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Name: niall Home Page: http://syncretism.net Member Since: Oct 06, 2003 Rank: 239 Average Vote Received: Needs Minor Changes (3.00, 1 votes) Rated 244 releases, average: 4.23 Location: Q 617 134 Irish Grid Profile: Nothing in my collection is for sale or trade. Please don't enquire. Thanks.

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Beyond Dawn - 13-Dec-05 01:22 AM
Beyond Dawn have changed their sound as often as they have labels. In their early incarnation as a melodic black metal band with prominent trombones, it was apparent that they had a more deliberately eclectic agenda than their label-mates on Misanthropy and the like. 1999's _In Reverie_ stands now as a statement of intent, augmenting their idiosyncratic metallic sound with programmed beats and a somber intimacy that recalled _Great Annihilator_-era Swans {covering Joy Division will do that}. Subsequent titles _Electric Sulking Machine_ and _Frysh_ refined this aesthetic further while pushing the electronics into the fore and the musical content further afield. One to watch.

Nostromo - The Imperial March - 27-Nov-05 11:55 AM
This is worth owning for the "Alien" and "Black Hole" edits, but steer well clear of it if you already own those releases. "The Imperial March" sounds nothing like the disco _Star Wars_ cash-ins that preceded it by a few years; it doesn't even sound like the same act that produced the B-side tracks. It sounds more like a particularly vindictive occupational therapy session with a cheap {even then} Casio. Avoid.

Gescom - Key Nell - 12-Feb-05 05:23 AM
autechre/gescom's rob brown and sean booth have had more hits than misses, despite their sketchy software / technik navel gazing sessions from the last few years. some of their strongest efforts are variations on a loose theme, key nell. remixes, derivations and reinterpretations of this song rhizomed throughout their catalogue in the mid to late nineties, yielding a fascinating body of work that really should be considered in its full scope eventually, perhaps as a compilation. for now, though, we're fortunate to have this cd reissue lovingly recreated (cd-sized bubblewrap and all!), of the boys at their peak.

key nell is simultaneously a technique (like those rapid vocal stutter-effects), melodic hook and compositional element that binds all the songs into a modular meta-song. it's a sly wink and a reward for the attentive listener and dedicated consumer (skam stuff ain't always cheap); i can't recall offhand any other artist who's developed this idea so extensively. this is no finished song with various live jams a la the grateful dead - some songs are so distinctive one doesn't catch on for multiple listens. try mixing chiastic slide's cichli over track four and you'll find that they're almost the same song. sorta.

all the mid-period autechre-isms we've grown to love are in full effect here - mechanical, severely downpitched samples that sound more like clacking factories than alien craft, uncannily funky basslines that twist like moebius-strips and those trademark haunting melodies. it all sounds very 1997, very non-laptop to my ears, but in that time, no other group has surpassed this, not even autechre themselves, though not for want of trying.

Nostromo - Alien - 26-Oct-04 11:51 PM
Released in 1979, "Alien" is sure to to be the first song to sample the film of the same name. Opening with the eerie strains of Jerry Goldsmith's score, the song whooshes quickly into incidental electronics and a spiky, discordant melody, played over galloping bassline and an insistent disco thump. It's a great ride.

"Around the World in Eighty Seconds"' nimble bassline and stabbing guitar chords are more typically discoid, but its satisfyingly whooshy ARP (i think?) melodies are as lyrical as anything Arthur Russell gave us, and it has a great beat that would mix well with Legowelt or Bangkok Impact. I'm surprised I haven't heard this in I-F's sets...

United States Of America, The - 23-Sep-04 08:21 PM
While most obviously an antecedent of Broadcast's icy, out-rocked torch songs (indeed, "The American Metaphysical Circus" out-Broadcasts Broadcast), you can hear the United States of America's nervous, modulated psychedelia in acts as diverse as Current 93 and Pram. This was daring stuff, even in 1968, when seemingly every band was splicing tape, echoplexing the hell out of everything and generally being far-out. USA have long been relegated to the specialist and trainspotter bins, but their debut is as worthy of discovery and critical re-evaluation as Can and Neu! were a few years ago. Necessary history lessons, here.

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