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90 September 2005 

16 Midnight Movies 

20 Battles 

24 Kele Le Roc 

27 Röyksopp 

26 Turbulence 

32 Colossus 

36 Jon Cutler 

38 Mobius Band 

42 Adult. 

48 Norwegian Disko 

52 Chris Cunningham 

56 Hank Shocklee vs. Jason Forrest 

60 K-Swift 

64 Style: Annual T-Shirt Roundup 

70 Style: Lick Shots 

79 Reviews 

104 Lucky 13 

106 In the Studio: KutMasta Kurt 

108 Machines: Components 

116 Vis-Ed: Andrew Pommier 

120 TBC 

Norwegian Disko iconoclast 

Kango’s Stein Massiv

ED’S RANT real love 

Shawn Brackbill 

Baltimore kids raving to DJ K-Swift 

One of the best parties I’ve been to this year didn’t have an open bar. It 

wasn’t full of “beautiful people” or “tastemakers,” and nobody was taking 

party photos to plaster all over the internet. The good people of Baltimore 

were, however, going completely insane (see photo of Ari’s chest, Schnipper, 

and Jarboe above). They were going perhaps more insane than New York 

knows how to go on a good night, with little more than a warehouse, a sound 

system, and the right DJ–in this case, Baltimore’s Club Queen K-Swift. 

So now you know how and why K-Swift made it into this issue. Nobody sent 

us a press release or a CD, no PR person called me. I picked up some Bmore 

breaks records at Turntable Lab, fiended to hear more (as DJs do), then begged 

Ari and his roommate/Manhunter bandmate Jason to burn me some CDs. 

Thanks to a vast network of indie rock kids I found my way down to Baltimore 

and heard the music for my goddamn self–DIY raving at its finest. 

I don’t think I could assign stories for XLR8R if I didn’t get out and 

experience the artists we write about live. There’s something about listening 

to music–particularly dance music–in the right setting and with the right 

people that you can never duplicate in your headphones. The best albums 

and mixtapes are capable of encapsulating this feeling, bringing your mind 

to a particular time and place. (Most of my time between the ages of 12 and 

14 was spent alone with my stereo, wishing I was in various British cities 

thanks to The Prodigy, Happy Mondays, and ragga drum & bass). 

Then again, some records bring you to a place that you can’t quantify, 

somewhere that doesn’t exist yet. That’s sort of the feeling I get when 

listening to Adult.’s new album, Gimmie Trouble. It reminds me of a lot of 

things–goth clubs when I was 16, being wired on the London subway, an 

art punk party in the basement of a high-rise on Amsterdam’s outskirts–but 

of nothing I’ve heard at the same time. I guess that’s probably the biggest 

compliment you can give a band in a time where 85% of acts sound pretty 

directly like someone that’s preceded them. 

So we roll on. We sift through piles of CDs, traverse states and continents, 

and blow our eardrums and retinas on the regular trying to find those 

things that are truly original, or at least heartfelt. Then we try to get them 

in the magazine. And that, my friends, is how we make each issue. Write us 

a letter and tell us if we’re getting it right or not. 

–Vivian Host, Editor

STAFF BOX 

Editor In Chief Andrew Smith (andrew@xlr8r.com) 

Editor Vivian Host (vivian@xlr8r.com) 

managing Editor Tomas A. Palermo (tomas@xlr8r.com) 

SENIOR WRITER Toph One (redwine@xlr8r.com) 

COPY Editor Elka Karl 

Editorial Intern Sabrina Ford 

Staff Writers Eric K. Arnold, Pete Babb, Mike Battaglia, Sarah Bentley, Susanna Bolle, Roy Dank, 

Rob Geary, Alexis Georgopoulos, Ross Hogg, Christine Hsieh, David Katz, Gerald “Gik” Kelleher, Luciana 

Lopez, Cameron Macdonald, Mark McNeill, Stacy Meyn, Peter Nicholson, Brion Paul, Brock Phillips, 

Dave Segal, Philip Sherburne, Scott Thill, Josh Tonnissen, Martin Turenne, Janet Tzou, Tony Ware 

Contributing WriterS Anna Balkrishna, Derek Beres, Ben Bush, Stephen Christian, Liz Cordingley, 

Araya Crosskill, Martin DeLeon II, Stacey Dugan, Scott Edmonds, David Hemingway, Max Herman, 

Justin Hopper, Marc Kate, James Lee, David Ma, Steve Marchese, James Mayo, Doug Morton, Alex 

Posell, Mark Pytlik, Ryan Romana, Maria Tessa Sciarrino, Jesse Serwer, Sara Sherr, Patrick Sisson, 

Daniel Siwek, Ryan Sommer, Dave Stenton, Velanche Stewart, Tamara Warren, Rico Washington, Brolin 

Winning, Jonathan Zwickel 

ART DIRECTOR Brianna Pope (brianna@xlr8r.com) 

Layout/Production David Clark (davidc@xlr8r.com) 

production Intern Beryl Fine 

Staff Photographers Kareem Black, Jessica Miller, Paul O’Valle, Zen Sekizawa, Christopher 

Woodcock 

Contributing Photographers Toini Blom, Shawn Brackbill, Marc Goldstein, Theo Jemison, 

Nicola Kuperus, Mitch, Noam The Drummer, Daniel Flaschar, Rayon Richards, Peter Dean “Afflicted” 

Rickards, Philip Sherburne, Lin Stensrud, Camille Vivier 

STAFF ILLUSTRATORS Chuck Anderson for No Pattern, Derek Morris for Trophy 

contributing ILLUSTRATORS Annette Monnier, Wes Winship for Burlesque Design, UPSO 

contributing stylist Kaysian L Wilson 

Publisher Andrew Smith (andrew@amalgam.us) 

Business Development Michael Prommer (michael@amalgam.us) 

MARKETING director Emma Katznelson (emma@amalgam.us) 

Distribution/MARKETING Manager Jennifer Marston (jenn@amalgam.us) 

east coast ADVERTISING Sales Roy Dank (roy@amalgam.us) 

West coast Advertising Sales Sue Kim (sue@amalgam.us) 

accounting manager Jamie Kochan (jamie@amalgam.us) 

ADVERTISING INTERN Shane Heiman 

marketing/distribution INTERN Bryant Rugledge 

CO-Publisher Arias Hung 

Advertising: Dial 415.861.7583, fax 415. 861.7584, email advertising@xlr8r.com, or mail XLR8R 

Magazine, 1388 Haight St. #105, San Francisco, CA 94117. 

Subscriptions: Domestic subscriptions are $16 (one year, 10 issues) and $32 (two years, 20 

issues), Canada $40 (one year) and $80 (two year), all other international are $50 (one year) and $100 

(two year). Subscribe by credit card online (www.xlr8r.com) or send payment to XLR8R Subscriptions, 

1388 Haight St. #105, San Francisco, CA 94117. Payment made out to “XLR8R Magazine,” US funds 

only. International orders must be paid by credit card or international money order. Questions Email 

subscribe@xlr8r.com or subscribe online at www.xlr8r.com. 

Circulation: Newsstand distribution through Curtis Circulation. For direct retail sales contact Jenn 

at 415.861.7583 x26 or jenn@amalgam.us. 

Big thanks to ... Matthew Harman at Paxton Gate, Sara DeRose at Creative Time, Jessica Linker, 

Nate Bosshard-Blackey at Burton, The Coffee Pot!, Jamie Proctor at Thrill Jockey, Kate Renyi at PF Flyers, 

Feedelity, Gary Hunt, Eric “Bones” Jones, Shawn “Muddy” Brackbill, Jason Urick and Jarboe for the 

great Baltimore adventure, Manhunter and Andrew for the DC hospitality, Oliver Kann at Adidas, Joel 

Speasmaker, Leah Perrin, Josh Walker, Debbie Socolow, Ira Issac, Zachary Law, Jessica Haran, Rachel 

Erin, Joshua Eustis, Chris Schlarb at VP, Basic Civitas books, Alison at Girlie, Sarah at Favouritism, Eric at 

Forced Exposure, Matthew Conaway at M.A.C. Media, Laura Leon at Commonwealth Stacks. 

On the cover: Adult. photo by Nicola Kuperus; fur provided by Paxton Gate, SF (www.paxtongate.com) 

Contact us: San Francisco Main HQ: 1388 Haight St. #105, San Francisco, CA 94117; 

New York Office: 350 Seventh Ave. #1504, New York, NY 10001; 

letters@xlr8r.com, Fax 415.861.7584 

XLR8R Magazine is published ten times a year by Amalgam Media, Inc. All writing, photographs and artwork printed within the pages of XLR8R Magazine are 

copyright and property of Amalgam Media, Inc. and may only be reprinted with permission from the “page count monster” publisher. Please mail letters, charts, 

complaints, submissions, general information and review material to XLR8R Magazine, 1388 Haight St. #105, San Francisco, CA 94117 or fax us at 415.861.7584 

or e-mail us at letters@xlr8r.com. XLR8R is a trademark of Amalgam Media, Inc. 

TM TM TM 

ISSN # 1526-4246 CSA # 1741454

Contributors 

Piers Martin 

Piers cut his teeth as a scribe for The 

Face and the New Musical Express in 

the late ’90s, where he was put off 

indie rock for life. Today he writes 

for Vice and Uncut, mostly about 

European electronic music, and contributes 

to Whitaker’s Almanack. He 

lives in London where he runs a 

monthly disco night and enjoys swimming, 

melody, cooking, and raving. 

For this issue he interviews film director 

Chris Cunningham, an enlightening 

encounter he describes as “tense 

at first, then later, quite drunken.” 

Annette Monnier 

Annette Monnier is a fine artist/ 

illustrator who currently lives in 

Philadelphia, PA where she enjoys 

cooking, drawing, reading, and 

co-running Black Floor artist studios 

and gallery, with five of her 

closest friends. Annette graduated 

with honors from the Art Academy 

of Cincinnati in 2003 with a BFA 

in sculpture. Her work has shown 

at The Stray Show (Chicago) and 

the Contemporary Art Museum of 

Cincinnati. 

www.blackfloorgallery.com 

Derek Morris 

Derek Morris is an artist, traveler, 

lover, and the mastermind of 

Trophy, based in San Francisco. In 

the future you can find him in Baja, 

NYC, London, Rio, and the annual 

Christmas in Vegas. He has contributed 

to SOMA, Catastrophe, and 

NOON. As well, he just finished editing 

his first film project, The Next 

Contestant, a documentary showcasing 

the participants of The Price is 

Right daytime game show, for which 

Trophy also provided the motion 

graphics. It premieres this fall at the 

Coney Island Film Festival. 

www.trophygraphics.com 

Ryan Sommer 

A prodigy of the freelance tech circuit, 

Ryan Sommer studied electronic 

circuit design under Nolan Bushnell, 

and earned his bullish business sense 

from an exclusive academy taught 

in low earth orbit by Sir Richard 

Branson. After writing for Sync, Wired 

Magazine, and G4 Tech TV, Sommer 

turned his insightful criticism and 

winning business strategies to videogames 

in an attempt to foster growth 

within the small, self-effacing industry. 

“This year’s E3 was a good start,” 

says Sommer, “But I think we need to 

punch up the wow factor a little bit.”

LETTERS 

Diary of a Music Fan 

Dear XLR8R, 

I have been listening to and collecting music 

my whole life. When I was too young to buy 

my own music, I would listen to the sweet 

music my dad would play such as Kid Creole 

and the Coconuts, Dr. Buzzards Original 

Savannah Band, Basia, Gloria Estefan, Buster 

Poindexter, The Rolling Stones, Fine Young 

Cannibals, The Neville Brothers, and many 

more. When I was older I started opening 

letters to the editor 

Like us Hate us Write us! Email letters to letters@xlr8r.com or send mail to 

XLR8R Magazine 1388 Haight Street #105 San Francisco, CA 94117. 

my eyes to Nas, Gang Starr, Souls of Mischief, Del, 

Ghostface, Binary Star, Anticon, Andre Nickatina, 

Prefuse 73, Daedelus, etc. Currently, I am collecting 

forgotten classics such as The Ohio Players, 

Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf, and Vanilla 

Fudge. I read your mag cause where else can you 

find reviews of albums that actually consist of creative 

music Nowhere. 

Geoffrey Hurowitz 

Tomas replies: Thanks Geoffrey. XLR8R is lucky 

have some of the most expert, experienced freelance 

music reviewers on our staff–but what we all 

have in common is the same insane passion for the 

music that you exhibit. Keep it up! 

Another Music Fan Confesses 

Hey XLR8R, 

I read you every month and love what you do. 

I’ve been listening to music all my life. My mom 

loved music. She was a record collector, and she’d 

play music all day. She loved glam rock, disco, new 

wave, folk, soul, women singers, some prog, and 

more. Even though I had a musically open-minded 

mother, I didn’t get fully bit by the music bug until 

I started to find music that reflected my sensibilities 

more. It was when I joined my school’s college 

radio station that I developed my ear, tastes, and 

XLR8R’s “stylish stacks” contest 

Enter and win stylish apparel from Commonwealth Stacks. 

XLR8R knows that our audience’s clothing tastes are as varied as their music. To satiate your 

desire for the new, the fresh, and the sensational, we’ve hooked up with genius designer 

Michael Leon and his superb Commonwealth Stacks line. Stacks began in January 2000 

on Commonwealth Avenue in Los Angeles. They loved the idea that t-shirts could be used 

as conversation pieces and even valued as precious souvenirs. Today, they continue to produce 

pieces that reflect the common understanding of those in love with music, film, art, 

and design. Stacks Fall 2005 line features their trademark bold and imaginative graphics on 

sweatshirts and t-shirts in vibrant colors. To win, simply send a hardcopy photo or jpeg digital 

image of yourself in your favorite everyday casual outfit. Our panel of experts will decide who 

gets a wardrobe upgrade! 

1 Male and 1 Female Grand Prize Winner will receive: A Commonwealth Stacks t-shirt and 

sweatshirt. 

5 Runners Up Will Receive: XLR8R Incite back issue five-CD promo pack. 

knowledge more. I fell for electronic music in college, 

and it remains the music I’m most passionate 

about. When I left my station, I bought myself a pair 

of turntables and a mixer, and I joined a collectively 

run art space and became one of their main DJs. My 

love affair with music is 13 years strong. 

Beth Gallagher 

He’s In Parties 

XLR8R, 

Just wanna give you guys some feedback on your 

killer mag. I usually read Ed’s Rant first–cool guy 

that Ed [um, newsflash–Ed is a she!-Tomas]. Then it’s 

off to the table of contents to see if I recognize anyone 

you’re profiling then off to the music reviews 

and then through the rest of the mag while I pop in 

the CD sampler (thanks–love those). I always keep 

your mag around and notice that while I usually 

don’t recognize a lot of the artists right off the bat, if 

I go back and look at an issue from a few years back, 

I’ll know most of the artists. So I kind of see XLR8R 

as a guide to what I’ll be listening to in a year or two 

(but hopefully sooner). All right–time to go dance to 

some house music at Cafe Cocomo/Stompy and then 

to Lee Coombs at Mighty. 

PleasureSean 

STARRING 

LARENZ TATE 

NOEL G GUERILLA BLACK 

DRIVE. BLAST. RULE. 

“…looks incredibly detailed and dynamic with 

relentless and over-the-top car acrobatics.” 

-1Up.com 

VIDEO GAME 

AVAILABLE 

SEPTEMBER 2005 

WWW.187GAME.COM 

Entries will be accepted via mail and email. Entries must be received by Sept 9, 2005. Send your answers to XLR8R’s “Stylish Stacks” 

contest, 1388 Haight St. #105, San Francisco, CA 94117 or email contest@xlr8r.com with “Stylish Stacks” in the subject line. 

www.commonwealthstacks.com 

Blood 

Strong Language 

Violence 

12 

© 2005 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. 187 Ride or Die, Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered 

trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Online play requires internet connection, Network Adaptor (for PlayStation 2) and Memory Card (8MB) (for PlayStation 2) (each sold separately). The Online icon is a trademark of Sony Computer 

Entertainment America Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live, the Live logo, and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft.

itter bastard 

BJ “bitter” bastard says: folk you 

YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO 

MAKE OUT IN THE COPY ROOM 

TO FIND PASSION IN THE WORKPLACE. 

5 

7 

1 

2 

8 

Iknow George Bush is trying to take 

things back to the 1950s, but that 

doesn’t mean the music has to go with 

it. Whatever happened to music that actually 

reflects our current times People are 

still doing the whole ‘80s “I’m living large 

and I’m high on coke so let’s party” sound 

even though the economy remains firmly in 

the toilet, and the ‘70s redux is just as bad 

with bands like Kasabian trying to be Primal 

Scream trying to be the Rolling Stones. But 

perhaps the worst retro trend of all is what 

some people are calling “avant-folk.” How 

very avant to sound like a deluded hippie 

smoking Thai stick and strumming a guitar. 

How cutting edge to wear flowing garments 

and sing about putting flowers in your hair 

and elves while a Texan in the White House 

tries to take away all our rights. Wake up 

and smell the petroleum–this is not the 

Summer of Love Part 2. Here’s a guide to 

help you decode these frightening harbingers 

of the apocalypse. 

1. Sufjan Stevens When this dude came out, 

a lot of people wondered if it was Cat Stevens 

and “Sufjan” was Cat’s new Muslim name 

or something. I wish that were true, but 

alas Sufjan is just a dude who likes making 

plaintive soft songs about Midwestern states. 

In 2003, he did an album about Michigan; 

in July, he released Illinois. If that isn’t 

limp enough, he also plays glockenspiel 

and sleigh bells and rhymes “alligator” with 

“Decatur.” Okay, that’s enough. 

2. Mia Doi Todd I don’t like typing Mia Doi Todd’s 

name. I also don’t like her pretentious, overwrought 

lyrics or her touchy-feely (in a bad way) genitalia 

metaphors. I think she needs to listen to some more 

2 Live Crew. 

3. Devendra Banhart When god complexes get 

together with hippies, it smells worse than the 15th 

row at a Dead show. This dude is famous for singing 

about motherlands, living like a hobo, and writing 

songs about animals like “Hey Mama Wolf ” and 

“Owl Eyes.” Help….can’t breathe…your mystique 

is strangling me. 

4. Fiery Furnaces This brother/sister duo makes 

me think only in adjectives that are cringe-worthy, 

namely “tinkly,” “loosy goosy,” and “rollicking.” 

Cough. 

5. Joanna Newsom Sadly Lord of the Rings is done, 

because Joanna Newsom would have been perfect as 

Frodo’s wife. She sings in a creepy voice that sounds 

like it belongs to the dancing baby on Ally McBeal, 

writes elf songs, and plays a harp. I think there may 

be hidden Satanic messages in her music, since evil 

yuppie SF mayor Gavin Newsom is purportedly her 

cousin. Scary shit. 

3 

6. Iron and Wine This guy puts the wierdy in beardy 

and vice versa. Also, despite being from Florida he 

sports a weird accent (vaguely UK) and sounds like 

Donovan. You can hear his cover of Postal Service’s 

“Such Great Heights” in the new M&M commercial, 

but I doubt this guy has ever eaten an M&M. He 

sounds like he mainly lives on twigs and berries. 

7. Beachwood Sparks This band would love to be a 

sunny telegram from California circa the late ‘60s, 

but every time someone puts them on we feel like 

that day after acid when the ringing in our ears 

won’t stop. They sound a whole hell of a lot like The 

Byrds, but since innocence died this mostly reminds 

us of annoying baby boomers. 

8. Panda Bear Clearly this Animal Collective 

member has read Iron John too many times. His 

album, Young Prayer, is way more man catharsis than 

can be handled in one sitting. 

9. The Court & Spark Well, first off this band has 

the same name as a Joni Mitchell album, which 

makes my 50-year-old sister laugh. Apparently, they 

call this alt-country nowadays, but wisps of dead 

folkie Nick Drake ring throughout. Magical, mystical, 

zzzzzzzzzz… 

10. Will Oldham This dude is like the god of all 

these other dudes, despite the fact that most of his 

tracks sound like they were recorded into an old 

boombox and are totally affected. Hmm. 

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14

PREFIX 

AUDIOFILE 

midnight movies 

The natural and the unearthly share space with L.A.’s 

elegant surrealists. 

Words: alexander posell photo: marc goldstein 

During the day, the modern world and its straight 

lines prevail–money and machines, time and technology, 

order and organization… but after dark, 

the winds of the imagination come into play. In 

the middle of the night, strange creatures appear, 

unusual events occur, familiar objects take on new 

aspects, the real becomes the ethereal. 

Like a story told in the late hours, the music 

on Midnight Movies’ self-titled debut conjures 

these dreamlike images–autumn mists at twilight, 

hazy, multi-shaded tableaus, psychedelic colors 

and shapes. Their name comes from a book about 

‘60s-era underground films, and it fits perfectly 

with their spacey, kaleidoscopic sound. Far from 

presenting some sort of contrived image, however, 

the band’s style comes simply from a natural ease 

between its members. Having met through musicians’ 

wanted ads, they originally got together as 

a group of six, but quickly whittled themselves 

down to three whose visions and aesthetics 

aligned effortlessly. 

Midnight Movies is a first for two of its members–drummer/singer 

Gena Olivier and keyboardist/guitarist 

Jason Hammons had never been in 

serious bands before, having both previously been 

involved in electronic projects. Their prior experience 

makes itself plain on the album, as Hammons’ 

pulsating synth tones and lush keyboard landscapes 

blend seamlessly with Olivier’s vocals 

and Larry Schemel’s reverberating guitars. The 

result A moving, hauntingly ethereal cult thriller 

soundtrack that is as palpably vibrant on record as 

it is on stage. 

Their conspicuous live presence has helped 

contribute to the buzz surrounding the band– 

Hammons plays with a laptop but, preferring to 

keep the human element as tangible as possible, 

uses almost no sequences. Schemel tackles his 

instrument like a man on a mission, and the sight 

of Olivier crooning in her eerie tone while briskly 

pounding her kit is both electrifying and exhilarating. 

Though the music itself is otherworldly, the process 

by which it comes about is surprisingly natural. 

The band members, in their own words, don’t “try” 

to write music, they simply allow the songs to come 

into being. Schemel says the songs can come from 

anything: “…other music, dreams, art–we’ll all 

write parts and kind of flesh out the idea. It’s like 

we’re creating this little creature.” 

Midnight Movies is available now on Emperor Norton/Rykodisc. 

www.midnightmovies.net 

Midnight Movies: Larry Schemel, Jason Hammons, and Gena Olivier 

16 17

PREFIX 

Swiss made 

drama club 

Virginia is for lovers, 

and artists too. 

“The Drama goes way back, so far back I can’t remember,” shares Joel Speasmaker, 

the founder and creative director of the Richmond, VA outfit with the suitably melodramatic 

name. Founded in 2000 as a collective of likeminded underground Virginian 

artists, The Drama’s core seven members (who now live all over the country) organize 

art shows and run an online store, as well as publish a totally awesome art and design 

magazine. Issue six of the zine (also called The Drama) was recently released, which 

features work from Wes Lang, Ron Rege Jr., Harrison Haynes, and Brian Roettinger 

of Hand Held Heart/Dim Mak; past issues of the $6 tome (available through the website 

and at independent bookstores worldwide) have highlighted heavyweights such 

as Commonwealth Stacks, Typevsm, and Isaac Lin. “One of our biggest goals has 

always been to make each section of the magazine as equally important as another,” 

says Speasmaker, “so it’s almost like you are reading a book or a story as you go 

through the issue.” Of course an unintended goal of The Drama’s growing popularity 

is to make Richmond a future stop for visual art tourists and avant-hipsters. If you go, 

Speasmaker recommends “First Fridays, Bell Isle, Carytown, The Bottom and Tobacco 

Row, and walking around the Fan.” Tyra Bangs 

www.thedrama.org, www.thedramastore.org 

The Drama issue 4 cover; 

The Drama Presents: A to 

Z at Ada Gallery, April 2005 

(pictured: work by Maya 

Hayuk, Yuko Kondo, Katsuo 

Design, and Helge Ruemann); 

Travis Robertson, assistant 

editor of The Drama, and Joel 

Speasmaker, founder and 

creative director 

18 

Swatch stores nationwide 

swatch.com

PREFIX 

AUDIOFILE 

battles 

Four-string slingers who don’t do the 

math. Words: cameron macdonald photo: paul o’valle 

Battles pencils in rock and roll so pristine and mathematically 

precise that a slight breeze might shatter 

it. Each guitar note, microtone, and beat is fixed like 

leaves on a tree branch that break off and continue 

the music as they skitter down the sidewalk. Just 

don’t call the New York quartet “math rock.” 

“Is it fair to call a chef salad with a multitude 

of ingredients ‘lettuce’” quips guitarist Tyondai 

Braxton. Battles does not play songs as much as 

they concoct loops, with three guitars blurting their 

simple parts into a grand argument. The instrumental 

band’s excursions range from mechanical 

trance-rock to noise-loop experiments that flow like 

amniotic fluid in the womb. 

“The effect of it all could still add up to something 

that was complicated, but I wanted the phrases 

to be simple,” guitarist Ian Williams says. “From 

what I read about the band, people don’t always see 

it that way, but what you aim for and what you are 

aren’t always the same thing.” 

Battles, originally christened Abomination 

Restitution, formed in New York in 2002 when solo 

guitarist Braxton bounced ideas off of Williams (of 

Storm & Stress and Don Caballero fame). Guitarist 

David Konopka (Lynx), and heavyweight champion 

drummer John Stanier (Helmet, Tomahawk) later 

figured in. “The thing is [that] everyone in the band 

has a strong musical background already, so as far 

as that is concerned, we all knew the ingredients,” 

Braxton details. “It was just a matter of rehearsing and writing 

to see what would sift to the bottom.” 

Earlier this year, Battles toured the States with Scott 

Herren (Prefuse 73), who later joined them for an encore 

at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona. Braxton mentioned that 

Herren defended his honor at a Florida gig by throwing his 

sandwich and a fist at a drunk who tried to strangle Braxton. 

