The sticker says "2 X CD's of F*** Off Dirty House Music"
and on the cover is printed "Parental Advisory Explicit Content".
So there you go. You've been warmed ... er, warned.
It's not _that_ dirty it has to be said. It is kickalong
house with some moments and should keep likers of this genre
happily kicking away at the floor for a couple of hours.
(Dr Boots)
Fun doings here with a female voice fxing over some
nice grooves and spurts of harmonious electronica and
some retro synth. We're in land of heavy sexual innuendo
so a feeling of lightness and slightly campy kitchness
does the thing absolutely no harm at all.
Revolve is a small format magazine that is "Developing
global trance and co-evolution" and this CD comes with the
winter 2005 edition.
Get out your glo-sticks! Here there are mostly unreleased
tracks from the likes of MFG, Pitch Hikers, Naked Tourist,
Scorb, Bliss, and C.O.N. Sequencer.
Needless to say we have lots of MIDI synth stuff here and
there are varying degrees of inventiveness applied to the
job of making them interesting ... within the genre. If you
don't like long, long lines with occasional developments and
sparkling little moments, you might like a few of these
tracks but you don't and won't like Trance.
The idea is, of course, that while you have a suitable
level of volume (11 on a multi-Kw system should be fine),
you are dancing your socks off.
(thunderfinger)
A hefty dose of indy sensibility with a nod to punk history
and with the rollicking set to 9 make this quite a pleasing little set.
It's a lo-fi-ish way of rocking that seems quite intimate despite
the serious riffing that's going on. With the speed right up
they can be a little reminiscent of The Hives but maybe with
more subleties happening in the background, but that could be
my imagination. And there are Velvets moments as well.
(Splodger)
This is off the last album and is a nice sub-anthemic
tune that is still quite catchy. In a way it is quite
representative of that album as far as the general tone is concerned.
There are two edits of the song on this disc - both 3:38.
I saw Miles Davis at the Village Vanguard in NYC when I was pretty
young. How I got in I don't know as you were supposed to be twenty-one
and I wasn't, and I looked about twelve. I was dressed in a blazer
and tie. Maybe the doorman thought it was so bizarre that it wasn't
really happening. In any case I was allowed in and was served a beer
at the bar and I settled down to some small-group Miles. What he
was doing then was a kind of cooler child of Bird -- of Beebop.
Or maybe it was beefed up West Coast Cool. He blew sinuous torrents
of sound and in the small audience people would end his phrases
with "Yeah!". To a child it was also beyond good. You didn't need
to know anything about music to know that this man was a master.
And you didn't need to much about people to intuitively appreciate
that the man was angry, unapproachable, and slightly adrift -- if the
opposite of adrift is connected in a happy way.
Miles isn't on this DVD but a lot of his sidemen from his last
years are. This tribute covers a particular side of Miles Davis
-- the fusion side. The playing is wonderful and nicely recorded
and it might set you to wondering about ties between Fusion and
some modern electronica.
(Baron K)
The drum certainly isn't dead. There's a whole bunch
of them here, very much alive, contorted, kicking and
arranged so that it's not like Gene Krupa's day out.
Which is to say, and as you'd suspect, these are modern
sounds rather than a guy beating up on his kit.
As well as an album full of avant-rock tracks there's
also, on a DVD, a collection of video clips. The whole
thing is a bit of art.
These two Londoners have been around for quite a while now in club
terms. Involved in the rave scene, they became prophets of acid house
and if you're interested in that past you read quite a nice 2002 summary
here.
This CD features the original Layo & Bushwacka mix plus remixes from Green Velvet,
Loco Dice and two from Jesse. The original is fine thumping altered
senses house while Green Velvet is a pared-down almost delicate thing or
was that Loco Dice? Anyway, the takes are diiferent enough to sit by
themselves.
(Dr Boots)
Nicely produced heavy pop that rocks along in pace if not in the spirit
of the thing. Those wondering why the French have historically not done
this need look no further than the comfy and pleasant society within the
banlieus (of recent bus burning fame and where the music of choice is
often Gangsta). So, the voices of dispossession are more likely to come
from the USA or the UK, and are also likely not to use rock as their
genre. Another factor is that this band have apparently been going
for quite some time. It certainly shows in the smoothness of the thing.
