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Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (23 ratings)

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Helios - Ayres - 24-Jan-08 05:25 PM
So the press release for this talks about how this is the release where Keith Kenniff "finds his voice" or some such nonsense. Frankly, I'd really rather it remained lost if this is the sort of thing we're looking forward to from now on. Let's be perfectly frank: If there was one thing missing from albums under the Helios moniker, it most certainly wasn't some thin, reedy and ultimately featherweight vocals slathered with reverb and spouting truly forgettable lyrics. In fact, given how typically strong the music on Ayres is(much more so than even the previous album), it's that much more distressing when it's overlaid with the banality of Kenniff's utterly wimpy indie-rock vocal stylings.

While I don't think it's bad to experiment with new ideas or styles it's also a good idea to recognize your limitations, and giving in to the temptation to nail down every idea into concrete lyrical form rather than let the music speak for itself smacks of desperation and really seems like a missed opportunity. Especially given the strengths of the previous Helios releases, this just comes off as trying to do too much with far too little.

Reload - Amenity EP - 30-Mar-06 08:12 AM
"Amenity" is quite possibly one of the most beautiful Reload tracks ever created. Beautiful and haunting, and unlike most of the Reload catalogue, this track is more like a Global Communication song with heavier beats....

...at least, if you play it at the wrong speed. I had this for YEARS without realizing that it's supposed to be played at 45, not 33 RPM. Oh well. It's still great, just a little faster than I thought.

Lateduster - Easy Pieces - 21-Mar-06 07:51 PM
In it's last days, Merck seems to have opened up to more than just electronified hip-hop. "Easy Pieces", along with the albums by Tiki Obmar, give us a small glimpse of where the label may have been headed. The second track off this is a real winner- mellow groove with a synchronized organ/bass duet that shuffles along quite nicely. Sure, this album is a bit of candy floss, but every label needs a break from all the seriousness sometimes.

m² - The Bitter End - 18-Mar-06 09:19 AM
Cold, dark and oppressive, just the way we likes it. Lots of nice nasty voice samples overlaid on top of some hideously creepy electronics and ambience. Nice to listen to with all the lights turned off, my precious.

Coldcut - Everything Is Under Control - 16-Jan-06 11:19 AM
Where are the Coldcuts of yesteryear? Not only is this not innovative or interesting in any way, it also sounds utterly dated and smacks of a poorly-timed rap/rock attempt at relevance in a musical world that has grabbed hold of the Coldcut sampling aesthetic and moved far, far ahead. Embarrassingly bad, "heavy" guitars and shoddy beats, combined with some truly lame generic "political" lyrics. Look, I hate the King Bush II regime as much as anyone else, but this is really just sad.

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