Public sentiment of OG BT fans, on discogs and in other circles, seem to be playing much like every artist in the history of popular music who, once they became famous, moved away from the original style of music they were recording; however, if one would give a closer inspection to his equally named XM radio show, this is exactly what he's been playing. If one were to see him in concert as of late, which I have, this is exactly what he's been playing.

Perhaps it's a larger question of him moving away from his latest release, These Hopeful Machines. There are bits of that style in here (the second disc mostly). A closer look at BT's catalog shows that he never stays with one particular style; this is consistent with his MO. I must say that, although not a pervasive listener to the style he plays on the first disc, found myself working out to it as well as listening to it in the office. It's a fairly versatile disc as it seems to combine his flair of progressive with drumstep/dubstep influenced tracks.

As this is a pre-mixed double set, one really has to go for an attitude and feel that gives each disc listen-ability instead of becoming a pre-set collection of tracks that happen to beatmatch. I believe BT hit that right on the head. The attitude and feel of these discs closely mirror his live set. In fact, I've heard some of these songs as recently as 2012, but not all of them nor configured in this order.

I don't particularly care for nor understand nitpicking individual tracks. If that's the case, why does anyone choose to play Tiesto tracks? Do they hate themselves?

In a word, great. This is a great album. It's not revolutionary in that it will inspire other artists to create something new, but it is definitely party.

This mini-album wears it's style with pride, standing very much in the field of Gothic Rock. They carry their music off with a smooth stylishness, a clean sound & a confident performance. "Again To Heaven" has a thick, heavy sound like earlier, better stuff by SISTERS OF MERCY with the vocalist every bit as seriously gravel as ELDRITCH's. Most fans of this music should appreciate this meaty, 'back-to-basics' sound. "Crown Of Thorns" is a slower, somewhat darker piece, a languid, uncrowded thing which is so much more impressive for it's simplicity, especially when the chorus beefs it up. "Country" diversifies a little, the guitar providing a thin but interesting atmosphere while the bass provides a deep booming impression. But it's the voice (again typically morbid Goth) and the drums (some impressive rolls & colourful composition) which give the piece it's real character. Hooky & full of beautiful dark shapes.
The 'B' side opens with the title track "Angel", having slight elements of the BANSHEES at their most Goth - moody & dark, this wanders along at a brisk walking pace while the vocalist proves himself to be an expert at his art. It gives the impression of being sucked down into some dark tar pit now & then, but keeps the pace despite the lure of submission. One of their best songs on this tape, proving without a doubt that they should stamp their own individual mark on the scene. "Falling" picks up the pace again wth elements of THE MISSION at their most enjoyable. Again this track has plenty of hook, an insistant chorus which soon works it's way into the listener's mind. "Tami" is a lighter ballad along the lines of THE SISTERS' "Alice", a dark torch song of loss & heartache which proves them capable of both producing lightweight compositions & heavier emotions. Closing the album comes "Crashing Down", another piece of mournful light rock, a song sounding brim-full of tears. A sad little track heavily gravid with emotion.

Goth is not my number one choice in listening, although there's a lot do like. Not that my taste can reflect you, the reader's, but I have to say, this has quickly risen to number among my favourites.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

Nice to know some things don't change. This CD single harkens back to the intense, warm, almost claustrophobic world of home recording electro-balladeers and Indie-Pop Experimenters circa the late 70's in the vein of ROBERT RENTAL, THOMAS LEER & THE NORMAL - very up-front music, reminiscent of a sort of early ULTRAVOX-JAPAN crossover. "Black Lipstick" sets the scene, a medium-pacer with thickset preset keyboards set against sharp simplistic rhythm box. Distinctive sounding, with LANE's voice rounded & tonal. "I'll Be Kissing You Later" is much in the same style, somewhat stripped to basics, making it surprisingly effective. "That's Dream" concludes the single, again a likeable bedroom pop song, slipping DAVID TOLEGIAN's alto sax into the mix to great effect. Judging from the cover and some of the lyrics, LANE portrays himself as a sort of lapsed Goth, but to compare his music, you have to go right back to the roots of that dark style and forget the word Rock. Not sure I'd play it constantly, but makes a nice light alternative to the heavier music I listen to. What he does with the limited palette of (presumably) preset keyboards, he does well. Judged on it's own merits, it gets a definite thumbs-up.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

I'm always a little cautious on Franck Roger's productions as he has always been this 'keeper of the flame' of supposedly 'pure' house and garage that got me (and many others) tired of the parisian scene at some point, always giving lessons about the good and the bad, musically and litterally (his patronizing views can be found here and there on Youtube music videos comments for instance).
However there is no caution on "After All" : a pure (there we go...), sunny, joyful garage jewel that would have most people (or me at least ;) reconciled with garage house, a genre often a little too 'theatral', dramatic and emotionally charged for plain enjoyment on the floor to my taste.
This simple feelgood blast, with its discreet keyboards hints to Chez n Trent's "Morning Factory", is an indisputable moment of pleasure.

