SHALABI TOUR
On a somewhat related to brainwashed note, the Shalabi Effect (whose relations to godspeed you black emperor! can be seen on their website) will be doing a small tour through the Northeast US. The dates will soon be posted on alien8's website - but next Saturday, Boston area residents will be treated to a special free in-store performance at the Twisted Village record shop! Show starts at 8pm.

MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO, "ECCENTRIC OBJECTS"
Fucking incredible! Jack Dangers has a clever way of teasing his fans. Once an album has soaked into the culture, imitators spring up and fade away, only shortly after people stop listening to his album, unexpectedly something pops out of nowhere that reminds us all how incredible he really is. "Eccentric Objects" is no exception. The record comes as a 12" single with flexi-disc, orderable through Sputnik7.com only, all four tracks on the 12 are some of his finest stuff, bringing in the crashing breakbeats, organic sounds, thunderous effects and driving basslines that are so damn signature Jack Dangers material. This is the stuff many people dream of while sitting in their rooms, watching mind-numbing television shows and getting fat on cheese. "Hey wouldn't it be great to do music like this...?" Little do they know it's been happening for many many years. The strength of these tracks stand well completely on their own, while making any fan salivate just thinking of a future full-lengther. For a limited time, a flexi-disc with two bonus soundscapes is included. The ever entertaining "Peristaltic Wave" and "My Shorty" use collected sound samples from strange archives of the 50s and 60s. Get this while you still can, while these songs may be compiled onto a future release, the versions will probably be altered while the flexi-disc tracks will probably never resurface... - Jon Whitney

samples:

• Fragments
• Behemoth
• Structures
• Peristaltic Wave

TINO'S BREAKS VOL. 5 - "DUB"
For the last three years, Tino has been serving up two slabs of hot wax with breakbeats galore and sample tracks collected at the end. It was looking like this year was going to squeak by with only getting one slab, but fear not, Tino's Breaks volume 5 is a two-record set full of dub gems led by one of the best drummers in the world, Tino. Following last year's release of Mambo and Christmas, Dub carries on the style of some fat cuts and breaks, familiar samples, and beats amusing and exciting to listen to and mix in with your favorite breakbeat needs. I don't smoke pot, but if I did, boy would this be a great slab of wax to chill out with. For those not in the know, the core of Tino Corp is Ben Stokes (from DHS and H-Gun), Jack Dangers (see previous review) and Mike Powell (former Meat Beat Manifesto member). Learning the drums is easy and when you like the dub it's fun too! These vinyl-only releases are essential for any MBM fan as well as any fan of dub and latin-influenced breakbeats. - Jon Whitney

samples:

• Tuff Dub
• Toasted Dub
• Liquid Dub

THE LIVING JARBOE "DISBURDEN DISCIPLE"
Jarboe returns with her second self-released album, the fifth to date of her solo career. In the past two years she has continued to develop as a person and artist through world travel and numerous new collaborations and projects, such as a live performances with the new The Living Jarboe band and an in depth, interactive web site. This disc is actually volume 1 of an eventual 4 under the "Disburden Disciple" title. Jarboe considers the first post SWANS album "Anhedoniac" her 'disease' album and this one the 'healing' album. Both seem to me to be part of the cathartic, exploratory process of re-birth and growth, a further moving away from the music, image and love/hate issues of her past. Most songs have a guitar/bass/drums band based core interjected with bits of Middle Eastern flavored percussion, loops, piano and strings. And, of course, the voice. The many poetic voices and moody personas that Jarboe conjures and unleashes from within ... from the starkly beautiful to the downright frightening. Overall the album is fairly quiet and restrained, in a good way, save for a raucous rock and roll outro for "Bound" and a blood curdling scream finale for "Scarification". The mid-section of the album (most notably "Kiss of Life", "Under" and "The Seance") veers off into more 'artsy' areas with theatrical lyrical/vocal passages and sound effects - the relative low points in my opinion. "Consume Me", "Scorpion", "Forbid" and "Forgive" provide the more gentle moments with pretty voices and lush guitar atmospheres. "Dear 666" features a slightly acidic voice set against the intriguing slow motion interplay of rough around the edges guitar and bass lines. "Scarification" and "Pure War" are both primal in feel with the vocals and percussion groove at the forefront, the latter also embedded with field recordings from Israel. "Disburden Disciple" is everything you'd expect from Jarboe: a genuinely unique and richly varied listening experience that will take much time to fully digest. This is the result of someone successfully carving their own path and thankfully sharing those results with others ... - Mark Weddle