The poor victim later counter-attacked a UK heckler who 

hated on his The Fall shirt. “Well, we’re a seminal British 

band and if you’re from Britain, you should be kissing my ass 

right now,” Braxton recalled lying. 

As for Battles’ more peaceful side, their record covers 

typically strike the eye with simple, wordless photographs of 

pastoral fields and trees, heightening the band’s mystique. 

“The photos are really beautiful and that is the statement in 

itself,” Braxton said. “There is a sense of neutrality in the way 

we build our music and [we] wanted that same sense with our 

visuals. It lends itself to multiple interpretations.” 

Battles’ B, C, and Tras, Fantasy EPs are out now on Dim Mak, Monitor, and Cold 

Sweat, respectively. www.bttls.com 

Battles: Ian Wiliams, John Stanier, 

Tyondai Braxton, and David Konopka 

20

PREFIX 

Silver Anniversary Skank 

From Kingston to Queens, a new DVD 

tells the story of VP Records. 

Founded by a former jukebox record stocker–and situated 

in Jamaica, Queens–VP Records is now a hugely successful 

reggae label and distribution business. They’ve helped 

break Sean Paul, Bounty Killer, and Elephant Man to the 

American pop market, while maintaining their hardcore 

following via 7” and riddim album releases. What people 

may not know are the business’s humble origins back at 

17 North Parade Road in downtown Kingston, Jamaica. 

Or how political and social upheaval in the late ‘70s drove 

founders Vincent and Patricia Chin to explore opportunities 

in the US. VP Records 25th Anniversary Concert: 

Live In Miami (VP Records, $24) offers both concert 

clips from their star roster (Tanya Stephens, Sanchez, 

T.O.K., Beres Hammond) in addition to an informative, 

well-produced 45-minute documentary about VP from the 

‘60s ska era to the present. VP America co-founder Clive 

Chin, son of Vincent, talked with XLR8R about what the 

business has accomplished in a quarter century. Read his 

comments at www.xlr8r.com. Tomas Palermo 

www.vprecords.com 

Spragga Benz and Tanya 

Stephens live at the VP 

Records 25th Anniversary 

Concert, Miami 

Permanent Wave 

A design conference so fresh it will make your hair curl. 

When it launched in 2002, the Semi-Permanent design conference–curated by online 

magazine/portal Design Is Kinky–made everyone jealous they didn’t live in Sydney, 

Australia. But this fall, the little design conference that could will journey from the land 

of wallabies to the home of 50-cent franks and papayas. Semi-Permanent NYC 2005 

(held September 9-10 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall) will feature events and 

lectures with a worldly group of unusual suspects from art and design. Interactive guru 

Joshua Davis from Praystation will rep hard, as will XLR8R contributor and 19-year-old 

Mac User by NoPattern 

boy genius Chuck “NoPattern” Anderson. Lobo and The Orphanage (behind the fx for 

Superman Returns and Sky Captain) are on hand for motion graphics tips, t-shirt company 

Threadless and French graf writer Fafi will discuss inspirations, and NYC’s art and 

fashion stalwarts Visionaire (of publishing and gallery fame) will explain how it all gets 

done. Aside from sheer, giddy inspiration, Semi-Permanent attendees also get to take 

home a 240-page design book with work culled from the presenters. Tyra Bangs 

www.semipermanent.com 

Works by Fafi 

The Bluetooth ® trademarks are owned by their proprietor and used by Motorola, Inc. under license. MOTOROLA 

and the Stylized M logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Offi ce. All other product or service names 

are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2005. 

MOTOFREEDOM 

TM 

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Introducing the latest innovation from Motorola and Oakley—eyewear that lets you make calls on the fly. 

They’re quintessential cool. They’ve got state-of-the-art Bluetooth ® technology. And they’re perfect for people like you 

who want the freedom of a wire-free, hands-free connection to a mobile phone. So get RAZRWIRE and get going. 

To get a bigger glimpse of the RAZRWIRE and other cutting-edge Bluetooth accessories, visit 

hellomoto.com/razrwire

PREFIX 

AUDIOFILE 

Now Open 

kele le roc 

Freed from a major label deal, Kele Le 

Roc comes out swinging. 

Words: tomas palermo photo: Mitch 

24 

Born in 1978 in London’s East End, UK singer Kelly Biggs walked home with 

two MOBOs (British Grammy) for best newcomer and single (the garage burner 

“My Love”) by her 21st birthday. Known by her stage name Kele Le Roc, 

Biggs is used to the fast pace of success and the tribulations that come with it. “I 

wanna be successful for myself,” she says, “because I’m an ambitious person.” 

Ambitious is hardly an exaggeration for a singer whose multi-stylistic 

approach to music has thoroughly impacted both Britain’s underground and 

mainstream charts. Following her hugely successful Polydor album (Everybody’s 

Somebody) in 1999, Biggs collaborated with a host of underground heavies, 

including soul man Omar, drum & bass producers Shy FX and T-Power, jazz 

musician Courtney Pine, and Basement Jaxx (on hit track “Romeo” off Rooty). 

In June, Biggs went back to her family’s Jamaican roots and dropped the lovers 

rock reggae 7” bomb “Even Though You’re Gone” (Curtis Lynch Music). “I 

enjoy singing, and I don’t think it’s fair for people to pigeonhole 

me,” Biggs explains. 

Vocally, Biggs incorporates the power of Chaka Khan with 

the grace of Patti Labelle. You can hear it on the wobbly 

Sticky-produced 2-step track “Things We Do” and on her latest 

funky house single with Fanatix, “Lesson Learned” (Osirus 

Records). The latter proves she can belt out vocal house as 

good as Martha Wash or any of the major divas. “I tend to 

write about love a lot,” she explains, “’cause I think its something 

that everyone can understand. I don’t think there’s 

enough love in the world. [The songs] are my way of subliminally 

touching people.” 

Biggs took time while getting out her record contract to 

launch a clothing label called Funkin Bitch (“My mum’s a 

designer, so I’ve always made my clothes from quite young”) 

and to assemble her next album, which spans rock, soul, funk, 

and electronic genres. “Out here in the UK, [the varied styles] 

are causing me a problem ‘cause people are like, ‘Well, you 

know, it doesn’t have a theme.’ Why does it need a theme I 

like to sing, and these are songs,” she says tersely. 

The first track, “Naked,” from the unreleased album 

(working title: Kelepy) is making the rounds on white label. 

Produced by Denmark’s Maximum Risk, the song blends her 

explosive soul vox with organic elements–banjo, live flute, and 

bongos. “The problem in this country is that it doesn’t sound 

like anything they’ve heard from America, whereas when 

I went to America [and played it for labels] they were like, 

‘Yeah, we love it.’” 

Maybe Biggs, a huge fan of eclectic Americans Andre 3000 

and Gwen Stefani, will soon find a home for her music on 

these fair shores. The talent is there, along with the drive 

she’s shown time and again. “I’ve achieved so much,” she 

muses, “but I’ll never be satisfied because I’ll always want to 

take it to the next level.” 

www.keleleroc.com 

2333 Telegraph Avenue 

Berkeley CA 94704 

© 2005 adidas America, Inc. adidas, the Trefoil, and the 3-Stripes mark are registered trademarks of the adidas-Salomon Group.

PREFIX 

OBSESSIONS: RÖYKSOPP 

Norwegian electronic popsters find their 

passion in colored pulp. 

Talking to Röyksopp’s tow-headed Torbjørn Brundtland and bearded 

Svein Berge is like wandering through a densely overgrown forest– 

comments meander off the beaten path, sometimes rejoining the trail 

of thought five minutes later, sometimes never at all. It’s similar to 

listening to their music, where skeins of electro, softly woven synths, 

and tender vocals tiptoe through airy, pulsating backgrounds of chilled 

out Euro-pop–the journey as the destination. On July 12, the duo 

released The Understanding, their follow-up to 2001’s lauded Melody 

A.M. Though they were vague about the album–except to say that 

it’s a more vocal affair–these surreal superheroes were happy to talk 

about the influence comic books have had on them. Tyra Bangs 

www.royksopp.com, www.astralwerks.com 

Röyksopp: Torbjørn Brundtland and 

Svein Berge (Camille Vivier) 

Röyksopp on comics 

“Comics [have] been part of us ever since we were kids. We started 

with [Swedish comic] Bamse (pronounced “bum-suh”), which is a nice 

story of a bear-like creature who has to eat special honey to become 

very strong. We also like Robert Crumb, Dave Cooper at Fantagraphic, 

and Carl Barks, who drew Donald Duck. And Jim Woodring; he’s just 

released something in the form of a children’s book about a small animal 

called Trosper, a cute mini-elephant. It’s not splatter-type horror but 

I would hesitate more to show this to my potential kid than to show 

them a horror movie. It’s like a David Lynch Eraserhead kind of dark. 

The nice thing about comics is that it doesn’t take that much resources 

to make a good one. If you have an idea for the best science fiction 

movie in the world–say 10 times better than Star Wars–and there’s no 

way that you can become a big Hollywood director with a huge budget, 

you can still make a cartoon and share these ideas. Comic books [are 

so appealing] because they don’t have limitations.”

PREFIX 

AUDIOFILE 

turbulence 

A cultural singjay rises to 

notorious status. 

Words: sarah bentley photo: peter dean “afflicted” rickards 

“Let me tell you this again, I could have been one of the most 

notorious/I got saved by the king, and his grace is so gloriooooous.” 

If you’re a follower of dancehall, you couldn’t have missed 

the rallying tones of Turbulence’s inimitable “Notorious” 

single. Voiced on the Scallawah riddim–a fresh hip-hop 

tinged b-line with a penetrating electric guitar riff from new 

Jamaican collective THC Muzik–Turbulence’s militantly 

righteous singing/deejaying makes this a street anthem for 

rastas, big men, and rude bwoys alike. 

The track’s hard-hitting video narrative depicts 

Turbulence and his Higher Trod backing crew preparing 

to bury alive an enemy when they unearth a Kebra Negast 

African Bible, which causes them to rethink their actions. 

Of the video Turbulence says, “When you’re moving 

through the ghetto every day you get tough. It’s easy to get 

caught up. We show the youths no matter who disrespect 

you, Jah is the only judgement.” 

Although it was the rawness of “Notorious” that catapulted 

Turbulence to top status, he varies his style from gruff 

deejaying to melodic singing. For example, his latest album 

on VP, Songs Of Solomon, is a classic culture album. “The 

most important thing in life is love,” confesses Turbulence. 

“Songs of Solomon educates with no bigotry or racism, just 

unification, upliftment, and reality.” 

Born Sheldon Campbell in Hungry Town, Kingston, 

Jamaica, the 25-year-old has been a music man since his 

school days. “It’s my calling,” he says of the artform. Like 

most up-and-coming artists Turbulence struggled to get 

his first break–his skills as a deejay and singer confused the 

island’s producers. Eventually Phillip Fattis Burrell, production 

don of Exterminator Records, spotted his potential and 

the two have worked together since, with Burrell producing 

two albums, Hail To The King and Rising. 

Turbulence is different from the current school of popular 

culture artists: Ritchie Spice, I-Wayne, Jah Cure, and 

previously reigning Boboshanti-dread dancehall artists like 

Capleton and Sizzla. He is righteous but streetwise, earthy 

but cool. He cruises around Kingston with his Higher Trod 

crew all on motorbikes. He wears a tam and Africa pendant 

with coordinating brand-name streetwear. For his debut 

UK performance supporting Sizzla, he wore a shirt and 

patterned necktie with army fatigues. And now his music 

reflects his hybrid sartorial style, as well as his huge potential 

for crossing over into an MTV-obsessed urban fan base. 

Of this comparison Turbulence laughs. “Yes, me always 

like to mix it up,” he says. “My original name was Double 

Trouble–come two-styles. It was an elderly ras that named 

me Turbulence–disturbing to Babylon, electrifyingly strong. 

I’m rasta but I love de street vibes. I want to see myself on 

BET, MTV. Some artists burn them but that’s where I see 

myself, for real.” 

“Notorious” is featured on the Scallawah Riddim LP on THC Muzik/Crisis. 

Turbulence’s Songs Of Solomon LP is out now on VP Records. www.vprecords.com 

28

PREFIX 

most wanted 

A selection of fall’s must-have magic talismans 

Foxman charm necklaces 

($145-$185) Available at Saved Tattoo 

and Woodley & Bunny in Brooklyn, NY 

Friends With You’s Sweet Tooth toy 

($29.95) www.friendswithyou.com 

Triple 5 Soul Maya Hayuk shoes 

($100) www.triple5soul.com 

Tear Drop leather wallet by Billy Kirk 

($84.00) Available at Villains, San Francisco. 

Adidas Skywalkers 

($110) www.adidas.com 

Sunglass earrings by Master Bedroom 

($34.00) Available at Villains, San Francisco. 

DC Incase skatebag 

($90) www.dcshoes.com 

Bear Claw necklace by Ron Dotson 

($295.00) Available at www.rondotsondesigns.com 

30

PREFIX 

AUDIOFILE 

colossus 

A London giant plants beanstalks 

in the Bay Area. 

Words: toph one PHOTO: self-portrait 

Where DJs Call Home 

Back in 2002, the Bay Area became home to 

a 6’8” Londoner named Charlie Tate, one 

half of the veteran jazzfunk/ drum&bass duo 

King Kooba and former bass player with 

Neneh Cherry’s band. After four King Kooba 

albums for Second Skin and Om Records, 

Tate settled into the Oakland lifestyle like a 

soft couch. He started the laid-back weekly 

club night Slow Gin with Om’s PR man 

Gunnar Hissam (a.k.a. The Trout) and began 

cultivating friendships with old time blues 

players, new school MCs, and the fine folks 

at Kingman’s Lucky Lounge near Oakland’s 

Lake Merritt district. 

“At one of my Slow Gin evenings there 

was an impromptu open mic session where 

I met emcees Regi B and Delphi,” says Tate, 

who has since relocated back to the UK. “Also 

around this same time I was producing the 

first Colossus tracks and making contacts 

with people such as [emcee/singers] Capitol A 

and Azeem. Before I knew it, my idea of harnessing 

some of the Bay Area’s favorite artists 

in one colossal package was on.” 

After returning to London in 2004 and 

recording some tracks with Rodney Smith 

(a.k.a. Roots Manuva), the Colossus debut 

West Oaktown was finally complete–or so we 

thought. For Tate, it still wasn’t enough: “I 

32 

decided to remix the entire record… I’m not sure 

why–it just seemed like a good idea at the time. 

[But now] you get two records for the price of one! 

For no other reason than that I wanted to!” 

Lucky for us. Disc one (also available on double 

vinyl) is a jazzed out excursion reminiscent of 

those lazy, stoney Thursday nights at Slow Gin. 

Disc two is geared towards the clubs–or at the very 

least a sweaty pub on a busy night out. The first 

12” features two of the most jumping tracks–“The 

Tribute” and “Thripney Bits”–remixed by J-Boogie, 

Strange Fruit Project, and DJ Zeph. And after years 

of support gigs with legends such as James Brown 

and Roy Ayers, Tate is forming the Colossus band, 

with Tate himself on bass, cats on drums, Rhodes 

and turntables, and MCs Azeem, Delphi, Regi B, 

and Capitol A. Expect a tour of the US later this 

summer with possible European dates toward the 

end of the year–a big 2005 for the big man from 

London with a head full of Oaktown funk. 

Colossus’ debut album is out October 11 on Om Records. 

www.om-records.com 

new 

hardcover 

edtion 

Celebrate with us at these book release events: 

9/1: New York 

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136 Wooster St 

New York, NY 

9/3: Miami 


226 8th St 

Miami Beach, FL 

This limited edition book, featuring photography by Christopher Woodcock, 

is available for sale at all adidas Originals Stores and at adidas.com. 

9/10: Chicago 


923 North Rush St 

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Qool DJ Marv, NY 

XLR8R Magazine and adidas originals are proud to announce the limited 

edition hardcover re-issue of Bedroom Rockers: Where DJs Call Home. 

9/17: Boston 


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9/24: Berkeley 


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Berkeley, CA

PREFIX 

on the spot: Sonar 2005 

The masses speak out at one of Europe’s most celebrated summertime electronic gatherings. 

Words and photos: Philip Sherburne www.sonar.es 

Peter Francis (London/Barcelona) 

Years at Sonar: 1 Best thing about Sonar: There are 

so many different places within the festival to explore– 

so many different fields and energies. Worst thing 

about Sonar: People stepping over you when you’re 

lying down enjoying the music. 

Ellen Allien (Berlin) 

Years at Sonar: 6 Best thing about Sonar: Meeting so 

many international artists and distributors, and seeing 

special live acts you’ve never seen before–every year is 

a surprise. Worst thing about Sonar: Mmm…the line 

for the toilets. 

Graham (Brighton) 

Years at Sonar: 3 Best thing about Sonar: I was 

impressed with the Friday daytime programming, and 

with all the genres and microgenres that co-exist together. 

Worst thing about Sonar: There aren’t enough food 

stalls–and the overlapping acts could be better timed. 

Anna Hartz (Belfast) 

Years at Sonar: 2 Best thing about Sonar: The 

scale–knowing that there are this many creative minds 

all in one place. Worst thing about Sonar: Honestly, I 

even like the toilet queues–only here at geekfest are the 

men’s lines actually longer than the women’s. 

Sheila Sprev Rundar & Anibal Fernandez 

Muñoz (Barcelona) 

Years at Sonar: 4 & 1 Best thing about Sonar: The 

magic, the experimental sounds, and the people. Worst 

thing about Sonar: The prices and the beer. 

Cecilia Amenabar (Buenos Aires) 

Years at Sonar: 4 Best thing about Sonar: The conjunction 

of so many different kinds of artists that you 

simply can’t see in Latin America. Worst thing about 

Sonar: The lineup is getting weaker in recent years–and 

there aren’t enough artists from Latin America. 

34

PREFIX 

AUDIOFILE 

jon cutler 

A rising star puts the “class” 

in classic house. 

Words: rob geary photo: self-portrait 

Brooklyn has always loved to dance, 

whether it’s disco, hip-hop, rock, or 

the sometimes-ignored streak of house 

in the borough. DJ and producer Jon 

Cutler belongs in the last camp, spinning 

smooth-yet-relentless deep house 

that calls to mind the soulful, funky 

disco that spanned the city in the ‘70s. 

While his 12”, “It’s Yours,” is a bona 

fide house classic–still getting played 

three years on and even mashed up 

with Usher’s “Yeah” by an anonymous 

white-label bandit–Cutler came to 

house almost by chance. 

“I hung out in all the clubs, I knew 

all the guys there who kept pushing me 

towards the house side,” he recalls. “I 

was doing some DJ stuff in the neighborhood 

and it went from there. I was 

playing everything back in the day–hiphop, 

reggae, all that stuff. When I 

started doing the production in ’96, I 

just started running towards house.” 

Cutler’s love of house manifested 

itself in his Distant Music label, formed 

the same year he got behind the mixing 

desk. The label’s been quiet in the 

past year as Cutler engaged in jet-set 

touring and released 12”s for labels like 

Nervous and Milk ‘N 2 Sugars; no 

fear, Distant’s now on its 30th release 

and back with a banging compilation 

called Planet. And the excitement of 

dropping his own tunes in his trademark 

diva-laced mixes has got Cutler 

back in the swing of production. “It’s 

a love and hate thing with traveling,” 

he confesses. “But the thing with 

DJing [is] when you run into a guy 

where you know his records, you just 

always seem to hit it off. There’s a 

family community in it. Now I know 

the majority of the [international DJs 

and producers] around the world, 

and the ones I don’t, when we play 

together it just takes like a half an 

hour before you’re bonding.” 

When DJs congregate, the talk 

naturally turns to records old and 

new and Cutler flies the flag of the 

‘70s, both in the mellow keys and 

soul vocals shot through his tunes 

and the dusty vinyl on his stereo. 

“I try to bring the most pumped 

stuff but still on a soulful vibe,” he 

explains. “I still haven’t gone past 

the point of just totally banging 

it out. I listen to all the ‘70s stuff: 

Barry White, Crown Heights Affair, 

Chic. I was always drawn toward 

them–[but now it’s] for different purposes–for 

arrangements. Beat-wise, 

I’m always listening to the classics.” 

Planet: A Distant Music Compilation is out now. 

www.distantusa.com 

36

PREFIX 

Mobius Band Tour Diary 

It’s mullets in Montana and gin in Minnesota for a Ghostly band on the road. 

Though the three-piece Mobius Band formed in 

rural Massachusetts, these Brooklyn transplants 

don’t embrace the folksy, rustic aesthetic that runs 

rife in the indie set. Their new album on Ghostly, 

The Loving Sounds of Static, is lovely electronic 

pop. And like The Shins or Postal Service, singer 

Ben Sterling’s voice is as clear and memorable 

as his bandmates’ (Peter Sax and Noam Schatz) 

chords and percussion. Mobius Band gave us this 

backstage pass. 

www.mobiusband.com, www.ghostly.com 

June 3: Portland, OR 

11-hour drive from San Francisco to Portland. Tonight 

is a big radio station show with the Kaiser Chiefs. 

Everything goes as planned until Peter is caught 

stealing Kaiser beers. The band is nice and only 

asks us to return the Pilsner Urquells to the deli tray. 

Kaisers don’t like Red Stripe. 

Noam Schatz, Peter Sax, Ben Sterling 

June 5: Missoula, MT 

We are lost and end up getting directions at a 

serious mullet bar, a real life version of the Deer 

Hunter videogame–sawdust on the floor, Nugent 

on the stereo, and grimaces all around. This is 

the kind of town with a $1 hamburger ‘n PBR 

special. Everyone is accommodating, though the 

elderly soundman retires early at the bar and his 

“apprentice” (read: weed dealer) works the board, 

so our set is accompanied by a low feedback moan 

something akin to whalesong. 

June 7: Minneapolis, MN 

Early load-in for a radio set at KCMP means no 

sleep for Mobius Band. Met up with Ghostly’s 

own Huntley Miller (a.k.a. Cepia) at the station, 

who spends his days archiving Garrison Keillor 

and dreaming of plug-ins. Not much action at the 

gig, though Minneapolis wins the award for the 

strongest gin and tonics of the tour. 

June 9: Detroit, MI 

Fun show later with the lovely ladies of Electrelane. 

Heat, humidity, and stage lights mean Mobius 

Band loses 10 pounds in sweat during our 

short set. Electrelane rock with extreme prejudice 

and don’t appear anywhere near as sweaty. 

June 11: New York, NY 

It’s a good, albeit humid, night with friends and 

lovers coming out of the woodwork. That said, 

The Winter Pageant blows us out of the water. 

Don’t sleep on them. After loading out of the Knit, 

loading back in to our practice space, negotiating 

the non-negotiable freight elevator, returning the 

rental van, and cabbing it home (plus a three-hour 

drive to Massachusetts for Noam), it’s back to our 

own beds as the sun is coming up. 

38

PREFIX 

2 

5 

SPIN 

CYCLE 

News and gossip 

from the music world 

40 

1 

The king of soul, crooner Luther Vandross, passed away July 1 due to 

complications brought on by a stroke the singer suffered in 2003. He 

was 54. Pioneering rocksteady and reggae producer Clancy Eccles 

has died at 64 from diabetes. In addition to being one of Jamaica’s 

most important producers, Eccles was involved in the election of 

socialist prime minister Michael Manley, recorded early tracks for 

Bob Marley, and cut the first record by romantic crooner Beres 

Hammond. Washinton DC’s Q and Not U is disbanding after seven 

years and numerous singles and albums. The band’s statement said 

”We’ve reached all of our shared goals as Q and Not U and we’re 

ready to move on to other projects in life.” Giant Step kicked off its 

15-Year Anniversary at Central Park SummerStage on Sunday July 

17th with a free concert featuring Femi Kuti, Brazilian Girls, the original 

Giant Step DJ, Smash, plus DJ Nickodemus. Celebrations will 

continue in October with a month of special events. Check www. 

giantstep.net. Joining digital download spots like Kompakt mp3, 

Beatport, and Beathut is Dancetracksdigital (www.dancetracksdigital.com) 

and Ghostly International’s new micro-store (www. buyghostly.com). 

The seventh annual Iceland Airwaves music festival is 

scheduled to rock Reykjavik October 19-23, 2005. Confirmed acts 

include The Fiery Furnaces, Zoot Woman, High Contrast (DJ set), 

Annie, and The (International) Noise Conspiracy plus loads of Icey 

hots like Gus Gus. DJ Muggs has joined forces with LA hip-hop duo 

Self-Scientific to form Angeles Records via Fontana Distribution 

(part of Universal Music Group). Initial releases will include DJ 

Muggs vs. GZA and Change–one of LA’s most talented but underexposed 

groups. Former Micranots member I Self Divine’s new 

album, Self Destruction, drops late September on Rhymesayers. 

Kajmere Sound Distribution has some exclusive hip-hop, funk, 

4 

3 6 

and soul releases like DJ Center’s Feel What I’m Feeling double-CD 

(with Pharoahe Monch & SA-RA, Raheem DeVaughn, and The Last 

Poets), also Aspirin/Bambouche’s “Revolution” 7” (reviewed in 

Future Jazz this issue). Check www.ksdmusic.com. Blackalicious 

is set to release their long awaited fifth full-length studio album, 

The Craft, September 27, on Anti Records. The Supreme Court of 

the United States unanimously ruled that Grokster and Streamcast 

may be held accountable if their programs induce consumers to 

illegally exchange copyrighted works. For a thorough synopsis check 

www.futuremusic.com. Shaman Work Recordings has signed Pete 

Rock’s main collaborator, C.L. Smooth. The label’s roster includes 

artists Sol Uprising, Scienz of Life, MF Doom, Ta’Raach, and Wale 

Oyejide. See www.shamanwork.com. Public Nylon is the new 

radio show from Mantis Recordings on Samurai FM, hosted by 

Atjazz, Andy Mantis, and Nick Morley and featuring new tracks from 

Atjazz and Clyde, live recordings from The Collectors and a new 

remix of Phil Parnell from Matthew Herbert. www.samurai.fm 

Animal Collective’s new album, Feels, drops on Fat Cat Records 

October 4. Native Instruments should have version 3 of their Traktor 

digital DJ software out by Christmas while rival Serato Scratch Live 

will probably be updated by the end of the year. Hilarity, hip-hop, 

and local SF club events can be found at www.illstatic.com. Last 

time we checked they had the skinny on live shows featuring 2Mex, 

Shapeshifters, Röyksopp, The Go! Team, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and others, 

plus the side-splitting Club Bitch gossip column. GoFish Search-by- 

Lyrics is the first search engine tool that allows people who know 

just a word of a seemingly unrecognizable and unidentifiable song 

to find it. www.gofish.com Check out downloads, music clips, and 

daily news updates at www.xlr8r.com 

1. Q And Not U; 2. Blackalicious; 

3. Four Tet perfoming at Iceland 

Airwaves, 2004; 4. Matthew Herbert 

(Helen Woods); 5. DJ Center; 

6. Luther Vandross.

Getting into trouble with electro punks Adult. 