Most people will have some experience of early LAIBACH & will therefore know whether they'll like this album or not. They have captured their hard, often abrasive sound live, which seems to be the ideal platform for it. Fans will either already have this or will buy it, so this review is probably aimed more at those with little or no experience of their sound. "Intro" is just a short piece of music played before the performance. "Unsere Geschichte" is an old piece of (wartime) music with a female vocalist which wobbles unable to hold it's pitch & seems stark & discordant. "Rdeci Molk (Red Silence)" opens with piercing sustains of shrill sound before kicking into a fast, raw electronic thing, untamed by any connection with tune. "Siemens" searches around for shape, finding it in odd (and somehow conformist) combinations of ear-curling electronics, abstract bass & 'normal' drums through which worm other sounds, slowly, almost soporifically dragging itself along to t's conclusion. It's the second longest track here at 6'14". "Smrt Za Smrt (Death For Death)" starts off with ambient hiss & all manner of noises with sudden jags of guitar & electronics searching for form before it grows on a flat drum rhythm, reminicent of THROBBING GRISTLE around the time of "Heathen Earth" with shrill noises & gutteral voice over the top. "Drzava (The State)" begins with amp noise & taped horns before hammering into a fast, Punk-speed song with the horn loop adding an amount of tune to the otherwise linear song. "Zavedali So Se - Poparjen Je Odsel I (They have Been Aware - Scalded He Left I)" again reminds me of "Heathen Earth" in both the flat 'modern savage' drum pattern/sound, and in it's noisy but grim mood. "Delo In Disciplina (Work And Discipline)" has a dense, noisy, chaotic machine sound which patters, pulsates & churns along in strict time contrasted with it's less than clean, complex distorted sound. "Tito - Tito" follows immediately on the tail of the previous track with a fastish piece of Latin American dance music from a handful of decades ago, losing it's clean sound, becoming harsh & metallic by being played live. "Ostati Zvesti Nasi Preteklosti - Poparjen Je Odsel II (To Stay Faithful To Our Past - Scalded He Left II)" patters into dark, moody life, it's sound like a grim warning of inevitability & threat. The sounds, based on simple drum drone like a mistuned, misplayed violin with squeaking guitar added over the top while the vocalist speaks his words with straight-faced seriousness. "Tovarna C19 (Factory C19)" pumps it's way out of the speakers, again simple enough drums over which grey/black/brown washes of noise & distortion mount upon one another in a complex, presumably improv structure. "STT (Mchine Factory Trbovlje)" is a very brief work, again layering distortion upon distortion, yet finding form within it's noise collection. "Sveti Urh (Saint Urth)" combines another loop of 'found' music with raw analogue synthetics & cumbersome distorted guitar. Moaning voice sounds somehow find their way through the wall of noise. Next comes a studio version of "Drzava (The State)", much cleaner but no less raw & unrelenting, it could still pass as a Punk track were it not for the lack of brightness, and the metal edge. Plenty of variety to it's sound as it powers along. The final track, and what might be regarded as the album's pay-off (as it's by far the best music here & also gives you an insight into how one of their concerts were put together) combines "Cari Amici Soldati", "Drzava (The State)" & "Svoboda (Freedom)" into one piece, spanning half an hour & easily qualifying as the longest track here. The first piece has a deeper, warmer ambience to it than the previous live things on this album, despite it's having a similar background swell of distortion. Noises grow up gradually, the track slowly forming in a non-beat collection of audio images. It gels into a tight medium-paced thing, clean, warm & clear enough to have been a studio recording. Building on another interesting-yet-simple drum pattern, it swirls with distorted guitar & synhs while a bass keeps it together. Another old piece of music is looped to fill time between tracks before the familiar "Drzava" theme kicks into life, this version probably even more wild & unbound than the previous two. The final piece forms out of the gloriously chaotic maelstrÖm left by the previous piece - factory-like clashes of hissing, rolling noise blended with raw electronics & ponderous heartbeat bass. It builds into a massive beast of a track, degrees of improvisation within it's energetic thrash whirlwind of noise.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

The version of this I have been sent is the original recording. A remastered version is available for purchase. As far as I can tell, this is ANDREW’s first solo project, and a damn good starting point. Side one opens up with “Una Tormenta", a medium-paced atmospheric piece with heavy walls of vocal samples spread across a thin and skeletal drum track which, typical of these musicians, is more complex than appears on the surface. It’s a track using sampling (or is that a Mellotron?) is en uncompromising way. “Data Travellers” follows this, a much more upbeat piece with sustaining, almost Gregorian vocal sounds which carry it along in harmonic washes. “USA v LHO” is a noisy piece of music with the drum track so strange it almost sounds looped. Some of the most creative use of samplers / effects I’ve heard in ages appears on this track, so odd, it almost blows the ears! Good stuff that makes me sick with envy. “Crashed Disk Event” is another medium-fast piece with snappy white snares and a full, complicated sound. It whirls and twists around itself in ever-changing forms and shapes. “Varian” finishes off this side of the album with a medium-paced piece with a large and distant sound, full of atmosphere.
Side two opens with “Blue At Midnight”, an atmospheric piece opening without a beat which changes and transforms into odd and bizarre shares, with high speed tape snatches, ‘found’ voice, and dense electronic sheets of sound, this is quite clearly the most extreme piece of music the MOTORCADE boys have created. This goes on for a long while, seeming to be both ever-changing and immutable. Through it’s black electronic journey it travels, finally finding liberty, which it uses to good effect, being another medium-fast piece of music with strict gated snare keeping the whole structure together while all manner of electronics gather around it like drones a round a Queen, paying homage to it in beautiful, rich waves of sound. “World Without Sun” is again a shapeless, electronic meandering piece with sustaining sounds like Air-Raid sirens, sitars and thick, coIourful feedback all of which seems to flow in a wonderful ever-changing stream of sound which finally draws to a peaceful end.

