Alternative TV, THE IMAGE HAS CRACKED

Deptford Fun City, 1978; reissued by Cherry Red with bonus tracks; available

CD: 20 tracks, 73:34

ATV founder (and mainstay) Mark Perry was the editor of the legendary punk zine SNIFFIN' GLUE. That being said, it's obvious he viewed punk more as an attitude than a sound, for Alternative TV rarely ever stuck to punk's "rules". The early singles "Life", "How Much Longer?", and "You Bastard" (all present, with the latter two appearing in different versions) are most definitely UK '70s punk, and fine examples at that! However, the debut single "Love Lies Limp" is decidedly reggae-influenced. THE IMAGE HAS CRACKED, their first album, veers all over the place stylistically. Some tracks were recorded in a studio, while others are either straight live takes or what appear to be collages of studio and live material. The straightforward punk rock of "Action Time Vision" and "Viva La Rock and Roll" are musically quite accomplished, but the experimental material makes thems somewhat tame. Opening track "Alternatives" starts with a synthesizer noodle (played by Jools Holland!) before going into a krautrocky instrumental track accompanied by Perry trying to get the audience to use the stage as a forum. He gets progressively angrier at them for acting up, finally exploding when a fight breaks out. There's also the interesting cover of Frank Zappa's "Why Don't You Do Me Right" and the hypnotic "Splitting In Two". My personal favorite is the atmospheric "Nasty Little Lonely", which has a nice slow buildup to an explosive release. One of the bonus tracks, "Another Coke", is a live number recorded for the album but rejected due to space. As a whole, THE IMAGE HAS CRACKED is a bit schizophrenic, but it does cohere into a great early post-punk album with repeated listens. After this, Alternative TV would shed their few "punk" tendencies and go deep into experimental music. The bonus track "The Force Is Blind" is much more in line with this industrial direction. It's hard to find, but the second album VIBING UP THE SENILE MAN especially shows this side of the band to great effect.

MORE ARCTIC HYSTERIA/SON OF ARCTIC HYSTERIA - THE LATER YEARS OF EARLY FINNISH AVANT-GARDE

Love Records, 2005; available

2 discs; disc 1 (MORE ARCTIC HYSTERIA):15 tracks, 76:07; disc 2 (SON OF ARCTIC HYSTERIA): 19 tracks, 73:48

Picking up where ARKTINEN HYSTERIA left off, this double-disc feast of experimental sounds covers 1970 to 1990 (with two bonus '60s tracks for good measure!). As the liner notes point out, the first disc leans more towards jazz and modern compositon, while the second is more on the rock side. Let's plunge into the track-by-track description, shall we?

MORE ARCTIC HYSTERIA

1.Pekka Streng, "Olen Väsynyt" ("I'm Tired", 1970) - A weird bit of prog-folk from this psychonaut. The main almost synth-like drone is actually produced by a Jew's harp. Nice opening track!

2.Karelia, "Kahella Sarvella" ("With Two Horns", 1972) - This is a somewhat grating rendition of a folk song. It's fairly close to the Godz or the Fugs. Free jazz guy Edward Vesala is involved, though!

3. Samsa Trio, "Kiven Poiminta" ("Pickin' Up A Rock", 1972) - It's our old friend Pekka Airaksinen! Here, he teams up with fellow ex-Sperm members Antero Helander and Mattijuhani Koponen to play free jazz. It's very different from the Sperm and Airaksinen's solo work, but it's very nice indeed!

4. The Omar Williams Experience, "Democracy" (circa 1971-1972)- Airaksinen and Helander team up with American poet Williams for a more chaotic form of free jazz. This is also a really good track. It ends with a brief but amusing recital from Williams.

5. Osmo Lindeman, "Ritual" (1972) - Early electronic bliss! Lindeman's concrete gem is intended to gently parody religious services. It rightfully won an award (in Italy!) the year it was composed. I highly recommend this for fans of Xenakis et al.

6. Jarmo Sermilä, "Electrocomposition 1" (1976) - Another unjustly little-known piece of early electronic wizardry! Performed solely on the EML 101, this squelchy delight deserves to be heard. Thank goodness for compilations like this!

7. Åke Andersson, "Kaukonen Ennen Vanhaan" ("Kaukonen In The Old Days", 1977) - This guy was one half of the Finnish equivalent of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The song is a shifting electronic landscape meant to evoke a Sami village. It accomplishes everything the Residents' ESKIMO meant to in just six minutes and fifty seconds. Amazing!

8. Gandhi-Freud, "A" (1975) - Airaksinen again, here performing solo under an alias. This short track is just over two minutes of weird and wonderful synth squiggles. It's not Airaksinen's most impressive work, but it's fun.

9. Jone Takamäki Trio, "Bhupala 1" (1982) - Normally a chaotic punk jazz outfit, Takamäki and company played a more ambient style of free jazz on their second album. This track, based on an Indian traditional theme, is taken from that album. It's a great example of Indian-themed jazz, with definite raga touches and a drifting dreamy atmosphere. Very nice indeed!

10. Lauri Nykopp, "Y - Part V" (1982) - Taken from a bizarre free improv ritual recording (!), this features Nykopp playing a didgeridoo near a haystack. There's quite a bit of silence incorporated into the piece as well. It's atmospheric, strange, and completely fascinating.

11. Edward Vesala, "Maailman Reuna" ("Edge Of The World", 1982) - A completely unexpected proggy excursion from Vesala and company. It's barely over two minutes, but it's a blast of fun that resembles early Soft Machine mixed with equally early Henry Cow. I really want to hear the rest of this album!

12. Matti and Pirjo Bergström, "Virkamiehet - excerpt from The Forgotten Horizon" ("Bureaucrats", 1980) - A husband and wife duo scoring an avant-garde dance production with catchy-yet-strange synthpop. It's great!

13. Ilkka Volanen, "Kahlaaja - excerpt" ("Wader", 1982) - Oh man, I wish they included this whole track! This is ten and a half minutes from a twenty-four minute piece. What IS here is an amazing and moody sound collage. This easily rivals anything Nurse With Wound was doing at the same time. Wonderful!

14. Kaj Chidenius, "W" (1964) - One of the two '60s bonus tracks, this is a Dadaist prankster reciting Schwitters' poem. In other words, it's the Finnish equivalent of "W" being said in various funny ways for just under a minute. Amusing but not essential.

15. M.A. Numminen, "Oigu-S" (1964) - This, on the other hand, is absolutely essential! It's a collage tape assembled by Numminen and Erkki Kurenniemi. Originally used to back up Numminen's performance on Kurenniemi's "voice machine", it stands on its own as yet another fascinating sound collage from Finland's early avant scene.

