Mstation.org




Mstation Pop etc Commentary, Reviews Valid RSS pre Dec 04 reviews are here


Fri, 28 Jan 2005

Warp artists DVD

various, Warp Vision DVD
DVD, www.warprecords.com

This has been out a little while and when we first tried to look
at it, it wouldn't play. Now there's another player here and we
finally cans see it. It was worth the wait ... a multitude of inventive
film clips by people such as Chris Cunningham, David Slade, 
Alex Rutterford and Jarvis Cocker for artists like Aphex Twin, 
Squarepusher, Autechre, Plaid, LFO, Beans, Luke Vibert, Jamie 
Lidell, Broadcast, Sabres of Paradise, and Nightmares On Wax.

This being Warp, you'd expect the vision to be occasionally
dystopic and there are a couple of clips that might disturb
passing kids, especially a bondage kind of thing, though I 
imagine the exploding head might produce a giggle rather than
a shreik. We didn't test to find out.

If you like the Warp label and what they do generally, it's
hard to imagine that you wouldn't like this as well.
(thunderfinger)

[] permanent link

Stonebridge

Stonebridge featuring Therese, Take Me Away
Single, Hedkandi
www.cantgetenough.net

Processed voice singing Ah ah ah ah Ah! with groovy little
smooth dancy things happening behind. It's pop for alco,
dance for medium, girl's night out. It's also an incomplete
sentence kind of thing.

There's a video here ...www.hedkandi.com/mov/stonebridge/1104

[] permanent link

Collabs 301

Speedy J, Chris Liebing, Collabs 301
two track single, Novamute

Break out the light-sticks! More fast-paced throbbing techno
from two people who know what's what, who's where, and what
feet like to do.

Although the formula for this sort of thing sounds simple to
the point of idiocy -- 4/4, repetition building towards a
series of climaxes etc, the subtleties of making something
that is interesting and moving are not all that easy to
acquire. Maybe the subtleties just aren't discerned by some
people, who then go on to make something that sounds like
what it is (and what a lot of pop is) ... the product of
cynical posturing.

This is the real deal.
(thunderfinger)

[] permanent link

Rough Trade Shops Counterculture 2004

various, Rough Trade Shops best of 2004
2 CD's, www.mute.com

Good Ole Rough Trade Shops. They keep us informed that not
everyone playing an instrument is obsessed with charts and
celebrity. Don't confuse this with the Rough Trade label.
They also mostly plough their own furrow but are more commercial
and are weirdly reluctant to promote their own artists.

The CD we have is a sampler and includes the likes of Mara Carlyle,
Jem Finer, Cobra Killer, Whitey, and Death From Above 1979. 
The counterculture part is not necessarily singing about anti-
corporatism or GWB, but is more a statement of determinedly
non-commercial musical style. The first tracks have un-FXed
voice and simple instrumentation without any adornment at all.
Cobra Killer and Whitey move it along a bit but the pace is
generally suitable for tokers.

My favorite tracks were from Cobra Killer and Whitey just
because I think that when tracks are really pared down there
has to be some extra magic somewhere else even if it's a
virtuoso use of silence. It's all good fun though and 
encouraging all of these artists is a good thing to do.
(thunderfinger)

[] permanent link

Hedkandi

various, Winter Chill
2 CD's, Hedkandi

On the cover is a Jorgi Labada (spell?) like female
character standing in a stylised snowy forest with a
fur cap on, a micro-skirt, and a fur-lined top open
at the front to reveal her ... well, anyway, she would
definitely be chilled even if boy drawings wandering
in this forest might actually get heated up.

There are 32 tracks here from the likes of Eventide,
Claude Bareau, Sia, Goldfrapp, Sugababes, Katie Melua,
Husky Rescue, Natalie Imbruglia, and many more. The
mood is, yes, chilled ... and smooth. 

It's the sort of thing to put on in the evening and drift
off into reveries to while occasionally being focussed
by remembering a particular song and maybe the forest
that surrounded it. 

It's a nicely put together compilation and you could
probably even play it in summer.

[] permanent link