This is probably the most 'extreme’ recording to come out of the MOTORCADE so far. Part pop, part Industrial, this is a good starting point for those interested in this label. All tracks seem to have some degree of experimentation to them, be it fractured drum rhythms of the 'rhythmless' sounds from side two. Well worth anyone's money - quality sound, quality music.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

MONIKA WESTPHAL, C-SCHULZ, FRANK DOMMERT, MARCUS SCHMICKLER, GEORG ODIJK & INDE DU NORD recorded this album live in the studio back in 1992. It stretches to just under 39 minutes, and hardly makes any ripples in that time. The KONTAKTA Six choose to exist in the fertile ground between LULL's dark, nightmare-shadowed Underworld and VIDNA OBMANA's flowing grey cushioning cloudscapes. The result is a machine-based flowing of indistinct images which neither threatens wickedness hidden in unexpected shadow-places, nor promises a restful sleep. The result is an entertaining journey through semi-formed landscapes of sound - mountainous regions - flat plains - dark forests of decaying metal. It has too many human references to be totally alien - rhythms which just couldn't appear by chance - distant echoes like voices in subways - image juxtapositions almost too convenient. It's an absorbing travelogue of places Josef K might have visited in his dreams. The brevity of the piece, while long enough to impress without overstaying it's welcome, might make it a dubious investment at full CD price, but if you can find it, and you like grey, metamorphic music, snap it up - you shouldn't be disappointed.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

Side one opens with the disquieting "We Hate You", which like most of the tracks here dates back to 1982, combining a low bassy ripple effect with various electronic sounds to give a Dr. Who soundtrack - fairly simple/minimal, and impressive for that. Noises echo through the electrically-alive night darkness; hints of....animals? "NightSinn" sounds very much like a track from THROBBING GRISTLE's "D.O.A." - perhaps "Valley Of The Shadow Of Death". They have here recaptured the cold, artificial, vivisectionist's-scalpel-keen atmosphere which would be destroyed or marred by anything less minimal. Percussive noises combine with thrills & muffled booms - damn effective. "Playsinn" is a more structured piece which, full of interesting synthetic noises as it is, relies on a combination of thin electronic rhythm & deep bass line to keep it's images together. Again a cold piece but more logically composed. The closing track on side 1 - "Neusum '92 I" is a remix of a 1982 track. Built on a fast 4 note sequence, it's combination of angry-hornet guitar & distant, distort voices give it a feel of edginess akin to that of early CABARET VOLTAIRE albums. Simple, yes, but effective.
Side two opens with another '92 renix of an '82 song - this one "Neusum '92 II", a longer rhythmic piece combining the skeletal rhythmic backings of the aforementioned group, yet has a subtle way of overlayering noisy electronic lightning flashes & noise, combining these elements into as impressive cold, stark mood piece. "Dangerous Blues" is a '92 track, using similar thin CABS-like drums over which a guitar which - yes - does have an atrophied R & B sound to it, creates a cold, calculated rhythm, a Red Indian tribal dance of invocation to obscure Gods of Granite & Night. "San Fran Sound"'s another recent piece, rising up clutching wind-instrument-like noises which it holds & moulds against another filigree drum pattern. It has to be the most musically composed piece here, yet has a loose, dissonant ragginess with it's shaggy 'lectric guitar, it's sub-Funky bass & it's selection of strange electronic FX. "Autocity", another old track, closes the album. It's a sort of warm rhythmic thing, composed mainly on sequencers, giving it a sound & atmosphere heard on early HUMAN LEAGUE records, such as "Dignity Of Labour", and on TANGERINE DREAM- type electronic groups. It also nods, in its unsynchronised, time-lagging way, towards microtonal experimentation, although whether this was the intention...

This album contains the most interesting & fulfilled music I have heard by KONSTRUKTIVISTS. more enjoyable than "Tic Tac Toe"; more fulfilled than their occasional comp. track. They obviously need to be heard over a longer medium to be fully appreciated.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

If JOY DIVISION had hailed from the USA they might have sounded like these. They have the strength, determination and at least a spoonful of the cold concrete wasteland atmosphere but the vocalist's voice is a lot lighter, less dread-filled Goth-ish but more tonal than CURTIS's. Still, the sound is overall authentic, the rich, leading bass and spatial drums combine well with the electronics and voice. And they can put a decent, hooky song together (as reflected in the anthemic "We Will Not Fall" most obviously).
"Bullets" has a much more experimental electronic sound with BOWIE inflections to the voice. Darkish Indie Rock with atmosphere & weird/cold imagery.

The electronics give the overall sound an atmosphere which can only be described as Industrial, although the music itself would have pleased an audience in the late 70s / early 80s and would hae received copious airplay via PEELY. It's still nice to hear this style today, and, despite the richer studio production, they have still managed to capture a feeling which came and went in such a short time. As a retro band, they deserve to be heard and lauded, but if they feel they are original, they are clearly deluding themselves. Even the closing track, which is a berzerker thrash, keeps the Punk flag flying.