SON OF ARCTIC HYSTERIA

1. Kollaa Kestää, "Tähtien Rauha" ("Star Peace", 1978) - These guys were known as a punk band, but here they perform drum machine-led spacey new wave with moody vocals. It's a lot better than that sounds!

2. Aavikon Kone Ja Moottori, "Rakkaudella Sinulle" ("With Love To You", 1980) - Weird group chanting with electronic backing is cut off by the sound of a bird cage being beaten by a relay. Strange, but not bad.

3. Kari Peitsamo, "Puinen Koira" ("Wooden Dog", 1978) - The puckish Peitsamo was mostly known for quirky pop. This is the absolute opposite of quirky pop! For seven minutes, he produces some awful screeches from a violin. It's noisy, it's irritating, and it's amazing.

4. Yhtye, "Apatian Tanssi" ("Dance Of Apathy", 1979) - Yhtye's drummer pounds a bass drum in a rhythmic way for fifty-eight seconds. I love this minimalist joke more than I should.

5. The Silver, "Do You Wanna Dance" (1980) - Oh boy, HERE'S a monster! Three teens ("Harry Angel", "Calamity Jane", and an unknown third member; yes, that's ALL the info available!) destroy the classic rock tune and record the results to some kind of cheap tape recorder. This one has to be heard to be believed, but imagine the Shaggs as punks/noise-rockers and you'll have an idea. The shrieking breakdown is especially amusing. I genuinely love this song, even though it's truly untamed and unmusical.

6. Hefty Load, "Schrecklich" (1981) - Apparently put together to use up free studio time, Hefty Load plays a weird and loose style of space rock. The synth player was also the producer, and he had never played a synth before. Interesting track, really!

7. Vaaralliset Lelut, "Alkuasukkaiden Lääkkeet" (1984) - Would you believe this is catchy instrumental dub reggae performed by Finns? Would you believe it's also really good? Well, whether you believe it or not, both are true.

8. Jaakko Kangosjärvi, "Musiikki Ja Urheilu" ("Music And Sports", 1981) - Silly minimal synthpop with female vocals sung in German-accented Finnish. Utterly disposable (and those synths sound CHEAP!), but absolutely endearing. I find myself listening to this one a lot.

9. Tapa Paha Tapa, "I Love It" (1983) - This was some sort of collective band, but only two members play on this track. It's a nice and moody number, somewhat like Heldon. I'd love to hear more of this group.

10. Swissair, "Baggage Claim" (circa 1981) - Another collective, these guys seemed to be the heirs to the Sperm's throne. One of them plays a repetitive guitar line while two others play his pickups and pedals. There's also a primitive drum machine clunking along. It's utterly hypnotic and could easily be mistaken for solo Airaksinen (which is a VERY high compliment!).

11. Harri Tuominen, "Lippukunta" ("Brigade", 1984) - Interesting post-punk collage piece. It was inspired by Expressionist cinema, and it's fittingly moody and cinematic.

12. Suomen Poliisit, "Mihin Sie Meet Keijo" ("Where Yuh Goin', Keijo", 1984) - This is actually the cult act Sleepy Sleepers under a pseudonym. For this project, they played in a gloriously noisy and amateurish fashion to parody punk and noise-rock. "Hey Joe" gets this treatment here, and the results are wonderfully sloppy and nasty.

13. Kansanturvamusiikkikomissio, "Kalinka" (1985) - It's probably no surprise that this band is usually referred to as KTMK! This furious hardcore number features some truly frenzied vocals and delightfully angular guitar. It does seem somewhat out of place, but I personally love KTMK, so I don't mind!

14. Joan Bennett Museo, "Empty Faces" (1984) - This is strange minimal pop that degrades into weird vocalisations. The group was an offshoot of a performance art troupe called Homo $. Decent, but not a standout.

15. 500 Kg Lihaa, "Pallokentällä" (1982) - Finnish no wave is the best way to describe this stunner. Maritaa Kuula gets progressively crazier with her vocals, at one point uttering shrieks that would put Galas to shame. The band nobly keeps up with repetitive organ, dual guitars, and a steady rhythm. These guys had a long career, and I intend to acquire more of their stuff.

16. Super Ladex, "Olet Valloissasi" ("You're In Your Power", circa 1981-1984) - This is an acquired taste, that's for sure! Three siblings made this chaotic burst: two boys, nineteen and ten respectively, and a six-year-old girl. They went around their house grabbing random junk and objects. It sounds like most of the lyrics (which come from labels, comic books, and the like) are screamed or shouted by the girl, but some of it could very well be the boys. It also sounds like this is possibly a bunch of smaller songs assembled together noisecore-style, but there's no proof that this was the intent. While it's pretty funny and even creative, it didn't really need to run for eight minutes.

17. Gagarin-Kombinaatti, "Raskas" ("Heavy", 1984) - Early industrial from the Neubauten school. It's sadly short at only two minutes, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an amazing bit of grinding metallic synths and real sheet metal being pounded and drilled. Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic got his start here as well, and it's definitely interesting to hear what he was up to previously.

18. Jimi Tenor and his Shamans, "Le Petomane (380v)" (1990) - The most recent track on the collection is an interesting industrial piece by Tenor and his gang. There's some weird instrumentation, but the definite show stopper is the Sirkka II custom-built drum machine. I can't figure out how it works by looking at it, since it resembles a spinning wheel, but its thudding beats propel this nifty little tune. This one could honestly be mistaken for Test Dept.

19. Reinin Myrkky, "Snorkkelijenkka: ("Snorkel Jenka", 1989) - Closing out the collection is Tenor and some freinds parodying a jenka tune. It's an amusing blast of polka-esque silliness, and it's over in twenty-five seconds.

Overall, there's too many winning tracks on this album to grouse about any of the lesser numbers (and those are at worst merely interesting). It's a wonderful companion to ARKTINEN HYSTERIA or a perfect standalone primer. I strongly recommend finding a copy at all costs and blowing your mind.