samples:

• Bound
• Dear 666
• Forbid
• Scarification

BLIXA BARGELD "RECYCLED"
Blixa Bargeld is frontman for Einstürzende Neubauten, member of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds, occasional actor and contributor to various plays and soundtracks. For Maria von Heland's German suspense thriller "Recycled", Bargeld composes nearly all of the soundtrack, as arranged and orchestrated by the Tim Isfort Orchestra. Unlike Bargeld's previous solo work "Commissioned Music" this music is not as minimal and emotionally sparse. Isfort's large orchestra, undoubtedly influenced by classic composers such as Morricone, provides a rich classical palette to paint Bargeld's various moods. "Küss mich wach" ("Kiss Me Awake") begins the disc vocally as Bargeld and Amanda Ooms solo and duet German lyrics over sweeping strings and a light piano and beat rhythm. Ooms also speaks German text on another brief track. The remaining 19 tracks are instrumental pieces, ranging 9 seconds to 4 minutes, obviously meant to correspond with the events and moods of the film. "Mr. Aloha" by Carnival of Souls is unexpectedly tacked on to the end but it's charming waves of pedal steel work well. What's important here for me, as a fan of Bargeld and someone who will likely never see the film, is that the soundtrack holds up on it's own. And that it does, very well. The sound is full and varied and the flow is very comfortable. "Recycled" is a beautiful work completely on it's own and well worth the $15 import price ... - Mark Weddle

samples:

• Kia & Martin
• Küss Mich Wach
• Love Scene

N.U. UNRUH "EUPHORIE IM ZEITALTER DER DIGITALEN INFORMATIONSUBERTRAGUNG"
N.U. Unruh is percussionist for Einstürzende Neubauten and "Euphoria in the Age of Digital Information Transfer" is, surprisingly, his first solo album. Unruh's idea was to compose sequences entirely from the sampled sounds of various digital devices to give musical life to everyday items not normally heard in that context. The audio library is extensive: motors, oscillators, alarms, beepers, phones, toys, video games, door bells, office machines, etc. provide all sorts of beeps, blips, tones, drones, lo-fi animal calls and human voices. Each of the 26 tracks, most in the less than 1 minute to 3 minute range, are a whirring din of these audio bits arranged into multi tracked mini symphonies. Cheesy sounds and playful melodies are plentiful and the most promising tracks tend to be the shortest and least developed. The final "Appendix" sample track provides most if not all of the samples one a time in succession. By this point it all seems rather silly, tedious and pointless ... much like a room full of toddlers feverishly banging away at the sound triggering buttons on their toys while others simultaneously play video games. And considering that I'm pretty bored with and/or annoyed by most of these sounds in my day to day life, they don't do much more for me organized into less than interesting 'songs'. "Euphorie.." will be filed away and most likely never listened to again ... - Mark Weddle

samples:

• 5.0 Cobol
• Auftand der Optokoppler
• Heimfrequenz

ADD N TO FÜ(X)A
An unlikely combination pairs the British analogue whore, Barry 7 with the blissful Michigan-based soundscapist, Randall Nielman for a 20 minute two-track EP. While it's more endearing than the recent release from Add N to (X), the Füxa contribution can't save it enough to justify the price of admission. Track one starts out promising, even Christmas-sounding, but very little changes throughout the entire piece. It sounds completely out of tune and too repetitious. Once again, the mundane repetition kicks in with track 2. "And Another Thing!" is far too dull and at 13 minutes it carries on for what seems like an eternity. Ow, this is giving me a headache!!! Sorry, I really did have hope. - Jon Whitney

samples:

• Add N to Fü(x)a
• And Another Thing!

