A People’s History… chronicles what happened when now-defunct D.C.-based experimental punk band The Dismemberment Plan set its tracks free on the Internet to be remixed by friends and fans. Lead singer Travis Morrison’s confessional twang dominates the versions-and his voice is an acquired taste-but musically the record veers madly between skittering downtempo, loping funk-flavored electronics, digital hardcore-esque smash ‘n’ grab, and straight-up folk. The compilation is a mixed bag, but the best tracks
Stress Assassin Carrier Track
Stress Assassin makes grown-up dub for people who liked to “chill out” to Bob Marley in college. Grown-up dub isn’t necessarily a bad thing-true to his moniker, Stress Assassin’s music couldn’t help but alleviate tension via its spacey grooves and oceanic bass bubbles. On Carrier Track, the Swedish producer also experiments with the genre’s hallmarks, applying them to house (“I. Depth”), ambient (“Raumwelt Signal”), and even country (“Dust 13”). But listening to this record is still a bit too much like being transported into the middle of a hackey-sack circle at a hippie traveler rave-and that’s a place I don’t ever want to be. “
Pousseur 4 Parabolic mixes
Henri Pousseur belongs to the post-WW II generation of Europeans who instilled a key virtue in electronic music: never take it too seriously. In Pousseur’s new revamp of his 1972 piece, 8 Parabolic Mixes, laser buckshot ricochets through deep-fried microtones and caffeinated time-signatures. Sub Rosa also enlisted drone-smith Robert Hampson (Main), turntablist Philip Jeck and glitch-meister Markus Popp (Oval) to deliver trans-historical “alterities”-ahem, remixes-of the Pousseur track. Hampson and Jeck play it safe with sustained tones and lucid vocal samples, while Popp steals the show with his “ovalprocess” treatment, where CD skips and tone bursts illustrate an android suddenly awakening from a coma and then banging into furniture.
Mochipet Combat
Mash-ups are so 2002, you carp? Consider Mochipet’s Combat. His gimmick is to shotgun-wed two or more artists with related names. Witness prog rockers Yes have a shouting match with Canuck punks NoMeansNo, and Johnny Cash (R.I.P.) croon over a Cash Money Millionaires beat. Fortunately, Mochipet’s DSP sorcery elevates Combat above the sloppy din of the 2 Many DJs series. He has Captain Beefheart recite lysergic poetry over drill ‘n’ bass, and also causes a Holiday Inn-jazz cover of Aphex Twin’s “Come To Daddy” to fall into an epileptic fit with the Thompson Twins. Combat proves that mash-ups are too pleasurable to be “a”
Various 33 RPM: Ten Hours of Sound From France
The French wrote the damn book on audio collage or musique concrete, some 50 years ago, discovering that tape-edits can make the world sound differently. Last September, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art invited patrons to 10-hour listening marathons of key sound pieces from conservative America’s favorite punching bag. This compilation of exhibit highlights stupefies. Kasper T. Toeplitz’s “PURR#2” resembles a freeway accident victim’s last moment of life, while Kristoff K. Roll brilliantly fingerpaints with samples of a Zapatistan rally in “Zocalo Masque.” Jean-Claude Risset enters Edgar Varese territory with his mix of an orchestra slipping everywhere. Check out Laurent Dallieau’s linear notes for a clear, unpretentious overview of French avant-sound history.
Teebee Warehouse
Teebee keeps applying the pressure on Photek’s imprint, delivering a pair of deceptively intricate treats that pack far more bite than you’d expect at first listen. Easing into things in that classically cinematic style that Teebee is best known for, both “Warehouse” and “Bounce” drop into a churning yet inviting soundscape perfect for the heavier end of the dancefloor.
Lee burridge 1/2/1904 12:07 Am
Lee Burridge attempts to capture the differing rhythms of night and day on the second installment of Global Underground’s 24:7 series. True to form, Burridge charts an eclectic course across a number of genres and styles, weaving a superb selection of house, techno and breakbeat together with remarkable style. The Day disc keeps it deep, with dubby, celestial atmospheres and throbbing beats from artists like Miguel Plasencia, Rhythm Plate, Whoop Whoop and Steve Bug. The Night disc ups the ante as well as the tempo, giving way to distorted beats, crazed vocals, and straight-up dancefloor grit courtesy of Terry Francis, Subware and Ricardo Villalobos. Impressive.
Concord Dawn Uprising
It may surprise a few folks to learn that Uprising is actually the third album from drum & bass duo Evan Short and Matt Harvey, better known as Concord Dawn. Having been at it in their native New Zealand for years, it wasn’t until they exploded onto the international jungle scene with massive releases on imprints like Timeless, Freak and Renegade Hardware that their name has filtered down to the masses. Familiar bits like “Morning Light,” “Tonite” and “Zulu” represent here, as well as fresh treats like the Slayer-inspired “Raining Blood,” the pile-driving “Don’t Tell Me,” and the Bristol-flavored “Ninja.” All are instant anthems with catchy hooks, tough beats and an innate sense of the dramatic, firmly securing Concord Dawn’s place among the d&b elite.
Future Tech Turn Up the Bass
Sure to grab the attention of Dillinja fans worldwide, Future Tech brings the pain with jackhammer beats and punishing basslines on the aptly titled “Turn Up the Bass.” Still, plenty of love is going to fall on the infectious flipside, “Rhythm,” which winds things up to anxiety-inducing levels before unleashing the pain and devastating the dancefloor. Essential.
Sly Fidelity Skin & Bone (Rennie Pilgrem & Blim RMXS)
Sly Fidelity (a.k.a. German techno god Steve Mason) drops a club-killing house/breaks hybrid that’ll have the masses heaving to the sexed-out, hi-energy beat. On the flip, Rennie and BLIM give it the full nu-skool treatment, transforming the core elements into something far more dirty and surreal. One to drop when you’re ready to unleash the acid mindmelt on unsuspecting crowds.