A.R. Kane, 69 and "i"

Rough Trade, 1988; reissued by One Little Indian; available

10 tracks, 40:30



Rough Trade, 1989; reissued by One Little Indian; available

26 tracks, 67:51

It never ceases to amaze me that A.R. Kane aren't well known in the US. This duo (of Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala) were capable of some of THE most innovative music of the late '80s. The British press saddled them with the obnoxious moniker "the black Jesus and Mary Chain", which isn't even very accurate. Their early singles were slightly JAMC-ish*, but by the time of their debut LP 69, they were mining far stranger territory. Claiming to be interpreting the style of electric Miles Davis on rock instruments, they actually hit closer to a shoegazer/dub combination that was uniquely theirs. Perhaps Cocteau Twins would be a close comparison, but A.R. Kane are far more trippy and improvisational in nature. In fact, A.R. Kane coined the term "dream pop" just to describe their music! Five of the tracks feature extra instrumentation by other musicians, but this is limited to one or two extras per track. Everything else was programmed and performed by Rudy and Alex. The opening "Crazy Blue" and "Suicide Kiss" show A.R. Kane's versatility nicely. "Crazy Blue" is shoegazer gone pop, with a catchy beat anchoring the soaring vocals of Rudy (who starts off with some interesting glossolalia) and Maggie (his sister). At the other end of the spectrum, "Suicide Kiss" has a heavy industrial-esque beat and lots of feedback; Rudy's vocals here are another perfect match with the music. Other highlights include "Sulliday", with its controlled feedback and pounding drum programming, and the particularly psychedelic "Spermwhale Trip Over" (whose main lyric is the repeated "Here, in my LSDream"!) and "Baby Milk Snatcher" (the dub influence is especially apparent here). None of these ten songs has a wasted note, and if they had released nothing but the singles and this, they still would have had an impressive catalogue.

As it happens, 1989's "i" was a bit confusing. First off, the tracklist was divided into four suites of four songs, each represented by a card suit. There were also ten "jokers" ranging from five seconds to one and a half minutes. These interludes are mostly weird bits of noise and/or atmosphere (and they mostly fall in the thirty seconds or less range), but they are fairly entertaining. The songs themselves showed Alex and Rudy tackling a wide variety of styles. To be fair, they mostly succeeded. The unusually poppy first suite has some catchy winners in "A Love From Outer Space" and "Crack Up". However, "Snow Joke" and "What's All This Then?" are obviously weaker; the former sounds too much like generic late '80s dance music, while the latter sounds like a watered-down 69 outtake. The rest of the album gets better as it goes along, with plenty of unique pop ("Miles Apart", "Sugarwings"), moody psychedelia ("Conundrum", "Honeysuckleswallow), and high-octane thrash-gaze ("Supervixens", "Insect Love"). The main duo still performs most of the music themselves, but there are more guests here than on 69. The last three tracks are very nicely sequenced. "Sorry" is five seconds of record trickery and sampled dialogue, leading into the wonderfully dubby "Catch My Drift", ending with the sarcastic six-second "Challenge". True, they somewhat overstepped their limits here, but it's still a good album.

Definitely get 69 first, but once that hooks you, "i" should find a spot in your collection as well. The follow up REM"i"XES was a little too poppy for my tastes, and 1994's NEW CLEAR CHILD is a massively disappointing comeback. There has been talk of a singles collection, which is recommended should it ever be released.

*Alex and Rudy had their big break as part of M/A/R/R/S. This collaboration with Colourbox yielded the insanely popular "Pump Up The Volume".

Zyklon, THE HEARTLAND

GRiM, 2006; available

17 tracks, 71:02

Unknown to a lot of industrial fans, one of America's earliest groups of that sort came out of Grand Rapids, MI. Starting in 1979 as Art Damage, each member contributed vocals and a synthesizer. Steve Zuidema Zeeland used an ARP Axxe, Brian Younker a Korg MS-20, and Tom Purdy a Roland SH-1. Their obscurity is unfortunately easy to explain: Nobody was ready for them in Michigan, and audiences tended to be quite hostile*. This CD compiles Zyklon's self-titled 7" and the cassette-only HEARTLAND, both released in 1981 (plus one bonus track). Stylistically this is quite varied. "All Night War Film", "No Mexiko", and "Brand New Key" (yes, a Melanie cover!) fall on the synthpop side of things, with unusually emotive vocals accompanying the synth drones and blips. "Kelvin" and the HEARTLAND version of "Gary, IN"** feature factory rhythms as percussion; Purdy made these during his day job at a refrigerator plant. The two epics, "Amtrak" and "H", are each stunningly prophetic in their own ways. "Amtrak" is a Kraftwerk-inspired thrill ride, foreshadowing the later techno sound (and even Plastikman at times!). On the opposite end, "H" is a noisy slab of grinding sounds and drones; much later harsh and abstract noise can be traced to this track. Not a single experiment fails, and the whole compilation is a gem of obscure early industrial. This is especially recommended to fans of Throbbing Gristle, Ike Yard, and Cabaret Voltaire, but for historical value alone it belongs in every serious industrial library.

*The track "Zerfallen", which closed THE HEARTLAND, seems to capture one of these gigs. The audience doesn't cheer until Zyklon's power is cut!

**"Gary, IN" and "Part-Time" are present on the 7" and THE HEARTLAND, but in vastly different versions. The 7" version of "Part-Time", dating back to 1979, is the earliest Zyklon recording.

Einstürzende Neubauten, KALTE STERNE - EARLY RECORDINGS

Mute, 2004; available

13 tracks, 54:10

Previously reviewed here, most readers of this blog know Neubauten quite well. This album is a compilation of singles, EPs, and unreleased material covering the years 1980 to 1982. What's interesting is how much more accessible they were at the start! "Fuer Den Untergang", their first single, is minimal as all hell: pounding drums, a Korg MS-20, bass, and slide guitar form the basis of this early industrial treasure. The apparently unreleased remix, "Tan-Ze-Dub", is also included, and it is indeed a dub reconstruction. "Zuckendes Fleisch" is surprisingly accessible post-punk (even with an amplified metal spring), while "13 Loecher (Leben ist illegal)" is the beginning of Neubauten as we know them. This brief track features guitar, metal spring, and an electric drill tearing up a wood board! These tracks* were solely made by blixa Bargeld and Andrew Chudy (as is the creepy "Tagesschau-Dub"); the rest of the album features Alexander Hacke and F.M. Einheit, though not usually at the same time. "Kalte Sterne" (from the eponymous EP, included in its entirety) is the biggest shock. With its pretty tinkling keyboard and restrained vocals, this very well could have received radio play. All bets are off by the final two tracks, taken from the THIRSTY ANIMAL single. "Thirsty Animal" itself is an absolutely disturbing piece of noise bliss. Featuring guests Roland S. Howard (of the Birthday Party, guitar) and Lydia Lunch, it begins as a slow drone. It proceeds to become a creepy repetitive mass of pounding percussion, bizarre electronics, and Lunch's howling agonized vocals ("We'll bring out the leeches to suck the bloodless, bring out the leechessss"). The B-side, "Durstiges Tier" (which means "Thirsty Animal" in German!) is essentially a dub reworking. Allegedly, Bargeld had his body covered with contact mics, while F.M Einheit pounded out the rhythm ON BARGELD'S BODY. It's not quite as disturbing as "Thirsty Animal", but it's still not the sort of thing to listen to if you're paranoid. KALTE STERNE comes highly recommended to listeners interested in where it all began, and the more open-minded post-punk and industrial fans out there would probably find a lot to like here as well.

