CHINE NUAL Tomorrows Leaders Are Busy Tonight (Plate Lunch) cd 12.98
While this is technically not new, we still figured we ought to list it since it somehow managed to fall through the cracks when it initially came out. Released in 2000 on Germany's Plate Lunch label, Chine Nual is beloved AQ customer Rick Kitch, composing, manipulating and recontextualising source material (courtesy of Randy Grief, Jeph Jerman and Steve Brand) into hypnotic, lazy-hazy drones, quietly propulsive krautrockish electronica, and burbly atmospherics. Gorgeous and dreamy soundscapes occasionally dotted with minute clicking rhythms, rumbling, serene drones with washes of gentle hum. Really excellent. My new favorite late night record. Fans of Gas, good Eno and the like will love this.
RealAudio clip: "Machine Manual"
RealAudio clip: "Charityware"
RealAudio clip: "More Free Than Welcome"

CHRISTINE 23 ONNA Shiny Crystal Planet (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Christine 23 Onna is a collaborative effort between Fusao Toda and Maso Yamazaki, better known as Masonna. While the presence of one of Japan's most frightening noisicians should be enough the scare away all of the too-hip-and-too-stoned kids who only care about 'rare grooves,' Christine 23 Onna's "Shiny Chrystal Planet" is actually a pretty damn funky record. Yeah, it's noisy, but in a swirling, synth-overload, super psychedelic way, not like Masonna's usual electronic scream-skree. And really uptempo breakbeats set the rhythmic backbone for some awesome trance-rock much like the latest grooves from their countrymen the Boredoms (a la "Super Are" and "Vision Creation Newsun)". The phase shifting fuzz guitar and cosmic space dusted synthesizers get jammy, but fortunately never too wanky. Those of you familiar with the '60s spy thrillers of Jerry Van Rooyen may recognize one of his tempestous songs covered by Christine 23 Onna (we think we do, anyways, although it's not credited as such...). Wild, spacey groov-adelia. All around great stuff! Amazing cover art recreating Ash Ra Temple's "New Age Of Earth"!
RealAudio clip: "Christine Hop #1"

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS Communal Rust (Community Library) cd 16.98
Ok, so this has been passed around the store for a little while with a rotation of different people assigned to review it. Why the hesitation? It seems the folks around here who had no idea who Christmas Decorations are, took a look at the cover and thought it was perhaps another Christian psych-folk reissue from the seventies or some twee homey Americana and kept putting it below their priority list. And the folks around here who DID know who Christmas Decorations are, from their Kranky debut a few years ago, didn't like that album very much at all, mainly due to its atonal vocalizing over quirky electronica. Well, when we finally put this on, we were pleasantly surprised, if not out and out AMAZED at what we heard. First of all, there are thankfully no vocals, and while this is not the Christian folk or Americana record some of us thought it to be, there is a strain of, er rustic folkiness through the presence of slide guitar as it barely permeates through the murky minimal ambience of shifting electronics. It seems that Christmas Decorations have cleaned house since their debut, removing all the unnecessary elements of song-forms from their compositions, and reducing their sound to layers of decayed and drifting abstractions barely hinting at the melodies beneath them. Think the winter equivalent to Fennesz's Endless Summer. Like the sounds of oxidation on old and rotting wood, subtle and melancholy with the textures of wet dirt and leaves burbling under slowly melting ice. So beautiful! We think fans of Jasper TX and Machinefabriek and similar outfits of dreamy drift would dig this a lot. What a surprise!!
MPEG Stream: "Closer To the Carpet"
MPEG Stream: "Twig Harpoon"
MPEG Stream: "Aphid Text"

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS Model 91 (Kranky) cd 14.98
Sometimes droll, atonal singing can work really well (think Beat Happening, Reynols or Magnetic Fields), but unfortunately not on the Christmas Decorations' debut album. Seriously, this is some painfully out of tune singing. It distracts from the rest of the music which taken without the vocals is quite pleasant, if somewhat underwhelming - moody chiming soundscapes comprised of some highly effected guitars, bass, melodica and sequencers. This comes as an enormous disappointment following Revolve the one and only album from the fantastic but crushingly short-lived band that was Beautiful Skin whose nucleus was Nick Forte and Ross Totino. There was an unquestionable musical chemistry between them that propelled their music beyond simplistic new wave references and the Wire / Gang Of Four / New Order worship of Forte's previous bands. This new group however does not draw such glowing praise, instead it truly bummed out a few of us.
RealAudio clip: "A Random Hill"
RealAudio clip: "Tables And Chair "

CHRISTOPHE HEEMANN Magnetic Tape Splicing lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Rumours have it that Christophe was clocked at over 500 splices per second for this record. Regardless of the truth to this, his brilliant cut-up collage done entirely on an old reel-to-reel sounds very similar to recent digital collages of Stock, Hausen, and Walkman!

CHROMATICS In The City (Italians Do It Better) 12" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With a new perfectly delivered sound, Chromatics have become a huge favorite here in aQ land over the last couple months as we've been playing their new album IV: Night Drive over and over and still not even getting close to burning out on its seductive and steamy sounds. This 12" contains one of their great selections from the scene defining After Dark compilation which will for sure find its way on to many 2007 best of lists. Along with that comes an extended mix, an instrumental version, the haunting vocal only mix and a hot take on Springsteen's "I'm On Fire." We're not sure if the Boss would approve, but we sure do!
MPEG Stream: "In The City"