Anyway, this is musical stuff although, given that it comes from one of
the larger corporate villains right now, you'd better really like it to
buy it.
(Dr Boots)
Nice little groovalong with funky moments and medium tempo
toe-tapping.
This was a bit of a surprise. With the band and album name
as they are, I expected something vaguely new-agey with lots
of softness, warm hugs and the like. In fact there's lots of nice
big fat guitar and some clever arrangements which are quite are
quite hard-hitting musically, and done within the pop genre
rather than trying for punkness.
From the promo - 'Clearlake have been making excellent records since the wonderful
Winterlight single announced their arrival. 2000's debut album Lido was
much-loved, sparked a sell-out UK tour and won plaudits from all sorts
of stellar peers and heroes. Second album, Cedars, in 2003, was the one
that attracted rave notices in the US too and found adoring fans all
across America on a huge two-month visit in 2004. Dashing into the
studio upon their return, Clearlake vowed to deliver a swift follow-up.
Somehow, it became a bit of an odyssey, across eight studios in France
and the UK. It took time, but the results are timeless: the motorik,
mesmeric opener "No Kind Of Life", the bluesy moonburst of "Neon", the
buzzy rush of "Good Clean Fun", the Kinksy oomph of "Finally Free", the
prowling tension of You Can't Have Me, the coruscating title song, the
countrified lament Dreamt That You Died and the awesome guitar power of
"Widescreen".
Produced by Clearlake's Jason Pegg with Steve Osborne (U2, Happy
Mondays, KT Tunstall) and Jim Abbiss (Kasabian, DJ Shadow, David Gray)
and recorded by Phill Brown (Talk Talk, Bob Marley, LedZep, Hendrix,
you name it)'
(Dr Boots)
Most reaction to this has been amazed that there was any kind of
coherence or positive aspect to it at all. And there's also the aspect
of safe middle class people goggling at the pure adventure of it all --
the supermodel girlfriend, the drugs, the notoriety, and most to the
point, the publicity.
It's true that there is a lot worse out there but these are the
grandchildren of Thatcher -- selfish, stupid, and with very little to
say beyond a cackhanded brand of showboating.
The producer, Mick Jones, late of the Clash and Big Audio Dynamite
injects some tasteful Clash-like moments but there is little excitement
or encitement here.
(thunderfinger)
With influences like The Smiths and My Bloody Valentine
you'd expect this to have a solidly English aesthetic, and
it does. The influence is more Smiths than Valentines as this
isn't a layers of feedback thing at all. In fact it is nicely
played, tuneful pop with enough edges that it isn't bubblegum
sticky. The singer, Matt Forder does have a smooth, somewhat
Morrisey-like voice as well.
These are a nice couple of tracks, all in all.
Guitar and intelligible voice -- a story to tell with an
interesting construction and some riffs along the way.
Mstation Pop etc Commentary, Reviews
pre Dec 04 reviews are here
Sun, 29 Jan 2006
Steve Angello, Sessions
2 CDs, Ministry of Sound
Spektrum, Horny Pony
6 track EP, Nonstop
various, Revolve Mag promo CD
10 tracks
The beautiful new born children, Hey People
LP, Domino
Moby, Slipping Away
single, Mute
ESP 2: A tribute to Miles
Live in Stuttgart
Randy Hall
Robert Irving III
Adam Holzman
DVD, TDK
Liars, Drum's Not Dead
CD + DVD, Mute
Liars
Layo & Bushwacka, Life2Live
5 track CD, Olmeto Records through Vital
Indochine, Alice and June
two CDs, Sony BMG
Cornershop, Wop the Groove
single, ?
Clearlake, Amber
LP, Domino
Babyshambles, Down in Albion
LP, Rough Trade
At the Lake, These Days
debut single, Popfiction
released 2 feb 06
Arctic Monkeys, When the Sun Goes Down
Single, Domino Recording