*Apparently, tracks two through six are the previously unreleased material.

Royal Trux, TWIN INFINITIVES

Drag City, 1990; available

15 tracks (but see the review for details), 68:41

Emerging out of the notorious Pussy Galore, Royal Trux was essentially Jennifer Herrema and Neil Hagerty. At this point, their addictions (mostly to heroin, but I'm fairly sure pot and psychedelics were involved as well) had gotten the best of them. Not that I'm complaining; the sort of music contained on TWIN INFINITIVES probably couldn't have been made otherwise. Where their first album sounded like zoned-out junkies trying to rock, TWIN INFINITIVES is an absolute monster of noise rock. Tape loops, shards of primitive synth, overdriven drum machines, and scratchy guitars form the basis of most of these tracks. The results are far closer to a mix of early industrial and dub than any sort of indie rock. Opening number "Solid Gold Tooth" is two minutes of Flash Gordon-esque ray gun sounds accompanying what could be another synth or a severely distorted guitar and the atonal howls of Hagerty and Herrema. "Jet Pet" is all squelchy machine beats, echoed noise guitar, and Herrema's anguished indecipherable drawl. The absolutely disturbing "Osiris" has an almost incongruously pretty flute buried behind more of Herrema's glossolalia* and more bizarrely processed sounds. The epic quarter-hour "(Edge Of The) Ape Oven"** starts almost normal, and never gets quite as druggy as the rest of the album, but it's still VERY far from radio fare. Closer "New York Avenue Bridge" features pretty atonal piano and a relatively restrained Herrema vocal, resulting in what might be the album's calmest moment (despite some fairly nasty lyrics). Other tracks have titles like "Yin Jim Versus The Vomit Creature", "Lick My Boots", and "Ratcreeps". If you can imagine what the songs DESCRIBED sound like, you have a good idea what you're in for with the rest of the album. Curiously, since this was originally a double LP, the CD is divided into four tracks. Thus, songs one through five are track one, six through eight are track two, "(Edge Of The) Ape Oven" occupies track three, and ten to fifteen take up track four. This is actually for the best; once you start this album, you can't skip tracks if you want the full effect. I consider this an unintentional masterpiece, but you definitely want to sample it before investing. Nothing else (bar HAND OF GLORY) truly compares to it. After TWIN INFINITIVES, Royal Trux would become steadily more accessible, ending their career as a fairly straightforward hard rock band. Out of the three experimental albums, TWIN INFINITIVES should be the starting point; the debut is much more structured, and HAND OF GLORY is another kind of monster altogether.

*As a side-note, I'm 100% convinced Courtney Love copped her vocal style from Jennifer Herrema. At times they're nearly indistinguishable.

**The now-out-of-print HAND OF GLORY was a delayed reissue of what was supposed to be Royal Trux's second album. The first track, "Domo Des Burros (Two Sticks)" has the same beat as the first half of "(Edge Of The) Ape Oven"; the multi-part "The Boxing Story" is somewhat close to Merzbow meets musique concrete. Believe it or not, TWIN INFINITIVES truly IS more accessible, but HAND OF GLORY is recommended to braver listeners.

Third Eye Foundation, IN VERSION

Linda's Strange Vacation, 1996; out of print

5 tracks, 48:38

After literally searching for it for twelve years, I FINALLY got this at a good price! This is both the second 3EF release and the hardest to find (I've actually seen/heard the rare singles, but I'd never seen a physical copy of this until I purchased it). It finds Matt Elliott and Deb Parsons severely deconstructing tracks by Amp, Crescent, Hood, and Flying Saucer Attack (all of whom had connections to 3EF). Each of these remixes was made especially for this album. While the idea might seem strange, Elliott and Parsons have completely made these tracks their own, justifying its release as a 3EF album. Amp's two tracks are remixes from SIRÈNES; namely, "Eternity" and "Matilda's Shorts Wave" are recreated as "Eternity (I and I and Eye and Eye and Eye Version)" and "Short Wave Dub". I have yet to hear the source tracks, but based on what I know of Amp I'm pretty sure the original "Eternity" didn't feature drastically sliced-up vocals laid over absolutely savage drum'n'bass beats. Not that I'm complaining; this is a jarring and wondrous track that is over far too soon. On the opposite end, "Short Wave Dub" truly sounds dubby, with its wordless vocal trills layered over odd drones and blips. It's a very nice relief after the opening onslaught. Crescent's "Superconstellation" is up next. For this mix, Matt isolated a vocal sample from the end of the original song and plays with it over a looped drum kit-and-bass segment. That simplistic tweaking ends up working wonders. While the original "Superconstellation" is a fine track, Third Eye Foundation's version is even MORE powerful and gloomy, and fully deserving of its thirteen-plus minutes. According to Matt, Deb did the honors on Hood's "Eyes". This is the most intimidating remix, with samples from Hood* obscured by terrifying bursts of noise and ominous clanking. When a vocal refrain that sounds like "Where my eyes guide/Insiiiiiide" breaks to the surface towards the end, the effect is quite stunning. This track wouldn't be out of place at all on a Foehn album proper! Finally, at nearly eighteen minutes, Flying Saucer Attack's "Way Out Like David Bowman" closes the album. Truth be told, calling this an FSA remix is a little misleading. "Way Out...." consists solely of sounds that Matt recorded for FSA when he was still working with them. Dave Pearce rejected a lot of the material, so for this album Matt drastically processed his sources into a maelstrom of sound. Singing bowls, eerie trumpets/horns, unidentifiable drones and whorls of sound..... David Bowman was the main character of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and if you can imagine 2001 ending with him dying in a black hole, this would be the soundtrack. Why Pearce didn't want to use this material is beyond me, but thank goodness Matt ended up recycling it into a true masterpiece! Pearce wasn't amused and briefly threatened legal action, which probably explains why FSA is missing from the thanks list (Amp, Hood, and Crescent are all present; curiously, so is Deb!). The diverse styles of the mixes shouldn't work as a whole, but they do. I can't recommend this enough, but be aware it's going to take some looking to find an affordable copy. Elliott would release a similar album called I POO POO ON YOUR JUJU, remixing acts such as Tarwater and Yann Tiersen. While this IS enjoyable, it's much more representative of the later 3EF sound, whereas IN VERSION fits perfectly in between SEMTEX and GHOST. That being said, anything and everything with Matt Elliott's name on it is worth checking out. Happy hunting!