CHROMATICS IV: Night Drive Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Italians Do It Better) cd 13.98
Ooooh Ahhhhh! This one has been sizzling in our ears pretty much on endless repeat since it showed up at the store. Chromatics have undergone a pretty radical change from their early herky-jerky no-wave inspired beginnings, as showcased on the amazing and scene defining After Dark comp that we recently listed, and are still so in love with. Chromatics now have a sound that is much more sensual, subdued and spaced out. And we have to say we are loving this new direction. I definitely suits them so much more naturally than their noisier punky past.
With a sound much more rooted in early drugged out disco and '80s Euro-pop, Night Drive is sparse and melancholic enough to reel in folks whose taste usually falls on the darker end of the spectrum yet with songs so damn sexy and enticing that those of us with dance and pop leanings are seduced by their sound as well. With Ruth Radalet's vocals sounding like they are being delivered in a dark room filled with fog and smoke, there is such an intoxicating late night vibe that Chromatics tap into which feels so vacant and so sexy in the best possible way. They take on the daunting task of covering Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and manage to make it their own, no small feat as that is a song with such deep meaning for so many of us. So damn good!
MPEG Stream: "Night Drive"
MPEG Stream: "The Killing Spree"
MPEG Stream: "Running Up That Hill"

CHROMEO Fancy Footwork (Vice) cd 14.98
Much like the vibrant clothes of eras past that twenty-somethings are currently sporting to wild nights at dive bar dance parties, the soundtrack to those dance parties has become vibrant and '80s-esque, with a '00s spin. It's what you could call synth-wave with a digital flare. In fact, Chromeo's Fancy Footwork is the third ultra-Moogy album we've reviewed for this list -- check out our reviews of Justice and Digitalism... While those two tip their hats to the '80s with uber-synths and samples, they also combine more modern sounds (Daft Punk, Faint, and Fatboy Slim come to mind) to give an overall feel that the Deathstar has just descended on the sweaty dance party. Chromeo, however, has taken a more pure approach in their nod to the '80s, and it isn't the '80s that never stopped being 'cool' (Cure, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, etc). Oh no, Chromeo have managed to create the the sound of Don Johnson walking into the room and eyein' your girlfriend, that kind of '80s vibe in the year 2007. We're talking Rockwell and Ray Parker Jr. kind of '80s folks. We figure this balls-to-the-wall synth resurgence might go as fast as it's come, but will no doubt shape what comes next and will be remembered fondly by many as they look back when the decade has passed reflecting fondly on the raging party they attended when the world was so close to the edge.
MPEG Stream: "Fancy Footwork"
MPEG Stream: "Call Me Up"

CHROMEO She's In Control (Vice / Atlantic) cd 13.98
A friend played me the song, "Me And My Man", a while ago and I was instantly addicted to one of Canada's best current electro exports, Chromeo. Shockingly, we haven't carried it until now. Well, reminiscent of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue", Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" and Egyptian Lover (minus some nasty freakiness), She's In Control features analog synths, some rockin guitar, 808, rhodes and lots of talk-box... yeah! That it's on Vice's label should tell you something on how it rates on the hipster scale, but it's definitely an album for delightfully uncool people too. It's chock full of party tracks like "Needy Girl", "Woman Friend" and "Ah Oui Comme Ca". The production is just good enough not to sound too polished, leaving the songs sounding fresh, like they were put together by two inspired best friends - which is true. It is also true that they are pulling from such a specific type of nostalgic sound, it will easily date itself now... but it's just soooo fun! If you plan on having a kick ass dance-party soon... invite me. If you want to listen to something fresh and totally awesome, you must must must have this!!
MPEG Stream: "Me & My Man"
MPEG Stream: "Needy Girl"

CHURCH STEPS Brisbane Cats (Static Caravan) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Don't miss out on this very limited UK import. Only 500 were pressed. Three songs from this San Francisco duo. Chris and Mike create layer upon layer of electronic textures, thoughtful, hushed vocals and lovely, tentative guitar melodies. We should note that this record has a much more aggressive electronic presence from Chris (alias OST/Rook Vallard) than the fragile, pretty Jewelry cd-ep.

CHURCH STEPS Criticism (Flapping Jet / Dial) cd ep 9.98
Sounding a lot like indie rock fave Smog (if Bill Callahan would only keep up with the state of music today, instead of sounding more and more dated with each release), Church Steps cloak the most heartfelt sensitive-guy vocals in a shimmer of melancholy. However, this second EP from the group reveals a subtle shift. On their previous outings the "Jewelry" cd-ep and "Brisbane Cats" 7", two seeming incongruities were successfully melded: the mellow guitar strum and murmured vocals of Mike Donovan and the considerably more aggressive digital abrasions of OST. Perhaps a foreshadowing of the departure of OST from the CSteps roster, gone are his trademark bursts of chilly caustic circuitry, to be replaced by gentler hums and warm whirrs. A *very* pleasant record. We can't wait 'til there's a full album!
Cover art by beloved local artist Jo Jackson.
RealAudio clip: "Meismine"

CHURCH STEPS Jewelry EP (Dial) cdep 5.98
The Church Steps are Mike Donovan (on guitar and vocals) and Chris Douglas (electronic sound-meister aka OST). The duo's brilliance lies in their coming at the music from opposite directions, meeting in the middle where few dare tread. Mike writes and sings quietly pretty sometimes melancholic songs. Some so quiet and personal that it almost seems that he's singing them to himself more than anyone else. And while on his own releases Chris is a well documented eardrum shredder/pummeller, here he takes it down a few notches and applies a very nice counterpart to Mike's lo-fi meditative guitar lines. Lightly abrasive textures and occasional beats almost like a very fine metallic sandpaper swirl over and around the often murmured vocals.
The duo's artistic vision is completely realized, an irresistible mix of Smog-like loner vocals mixed with epic yet quiet electronica, like ambient-era Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Portishead. So good! Better than, yet similar to, Wisdom of Harry!
The Jewelry EP is five songs in all, a perfect "jewel" of a record and a fine intro to Church Steps. Released on Mike's own Dial label (home to releases by Blectum From Blechdom, Iran, OST, and Hot Fucking Jets).
RealAudio clip: "Mathematical Tongue"

CHURCH STEPS The Hand That Is The Wave (Dial) 10" 8.98
Local out-there electronica label Dial is the latest label to explore the lathe cut technology from the New Zealand lathe press run by Peter King. The Church Steps are Chris Douglas (aka O.S.T. and Rook Vallard) and Mike Donovan (label bossman of Dial) drifting rather sad melodies of electronic bells alongside downtempo beat skitter, not unlike Markant or Boards of Canada. As good as it is limited.