Words: Vivian Host Photos: Nicola Kuperus

Adult. once said they made uncomfortable music. How 

fitting then, that I have just taken them to the most 

uncomfortable place on earth: New York’s Museum of Sex. 

And now I’m standing next to Adam Lee Miller, Nicola 

Kuperus, and their new bandmate–Tamion 12-inch guitarist 

Sam Consiglio–in a darkened room punctuated by canned male 

laughter and smacking sex sounds. Nicola and I are paused 

next to a screen flickering with an image of two men jacking 

each other off, while I feign interest in the accompanying text 

about this history of pornography. After what seems like an 

eternity–but is only really a minute and a half–Sam darts over 

and breaks the silence. “All I hear over here is shame,” he says 

pointedly, waving his hand toward the video. 

I thought this place would have appropriately weird curiosities like shrunken 

pygmy penises in jars or the world’s first dildo, but the overall feel is of a sleazy 

adult bookstore–the exhibits include a re-creation of a gay man’s entertainment 

center from the ‘80s (complete with lube and hair remover), a sex chair 

controllable via the internet, a porn flick called New Wave Hooker, and lots and 

lots of naked shlongs. I’m half expecting Adam or Nicola–who have written 

songs bemoaning “touching things touched by others”–to bolt to the bathroom 

for a bout of obsessive-compulsive handwashing. 

Nonetheless, all three gamely proceed through the museum, pausing the 

longest in front of Real Doll, a life-sized sexual aid designed to look and feel 

like a real woman. As all four of us take turns feeling on a pair of breasts made 

out of lifelike silicone, Adam explains that Nicola once considered buying a 

Real Doll for her photographs–elaborately staged Hitchcockian tableaus that 

grace the covers of their Ersatz Audio singles–but declined when she found 

out the nearly $7,000 price tag. “Looking at it up close they have all these 

seams and stuff,” he muses. “It’s good we didn’t buy one.” 

CATCHERS IN THE WRY 

It appears Adult. has loosened up a lot in eight years. In their early days, 

Adam and Nicola (Sam was added to the line-up last year) came across as 

two chillingly clinical, at times angry, electro robots, an image reinforced by 

tense live shows and stark, blank-eyed press photos. When you meet them in 

person, you realize the photos aren’t a shtick–with their penchant for all-black 

outfits, angular hair, and stop-start sentences, the members of Adult. are like 

the weird kids at some record store in the late ‘80s, the kind who used to slip 

Dead Kennedys records into the Debbie Gibson sleeves. As you’d expect, they 

are also much nicer and more personable than robots. 

Initially, the couple–art school grads who met in Detroit in 1997–served up dystopian 

takes on Kraftwerk’s shiny future on singles like “Dispassionate Furniture” 

and “Nausea”; these themes that continued through 2001’s Resuscitation (a collection 

of early singles) and 2003’s Anxiety Always. Though their April mini-album 

D.U.M.E. and their new full-length, Gimmie Trouble (to be released on Chicago 

indie Thrill Jockey), still find them soundtracking the anomie of the 2000s with 

wry, dark humor, they’ve become more outgoing in approach. There’s just a lot 

more to Adult. these days–more band members, more guitars, more angst, and 

more of Nicola’s Siouxsie & The Banshees-inspired caterwauling above analog 

voodoo beats and angular post-punk rhythms. Those expecting them to save elec- 

tro again might be sorely disappointed–parts of both 

records are suited for dancing…in goth clubs–but 

fans of the band’s singular aesthetic will find plenty 

here that is quintessentially Adult. 

“The one thing we’ve always had across the 

board is we take our own personal flaws–things like 

anxiety and social awkwardness–and sing about 

them,” says Adam when we finally duck out of the 

museum, through the monsoon-like New York 

rain and into an East Village café. “I think that’s 

why people identify with us. I mean, nobody really 

gets up on stage and is like (sings) “I’m socially awkward”…but 

we do. [The difference is that on our 

previous albums] you had the person who is like 

‘I’m awkward quiet’ and now you have the person 

who’s like ‘I’m so nervous. Oh my god. Oh my 

god.’ And you listen to the album–the lyrics are 

like bah-bah-bah and the bass never stops and it’s 

this nervous energy–it’s still the same theme, just 

released in a different way.” 

TROUBLED TIMES 

Adult.’s newfound desire to tear down the barrier 

created by vocoders and monolithic synth lines is 

no doubt a reflection of the events of the last two 

years. Following the release of Anxiety Always on 

their own label, Ersatz Audio, they embarked on 

a grueling tour (20 shows in 26 days) and, despite 

actually being from Detroit, found themselves 

having to fend off the “electroclash” label. Nicola 

and Adam, who are married, bought a historic 

old house and built an attic studio in it where 

they would record Gimmie Trouble. Perhaps most 

surprisingly, they decided to divide the creative 

brain of Adult. into threes by working with guitarist 

Sam, who adds a rogue element of flamboyance 

to the pair’s at times austere framework (what one 

“As soon as we collect 

all our enemies, we’ll 

light the candle and 

they’ll die.” 

– Adam Lee Miller 

Russian journalist dubbed “librarian chic”). “I’ve 

never worked with anybody whose music was a 

more direct reflection of their personality than 

these two, that’s for sure,” says Sam. 

By all accounts, the process of making Gimmie 

Trouble was intense. “We calculated that we worked 

every day from January 2nd to April 4th, except 

for five days,” explains Adam of the band’s restrictive 

recording schedule. “The first song we wrote 

was ‘Scare Up the Birds’ and it came out immediately. 

Then we had an 11-day dry spell–you’re talking 

10-12 hours a day where you’re just coming up 

with like, a sketch, a little doodle.” 

“And then I drank coffee and it happened,” says 

Nicola, laughing. “I mean, I’ve never been in any 

other band so I have no perspective. I assume most 

people don’t just get together [like we do] and go, 

‘Okay, we have a blank piece of paper here. Let’s 

fill it up.’” 

On prior albums, Nicola and Adam would go 

through and clean the house before recording, giving 

themselves a sort of pristine mental slate. That 

became impossible on Gimmie Trouble, as they were 

living in a place that Adam calls “totally destroyed.” 

Instead, the three worked out tensions by watching 

Curb Your Enthusiasm and Strangers With Candy and 

playing endless games of racquetball in an impromptu 

court they created. (“I would just like to state that I 

don’t like jockiness and when we played racquetball it 

was not, like, real,” Adam is quick to mention. “Yeah,” 

concurs Nicola, “it was actually more like trying to 

inflict pain on anyone but yourself.”) 

VOODOO YOU 

Somewhere along the line, an album coalesced and 

was mixed in the two weeks Adult. had scheduled 

in between US and European tours for their six- 

44 45

track mini-album D.U.M.E.. Nicola says that 

D.U.M.E.–whose stand out tracks include a 

Christian Death-ish remix of “Don’t Talk” 

and the catchy death dirge “Hold Your 

Breath” (“Hold your breath now/for a long 

time/hold your breath now/for a lifetime”)–was 

intended as a way for audiences to catch 

up to their new sound. “It had been a long 

time since we had had a release and it was 

a way to kind of foreshadow that the times, 

they were a changin’,” she explains. “As 

for the goth club you hear,” adds Adam, 

“we were very conscious of that, thus the 

very over-the-top cover art and the name 

of it–Death Unto My Enemies. It’s from a 

voodoo candle. As soon as we collect all our 

enemies, we’ll light the candle and they’ll 

die.” He pauses with a sly smile. “We’re still 

working out the list though.” 

Though they don’t name names, most 

of the content on both records is a sharp 

poke in the eye to their outspoken critics; 

Gimmie Trouble is both a mission statement 

and a description of what they’ve endured 

as they’ve tried to move away from their 

electro pigeonhole. “People are sometimes 

unhappy with change,” sighs Nicola. “They 

forget that as an artist you don’t want to 

repeat yourself–you want to grow and 

you want to discover what else is in there. ‘Gimme 

Trouble’ was written [based] on an email where 

some guy was like ‘You just really need to stay 

focused on dance music and electronic stuff and 

your roots. You need to get rid of the guitar and 

the bass.’” 

“I was a punk kid who started in 1985 playing 

bass, so that would be my roots,” says Adam, frowning. 

“Besides that, there was bass on Resuscitation 

and guitar on Anxiety Always. You get these people 

who want you to sound like when they first heard 

you. What they don’t remember is that they liked 

us because we didn’t sound like everything else.” 

“Adult. was such a good idea when it started,” 

Sam recalls. “It was like, look we’re not a rock 

band. Nicola wasn’t going to shout at you like she 

was in a rock band. But there’s a singer, so it was 

obvious [they] weren’t a techno band either. [They] 

were nothing.” 

“I think our intent has always been to not be a 

part of anything,” explains Nicola. “We’ve always 

worked really hard to kind of not really know what 

we’re doing. And then everybody’s always like ‘You 

sound like an ‘80s band, you sound so retro.’ A lot 

of it is because we’re using keyboards from that 

time, but are you listening to them in the context 

of now and what we’re trying to do with them 

We’re trying to pick up where it stopped and continue 

on. I think a lot of times people forget that.” 

Fascination Street 

What Adult. is obsessing over right now 

Sam 

1. Tom of Finland 

2. The artist Ray Johnson 

3. The Smiths 

4. Musical theatre 

5. Seeing people get serious about impeaching Bush 

Adam 

1. Larry David 

2. Talking Heads 

3. Oingo Boingo 

4. Mexico 

5. Reading about the forming of LA punk 

Nicola 

1. Finding the perfect pair of feather earrings 

2. Classic cars 

3. Trying to make more time to read books that I will 

inevitably fall asleep while reading 

4. Wanting to fix my house 

5. Helmut Newton 

Gimmie Trouble is out October 11 on Thrill Jockey and 

Adult. will be touring to support the release in October. 

www.adultperiod.net, www.thrilljockey.com 

For more excerpts from the interview, see www.xlr8r.com. 

Adult.: Sam Consiglio, Adam Lee Miller, and Nicola Kuperus 

“Unless a man is both able 

and prepared to see 

himself as others do; 

flaws and all; 

he will be a loser 

in cards, and in life.” 

46 

www.stapledesign.com

Four Norwegian producers reinvent a ’70s staple. 

words: Raf Katigbak Photo: Toini Blom (Rune Lindbaek) and 

Lin Stensrud (Lindstrøm/Thomas) 

Pick up any travel brochure on Norway and they all 

talk about one thing: fjords. For some reason, these 

glacially carved inlets of water have come to define the 

country and its people: cool, distant, romantic. The 

same can be said of their music. Over the last decade, 

northern Norwegian downtempo and ambient acts from 

Biosphere to Röyksopp have invaded lounges and living 

rooms with the kind of isolated arctic coolness that could 

only have emerged from Scandinavia. 

But lately there’s been a rumbling coming from 

Oslo. What started as a spark has grown to a 

slow burn that’s set to melt the icecaps. The 

sound is an unbridled blend of Detroit futurism 

driven by the rhythms of Krautrock; it’s 

the sound of prog rock psychedelia colliding 

with echo-chambered dub effects; it’s touches of 

Chicago acid, hip-hop, and Euro disco kitsch; 

it’s the imaginary result of Ron Hardy jamming 

with Pink Floyd at the Paradise Garage. 

It’s called Norwegian disko and everyone from 

DFA’s James Murphy to Doc Martin to Trevor 

Jackson has been jocking it. 

While New Jersey’s Metro Area were arguably 

the first to prove that disco could be more 

than just cheesy strings and horn stabs, Nordic 

producers like Lindstrøm, Prins Thomas, Rune 

Lindbaek, Kango’s Stein Massiv, and Todd 

Terje are taking the genre deeper, dubbier, 

and further into the stratosphere on homegrown 

labels like Trailerpark, Beatservice, and 

Feedelity, as well as the UK’s Bear Funk and 

the Brooklyn-based Modal Music. 

Kango’s Stein Massiv 

49

From Norway With Love 

XLR8R’s Roy Dank guides you through Norwegian disko’s 

most anthemic moments. 

1. Kango’s Stein Massiv “Tobakk” (Trailerpark) 

Norway’s demented disco disciple drops the rude bwoy bassline 

for a decidedly darker journey. 

2. Lindstrøm “Jodelknappen” from the Plague The Kid EP 

(Bear Entertainment) Lindstrøm’s tuffest tune with an utterly 

insane FX session atop a heavy break. 

3. Legotrip: “Ma Vi Stoppe (Prins Thomas mix)” (Glamfish) 

Prins Thomas flexes the nasty remix skills, dropping dubby disco 

goodness that eventually evolves into a rippin’ acid number. 

4. Lindstrøm “Limitations” (Feedelity) As licensed by Chicken 

Lips for their DJ-Kicks comp, this slow burner is the one that put 

Lindstrøm on the map. 

5. Lindbaek & Lindstrøm “Alien In My Pocket” (Modal) The 

forefather of the Norwegian disko sound, Rune Lindbaek teams up 

with compatriot Lindstrøm for a sublime slice of cosmic disco. 

6. Todd Terje “Bodies (Prins Thomas Orgasmatron)” (Bear 

Funk) Anthem alert! Prins gets the crowd sweaty with this percussive 

disco funk number. Special bonus points for the cheeky Led 

Zep sample thrown in for good measure. 

7. Kango’s Stein Massive “Ferskfesk” (Trailerpark) Holy 

acid, Batman! Kango heads into “big tune” territory with this 

epic 303 number. 

Prins Thomas and Hans-Peter Lindstrom 

8. Made in Hong Kong “Made in Hong Kong” (Tamburin) 

Prins Thomas and the mysterious Professor Anarad drop this dub 

reggae number on Thomas’ über-limited Tamburin imprint. 

HANS-PETER Lindstrøm 

With a list of credits that includes dome-blowing remixes 

for LCD Soundsystem, The Juan Maclean, and Chicken 

Lips, Hans-Peter Lindstrøm is probably the most namechecked 

disko artist out of Norway right now. A relative 

newcomer to the Norwegian dance music scene, this selfprofessed 

shy guy and studio recluse caught the disco 

bug at an early age. “I was 10 years old and my first cassette 

I found on the street,” remembers Lindstrøm. ”It 

was a Boney M album, the one with the naked women 

on the cover and it’s still one of my all-time favorites in 

terms of production.” But Lindstrøm wasn’t always so 

eager to share his disco passion. As a musically talented 

teen growing up on the rock ‘n’ roll dominated west 

coast of Norway, Lindstrøm had to keep his disco jones 

in check. “At the time I was playing keyboards in a heavy 

metal band,” he recalls, “and they really made fun of me 

for the disco thing.” 

After trading in his keyboard for a guitar and moving 

from metal to Hank Williams-inspired country western, 

Lindstrøm followed his ear back to the sounds that moved 

him as a child, and relocated to Oslo. “Because of my 

background, I’m always trying to incorporate all the styles 

that I listen to all the time,” he explains. “I play all the 

instruments myself–bass, guitar, drums, keyboards–so the 

songs get very personal. These days I’m not using any 

samples at all; everybody’s using Reason and stuff and for 

me that’s just not very personal. What I love about the 

disco style is that it’s so versatile, it can be wonderfully 

avant-garde or really commercial.” 

Listen to any of the Lindstrøm remixes on the 

Norwegian disko comp Prima Norsk 3 (Beatservice)–especially 

his collabs with fellow Norwegian Prins Thomas–and 

it’s clear that versatility is his mantra. For Lindstrøm and 

Thomas anything is fodder for inspiration, from mid-‘80s 

Italian film soundtracks to Led Zeppelin and Hot Butter. 

Since they joined forces in 2003, the pair has been busy 

running their Oslo-based Feedelity records while sharing 

a studio in one of the sketchiest smack-infested neighbourhoods 

in Oslo. 

PRINS THOMAS 

Dubbed “The Remiks King” by his peers, Prins Thomas 

is an avid record collector (half of his collection takes up 

much of his studio) who can trace his influence to the 

fertile early ‘80s disco nexus of Chicago and New York. 

“In the beginning, I was more into Larry Levan,” muses 

Thomas. “When I first heard Ron Hardy I thought it 

sounded too… brutal. Now I’m just the opposite. I’m 

more interested in Hardy. I think it’s important to take 

into consideration the limitations. I really believe that the 

most interesting music is made with limitations.” 

For Thomas–who gigs regularly in Europe and has 

a monthly radio show on with Lindstrøm on Tokyo’s 

Shibyua FM–DJing and producing is all about taking 

chances. “David Mancuso came to a club in Norway and 

played [ethno-techno outfit] Deep Forest–which is one of 

the records I hate the most–and in the setting it sounded 

really, really good,” he recollects. “It was hilarious. I actually 

started to laugh–like, it actually made sense! More 

and more I’ve been learning that you get the most satisfaction 

when you just trust your instincts. In production, 

[that means] you actually have the balls to go in a new 

direction, finding that cheesy melody and sticking with 

it rather than worrying that people won’t like it. Or even 

doing a track at 140bpm that gets you excited–at least the 

ballsiest people will play it, or maybe you can get a 

crossover hit with people that play gabber.” 

According to Thomas, there’s something distinctly 

Norwegian about this style of freeform musical 

experimentation. “We’re kind of independent here. 

It’s never been a big scene–or most importantly, 

nobody’s made much money with it–so nobody’s 

hanging carrots in front of your face,” he explains. 

“If you do it, it must be for the love.” 

RUNE LINDBAEK 

Not to say that it’s too tough surviving as an artist 

in Norway. Since the discovery of oil off the coast 

in the 1960s, Norway’s economic prosperity has 

resulted in a generous welfare and artist support 

system. Veteran house producer Rune Lindbaek– 

whose releases on Paper Recordings helped pave 

the way for the current crop of Norwegian disko 

talent–believes that to be another reason for the 

fresh sounds coming from his country. “For three 

years in a row Norway has been voted the best 

place to live in the world according to the U.N.’s 

Rune Lindbaek 

human development index,” explains Lindbaek. 

“There isn’t the same money desperation here 

compared to somewhere like England and that 

affects the artists. Also, around here, the corporate 

money machine that sponsored clubs and parties 

has now taken on the rock scene; the noise around 

electronic music is disappearing, which is really a 

good thing. It’s these middle periods, like those 

years just after disco, that are interesting. Postdisco 

was a reaction that had to happen and that’s 

the way it should be.” 

KANGO’S STEIN MASSIV 

With the recent collapse of the larger commercial 

club scene in Norway, the local underground 

scene is surging, and so is the output of producers 

like Kango of Kango’s Stein Massiv. “Here even the 

good clubs are not really that good, but if the club 

scene in Oslo was really good, I wouldn’t produce 

so much,” explains the outspoken Kango. “If I 

moved to New York, I wouldn’t produce. I’d want 

to just go out and buy records.” 

9. Lindstrøm “I Feel Space” (Feedelity) Hypnotic is an understatement 

here. This could easily be the man’s biggest tune yet. 

10. Kohib “Truger” from the Prima Norsk 3 compilation 

(Beatservice) No idea who this Kohib character is, but this 

uptempo party jam rocks the dancefloor every time. 

In fact, Kango–whose wild style productions 

wouldn’t sound out of place on a late ‘70s/early 

‘80s Lower East Side dancefloor–recently did just 

that. “When I went to A1 in New York two years 

ago I bought 187 disco records and the guy at the 

shop said, ‘You Norwegians are really crazy about 

disco!’” But for Kango, doing what they do is the 

furthest thing from crazy. “We’re all friends here: 

me, Thomas and Lindstrøm, Rune. We’re all just 

having fun and we don’t care what people think. In 

a way, you can really hear that in the production. 

Because we’re not totally depending on the tracks 

the way that many people are, we can help each 

other out and experiment a lot more.” 

For more on Norwegian disko, check www.feedelity.com and 

www.beatservice.no. 

50 51

Video director Chris Cunningham wants to 

be the best…at everything. 

words: Piers Martin 

One of Chris Cunningham’s controversial drawings 

that accompany the Rubber Johnny DVD release. 

Chris Cunningham is the award-winning film director 

who built Björk into a robot and morphed 

Madonna into a murder of crows. Best known for grafting 

Aphex Twin’s head onto a gang of unruly kids and a 

bevy of bootylicious babes in the “Come To Daddy” and 

“Windowlicker” videos, in his latest work Cunningham 

has turned the camera on himself–with typically freakish 

results. 

In the six-minute Rubber Johnny, his first new piece 

since 2000’s art flick Flex, Cunningham used his own skinny 

naked body as the model for Johnny, a cellar-dwelling 

wheelchair-bound boy cursed with an abnormally large 

head and genitals. Shot on grainy grey-green nightvision 

DV and meticulously edited in time to Aphex Twin’s 

Drukqs track “Afx 237v.7,” the short catches naughty 

Johnny goofing around in his domestic dungeon with 

his equally bizarre pet dog. Released on Warp Films, the 

electronic label’s burgeoning movie and DVD imprint, the 

disc is packaged with a 42-page book of Cunningham’s 

grotesquely prurient drawings and photography. An 

Italian firm due to print the book refused, claiming the 

images of impossible anatomical configurations were too 

offensive. 

While his groundbreaking human animation in Rubber 

Johnny is technically dazzling, impatient fans of the 34- 

year-old director will rightly wonder what he’s been doing 

for the last five years, particularly when he returns with 

this relatively low-key work. “Rubber Johnny might look 

like a six-minute sketch but it’s technically more advanced 

than anything I’ve done before,” insists Cunningham, 

resplendent as ever in tatty jeans and a once-white cardigan, 

in a noisy bar in London’s Soho. “It’s sketchy in that 

it’s not on the same scale as other videos I’ve done but 

on a technical level it’s light years past them. When you 

watch it you’ll see that just about every aspect of my craft 

has improved.” 

Like the star of his new short, Cunningham has spent 

the best part of this century locked away, developing his 

craft in his north London apartment (bought with the 

proceeds from directing Madonna’s “Frozen” promo in 

1998). With no desire to direct more pop videos, despite 

regular offers, he embarked on a series of treatments for 

scripts based on William Gibson’s Neuromancer, cult Italian 

graphic novel RanXerox, and a Philip K. Dick tale, none of 

which worked out. “I think that directors in the feature 

film business spend a lot of time on projects that don’t 

happen,” he sighs. 

This time indoors wasn’t an entire waste, however. 

52 53

Scenes from Cunningham’s Rubber Johnny 

“If you want to 

play around 

with the rules 

then first you 

have to know the 

rules inside out.” 

“I’ve been doing nothing but crafting 

for five years,” he admits. Surprisingly 

old-fashioned in his approach to art, 

Cunningham–an exquisite draughtsman 

who didn’t attend art school–firmly 

believes that artists should do their utmost 

to master their chosen craft. “I think if 

you want to play around with the rules 

then first you have to know the rules 

inside out,” he says. “Let’s say you’re 

making music videos but you hate bigbudget 

MTV videos, that doesn’t mean 

you should make cheap and nasty videos. 

You should try to make videos which are 

as technically accomplished as the cheesy 

clichéd ones.” 

When he started working in the 

film industry as a teenage assistant to 

Stanley Kubrick, Cunningham wasn’t just 

attracted to being a sculptor or an engineer 

or a make-up artist–he wanted to 

excel at every discipline, like a latter-day 

Renaissance man. “My plan is to be really 

multimedia,” he says. “I don’t want to be 

a jack of all trades and master of none, 

but be a master of all of them. I’m not 

saying I’ve mastered any yet but that’s the 

aim.” 

With this in mind, and given his obvious 

love of music, Cunningham attends 

all manner of gigs and raves in London 

and can occasionally be heard DJing a 

fine blend of synth pop, soundtracks, and 

musique concrète–it’s not shocking to learn 

that he’s written stacks of his own tracks. 

“I love learning stuff and setting myself 

challenges,” he says. “Making those videos 

I became more interested in music to the 

point where I realized I spent all my time 

studying and writing music. What usually 

happens is a video director goes off and 

makes a feature film. I’m in a weird position where 

I’m more interested in music than I am in film.” 

It’s a tantalizing prospect, certainly. As to the 

precise nature of his compositions, Cunningham 

isn’t giving much away. But you don’t need to be 

Fox Mulder to figure out what his music might 

sound like. “The bottom line for me has always 

been songs,” he says. “If something crosses over it’s 

to do with the songs, the craft of the songwriting. 

The trouble with most electronic music is it’s just 

one long verse. That’s why I love Kraftwerk– 

Computer World is innovative sonically but it still 

has incredible songs. And that was my rule: I’m 

not doing anything unless I’ve got a really good 

song first and then I go off and start.” 

Cunningham says he’s always sketched out songs 

on his guitar and keyboard. For him, refreshingly, 

melody is king. For this reason he adores Aphex’s 

celestial harmonies and French techno whiz 

Vitalic’s stirring anthems. “My favourite kind 

of pop music is melancholy pop music: Giorgio 

Moroder, Abba, you know, Tears For Fears’ first 

album. All the best songs are sad songs about 

missed opportunities and longing.” 

Whether his music will be released remains to 

be seen. But there’s no doubt he’s keen to master 

this latest craft. “To people I know, it looks like I 

haven’t been doing anything,” he adds. “But in a 

year’s time it’s going to be obvious what I’ve been 

doing because I’ll have a load of stuff out. And everyone 

will be like, how the fuck did you find time 

to do all that stuff” 

And with that he shuffles out of the bar and into 

Soho. He slips his headphones over his long hair. 