*I absolutely cannot figure out what song/songs were used here. When I asked him, Matt himself wasn't sure either!

Destroy All Monsters, 74 76

Father Yod/Ecstatic Peace!, 1994; reissued by Compound Annex; available but limited

Three discs, each with its own title. Disc 1 ("Gospel Crusade"): 25 tracks, 71:19; disc 2 ("Crying In Bed"): 27 tracks, 69:11; disc 3 ("To The Throne Of Chaos Where The Thin Flutes Pipe Mindlessly"): 24 tracks, 66:54

When mentioned at all, Destroy All Monsters are generally considered a post-Stooges Ron Asheton project. With all respect due to the late Mr. Asheton, DAM were actually past their innovative prime by the time he joined! The original quartet of Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Niagara, and Jim Shaw assembled in winter of '74 with the intent of deconstructing rock music. Inspired in equal parts by European experimentation, proto-punk a la Stooges and MC5, and the outer realms of jazz, they created a truly unique sound that can't readily be assigned to a specific era. That being said, ths box does indeed cover the years 1974 to 1976; there's no indication as to whether the material is presented chronologically, but that's okay. Sure, there's a few fairly straightforward proto-punkers featuring Niagara's sultry vocals like "Vampire", "T.H. Queen" and "You Can't Kill Kill"; also, the apparently live version of "Shakin' All Over" is surprisingly faithful to the original. Don't be fooled, though; these concessions to accessibility are few and far between. The majority of these tracks are pure experiments in sound, whether it's the nightmarish tape manipulations of "Mom's and Dad's Pussy" or the self-explanatory "Drone" and "Crunch Drone". There's also room for dubby sound explorations and primitive drum machine exercises, along with nearly every other experimental style you can think of. It's almost impossible to pick standouts, since there is a LOT of material to pick through and even the lesser tracks are impressive with enough repeat listens. Keeping in mind that this predated punk and industrial as genres (to say nothing of later developments such as no wave), this is incredibly ahead of its time, and it's even more amazing to think none of this got released until 1994! About the only comparable contemporaries were Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle; there are definite similarities, but honestly all three were highly original outfits that started around the same time and were unaware of the others until later. In DAM's case, hardly anyone outside of the group itself was aware of their innovations until years later. Needless to say this comes highly recommended. While the reissue isn't as fancy as the original box, the music is all intact and it IS available again, and shouldn't that matter the most? Around '76 most of the members left except for Niagara, who continued Destroy All Monsters with new members (most notably Asheton and ex-MC5 bassist Michael Davis). This period of DAM is enjoyable, but don't expect it to sound a jot like the box. The original lineup has basically reformed and tours/records semi-regularly in their original proto-noise style.

Read the liner notes for this set (written by Mike Kelley himself) here: http://www.mikekelley.com/DAMthrone.html . http://www.mikekelley.com/compound.html has 74 76 for sale along with other DAM/Kelley-related products.

Circle X, CIRCLE X and PREHISTORY

Originally self-released with no label name, 1979; reissued by Dexter's Cigar; available but act quick

4 tracks, 11:35



Index, 1983; reissued by Blue Chopsticks; available

6 tracks, 35:57

These two releases were recorded within two years of each other by the exact same lineup; both were also reissued on sublabels of Drag City owned by David Grubbs. That's where the similarities end. Circle X (originally, the symbol on the EP WAS their name) have a fairly complicated history. They originated in Louisville, moved to New York, moved again to Dijon, and then relocated back to New York! Loosely associated with no wave, they really were always in a universe of their own. For these two early releases, Circle X was David Letendre, Rik Letendre, Tony Pinotti, and Bruce Witsiepe.

The debut EP originally was completely unnamed except for the cover symbol. It was recorded in Dijon while the band members were living there. The Letendre brothers are credited with guitar and "drum", while Pinotti does vocals and Witsiepe plays guitar. You hardly notice the lack of bass at first; the guitars are gnarled and nasty, and one guitarist tends to play twisted noise rock riffs while the other provides either storms of distortion or feedback drones. The drumming is fairly varied, with each song having a different style. Pinotti brings a different vocal idea to each song as well. The original A-side consisted of the almost-straightforward "Tender" and the hardcore-with-an-arty-twist "Albeit Living". The former sounds uncannily like the FAR later Laughing Hyenas with its sludgy groove and hoarse screaming/shouting, while the latter begins with multiple voices speaking the lyrics before launching into a ferocious little rocker. The other side was even further out there: "Onward, Christian Soldiers" predicts the kind of slow and heavy noise rock that Swans et al would soon explore, and "Underworld" features a bagpipe-esque drone, Pinotti's alternately spoken and shouted vocals, and a wonderfully processed guitar that sounds like a malfunctioning amplifier playing itself. It's all at least a few years ahead of its time, and it's also the most no wave thing they ever did. An auspicious debut, to be sure, and very much worthwhile.

Two years later, the band was back in New York. The lineup was intact, but the sound sure wasn't! The newly rechristened Circle X Internationale had gone from noise rock to industrial. They expanded to using tapes, further percussion, and even a bass on the opening "Current". The sound is much spacier and loop-based than aggressive; the guitars weave in and out of the mix, with atmospheric percussion providing most of what little structure there is. Actually, the production is very close to the spectral qualities of dub, with heavy usage of reverb and delay. Pinotti has also changed his vocal style, mostly going for a much more pained and haunting tone midway between a sigh and a moan. With these musical surroundings, his voice is a perfect fit. While all six songs are amazing, the definite standout is a remake of "Underworld". Retaining the basic structure of the original while more than doubling its length, this version features Pinotti's vocals getting basically the same treatment as the guitar on the original to great effect, and guest Jason Huang's eerie organ helps to make it much more atmospheric and incredible than the already impressive first version. The spooky bass-driven "Current" and oddly catchy "Prehistory Part II" are particularly great as well, but this is definitely a completely solid album. Curiously, this wasn't released until '83, two years after it was recorded; maybe no label was ready for it yet. If you can only get one Circle X release, this should be it.