But, overall, a good, tight set which would be great to experience live.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

"Flex" is a journey through an electronic landscape - a somewhat spartan yet always fascinating place of stripped-bare rhythms and bleached synthetics. As with labelmates PRODUKT, KOMET owe much to the progressive exploratory style of AUTECHRE - and this sounds like those trailblazers at their best. Not that they could be accused of being unoriginal or plagiarising ideas - you get the impression that RASTERMUSIC artists are insular & isolated, and couldn't really give a fuck what the critics say about them. This is an ever-evolving drum-machine-led deep, soft chill-out experience, unrelenting in it's single-minded pursuit of new ways of expressing the same thing over and over. No sampling, but loads of VCF sequencing pops and crackles against filigree tinkering patterns & pattering drums. You could leave the room for five minutes, return to pick the rhythm up, changed but basically the same. This review probably comes across as a little negative but I feel that they contribute at least the same value to the progress of rhythmic electronic music as people like SCORN or the aforementioned AUTECHRE. Sure this doesn't threaten to tear down the status quo or plunder existing conventions, but then neither does it want to. KOMET play a charming electronic linear background noise which is as far removed from CABARET VOLTAIRE in terms of evolution as the Blackbird is from the Allosaurus. Reminds me in many ways of the brilliant HAT album "Tokyo-Frankfurt-New York". More a cerebral experience than muscular drive.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

"Operation" opens this album - sounding a lot like a remix, it has a 'thinned-out', minimal feel to it which is actually quite listenable - danceable without being too demanding it grows in complexity, becoming a many-layered piece which is as good a puzzle for the brain as it is an exercise for the body. "Recognition (Long Version)" - the longest track here at a sizeable 8'40" transforms from it's delicate, minimal intro, full of interesting little electronic flourishes & sounds, into a rippling electronic piece, gaining it's structure slowly but surely, gelling into a medium-slow-paced track filled with interesting noises & atmospheric FX. It does it in such a gradual, naturally-evolving way that it's almost biological and, despite it's lacking the necessary ingredients to sustain successfully as a single, it still has the makings of a classic. "Right Way" is a little faster but no less mild. It typifies KLINIK's appeal - mild, smooth electronic dance music which attains the correct balance between driving drums & rippling, hypnotic sequencer, combining them into a music which appeals to the listener in almost any mood. "The Street" is more straightforward again somehow smoothing the stark into a warm rhythmic body which in full of interesting little tricks & turns. "Hostage" comes across as somehow a more punchy piece - medium-paced with an odd beat/rhythm relationship giving it a slightly nervy edge. "Contrast", the title track again builds from a mild, warm collection of electronics & found sound images into a muscular rhythm, showing it's tanned musculature to be reinforced by pure steel. It brings to mind elements of TANGERINE DREAM circa "White Eagle" crossed with CLOCK DVA's darkness, fade-ins & mystery, driven to a harsh edge by FRONT 242-like dance sense. "Patient" thumps straight into action - remaining fairly straightforward as it batters along at it's medium-fast tempo. "Humiliate" is another mild Techno piece full of interesting sounds. Most interesting is the way non-electronic sounds seem to take a higher place in the mix than the rhythmic electronics - especially a thick dark wash of what sounds like mass fuzzed guitar. "Recognition (Short Version)" is, as you might have guessed, a version of the previously mentioned track running for a few seconds over half it's length. I don't really notice anything different in the mix, but it gains a tighter, more punchy feel by it's comparative brevity. "Hölle *" concludes the album - a live track recorded at the Cinderella in Antwerp back in December '82. It's a raw, edgy sound, lacking the smooth warmth of the current KLINIK sound. The noises sound tinny & cold, and the composition is simple. It gives you a good idea of how much they've advanced in a decade, and as such is a very valid addition to an otherwise velvet-textured dance album.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

This also comes in a neat little plastic envelope - a neat 23 tracks worth of music.
"Le Tissu" is an odd thing, threatening collapse with it's ephemeral construction - booming out backing synth, flat piano, other instruments. "Au Bord De L'eau" is a non-beat thing of harmonica, piano, acoustic guitar which somehow manages to hold itself together. "Paysage 1 Bis" is piano played by a madman - and somehow it works, an audio equivalent of the stroboscope. "Sous Les Peupliers" is a fully constructed piece which might sound well on the soundtrack of a 'romantic' film. "Salle Des Fêtes" is a sort of Tango of harmonica, guitar and piano. "Mon Coeur Amourex" is a quiet thing although it sounds more than slightly off-kilter with piano in slow cascade and harmonica grating through. "C'est Du Cinéma" is another thing only just hanging onto its construction by its fingertips. There are voices (presumably from a film soundtrack) credited to G.CARDON, breaking through the slow and reflective structure. "Elsa" is full of pomp, like something by KURT WEILL. "Le Fleurs Fanées" is a delicate little thing suggestive of rainy weather, although there is a slightly menacing undercurrent. "Les Nuttins Dans Les Maisons" is a familiar little thing which has (arr. from trad.) after the title - if you don't know it by name, then you'll probably recognize it anyway. Side one closes with "Dimanche, La Ville", a brief piano heavy tune verging on collapse.

