Offering up two and sometimes three versions of selected tracks from their For Sleepyheads Only album, Norwegians Jo Bakke and Anja Oyen Uister clearly show off their musical capabilities, proving that remixology can indeed be a science. Keyboard melodies blend with omnipresent guitar riffs, then charge hand-in-hand towards heavy electronic tweaks and blips. Leading the rest of the tracks in this style is a remix of New Order’s “Blue Monday,” with Bj?rk-style vocals sung over a rock guitar riff and a funky drum loop that takes this classic to new levels.
Various From our Minds To Your Ears
For their debut album, the Sunnyvale, CA trio of Audiosond, El Gato #9 and Morpheus (a.k.a. Brian Ward, Christopher Leath and Paul Leath) clearly have some audio hardware they’re unafraid to use. Nor are they bashful about who gets to play with which instruments. Be it the downtempo synths generated by Ward in “To the Future,” the sitars and woodwinds in many of Christopher’s tracks, or Paul’s 4/4 tribal drums on songs like “Sunshines Today,” the compilation is impressively diverse, and despite being new artists from the unglamorous suburbs of Silicon Valley, the EOM crew displays compositional skills on par with any metropolitan scene.
Cappo Spaz the World
Unpolished doesn’t always mean an album is worth pawning at the local shop, and Nottingham’s 23-year old Cappo proves this on his long-awaited debut album. His raw, British-English lyrics get a little production help from the P Brothers, so that Spaz the World becomes an accumulation of gritty kick-drums and hefty basslines that match the razor-sharp feel of Cappo’s voice. It’s a wild trip that moves down Nottingham’s darkest alleyways before getting thrown back into reality by soulful melodies on tracks like “Learn to be Strong.” Spaz or not, one thing is certain: the world is”
Various Hot Shit: Sonic Mook Experiment
The previous Sonic Mook Experiment comps bore the subtitle “Future Rock & Roll.” The “hot shit” on volume three ain’t futuristic at all. Most of the bands here pay homage to Brit post-punks the Fall and Gang Of Four, NY art funk minimalists ESG, and the obscure mid-’80s roster of Ron Johnson Records (think angular, spasmodic noise-rock by guys who can’t get laid). Only old fuckers who read NME in the ’80s would know the source of this bass-heavy aggro-rock; to anyone else, it’ll sound as fresh as tomorrow. Featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs, !!!, Radio 4, and lots of brilliant groups you’ve never heard of.
the House Of Fix 21st Century Fix
Since dropping the anomalous techno gem Neon Rocka as Subhead in 2000, British producer Jason Leach has become obsessed with “ruckno,” a ramshackle mash-up of rap, rock, electro, and techno. This overlong double disc features 37 tracks by Circa, Royal Blood and Carrion Crow, groups whose common link is Leach. Circa come off as a parody of machismo-poisoned rap, Prince, Gary Glitter and grunge rock. If Cockneys had frat parties, Circa would be the house band. Royal Blood and Carrion Crow fare better, forging unclich?d electro and techno that’s weirdly torqued, visceral, and distorted. Leach has talent, but he needs to focus on his strengths.
Plastikman Closer
Many thought Richie Hawtin had taken austere, bass-centered techno as far as possible with 1998’s Consumed. Guess again. Closer delves yet deeper into the Roland 303’s innards; it’s a 75-minute intellectual colonic that Hawtin’s devoted fans should ardently embrace. Scattered throughout Plastikman’s fifth album is Hawtin’s internal monologue-pitched down to a sinister slur-questioning the nature of reality and his place in the universe. These words match the kind of bleak ambience, off-kilter beats and bass-saturated throb that make Germany’s Voigt brothers (of experimental label Mille Plateaux) sound chipper. The disc’s second half features more floor-friendly 4/4 rhythms, but this has to be the least euphoric dance music ever conceived. Closer’s grimly ominous tone seems to reflect a troubled mind, but one that’s still wringing maximum creativity from a minimalist palette.
Jef Dam Tigerbalm
Your man Polar comes with a couple of burners over here. After a long, half-speed ambient intro, the Norweigan prince launches the moody, loose, electro-tinged, uptempo and dead funky “Tigerbalm” into your earhole. On the flip’s “Underwater” he heads in more of an easy jazz direction, but the focus remains on the stealthy beat and almost bossa bassline. Kid’s been releasing solid material under this moniker for a long minute, and this is no exception.
Deborah Bond/A.S.E. Giving Up/Tango Ya Ba Windo (Stevie G RMXS)
The District of Columbia’s own Stevie G finally gets a forum for his versatile remixing skills, and comes up aces on these two very different tracks. First, he gives Deborah Bond’s ballad “Giving Up” a jumpin’ nu-jazz re-rub, with grounding piano chords, a plucky bassline, and thumping percussion. On the flip, he brings A.S.E.’s kinda stiff drum machine-and-guitar African jam back to the lush land of organic percussion, resulting in a loose, rich reinterpretation.
Future Funk Squad vs. Madam Breaks I Want You
What a pair these two are. Glen FFS and the Madam hand over a rough one here, building off the chanted title into a proper head-nodding rhythm that breaks down into a powerhouse, bass-driven mover peppered with enough background conga and shaker bits to keep it earthbound. Aside from the unfortunate, shrill synth bits in the last third, this one’s a winner, and Glen’s dub on the flip gives up some more elastic bassline madness. Run it.
S.U.M.O. Ntujjo
Yeah, the name that producers Combo and Alf Tumble came up with stands for Swedish Underfed Music Operators. Good guess. Fortunately, such status hasn’t prevented them from producing chunky Afro-housey rhythmic ventures for labels like Africanism/Yellow, Seasons and Trackmode. Here, the boys hand their own skinny asses to Bitches Brew amazons Cosmo and Nikki, who transform their benign bit of wah-guitar and percussion-driven house (with vocals by Ugandan singer Sammy Kasule) into a simmering, shuffling Afro-tech masterpiece.