What’s he listening to Phil Collins. You have been 

warned. 

Rubber Johnny is out now on Warp Films. www.warprecords.com 

54

Laptop provocateur Jason Forrest talks noise 

with Public Enemy producer Hank Shocklee. 

WORDS: VEronica Fox Photos: Rayon Richards (Shocklee) 

and Daniel Flaschar (Forrest) 

Jason Forrest’s music (formerly released under 

the Donna Summer alias) is a crazy pastiche 

of recognizable pop themes and postmodern 

noise, from glitch to cock rock. But before 34- 

year-old Forrest was performing demented laptop 

surgery, he was a kid from the deep South 

finding solace in punk rock; and somewhere–in 

between playing dubbed cassettes of Bad Brains 

and Minor Threat down to the nibs–a friend 

turned him onto Public Enemy. PE remains a 

major inspiration to Forrest’s work, particularly 

their production techniques and philosophies, 

which were steered by the Bomb Squad’s Hank 

Shocklee (who is behind the amazing production 

of 1987’s Yo! Bum Rush The Show and 1988’s 

It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back). 

With Shocklee working on his multi-armed 

music company Shocklee Entertainment and 

Forrest about to release a new album on Sonig, 

we used the magic of transatlantic phone lines 

to connect the two for a discussion of the whys 

and hows of bringing the noise. 

56 57

“We took anything 

and made it feel like a 

rock guitar.” 

you’re not going to know where all the other things came from. 

Every record we made was a one-off. There is so much done in those 

records that we don’t even know where these things come from. If we put a 

kick drum onto a track it would be layered with two other kick drums so that 

it would create one sound. If we wanted to do a deep bass sound we might 

use the 808. Or we would make our own 808 and we would truncate the parts 

differently. We would take the attack off the 808 off the front and just use the 

sustain portion. We may take [the sound] off of a record and scratch it and 

then take the warping sound of it and trigger that inside. There was no one 

technique that we used on anything. You can never just sit there and go ‘Okay, 

I’m going to go pull up an SP1200 and pull up a stock sound of a kickdrum 

and a snare and I’ll get your sound.’ That’s not going to happen. 

– Hank Shocklee 

Jason Forrest: Obviously the Bomb Squad did something no one else really 

had done at the time when you first began producing. Why were you so 

interested in all this noise 

Hank Shocklee: We wanted to do something that we knew was going to wake 

up people. We wanted to alert them to a message that was frustrating us. We 

were calling it noise because nobody wanted to hear it–they didn’t want to 

hear our ideas, they didn’t want to hear our ideologies about music. So we 

bottled it as noise and threw it at them. 

I always like how Chuck’s MCing, this idea of a hard pill to swallow, 

matched up with this literal idea of noise–of a Prince guitar solo being fed 

back and looped so that it made this big slab of sound. How did you decide 

to choose this aesthetic 

Rhythm was a very big key with PE. I’m into harmonics from a dissonant point 

of view. I like the way harmonies work together, and I can also appreciate harmonies 

that don’t work together but they gel. PE was basically an experiment 

with sound. I wanted to make sure that the sound that we were doing matched 

the mood of what we were about. We were very angry about everything at 

the time–noise was something that was coined out of the aggressiveness that 

we were creating. If you go back through musical history, anything that was 

done that pushed the envelope was perceived as noise. Rock ‘n’ roll was noise. 

Classical music was noise. We came across with a new form of music–basically 

taking music that was already pre-recorded and pulling out the frequencies and 

sustaining them and stretching them and bending them and controlling them in 

a fashion that felt to us like rock ‘n’ roll. We took anything and made it feel like 

a rock guitar, whether it be a horn blast or a violin string pad. 

There’s so many small elements of other people’s music that do pop out and 

are recognizable in your music. I’ve mentioned Prince, the intro for “Fame” 

from David Bowie, Beatles bits. Why did you allow things to be recognizable 

Because that was the fun in it. It was the musical hook, if you would. If everything 

is unknown then it gets washed out. Some things have to have some 

context to it. So you could go, ‘Oh! I know where that part came from!’ but 

Another thing I was always so bewildered by initially and have come to cherish 

are the little cut-up parts between tracks. 

To make these records work was very detailed, it took a lot of time. We would 

do a lot of preliminary work before we would go into a studio. We’ve always 

wanted to make the sound as visual as possible. We were doing foley that cats 

would do in movies on albums. Say, for example, we wanted a speech that 

said things in a certain way but the speech only said half the phrase. We may 

go back in and recreate the way the speech was recorded using all the studio 

effects we have, then insert them in as samples so that those things became 

seamless. We would add in the hiss, we would add in the crackle–all of the 

things that made it appear like it was a sample. 

Now those are presets, but we created those things before all these companies 

even knew what the hell was going on. When you look at filtering, for example, 

that was a thing that we were doing because we stumbled across it. It was actually 

a defect in the original SB12 design. When you plugged in the plug into the 

mix out of a SB12, and the cord doesn’t go in all the way, it still makes a connection 

but it shaves off the high end; what was left was the bass portions of the 

sound. When we realized that we said ‘Oh wow, that’s a cool effect.’ 

What did each member of the Bomb Squad do to make up the sound That 

part to me seems really mysterious. 

We all did everything. Besides me, Keith, Eric, and Chuck, there was Flavor 

Flav and Terminator X. Everything was divvied up to whoever was feeling 

what at that particular moment. If Eric felt like ‘I can add a little sequence 

part here’–it may just be a tambourine loop–then he would add that. If Flav 

feels like ‘I wanna add the timing to this little drum sample,’ he’s going to 

add that. Everything went through my control because I’m the one that’s 

overseeing the entire process. Nobody had a station, but what we did do is get 

down as a band. Eric might be on the drum pads, Keith might be on another 

set of drum pads, Chuck might be on a turntable, Flavor might grab a bass, 

Terminator was on a turntable, I might be on a keyboard sampler. And we’re 

all just jamming–just making a fucking mess–but we’re running tape. Every 

now and then you’ll get a moment that will be the most incredible five seconds 

and that little piece might end up being a part of a record. 

We did not sequence things. We wanted everything to have our feel. If you 

really listen closely, a lot of the timing on things is not correct and it’s not supposed 

to be correct. You can easily take a high hat, put it into a machine, quantize 

it at 16s, and let it run from beginning to end. That sounds very mechanical. 

You’re not going to get the loose feel of it. When we play it by hand, the 

high hats are at different lengths and different timing. When you start stacking 

those things, you’re getting a groove that’s being created from all the things 

that are a little bit off. The reason why most records made today are boring is 

because they’re linear. They begin and end doing the same patterns, the same 

spacing, the same timing. Records are supposed to be a living, breathing thing. 

Hank Shocklee 

Visit Hank Shocklee online at www.shockleeentertainment.com. Jason Forrest’s Shamelessly Exciting is 

Jason Forrest 

out October 4 on Sonig. www.sonig.de, www.cockrockdisco.com 

58 59

Jiggling asses and starting fights with the 

queen of Baltimore club music, K-Swift. 

Words: vivian host Photos: Shawn Brackbill 

Swiss producer Robi Insinna gets down with split 

personality disorder as Headman and Manhead. 

words: vivian host photo: dieter seeger 

This is music as martial law. Tons of stuttering trombones 

bleat out a shuffling time like “Taps” on cocaine. Snares 

back up against each other and pop-pop like automatic gun 

fire. Demanding bass reinforces the boom-clack-bounce-shuffle 

of the breaks and the militancy of the samples–repetitive 

staccato orders like “Watch out for the big girls!” and “Open it 

up! Give ‘em some room!” 

In the middle of this mayhem, behind a p-popping 

honey with inch-long green and white acrylics and 

a wifebeater-sporting man so buff he looks like an 

action figure, stands all 5’ 4” of Baltimore’s Club 

Queen K-Swift. Despite her size and her baby 

face, 26-year-old Khia Edgerton cuts an authoritative 

presence behind the turntables. Surrounded 

by scattered CDs and vinyl, she’s full of studied, 

pouty-lipped cool, even as the sound system 

repeatedly gives out. The second it comes back 

on, she’s back on the mic again, entertaining the 

crowd with such salvos as “Everybody who wants 

to get laid tonight scream!” and “Everyone who 

has $20 in your pocket throw your hands up!” 

That last command is clearly delivered tongue-incheek, 

as Edgerton is playing to a warehouse full of 

Baltimore indie rock kids, most of whom probably 

don’t have more than $5 to their name. 

On a normal Friday night, Edgerton would most 

likely be controlling the decks at urban nightspot 

Club Choices. Choices–with its roster of guests like 

Rod Lee, Redz, and DJ Technics–is the place to 

hear what’s known as “Baltimore club” (or, if you 

live in Maryland, simply “club music”). Though 

it’s been around since the early ‘90s, Bmore club 

is slowly becoming the next form of regional bass 

music–like Chicago’s ghetto house, Detroit’s ghetto 

tech, Washington D.C.’s go-go, and Houston’s 

60 61

K-Swift’s Top 5 Bmore Club Tracks 

1. Blaq Star “Get Your Hands Up” 

2. Blaq Star “Hey Mothafuckers” 

3. Blaq Star “Get My Gun” 

4. Debonaire Samir “Samir Theme” 

5. DJ Class “Back That Ass on Me” 

62 

screw music–to leak outside its small urban confines 

and out to other audiences around the country. 

Formerly only accessible through underground 

mixtapes and Baltimore radio stations like 92Q, 

club records are starting to be carried at NY record 

store Turntable Lab and played by electronic DJs 

like Diplo. All of which leads us to how, on this hot 

Friday night, K-Swift ended up rocking a room 

full of kids in Weezer glasses and thrift store tees 

soaked with sweat. 

“The most shocking thing about that party was 

that there was a whole other crowd that was into 

the music that I didn’t even know about,” says 

Edgerton, who’s speaking to me on the phone 

while waiting to board a roller coaster at Six Flags. 

“It floored me and to this day I can’t believe it.” 

Edgerton may be surprised that art school 

kids like her music as well as urban crowds, but 

she’s never had any doubt about her talents. In 

between shouting at her friends and passing off 

the phone, she explains how she got into DJing at 

the age of 11. “I’ve always loved music,” she says, 

her Maryland accent drawing out the “u” in music 

until it sounds like “mewwwwsic,” rounded and 

syrupy. “My father was a DJ for years. He played 

oldies but goodies–what I call 25-and-older music 

like Earth Wind and Fire, The O’Jays, disco music 

like Masterdon Committee’s ‘Funkbox Party’ and 

Strafe’s ‘Set It Off ’ As soon as he would leave for 

work I used to be like, whoosh…in the basement 

and messing with his stuff. Eventually something 

did accidentally get broken and that’s how I got 

caught. I had a long conversation with him and 

told him that’s what I really wanted to do. [My parents] 

got me my own stuff so I could tear it up.” 

Starting off with records like Kid ‘N’ Play’s 

2Hype and Run D.M.C.’s “Peter Piper”–and with 

female DJs like Cocoa Chanel and Salt ‘N’ Pepa’s 

Spinderella as idols–Edgerton learned how to 

scratch. She eventually moved on to beat matching 

in 11th grade, when she started playing high 

school dances and fashion shows. Around the same 

time Baltimore club was starting to jump off and 

Edgerton got an influential internship at WERQ 

FM (92Q), Baltimore’s biggest urban station. Her 

outgoing personality–and her unusual status as a 

young female in a male-dominated scene–meant 

it was only a short ride until she got the station’s 

best slot: weeknights from 6-10 p.m. with co-host 

Squirrel Wyde. 

“I’ve always been outgoing and I never had low 

self-esteem or none of that,” she explains. “But 

the worst thing I’ve had to go through [DJing] is 

being a female and having the guys hate on [me] 

so bad. Guys don’t really want to see a female grow 

and expand. There would be a lot of [guys saying] 

‘She’s a girl. She’s wack. She can’t do it,’ without 

even hearing me. But you just got to keep to your 

own because everybody hates on everybody. You 

always just got to stay focused and don’t worry 

about what anybody else thinks about you.” 

Since being crowned Club Queen–a title she says 

she was basically given by the people of the city of 

Baltimore–Edgerton hasn’t really had to deal with 

the haters. She’s got a radio show, a management 

company, and is a record pool director at Unruly, 

a club music distributor. Her last mixtape, Vol. 6: 

The Return, just sold 4,000 copies in Baltimore 

alone, and she feels more comfortable than ever, 

whether on air or behind the mic at gigs. (“It took 

a lot of courage to do it at first but now I can’t do a 

party without saying something to the crowd,” she 

explains. “I feel as though you need to let people 

know that you’re there. Ain’t nobody going to promote 

you like you’re going to promote yourself.”) 

More than that, she gets to have fun everyday, 

playing jams from the dirty (Doc Slice’s “Asses 

Wigglen”) to the melancholy–like the a capella 

of John Legend’s R&B tear-jerker “Ordinary 

People” set over the Lyn Collins “Think” break or 

Rod Lee’s uplifting-yet-depressing ghetto anthem 

“Dance My Pain Away” (“Bill collectors on me/Have to 

file bankruptcy/Need some help from somebody”). More 

than anything, K-Swift likes the harder stuff, like 

Blaq Star’s “Get My Gun,” whose refrain threatens 

“You keep on fuckin’ around, I’m gonna go get my 

gun.” “I’ve seen a lot of crazy fights,” she laughs. 

“Especially when you play ‘Get My Gun’ or [the 

Bmore club remix of] Lil’ Jon’s ‘Throw It Up.’ 

That’s when everything goes craaaazy.” 

For more on K-Swift, check www.clubqueenswift.com. For more on 

Baltimore club, check www.unrulyrecords.com, 

www.baltimoreclubtracks.com, or governmentnames.blogspot.com. 

FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS AND OTHER RELEASES VISIT 

sevenlimitedrecords 

7LTD.COM 

10.15.05 

EAST OF WEST 

FEATURING LEGENDARY DJ AND PRODUCER 

JOHN HOWARD 

and 

and the electro genius ensemble everyone’s talkin about 

MR. NEGATIVE 

SEVEN LIMITED RECORDS 

From the label that brought you 

WALLY LOPEZ, STEVE PORTER, MEDWAY, 

THE LOW END SPECIALISTS, ASTRO & GLYDE 

& many more... 

Now the hottest underground house label around is taking you.... 

PETE SUNG

Organic, hand-drawn, and just 

plain psychedelic. Meet the 

t-shirts of fall 2005. 

ILLUSTRATIONS (in order): TROPHY, 

ANNETTE MONNIER, BURLESQUE DESIGN 

OPPOSITE: Top Row: Lichen Kemp for Outskirts; Delta Inc; 

Tiffany Malakooti for 2K. Middle Row: Staple; Huskmitnavn 

for UARM. Bottom Row: Liness; Siknuss; Delphi Collective. 

HERE: Top: Schwipe. Bottom Row: Genevieve 

Gauckler for 2K; Ubiquity; Ghostly.

Top Row: Silas; Dora for Upper Playground; 

The Quiet Life. On horse: UARM Black Label. 

Bottom Row: Breakbeat Science; Exact Science; 

Dave Denis for 2K. 

Top: Josh Podoll. Middle Row: Imaginary 

Foundation; Jeremyville. On Snake: Dylan 

Martorell for Outskirts. Bottom Row: Tiffany 

Malakooti; Seven-Nine.

Top Row: Fucking Awesome; 

Timothy Garrett for DreamState; 

Neck Face for UARM. Bottom Row: 

French for 2K; House Industries; 

Crown Farmer. 

Top Row: Dylan Martorell for 

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Stacks; Siknuss. Bottom Row: 

Fresco; The Quiet Life. 

T-shirts from this piece can be 

found at the following locations: 

Colette (Paris) 

Giant Robot (LA/SF) 

I Heart (NYC) 

Digital Gravel 

(www.digitalgravel.com) 

Union (LA/NYC) 

Villains (SF) 

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www.upperplayground.com 

www.urbanartsinc.com

Cooling off with the girls of Kingston. 

Lick Shots 

Photos: Peter Dean Rickards 

(www.afflictedyard.com) 

Stylist: Kaysian L Wilson 

models: Andrene and 

Cameesha a.k.a. Pinky

Andrene wears dress by Just in Time and hat and purse by Candy Apple. 

Pinky wears top by Free People, belt by Leather Rock, and earrings and ring by Candy Apple.

Pinky wears top by 3D by Dexter Pottinger and bracelets by Kerry. 

Andrene wears hoody and bracelets by 3D by Dexter Pottinger, shorts by GMI, and shoes by Chinese Laundry.

album 

reviews 

09.05 

Guru 

Version 7.0: The Street 

Scriptures 

7 Grand/US/CD 

O.c. 

Two pillars of ’90s 

hip-hop resurface 

with mixed results. 

O.C. 

Starchild 

Grit/US/CD 

True school-minded MCs looking to replicate and evoke the 

essence of the classics have found a simple solution: do as 

was done back in those days and record uniform-sounding 

albums with a single, focused producer. North Carolina 

beatmaker 9th Wonder has become a go-to guy for these 

sort of releases, hooking up beats for entire albums by Murs 

of the Living Legends, Jean Grae, and Buckshot. Similarly, 

EDO.G and Pete Rock collaborated thoroughly for 2004 My 

Own Worst Enemy, while Common and Kanye West conceived 

Common’s Be together. 

One person who has always known the value of steady 

vibing with your beatmaker in the studio is the emcee Mr. 

Keith Elam, known to fans as Gifted Unlimited Rhymes 

Universal–Guru. With DJ Premier in his corner, Guru’s been 

one-half of Gang Starr, arguably hip-hop’s most consistent 

album-making legacy. Without Premier’s cutting analog 

beats or the warm organic instrumentation of his Jazzmatazz 

records, Guru’s monotone delivery tends to suffer, as evidenced 

on 2001’s Baldhead Slick & Da Click LP. 

For his first proper solo album under the name Guru, he’s 

enlisted the hand of Solar, a Brooklyn-bred producer who also 

happens to be his partner in the pair’s new 7 Grand label. 

Version 7.0 is a rocky start to the relationship though, as 

Solar’s beats sound hollow and somewhat careless, lacking 

any semblance of the bite and bounce we’re used to hearing 

Guru over. While the usual tales of hard knocks (“Surviving 

Tha Game,” “Feed the Hungry”) and self-promotional tomes 

(“Don Status,” “Hall of Fame”) might be good enough over 

classic Premo beats, they don’t cut the mustard here. 

O.C.’s Starchild, on the other hand, is a return-to-form for 

the veteran Brooklyn-Queens MC, who followed his classic 

mid-‘90s LPs Word...Life and Jewelz with 2001’s forgettable 

Bon Appetit, then fell off the map for four years. With beats 

from largely unknown producers the Locsmif, Vanguard, and 

Soul Supreme laying the foundation for a 13-song wall of 

focused rhymes, Starchild has all the makings of a sleeper 

classic. 

The only thing is, it will never see a U.S. release in its 

original form. After launching the album in Europe and Japan, 

Boston-based Grit Records has scrapped this version of the 

album due to sample clearance issues and the impending 

release of another O.C. LP on Hiero Imperium. Word has it 

that when Starchild eventually does hit US streets it will be 

produced entirely by Pete Rock; while that collaboration will 

no doubt have beat-minded heads salivating at the mouth, it’s 

an album that, as it stands, doesn’t need improving. 

Songs like “Everidae” and “Who Run It” seamlessly flow 

into one another like one continuous thought. With the only 

guest appearance coming in the form of a sung hook from 

O.C.’s boyhood neighbor, Pharoahe Monch, the conversations 

are instead between O.C. and the music. The result is uncalculated, 

familiar yet original, and one of the better straight-up 

rap albums of 2005. Jesse Serwer 

79

eviews 

ALBUMS 

Isolée 

We Are Monster 

Playhouse/GER/CD 

From the menacing, minor-key mutations of the first track, “Pictureloved,” to 

the sprawling, sexy 10-minute chug of “Pillowtalk,” the second artist album 

from Isolée (a.k.a. Rajko Müller) is a masterpiece. While “Pillowtalk”–with its 

swelling and shifting plucked melodies–probably comes closest to evoking 

the sublime tech house groove of Isolée’s reputation-making single, “Beau 

Mot Plage,” We Are Monster further explores Müller’s affection for rock, 

with “Schrapnell” driven by an echoing lick and a salty pair of slide guitars 

and strings and more fretwork pushing the grind of “Today.” The album is 

not entirely flawless–the plodding lurch of “Jelly Baby/Fish” grows a tad 

annoying with repeated listens–but with the slurping electro and absolutely 

massive breakdown of “My Hi-Matic” and the way songs like “Face B” evolve 

with a complexity matched by their delicious visceral details, Isolée has made 

a wondrous beast with a life all its own. Peter Nicholson 

Isolée 

Alarm Will Sound 

Acoustica 

Cantaloupe/US/CD 

When I imagine Richard D. James–a.k.a. Aphex Twin, Polygon 

Window, et. al.–it is always as a leering puppet master tethered 

to electro-acoustically scrambled computer monitors and 

pianos strangled as if by garrote. So for Alarm Will Sound–a 

New York-based 22-piece orchestra–to record all acoustic 

arrangements of James’ works (primarily off 2001’s Drukqs 

and 1996’s Richard D. James Album) only seems fitting. I can 

equally imagine the Alarm ensemble pivoting frenetically and 

with finesse, fingers to their own steely filaments as they find 

compelling counterpoints in CPU-chipped chaos and detune 

through a home improvement store’s worth of tonal transmogrification. 

Tony Ware 

Alexander’s Dark Band 

Dobutsu Bancho 

DC/UK/CD 

Note to all you aspiring turntablist champs–J. Saul Kane is sick 

to death of hearing you scratch the word frrrresh!” while doing 

that Run D.M.C. routine of yours with double copies of “Peter 

Piper.” It’s tired, it’s wack, and if you truly want to lay waste 

to the competition you’ll pick up this, his third DJ tool under the Alexander’s 

Dark Band tag. A Kane production is always a bit twisted–witness the slab-like 

drum breaks and the buzzing analog synths in the background. Dobutsu Bancho 

is no different, with bizarre animal noises and snippets of soundtracks peppered 

throughout. Who needs “frrrresh” when you’ve got the bark of a sea lion at your 

fingertips Brock Phillips 

Alias & Ehren 

Lillian 

Anticon/US/CD 

On 2003’s Muted, Alias (nee Brendon Whitney) brought some of the thickest and 

certainly most blissed-out beats to Anticon’s roster of “lap-hop” experimentalists. 

Brother Ehren was impressed, and offered to contribute his skills with the 

flute, saxophone, and clarinet to sessions for the instrumental Lillian (named 

after their grandmother). An extension of Muted’s shoegazey aesthetic, the 

album’s textures are warmed by Ehren’s jazzy improvisations on tracks like “Back 

And Forth,” where clickety-clacks and fuzzy guitars escalate to a gorgeously 

spazzed-out climax. “52nd & West” is likewise made light and giddy by reed 

instruments. Rachel Shimp 

Anthony B 

Black Star 

Greensleeves/UK/CD 

Rasta firebrand Anthony B made his name at Star Trail, the pioneering dancehall 

label run by his former manager, Richard Bell, but much subsequent material 

has been patchy. Now Mr. B is back on track with a cracking new album, tastefully 

produced by Frenchie of Maximum Sound. There’s a strong new take on Ini 

Kamoze’s “World A Music” (made famous by Damien “Jr. Gong” Marley’s ’05 

global smash “Welcome To Jamrock”) and good guest spots from Ras Shiloh and 

the ubiquitous Jah Cure, but what really makes this album work so well is that 

B’s topical lyrics are ably matched by Frenchie’s rough rhythms, cut at various 

JA and UK studios. David Katz 

APSCI 

Thanks For Asking 

Quannum/US/CD 

While not nearly as revolutionary as you think they think they are (no more cookiepuss 

harmonizer, please), one has to admit APSCI has applied some science to their 

mix of electronic noise, hip-hop, and pop–and some of this is pretty experimental 

science at that. The duo indulges their sci-fi leanings by using Godzilla samples and 

other laboratory studio chemisty. And while radioactive amalgamations like this 

often end up as tragic novelties, there’s something about this couple/band–Boogie 

Down Bronxian Rafael LaMotta and Down Under’s Dana Diaz–that suggests 

they’re the real deal. Daniel Siwek 

Beatfanatic 

The Gospel According to Beatfanatic 

Soundscape/UK/CD 

Championed by Soundscape Records this time, Beatfanatic again flexes his fusion 

of breaks, disco, and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Yet unlike his work on the Raw Fusion 

label, this project seems uninspired and gets real old, real fast. Tracks like “Boom 

Bangin’,” “Let Us Pray,” and “Holdin’ Out” begin with bland drums–monotonous 10 

seconds in, and dreadful by the two-minute mark. Some songs–like “African Love” 

and “Pete’s Funk”–are indeed colorful, but don’t make The Gospel worthwhile. 

Though this project is being touted as a summer party album, you’re better off 

saving your money for the refreshments. David Ma 

Kevin Blechdom 

Eat My Heart Out 

Sub Up–Chicks on Speed/GER/CD 

No, you did not see the psychosexual album cover; move on. Blechdom needs to 

move on likewise from her Fisher Price-made synth presets and ditties that were 

once amusing five years ago. Eat My Heart Out is basically a set of ballads from a 

lovesick and fetal-positioned soul. As irony barely excuses bad art these days, the 

Hallmark-quality poetry and the tacky Nickelodeon pop do not muster–although 

the Mr. Rogers chimes that begin “Torture Chamber” are amusing. “It’s funny, 

being yourself is making a joke itself,” Kevin utters to herself at one point. Indeed. 