Both of these are available at Drag City's webstore, http://www.dragcity.com/store . Please be advised that most Dexter's Cigar titles are long out of print, and the Circle X EP may follow suit soon. PREHISTORY should be easily acquired. Either way, these are ten EXCELLENT songs without a drop of filler, so maybe just grab both and sleep easier!

Circle X took an extended hiatus until the early '90s, when they reformed minus David Letendre. They proceeded to make music with a revolving cast of drummers until 1995, when Bruce Witsiepe passed away. The out-of-print CELESTIAL from '94 is pretty interesting. Even better are the 10" on Fractal and the "33/Puerto Rican Ghost" single. The former features a live show from '79, a previously unreleased outtake from the same year, and two unreleased '94 tunes, while the latter single has them tackling a Mars medley.

Ike Yard, 1980-1982 COLLECTED

Compilation released by Acute(see review for individual dates), 2006; available

18 tracks, 78:50

Being the first band to be signed to Factory Records' American division, you'd have to be fairly special. Ike Yard doesn't fail in that department one bit! Ike Yard* was a quartet of Stuart Argabright (ex-Futants), Kenneth Compton (who was Madonna's boyfriend for a bit and appears in her "Burnin' Up" video!), Michael Diekmann, and Fred Szymanski. Their arsenal of instruments included the standard guitar, bass, and drum kit, but those are the ONLY traditional instruments used. Each member is credited with synthesizers (Compton specifically with bass synth), and other instruments include drum machines, found percussion, syndrum, and who knows what else. Both Argabright and Compton handled vocal duties, with Argabright getting the lion's share. Sometimes considered a no wave group, and having some common ground with that scene, Ike Yard was really in a category of their own. The first six tracks here are from the NIGHT AFTER NIGHT EP, released in 1981 on Les Disques Du Crépuscule; the exception is "The Whistler", which is a session outtake. These tracks find Ike Yard in full-on post-punk mode. The bass and percussion lock into powerful grooves, aided by synth pulses and colored by swooping guitar accents. It actually comes across as an American PiL or a punkier This Heat. "Night After Night" and "Cherish" would be dark club classics in a just world, and the whole EP is impressive. Fast-forward to 1982: Ike Yard have caught Factory's attention and have the honor of becoming Factory America's first signing. Tracks 7 through 12 made up the self-titled LP (often erroneously referred to as A FACT A SECOND, which is actually the catalog number). While still a decidedly American take on post-punk, these six tracks are far more influenced by classic dub and krautrock than by any contemporary groups (except maybe the early industrial and EBM scenes). The synths have a much more pronounced role; I was fairly certain there's no guitar or bass guitar on these tracks until Stuart Argabright assured me there is. "Loss", with its insistent bass pulses and steady electronic drones, is a standout; as the track progresses, random short-wave transmissions and Argabright's monotone vocals combine for a simultaneously disturbing and catchy tune. The remaining five tracks follow a similar path, with little quirks and kinks along the way to give each tune its own identity. As a bonus, this compilation features six previously unreleased outtakes from 1980 to 1982. None of these tracks would have been out of place on the proper releases; in fact, the eerie instrumental "Wolfen" is one of their best songs! I can't recommend this enough to fans of krautrock, post-punk, no wave, etc. You shouldn't have too hard a time finding it. Argabright would go on to Black Rain, Dominatrix, and Death Comet Crew (all worth investigating), and Szymanski made some recordings as Laminar. Diekmann also ended up in Death Comet Crew. Ike Yard made a recent comeback, and now consists of Argabright, Compton, and Diekmann. To hear some of the new tracks, please visit http://www.myspace.com/ikeyard. Their MySpace also has "Loss" and "Cherish", a demo called "Sweep" and an untitled live track from '81. The latter two are not on this compilation (possibly due to time limitations?), but both are very worthwhile. The Argabright-curated NEW YORK NOISE 3 features the otherwise unreleased "A Dull Life", as well as a Dominatrix track, alongside other no wave/industrial/art funk bands from '80s New York.

*The name comes from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, in case you didn't know.

UPDATE: Check the comments for Ike Yard news and links straight from Stuart Argabright!

This Heat, THIS HEAT

Piano, 1979; reissued most recently by This Is; available

11 tracks, 48:30

This Heat are one of those groups who only got the recognition they deserved after they split up. Consisting of Gareth Williams, Charles Bullen, and Charles Heyward, This Heat were something of an enigma. Bullen and Heyward used to perform improvisations as Dolphin Logic, and that particular art form certainly carried over to This Heat. Their debut album is a mix of live and studio recordings; it's almost impossible to tell which are which (not a bad thing at all!). Bookended by the short droning "Testcard" pieces, the music covers a LOT of ground. Elements of dub, prog rock, krautrock, post-punk, and free improv all combine to form one of the more varied early industrial albums. Standout tracks like "Twilight Furniture", with its insistent drumming and minimal guitar coloration, and th brutal prog-punk stormer "Horizontal Hold" almost sound like different bands. Most tracks ebb and flow right into each other, providing a fascinating listen when played the whole way through. My personal favorites are the eerily atmospheric "The Fall Of Saigon" and the absolutely incredible "24 Track Loop", which takes a short drum loop and turns it into something that for all the world sounds like twisted IDM/drum'n'bass, YEARS before IDM or drum'n'bass even existed! The whole album is impressive, and it is the best This Heat album. This Heat would release one more album during their lifetime, the equally impressive DECEIT, which does lean more towards songs than atmospheres,as well as the more abstract HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY EP. The archival releases MADE AVILABLE (John Peel sessions, including alternate versions of tracks from THIS HEAT and DECEIT), REPEAT (basically an extended take on "24 Track Loop" and two more abstract pieces), and LIVE 80/81 are also worth checking out, as are the post-This Heat projects Camberwell Now (Heyward and later member Trefor Goronwy) and Flaming Tunes (Williams).

