Column One :: Electric Pleasure (90% Wasser)
Out into Outer Space! Robots from the fifties! Vocoder voices from
sixties science fiction movies! Column One are totally smitten with
science fiction nostalgia. It is actually quite funny. What is even
mory fun is the music on the album. It is of course electro, and
heavily influenced by Kraftwerk at that. But Column One are more than
just imitators, they go their own way, and their playfulness and zest
for exploration is difficult not to be charmed by. And when they
suddenly insert an obvious Depeche Mode sample it isn’t pathetic,
it’s just fun – Column One don’t base whole meals on their band
samples, they just use them for seasoning. The production on
Electric Pleasure feels both nostalgic and modern at the same time.
I’m already waiting for more.
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Massimo :: Hey Babe, Let me see your USB and I’ll show you my
FireWire (Mego)
Somewhat surprisingly the most advanced record of 2001 came from
Sicily, both in regards to the music and the packaging. Or perhaps
not “advanced”, “sensational” is probably a better word. Twenty
minutes of rhythmic sound art on a small 3″ CD, with a gay porn cover
that illustrates the title’s Massimo claims that he’s made the record
with just one trumpet, and perhaps it’s true that the original sounds
were made on that instrument, but it certainly doesn’t sound like it.
Massamo has brutally processed the sounds to bits, and all that’s
left is evilly sharp and dirty digital noise. In spite of that there
is something engaging, not to say captivating, in these ten short
pieces. In one moment totally annoying, in the next strangely
beautiful. It’s as if Massimo wants to show us that even the ugliest
sounds can be turned into good music. And he pulls it off, at least
partly. Definitely interesting, but not recommended to sensitive
persons.
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