KIT CLAYTON, "REPETITION AND NONSENSE" / "NEK SANALET"
One of the most accomplished electronic musicians to emerge from the American underground in the last couple of years, Joshua Kit Clayton has honed his deft skills on a series of singles touching on a variety of musical styles, but these two album length releases focus mainly on the minimal, dub-influenced sounds that seem to have become his forte of late. On Repetition and Nonsense, most of the material rides on a nervous tech-house groove, with tracks like "A Choice of Words" and "M-Shape" having an edge of off-kilter funkiness. Overlaying it all is a murky dub filter that inspires mild comparisons to the sounds of Pole and the Chain Reaction crew.
These influences are even more prevalent on nek sanalet (which is fitting since the ~scape label is run by Pole's Stefan Betke). While Repetition is painted with a thin coating of watery dub production, this album is completely submerged in a sea of slightly sinister loops and echoes. Subtle beats flow from side to side as minimal bleeps and stomach-churning bass wrestle in a venue drenched with reverb and washes of ambient sound. If any record deserves the Betke-coined tag of "modern urban dub", this enveloping and addictive disc is it. - Greg Clow

MOUSE ON MARS, "INSTRÜMENTALS"
Two of my favorite Mouse On Mars releases were initially released through Thrill Jockey in the USA on vinyl only, this one and 'Glam.' For years now, Glam has been available on CD as an overpriced Japanese import, but it contains some of their best recorded stuff ever along with a few bonus cuts for good measure. Now, after a couple years, 'Instrumentals' is available on CD. With only 7 tracks, this disc clocks in just comfortably over 50 minutes. The tracks are closer to a 4/4 electronic style the group pursued years ago, slick and smooth, serene and delicate, with superb glitchy sounds coloring the beats. At this time, Mouse on Mars was working delicately with songcraft along with developing their own sounds to sparkle the spectrum. These recordings are collected between 1995 and 1997 but are virtually timeless. When the 'intelligent dance music' moves onwards to the next trend, this album will still be one that's excellent every time you pull it from the shelf. If you absolutely must have everything, the Japanese edition has one bonus track. - Jon Whitney

samples:

• Subnubus
• Owai
• Rompatroullie

We know that sometimes these CDs are somewhat challenging to find, which is why we have a RECOMMENDED STORES section which can be used to obtain nearly everything available on the site.

MONDAY
Boards of Canada - In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country 12"/CDEP (Warp, UK)
Covenant - Synergy CD [live] (Dependent, Germany)
Rob Ellis - Music For The Home CD (Leaf, UK)
Fizzarum - Monochrome Plural CD/LP (Domino, UK)
Knifehandchop - Taking the Soul out of Music 7" (Irritant, UK)
Plus One - Bare Necessities CD/2xLP (deFocus, UK)
Poets Of Rhythm - t.b.a. CD/LP (Quannum/Ninja Tune, US/Canada/UK)
Salt Tank - Eugina 2000 two 12"s/CDEP (Lost Language, UK)
Janek Schaefer - Above Buildings CD (Fat Cat, UK)
Jake Subtropic vs. Ben Burns - Never Drink Again 12" (Fused & Bruised, UK)
Sierra Romeo - Distbra 12" (FWD, The Netherlands)
Various - Lo-Fi Electronic Pop Music 10" [with Frederik Schikowski, Knifehandchop, Plusminusnull, Skanfrom, Printed Circuit and Autoskooter] (Irritant, UK)