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA Man With A Movie Camera (Ninja Tune) cd 15.98
I may have to go back and check out some of the older Cinematic Orchestra releases now, 'cause I really dig this new one. I had sort of written them off as yuppie cocktail makeout music (a la Kruder and Dorfmeister), and maybe it still is, but it sure sounds a whole lot better than I remember. Dark and moody and sexy and creepy, but also playful and fun. A newly recorded soundtrack for Tziga Vertov's famous 1920's silent film Man With A Movie Camera. The music is very reminiscent of Portishead with its lugubrious smoke-y and murky downtempo dirges but with some shuffling acid jazz and wild and wooly funk mixed in as well. Goes from super sinister, dangerous dark alley, late night cinematic soundscapes to almost-wacky twenties slapstick caper music to skittery Mission Impossible style spy music to fuzzed out Hammond organ funk to dreamy, melancholy instrumentals. Really cool. We also have the DVD that includes a restored version of the film with the new soundtrack, as well as live footage and interviews!
RealAudio clip: "Melody/Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Evolution"

CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA Man With A Movie Camera (Ninja Tune) dvd 30.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is the DVD version of the most recent Cinematic Orchestra album, a score for the famous Russian silent film Man With A Movie Camera made by Tziga Vertov in 1920. It's a great movie, part social documentary, part pure visual artistry. If you haven't ever seen it, it's well worth a viewing! This new DVD version contains the original film with the newly recorded score, as well as live footage and interviews.
Here's what we had to say about the score:
I may have to go back and check out some of the older Cinematic Orchstra releases now, 'cause I really dig this new one. I had sort of written them off as yuppie cocktail makeout music (a la Kruder and Dorfmeister), and maybe it still is, but it sure sounds a whole lot better than I remember. Dark and moody and sexy and creepy, but also playful and fun. Very reminiscent of Portishead with its lugubrious smoke-y and murky downtempo dirges but with some shuffling acid jazz and wild and wooly funk mixed in as well. Goes from super sinister, dangerous dark alley, late night cinematic soundscapes to almost-wacky twenties slapstick caper music to skittery Mission Impossible style spy music to fuzzed out Hammond organ funk to dreamy, melancholy instrumentals. Really cool.

CLARK Ted (Warp) cd ep 10.98
Over the years Clark (aka Chris Clark) has proven to be one of the most reliable and pleasing artists on the Warp label as many of the label's bigger electronic names have been a bit spotty in their productivity and prowess in recent years. While Clark still might not have the same high visibility and name recognition as folks like Squarepusher, Plaid and Aphex Twin, we have to say that while he may have been influenced by all those guys, these days he seems to be creating sounds way more interesting than any of his influences, making him one of the best bets in the world of modern electronica. Ted is the follow up e.p. to Body Riddle, one of the best electronic records of the last few years and one we think was sadly overlooked by most. Ted is the single from that record and also includes a stellar remix by Bibio and four new tracks that continue to demonstrate Clark's amazing exploration of beautiful skittering color soaked washed out sounds. Very nice!
MPEG Stream: "Ted (Bibio Remix)"
MPEG Stream: "Springtime Epiphany"

CLARK Turning Dragon (Warp) cd 15.98
A few years ago Chris Clark decided to drop his first name as he continually tweaked and changed his sound, making his records some of the most consistently interesting and innovative releases in the world of electronica.
With his latest album he's made more bold changes, probably the most immediately felt (and heard!) of his career. Clark's sound is changed to full throttle on this outing and we are loving it. This is way more four on the floor full on crazy dance party style than anything we've ever heard from him before, but still with such an interesting and unpredictable sound palette. While it taps a bit into 90's Aphex Twin and the more raging side of Kid 606, we still can hear Clark's great and eclectic touch in all of these songs. This is the soundtrack to a rave we'd love to spend all night, every night at. We gotta say this is making us want to do a hit of E and dance the night away, but what's awesome about the record is that it also appeals to those of us not too keen on the dance floor, but who still love pounding and driving electronic music that we can totally spazz out to.
Definitely a contender for electronic record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "New Year Storm"
MPEG Stream: "Mercy Sines"

CLARK Turning Dragon (Warp) 2lp 17.98
A few years ago Chris Clark decided to drop his first name as he continually tweaked and changed his sound, making his records some of the most consistently interesting and innovative releases in the world of electronica.
With his latest album he's made more bold changes, probably the most immediately felt (and heard!) of his career. Clark's sound is changed to full throttle on this outing and we are loving it. This is way more four on the floor full on crazy dance party style than anything we've ever heard from him before, but still with such an interesting and unpredictable sound palette. While it taps a bit into 90's Aphex Twin and the more raging side of Kid 606, we still can hear Clark's great and eclectic touch in all of these songs. This is the soundtrack to a rave we'd love to spend all night, every night at. We gotta say this is making us want to do a hit of E and dance the night away, but what's awesome about the record is that it also appeals to those of us not too keen on the dance floor, but who still love pounding and driving electronic music that we can totally spazz out to.
Definitely a contender for electronic record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "New Year Storm"
MPEG Stream: "Mercy Sines"