Side two starts off with another 'trad. arr.' piece called "La Coline", which is a sort of off-key version of the "Last Post", and its also surprisingly atmospheric. "After Removal" comes next on wooden block rhythm and skeletal piano/glockenspiel to form an almost mechanical piece. "Écorché" is a complex piece of Neo Classical music - high speed playing. "Escapade" is another piano heavy composition with slightly off-key playing and strange synth sounds (for those who live in the UK, it sounds a little like something LES DAWSON might play). "S'en Va" is a slow, dramatic and atmospheric piece, reminding me a little of those filler tracks on THE CURE's "17 Seconds". "La Fenêtre" is another piece which gains it's own strange atmosphere by being solo. "Klimperei Trés En Vacances" is a full and 'up' sounding piece of music, almost joyful and Summery, as is "Tout Seul Sur La Plage En Hiver", although the latter survives without the up tempo 'whole' sound of the former. "Ravines" moves almost painfully through the speakers, a full sound around a surreal structure. "Noir Ou Jaune" is next, an almost caliope sound, melting into other structures as it grew and changes. "Fille De Banlieue" is apparently taken from "LOS PARANOS" whatever that may be! Its another of their 'up' pieces, yet retains an odd atmosphere sounding again like JAPAN. The final track is "Les Joyeux Ouvriers", a short, almost Oom Pah Pah sound.

They are clearly talented composers / musicians taking chances by leaning out further across the void than most would dare. While its not really my taste in music, you might well enjoy the album - its recorded well, as are most albums on the SPH label. SPH are clearly putting out some classic material.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

I think that this, together with "B" and the mighty "Anti-War Dub", is my fave early DMZ release because it is still to this day a very unique and balanced blend of stripped down bassy-dubby music with seriously sinister warehouse techno, perfectly at ease both on Rinse FM and at Berghain years before this musical marriage was a common thing.
"Neverland", particularily, is a visionary statement perfectly fusioning two of the most influential genres of the years to come in electronic dance music just around the time of their inception. Impressive to say the least.

The cover says "Please Use Headphones For Better Sound". I played it through speakers and it still sounded fine. The first side breaks into life with "Monder", sustained machine-like sounds over which a female voice narrates in German. The sound melts and mutates from pure factory sounds to more textural pieces with plucking sequencers, weird voices and brilliant synth sounds - this is the kind of stuff they use to effect on car adverts in this country - atmospheric pieces which suggest 'Technology' & 'Futuristic'. A "Call-To-Prayer" opens the next part - more sustained keyboards, spoken voice including some 'Astronaut' transmissions. This gradually builds into something more complex and rhythmic. The next part is again slow and atmospheric, full of tuned percussion, as well as sped-up voices and indistinct sound, all building into a solid textural wall. The next part is an Ethnic-sounding piece not unlike JAPAN crossed with, say, VASILISK - a meld of percussive sounds and Electronic noises, all building into a piece slightly too whole to be meditative, but comes close. It ends with a voice singing in a Jazz style before collapsing into silence with the crash of a gong.
"Move Blue Tango" opens side two on a slow building flow of tranquil melody with a slightly "Eastern" feel. It then transforms into a warm and complex rhythm with a strong Electronic taste. I could only really compare this to JEAN MICHEL JARRE at his best, although this has overall a more interesting sound to it. This concludes on a loop of female backing vocalists (SAM COOKE GIRLS?). "Overland Rotations" sounds like one of the more interesting LEWIS AND GILBERT tracks before transmuting into a echoed Electronic rhythm, bassy and flowing, like a half-concealed threat. This gives way to a more complex, almost indistinct pattern which effuses to it's conclusion. "Some Other Places" concludes the tape - at first fragments of voice and sound, but then settling down into a warm sub-Disco style, almost faceless, if not for the 'found' sounds that slip into the mix now and again. This ends on human voice and slightly off-key guitar.

The cover has a list of people whose voices are heard on this tape - these include NEIL ARMSTRONG, FRANK ZAPPA, ALBERT SCHWEITZER, MONTE CAZAZZA to name but a few. It's a surprisingly good cassette, well put together - when you consider that much of the stuff must have been added out of sync, it probably qualifies as a classic. Calling themselves THE KITCHEN nnkes then sound like some mundane Pop Band, but these are anything but that!