Cameron Macdonald 

Boozoo Bajou 

Dust My Broom 

!K7/US/CD 

Many producers have attempted to mesh Delta blues with dub beats, usually with 

little success. Too often, the results rely on a drab timidity from one side or the 

other–no grit in their blues or ghost in their dub. On Dust My Broom, German electronic 

spliff rollers Boozoo Bajou create a rare balance: they find the dub in Sonny 

Boy Williamson and create post-modern classics with help from toaster U-Brown 

and soul legend Willie Hutch. As an experiment, Dust My Broom is an unmitigated 

success; as an album, it’s a late-night classic. Justin Hopper 

Bus Featuring Mc Soom-T 

Feelin’ Dank 

~scape/GER/CD 

Glasgow’s MC Soom-T waxes existential dread here, but the music grows a rose 

garden. “The right answer is always wrong/I learned this from the day I was born,” 

she mopes. Berlin’s Bus (Tom Thiel and Daniel Meteo) delivers digital dub that 

seems snapped together like Erector pieces–every tightly wound thud, neon-lit 

organ blurt, and guitar riff clunks into place as the single, “Diamond in the Rough,” 

attests. The only catch is that the MC’s chirp grows monotonous over time and 

offsets the Bus’ angst with camp. Still, this record marks a step forward in bridging 

d-dub with hip-hop. Cameron Macdonald 

Buckshot & 9th Wonder 

Chemistry 

Duck Down/US/CD 

Kazé & 9th Wonder 

Spirit of ’94: Version 9.0 

Brick/US/CD 

Note to all emcees: it’s about the beats. Buckshot (of Black Moon and Boot Camp 

Clik infamy) never truly reaped the benefits of his talents but 9th Wonder’s new jack 

instrumentals, heavy on buttery soul vocal swipes (“No Comparison”) and snap, 

crackle, popping snares (“Food for Thought”) make this scorned rapper’s rants plausibly 

entertaining. Much like Buck and his BK cohorts in ’94, North Carolina rapper Kazé 

is just starting to find his voice on the mic–9th’s tasty production keeps the neophyte 

focused while he channels a halcyon hip-hop aesthetic. No matter the time or the 

place, it’s the grooves that keep both emcees on point. Aqua Boogie 

Cage 

Hell’s Winter 

Def Jux/US/CD 

Cage has been releasing music for over a decade–long enough to gain him a cultlike 

following of fans and a sizeable gaggle of haters. But Hell’s Winter, his debut 

on the Def Jux label, is indisputably well produced, no matter how much folks may 

want to dislike it. With beats by some of the best in this new wave of hip-hop production 

(DJ Shadow, El-P, RJD2, Camu Tao), Cage would be hard pressed to mess 

this album up. His lyrics may forever be teenage angst-y, depressive and angry, but 

this album is far from amateurish. Stacey Dugan 

The Chapter 

Us Vs. Them 

Awthentix/US/CD 

The Chapter–rapper Verbal E. and producer 3Sixty–makes a Windy City to Sin City 

connection that results in unpretentious hip-hop. Silky vibes and spry percussion 

pepper “…I Do Despise,” a treatise on intricacies of the N word, and somber 

chords propel “Akhill Hill,” a scorned lover diatribe. No groundbreaking topics are 

tackled, but thought provoking joints, able lyricism, and minimal soap box posturing 

make The Chapter’s live band rap accessible to everyone. Aqua Boogie 

Colette 

Hypnotized 

Om/US/CD 

Previously showcasing her pipes on albums Our Day and In the Sun, classicallytrained 

Colette gives her vocals center stage on her artist debut, Hypnotized. Doused 

at times in classic, funky house and electro rhythms, her lovely soprano unfortunately 

can’t elevate the album above pop lite. From the rainy-day groove of “A Little More,” 

where she sings “You think it’s easy/To sit and wait for you/You think I deserve/All the 

things you do,” to the ballad-ish “The One,” where she pines for love, Colette’s lyrical 

and musical combinations are a bit too diary-literal. Ultimately, Hypnotized is the 

auditory equivalent of reading chick lit. Rachel Shimp 

Cool Calm Pete 

Lost 

Embedded/US/CD 

Laid back with his mind on his anaesthesized culture and his 

anaesthesized culture on his mind, Cool Calm Pete’s intelligent 

drawl rolls forth like a string of variables looking to be concretized. 

But staying calm can sometimes be confused with staying 

quiet, and if you’re not stoned or taking notes Pete’s delivery can 

sometimes veer towards the dispassionate. But the vibe is always 

hopping, thanks to stellar production by Doc Strange (especially 

on “F@#$%&!*k Yooouu”), DJ Pre and Cool Calm himself. All of 

which makes this a capable debut from an emerging talent still 

breaking out of his Quasimoto-decorated cocoon. Scott Thill 

Crossover 

Cryptic And Dire Sallow Faced Hoods Blast 

Off Into Oblivion 

Gigolo/GER/CD 

The second Crossover LP benefits from a broader, richer production 

palette thanks to the addition of fellow Gigolo artist Matt 

“Mount” Sims behind the scenes–the cheap-sounding synths 

that blighted their debut are nowhere to be heard this time out. 

The duo’s range of influences also appears to have been extended 

in the interim between albums–Italo horror soundtracks have 

clearly shaped a number of the tracks. As with many of their 

Gigolo contemporaries, the lyrics still occasionally grate, but 

perseverance proves rewarding. Dave Stenton 

T.O.K. 

Junior Delgado 

Invisible Music 

Incredible/UK/CD 

A quintessential roots reggae vocalist, Delgado’s anguished 

growl was a cry from the wilderness, generally drawing attention 

to injustice, uplifting the poor, and praising the delights of love. 

His untimely death in April means this album is unfortunately his 

last, but the swansong is a real treat, sensitively co-produced by 

Adrian Sherwood. Delgado is in fine form throughout, pointing 

a finger of condemnation at western leaders on the excellent 

“Thief of Bagdad” and warning of an impending World War III on 

“Armageddon,” but also noting the positive in life on “Help is on 

the Way” and the title track. Highly recommended David Katz 

The Dining Rooms 

Experiments In Ambient Soul 

Schema/ITA/CD 

Downtempo albums often get compared to movie soundtracks– 

both types of music, unless they’re done incredibly well, come 

across as innocuous and forgetful, sinking into the background 

like a wilting wallflower. Perhaps in an attempt to escape this 

particular dilemma, Italian duo The Dining Rooms recorded their 

latest album, Experiments in Ambient Soul, with live instruments. 

While it gives this genre-hopper album a little more presence, 

overall the album is about as edgy as a Nerf sword. The Dining 

Rooms aim for grandeur, but their tight arrangements sound like 

something that’s been heard many times before. Patrick Sisson 

T.O.K. 

Unknown Language 

VP/US/CD 

A guilty pleasure that fits the summer of 2005 like a glove, T.O.K.’s second 

album, Unknown Language, offers a slice of Jamaican dancehall in its most 

unabashedly American-influenced form. A power pop record in patois, Unknown 

collects all of the suave foursome’s singles (“Gal You Ah Lead,” “Galang Gal”) 

from the past three years along with a smattering of new songs like the semiconscious 

“Wah Gwaan” and the pulsing “Neck Breakers.” While a remix of 

the reggaeton-flavored “She’s Hotter” featuring Miami thug Pitbull may be the 

foursome’s most fire single to date, the highlight may be “Tell Me If You Still 

Care,” a sentimental ballad over Arif Cooper’s Celebration riddim that evokes 

the group’s roots in late ‘80s/early ‘90s American R&B. Jesse Serwer 

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Eight Frozen Modules 

Crumbling And Responding 

G25 Productions/US/CD 

Polycubist Vs. dubLoner 

Selecta One 

Skor/US/CD 

Since 1997, the astoundingly versatile Eight Frozen Modules (one of Ken Gibson’s 

many aliases) has made a convincing argument for the health of IDM. Crumbling 

And Responding is 8FM’s sixth album of five-dimensional rhythms, psychedelic 

abstractions, and textural insanity. It’s time people start talking about 8FM with 

the same reverence they do Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. On Selecta One, LA 

studio rats Polycubist (Jason Kennedy) and dubLoner (Gibson again) prove that 

Caucasians making dub in 2005 isn’t absurd. dubLoner edges out Polycubist in this 

aromatic soundclash, with the former more imaginatively mutating entrenched 

Tubby/Perry paradigms into fresh configurations. Dave Segal 

ElekTro4 

Keystroke One 

Bully/US/CD 

ElekTro4 is a smart guy. With his debut, Keystroke One, this NYC-based instrumentalist 

has cleverly divided his album into two sections. Part One: Portrait Of The City is 

a vibrant, hip-hop-driven response to living in NYC, complete with sampled rhymes 

and neck-snapping beats. Then there’s Part Two: The Suicide Suite, a more downcast 

grouping of work complete with eerie piano and organ melodies. Almost any hip-hop 

fan will enjoy Part One, whereas conoisseurs of darker beats (like those of DJ Signify, 

who provides cuts here) will be drawn to Part Two. Nonetheless, the album is good 

enough to be enjoyed straight through as well. Max Herman 

Ellen Allien 

Thrills 

BPitch Control/GER/CD 

Moodier and darker than 2003’s Berlinette, Thrills maintains Allien’s position as a point 

person for techno’s ever-evolving sound. Again she contributes vocals—on “Your Body 

Is My Body,” where a spidery texture and ghostly gurgles travel the empty spaces, and 

“Down,” where an electro break is hijacked by a decidedly feminist chant. Sans beat, 

dreamy rocker “Naked Rain” could enter the Pop Ambient realm, as it–like most of 

Thrills–is propelled by the sentimental melody at its heart. While not all the tracks are 

as strong, each benefits from Allien’s humanistic touch. Recalling Richard Brautigan’s 

1968 poem, her work seems informed by machines of loving grace. Rachel Shimp 

Gabin 

Mr. Freedom 

Astralwerks/US/CD 

If you were having cocktails in a smoky Latin jazz club, watching beautiful people 

dance, Gabin’s Mr. Freedom would be the soundtrack for the evening. The Italian duo’s 

latest endeavor is an uptempo recording that combines blues and Latin rhythms with a 

Sergio Mendes-like-charm. Songs like “Into My Soul,” “Midnight Café,” and “It’s Gonna 

Be” are groovy, rhythmic, and surprisingly soulful, making Mr. Freedom a refreshing 

departure from the recent onslaught of mechanical sounding party records. David Ma 

Gang Gang Dance 

God’s Money 

Social Registry/US/CD 

If Fat Albert’s Junkyard Band were eccentric Brooklyn indies acting on the impulses 

of an extensive world music collection, they might make a record like God’s Money 

in 2005. Recorded at Junkyard Audio Salvage–a self-explanatory playground for 

analogophiles in Greenpoint–GGD allegedly made use of every noise-making device 

they could find during the year-long recording of their second LP. The result is a 

worldly soundclash of the “only in New York” variety; a beautiful/ugly mishmash 

of tribal drums, Middle Eastern rhythms, Baltic new wave, unconfined psychedelic 

experimentalism, and vocalist Lizzie Bougatsos’ sometimes beautiful, sometimes 

horrifically off-putting chirps. While it often seems like a magic ride to nowhere, the 

net result nonetheless feels earth-shatteringly profound. Jesse Serwer 

J-Live 

The Hear After 

Penalty-Rykodisc/US/CD 

Although this ex-English teacher and recent Philly transplant may live in a different 

state, his aesthetics still come from the same New York mind state that produced classic 

lessons like “Braggin’ Writes.” Updating old school values for a new school of listeners, 

the Big Apple native hits heads up on “The Sidewalks” with a clever G-Funk-era 

synth riff. And anyone who has taught school in the inner city will appreciate “Brooklyn 

Public Pt 1,” when J raps: “One class. 31 students. 32 chairs. 25 desks. I guess they gotta 

share.” A solid effort, J-Live stays atop the indie honor roll. James Mayo 

The Juan Maclean 

Less Than Human 

DFA/US/CD 

Following a string of singles well received by both the clubs and the press, 

former Six Finger Satellite guitarist John Maclean makes his long-awaited LP 

debut on scene stalwart DFA, and fans will not be disappointed. Less Than 

Human features everything we’ve come to love about Maclean’s productions–gritty 

dance beats, pulsating Italo-influenced basslines, ‘80s-style 

syn-toms, disco vocals, and rock & roll attitude. A perfect soundtrack for 

2005–halfway through the first decade of the new millennium, Maclean 

has deconstructed, re-wired, and retrofitted an assortment of semi-ignored 

genres into post-post modernistic mayhem. Ironic No, it’s pure, unadulterated 

fun–the kind of no-holds-barred, balls-to-the-wall party jams that are so 

loose and juicy, so “fuck it and fuck you,” they’re positively punk rock. Now 

get out of my way–there’s a party going on. Alexander Posell 

The Juan Maclean 

Kid606 

Resilience 

Tigerbeat6/US/CD 

Through his laptop’s noise, Miguel Depedro, a.k.a. Kid606, creates as much as 

he destroys, loves as much as he cuts a conversation and walks away. Resilience 

drops that yin-yang in favor of florid emotions and declarations that lack quotation 

marks. Opener “Done With The Scene” and the more haunting “Sugarcoated” are 

synth-pop glides that peek at a sea of suburban rooftops through one Venetian 

blind. Depedro also explores his compatriot DJ/Rupture’s territory with disjointed 

Middle Eastern hip-hop in “Hold it Together,” along with delivering slightly skewed 

dancehall in “Phoenix Riddim” and “Banana Peel.” Resilience places Depedro at a 

crossroads where it is nigh impossible to predict where he will go next. He points 

in nearly every direction here, and is richer for it. Cameron Macdonald 

Felix Laband 

Dark Days Exit 

Compost/GER/CD 

Felix Laband may be the first star to emerge from South Africa’s nascent electronic 

scene–having released two smallish albums on African Dope, he drew the 

notice of the Compost camp and this album demonstrates why. Dark Days Exit is 

an interesting blend of Latin, ambient, folk, and lounge flavors. The production 

and composition is top notch throughout, but check the choppy clicks of “Crooked 

Breath” or the eerie, melodic “Radio Right Now” for signs of true inspiration. A 

talent to watch. Alexander Posell 

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Luciano 

Upright 

Kingston/GER/CD 

Luciano 

Hail The Comforter 

Jet Star/UK/CD 

Jah works, indeed. Only with godly assistance would it seem possible for Luciano 

to be so prolific, releasing album after album with no sign of weariness. A oneman 

roots revival, Luchie comes correct on both of these new sets, whose sound 

frequently harks back to classic reggae. “It’s a revelation of the situation,” he sings 

on “What Goes On” from Upright, which could easily describe his impeccable 

phrasing and delivery. On “Music is Life,” he’s joined by Turbulence, and the two of 

them kill the “Murderer” riddim d(r)ead. Hail the Comforter similarly revisits many 

legendary riddims (such as “Rumors,” which shows up on “Herb Minister”) while 

“Too Greedy” with Anthony B. is a boomshot fi real. In head-to-head competition, 

Upright slightly edges out Comforter, but it’s a miniscule margin of victory; either 

way you get ‘nuff dispatches from the Messenger. Eric K. Arnold 

Maetrik 

Casi Profundo 

Treibstoff/GER/CD 

Dallas producer Maetrik (Eric Estornel) follows up 2002’s excellent Quality Exertion 

with another collection of acutely calibrated dance music. Throughout Casi 

Profundo, Maetrik balances experimental and functional tendencies like a champ. 

At times he harks back to Chain Reaction’s cavernous, rippled-metal dub techno, 

but with more soulfulness and less turgidity. At other points, Maetrik slips into 

dirty electro mutations that make Gescom sound stodgy. He makes distortion 

sound sleek and infuses soul into warped tones. Maetrik’s ability to leverage 

several strange sounds into a track while still keeping asses shaking is impressive. 

DJs should be bumpin’ this LP for years. Dave Segal 

Michael Manning 

Public 

AI/UK/CD 

Manning’s stream of consciousness flows deep and clear, meandering into fresh 

territories with the unmistakable resilience of a young producer simultaneously 

attached and detached from his craft. From the wall-punching glitch-hop grit of 

“Today” and kaleidoscopic delay of “Sound Check” to the artificial serenity of 

“Cautionary Tale” and “Waiting for Closure,” the album just drips with beauty 

throughout. The organic appeal of angelic female vocals, subtle atmospheres, and 

rich instrumentation is gently atomized by Manning’s light cybernetic touch and 

cortex-tickling beat production in a manner that continues to make AI one of the 

most collectible electronic labels around. Doug Morton 

Morgan Heritage 

Full Circle 

VP/US/CD 

In 1994, the Morgan family threatened to become the reggae Brady 

Bunch with their wack MCA debut. Fast-forward to 2005, and 

Morgan Heritage has become a leader in the roots-reggae revival. 

Featuring some of Jamaica’s top producers (Bobby “Digital” Dixon, 

Donovan “Vendetta” Bennett) as well as self-produced titles, Full 

Circle offers a healthy diet of spiritual nourishment (“Jah Comes 

First”), optimistic messages (“One Day”), and political talking points 

(“Propaganda”). With each successive release, Morgan Heritage 

has elevated their inspirational sounds to the point where they’ve 

now earned the title “The Royal Family of Reggae.” James Mayo 

Odiorne 

Heavy Wish 

File 13/US/CD 

Former Mercury Rev drummer Jimy Chambers has been working 

on his Odiorne side project for over seven years now, and though 

it is just now debuting in the extended format, one can easily 

hear the years of hard work and studio experience that have gone 

into it. Equal parts Britpop, post punk, folk and shoegaze, “Heavy 

Wish” layers haunting synthetic strings, searing sound effects and 

shimmering production over punchy, heavy percussion. Highlights 

include piano-and-keys piece “Kino,” which falls somewhere 

between Radiohead and My Bloody Valentine, and “Creature of 

Habit,” which sounds like an ambient Beatles tune (I swear). With 

multiple listens the album’s subtle, experienced songwriting and 

sophisticated production sink in. Alexander Posell 

Ohmega Watts 

The Find 

Ubiquity/US/CD 

Portland producer and rapper Ohmega Watts bears an uncanny 

resemblance to Dave Chappelle. It’s oddly appropriate, because 

Watts’ earthy, kickin-it-on-the-corner cuts would stand up well 

alongside the other music the comedian features on his hit show. 

On his debut The Find, Watts shows off his range, creating dusty 

RJD2 jams, spacey neo-soul swirls, and Jurassic 5 funk while working 

with a varied group of nearly 20 guest MCs. The fact that, for 

the most part, he effectively plays to the strengths of that many 

rappers underlines his versatility and skill. Patrick Sisson 

O.U.O. 

Of Unknown Origin 

Thaione Davis 

April January 

Domination/US/CD 

O.U.O’s unflinching faith in the power of hip-hop is so wholehearted 

that this album might have been better suited to hiphop’s 

golden era than its diamond encrusted current condition. 

O.U.O. could use a little work on their lyrical hooks, which are 

pared down to the most honest and obvious of details, but generally 

their unique, danceable beats make up for this excessive 

Mayhemystic 

Outbreaks 

Wide Hive/US/CD 

As Outbreaks’ opening track suggests, “Something is Happening” in San Francisco– 

namely, organic funk/jazz grooves, conscious lyrics, metaphysical poets, transcendent 

soul singers, nimble-fingered turntablists, and improv-minded instrumentalists. 

Guaranteed to expand your worldview while affirming your spirituality, this 

second effort by the Wide Hive collective’s amalgamated group of iconoclasts, 

featuring vocalists Azeem (AlphaZeta) and Omega (Blackalicious, Afro-Mystik), 

proves almost as sublime as the first one. You’d have to be Donald Rumsfeld not to 

feel the message of “Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice” or Laura Bush not 

to vibe with the anti-oil dub excursion ”Black Gold” (which spotlights chant/sing 

master Tony Moses). Outbreaks might be more a listen-all-the-way-through joint 

than a case of two hot singles and 10 mediocre tracks, but it’s time (mostly) well 

spent. Eric K. Arnold 

Mobius Band 

The Loving Sounds of Static 

Ghostly International/US/CD 

Their creation myth (hick band moves to big city and writes about the adjustment, 

as laid out on their City VS Country EP) isn’t all that fascinating but the band’s 

sound is interesting enough at first to grab you, and by the last cut, “Do Wop,” 

you’ve heard enough glockenspiel to buy their whole spiel. You can’t help but notice 

the Weezer-like sincerity of Ben Sterling’s vocals, though Jimmy Tamborello certainly 

comes to mind. In fact, their Postal Service-esque combination of electronics 

and emo completely works–in some cases even better because they’re not as 

programmed as they are fucked up, as their languid sound proves. Daniel Siwek 

Symbolyc & illmind 

OUT NOW 

Symbolyc & Illmind 

The Art Of Onemind 

BBE/UK/CD 

Long-distance music collaborations (see Foreign Exchange and Postal 

Service) have been hyped for their unorthodox approach to making music. 

But Texan Symbolyc One and New Jersey native Illmind make damn sure 

you know they’re a geographically-challenged duo on their debut, The Art of 

Onemind, including a set of bland testimonials and work-related voicemails 

on the album. Who cares But any momentary annoyance is alleviated by the 

sincere, shuffling set of polished tracks. A steady one-two kick sets the pace, 

augmented with warm keyboards, elevating string samples, and glittering, 

rubbery synths. It’s just plain pretty production that doesn’t require all the 

sweet-talking. Patrick Sisson 

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over-earnestness. Taione Davis’ all instrumental April January seems likewise out 

of place and time–Davis’s reggae and jazz heavy album would vibe well at a dub 

night or a private party (that’s right, this is sexual healing hip-hop). Stacey Dugan 

Paris Zax 

Unpath’d Waters 

Alpha Pup/US/CD 

A beer, a bowl, and a beat is all Paris Zax needs to take you to soundtrackville. But 

this ain’t no blockbuster he’s scoring (though he’s got skills like Spielberg); we’re 

talking a smoke-filled screen and an anamorphic-lensed classic. His noir notions 

were evident on his early work for Cal Arts student films, but the native Los 

Angeleno quickly found fans among the indigenous hip-hop scene, providing jazzy 

soundscapes for the likes of Busdriver, Blackbird, and The Shapeshifters. Paris is 

ready for his close-up and Unpath’d Waters is easily one of the best instrumental 

hip-hop/downtempo albums of the year. Daniel Siwek 

Princess Superstar 

My Machine 

!K7-The Corrupt Conglomerate/GER/CD 

Princess Superstar’s never lacked chutzpah (subtlety, yes), so the “I wanna be 

famous” chorus on “Famous” rings true. But this album–a collision of hip-hop, 

electro, and punk rock–dissects fame more deeply, too; a “concept album,” the 

tracks revolve around a future where PS clones herself repeatedly and takes over 

the celebrity world. Sometimes this works–the interludes are hilarious—and 

sometimes, with all the supposed time traveling, it’s just confusing. One of the 

best tracks, “Quitting Smoking Song,” doesn’t even stick to the premise, but as 

long as she’s this good, who cares Luciana Lopez 

QNC 

Duo Dynamic 

Grand Central/UK/CD 

While they repped Strong Island to the fullest, the late ‘80s crew JVC Force was among 

the first hip-hop acts to find their core fanbase overseas. These days that’s the norm for 

underground rap. It’s particularly true for QNC, a duo featuring former JVC DJ/producer 

Curt Cazal (now also an MC) and Q Ball, a fellow Central Islip, NY MC whose voice 

sounds a whole lot like Jay-Z. On Duo Dynamic, the pair brings the heat ‘95-style–hard 

rhymes over hard beats– only now there’s references to Irish girls asses and wilin’ in 

Scotland, and their Manchester-based label is run by Mark Rae of Rae & Christian. 

Guru, M.O.P. and Camp Lo all make appearances but the heat is in the beats, produced 

by Cazal in the new home studio he’s dubbed “D&D Studios East.” Jesse Serwer 

Roger Robinson 

Illclectica 

Altered Vibes/UK/CD 

After a decade as a poet and musician–during which he’s collaborated with The Bug 

and Attica Blues, and toured with Cody Chesnutt and De La Soul–Roger Robinson 

has finally gotten around to recording a debut LP. His distinct spoken word rhymes, 

delivered in a hard-to-place accent that belies time spent in New York, London 

and Trinidad, underpin proceedings whilst Speeka’s Rob Mac takes care of beats. 

“Nicola’s Song” (think Electric Circus-era Common) and “Scars,” the sole track featuring 

Robinson’s surprisingly soft singing voice, are the choicest cuts. Dave Stenton 

RTB Big Band 

With Guests 

Cosmic Sounds/UK/CD 

Hipnosis 

Carrousel 

Perfect Toy/GER/CD 

Since its inception in 1948, the Radio Television Belgrade jazz orchestra has established 

an award-winning reputation in its native Yugloslavia. Originally released in 

1978, the 30th anniversary album of the RTB Big Band and Guests retains its freshness. 

Influences of ‘70s funk are prevalent here, standing proud and bold musically. Moving 

onto the present day, the young five-member Munich outfit Hipnosis dishes its sophomoric 

album with gusto. Carrousel is as assured and confident as can be, delivering 

straight-ahead jazz with warmth and soul. Both works serve jazz well. Velanche 

Run_Return 

Metro North 

n5md/US/CD 

Run_Return’s dance club-worthy post-rock vacillates between textured electro 

nocturnes and a sitcom theme triumphalism as life affirming as Beethoven’s Fifth. 

The Oakland trio trades off duties on all instruments: vibraphone, retro keyboards, 

and agile drumming, plus flanged banjo and skittering guitar. There’s an odd tendency 

here to pair instruments with their synthetic counterparts–cellos against keyboard 

strings, handclaps against synth handclaps and, most admirably, the cut-up interplay 

between programmed beats and live drumming, as when a live drum break appears, 

deux ex machina, in the middle of a drum machine-backed song. Ben Bush 

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Skopic 

Skopic 

Lunaticworks/US/CD 

It doesn’t sound promising: young bedroom producer combines a few instruments 

and a laptop, adopts a one-word pseudonym, and drops a debut disc of 15 mostly 

instrumental tunes. Surprise! Max Braverman, the lone soul behind Skopic, takes 

those 15 tracks and journeys deep into the dingy basements and forgotten corners 

of electronic music, twisting sounds both original and familiar into addictive 

new shapes. The self-titled album opens with “Allow Me,” which starts with a 

Rhodes-streaked jazz shuffle that sounds like Amon Tobin in low gear, before 

turning on the old-school hip-hop afterburners then wrapping a violin around DSP. 