CLARK (AKA CHRIS CLARK) Body Riddle (Warp) cd 14.98
The mid to late '90s were a really exciting time for electronic music. Artists were emerging displaying endless possibilities for electronic music and laptops. Sadly more recently, many of those artists sort of just treaded water, while a new crop of wanna be's merely copy the Boards-Of-Aphex-Square-Autech-Plaid-Pusher of that golden era. Luckily there are still some folks committed to pushing the envelope, taking risks and releasing records that are challenging and weird. Chris Clark is one of them. He won our hearts with his debut which managed to fit perfectly with the refined Warp roster of the time (Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, etc.) while creating a totally distinct sound all his own. Since then he has taken some serious twists and turns but has yet to make a bad record. And while he has ditched his first name, the sound is still quite exciting and reminiscent of his earlier releases, all AQ faves.
Body Riddle is both melodic and challenging, diverse and flowing. We definitely get the feeling this album was mixed with headphone listeners in mind as its sonic scope is so dense and wide that the sounds constantly bounce back and forth between your ears. Not just dreamy. Not just pulsing. Not just melodic. It's a little bit of all of those, but very coherent and well thought out. Striking just the right balance between intelligent dance music for the mind and physical dance music for the body. One of the better electronica records to come our way in quite a while!
MPEG Stream: "Herr Bar"
MPEG Stream: "Herzog"

CLARK, CHRIS Ceramics Is The Bomb (Warp) cd ep 9.98
This is a strange turn for Chris Clark who was responsible for one of our favorite records of last year, the totally amazing Clarence Park. Gone are many of the things that made Clarence Park so engaging, which is not to say this isn't a cool record, because it is, it's just a little less unique. The sound owes heavily to 'Girl/Boy' era Aphex Twin. Skittery hyperactive lo-fi drum and bass with a gritty ambience (giving it a sort of antiquated feel) and spastic breakdowns. A lot less melodic than its predecessor, but in the place of melody is some new found electro spunk and manic dancefloor splatter.
MPEG Stream: "The Gavel"
MPEG Stream: "Slow Spines"

CLARK, CHRIS Ceramics Is The Bomb (Warp) 12" 9.98
This is a strange turn for Chris Clark who was responsible for one of our favorite records of last year, the totally amazing Clarence Park. Gone are many of the things that made Clarence Park so engaging, which is not to say this isn't a cool record, because it is, it's just a little less unique. The sound owes heavily to 'Girl/Boy' era Aphex Twin. Skittery hyperactive lo-fi drum and bass with a gritty ambience (giving it a sort of antiquated feel) and spastic breakdowns. A lot less melodic than its predecessor, but in the place of melody is some new found electro spunk and manic dancefloor splatter.

CLARK, CHRIS Clarence Park (Warp) cd 14.98
New on Warp, and fuck if this isn't the only glimmer of hope in the overcrowded and under-inspired world of electronica. The glitches and pops and Pole fallout are kept to a minimum here and instead, Clark uses actual sounds, unrecognizable as they may be, and makes beautiful, funky, funny, catchy and almost organic sounding electronica. Think Matmos with a less 'intellectual' bent, think Lesser with a less 'I-wanna-destroy-you' bent. Think Aphex Twin with a distinctly new coat of paint. This record, from the second I put it on, was so new and fresh sounding. Sure the new Autechre is 'different', but be honest, no huge leap was made. And I'm sure the new Boards of Canada will be great, but it probably won't be a big surprise either. 'Clarence Park' is easily the freshest sounding electronic record of the last year. Huge old school breakbeats are chopped up and scattered throughout a mine field of subsonic synth rumbles and bleeping Aphex Twin-like melodies, with occasional minor key melancholy flourishes. Crazy cut-ups and masteful editing collide with creative drum programming and skittery soundscapes. Playful, but not fey, pounding and relentless, but not mindlessly 'hardcore'. Really really great.
RealAudio clip: "Dogs"
RealAudio clip: "Bricks"

CLARK, CHRIS Empty the Bones of You (Warp) cd 16.98
A fine return for Clark, "Empty the Bones of You" will certainly be a relief to fans who loved Clark's first full-length "Clarence Park" and who were maybe a little disappointed by his interim EP. And no doubt it will win over some new converts as well. The tracks on "Empty" harken to a time, not too long ago, when Aphex Twin and Autechre ruled supreme; smart, playful and yet infinitely musical electronica. Smart and playful, the way Autechre could wrassle up some crunchy rhythms and construct eminently catchy melodies out of fairly unmelodic glitch and buzz, and musical in the way that Richard James' could turn jagged, stuttering freakouts into hooks that would stick in your head forever. Imagine the melodic elements of Boards of Canada or Bola, but with a harder rhythmic edge and a more organic sound palette. Really nice!
MPEG Stream: "Empty the Bones of You"
MPEG Stream: "Umbilical Hut"

