, but the whole album seems cloyingly sweet, dripping with ersatz soul and a heavy coat of gloss. Guitars abound, strings swell and vocalist Andre Espeut belts his bluesy heart out, but in the end, Broad Souls sounds a bit leaden, a bit trite and far too weary, its heart trapped beneath a particularly heavy-handed retro-leaning chillout-by-numbers construction.
Infinite Livez Bush Meat
This is the kind of album that can raise eyebrows, elicit giggles and force groans all within the space of one song, but that’s exactly why Bush Meat is so entertaining. Livez defies convention and common sense with bizarre couplets, wacky choruses, densely layered meanings and fat, chunky beats. Songs like “The Adventures of the Lactating Man,” “Worcestershire Sauce” and “White Wee Wee” are strangely captivating, full of lyrics so off-the-wall they’re either the ramblings of a deranged genius or the village idiot. Bush Meat certainly isn’t boring-a lot more than can be said about most hip-hop these days.
Monobox Trade (Matthew Dear Rmx)
Robert Hood is one of techno’s all-time greats. His production work is always full of technique and spirit-groovy, relentless, original and wildly exciting. Matthew Dear’s fresh and crunchy-sounding remix of “Trade” is excellent. It’s all about crackle and pop, with dancefloor satisfaction guaranteed.
DJ Hell Listen The Hiss (Ricardo Villalobos Remix)
Ricardo applies 10 minutes of his magic to a very noisy and somewhat abrasive record. A sense of suspension is created by the random introduction of delightful and unusual sounds all held together by a politely placed kick drum. This is a very controlled, confident and, dare I say, sophisticated take on dance music that relies heavily on the listener, the setting and, of course, the soundsystem.
Black Devil Timing For Get The Timing (Kerrier District Rmx)
Diverse electronic wizard Luke Vibert gives this late ’70s disco oddity the Kerrier District treatment. It’s an extraordinary journey sensitively constructed using live instrumentation and early synthesizers. In a world increasingly dominated by tight, computer-generated sounds, the looseness and innocence of this kind of composition seems very appealing and, ultimately, human.
Goodie Mob One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show
Just in time for the South to indeed rise again, the original purveyors of proto-crunk classics like “Soul Food” return with this spectacular 12″. With lyrical roughness they ride the bounce-laden beat on side a while the flip side has Outkast crooner Sleepy Brown bringing sexy realness to “Play Your Flute.”
Loscil First Narrows
Vancouver’s Scott Morgan is loscil-one of a handful of ambient/drone acts signed to Kranky. And, like labelmates PanAmerican and Stars of The Lid, Morgan’s explorations into sound are extended journeys-he creates amniotic environments in which one can lose oneself for indeterminate lengths of time. A sense of submersion reigns, though Morgan occasionally breaks the surface with a half-remembered melody or a particularly poignant bit of musical phrasing. These moments are the reward for attentive listening, and are what keep one coming back to a disc like this over and over again.
Jam & Face Schoolin’ It Vol. 1 (The Remixes)
Long-time compatriots Matt “Jam” Lamont and Gavin “DJ Face” Mills serve up a double-sided slab of 4/4 flavas. While the world probably didn’t need another pressing of Andy Gilbert’s kickin’ “Walkin’ Around,” Moonshine’s “Shake Your Booty” is a definite party pumper. Jam and Face dub and edit it up with bouncy beats and a slick little vocal cut-up for surefire dancefloor impact.
Agent X Deadlock
The soca-beat “Deadlock” features a tom drum roll into a dangerous octave-pitched bass/lead drop-look out for falling hits! On the flip, “Recharge” is a jittery, stuttery 4-beat banger with so many sonically interesting bits and pieces it’s hard to single out one.