Skopic gets a huge, enveloping sound out of even his darker, more threatening 

tunes, dropping lo-fi spoken voice samples into the mix to contrast with his Jack 

Dangers-level skill. Braverman’s bedroom odyssey takes us from the corpse of big 

beat to neo-blaxsploitation turntablism to widescreen weirdo dancefloors and 

more–the scope alone of Skopic is pleasantly surprising. Rob Geary 

Skopic 

Will Saul 

Space Between 

Simple/UK/CD 

As a DJ, Will Saul has always risked the wrath of the bores that dominate the UK 

breaks scene by flirting with other styles, chiefly house and techno. Space Between is 

an aural two fingers at those who preach the message of one style all night, and is all 

the better for it. “Mbira,” “Copicat,” and “Speak & Spell” demonstrate a range of influence, 

from Kevin Saunderson to Metro Area, and are likely to command the lion’s share 

of DJ attention. The remaining downtempo numbers, peppered with contributions from 

guest vocalists including Ursula Rucker, ought to keep others happy too. Dave Stenton 

Safety Scissors 

Tainted Lunch 

~scape/GER/CD 

“Amnesia/I need ya/To remind me!” Matthew Curry croons on his latest joint. The 

San Franciscan is furthering the dorkcore sound he pioneered–now adding more 

intelligence and sexual tension to the dumbness through a golden voice that’s a cross 

between Tina Turner and Al Green. Thankfully, he keeps things well-tempered (unlike 

Jamie Lidell) over a basic electro-pop formula that skitters and stutters into a vague 

dancehall groove at times. Nothing amnesic. Cameron Macdonald

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Salomé de Bahia 

Brasil 

Yellow-Tommy Boy/US/CD 

As the summer heat fades, Salomé de Bahia comes through to keep the tropical 

fires burning. With production by Yellow boss Bob Sinclar, the singer best known 

for “Outro Lugar” sways and swaggers through standards like “Mas Que Nada” and 

a housed-up “Copacabana” with her signature vibrant, full-throated Portuguese 

propelling percussion- and horn-heavy arrangements. Despite a few schmaltzy 

missteps (like the overripe “Lança Perfume”), Brasil is an album of Latin and house 

tracks as big and bold as its namesake. Peter Nicholson 

Sensational 

Speaks For Itself 

Quatermass/BEL/CD 

Like MF Doom, Sensational rhymes in a mumble that follows its own internal metronome, 

often running boldly counter to our earthly sense of cadence. Even though he 

declares “Ain’t no buzzin’ in this/This is Protools, dog,” Sensational’s beats are skeletal 

arrangements of droning bass and muffled thumps, sometimes swerving into nearmusique 

concrète territory. Neat tricks like the ominously doubled vocal track on 

“Obvious I’m Marvelous” go some way toward covering up Sensational’s dearth of 

topics beyond braggadocio and his “chunk of bliss,” and his oddly compelling voice 

works track-by-track, but Speaks for Itself still drags over 40 minutes. Rob Geary 

Shadow Huntaz 

Valley Of The Shadow 

Skam/UK/CD 

Who knows how much of today’s art and electronic music that projects fantastic, 

hep and bleeding-cut visions of the future will be feted as tomorrow’s kitsch That 

thought arose when I sat through the latest joint by leftfield hip-hop cosmonaut 

unit Shadow Huntaz. The multi-city crew continues to stress rap as if they pulled 

an all-nighter reading Philip K. Dick and William Gibson paperbacks with heads full 

of acid. Sure, the IDM-tinged production gets some bonus points, especially the 

suave acid techno of “Y” and “Deander,” but Valley may soon seem as quaint as the 

Epcot Center’s World of Tomorrow ride. Cameron Macdonald 

Slum Village 

Prequel To A Classic 

Deep Space Media/US/CD 

Detroit-based Slum Village has gone through many incarnations over the past decade, 

but emerges fit and trim for their latest “mixtape” collection. Calling it so is odd since 

every track is by T3 and Elzhi, but no matter–they continue a smart blend of intelligent 

street slang fused with R&B hooks, jazzy synth lines and, of course, juiced up and heady 

bass. Prequel is a fitting title, as nothing on the record progresses beyond what has 

kept them at the helm of underground headnods. If you’ve enjoyed thus far, this is more 

of the same–“classic” as in “old,” not necessarily “necessary.” Derek Beres 

The Small Axe People and Dennis Alcapone 

Just Version 

Small Axe People/UK/CD 

Who are The Small Axe People Those familiar with reggae publications will already 

be acquainted with the UK’s Small Axe, the brainchild of committed enthusiast Ray 

Hurford and one of the very first reggae magazines ever in print. Though Small Axe 

now only exists online, Hurford has furthered his reggae explorations through a 

series of individually peculiar releases, of which Just Version is the latest. This set 

brings new meaning to the idea of minimalism, with Hurford’s keyboard tinkling 

creating a platform for snippets of deejay chatter by the legendary Dennis Alcapone; 

intriguing and unexpected, it will grow on careful listeners. David Katz 

Dwight Trible and The Life Force Trio 

Love Is The Answer 

Ninja Tune/US/CD 

Everything about this album is placid, from Dwight Trible’s minimalist expressions to 

the psychedelic and occasionally tribal sounding jazz and funk provided by Madlib, 

Jay Dee, Sa-Ra Creative Partners, et al. Love Is The Answer often sounds like it was 

pulled directly out of a dusty crate from the late ‘60s–the hippie-esque theme of 

“peace, unity, love and having fun” is a common one here (as is the overall deep-rooted 

quality of the production). However, in 2005, some listeners may not appreciate 

Trible’s offbeat spouting, good-natured vocals, and overall idealism. Max Herman 

Amusement Parks on fire 

Amusement Parks On Fire 

Amusement Parks On Fire 

Filter/US/CD 

Welcome to the new millennium’s wall of sound. It may not carry the pioneering 

gravitas of My Bloody Valentine’s hallmark album Loveless, but that’s 

just because technology has gotten heavier in the last decade. In other 

words, Amusement Parks on Fire’s debut effort is both a nod to the shoegaze 

metaverse of the past as well as a new century experiment in glossy noise 

rawk. That’s why thunderous anthems like “Eighty-Eight” and its eight-minute 

counterpart “Wiper” bleed so heavily into each other, but still sound clean 

enough to eat. Sure, things slow down for dirges like “The Ramones Book” 

and “23 Jewels” but the roof is indeed on Fire, and all the gearheads are 

trapped underneath. Scott Thill 

Trio Exclusiv 

International Standards 

Klein/GER/CD 

This Viennese combo–drummer Mex Wolfsteiner, trumpeter Richie Klammer, and 

guitarist Franz Reisecker (with multi-instrumentalist Martin Zrost) invokes nostalgia 

with accomplished disco-jazz on International Standards, using guest vocalists to 

further invigorate grooves that are anything but dusty. Their clean, funky production 

segues seamlessly from aperitifs in the hotel lobby (where Austrian Louie Austen 

channels Sinatra over the car-chase frenetics of “Honalee”) to the handclap-filled 

dancefloor of G. Rizo’s “A Time to Feel” to a nightcap in the leisure suite with Terry 

Callier, soulful and robust as ever on “Slo-Mo” and its dub redux. International 

Standards is exclusive swank that the masses should hear. Rachel Shimp 

Zuco 103 

Whaa! 

Six Degrees/US/CD 

Take the title as a passionate cry of joy, or a question in the form of an imperative. 

Zuco 103’s new disc can only be expressed in semi-nonsensical verbalizations: 

part Afrobeat/bossa nova drive, part electronic thump, part soul-injected jazz funk 

rave-up, and part studio dub workout (complete with two typically unpredictable 

contributions from Lee “Scratch” Perry). The Amsterdam-via-Brazil group is better 

known for more direct electro-bossa; while that’s still here–along with Lilian 

Vieira’s sunny vocals–Whaa! proves Zuco capable of exploring a range of musical 

possibilities with both youthful energy and intimate subtlety. Justin Hopper 

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reviews 

Acid: Can You Jack 

Soul Jazz/UK/CD 

Larry Heard 

Two new comps 

further define acid 

house’s legacy. 

With the ashes of the “disco sucks” record burning in Chi- 

Town’s Comisky Park, lovers of dance music went underground, 

where their only respite from the racist reaction was 

all-night house parties. They were down but not out; as Tim 

Lawrence (writer of disco history book Love Saves The Day) 

explains in the liner notes for Acid: Can You Jack, house 

music was “disco’s revenge.” Like the Knights Templar or the 

Freemasons, the banned disco culture sublimated the scene 

under the guise of building a house. Brick by brick the genre 

introduced the Roland 808 drum machine, replaced lush 

string arrangements with staccato synths, and even snuck in 

some maligned divas. 

But if house music was about renovation, then acid house 

was about tearing the shit down and starting all over. The 

new wave of Chicago producers made music from their 

bedroom–no room for musicians, only plastic boxes like the 

Roland TB303. Tweaked knobs made blips and squelches 

that would repulse the likes of Thelma Houston. The sounds 

made were more familiar to computer printers and automated 

production lines; fitting, considering the industrial city that 

Chicago was and its proximity to Motor City, where they 

already Metropolized (updated) Motown and the motorbooty. 

In fact, acid house is almost as much Detroit techno as it 

is Chicago house. Players like Phuture (DJ Pierre and Spanky) 

and Marshall Jefferson (a.k.a. Sleazy D) weren’t interested 

in updating the “The Sound of Philadelphia” as much as they 

wanted to make a brand new sound–witness tracks like 

Atom presents ACID 

(Evolution 1988-2003) 

Logistic/FRA/CD 

“Phuture Jacks” and “I’ve Lost Control,” just a few of the 

classics included in the two-disc set. 

Acid: Can You Jack resembles a playlist from the Music 

Box, Ron Hardy’s legendary club. It features classic tunes that 

mostly appeared on the Trax or DJ International labels, with 

the addition of modern concoctions like, “Acid Bass” by Roy 

Davis JNR. or “Explorer” by Green Velvet/Cajmere. 

A few years later, avant garde artists like Genesis P- 

Orridge–thinking “acid” referred to LSD–combined the jack 

with the Union Jack and some ‘60s psychedelia to put the 

movement in a whole new context. Psychic TV’s Jack The Tab 

(1988) was put out by Temple, “the original home of UK acid 

house,” and their 12-inch, “Tune In (Turn On Thee Acid House)” 

introduced a more cosmic and industrial side of acid. That’s 

where Atom Heart’s Acid: Evolution 1988-2003 comes in. 

If the Soul Jazz collection centers on the American 

output from 1985 on, then Logistic Records capitalizes on 

Pink Floyd-inspired European movements. Under a variety of 

aliases, Uwe Schmidt (Atom Heart) has taken European acid 

from graffiti to fractals to a sound that borders on trance. 

In fact, Atom’s “Little Grey Box” is a sturdy bridge between 

Chicago house and Frankfurt’s Harthouse sound, and Fume’s 

“Jack2000” is a display of where acid was going in the new 

millennium. Atom’s collection follows what happened when 

acid left its home, in a culture that feared ambisexuality, for 

a continent that almost preferred it. Daniel Siwek 

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eviews 

COMPILATIONS 

Eric Balaire 

Miguel Migs and Lauren Segal 

ReBoot 

Om/US/CD 

The lack of social awareness in electronic music has long been a weak point 

of the genre. Not that activism isn’t present in the scene, but it’s rarely been 

marketed as such. Enter reBoot, a collaboration between SF’s Om records and 

NextAid. Co-founded by activist Lauren Segal, the LA-based organization’s mission 

is to inspire grassroots AIDS awareness within the global dance community 

and further sustainable development programs to help the millions of children 

orphaned by the deadly virus, the overwhelming majority of whom are in Africa. 

It’s not only a good cause, it’s a good record, whose tone is set early on with 

Thievery Corporation’s “Truth and Rights,” a rebellious slice of righteous, bubbly 

ragga dub featuring Sleepy Wonder. The rest of the album contains above-average 

tracks from Om’s usual suspects (Kaskade, Marques Wyatt with Gina Rene, 

Mark Farina, and Afro-Mystik), as well as strong cuts from Louie Vega, Jeremy 

Sole’s Musaics featuring Garth Trinidad, and Miguel Migs. reBoot makes it easy 

to get up, get into it, and get involved. Eric K. Arnold 

Bar Bhangra 

Escondida-Ultra/US/CD 

GlobeSonic DJ Fabian Alsultany compiles a finely mixed bhangra 

compilation for the States, bringing the hectic Punjabi stylings of 

London and India to American dancefloors. This seamlessly threaded 

15-track compilation is an archeological finding in future music 

where hip-hop-based production is combined with dhol and tumbri. 

Including Panjabi MC–who shot this style overseas with his Jay-Z 

collaboration–as well as bass-heavy cuts by the MIDIval PunditZ, 

TJ Rehmi and Swami, Bar Bhangra serves as both welcome introduction 

and sonic document of what is to come. Derek Beres 

Damian Lazarus: Suck My Deck 

Resist/Bugged Out/UK/CD 

Lazarus deserves credit for bringing underground-ish electronic 

music to wider audiences; he blends established indie techno 

artists with promising upstarts and leftfield selections while keeping 

things bumpin’ in sizable clubs. Suck My Deck (guffaw) finds 

Lazarus embracing moody, old-school Euro trance, shimmering 

minimal techno, tripnotic tech-house, a peak-time Alter Ego banger 

remixed by Ewan Pearson, dubbed-out rock weirdness by The 

Stranglers, and Superpitcher’s majestic, soft-focus techno remix of 

M83. Idiosyncratically updating the old cliché about DJs taking you 

on a journey, Lazarus–and his deck–earn your suction. Dave Segal 

DJ Craze: Miami Heat 

System/US/CD 

DJ Craze may be renowned for his body-trick-heavy DJ routines, but as his new 

mix album proves, he’s far from being all show. On Miami Heat, Craze captures the 

high-powered pulse of his city as he sews together two-dozen top drum & bass 

tracks with a sprinkling of his trademark turntablism. While he does lay down some 

precise cuts here and there, Craze more often utilizes this mix to showcase his ear 

for quality music (in this case d&b) and his ability to keep the high-BPM rhythm 

steady. Max Herman 

Elektronische Musik–Interkontinental 4 

Traum/GER/CD 

While Kompakt explores the pop-and-dancefloor side of minimal techno, Traum’s 

Elektronische Musik posse takes micro into the quiet nighttime and finds a cheerfully 

mellow side to the music. Adam Kroll hits us early with “Aeugler,” a space-dub-inflected 

chugger that breaks into a sprightly melody before fracturing into schaffel-icious 

bits. A few tracks vanish into tastefulness fit for a Pier One store soundtrack, but all 

11 minutes of Nathan Fake’s “Dinamo” are compelling, from the Herbert-ish cut-up 

blips and mechanical stops and starts to the climactic acid storm. Well-crafted and 

occasionally brilliant listening for the post-dancefloor wee hours. Rob Geary 

The Family Files Vol. 2 

Shaman Work/US/CD 

Atlanta- and Los Angeles-based Shaman Work Recordings compiled this official 

mix tape in support of upcoming hip-hop releases by MF Doom, Emanon, Wale 

Oyejide and Stacy Epps, among others. The compilation is a mixed bag of b-sides, 

rough and unfinished tracks, freestyles, remixes, and unreleased goodies. MF 

Doom makes a brief appearance, and so does Stacy Epps, but mostly this should 

just be called the Emanon show, because they are all over this album–almost to an 

excessive degree. If you are an Emanon fan, this is the mix for you. Stacey Dugan 

Fauna Flash: Worx the Remixes 

Compost/GER/CD 

The Compost label gives us all another reason to smile, letting the Fauna Flash 

boys loose with this superbly mixed collection of their own remixes from the past 

few years. Things kick off on a spacey acoustic tip with the FF remix of “Flowers” 

by Roberto Di Gioia’s Marsmobil, sliding smoothly into the subterranean jazz pulses 

of Fon-Kin’s “Montininja” before their global house sound takes over completely. 

The rippling cabasa shuffles of Rivera Rotation’s “Delicado,” Grupo Batuque’s Afro- 

Brazilian football anthem “Ole Ola,” and even some retooled Hidden Agenda all get 

woven into the lively Fauna flow. This is one spicy meatball. Doug Morton 

The Free Design: The Now Sound Redesigned 

Light in the Attic/US/CD 

Soft-psych cult faves The Free Design chose that moniker for their first release, an 

album brimming over with boundless enthusiasm and melodies to match. Despite The 

Free Design never having achieved large-scale commercial success, the remixers that 

Light in the Attic has assembled for this release pay testament to the influence of this 

quartet. Madlib, Caribou, Koushik, Dangermouse, and more all take their turns reinterpreting 

the sonorous sounds of the originals, while Nobody lovingly curates the entire 

collection with spliced samples of dialogue and musical interludes. Brock Phillips 

Jack Ruby Hi-Fi 

Niney The Observer: Sufferation: The Deep Roots Reggae 

Auralux/UK/CD 

We’ve got the makings of a cataclysmic, I mean, a catastrophic clash here! First, 

Jack Ruby gets some post-mortem love as Hi-Fi (a reissue of the Clapper label’s 

1980 comp) gets perfectly remastered off vinyl. The set features four vocal masterpieces 

(featuring lover Ken Booth and chanter Jah Coller) and their appropriate 

dub addendums; heavier, more religious dub you won’t find anywhere, with meditations 

clocking around 10 minutes. Niney’s compilation exhibits the same longing 

and agony (“Repatriation”) but these are crafted cuts, not dub jams, and while 

essential to any collection (for The Rockstones alone) Sufferation is not as lifealtering 

as Ruby’s Ocho Rios-based productions. Babylon watch out! Daniel Siwek 

Joey Negro & Sean P: The Soul Of Disco 

Z/UK/CD 

Masters At Work: The Kings Of House 

BBE/UK/CD 

The history of dance music is as fluid as ocean surf. Styles flourish and then deadend 

like dark alleys only to be rediscovered and remixed years later. The Soul of 

Disco is filled with such historical refugees, tracks tossed to the side and forgotten; 

herein, Joey Negro and Sean P unearth solid numbers located on the boundary 

between funk and disco. Despite the constantly changing nature of dance culture, 

it’s still useful to compile a historical compilation, if only to re-evaluate influences. 

With The Kings of House, Masters at Work does a standup job of presenting a disparate 

selection of mostly ‘80s cuts by Derrick May, Blaze, and Frankie Knuckles, 

forming an overview of house music influences from the decade. Patrick Sisson 

Kalk Seeds: A Karaoke Kalk Compiliation 

Karaoke Kalk/GER/CD 

What happens when a video included on a CD distracts you from its actual songs 

Pluramon’s intoxicating “White Eyes” did just that–vertical strips of blurred colors flicker 

in time to what sounds like the ghost of a rambling Doors jam faithfully complemented by 

Morrison-like bad poetry. Nonetheless, this Cologne label’s otherwise charming comp of 

abstract pop ranges from digitally ripened bluegrass (Sora & Wechsel Garland’s infectious 

“Spring”) to cute, lysergic bastardizations of Amerikun country & western (Poto & 

Cabengo’s “Suevian Rhapsody”). Cameron Macdonald 

Mark Rae: Ode to a Dying DJ 

Trust the DJ/UK/CD 

Mixes from Mark Rae–one half of Mancs Rae & Christian, known for producing 

Northern Sulphuric Soul on Rae’s Grand Central label–mixes always have the cocksure 

strut of a blaxploitation film, and Dying DJ is no different, especially when he throws 

down Cecile’s “Hot Like We,” Fingathing’s “Walk in Space,” and ARP’s “Dirty Shirt.” 

Clapping hip-hop, buttery broken beat, hazy funk, earthy ska, dub, and dancehall all 

get their due as Rae takes this opportunity to nice up the dance, his trunk-rattling, 

skanking selections bridging a gap from classic toasting to A Tribe Called Quest-vibe 

MCing. Tony Ware 

Soul Heaven Presents Blaze 

Defected/UK/CD 

Sometimes “just what you expected” is exactly what you want: for example, the 

hands-in-the-air, keep-the-summer-alive vibe fest of Soul Heaven Presents Blaze. 

The venerable New Jersey DJ/production duo digs up and mixes two CDs of deep, 

soulful, Latin- and Afro-tinged house from the likes of Jon Cutler, Louie Vega, Truby 

Trio and, of course, Blaze. Those seeking surprises or new directions will be sorely 

disappointed, but Shelter-heads searching out another night of sweat-drenched 

healing will give thanks for this minor paradise. Justin Hopper 

Southport Weekender Vol. 3 

suSU/UK/CD 

Dimitri from Paris shines on this three-disc set, with great pacing and mixing that 

highlights eminently danceable vocal-leaning house. Quentin Harris, the Detroitborn 

hip-hop artist turned New York house remixer/producer, contributes a more 

laid-back disc. But it’s Jazzie B who delivers the best programming, a mix of soulful 

classics from luminaries like Roy Ayers, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye (and 

Jazzie’s own Soul II Soul) and the occasional more modern cut, like two tracks from 

Wookie (“Down on Me” and, with Lain, “Battle”). Not always as smooth as it could 

be, the set nonetheless offers plenty. Luciana Lopez 

Tsunami Relief 

Exploding Hearts/GER/CD 

Proceeds from this album of unreleased tracks from the micro and tech-house arenas 

of Deutschland benefit an orphanage in Indonesia affected by last year’s tsunami 

tragedy, rendering Sascha Funke’s “Tears On My Pillow” bittersweet despite its 

clinical execution. If Andre Galluzzi & Guido Schneider’s “Survivor” is the dizzy sound 

of sifting through the rubble, Dirt Crew’s “Let’s Get it Done” is an upbeat insistence 

to begin rebuilding structures and lives. With Richie Hawtin, Swayzak, and Ellen 

Allien in tow, these are consoling sentiments from not the most comforting of genres. 

Rachel Shimp 

Version Excursion 

Counterpoint/ UK/ CD 

Counterpoint has over 10 years of experience putting together killer compilations 

like Disco Juice and Jazz Bizniz. Rest assured their producer buddies (Yam Who, 

Beatfanatic) had plenty to work with when turned loose in the vaults for this 

collection of re-versions. There’s a little bit of everything, from the choppy, gloriously 

spastic vocals of Les Gammas’ take on Sheila Landis’ broken beat “Parenthe- 

Seizure” to a typically slick and swaying Nicola Conte bossa remix of Sunaga 

T Experience’s “It’s You.” But everything meshes together nicely with a shared 

jazz/dance sensibility that emphasizes chops as much as beats. Peter Nicholson 

Violence: Welcome To Violence 

Violence/US/CD 

Maldini & Vegas Present Bad Taste 

BC/UK/12 

The first full-length from San Francisco-based Violence is a refreshing showcase of the 

multiple personalities of crew members Hive, Keaton, Gridlok, and Echo. Often known 

for snarling evil, Gridlok turns in “Mass Transit,” an aural dodge ’em of stressed out 

snares and free jazz horns; other combinations generate the G-funk-meets-blaxplotation 

skank of “California Schemin” and “Science,” which journeys from vocal downtempo 

to futuristic machine madness in seven minutes. While Welcome To Violence is 

a coup for d&b programming, Maldini and Vegas’ compilation Bad Taste suffers from its 

different producers trying too hard to emulate Bad Company’s signature sound. Though 

the record contains melodic drama and cinematic synths for days (especially Body & 

Soul’s “Blow Out” and State of Mind’s “Different Strokes”) it could benefit from a few 

more innovative bass sounds and a few less techno tearouts. Star Eyes 

Young Lions Vol. 1 

Jet Star/UK/CD 

This collection shines a spotlight on Richie Spice, Jah Cure, Chuck Fenda, and I Wayne, 

the hottest new artists to hit the dancehall arena since the mid-‘90s renaissance that 

brought Capleton, Buju Banton, and Luciano to prominence. All of these artists share 

similar subject matter, but sheer talent overcomes the lack of thematic variation. Both 

the Spice/Fenda collaboration “Freedom” and I-Wayne’s debut hit “Living In Love” 

are already classics, perhaps soon to be joined by Spice’s “Mekey Burn” and Cure’s “I 

Have A Dream” (both of which reprise Jacob Miller’s “Tenement Yard”), and I-Wayne’s 

“Rome A Crumble”–which strikes a balance between modern production and traditional 

Rasta themes. Eric K. Arnold 

Project Blowed Crew 

Project Blowed: 10th Anniversary 

Decon/US/CD 

The Good Life Café arguably served as the most important platform for MCs 

from L.A. and beyond to express themselves live (albeit cuss-free) in the early 

‘90s. But when the momentum of the Good Life died down some of its top 

alumni (Aceyalone, Mikah 9, Abstract Rude and company) went on to form 

their own weekly meeting place in South Central called Project Blowed. Ever 

since then, this mass of immensely creative MCs has had the West Coast 

underground on lock and Project Blowed: 10th Anniversary is a testament that 

the uninhibited spirit of the Blowedians hasn’t faltered a bit. Like the original, 

self-titled 1995 compilation, this collection showcases a variety of new 

(Customer Service) and old (Aceyalone) material from these wild-styled MCs, 

accompanied by bouncy yet off-the-wall beats. With 20-plus engaging tracks 

of unadulterated hip-hop, Project Blowed continues to provide a creative 

outlet like none other. Max Herman 

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SINGLES 

techno guest 

reviews: 

Damian Lazarus 

Ah, Damian Lazarus. With quick wit and impeccable, unpredictable taste, this rebel is shaking up the 

somewhat dire UK techno scene with a dose of attitude. But Lazarus ain’t no electroc(l)ash fly-by-night. 