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

This cassette release dates back to 1978 and is closer in sound to CABS' "1974-76" album than to anything later. Again it is one very familiar to me (having bought it the same day I bought "1974-76"), so didn't need too many listens to get an opinion of it. The cover has changed, the uniform grey INDUSTRIAL RECORDS cover being replaced by a 'Modern Art' painting and porno photomontage booklet. Side one opens with "Synesthesia", which begins with noise blasts which step aside to allow the drifting synthesizer / effects free rein. It drifts like amorphous clouds across strange and Surreal landscapes, dream-state shapes portrayed in noise. "Outburst" drifts in on the tail of the previous track, being very similar in many ways, although a little more harsh in many ways. A very CV drum pattern rises up through the audio ashes, bringing with it typical mutated vocals, watery sounds and alien torture guitar. It transforms into something very different towards the end (thank goodness for CD - I'd have thought it was the next track), a much darker and more drifting piece of music. "Information Therapy" follows this, a more formed piece of music with the same cruising-shark-guitar as on such recordings as "On Every Street" and "Nag, Nag, Nag" etc., and the treated drum machine sounds they were renowned for. It's brighter than the aforementioned recordings, and has some chaotic sounds bobbing up and down in the mix. "Magic Words Command" is along similar lines, yet is of a more passive, laid-back nature, with elements, albeit slight, of "Silent Command". "Thermal Damage" follows after a brief interlude, rising from silence on gradually opening filters to become something along the lines of "Is That Me (Finding Someone At The Door Again)" - strange and minimal soundscapes indeed. "Plate Glass Replicas" is a lot more interesting, being structured, yet moving away from the 'typical' CABS sound to allow wild and eccentric experimentation to follow the clattering drum pattern. "Insect Friends Of Allah" follows this, having a decidedly Eastern feel to it, meandering twangy guitar spiralling over phasing drumbox pattern. It seems to fill a lot of space with it's sound which must be a lot bigger than it first appears. "Scatalist" follows next, another strange DADAIST piece of drifting, barely connected sounds. Typical VOLTAIRE tricks are employed - sudden silence then the same pattern fading back in from a distance. It seems to change drum patterns every 20 seconds or so, al but fading out completely, then rising up again on distorted voice. "False Erotic Love" rattles into existance with a higher-pitched loop-tape-voice putting the listener in his / her place: it's a clattering, chaotic piece of dissociating noise. "L.D.50" is another grizzling piece of 'music' built on barely-heard drum machine and rhythmic bass. "L.D.60" sounds a little like a thin mix of some obscure CHROME track with rolling drums and flanging guitars. It throbs along like atmospheric music with unsightly lumps. The vocals on this are not unlike a higher-pitched version of "Photophobia". "Amnesic Disassociation" closes the album on a non-beat note, a piece of music creating the impression of something dark impending. nothing is too clear, nothing too obvious, but whatever's about to happen, no sane person wants to be there to see.
I'll admit this is not one of my favourite cassettes, but now on CD I can at least skip it along. It's more loose and artistic than much of his / their later stuff, and will appeal to those into DADA weirdness. Considering the primitive gear they were using, it's still an amazing achievementand deserves to be heard at least once.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

This single opens with the simplistic but always effective title track, a smooth, somewhat naive ballad, seductive in it's slow drifting lazy style. The rhythmic electronics - distinctive in their off faltering way - chop and roll in a constant pattern. "A Message To Live By" is merely a spoken word thing. "Your Face In The Grey Sun" uses the backing from the first version but vocodes the words for a chillingly effective New Era choral sound. A cold grey drifting version of the song, like the pall from a funeral pyre hanging over a wasted landscape of programmed drums. "Cocaine White Gardens (Bondarenko Pt.II)" concludes the single - layers of floating keyboards and drifting human voices layer upon each other. Ethereal choral music which is surprisingly mature and effective, this would sound right as a film soundtrack, perhaps to something historic, with a religious theme. KIRLIAN CAMERA have certainly produced a distinctive single with this one - I cannot think of anything to compare it to. Almost pop music, it is saved by it's unconventional rhythmic devices which, with the virginal-sounding female vocalist, give the song almost TOO MUCH hook. KIRLIAN CAMERA are EMILIA LO JACONO - vocals & treated vocals; ANGELO BERGAMINI - keyboards, programming, sampling, treated vocals; SIMON BALESTRAZZI - programming, treatments; IMAR ZEDA - Fx.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

Romance seems to permeate the Italian mien - after all, etymologically, I'd hazard a guess they invented the concept. But do not panic, or discard this album with preconceived ideas of romance - it's not all roses, kitten-soft kisses, sun-blessed days of idle strolls arm-in-arm through verdant countryside, knowing glances across candlelit meals in dark, cosy surroundings with soft music playing in the background. Romance is pain, realism falling short of dreamy ideals, aching loneliness, darkness & loss. That this music comes close, touches whisper-soft the outer edge of that we call Gothic is no coincidence - both music styles come from that place within us, a place of beauteous darkness, grand inspiritor of poetry & creative thought. You could play this music while wandering through the grand majesty of some city Necropolis and somehow get something more from what it has to offer - reading headstones, imagining these people, their lives, love, hopes & dreams dashed by that inevitable blackness which we assume closes over us when all biological systems fail - and perhaps think of the people they left behind, their aching, inconsolable loss, people who were fated to join them in the grave, but who felt their loved ones were stolen from them forever. That's Romance, as much as the rush of blood you feel when you catch a glimpse of the one you love, or the thrill of their voice when they telephone you to ask something trivial like what you'd like to eat tonight. That's love - a two way, mutual feeling which outsiders observe but cannot interface with. Romance, therefore is probably the by-product which radiates outward from love, something we can all voyeuristically share with the lovers. This album maintains that feeling of beauteous sadness, while changing from semi-religious songs from the pit of the soul to curiously martial structures ("It Was Raining") over which a calm, almost filmic male voice orates to soulful Folk Music tradition, to a larger, more symphonic sound you might associate with, say, the "Godfather" soundtrack. It combines charm and an eclectic compositional prowess which might bring surprises at every turn. The female vocalist (EMILIA LO JACONO) relies on the tonal strength of her forceful, pushing voice, sounding like a more tuneful NICO - giving you a sense of obstinate innocence, or perhaps knowing, trusting naiveté, or even pious religious fervour. The most obvious comparison musically, would of course be ATARAXIA as they play in very much the same field, with at least equal, if not more charm & appeal. DISCORDIA released it in two different versions - one as a single CD, and another inside a smart black A4 presentation box which is a highly collectable item limited to 999 copies. With the KIRLIAN CAMERA logo on the front & numbered sticker on the back, the copy they sent us contains the CD, a smart metal lapel badge, a poster of the album cover and a 7" single entitled "Le Printemps Des Larmes" which is reviewed elsewhere. It's one of the nicest packagings to an album SW/MJ have received (along with the beautiful IGORT / SLAVA TRUDU CD / book) which again says something about the Italian soul.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

