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The CD was originally released in 1993and has just now been reissued by Streamline Germany. Heemann restrainsand refines Akita's normally brutal noise and adds his own collage ofsounds: drones, washes, electronics and samples such as metals andchirping birds. Heemann truly paints with sound and here the Merzbowmaterial is just another shade of audio color for his abstract andimpressionist palette. He then shapes it all into five pieces, eachwith a particular character all it's own, ranging from 1 and 1/2 to 18and 1/2 minutes for just over 41 minutes total. The end result is thesame as everything else I've heard that involves Heemann: utterlybeautiful. Hypnotic passages of waterfall wash, layered electronicdrone, metallic churnings, gurgling static and deep ambiance perfectlyflow into one another. "Sleeper Awakes.." is superb and a very welcomereminder for me to get everything with Heemann's name in the creditsfrom this day forward ...samples:
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"Multila" is 1 of 2 full length cds so far this year, the other,"Entain", on Mille Plateaux (see The Brain volume 3, issue 18) and thisone on Chain Reaction. The sounds within Multila's 7 tracks (73 minutestotal) are similar to Entain's but here most feature a more definedrhythm. Delay's compositions aren't quite techno, dub, glitch, ambientor anything else for that matter. He has a very distinct sound all hisown. And describing this simply as 'techno' would be as misleading asdescribing Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" simply as 'jazz'. Delay lets histracks flow and grow with a mutating sea of grainy audio fragmentsfreely rubbing up against one another and all anchored by the bass andbeat. He carefully controls the random nature of the heavily effectedsounds to shape them into gorgeous, deeply moody songs that are equallyat home on the dancefloor or in the bedroom. And it's the lengthiesttracks such as the 22+ minute "Huone" where he fully displays hisability to develop a piece and maintain your interest in it. Part ofthe text on the front of the digipack says "Multila is a soundtrack forvision". I'd say it's more a soundtrack for all of the senses -conscious and unconscious. It's a masterpiece. Next up is LUOMO"Vocalcity" on Force Inc. due out September 19th ...samples:
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Each track stretches over 35 minutes and are fine examplesof improvisational electronic noisemakers at play with each other. Thewonderful menu of sound exhibited here includes spacious depths,orchestral manipulations, spoken samples, clangs and clicks,percussion, guitar drones, delayed chimes with low rumbles andelectronic squeals. Each sound grows and builds, without eclipsing theothers, and has an identity each that is all their own. With 35+ minutetracks, it's difficult to capture the feeling of each piece as a wholein mere samples. For fans of depth-charged improvisationalists, this CDis an excellent document to own.samples:
- Illusion of Safety + Life Garden - track 1 part 1
- Illusion of Safety + Life Garden - track 1 part 2
- Illusion of Safety + Voice of Eye - track 2 part 1
- Illusion of Safety + Voice of Eye - track 2 part 2
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All the while, Eleventh Dream Day have albumsscattered through the years and haven't given up with their brand ofstraight-on rock nor have they changed for whatever the latest flavormay be. The current lineup features Rick Rizzo, Janet Beveridge Beanand Tortoise/Isotope bassist Doug McCombs. The latest CD was producedby John McEntire, and while he has given the songs more depth than mostrock bands can come up with on their own, he hasn't left any muddyfootprints. There's nothing hiding Rizzo's or Bean's direct lyrics,fuzzy guitars and driving tunes. For those Sonic Youth rock fans and YoLa Tengo listeners out there, lend an ear to this record.samples:
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It makes sense reading this after the first listen through, asit was difficult to pick out which track was which artist, or evenwhere the track ends and the new one begins. The package is wire boundand has stiff die-cut pieces of cardboard, black pages with amberprinting. The artists featured include Scorn, Tactile, Aube, NigelAyers, and many others. The music is dark and rich, full of dubinfluenced rhythms and noise influenced frequencies. The disc can serveboth as backround music or for deep listening purposes, and shoulddefinitely be played in the dark.samples:
- Nos - Difetto
- Obsequie - Flipbeat
- Scorn (featuring David Knight) - Stinger
- Tactile - Growth and Form