Third Eye Foundation, SOUND OF VIOLENCE

Domino/Merge, 1997; out of print, but two tracks are available on COLLECTED WORKS

4 tracks, 23:52

Following the extremely disturbing GHOST (reviewed previously here), Matt Elliott went further into the recesses of twisted electronics. SOUND OF VIOLENCE is perhaps the best non-LP 3EF release. Three of the tracks are over seven minutes long; the under-three-minute "Pain (Violence Version)" is the only track that feels like filler, but it's interesting filler nonetheless. The first two tracks, "Sound Of Violence" and "A Name For My Pain", are excellent progressions from GHOST. Frantic drum'n'bass beats are cloaked in whirlwinds of noise, from what sounds like the shrieks of the damned to jazzy bass and guitar accents. The sound is much cleaner than on GHOST; however, it takes a few listens to notice, so dense are the compositions. Little of Matt's SEMTEX-era sound remains (save for the amazing beats), and at times this sounds like what Stockhausen or Xenakis may have come up wuth had they dabbled in drum'n'bass. The final track is "Corpses (Version)". This is a skeletal remix of "Corpses As Bedmates", retaining the original's structure while massively reducing the noise and shaving off two minutes. It's much more effective than it should be, and its inclusion alone justifies this EP. Luckily, "Sound Of Violence" and "A Name For My Pain" are both well worth the price as well. This is an excellent transitional release, bidding farewell to 3EF's horrific and noisy early years while pointing forward to the less-frantic-but-still-jarring atmosphere of YOU GUYS KILL ME and LITTLE LOST SOUL. Unfortunately, this has gone out of print. "Sound Of Violence" and "A Name For My Pain" are included on disc one of COLLECTED WORKS along with GHOST and two tracks off the "Semtex" single, but you really should find the standalone release so you can hear "Corpses (Version)". A good used copy should be fairly inexpensive and easy to find.

Pekka Airaksinen, ONE POINT MUSIC

1972, O Records; out of print

6 tracks, 39:25

Pekka Airaksinen's work with The Sperm has been previously documented here. Released two years after SHH!, ONE POINT MUSIC finds Airaksinen (assisted by A. Deblus and Antero Helander) still very much in experimental mode. Actually, this material was all recorded from 1968 to 1970, during Airaksinen's tenure with the Sperm. It also was primarily created in his converted sauna studio. Mostly featuring electric organ, guitar, and bass (though the source of most of the sounds is pretty hard to determine), these six tracks are mostly lighter in tone than SHH!, but they still feature plenty of unexpected and even jarring moments. The opening track (bearing the ponderous title "Pieni Sienikonsertto - A Little Soup for Piano and Orchestra op. 46.8"!) does indeed feature a piano off in the distance; however, it is obscured by some odd metal clangs and random bursts of strange noises (including some backwards guitar). "Somerain-Sedata" and "Skata" bear the closest comparison to Airaksinen's former group, consisting mostly of heavily effected and echoed guitar sounds. The remaining three tracks sound even more like industrial music that The Sperm ever did (and again, before the term was even coined), while also veering close to the likes of Smegma and Birgé-Gorgé-Shiroc in the '70s strangeness department. Sadly only ever pressed in a run of 120 copies(?!?!), this is nearly impossible to find and sorely in need of a reissue. Until then, this will continue to be a mostly unheard masterpiece.

Einstürzende Neubauten, KOLLAPS

Zick-Zack, 1981; reissued by several companies over the years; available, but may be a different version than the one detailed here

13 tracks, 34:44; version with bonus track and STAHLDUBVERSIONS: 23 tracks, 56:01

Einstürzende Neubauten are pretty much a legend at this point. Taking "industrial music" to its most logical extreme, Neubauten (on here the trio of Blixa Bargeld, F.M. Einheit, and N.U. Unruh) used junk percussion, power tools, and extremely distorted guitars and bass to create a divine cacophony. KOLLAPS is widely acknowledged as their purest effort, and I agree. Very few tracks have a typical structure, or a melody for that matter. Instead you get mostly short (four minutes or less) tracks, combining the tools (no pun intended) of Neubauten's trade in bizarre and unusual forms. The main exception to length is the title track, which is over eight minutes in length and mostly revolves around a repetitive guitar mantra, punctuated by feedback and either a bass or a bass drum (it's never easy to tell what instrument is making what sound in Neubauten's music). "Tanz Debil" opens with Bargeld's impassioned yelping over some particularly nasty feedback, which then turns into a rhythmic storm of banged metal springs and whirring machine sounds. "Negativ Nein" features just the sound of water (rhythmically played water; you have to hear it to understand) and Bargeld's demented shrieks, repeating "negativ nein" in every conceivable variation. The shorter tracks like "Hirnsage" (all distorted guitar and Bargeld), "Vorm Krieg", and "Draußen ist Feindlich" are even LESS traditional in structure. This entire album STILL sounds as strange as it must have been when first released; if anything, the developments in noise and industrial since have shown just how right Neubauten got it the first time around. The version I have includes a nice bonus track called "Schieß Euch Ins Blut" that would have fit in nicely on KOLLAPS. The main bonus is the STAHLDUBVERSIONS tacked on at the end. Originally released on cassette (which curiously had the same program on both sides), these are nine instrumental dub versions of tracks from KOLLAPS. While some don't really add much ("Sado-Masodub" is basically the isolated rhythm track from "Tanz Debil"), others are truly interesting and bold experiments in combining Neubauten's approach with dub sound effects. It's a delightful addition. If you dig this, the compilation KALTE STERNE comes highly recommended; it's a collection of Neubauten's earliest recordings, and it's very much like KOLLAPS in sound and style.

Third Eye Foundation, SEMTEX and GHOST

Linda's Strange Vacation, 1996; reissued by Domino; out of print

6 tracks, 48:26



Domino/Merge, 1997; out of print, but included in its entirety on disc one of COLLECTED WORKS

7 tracks, 47:39

Bristol has produced a lot of intriguing music, from the Pop Group to trip-hop to the space rock of AMP and Flying Saucer Attack. But Matt Elliott, who collaborated with those last two, probably produced the most interesting and idiosyncratic of all Bristol music. These two early releases are performed by Elliott as Third Eye Foundation. He is assisted on both by his then-girlfriend, Debbie Parsons. She later went on to perform as Foehn; indeed, one track on GHOST is credited to Foehn, though Elliott probably participated in its creation. Now, on to the records!

SEMTEX accomplishes on opening track "Sleep" what Kevin Shields had been promising for a while: drum 'n'bass/shoegazer fusion. It's an odd mix, but it works, with the blistering beats cushioning the piercing feedback-drenched guitar. The really amazing thing is how full this sounds despite being recorded on a four-track! A guitar, a Roland Workstation, some effects, Parsons' vocals, and the four-track are the only things used on these tracks, yet it sounds rich and fully produced. "Still-Life" finds Parsons' beautifully ethereal vocals accompanying another blissfully distorted guitar. The beats are slowed here, and are a cross between tribal pounding and fractured breaks. "Dreams On His Fingers" is even more ethereal, with Parsons' lovely vocals buried under layers of fuzz and crackle and gentle cymbal-heavy percussion. "Next Of Kin" is back to harsher territory, with Parsons evoking the sirens of myth while Elliott creates waves of tension. The beats here come across as tribal-influenced drum 'n' bass. The surprising "Once When I Was An Indian" is unlike any other track on SEMTEX. It is a slowly evolving slice of dark ambience that features extremely spare percussion, ringing tones that could be synth or guitar based (it's VERY hard to tell), and Parsons chanting wordless vocals. Think the Cocteau Twins gone dub and you're somewhere close to the mark. It is one of the finest examples of dark ambient/isolationism ever recorded. "Rain" ends the album with gentle cascading sounds evoking its title, fading in a fog of shimmery electronic raindrops and distortion. While it is very rare, SEMTEX is an essential album, transcending post-rock's promise to a whole new level of studio-based perfection. It also hasn't dated one bit, remaining an oddly timeless album.