He kicks out jams from the likes of Freaks, Villalobos, Ewan Pearson, and Superpitcher–you know, all the 

electro-house and nouveau acid you can shake your cheeks to. And, when he’s not ripping up Sonar or 

releasing mix CDs like his June 6 installment of Bugged Out Presents Suck My Deck, Mr. Lazarus is the 

proprietor of his own label, Crosstown Rebels. After a searing summer of tracks by Silversurfer, Rayon, 

and Mish Mash, CR drops a dope album from Chilean Pier Bucci this month as well as singles from Hiem 

and Frankie Flowerz. In between all this excitement, Lazarus nevertheless found time to pen us some 

thoughts on the best techno around. Tyra Bangs 

www.crosstownrebels.com 

Duoteque You Know All About Drugs Boxer/GER/12 

Personally, I know nothing about drugs, so when this record arrived at my door I was very interested to 

find out what it was all about. It turns out that there are these little pill things that people take and it 

makes them go nuts when they hear heavy, heavy basslines and dark, brooding beats set against fucked 

up chugging drum sounds. I’m happy I learnt something from this fresh killer track. DL 

Argy Love Dose (Luciano Remix) Pokerflat/GER/12 

If you’re looking for the sound of the future, Pokerflat just dealt it out. I road-tested this baby at the opening 

of DC10 in Ibiza in June and this guy had a heart attack and passed away. Whilst he will be sadly 

missed, this record will have a very long life. Maximum energy for the new techno revolution. DL 

Jaumetic Lagrimal (Inaki Marin Remix) Software/SPA/12 

At a recent new music seminar, loosely based on the peace talks at Camp David, it was decided that this 

track would be the important record that brings together the warring factions of trance, techno, house, 

and electro. The controversial “Road to Acid-House” peace plan was duly signed and this track was 

played at the grand ceremony celebrations. The future looks bright for the underground. DL 

Out Now 

‘Fabric 23: Ivan Smagghe’ is a typically individual mix from 

the Parisian DJ. Audion, The Kills, Michael Mayer, Booka 

Shade and Ada collide in a full-on fusion of electro, techno, 

acid, and rock. 

Death In Vegas 

Mossa 

Slavery When Wet 

Orac/US/12 

Adjunct Volume 1 

Adjunct Audio/US/12 

Mossa’s minimal techno has a severe case of digital indigestion. Random 

samples hiccup and burp obscenely and a coarse, bubbly throb is about 

all that’s left of the rhythm. It’s beautiful sickness. Ben Nevile hitches the 

tempo up on his remix, which is the stuff of rattling ribcages and bad E trips. 

Producers [a]pendics.shuffle, Pheek, John Tejada, and Bruno Pronsato are 

the all-star line up on Ken Gibson’s new Adjunct Audio label. Tejada’s track 

blends acid squiggles with early As One melodic techno; Gibson, alias [a]. 

shuffle, delivers dubby glitch beats with aplomb. Devin Ross 

Jay Denham 

Black Nites 2.0 

Equator/UK/12 

Detroit native Denham has released tracks by Gayle San on his own Black 

Nation label; now San returns the favor with this release on his label 

from Denham. Big Jay is known for no-nonsense tracks that barrel down 

the freeway like an Escalade doing 90. “100 Years Later” and “Shadows” 

temper the relentless drum programming with subtle samples and distant 

synth fragments that pierce through the thick, percussive exhaust like 

fractals of sunlight through a cracked industrial roof. Derek Grey 

94 

ETIOP 

Evolution 

Recognition/POL/12 

Pheek 

Out of Confusion 

Tic Tac Toe/DEN/12 

The minimal techno flag flies proudly in Europe’s north and east. ETIOP– a 

26-year-old from Plock, Poland–shows his hip-hop (and videogame) influences 

on tracks that jump, bleep and fire like Mario shooting at Space 

Invaders in the sky. “Evolution”’s vibrant melodic nuances shed much 

needed light on the somewhat constipated rhythms. Meanwhile, techno 

from Canada’s Pheek sounds like walking through a huge granite cave with 

cold drips falling from icicles on the ceiling. Sounds bounce of the walls and 

disappear into the darkness on your journey inward. Tomas Palermo 

Terrace 

City Sounds 

Eevo Lute/NETH/12 

Electronic vet Stefan Robers creates music inspired by Red James sleeve 

art in what’s to be a four-part series on Eevo Lute. Robers’ Detroit and 

ambient techno influences interconnect on five delicately hued synthdance 

chronicles. Derek Grey 

Klement Bonelli 

Ethna 

Deeplay Soultec/SWE/12 

Like Dennis Ferrer and Jerome Sydenham’s dancefloor redefining 

“Sandcastles,” “Ethna” is sonic revolution incarnate. With stellar remix 

assistance by Wave Music artist D’Malicious, French producer Klement 

Bonelli has created a sound full of sophisticated rawness, and these techy 

and soulful bits will appeal to tech and house heads yearning for a better 

musical future. One of ‘05’s essential tunes. Scott Edmonds 

Pascal Feos 

I Can Feel That 

Omychron/GER/12 

Pascal FEOS introduces his peak-time techno imprint with remixes from a few 

of the world’s heaviest hitters. The label is a platform for sultry yet pounding 

groove-style techno, as illustrated by Speedy J’s in your face remix and Tony 

Rohr’s fascinating festival of clicks. Diverse and dancefloor compatible. Praxis 

Actual Jakshun 

Sequential Circus 

Minus/CAN/12 

Originally released on Incomplet, these rare tracks were hibernating until 

Minus gave them a new home. Almost all of the sounds used on this release 

were produced using a Sequential Circuits Studio 440, fusing drum programming, 

sequencing, and sampling into one machine. Although the effort is 

innovative at best, this blend of rim shots and clap snaps is a bit outdated 

by today’s technology standards. Minimize to maximize Praxis 

Brian Aneurysm 

Das Element Des Menschen 

Spectral Sound/US/12 

A warehouse workhorse, “Unwanted” is the gem on this debut release by 

Brian Aneurysm (an alias of producer Bernhard Pucher). Similar to, but not 

quite as clever as early Cybotron or Mr. Fingers’ releases, the James T. Cotton 

version of “Das Element Des Menschen” regressively acquaints new listeners 

with the groove that Jack built. Fans of Tangent Beats and Tuning Spork 

will enjoy this release for its diverse musical approach. Scott Edmonds 

Rhythm Maker 

Every Now And Again 

Background/GER/12 

Directing the label back towards dance-oriented late night music; Stefan 

Schwander (a.k.a. Repeat Orchestra, Rhythm Maker) enlists a well-tuned 

Hammond B3 and a slew of emotional chord pads on these smooth tracks. 

Like a true pianist, he styles the melodies into structured progressions 

while the percussion gives the music an organic touch. Praxis 

www.fabriclondon.com 

23 

Available 13th September 

An atmospheric dancefloor mix blending cutting edge minimal 

techno with heavy Death In Vegas productions. Quick mixes 

build the moods and grooves of this elegant 4/4 selection, 

featuring tracks from Mathew Jonson, Wighnomy Brothers, 

Alex Smoke and Solvent. 

Forthcoming artists in the series: Rob Da Bank, Diplo, 

Stanton Warriors, Tiefschwarz, Plump DJs, Ricardo Villalobos. 

Available on compact disc from all good stores or for £6 by 

subscribing to the series via the fabric website:

eviews 

SINGLES 

House guest 

reviews: 

Bob Sinclar 

The “French house” sound may be as old as last month’s fromage, but pioneering Parisian DJ/producer 

Chris The French Kiss has moved on. Way on. After picking up the moniker Bob Sinclar from French spy 

movie Le Magnifique in the late ‘90s–then creating club anthems “Gym Tonic” and “I Feel For You” 

and co-founding the Yellow imprint–Sinclar has displayed an obsession with bringing African music 

to the Western world. The May 24th release of his Africanism III compilation, which pairs the likes of 

Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen and Nigerian singer Ben Onono with house producers David Guetta and 

Tim Deluxe, continues his commitment to Afrohouse and marks the start of a multiple album deal with 

hip-hop stalwart Tommy Boy Records. The Yellow/Tommy Boy pairing also brings to the world Paris-based 

Brazilian chanteuse Salomé de Bahia, and a forthcoming Sinclar artist album due out in January 2006. We 

tracked down this feather-haired dandy and asked him about the ne plus ultra of current house releases. 

Samantha Morgan 

www.bobsinclar.com 

Kerri Chandler Bar A Thym Nite Grooves/US/12 

I’ve always liked Kerri’s productions. The first time I heard this at the 2005 Winter Music Conference I 

thought it had a great vibe to it–simple production, great drum, killer bassline and pure Kerri! One of my 

favorite tracks of the summer! BS 

Jamie Lewis Not Too Shabby (Jamie Lewis Goes Disco Mix) Purple Music/SWI/12 

Jamie astonishes us this time with his cover of this Cerrone classic. A swinging track that makes my 

dancefloor smile with a funky baseline and catchy disco vocals. Love it! BS 

Martin Solveig Jealousy Universal Music/FRA/12 

Again, my good friend Martin did a really massive job. Every time I play this track in the clubs it’s a huge 

success. A mix of pure house with a heavy bassline and a touch of pop and rock. I’ll definitely be spinning 

this all summer. BS 

Breaks guest 

reviews: 

John Kelley 

We had our doubts when John Kelley’s debut album, A Night In The Park, fell out of its bubble pack and 

onto our desk. Out of the ether of our brains, we conjured a hazy memory of wandering around a dusty 

desert four hours outside of L.A. high on Ecstasy with trippy, trancey breaks endlessly looping in our ears 

as hippies danced facing the full moon. Well, Kelley has since moved on from “funky desert breaks” of 

the Überzone and Crystal Method school. Released August 23, A Night In The Park showcases deft techno 

breaks that can hang tough alongside the likes of any UK nu-skool names, and it’s released on Ball of 

Waxx, the label Kelley co-owns with fellow LA lifers David DeLaski, Brian Saitzyk, and Moontribe’s Brian 

Seed. With whispers of a West Coast breaks revival dancing on DJ tongues, we asked humble Mr. Kelley 

what he’s playing this month. Star Eyes 

www.djjohnkelley.com, www.ballofwaxx.com 

Koma & Bones Amplify Burrito/UK/12 

Koma & Bones bring their hardfunk sensibilities and rock the floor with the guitar-flavored anthem 

“Amplify.” “Amplify” features a slammin’ riff and a serious feedback build that will have everyone jumping 

on the dancefloor. Sound cheesy It’s not. K & B pull it off with style. JK 

JDS Jump Around TCR/UK/12 

I love these guys and this record kicks serious ass. JDS doesn’t f - - k around and they don’t make any 

apologies for their brand of hard, grinding, in-your-face acid-flavored breaks. If your crowd likes real beats 

and real music, your dancefloor will be instantly filled when you drop this one. JK 

Evil Nine Pearlshot Marine Parade/UK/12 

Evil Nine and Marine Parade deliver again–here’s a slammin’ hip-hop-flavored break with a grinding 

bassline and hooky raps. Still uptempo enough to toss into most crates, Marine Parade continues to push 

the envelope and break out of the box with this genre-crossing thumper. Put this in your case now. JK 

Booka Shade 

Mandarine EP 

Get Physical/GER/12 

Shifting away from their more esoteric and dizzying 

sounds, the production duo of Walter Merziger and 

Arno Kammemeier has created one for the dancer in 

all of us. “Point Break” is a rude groove that bubbles 

with deeply syncopated repetition, while “Mandarine 

Girl” is a mélange of tweaked melodic realizations and 

progressive synth lines. Fans of Pokerflat and Palette 

will definitely dig this one. Scott Edmonds 

WhoMadeWho 

Roses 

Gomma/GER/12 

Fujiya & Miyagi 

Conductor 71 

Tirk/UK/12 

Making bands like The Rapture and The Bravery sound 

like effete posers, WhoMadeWho’s “Roses” slaps 

together electric bass guitars, thunking kick drums and 

perfectly off-kilter punk funk revelry. This is the best bandcum-house 

music this side of !!!’s authentic fuck-off-anddance 

sounds. Fujiya & Miyagi are a little more on the 

Gary Numan/Wire tip, but they make my ears swoon; 

their tunes are not a rip-job, but inspired retro dance 

music for lights-out living room fiestas. Hector Cedillo 

Stranger 

You + Me 

Stranger Music/US/12 

Holed up in Sacramento at audio engineering school, 

Deep Fuzz/Barfly main man Ben Cook still had time to 

launch a new label and alias. The original is disco-tastic, 

but Paul Murphy’s (Mudd) stoned and hazy 115bpm 

rub of “You + Me” is the late-summer winner here. 

Sideways sliding synths, reversed and reverberating 

melodies and slow, chugging analog beats lumber 

westward in a sunset-heated march. Art Milan 

Blacksoul 

The Strong 

Icon/US/12 

If Croatian Tom Pasanec’s (Blacksoul) intention was to 

turn a funky ‘70s porn soundtrack into house music, 

he’s done it on “The Strong.” Talk about chopped and 

screwed! Amid the female “uhs!” and disco cut-ups, 

Pasanec works the sampler and clapping beats to a 

strong climax. Avoid the rest of this EP, it’s strictly lite 

jazz/Quiet Storm house. Derek Grey 

Bootyman/Mr. Xperience 

Get High 

Testament 

World Harmony 

Body Music/US/12 

It’s a case of the profane versus the sacred on these two 

singles for Chicago’s Body Music. Bootyman’s hip-house 

update offers lyrics like “So horny gotta get my freak 

on/all player haters stay home/no time for things to 

go wrong/get high with me to this song” and stripped 

down rap club beats. Italiano Mr. X serves up loopy 

melodic grooves that invoke his nation’s sensual dance 

tradition. In contrast, Testament’s gospel-grounded odes 

operate over resolute, organ-fed production by house 

vet Ron Carrol. The devil horns jutting from my head tell 

which of these I liked more. Hector Cedillo 

Spank Rock 

Put That Pussy On Me 

Put That Pussy On Me Remix 

Money Studies/US/12 

A northern cousin to its booty bangin’ relative Miami 

bass, Baltimore breaks are a ghetto fabulous blend of 

deep rumbling bass and ridiculous vaginal linguistics. 

With remix work from Low Budget, Diplo, and Blu 

Jemz, there are several DJ options on these two 

releases, ranging from an acapella to a down right 

dirty bass funk mix. Enjoy the high-resolution ass 

pic on the sleeve, but what’s up with the zitty fanny 

Praxis 

DJ Wood 

Bun Dem 

Twenty Hz/CAN/12 

Loooooong decay echoes are the order of the day as 

Wood’s Baby Cham-style vocal hook digs into a thick 

and nasty bass throb on this double kick-lead track. 

“Bun Dem” fits easily in dubstep or nu-skool breaks 

sets, and the Karma Remix might even impress the 

folks on the main dancefloor with its tougher, more 

ravey beats. Derek Grey 

D Double & Chronik And Double & 

Shorty S 

Younger Slew Dem 

Slew Dem/UK/12 

Alright MCs, step up and get ready to war. Slew Dem 

have brought out their automatics and AKs–both 

rapid-fire lyrics and riddims punctuated with gunfire 

sounds. As far as flow is concerned, these four MCs 

define the grime genre with lyrics that roll, repeat and 

reload. Closest thing we’ve heard to authentic crimeys 

busting out since MC Shan defended the Bridge back 

in ’86. DJ Chopper 

Questionmarks 

Swingbeat 

More 2 Da Floor/UK/12 

If y’all thought that Kompkt shaffel shit swung 

hard, get on this see-saw bass ride. Shifting back 

and forth between 4/4 kicks and waltzing triplets, 

Questionmarks logs dancefloor mayhem that encompasses 

DJ Hype-type breaks, Jon E Cash-style dank 

sublow bottom end and the aforementioned swinging 

speed garage sound. And if ya ask me, that’s the 

type of quality and variety you deserve for your £5.95 

(US$10.99) plus tax! DJ Chopper 

Circuit Breaker Feat. Daddy Freddy 

Legalize! 

Dangerous Drums/GER/12 

If you liked rude bwoy Freddy’s rougher dan dem wildstyle 

ragga lyrics on his outings with noise master The 

Bug, Circuit Breaker delivers similar breakbeat mortar 

shells. I don’t think I’ve heard as militant a weed 

song either–“Legalize” pogos along with distorted 

bass sweeps, big-ass breaks, and subtle minor-key 

reggae stabs. The results are as tough as those heavily-armed 

Mendocino cannabis cultivators frightening 

away Babylon DEA! Tomas Palermo 

96

eviews 

SINGLES 

Future jazz 

guest reviews: 

Boozoo Bajou 

Longtime Stereo Deluxe stalwarts Boozoo Bajou are often seen as a next-century dub act, but their 

original influence was the dirty South–not Lil’ Jon and Trillville, but deep, nasty blues from the heart of 

the bayou. Since they’re from Nuremberg, Germany, bandmates Peter Heider and Florian Seyberth didn’t 

exactly know how to spell “bayou”–it came out “bajou” instead. No matter. They redeem themselves on 

Dust My Broom, released this month on !K7. The album’s title is a tribute to bluesman Robert Johnson, 

and its contents skip all over the soulful map, featuring lonesome vocals from country legend Tony Joe 

White, reggae MC turns from Top Cat and U-Brown, and soulful crooning from Ben Weaver and Willie 

Hutch. It’s a top-notch take on American roots music from a surprising source; nonetheless, we wondered 

what new jams the Boozoos are feeling. Find out below. Mike Mack 

www.k7.com 

30498 

Jazzanova 

Blue Note Trip: 

Lookin’ Back/Movin’ On 

Digging in the crates of the Blue Note vaults, world-renowned DJ collective, JAZZANOVA, has 

compiled and mixed the new Blue Note Trip: Lookin’ Back/Movin’ On. Pulling vintage material 

from Horace Silver, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Gale, Donald Byrd, and Bobbi Humphrey to name 

a few, Jazzanova has created energetic moments with melodies and arrangements that will set 

the perfect backdrop for your summer shindig! This limited edition 2-disc set and the specially 

packaged full-length vinyl are both in stores now. 

Erik Truffaz 

Saloua 

Nirobi and Barakas Bungee Jump Against Racism Tru Thoughts/UK/12 

Tru Thoughts label co-owner Robert Luis (Nirobi) hooks up with Ninja Tune artist Bonobo (Barakas) to 

supply a great Eastern-style broken beat number complete with Bollywood vocals and Indian percussion. 

“Partridge” is 100-ish bpm breakbeats that drop into a Danny Breaks-style warped d&b bassline and a 

dubbed out take on the A-side’s vocal sample. BB 

Aston “Family Man” Barrett Soul Constitution PK/UK/12 

This is a series of deep reggae instrumentals put out by London’s PK label and Tokyo’s Dubstore record 

shop. Aston “Family Man” Barrett’s “Soul Constitution” is a Meters/JBs tribute, while Ansell Collins’ moody 

“Portobello” sets Augustus Pablo’s melodica against ‘70s blaxploitation guitar. Finally, Lynn Taitt’s previously 

unreleased “Williamsburg” is a tightly wound track full of flute and fatback guitars. BB 

11262 

“French trumpeter Erik Truffaz plays with such pristine minimalism — in long silvery peals and 

soft metallic breaths — that he sounds more like an atmosphere than a soloist.” — Rolling Stone 

One of the leading trumpeters on the cutting edge of jazz today, Erik Truffaz continues to stake 

out provocative new territory on Saloua, his fifth U.S. release on Blue Note Records. While still 

waving the flag for electric Miles Davis (most prominent on “Tantrik” and “Spirale”), Truffaz also 

investigates the easy bond between jazz and world music on several powerfully atmospheric 

pieces like “Yabou,” “Gedech,” “Ines,” and the stirring title track, all featuring the passionate 

vocals of Tunisian singer Mounir Troudi. 

Nery Bauer 

Maharaja 

Fluid Ounce/UK/12 

Bauer’s sophomore EP shifts closer to his rock/metal leanings. “Maharaja” 

dispenses rapid-fire drumbeats, twangy guitar licks and bangin’ congas. 

“Transformnin” is the closest “rock” track on the EP. Whether or not this 

one catches on remains to be seen, but Fluid Ounce still has enough balls 

to step outside its safety net. Velanche 

Mark de Clive-Lowe feat. Lady Alma 

Keep It Moving 

Funk of Fury/SWE/12 

With two previous singles by Bugz in the Attic’s Alex Phountzi and Sciclone, 

Sweden’s Funk of Fury is off to a brisk start for such a young label. 

Philly’s soul queen Lady Alma shines on “Keep It Moving” with resplendently 

layered vocals over some typically rough and jumpy De Clive-Lowe 

beats tempered by the New Zealander’s trademark placid Rhodes chords. 

Tomas Palermo 

Ye: Solar 

The Remixes 

Vinyl Vibes/GER/12 

On Vinyl Vibes’ website, tastemaker DJ/producer Rainer Trüby praises 

Ye:Solar’s own Tanzflachen Remix on this EP. Justifiably so, as it melds 

broken house rhythms with flip-flopping basslines and sparse analog 

beats–a vibe that conjures drunken Saturday nights that blur hazily into 

Sunday mornings. Eva Be’s Eggme Remix is head-turning bizarro reggaecum-hip-house, 

while Inverse Cinematics’s Abi 05 Remix is rock solid 

broken business with heavy percussion. Sorry Rainer–it’s my pick of the 

lot! Derek Grey 

David Borsu 

Reminiscent EP 

Counterpoint/UK/12 

Belgian multi-instrumentalist and programmer Borsu (whose debut CD 

drops in September) knows the art of song arrangement. This EP practically 

charts jazz music’s progression from sultry ‘60s-style modal (“Late 

Night Swing”) to swingin’ early ‘70s jazz-funk on “Reminiscent” (think 

Funk Inc or Blackbirds) through modern acid jazz/broken fusions (“East 

Beaumont”) and even some Afro-Latin jazz-house (“Coltrance”). This will 

stay put in DJ crates for decades to come. Hector Cedillo 

Juju Orchestra 

Funky Nassau 

Audiopharm/GER/12 

Germany’s DJ Sammy and instrumentalist Oliver Belz are busy making jazz 

cool. “Kind of Latin Rhythms” steeps in a ‘60s bossa vibe while staying 

mellow and true. The title track, a cover of the ‘70s original, steals it with 

killer keys, swinging horns, and a heavy dose of funk. The past is here 

today, but you may be strutting tomorrow. Velanche 

Parov Stelar 

A Night In Torino EP 

Etage Noir/AUS/12 

Released on his own label, Linz, Austria’s Stelar drops a lively EP that’s 

strongly influenced by swing jazz, funky house and his own unique sound. 

That sound–like his previous output on Auris and STIR-15–is attuned to 

the night, with velvety and ethereal textures enveloping sturdy house 

rhythms. Both the suspenseful “Rude Boys” and the upbeat “A Night In 

Torino” put jazzy horn samples in the Cuisinart and blend thoroughly with 

hefty house-not-house beats. If Mr. Scruff’s “Get A Move On” was your 

jam, this EP might be too. Tomas Palermo 

Lekan Babalola Oba Awon Oba (King Of Kings) Lex 51/UK/12 

After the IG Culture remix of “Asokere” blew up big time across the broken beat scene, Lekan Babalola returns 

to the Lex 51 label with Afronaut and Misa Negra on the beats. A killer broken groove, this 12” comes complete 

with vocal and dub mixes plus acapella and beats edits. An outstanding release! BB 

Chicago Sur Seine 

Versatile/FRA/12 

I:Cube is a chameleon from Paris who merges modern electronics with retro 

dance, and blurs the boundaries between house, techno, ‘80s music and 

broken beat. That eclecticism is on display on here, illustrated by an analog 

synth-saturated ode to early Chicago house. With its churning retro keys and 

flying hi-hats, “Sur Seine” could snare errant Goths or haute fashionistas 

alike. “Tokyo Uno” indulges in languid Miami Vice-era dance hues, while 

appropriately employing Yellow Magic Orchestra melodies. Roar Shack 

Marcos Valle 

Besteiras De Amor 

Far Out/UK/12 

Hold on a sec–let Jazzanova’s mix sink in. What begins like an early Murk 

Records production (a lone kick drum and minimal bassline pulse) develops 

over the course of nine minutes into a thrilling tour de force, riding 

on looped vocal samples of Brazilian singer Valle and Jazzanova’s colorful 

palette of stabbing keyboards and Afro-Latin percussion made dramatic 

via chord shifts and breathtaking drops. The Berlin collective again show 

us their best. Tomas Palermo 

Jaymz Nylon 

Wantcha 

How Deep Is The World 

Nylon/US/12 

Lovely remixes from New Yorker Nylon’s African Audio Research Program 

album from earlier this year. “Dance Of The Orixas (Dub)” and “Wantcha,” 

featuring Bobbi Sanders, dance the tightrope between deep house and 

Afro-Latin broken sounds. Another single finds Champion Soul’s tough 

scattered snares remix of “How Deep Is Deep” recalling Seiji or Daz-I- 

Cue’s gritty rub-a-dub breaks. A pair of aces if you ask me. Derek Grey 

David Axelrod 

The Edge: David Axelrod at 

Capitol Records 1966–1970 

The Mizell Brothers 

Mizell 

The Mizell Brothers have been beloved by generations of DJs and jazz-funk lovers from Larry 

Levan to modern-day producers like Madlib, Spinna, J Dilla, the Neptunes, and the list goes 

on. This definitive Mizell Brothers retrospective features their greatest works plus three previously 

unreleased tracks. 

David Axelrod’s music has been widely viewed as planting the seeds for hip-hop music today and has influenced and 

been sampled by everyone from DJ Shadow to Dr. Dre to De La Soul, and countless others. This is the first official 

anthology of the legendary Los Angeles producer-composer-arranger’s late-’60s work at Capitol Records. 

THE BLUE NOTE COLLECTION 

98 

I:Cube 

www.bluenote.com 

c2005 Blue Note Records. 