An album very much recorded during the period of "Your Face In The Sun" (the single appears on this very album) - much of the music here is very much in the same compositional vein. The opener, a fine ballad built on the bright, snappy gated drum style HUMAN LEAGUE used on their first two classic albums - keyboard strings & harmonic voice chords wash over while the sweetly sad female voice reaches deep inside to touch the heartstrings - as hollow as terminal loss, as optimistic as the post-Apocalyptic Human spirit. The next track magnifies their curious blend of the beauteous & the experimental - what passes for percussion - a high, hinge - in - need - of - oiling noise sits uneasily with what is otherwise a slow, trance-state ballad, managing to warm & chill you simultaneously. Their fondness for the strange comes through for the third track's back-masked spoken voice which spits-in-tongues staccato phrases over lulling chords. The single "Your Face..." still sounds beautifully sad, here more logically situated in an album of similar songs - see MJ#1 for our full review. Turning from lush ballads to a more overtly electronic, almost downtempo EBM sound for the next track, they still inject their distinct soft themes into the music, with the melodica almost fooling the listener with it's sax-like sound. From here they make a brief foray into orchestral music before returning with another two touching songs, the first set against rich chord layers while the next against strumming guitar & rich keyboards. The feelings they stir inside, of howling loneliness and lost time touch deep. Ampnoise & machine throbbing herald the entry of the next track, and indeed a direction change for the remaining album. As strangely chilling as anything to ever come out of the Death Factory itself. Rising out of this cold noise-scape comes the humanlessness of "Along The Avenues Of Hell" - swathed in TG-iced electronics with "Terminator" drums glinting through here & there, it snatches all the warmth which the previous ballads had brought and slaps dread in it's place. The next track leads you further into corridors clawed by Industrial's incalculable myriad entities, an arctic electronic journey through uncompromising dehumanised rhythm. With mid-rate BPM enters the next piece - aiming at the Euro-Electronica dance scene, this utilises stern keyboards and strident drums, forging a bloodless sub-Techno sound. "Berlin VIII" is a strange blend of horror-house organ, watery percussion, fattened harpsichord and guttural almost spoken voice - heartfelt but somehow almost ritualistic. The final piece visits yet another Industrial post, the electronics burning with fuzz-friction while madhouse chords scale from basement to attic. An effective, creepy track, again hearkening towards film-score soundtrack. Choir voices blend with the buzzing fuzz of wild electronics. This is a good document of what KIRLIAN CAMERA were doing back in '96 - definitely an album of two halves, the first heartfelt & warm, the second a more cold, experimental/electronic sound. A schizophrenic blend of melancholia & lab-slab post-human pragmatism.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

Never sure whether such a large collection would be a good starting place to explore an unknown group, but if you are familiar with KC, you'll probably want to get hold of this album.
KIRLIAN CAMERA have talent. Simple statement, but from the opening track on the first disc they set about proving it. the 'long' version of "The Desert Inside" is a steady fast electronic backing against which the voice - here sounding like a slightly digitised hybrid of MARTIN of ATTRITION and MICHAEL GIRA - rich and deep. A distinctive hooky track, managing to be robotic and dehumanized throughout the verse and emotional through the chorus. "Solaris IV/A" follows a similar, although larger theme. It reminds me of the sci fi mechanical-but-dramatic music of DARK STAR, especially on the album with ED KA'SPEL - very similar. "The Icy Dawn" is a steady medium-paced piece, a gentle waking dreamsong. "Eclipse V4" picks up the pace a little but still retains the dreamy drift state of filter drift set against what can be a muted Hardcore Electro backing - kind of EBM tamed by a rich but pert female voice. This sounds like POESIE NOIRE with a tint of Irish Folk Rock permeated into it. An 'alternative mix' of "Erinnerung" takes things another step towards Techno with the relentless metronome kick beat. This almost sounds like a completely different group with the vocals in harsh German tones. This is followed by a live version of "In The Endless Rain", losing none of the rich tonal quality of this heartfelt song in the less controllable environment. This is one of their more beautiful songs, juxtaposing warm emotional female voice against the cold clinical drum machine and harmonic keyboards. "I Am The Light ('97 Mix)" follows this in much the same mood, only with the male voice muted to almost distortion. The words seem to be wrenched from within, almost angrily sad. "Ascension" is taken from one of the most beautiful periods of their existence - dreamy sadness set against clumpy drums seems odd at first but once it's got under your skin it totally seduces you with a kind of naive wonder and, strangely, fills you with an optimism about life. Typical of the "Pictures From Eternity" period - big chords, a drifting, floating diaphanous atmosphere filled with emotion from the heart. "Sea Of Memory" has a similar beauty - being both sad and beautiful, set to a mostly acoustic guitar backing. There's something wonderful about hearing your mother tongue sung - perfectly it must be said - as a second language. Not always, but here it has an innocent seductiveness and fragility which is almost sexual. "Fields Of Sunset (Days Of The Scythe)" - title sounds like something the DEATH IN JUNE school might write, and indeed this acoustic sound with the minuscule male voice has a certain other-worldliness. "Twilight Fields" has both a bright beauty and a distant black tension - a wonderful hybrid of emotions. "Drifting", taken from the album of the same name sounds as if me old mate MARTYN BATES were singing backing vocals against a structure more mechanical than the previous few songs on this disc, but no less atmospheric. Again a dreamy drift with a curiously semi-spoken voice which sounds just slightly drugged and half awake but effective for that! "Heldenplatz" is another sweetly melancholic piece of drama, contrasting EMILIA LO JACONO's fresh-as-springwater voice against darkly moody string washes. It touches you within, caresses your heart with the softest of fingertips. "Memories Are Made Of This (Veronika Voss)" closes the first disc - always a lighthearted song anyway, and EMILIA's warmth fails to take anything away from it. Damn odd choice for a more or less straight cover, though.

