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• Electronic Music

Dive - Scraping Tokyo '95 - 13-Aug-09 07:52 PM
Of all the live albums Dive have issued, this is the one to own. For sheer brutality and mental disintegration it is impossible to top Scraping Tokyo 95. Do as the liner notes command and play at maximum volume.

Perhaps the setting influenced his performance, Dirk Ivens sounds absolutely unhinged. The sheer anger sealed onto this disc bristles with an animosity unmatched in the annals of electronic performance. To own this thing is to feel the blood seeping out of its case and into whatever you chose to play this creature through.

I can smell the smoke and feel the strobes punctuating every word and assuredly spastic twitching gesture. If only more recordings had been made from this four day tour of Japan.

The set list is primarily composed of material from the then-newly issued studio album Concrete Jungle, although plenty of covers and even work from the First Album sneak out of the speakers. It just blows my mind how much bombast Dive pack into what they do with such a minimum of not only equipment but also vocal input. Many of the tracks on Scraping Tokyo 95 are distorted rhythms and the screaming sometimes possessed sounding voice of Dirk Ivens.

If it gets any rawer than this from Mr. Ivens, I would be tempted to nail boards across my windows so as to keep the inherent psychosis of this album intact. I like it yes sir, I do.

Olive - Trickle - 15-Feb-09 05:59 PM
Heartbreak. That is what this album is the embodiment of. Years may have passed since its original release (almost a decade) but Olives message endures even though they do not. It is difficult to understand why they went away after this album but fortunately, the work speaks for itself.

Songs like "Indulge Me" and "Push" are absolutely devastating in their beauty. The orchestrations in the latter underline and emphatically highlight a message no listener can turn away from. There is much passion in this aural tome, they may have just been a flash in the pan to the clubs but for those of us who studied their work closely it is the same as having someone around you know better than yourself and vice versa.

Intimacy phobic types had best give this one a miss, Ruth Anns vocals are pure unadulterated glittering desire.

Johnny Cash - Unearthed - 09-Feb-09 08:09 PM
The breadth and depth of Johnny Cashs career is difficult at best to summarize and impossible to quantify by the songs themselves. It is therefore advantageous beyond belief that this box set was issued some years back, Unearthed truly demonstrates just how diverse Cash was and what pull he had in the musical world well beyond the rather diminutive confines of Nashville.

A system he had no use for whatsoever.

Take a look in the liner notes and youll find everyone from Fiona Apple to Nick Cave as collaborators. Legend does not do The Man In Black justice. Flawed genius is more what I would term his incredible canon of work. Flawed, by the way, only by his own humanity which he understood better than most of us ever will. In my mind, theres no one to replace him and thats the bitterest pill of all to swallow.

Sit back and listen through all five discs, time will melt away and youll be right there in the cabin with JC as he puts his all into those gnarled fingers. Its a riveting world he shows us within the scope of Unearthed and if you dont have this set put down your damn mp3 player, go outside and seek this thing out. Seriously. This is definitive work, the substance of the soul.

Portion Control - Archive - 22-Apr-07 05:57 AM
Never before has so much electronic music history been contained in such a tidy and well-constructed box. If youve ever been curious as to who or what Portion Control are about, heres your chance. Almost everything from their first run (1980-86) can be found within "Archives" vast scope. Classic albums such as 1982s "I Staggered Mentally" are finally available to a wider audience. An entire disc is dedicated to their singles, which include the seminal cuts "Raise The Pulse" and, of course, "Chew You to Bits".

Upon purchasing this thing, you may find your faith in a lot of the so-called "innovators" of electronic music faultering. Only Cabaret Voltaires "Attic Tapes" set comes close to this monster of a release.

Equally impressive are the posters which come with this set and interestingly enough amalgamate several PC designs into their layout. This is immaculately planned out and will further demonstrate how Portion Control are more vital than ever. No collection should be without this.

Klinik 7 Vidna Obmana - Greed - 20-Apr-07 06:55 PM
This being the second in a planned series of seven, youd expect it to settle down into an established pattern. It does not. The spectacular pairing of Verhaeghen and Obmana continues to pay handsome dividends. On this particular excursion we find the collaboration taking a darker, less obvious turn into uncharted territory. These two merge their musical styles together so seamlessly its downright scary at some points.

Greed comes highly recommended for those who have enjoyed Kliniks brilliant recent releases and are looking for even more of a head trip than "Akhet" provided. Once again, there are no vocals to distract the listener from being totally immersed into the masterful sonic architecture Klinik and Obmana have conjured.