Retail Therapy...



!!!/Out Hud - "Lab Remix Series Vol. 2" Split EP

Another piecemeal offering from these two (or is it this one, I'm not entirely sure where !!! ends and Out hud starts) bands, damn it release proper albums! It's older stuff from 98 and 99, and it kind of shows, the !!! track is OK, but not quite as funky as Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story), it doesn't make me want to dance like there new stuff. Out Hud contribute an original track with a couple of remixes, which are OK, but again not as good as the tracks on S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.



Blink 182 - I Miss You

I've tried to download this a few times off various P2P file sharing networks with out much success, so I've had to stump up £2.99 for a two track CD which I kind of resent. However it's a song I wanted to own since it's really rather nice, as a general rule of thumb if a song has a cello, a nice piano line and a soppy title I'll like it - if you can shoehorn Kid606, and anyone from Anticon or Def Jux in there I'll love it, although I'm pretty sure such a combination is impossible. Anyway, back to the song - it's rather good, definitely worth giving the time of day to even if it is from a bunch of corporate sell-outs!



Lolita Storm - Studio 666 Smack Addict Commandos / I Am Your Enemy

Before listening to this you really need to listen to the wonderful "Girls Fucking Shit Up", 15 tracks in about 20 minutes and responsible for giving the world one of my favourite song titles: "Hot Lips, Wet Pants", just savour that title for a minute, roll it around your tongue..."Hot Lips, Wet Pants". Fandabeedoze! Basically Lolita Storm are three very scary ladies with very short attention spans (subtleties such as singing in tune are thrown out of the window fairly quickly), and someone called Jimmy Too Bad on production duties who likes to skip through meadows with flowers until he finds a pig to fuck - according to there website anyway. For this release they have a go at songs that have a 4 minute time span, and they even try harmonys *gasp*, I think a bit of charm is lost because of that, but it still makes a refreshing change to 'normal' pop music.



Alias - Eyes Closed EP

Alias is part of the anticon roster, and like cLOUDDEAD he has a very Boards of Canada feel, the tracks have more in common with ambient music rather than hip hop. This EP has a definite grower feel to it, on the first couple of listens it's all very nice but doesn't sink in. However I've had it on my mp3 player whilst walking around and I'm beginning tp appreciate it more - file under subtle yet fulfilling.



The Bad Plus - Give

I've seen this band described as a jazz rock band, I can see why - although they have a traditional piano trio lineup (piano, bass, drums) they slip a few cover versions of modern rock songs such as Velouria by the Pixies, Iron Man by Black Sabbath and (gulp) Knowing Me Knowing You by Abba - and they play everything very loudly. Lots of interesting jazz freak outs and even a bit of 'boogie-woogie' for want of a better phrase, something for everyone.



Themselves - Them

(Sorry I'm getting bored of all this writing - quick reviews from now on). First album from Themselves, great vocals from Dose One, with some jolly good production from Jel, who was only 18 when he first started the album, talented git!



Part Chimp - Chart Pimp

Balls out "raaawk" from some of Mogwai's friends. Very very loud.



Donna Summer vs Ove Naxx

No, not Donna Summer, this one does a take on Disco Gabber, sort of - very energetic copyright infringing dance music. Ove Naxx takes over for the last half of the CD and introduces the world to some proper Japaese noisecore. Cool.