TUEDAY
* Boards of Canada - In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country 12"/CDEP (Warp, US)
* Kinder Atom - Mmm! 2xCD [original album plus extra remix disc] (Hypnotic, US)
* Jamie Lidell - Muddlin' Gear CD (Warp, US)
M.R.I. - Rhythmogenesis CD/2xLP (Force Tracks, Germany/US)
Stephen Philips/Ben Summers - Behind The Mirror CD (Dark Duck, US)
Terre Thaemlitz - Interstices CD/2xLP (Mille Plateaux, Germany/US)

THURSDAY
Anodyne/Napalm - Pocket Monster Remixes (Gotta Catch Them All) 7" (Lux Nigra, Germany)

For a more comprehensive release schedule stretching far into the future, please check out the NEW RELEASES brought to you by Greg and Feedback Monitor.

PUNISH YOUR FUCKING MACHINE
So I was enjoying Sunday brunch this morning at a semi-local diner restaurant. Next to me at the counter were two twenty-somethings talking about electronic music, dropping names of effects, software and hardware that I'm relatively familiar with. My curiosity was peaked and I felt compelled to ask them what they're doing with all this gear. From the conversation I heard, they seemed quite knowledgable about all the features and functions inside and out. When faced with this question, their answer was simply "house music." This made me sad, I didn't tell them this directly, but it reminds me of my days working for an ISP doing tech support. When the brand-spanking new all-powerful Macintosh G4 came out, the possibilities were seemingly endless. I was always curious to know what people were doing with such an expensive and powerful hunk of machinery the government wouldn't even let out of the country. Much to my dismay most of the customers were just rich people who love blowing their cash on useless things - "we're using it at the home for our spreadsheets and to browse the web." This is the time of year for giving and receiving, so with this in mind, be sure that if you've been good and get some wonderful gear (you can treat yourself, too, you know) USE IT! Scientists say that humans only use a small percent of their brain, don't do this with your gear. - Jon Whitney

DANCER IN THE DARK
Do you like to indulge in Bjork-ness for long periods of time? Do you love to watch people do things on screen that you'd never do in their situation? Do you want to feel nauseous for 2 hours of unsteady camera shots? If you answered yes to any one of those questions, then this movie's most certainly for you. I'll admit: it was well-done, it was effective and emotional, I was in tears at the end, but I didn't need to see this movie. Like Bjork's character, I too can relate to daydreaming as well as listening to sounds and rhythms that exist in life, imagining songs to go along with them. Don't let anybody tell you this is a "musical." In a musical, there are happy endings and more than one character has songs. ["West Side Story" is considered more of a Modern Opera than a Musical.] Since Bjork is the lead singer in every song in this film, 'Dancer' is better classified as an extended music video. If you love Bjork and don't mind watching something completely self-indulgent then it won't be as stomach-turning as it was for me. After watching this film, I honestly wouldn't care if I never saw her face or heard her voice ever again. She's got two emotions: one is of deep melodramatic sadness and the other one is of that little girl looking at the big world through bright star-filled eyes. That's IT! There's nothing more to her character. Catherine Deneuve's extensive career has a long line of wonderful performances, showcasing many abilities - here however her role completely puts the esteemed actress to waste. I've never walked out of a film and I was seriously considering leaving after about an hour. By the time she shot and killed her neighbor, Bill, I knew I made the wrong decision in staying. I recommend this film for all Bjork fans because something about her aura just drives people to go insane and kill themselves. Cheers! - Jon Whitney

BUTTE HEADS
While it's true that official pronounciations of "Butte" isn't the same as a part of the anatomy, most surrounding communities will refer to these towns and cities as such. This is surely the case for Butte, Montana and I'm sure for Butte, Idaho. And what is their sports team called? Come on, take a look...

There used to be a great site at kdesigns.com/rhp but it looks as if that domain has vanished. Sucks, just in time for them to make their big break with the commercial and all. It looks as if www.geocities.com/slo_core/kozelek.html has some current dates there.