suppose I better update this...



Faust vs Dalek - Derbe Respect, Alder

Faust are a German band, the phrase associated with them most is 'kraut rock', a pretty silly description really which applied to several hip German bands which have nothing in common other than there country of origin. I don't know much about Faust other than I knew a girl at University who had inherited several vinyl copies of there early work which she used to play on one of those old portable record players, I can't say they did much for me at the time (the band, not the girl). Dalek (there should be one of those umlaut things over the 'a' but I can't be arsed to find it; so it's pronnounced more like 'Dialect') are a band I do know about, they've worked with Kid606 and Techno Animal so there noise credentials are in place. In there own time they produce some pretty bleak experimental hip hop. On this CD Faust's rhythmn section provide some harsh industrial beat-scapes for dalek's MC and DJ to fight through - the whole collaboration is very much worthy of the 'vs' tag; it's harsh, slightly violent, not easy to listen to - but that's kind of the point. Rewarding if you have the patience.



Wire Tapper 11

Free CD from The Wire magazine, so full of pretensious nonsense! Some good stuff though: To Rocco Rot do a fine two step number, Jah Wobble pumps out some quality ambient dub, but it's the Arthur Russell track that stands out to me. He was a cello player who produced ambient and some disco music in the eighties - sadly he died in relative obscurity of AIDS in 1992, however it seems that he left quite a back catalogue behind. The track here has a sort of New Order vibe, with heavily processed cello, a basic electro beat and strange mournful lyrics about a skylight. I really really must start listening to him properly.



Pan Sonic - Kesto (234.48:4)

See those numbers after the title? That means that this album is 234 minutes 48 seconds long, spread over 4 discs. There in lies the problem - it's way too long! The first two CDs are fair enough, some pretty interesting Finnish electronica, disc 3 starts OK with this weird ultra-sonic bass sample that does some weird physological things if you have it loud enough, but then it goes all ambient... and dull. The 4th CD is one single 60 minute long drone track (ie no melody, no beats) - my god, it's not easy to listen to. Frankly this could have been a mighty fine electronica album if they'd stuck to the first couple of CDs, as it is, it's too long!



Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses

Blimey, I don't think the maggot's (proper Slipknot fans who dress up in boiler suits and bring dead animals to there concerts) will like this. They've gone soft! Well sort of, there are plenty of typical 'vomit your lungs up' numbers to listen to whilst thinking bad thoughts - but there are 3 songs that, well, in my book count as ballads. Circle could happily be played by a bunch of sad cowboys round a campfire, Vermillion, Pt 2 is shockingly personal, dare I say it quite beautiful with it's gently strummed guitar, simple piano line and is that a cello I can here? And harmonys? It's a love song for gods sake! And the last song sort of reminds me of a Sophia B-side. Let me be clear, it's not all introspection and sad songs, there are some nasty (in a good way) songs here - but it's nice to see them experimenting with there softer cudlier side. A great album.



Devendra Banhart - Rejoicing in the Hands

I bought this album because of a few reasons: Michael Gira of Swans and Angels of Light fame has kind of taken Devendra under his wing, I felt that I needed something to offset the Slipknot CD, and I've seen some good reviews of it. It's pretty timeless stuff, just Devendra with his odd warbly voice, his amazing guitar picking skills, and a few extra bits of subtle instrumentation - it's basically folk music, it sounds like it could have been recorded anytime after about 1920. A nice album, which I have a feeling will become a very popular Sunday morning CD.