The second disc fails to let the quality drop. Indeed the extended version of "Blue Room" takes me back a while to younger days when I used to listen to early ULTRAVOX in a small cold bedsit. The female vocalist sounds on this very much like JOHN FOXX with more Classical pretentions. "Eclipse" I have to say makes a bland background of chugging sequencer for the vocalist, but is perfect for her tonally strong and clear voice (which brings to mind a slightly more mature POESIE NOIRE at their best). "Nightship 451" has one CHARLIE MALLOZZI on vocals and is more cumbersome but more a spoken word story set to chugging sequence. The 'Full Metal Mix' of "Austria" has a (sampled) orchestral pomp giving it an immense sub-martial sound which, with BERGAMINI's hard flat voice is a lot harder than many of the tracks on this album. "Tor Zwei" has a timeless drama to it - somehow akin to a film soundtrack theme and reflects another, gentler side to KIRLIAN CAMERA. Somehow both depressing and beautiful. The 'edit' version of "Celephais" acts as an apt coda to the previous track. Things come back to the 20th Century with "News" - a surprisingly sit-up-and-beg piece for them - racking my brain I can only think of it being akin to an early GARY NUMAN filler track or something from (again) JOHN FOXX's early solo work, although the vocals are more akin to the former - colder, more Dalek-like. "Rays" could be an analogue electro demo by THE CURE with some early HUGH CORNWELL inflection. "Still Close" retains the general late 70s / early 80s feel of the music, less ridiculously isolationistic and clinical, complete with edgeless snare and flangy synths. "Memories Of A House" take us in a more dramatic, theatrical direction, reminding me again of late 70s / early 80s - this time of the TOYAHs and HAZEL O'CONNORs which appeared around that time. Things get more on line with the extended version of "Edges" which manages to be nimble and quick-paced while retaining an adrenaline-rush feminine sense of angry drama. It certainly makes up for the retro lacklustre of the last few tracks. This disc and indeed the album closes with an extended version of "Ocean" which is again a much more rich and mature music - and actually quite appealing to my maturing taste. Strangely enough, even away from the retro electro tracks, it reminds me of JOHN FOXX, only with the huge beauty of tracks like "Your Dress" and even later recordings. I kinda feel there's too much coincidence here for him not to have been an influence somewhere along the line. This track would definitely be their bid at the National charts (and they deserved the success!).

Overall their career has been changeable enough to make this an uneven but worthwhile album. For me the first disc is definitely worth the money, with the second being patchy, but at least it lets you see where they have come from.

I'm not really convinced this is intended as a 'Best Of...' compilation as they have left quite a lot out. Guess it's a hearty slice of what they have been up to in recent years. If you're interested in hearing their music, this is probably the best album to start your search from.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.

Electronics are very much to the forefront with the opening track on this mini album - warmed up but still sizzling with the electromotive force we all know & love. The harmonic vocals on this remind me a lot of MJ's own MARTYN BATES although the actual words, spoken by BERGAMINI come across almost vocoded. Dreamy & drifting, yes it is, but built on a soft dance structure which belongs to dark, fragrant, warm nights, in intimate places. The second track follows suit for the low, heated feel of Med nights - not the sonic blasting Ibiza club sound but something altogether more passive & lulling. Reminds me a lot of the more low-gear music POESIE NOIRE sometimes create - this has the body-temperature-warmth of the most memorable sexual encounter - heated, velvet soft, low & slightly dangerous. The third track is a brief experimental foray into some corner of a mad Electro-Genius's eldritch castle-top laboratory. "Drift" keeps it's head low, revisiting the opening track, this time with the vocals coming from the female side of the group. Midway through it changes course, assuming a harder kick drum, drifting-yes-drifting along in hot dub subbasement, a place ten thousand miles from any place remotely connected to the place we actually call Dub. The penultimate piece is a soft wander through synth's lost past - a mutant offspring of HUMAN LEAGUE's "Dignity Of Labour part 4". The final piece is more beat than rhythm - again the passive, almost vocoder-altered voice which sounds not unlike U2's "Numb" - an emotionally-restrained version of one of K.C.'s most popular tracks - again as warm & soft as the most intimate of kisses. Mixed to sound more intimately sexual than any of the groups who exploit such imagery - the sweet innocence of earlier works is gone - a more worldly, infinitely less virginal sound has taken it's place. KIRLIAN CAMERA have come of age, and are making up for lost time.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.