CLARKE, DAVE I Love Techno (Music Man) cd 16.98
Who would have thought we'd be freaking out over a compilation called I (Heart) Techno, 'cuz, barring some particular strains of techno, we (or more specifically in this case, I) don't actually (Heart) techno all that much. Chain Reaction, Kompakt, Pop Ambient, Plastikman, Gas, Thomas Brinkmann, Richie Hawtin, are all great, sure, but as a whole, techno has to be really fucked up and weird, murky and mysterious and minimal to hit the spot. But holy shit if this stuff doesn't totally destroy. Especially the first track. And to be honest, we had this comp in stock, and had been listening to the first track and ONLY the first track for months. It is the minimal techno jam of the year. Never heard of Christian Smith or John Selway but their track "Coming Storm" is fucking perfect. It had us wishing they had done a Villalobos and stretched it out to fill a whole cd. But that's what the repeat button is for.
So we eventually did listen to the whole comp, and it's really really great, but even so, the first track is SO GODDAMN GOOD that even if the rest of the comp was total and complete shit, it would be well worth highlighting and spending $15 bucks on.
So what has us all in a tizzy? It's hard to explain really, it's minimal, but not murky, the rhythm is loud and hard, the beats thick and crunchy, but right out of the gate, it's like two beats all tangled up, slightly out of phase, so it sounds like techno galloping, as the two beats compete, other bits of percussion join in, and the sound somehow manages to get more busy and chaotic, but without losing the minimalism that makes it so appealing. Like Plastikman and Thomas Brinkmann remixed by Oval, but then housed up just a bit. Or imagine a way heavier less murky but no less Heroin-y Chain Reaction. Eventually, some throbbing bass joins the melee, and it's downright grooving, but still in a weird haunting minimal abstract way. Female vocals drift into the picture, but they're not diva style, they're cold and clinical, an alien sonar throb offers a melodic counterpoint to her chilling sung spoken vocals, smoothly morphing into the next trackŠ
Phew. Before we go one, and talk about just how goddamn good this whole comp is, let us again stress how amazing that first track is, and how badly we NEED to hear more from these guys. Okay, on with the rest of the review.
Since it's a mix, the first few tracks seamlessly morph from the super minimal opener, gradually shifting, the house elements becoming more and more pronounced, but everything so static and hypnotic, that you almost don't notice the change until you're 3 or 4 tracks in. Raudive's "Magnetic" is the perfect follow up to "Coming Storm", a simple melody and rhythm looped over and over and over, various other rhythmic bits and strange electronic squelches joining the fray, before dropping out again, and leaving just the skeletal framework, and those haunting female vocals again. By three or four tracks in, we're definitely in more traditional house territory, but the sounds are so alien and repetitive, it's pretty mesmerizing. And definitely has us reconsidering our non-love of most house music. The whole rest of the disc, while not reaching the pinnacle of the opener, or even the follow up, still retains a certain cold droning hypnotic quality that is pretty hard to resist. The disc finishes off with "The Same" by the problematically monickered Velvet Underwear, who offer up a killer slab of chilled euro disco electro house, the main melody looped amidst huge bass throbs and crunchy crumbling synths, over which, the vocalist, who sounds like a frigid but VERY sexy European dominatrix, delivers her lyrics in a cool aloof monotone, eventually dropping out and letting the track unwind in a killer coda of buzzing serpentine synths and throbbing basslines. So awesome, even (and maybe especially) for the house-phobic and dancefloor averse amongst you...
MPEG Stream: CHRISTIAN SMITH & JOHN SELWAY "Coming Storm"
MPEG Stream: RAUDIVE "Magnetic"
MPEG Stream: VELVET UNDERWEAR "The Same"

CLAYTON, KIT Lakte (Orthlorng Musork) 12" 5.98
"Lakte" is definitely something completely new from Kit Clayton, whose last few recordings delved deep into the melancholic dub of Pole and Monolake. Clayton himself describes this 4 song ep with the following: "Scraping your head against the ground, you hear sounds you do not tend to find while scurrying amongst carefully constructed and willfully digested worlds. Puddles of knobs, twigs, paperclips, loose change, and other items unnamed. What you were listening for is sidestepped by environmental residue's unwavering determination to be heard. Background and foreground are reversed. And reversed again. And again." Mostly arrthymic and atonal, "Lakte" is a willfully difficult piece of avant-electronica recalling the likes of '60s tape-music pioneer Tod Dockstader much more than current artists like Autechre.

CLAYTON, KIT Lateral Forces (Surface Fault) (Vertical Form) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hmmm. Joshua Kit Clayton offers a concept album of electronic music based upon the global seismic activities over the last two years, mixing in field recordings of water and rocks from the San Francisco Bay. After the surprising experiments found on the "Latke" Ep and the shortwave record for Phthalo, "Lateral Forces" falls back upon Clayton's early recordings which were almost note for note direct copies of the glitch-techno-dub of Pole and Vladislav Delay. Good, but not very original.

CLAYTON, KIT Live On Shortwave Radio (Phthalo) cd 12.98
Kit Clayton broadcast this piece live on KALX in Berkeley using a shortwave radio to generate all of the material that he shoved through his sequencer and laptop. While stuff like Stockhausen's "Hymnen" and the work of John Duncan may be suggested by the use of the shortwave, Clayton's electronic manipulation overwhelms the usual aesthetic of the shortwave (like the strange flanges of alternating currents run simultaneously, the erratic behaviour of the huge electro-magnetic field which shortwave travels through, the general static, etc...). There is no doubt this is a digital production, with harsh glitches and timestretched compterized drones. By the end of the piece, Clayton does work in some of his trademark electro dub rhythms, which push the whole piece into a more dystopic environment than before. Certainly not as consumer friendly as his work for Scape, but a very interesting tangent from one of the better practitoners of the plastic arts.

CLAYTON, KIT Nek Purpalet (Scape) 12" 8.98
Stefan Betke (better known as the electron dub twiddler Pole) asked San Francisco's Kit Clayton (Mimic & The Model, Cytrax, etc.) to contribute the first single on his new label Scape, which is dedicated to be unequivocally groove-oriented and will be responsible for the new automatica installation of dub music. Apparently, so struck with honor of releasing a single for Pole, Clayton manufactured a strikingly similar sound to Pole's granular synth & digital pixelated dub. An exemplary piece of neo-dub, if uttering a little whisper of hero worship.

CLAYTON, KIT Nek Sanalet (Scrape) cd 16.98

CLAYTON, KIT Repetition & Nonsense (Drop Beat) cdep 10.98
Right after the granulated dub single for Pole's record label, the prolific SF electronica artist Kit Clayton (who is also responsible for the Hardwaxish Cytrax label and the stellar Mimic & The Model ep) returns to the Bay Area with this release on Drop Beat. The seductive neo-dub elements of bubbling synths and processed digital distortion submit to a shuffling groove of techno 4/4 syncopations. Andee would call this house (in other words, it's not).