An equally rare album followed SEMTEX. Entitled IN VERSION, it consisted of Elliott's remixes of AMP, Flying Saucer Attack, Hood, and Crescent. This will be reviewed once I acquire it (which, since I have yet to find it for under $50, may be a while).
(UPDATE AUGUST 2010:I finally got a great copy of IN VERSION for under $15! Review coming soon!)

Following IN VERSION, Elliott plunged further into electronics with GHOST. The guitar noise remains, but it doesn't play as central a role as it did on SEMTEX. It shares equal time (and is indeed overshadowed at times) with a sampler, and Elliott has upgraded to an eight-track. Surprisingly, GHOST has a much dirtier sound than SEMTEX, but it works in its favor. Featuring songs with titles like "Corpses As Bedmates", "Ghosts...", and "Donald Crowhurst" (whose tragic story makes for interesting reading), you can tell you're in for a much more somber listen than SEMTEX. Foehn's track, "The Star's Gone Out", is the only diversion into pure noise assault, but it's a stunning and evocative piece. It is also one of only two beatless tracks, "Donald Crowhurst" being the second. Elsewhere, "Corpses As Bedmates" features shrieking noises which sound like some Lovecraftian horror stalking its prey; these are supported by beats that remain relatively slow, then break down into fast jungle mayhem. "The Out Sound From Way In" has fractured breakbeats and a strange whistling sound, while "I've Seen The Light And It Is Dark" is centered around some kind of ceremonial trumpet (I'm guessing). Sounds reminiscent of METAL MACHINE MUSIC*, Asian vocals singing in mournful despair (both in "What To Do But Cry?"**), sonar-esque keyboard ambience ("Donald Crowhurst"), distorted glass-breaking sounds mixed with mournful strings ("Ghosts..."); these and other unusual sounds find their way into Elliott's mix, and all combine to make another stunning Third Eye Foundation album. While this is out of print, it's included on COLLECTED WORKS. That set also contains several rare singles (unfortunately with edits) and 3EF's next two albums, YOU GUYS KILL ME and LITTLE LOST SOUL. While this latter pair does move closer to normal drum 'n' bass territory, the twisted experimental innovations are still in full force. There was also a second 3EF remix compilation, with the slightly ridiculous title I POO POO ON YOUR JUJU. That features Elliott's takes on everything from experimental composer Yann Tiersen to bizarro comedian Chris Morris. Elliott's solo work is also highly recommneded, but the most recent material is VERY far removed from his 3EF days.

*While many sources say it's a direct sample from MMM, Matt himself informed me it isn't.

**Interestingly, in an e-mail from ages ago Matt told me he had no idea what the vocalist was saying, and he used the sample based solely on its mournful tone. Later he found out one of the phrases she sings is "what to do but cry?"!

EDIT: For more Third Eye Foundation and Matt Elliott, please visit the following links:
http://www.myspace.com/mattelliotandthethirdeye
http://www.myspace.com/thethirdeyefoundation
http://www.thirdeyefoundation.com (the guestbook has an early fan post by yours truly!)

Disco Inferno, D.I. GO POP

Bar/None, 1994; reissued by One Little Indian, 2004; available

8 tracks, 33:26

This album is up there with Throbbing Gristle's 20 JAZZ FUNK GREATS and Pink Floyd's A COLLECTION OF GREAT DANCE SONGS for ironic titles! Following an okay debut album (that sounded too indebted to Joy Division to be notable; in fact, it was compiled with some early singles as IN DEBT!) and a few amazing singles, Disco Inferno's second LP quickly established the group as one of the most talented and unusual bands of the first post-rock wave. Don't let the post-rock designation throw you off; this sounds not a jot like the majority of bands that fall under that category today. The trio of Ian Crause, Paul Willmott, and Rob Whatley created a truly unique sound revolving around distorted guitar, pronounced bass, and (sometimes) steady drumming. But the samples are what really set them apart! Disco Inferno had a nifty setup where samples were triggered by the real instruments; this results in a glorious and unique wall of sound. The first track, "In Sharky Water", begins with a sample of running water; a loping bassline comes in, making a strange sort of ambience. All of a sudden, a raging guitar and pounding drumbeat comes in, and the song takes a turn for the punky. Crause's semi-declared/semi-sung vocals follow their own path, staying within the confines of the song but detached at the same time. This is followed by the short and psychedelic "New Clothes For The New World", which has a truly pleasant shimmering sound, interrupted occasionally by what appears to be a distorted horn. Next up is my favorite Disco Inferno track, "Starbound (All Burnt Out & Nowhere To Go)". This track is extraordinarily dense, giving even My Bloody Valentine a run for their money in the cram-as-much-in-while-still-keeping-it-quality aspect. Beginning with another strange shimmering sound (keyboard? treated guitar?) and the sounds of cameras flashing, another gorgeous and lazy bassline comes in, along with a truly unsettling vocal loop. The loop in question reminds me of chanting, but it's extremely processed, so the source is anyone's guess. Crause, whose lyrics were usually world-weary at their best (this was to change on the next LP, TECHNICOLOUR), is at his cynical peak, declaring "The world has spit down on me for far too long/I want to spit down on it back!" At least that's what it sounds like; Crause has a VERY thick accent which is even harder to comprehend in these dense musical surroundings. The track ends with the loop coming into focus (it might be a completely different sample; it's hard to tell with everything going on) and a phantasmal voice delaring "Nobody wants to die.... nobody wants to die...." Describing the remaining five tracks would ruin the surprises therein, but rest assured the entire album is truly high quality. I'm certain the name would repel many fans, but once you get past that and immerse yourself in the music, you'll question why this album wasn't in your collection sooner. D.I. GO POP deserves to be much better known than it is; too bad TECHNICOLOUR was a massive letdown.