CD Releases: February 2003 updated:10/12/2003
FREAKS Man Who Lived Underground CD/2x12"
(Music For Freaks)
File Under: Freaks / MFF / House
MFFCD005/VMFFLP005
"This album is our fuck you to the industry." Luke Solomon
For the first time since its incendiary and epoch-defining explosion in 1988 dance music stands at something of a crossroads. Following years of boom, boom, boom - and we’re not just referring to the hypnotic beat of the kick drum - UK dance music has reached an impasse. The era of the superclub, for the moment anyhow, has passed, probably not consigned to the dustbin of history, but looking like a dinosaur from another age. And whereas throughout the ‘90s house music was a byword for all things hip, positive and, perhaps most vitally, forward thinking, nowadays the majority of what’s sold, packaged, marketed and disseminated as house/dance music through the lazy mainstream media appears to be nothing more than reactionary, homogenous, lowest common denominator fodder rubbish. Enter stage left, Justin Harris and Luke Solomon, collectively known as Freaks. Yet don’t get the impression that Justin or Luke have given up on house music. Far from it. No, their collective spleen venting is rooted in an obsessive love for the sonic and social possibilities of dance music. It’s just that such a love allows them to see the flaws of the music they cherish tenfold. So whilst both acknowledge the vast array of jaw-dropping and trainer-scuffing innovative house music still being made ("There’s great music out there," rallies Justin, "but very few people playing it.") they realise something has to give. Hence their third album, The Man Who Lived Underground. Like its predecessors - 2000’s The Beat Diaries and last year’s Meanwhile Back At The Disco - it’s more deranged disco deviancy released on their own Music For Freaks imprint. Only this time a little angrier. An antidote to the bland, beige commodification of house The Man Who… is both an amusing and earnest trip into the subterranean delights that dance music offers. Rejecting much of deep house’s recent lapse into staid orthodoxy, it’s an album that’s in thrall to house music’s infinite template without being beholden to any one shade. Consequently ‘The Man Who...’ is the sound of house music reclaiming its soul. Its sparse, spacious vibrations may speak of an uneasy and sometimes suffocating urban psychosis but ultimately it’s a warm and welcoming experience. With assorted side swipes at coked-up, girl with trainer types, ‘80s revivalists and people poncing around in nightclubs forgetting the real reason they should be there, it’s an angry, bold, passionate and defiant piece of work, but a work that never loses sight of the dancefloor or the CD player at home. Freaks have got the balls to stand up and be counted. Have you? Completely stunning!CAT POWER You Are Free CD
(Matador)
File Under: Cat Power
OLE4272
The first album of original material in five years from Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) picks up where 1998's Moon Pix left off. You Are Free is an evocative composite of soulful melodies, with stripped-down piano and hushed guitar-and-vocal ballads. It's a surprisingly upbeat affair, featuring a few rockers, including He War, with Dave Grohl (ex-Nirvana and in Foo Fighters) on drums. The new record finds Marshall changing directions from song to song, traversing from modest acoustic work to electric indie rock. In the meantime, agree on this: You Are Free will undoubtedly rise to the top of any self respecting cat fan's pile. It should win her a few new pals, too.
CALEXICO Feast Of Wire CD
(Quarterstick Records / Spunk)
File Under: Calexico
URA084
After the jaw dropping releases The Black Light and The Hot Rail, Calexico offers Feast of Wire, their fully realised new release. Feast of Wire discovers a band with the confidence and ability to exceed all expectations and push their music into lush, new areas. This record is undoubtedly Calexico's most varied recording to date, with flavours ranging from understated piano to full-on jazz to speak-and-spell dance lesson as well as the trademark Morricone-mariachi of the southwest. A masterpiece.
GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR YANQUI U.X.O CD
(Constellation Records)
File Under: Calexico
CST024CD
Despite being an instrumental band, Montreal-based Godspeed You! Black Emperor have managed to become one of the most overtly political voices in current indie rock. Their clever and obtuse packaging has always done their work for them, but in the past, they have also relied on field recordings and spoken-word snippets to break through a drone or a cacophony and shock the listener into a realisation. U.X.O. is unexploded ordnance is landmines is cluster bombs. Yanqui is post-colonial imperialism is international police state is multinational corporate oligarchy. Godspeed you! Black emperor is complicit is guilty is resisting. The new album is just music. Recorded by Steve Albini at electrical audio in chicago. Mixed by Howard Bilerman and godspeed you! Black emperor at the hotel2tango in Montrèal.
PAVEMENT Slanted & Enchanted Luxe & Reduxe 2CD
(Matador)
File Under: Pavement
OLE5572
Now a double CD with the two 1992 Peel sessions and the 1992 Brixton Academy concert! The re-mastered version of their classic debut inc 48 tracks, 23 unreleased recordings and 8 unreleased songs Along with the original album and the unreleased material, you get the Watery Domestic EP, the Trigger Cut and Summer Babe B-sides, and compilation tracks from the same period. In slipcase, with thick 62-page booklet including tons of never-before seen photos and pictures from the period, along with liner notes from band members and assorted hangers-on. A formidable document.
JAMIE ANDERSON Nite:Life 013 CD
(NRK Sound Division)
File Under: NRK / Jamie Anderson / Dance
NRKMX013
Nite:life 013 lands in the very capable hands of Jamie Anderson, a pioneer of the jazz and funk influenced tech-house that has picked up an army of fans across the globe. Jamie’s diverse sounds can be heard on his debut long player, Blue Music, which was released on NRK in the fall of 2001, and this nite:life mix timely brings things up to date, from the deep opening of Spincycle’s Drug Games to the brooding acid of Josh Wink’s mix of Sieg Uber Die Sonne, the old skool 909 shuffle of Barada and the soulful robotics of Cajmere’s Sometimes I Do to the sweet reggae vibes of Miguel Migs as well as his own mix of Piha . nite:life 013 is a varied mix and one that represents Jamie’s ‘no boundaries’ policy to music. The best policy to have, some may say….
FOOD Various CD/2x12"
(Low Life Records)
File Under: Hip Hop / Beatz
LOW21CD/VLOW21LP
"This meal is best enjoyed with a nice refreshing beverage or extra herbs where deemed necessary, feel free to season with bass and treble according to y0our own taste. This recipe can be enjoyed by many, please introduce others. Repeat playing as often as you wish. Enjoy!"
14 tracks deep, on double vinyl or CD, getting mad props and already set to be rated as one of the Hip Hop albums of the year, FOOD is finally served. This is Low Life's first compilation album and it's a varied collection encompassing many styles of straight-up, solid Hip Hop featuring: Jehst, Rodney P, Yungun, Task Force, Mystro, Harry Love, Braintax, Ricochet (of Universal Soldiers) and more!
in music releases are available at all good record stores nation-wide