CLAYTON, KIT Repetition & Nonsense (Drop Beat) mini-lp 7.98
Right after the granulated dub single for Pole's record label, the prolific SF electronica artist Kit Clayton (who is also responsible for the Hardwaxish Cytrax label and the stellar Mimic & The Model ep) returns to the Bay Area with this release on Drop Beat. The seductive neo-dub elements of bubbling synths and processed digital distortion submit to a shuffling groove of techno 4/4 syncopations. Andee would call this house (in other words, it's not).

CLAYTON, KIT & SAFETY SCISSORS Ping Pong (Carpark) cd 9.98
A listenin' delight from two electronica artists with strong ties to the Bay Area (Clayton lives in San Francisco, and Safety Scissor's Matthew Curry used to run the exceptional Static weekly club before moving to Berlin). This EP, keeping true to its namesake, is super light, playful, "popcorn"-esque and anything but static. Within the continuous mix across 36 tracks, but a extra brief 18 minutes, "Ping Pong" ricochets throughout the spectrum of silly, ironic electronics that at times recalls Dick Hyman moog albums with a chorus line of tap dancers as the rhythm section, and at others clunky fusions between house and '50 circus music.
RealAudio clip: "Track 1"
RealAudio clip: "Track 2"

CLOSER MUSIK After Love (Kompakt) cd 17.98
Debut long player from the Cologne duo of Matias Aguayo (formerly of Zimt, alongside glitter-tech-house rocker Michael Mayer) and Dirk Levers. Certainly one of the most pop oriented Kompakt outfits, Closer Musik synthesizes glamourous electro and erotic lyricism with that mesmerizing minimal thump of Cologne. Includes the killer singles "Closer Dancer" and "You Don't Know Me" plus the beautiful "Departures" that was featured way back on the Kompakt Total 3 compilation.
RealAudio clip: "Giganten"
RealAudio clip: "Departures"
RealAudio clip: "You Don't Know Me"

CLOSER MUSIK After Love (Kompakt) 2lp 16.98
Debut long player from the Cologne duo of Matias Aguayo (formerly of Zimt, alongside glitter-tech-house rocker Michael Mayer) and Dirk Levers. Certainly one of the most pop oriented Kompakt outfits, Closer Musik synthesizes glamourous electro and erotic lyricism with that mesmerizing minimal thump of Cologne. Includes the killer singles "Closer Dancer" and "You Don't Know Me" plus the beautiful "Departures" that was featured way back on the Kompakt Total 3 compilation.

CLUBROOT s/t (LoDubs) cd 14.98
One of two discs vying for our personal dubstep disc of the year. The other is the recent Mordant Music disc, which we'll try to review next time, an unlikely collaboration between Mordant and the Skull Disco crew, and this, the first full length from mysterious atmospheric dubstep soundscaper Clubroot.
We know nothing about this guy (or these guys?), other than he takes that dubbed out skitter we love so much and sets it in expansive fields of swirling ambience, creeped out dronescapes and all manner of super evocative and gorgeously textural soundworlds. Where as most dubstep is super spare and stripped down, skeletal even, the sound here is lush and sprawling. Thick layers of synths whir and shimmer and buzz, deep swells throbbing and pulsing, everything hazy and gauzy and washed out, every song some sort of otherworldy dreamscape, shot through with some super bad ass bit of pounding churning dubstep stutter. The massive basslines and fluctuating synth buzz that usually adds texture to typical dubstep, here just becomes another element in Clubroot's mysterious mist shrouded sonic landscape.
The cover features a lonely tree, set atop a rocky outcropping, the sky dense with clouds, the picture all misty and hauntingly lonely seeming, which perfectly reflects the mood of the music here. Strip away the beats, and you'd still be left with an incredible bit of blackened new age swirl, of abstract kosmiche krautdrone, but add the beats, and these sounds become something entirely other. This is definitely not dancemusic, this is mind expansion music. Late night, lights off, starting at the stars drifting off, other dimension, spaced out, dream dub music.
Clubroot taps into the same darkside as Burial, and Kode9, and the more atmospheric beatmakers, but where those guys pull back before the fog grows to thick, Clubroot pushes forward, traveling through the dark forest, into some forbidden zone, some land lost in time, lost from time, a massive emptiness, as beautiful as it is lonely and ominous, and this is the soundtrack to that lost world. So intense and haunting and unlike any other dubstep, or electronic music even, that we've heard before. The rare sort of record that lets even the most jaded and heard-it-all listener get totally, and fantastically lost.
And if you need more than our effusive gushing praise, look no further than Fenriz, 1/2 of legendary black metal duo Darkthrone, a long time lover of techno and electronic music, who has this to say about Clubroot:
"This is the sort of soaring dubstep I'd never expect to come out of the US! I just transferred the adorable "Embryo" track to my MP3 player FAVES 09 list, as I am going tenting and swimming in a forest lake tomorrow with some connoiceur-friends [sic]. It's sleek and not nasty, the melodic kind and not the grimy. But wait a minute, it seems like the newest tracks are on first, as the last songs drift into some de-tranced balearic style, even with vocals stabs and 90s synths! Blimey."
And if you can't trust Fenriz on matters of dubstep, then who can you trust? WAY recommended. And quite possibly dubstep record of the year!
MPEG Stream: "Low Pressure Zone"
MPEG Stream: "Embryo"
MPEG Stream: "High Strung"
MPEG Stream: "Dulcet"