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Loads of screaming vegetables saying, "help, let me out ofhere, it's dark, I can't see!!!" This collection features songsbasically of that nature, muted sampled voices taking center stage withthe musical backing from some of the more buzzworthy electronica twerpsaround. Featured performers include Kit Clayton, Ectomorph, andPhonecia. The collection starts off rather weak, full of predictablemusic and obnoxious vocals taking center stage. About half-way through,things pick up and make the disc worth at least half its price. Themost entertaining bits include a tune by Chicks On Speed Vs. Potuznik& Bauer (of Mego fame) and a nearly 10 minute submission from BlackFaction.samples:
- Patrick Pulsinger - Strong Desire
- Black Faction - Modanese
- Chicks on Speed vs. Potuznik & Bauer - Lisi, This is House Music
- Kit Clayton - Casting Nets
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Songs of the Geographically Challenged has finallybeen issued on CD, collecting all but one track that was issued on the12" single series which started way back in 1997. Those limited 12"singles all sold out very quickly and featured a number of excellenttracks by some of the best indie type post-rocking artists around.Artists included Continental OP (Will Oldham and David Pajo of M),Retsin, Fuck, The For Carnation, Ruby Falls, Songs: Ohia, Windsor forthe Derby, and the Sonora Pine. So, if you don't mind missing the onlycontribution Jeremy did on his own, get this disc, otherwise good luckfinding any of the old 12" singles!samples:
- Continental OP
- The For Carnation - The Joys of Fever
- Ruby Falls - Turtles
- Windsor for the Derby - Sleeping in My Car
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I think I may have been drunk when I orderedthis one from a new release sheet, and it's too bad I wasn't sent thisone for free because it's utterly pointless. Disc one collects allpreviously released music from various artists, yet many of the songshave bad pop cliche female vocals brought directly to the front of themix. Contributors include Schneider TM, Zombie Nation, Natacha Atlas,Doug Wimbish and Bowery Electric, who's 'Passages' is the same damnedversion as the one on the Lushlife CD. Disc 2 is set up in a DJ mixstyle which includes previously released tracks from Mouse on Mars, GusGus, Pole, Ken Ishii and many others remixed by Mackami for 'BassEnforcement Soundsystem.' Not worth it. Save your money.samples:
- Doug Wimbish - Bedwood
- Schneider TM - I Dream of Chomsky (High Llamas RMX)
- Mouse on Mars - Sehn Süd (remixed fr. disc 2)
- Gus Gus - Anthem (remixed fr. disc 2)
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When you combine the musician behind Erasure, Yazoo andformer writer of Depeche Mode along with one of the driving forcesbehind Heaven 17, you're bound to have pretenses about how it's goingto sound. Before playing a single note I can guess that: there's noguitars anywhere, it's poppy and bouncy, and neither are a singer sothere can't be lyrics anywhere. Technology changes all the time andeach 1/2 of this duo have been reasonably active over the last 20 yearsso I would imagine the music to be somewhat current. So is this indeeda pretentious release? Since it's not made out to be more then what itis, I would say this is hardly pretentious. I'm sure readers with akeener eye for semantics will be poking fun of me come the morningafter the review is posted. Oh? The CD? It sounds exactly like you'dexpect. It's cheery, happy, soaked in electronics and samples with nota whole lot of thought put into new or exciting directions in melodies.The CD represents a collection of electronic pieces commissioned for anexhibit at the National Center for Popular Music in Sheffield, UK,designed to be played in the soundscapes 3D auditorium. While it doeshave its pleasant moments, it might as well be cheesy PBS documentaryscoring. A note to the listener recommends the CD should be listened towith headphones to hear the magical 3-D processing they explained, butwell, it doesn't make the songs any stronger or more appealing. Thisdisc may very well be only recommendable to the hardcore fans of eitherof these guys' bands.samples:
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Perhaps it's in the name of flying in the face ofcorporate copyright holders, maybe I'm just showing my support for theaudio renegades pushing the envelope of art versus law. I wish themusic were better, however. The premise of this release, the latestcollaborative release between Negativland's Seeland and Illegal Art wasto use and abuse commercials as driving sound sources for the songsgathered here. Artists include the Evolution Conrtol Committe, Pimmon,Big City Orchestra and 15 others. It's crazy, kooky, full of kitch andrandomness. Almost too random in many spots as these laptop artistsfocus more on the input than the output. I'm completely convinced thatCDs are too easy to produce.samples:
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