CLUE KID Halogen ('Earwax) 12" 11.98

CLUSTER Cluster 71 (Water) cd 15.98
Nobody did spaced out krauty ambiance better than Berlin's Cluster. Maybe best known for their collaboration with Brian Eno, it was their work leading up to those monumental records that helped usher in a new wave of sound that's been latched onto and updated by many over the years. It's hard not to hear their influence on folks like Mouse On Mars, Aphex Twin and the atmospheric moments of Kid-A era Radiohead. It's always so great to remember and be reminded that they did it all without synthesizers (really, they say so in the liner notes!). Instead Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Conrad Plank were each armed with an organ, effect pedals, analog echo machines, alarm clocks, violin, etc. 3 songs and 40+ minutes long '71 is such a nice record to put the headphones on and begin to wander and fade away into their hypnotizing sounds. It was originally released by Philips, and of course never brought the commercial success a big label would hope for and since it went out of print there have been a few sparse reissues but luckily for us Water have flexed their wonderful reissue muscle and made it available once again with really nice informative packaging, finally giving due credit to one of the more influential groups of the last 35 years.
MPEG Stream: "Untitled (15:33)"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled (21:14)"

CLUSTER First Encounter Tour (Purple Pyramid) 2cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
German electronic music pioneers Moebius and Roedelius live on their first ever US tour.

CLUSTER Japan 1996 Live (Captain Trip) cd 16.98
Famed electronic krautrock duo of Moebius & Roedelius, like it says, live in Japan.

COBRA KILLER s/t (Digital Hardcore) cd 22.00
Either you'll love it or hate it, but that may be the case with most stuff from Digital Hardcore. Cobra Killer is the collaborative effort from Gina of EC8OR and Annika of Shizuo (whom you may remember as the woman from Shizuo's recent tour grinding relentlessly to Shizuo's music on stage and exposing herself to the audience). Taking 60's Blue Note soul records and purposefully arrhythmic beats, Cobra Killer does not groove in the least. Instead they take Throbbing Gristle's gleeful antagonism to rock & roll, electronica, whatever... and scream like Lydia Lunch (age 16) over top. A very stupid record.

COBRA KILLER s/t (DHR) cd 13.98
Finally a domestic release for this...shall we say unusual?...Digital Hardcore title. Gina of EC8OR and Annika of Shizuo sample old '60s soul records, add very lo-fi beats and then scream over the top of it all like teenage Lydia Lunches. For DHR, this is pretty off the wall, not a bit like the intense drum 'n bass of Alec Empire, the riot beats of ATR, or the distorted hip-hop-noir of Fever. No, these ladies have created a messy, funky sound collage, very retro, very not-hi-tech. Yes, this is incredibly stupid at first listen, but damn it's also a charmer. We like it. A lot. And now it's NOT a 22 buck import, so go for it and get down with Cobra Killer.

COBRA KILLER s/t (Digital Hardcore) lp 18.98
Either you'll love it or hate it, but that may be the case with most stuff from Digital Hardcore. Cobra Killer is the collaborative effort from Gina of EC8OR and Annika of Shizuo (whom you may remember as the woman from Shizuo's recent tour grinding relentlessly to Shizuo's music on stage and exposing herself to the audience). Taking 60's Blue Note soul records and purposefully arrhythmic beats, Cobra Killer does not groove in the least. Instead they take Throbbing Gristle's gleeful antagonism to rock & roll, electronica, whatever... and scream like Lydia Lunch (age 16) over top. A very stupid record.

COH 0397post-pop (Mego) 2cd 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Of all the folks involved in the world of ultra stark, minimalist techno and barely there click and glitch, we've always been pretty partial to Ivan Pavlov, aka COH. Not sure exactly what it is, but he always manages to take his stark minimalism somewhere full of life and emotion and energy. What in other hands would be nothing but a sonic experiment, in Pavlov's becomes a song, or a groove, or just a big chunk of sound that resonates with energy and creativity and power. Not sure if the title is supposed to intimate something about the music within and it's supposed relation to classic pop constructs. But in no way is this Pavlov's poppiest material, not by a long shot. That's not to say it isn't great, it is, it's just much more barebones and barely there. Disc one sounds like Neu! after being dipped in acid, so all the flesh and organs have liquified and sloughed off, leaving just a skeletal framework, an intricate assemblage of static and stutter, hiss and click, with an innate funkiness that might just be flecks of melody clinging desperately to the already picked clean bones. Disc B is a reissue of a 1997 release originally released in a limited run of SEVEN copies and given only to friends. This disc is a little more all over the place, while the recurring theme is still definitely Pavlov's microscopic glitch funk minimalism, there are random moments of Ikeda like test tones, stuttering synth squelch, and once in a while even a little bleeping blooping outer space swoosh. Packaged in a cool geometrically abstract double digipak.
MPEG Stream: "Da Kota Rap"
MPEG Stream: "Apex (Twig)"
MPEG Stream: "Post-Pop Reprise"

COH 20' to 2000 (Raster-Noton) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The fourth in the monthly series of 20 minute compositions that countdown the end of the Millenium. COH has provided perhaps the most 'listenable' so far (which isn't to hard after the gut wrenching sine waves of Ryoji Ikeda's contribution for March)... slippery layers of soothing drones. Drifting and dreamy minimalism.

COH Electric Electric (Mego) 12" 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After the gorgeously organic and delicately melodic experimentalism of the last few Coh releases, this decidedly monochromatic, almost straight techno 12" came as a bit of a surprise. That said, this is a pretty engaging platter of head nodding electronic bliss. Side one is a cold and minimal digital glitchscape, with clipped pulses, humming static, squeaking creaking digital errata, and cyclical muted minor key melodies that slowly build in intensity. Halfway through the side, the track seemingly repeats, this time with a little extra dynamic flair, more grit and a more solid throb, before dissipating into a serene wash of isolated notes, sounding a bit like a slowed down thumb piano. Quite beautiful. The second side starts off with a little bit of classic Kraftwerk major key melodic bounce, but quickly settles into similarly spaced out, hypno-throb territory. Imagine Plastikman on speed, or 4 on the floor techno played by Pole, or Gas trying to do 'real' dance music. Strangely hypnotic and pretty great.

COH Enter Tinnitus (Noton/Rastermusic) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A lot more action packed and a bit more accessible than most Noton / Rastermusic releases (like Noto, Miko Vainio, Kim Cascone, and Signal) but still just as minimal as fuck in places. After a minute of ear shredding schreech and a few downright 'poppy' moments, the record settles down into looped out bliss. Beeps, clicks and stuttering tones coalesce into a soothing minimal whole. An exceptional record for fans of Oval.

COH Iron (Wavetrap) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Raster-Noton contributor Coh (aka Ivan Pavlov) has dedicated his Wavetrap album "Iron" to heavy metal fans all over the world and has even given some of the tracks metal puns for titles ('For Whom The Dell Falls' and 'Rubbing Free' for example). Of all of the electron modulators populating the Raster-Noton roster, Coh has always had the keenest pop sensibility, often infusing his near catchy melodies with static-laden feedback bursts and pure sinewaves. "Iron" is Coh's most aggressive recording to date, filled with staticky melodies that soften (only a little) his morass of digital black box effects and synthetic noise. While you'd be hard pressed to hear anything definitively metal on this record (i.e. guitar solos, double bass-kick blastbeats, wailing vocalizations, Satan), the massive ebb and flow of the music takes its starting point from the epic heaviosity of metal and turns it into something uniquely Coh. Recommended!
RealAudio clip: "Annum Per Annum"

COH Love Uncut (Eskaton) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Love Uncut" is the newest EP from Russian electron engineer Coh and it features vocal contributions from various members of Coil. More so than any of the other Raster-Noton artists, Coh is not afraid of the power of the pop song, turning Pan Sonic minimalist techno into tense post-New Wave soundscapes. Coh has in effect updated the early sound of Coil that peaked around "Love's Secret Domain," as a funhouse distortion of sexually explicit club anthems and investigations into what is "hidden" beneath mainstream culture. This short EP opens with a track credited as a cover of Soft Cell's "Meet Murder My Angel," yet with Coil's Peter Christopherson malevolently muttering in subterranean caverns, it sounds more like a remake of the early Coil track "The Sewage Worker's Birthday Party." Coh deconstructs another '80s iconic classic in the cover of Vicious Pink's "Fetish" with significantly more references to the original with the Morroder like synth arrpegiations intact, but replacing the big Disco whip cracks with rapid fire glicth pops. By the time Balance begins his lunatic ranting about the unclean hospitals on "Love's Septic Domain" (ha!), the Dennis Cooper-esque allegories of abject sex and medicinal hallucinations start to become apparent, yet sadly the EP comes to an end far too quickly. While this is an excellent EP, I hope that Coh and Coil will collaborate for a full album!
RealAudio clip: "Health and Deficiency"
RealAudio clip: "Fffetish"
RealAudio clip: "My Angel"

COH Mask of Birth (Mego) cd 16.98
According to Raster-Noton who first released this album back in 1999, "Mask Of Birth" was the debut recording by Coh, the Russian born programmer Ivan Pavlov. Originally, this was a vinyl-only release published by Raster-Noton, who made a point of stating that they had a difficult time cutting the frequencies of these recordings onto wax. A mere three years later, Mego has taken up the task of re-issuing this album on CD, a medium more appropriate for such dynamic frequencies. Despite his origins with Raster's pristine electronics, Coh has continued to present himself as a post-techno reincarnation of the bleak industrial arpeggiations from the early-'80s, sharing the common urgency of early Cabaret Voltaire, Coil, Fad Gadget, Konstruktivitis, Skinny Puppy and the like. He's just been using much more high tech gear than abused samplers and overblown drum machines. After his recent collaborations with Coil on the "Love Uncut" EP, the revisitation to his first productions draws the same conclusion of his historical citations. The darkened loops, tremolo vibrations, and static pulsations have similar tonalities to his peers on Raster (Noto, Mika Vainio, and Komet), but the structure of the his music is fixed back in time on those aforementioned references. As many of those bands have been forgotten, marginalized, or dismissed, Coh's electronica revisionism is certainly welcome!
RealAudio clip: "Hurt Later"
RealAudio clip: "Utopia - Me Too"

COH Patherns (Raster-Noton) cd ep 16.98
The glitchy, streaming rhythms from Russian electronic musician Ivan Pavlov (aka Coh) have always been difficult for us to write about because they are so immediate and just simply work so well. Yeah, our purple prose benefits from the context of elfin types scurrying around the forest with contact mics and then overlaying those sounds with some fucking heavy doom riffs that aim to crack the skull of Odin; so when a prolific technician like Pavlov constantly churns out an extremely consistent body of work we can be at a loss for words. Don't dismay, we'll do our best to blather on about this brilliant 24 minute EP. Over the past six or seven years, Pavlov has released tons of recordings for heavy-weight avant electronica labels such as Mego, Raster-Noton, and Eskaton (one of the labels run by Coil); and many of these recordings do essentially the same thing: generate tense yet hypnotic electronic pieces which smartly synthesize a number of electronica references. There's the futuristic Moroder arpeggiations, the erratic digital pixel smears of Stilluppsteypa's glitch-n-drone, the extravagant audio alchemy worthy of comparisons to the best Coil recordings, and the release-and-stop dynamics borrowed from the finest Model 500 techno. Given how druggy these repetitive algorithms are, it's no wonder that the sidereal psychonauts Coil were so taken by Pavlov's work. Like pretty much everything he touches, Patherns is extraordinary.
MPEG Stream: "Path #01"
MPEG Stream: "Path #02"