Check out all the 

men’s and women’s gear 

online at www.bluenote.com

eviews 

SINGLES 

Hip-Hop guest 

reviews: 

Ge-ology 

People are fond of separating hip-hop into mainstream and indie, but NY’s Ge-ology is one who proves 

that the supposedly wide chasm between the two ain’t nothing but a pinstripe. The dude has produced 

beats for Tupac Shakur and De La Soul, plus flipped it for Mos Def and Bahamadia. He’s got the classic 

hip-hop sound of a Pete Rock or Premier, but can also flip the script when need be. And when he’s not 

making buttery smooth beats–the kind that can be heard on this summer’s 30-song compilation Ge-ology 

Plays Ge-ology (Female Fun)–or hunting for rare records, this beatsmith is also damn handy with a pen 

and paint can, having designed covers for Rawkus records and toured with The Barnstormers. Clearly, 

this quiet storm knows how to use his time, and we took a precious 10 minutes of it to have him write 

these hip-hop reviews. Tyra Bangs 

www.femalefunmusic.com 

Marvin Gaye I Want You (Bling47 re-edit) Bling 47/US/CD-R 

Wow, all I can say is…Marvin would have been proud. Beyond incredible! It’s almost sacrilegious to 

touch such a timeless masterpiece but you can tell every new element was done with such care and 

works so well. It’s definitely Marvin with that Detroit bump. Funky! Ge-ology 

Steve Spacek Dollar (J-Dilla Mix) Sound In Color/US/CD-R 

Steve Spacek’s innovative vocals over a Dilla beat are guaranteed fire. Imagine taking the original Philly 

sound on a trip to Detroit, then escaping to London but decide to let the track marinate in the heat of the 

Los Angeles sun. I’m talking Billy Paul on steroids. Gritty soul, classic heat! Ge-ology 

Platinum Pied Pipers Shotgun Ubiquity/US/12 

I’ve been bumpin’ this since it was known as the “Beat Down Intro” on Waajeed’s Bling47 “BPM” 

instrumentals EP. With J-Dilla on vocals, it was later reintroduced as the “Shotgun Intro” on PPP’s debut 

album. And now–completely over the top–comes the addition of Medaphoar and Invincible verses. 

Bananas! Ge-ology 

Drum & Bass 

guest reviews: 

Dj clever 

Walk into the futuristic fluorescence of Lower East Side drum & bass shop Breakbeat Science and you’ll 

likely encounter the chiseled face of Brett Cleaver, better known as DJ Clever. Since June 2000, Cleaver 

has run the store’s day-to-day operations with a sharp eye, while moonlighting as one of New York City’s 

most adventurous drum & bass DJs. You can hear his envelope-pushing sound on his fourth official mix 

CD, Breakbeat Science Exercise 05, where he busts down barriers by mixing in the likes of Pieter K, Seba, 

Amit, and Cujo. When he’s not rattling speakers from Seattle to Reykjavik, Cleaver’s keeping an ear to the 

ground for the unsung heroes of d&b–his lauded Offshore label releases intricate breakbeat surgery by 

the likes of Deep Blue, Paradox, and Tundra (his project with Morgan Packard). We tracked Cleaver down 

on Orchard Street and asked him what’s blowing his mind. Star Eyes 

www.djclever.com, www.offshore-recordings.com 

Deep Blue California Scale/UK/12 

The first single in support of Deep Blue’s new Metropolitan Chic LP features two gems. “California” 

boasts diva vocal snippets, warm, bubbling synths, and a diving bassline. Seba’s rework of “Destroyer” 

keeps the original congo line, yet darkens up the track. DJ Clever 

Martyn Nxt 2 U Play:Musik/UK/12 

DJ Pan (a.k.a. Martyn) has everyone talking, and this 12” on Flight’s new label signifies why. The title 

track, reminiscent of Jonny L, brings future funk–it’s as bouncy as it is quirky. The flip, “Deepwoood,” rolls 

much deeper with an underwater feeling. DJ Clever 

Mason & D-Star Zerosum Breakout (Klute Rmx) Gasm/US/12 

The Philly boys get UK rebel Klute to remix the flip to their classic “Freak” 12-inch. He completely destroys 

it, adding his signature growling bassline and twisting up the drums and vocal samples perfectly. “Roots” 

is a drum workout that keeps in line with recent output. DJ Clever 

G.U.N. (Greed’s Ultimate Nemesis) 

The Greedy EP 

World of Beats/US/12 

With so much hip-hop fast food around, it’s nice to 

find something that’s been carefully simmered all day. 

G.U.N.’s five-song EP will still be bursting with flavor 

long after your typical single has passed its expiration 

date. Beats by the legendary Soulman and rhymes that 

are unflashy but devastatingly effective and poignant 

make this release more than worthwhile. Pete Babb 

Sean Price 

Onion Head 

Buckshot 

Ain’t No Comparison 

Duck Down/US/12 

Produced by 9th Wonder, both these singles are 

soaked in soul samples twisted in all kinds of blunted 

forms. “Onion Head” is a “step back before I slap 

ya” admonition from Price, whose battle lyrics prove 

he’s still walking the hard concrete and spitting bitter 

rhymes like the best. Likewise, Buckshot’s half-whispered, 

glass-throat lyrics are packed with warnings 

and swagger: “I’m Mike Tyson in his prime/I’m the 

man with the master mind…” The gusto of these two 

Boot Camp Clik warriors proves real hip-hop is here to 

stay. Phil Phloe 

SBX Original Soundtrack 

Soundtable/US/12 

AG, Party Arty, D-Flow, GD, and a Lord Finesse 

versus Percee P joint all produced by Paul Nice: its 

hip-hop royalty representing the Bronx, carrying on 

the borough’s storied tradition. Although the tracks 

are woefully short there’s no lack of cranium-piercing 

wordplay or evocative, slow-rolling soulful beats. 

All non-believers should simply check the relentless 

metaphors exploding outta the “Funky Drummer”- 

abetted “Rematch,” where Finesse and Percee rarely 

pause to breathe. Tomas Palermo 

Smif N Wesson Feat. Talib Kweli 

Crystal Stair 

Duck Down/US/12 

Producers Da Beatminerz always come with some 

ahead-of-the-curve funky hip-hop; dusty crates and 

MPCs roll thick in every groove. The Minerz don’t 

skimp on this rare groove-built gem. For their parts, 

the balance between Kweli’s wordy, imagistic lyrics 

and Smif N Wessun’s solid steel tough talk mirrors 

the music’s rat-a-tat drums and sentimental melodies. 

Phil Phloe 

Vanguard Squad 

Revolution In Our Lifetime 

Vanguard Squad/US/7 

On Asprin’s “Revolushun,” interwoven vocal samples 

state the nature of the threat (“Babylon will crush 

you”) and the proposed response (“carry guns and 

knives and bombs”) over sparse standup bass, crisp 

snares and incendiary organ bursts. Bambouche’s 

“Vanguard Squad Main Title Theme” uses the words 

of Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver “to educate by 

example” while the bassline marches undeterred 

towards its ultimate goal: “power to the people.” All 

profits go to The Freedom Archives and The IHA-UDP 

in Ethiopia. Ross Hogg 

Seba & Paradox Frost 

Bassbin/UK/12 

Two heavy bassbin rattlers from the combined minds 

of Sebadox. “Frost” freaks out over a foundation of 

punchy amens and metallic clatter, while weaving in 

ample amounts of deep and deadly sub bass. “Sound 

on Sound” plays on stop-start drum chops, switching 

breaks every few bars while fluttering samples and 

extended bass dives help maintain a relentless groove. 

Ryan Romana 

Davide Carbone & Kubiks Six Hills 

Intrinsic/UK/12 

Atmo-headz got two more reasons to smile; not only 

for the pairing of these two liquid funk dons, but for 

the two equally tight tracks they dispense. Where “Six 

Hills” builds from a passionate and darkly melodic fulldrum 

intro into a dramatic 32-bar breakdown, “Ready 

With This” harkens back to Peshay and A-Sides’ early 

jams. Brimming with tuneful optimism and female 

vocal snippets, this one keeps rolling like a Ferrari 

gunning the gas pedal. DJ Chopper 

Dkay & Kasra Babylon 

Brigand/UK/12 

“Babylon” is a big tune. Lets just get that out of the 

way before explaining that, despite the title, Dkay 

& Kasra’s track is more in the style of Addiction or 

Fellowship than Congo Natty. Imagine triumphant horn 

samples, sweet chord progressions, and an echoed 

vocal clip that gives the tune a dubwise edge–all that 

before a surging bass wave comes crashing in. Flip for 

the tight and tidy drums of “Black Magic.” Perfection. 

Tomas Palermo 

TC Feat Hannah New Year 

Valve/UK/12 

XRS Eraserhead 

Wildstyle/UK/12 

While the A-side track by TC & MC Jakes walks 

familiar Valve territory (massive bass, alternating overdriven 

drum patterns), the B-side is straight anthem 

material. Velvety R&B singer Hannah is the star of 

this track–her vocals get full play on a Marky-style 

Spanish guitar-touched harmonious roller. Likewise 

XRS’s “Eraserhead” is a superb B-side that’ll have 

heads thinking of GLR’s Makoto, Big Bud, or Future 

Engineers–pure soothing bliss! Devon Pierce 

Liondub/Jacky Murda featuring 

Bass Nacho Kingston 11 

Dubwise/US/12 

Rudeboy selectas go straight to jungleX.ca distro to 

order this killer roots reggae/d&b burner. Imagine 

Black Roots Players with Dillinger on the mic–inna 

Brixton! Also check L-dub’s other big release right 

now, “New York Runs Red” (Liondub Records), featuring 

chart-topping Jamaican roots crooner Richie Spice. 

Devon Pierce 

Mathematics & Tactile Remember 

Social Studies/US/12 

It’s another great pairing–Mathematics with the 

Hungarian collective Tactile. “Remember” flows 

through wistful atmospherics before dropping in with 

sharp and distorted bass and a touch of techy overtones. 

The flip, “Dead End,” tiptoes through spooky 

samples until the momentum of the plush rolling bass 

pushes you along. Ryan Romana 

100

eviews 

music columns 

Following in the wake of Damien Marley’s juggernaut 

“Welcome to Jamrock,” other Caribbean artists have begun to 

bruk out and break through to mainstream radio. Rhianna is 

enjoying success with the crossover-friendly “Pon Di Replay” 

(Def Jam), a track vaguely reminiscent of Diwali. But Def 

Jam isn’t the only US label tapping the West Indian talent 

pool; Foxy Brown’s leadoff single “Come Fly With Me” 

(Roc A Fella) features none other than Sizzla on the chorus. 

(Contrary to rumors, Sizzla has not signed with the Roc…at 

least not yet.) Sean Paul is proving other rumors to be true: he’s 

unleashing his new culture style on the Seasons riddim, the 

follow-up to Don Corleone’s massive Drop Leaf. Paul’s “Never 

Gonna Be The Same” is an emotional ode to his fallen bredren 

Daddigon. Seasons also features soon-to-be-huge tunes from 

T.O.K (“Tears”), Jah Cure (“Love Is”), and Morgan Heritage 

(“Tell Me How Come”). 

Smile, one of the year’s most upful riddims, is graced by a 

standout combination tune from Buju Banton and Sizzla; “All 

Shall Be Well” is currently enjoying huge success a yard. But 

the most surprising new combination is Buju Banton and Peter 

Tosh on the Beaten riddim (Rocky Gibbs), the stellar update to 

Tosh’s 1968 anthem “Them Hafe Get A Beaten.” Tosh is resurrected 

on “Must Get A Beaten,” where his original vocals fit 

perfectly alongside Buju’s. 

Stone Love joins in on the re-lick fun with their update of the 

timeless Real Rock riddim, where Nitty Kutchie executes an 

impeccable cover of Mario’s “Let Me Love You” and Elephant 

Somebody must have laced the water supply with the same drugs used in 

Batman Begins, because there is no other way to explain the loopy antics 

that have been occurring all summer. M.I.A. breaking up with Diplo on 

the final night of her tour in Philly. That whole Nike/Minor Threat tour 

poster thing. Live 8. I could go on, but this ain’t a high school yearbook. 

All I know is this: when I need things to feel normal, I hole up with some 

records and, for the most part, Philly acts are making me smile. 

Even though the driving force behind Yah Mos Def’s music is nonstop 

in-jokes about Philly punk history, the group manages to keep things 

interesting on their self-titled debut EP with awesome beats unexpectedly 

crafted from screamo records. The result is a loose, fun vibe where hiphop 

and D.I.Y. music and culture exist in the same breath, just like Check 

Your Head-era Beastie Boys. 

When you’re finished overdosing on Y.M.D.’s circa-1994 party train 

anthems, Plastic Little’s “Thug Paradise” EP is the perfect antidote. “I’m 

Not A Thug,” as far as I know, contains the only hip-hop skit that references 

Matthew Barney’s Cremaster cycle. When not skewering the audiences 

they’re designed to attract (Fischerspooner fans, Brooklynites, 

indie rockers, Philly’s singles scene, graff thugs, parents, you) or trying to 

make us dance with their glitchy beats, Plastic Little has a thing or two to 

say without having to be all soapboxy. 

Another local group making my eardrums buzz is Hail Social. They 

have an album coming out soon on Polyvinyl Records but their new 

7” will hold you over in the meantime. With incisor-sharp guitars, startstop 

rhythms, and introspective lyrics the group sounds like an updated 

Reggae rewind By Ross Hogg 

The hearsay and downlow on dancehall, 

dub, roots, and lovers rock. 

Man bigs up Bible study on “One Chapter A Day.” The Hard 

Drugs riddim (Delperies) is an eponymous update of Gregory 

Isaacs’ 1988 hit and features the long-awaited vinyl release of 

Anthony Cruz and Buju Banton’s “Place Too Bloody.” 

Some old versions resurface with only the names changed: 

Dutty Rub (Down Sound) is actually Golden Hen (with Fantan 

Mojah’s “Corruption” getting a lot of forwards) and the riddim 

that’s been called everything from Hypocrites to Heavenless 

to Entertainment is back, this time around as Water Bed (Fire 

House Crew). 

On the modern dub front, Jack Dangers meets dubLoner 

offers “Hiss and Buzz” (Skor), a beautifully understated EP 

that successfully bridges the gap between classic dub and 

modern electronica with sonic glimpses of Dangers’ Meat Beat 

Manifesto past, while Eyesight Project links with vocalist 

Jah Faith on their self-titled EP (Modus Vivendi) for a more 

outernational take on ragga-tinged modern steppers. 

There’s plenty of new bashment riddims out a road, too. On 

the Move riddim (Fresh Ear), Baby Cham is back in a big way 

with “The Visit” and Voicemail’s “Get Crazy” on the El Toro 

riddim (13th Tribe) is sure to bust big. Signal (So Solid) also hits 

hard with tunes from Bounty Killer and Buju Banton, but one 

of my favorites has to be Cobra’s “Ediot War” on the Red Ratproduced 

Raid riddim (Rat-A-Kastle) where the battle veteran 

takes Spragga Benz and Vybz Kartel to task. 

After POP on Silence TRIAL 

By sara Martin sherr de leon & Maria ii sciarrino 

Foxy Brown 

Exploring Dancing our the way outer through orbits the of indie leftfield pop aisles electronic in record music store and everything heaven. in between 

Versus crossed with Any Wire–they’re music that reminiscent matters is of always indie rock’s in-between early days, and not just ready 

when dressing to impress to wear wasn’t the worn-out a required part costumes of the success of history equation. or genre. This month, 

Likewise, Montreal we quartet turn Kiss our heads Me Deadly’s to songs “Cosmic that don’t Lovers” look EP like adds songs. The future, 

breathy Blonde Redhead if you look theatrics close, into is the back mix, there: among mangled other things. MPCs, upside-down 

Lilys mastermind dancehall, Kurt Heasley stringy shows vocals, up and on white Nobody’s post-R&B. new 7”, From beneath the 

available from Mush pop Records. world, The one two can collaborate hear these on yellowed The Kinks’ voices classic of the subterranean 

track “Fancy.” Heasley’s in mapless known cities, for relentlessly empty bars, seeking and the crowded holy grail rooms of of change: you 

the Davies brothers; weren’t it’s interesting listening. to hear his Anglophile vocals over this 

Kurt Heasley 

spacy, Eastern-tinged track. Like a Norwegian Múm that makes sense, Hanne 

The Fellini/As Hukkelberg’s Mercenarias 7” Cast reissue Anchor on Soul EP on Jazz the might reputable be the British label Leaf 

best thing to come out looks of South into America the navy-blue since Os Mutantes. waters with Both bands warmth. The 26-yearold’s 

post-punk honey vocals scene in and the minimal 1980s. Mercenarias use of instruments steals (guitars, pitter- 

were part of Brazil’s 

the show here, combining patter beats, the best harmonium) parts of the leave Rough permanent Trade compilation echoes. Such songs as 

Wanna Buy A Bridge “The in under Professor” three minutes. and “Words & A Piece of Paper” are so thin and 

Also worth checking pensive, out you is !!!’s forget new they single. are Side live until A is hearing rendition the of crowd’s claps at 

Magnetic Fields’ the “Take end. Ecstasy On “Ease,” With Hanne Me;” the comes track across is already like twee a thick-voiced Joanna 

(having been penned Newsom by Stephin over Merrit), a muddy and clarinet the group and applies a distant another Rhodes: this is hotness 

Luckily, in cold-ass the cover Norway. of Nate Dogg’s “Get Up” saves 

layer of gay disco gloss. 

this from the cutout bin Bringing purgatory. heat Starting like three as a smooth, sweaters R&B-inflected is The Bug, also known 

tune, it culminates as in a Kevin hysterical Martin frenzy from of layered the rusty feedback electronics and screaming. 

Kind of unexpected, Following just like his this acclaimed summer. album, Pressure, his new “Fire” twelve- 

duo Techno Animal. 

inch (Klein) continues with window-breaking ragga and ‘ardcore 

formalism. With rugged chants, the nameless emcee haunts 

you while heavy synth claps slap you over and over. This is why 

Kiss Me Deadly 

Nice Nice 

DJ Nobody 

Live 8 

Nitty Kutchie 

Nutmeats Recordings 

presents 

Dark downtempo from Oakland, California 

Omnia Ab Uno 

6 track vinyl EP 

out september 6 

also available : 

Balanceman - Welcome to Balanceland 

full length CD 

"...an enticing all you can eat buffet of devilled exotica, 

arranged into neatly chopped and layered intrumentals that 

go down easy and manage to stay there." 

- The Wire 

www.balanceman.com 

102

eviews 

music columns 

lucky 13 

by toph one 

TophOne’s mix CD Live Loud & Dirty is available at www.fabric8.com/redwine. 

Hear him every Wednesday at the RedWine Social at Dalva in SF. 

Man, I’m festering. I’m careening through life like a drunken mammoth. I 

live in an oversized record crate, peppered with sporadic piles of books, 

cases of spray paint, and random bicycle parts. I lose headphones and 

sweatshirts and entire nights like it’s going out of style. I need to get 

myself a car and hit the damn road. Go explore the backroads and sleep 

in the woods and only eat in mom and pop diners and go to minor league 

baseball games. I need to give my liver a little break. And eat more avocados. 

Basically, I’m a lanky nudist wino in search of a trashy disco/punk 

rock girl to share the mess of my life with. 

This could easily be a suicide note, or a singles ad. Is there really that 

much of a difference 

1. A.G. “TAKE A RIDE (FEAT. PARTY ARTY AND ALOE 

BLACC)” (Look/US/12) The new A.G. full length is gonna hit hard 

this fall. In fact, get ready to be run the fuck over by everything DJ Design 

and the Look Records stable have up their sleeves, including Grip Grand’s 

“But Anyways.” Buy stock now. 

2. LYNN NESS “AIN’T 2 MUCH” (New Medina/US/12EP) 

Upstart Bay Area producer drops a gem of a debut with guest vocals from 

Yesh, L-Roneous, and Sach from The Nonce. Warm, jazzy samples drip 

with soul and handclaps and make your head nod like you’ve known the 

tracks for years. Lovely. 

3. HYDROPONIC SOUND SYSTEM “CHOICE CUTS VOL.1” 

(Swedish Brandy/SWE/12EP) Texas duo Skinny Fresh and Rube are 

back on the map with frequent collaborators Bavu Blakes and Headkrack 

rocking the mic as the fellas work out their jazzed-up grooves. “Ray’s 

Bodega” is the joint! 

4. KIM HILL “RIGHT NOW (PRESTO REMIX)” (Concrete 

Grooves/US/12) A bold, sensuous voice over a buttery beat is a thing 

of beauty to behold. Originally with the Black Eyed Peas, Kim’s third solo 

LP, Pharaoh’s Daughter, will feature production from 4Hero and Bugz In 

The Attic. 

5. SONICBLOOM FROM THE GET GO (CFO/US/CD) These young 

cats bring a much-needed excitement back to the San Francisco live jazz/ 

hip-hop sound. Here are 18 songs that you can listen to and enjoy! That’s 

pretty impressive right there. 

7. DOOLEY-O “SOAPS” (Lewis/UK/12) Producer/ DJ/ MC Dooley- 

O shows his prowess at all the above as he takes on lazy girlfriends and 

wack rappers with a trio of cuts from his upcoming full-length, I Gotcha. 

Production could almost be Bomb Squad, flows could almost be Schooly- 

D. Illmatic all the way! 

8. THE D-BOYZ STREET SAMPLER (demo/US/CD) Right now SF 

is full of young badasses who simply refuse to spin straight songs. Every 

track is an acapella over a different instrumental. Cats like Vin Sol and DJ 

Mutt are showing the world what lazy fucks us old-timers are. Well now 

the little overachievers are producing their own beats too. Great. 

9. MR. BEASLEY “NEON” (Larkin Out/UK/12) Big, clangy beats 

with a Lush-like vocal and a fat break about halfway through. Too slow for 

the “Haircut 2000” section, this one would have to go in the “JunkRock” 

slot. And check the fuzzy hip-hop breaks of “Last Night” on the flipside. 

10. V/A “URBANIZE VOL.1”(Urbanize/UK/12EP) A worthy platter 

of progressive British hip-hop. “Unsettled” by Motley is the jam with 

its pulsing keys and driving bassline, but also check Subcinct’s doubletime 

R&B on “Hit The Ground Running.” 

11. SOME WATER AND SUN “SNOWBREAKER” (Hefty/US/12) 

Quirky and loveable like some weird Japanese toy, “Snowbreaker”’s beats 

pop and bounce all over the place but somehow everything fits together 

just right. Might be what Mr. Scruff sounds like on acid. 

12. VOICE “MEDIOCRE” (Public Transit/CAN/12EP) In the fine 

tradition of Bahamadia and Medusa, New Orleans’ Voice comes strong 

and clear over a jazzy mid-tempo beat by Moonstarr on this Toronto label. 

Perfect for summer barbecue jams and sunset parties. 

Lucky 13) JOHN ALBERT WRECKING CREW (Scribner/US/ 

book) There are few things this writer enjoys more than sex, drugs, punk 

rock, and baseball, and Christian Death’s John Albert has brought them all 

together in this memoir novel culled from his award-winning column in the 

LA Weekly. Think Bad News Bears meets The Germs. Fuck yeah! 

Run_Return 

Dooley-O 

6. RUN_RETURN “ANIMALS ARE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE” 

(n5MD/US/7) I’m not really a music journalist. My true calling is making 

up genres to write on the plastic cards at SF’s Open Mind Music record 

store. I’ve already got “Haircut 2000” for all the new electro-punk records, 

and Run_Return inspired the first occupant of the “Warm Fuzzy” section! 

Lazy, happy music for hallucinatory afternoons and foggy 4 a.m.s. 

1000 LIVE. 

104 

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machines 

in the studio 

In the studio Kutmasta kurt 

This producer, label chief, and DJ hangs with 

Kool Keith and makes beats in his boxers. 

Words: jesse terry Photo: theo jemison 

“Aesthetically, when you hear 

a record produced by a DJ 

there’s just a certain feel to it.” 

Kurt Matlin, a.k.a. KutMasta Kurt, has been spinning and conjuring ill 

tracks since the late ‘80s when he was a Cali radio DJ at Stanford’s 

KZSU. His year has been busy with beats for Redneck Olympics 

(the US release is titled Redneck Games due to legal hassles), his 

collaboration with Kool Keith on Diesel Truckers, and Motion Man’s 

upcoming Pablito’s Way. We checked in to see how he manages a 

triple life running Threshold Records, producing tracks, and touring 

as a DJ. 

What’s the most underrated aspect of 

hip-hop production 

Having a DJ background. A lot of people make beats but don’t have 

a rep as a DJ and don’t know how to rock a crowd. Understanding a 

crowd gives you a better understanding of how to approach music. 

If you want to rock a party or play at a club, you got to format your 

record a certain way. You got a make sure you got the right tempos, 

intros, outros, and stuff like that. Aesthetically, when you hear a 

record produced by a DJ there’s just a certain feel to it. 

You’re using the Serato Scratch [MP3 DJ 

system] to DJ these days 

I’ve been using that with CDJs. I started using CDJs in 2001 for the 

Cali Comm tour. I was going to buy a new pair of Vestax, just to have 

some dependable turntables, and I went in the store and saw the CDJ 

2000s. I was like, “Fuck, no more carrying around records.’ For the 

show, you don’t have to be digging around all the individual parts of 

the records and you can custom burn CDs of just the tracks you need. 

Then I saw Serato, and I played with that and it felt right to me. 

When did you first decide to make 

beats 

I think back in ‘86. I found an ultimate breaks and beats record that 

everyone was sampling from and I was like ‘Oh shit! This is where 

everyone is getting their stuff from.’ I started digging for the records 

that were originally on there, and tried to tinker around making my 

own shit. I started with a little DOD guitar sampler with like two seconds 

on it. I’d flip a beat like ‘doo-doo kack, doo-doo kack,’ and put 

that on the sampler and I’d take a cassette player, put that through 

my mixer, reloop, and it would get hissier and dirtier. In the early ‘90s 

I started doing remixes. It took me awhile to figure out what to do. 

These days I’m still using the Ensoniq [ASR-10] and the [Akai] 

MPC 2000XL. If I had more patience for programs, I could probably 

just do that shit in [Apple] Logic, ‘cause they have a drum machine. 

Now your whole studio can be in your laptop, depending on how 

much processing power you have. It’s good in a way because it 

makes stuff easy and portable, but sometimes it’s nice to have an 

actual machine. I think technology is more beneficial than not–it 

makes stuff easier, quicker, and cheaper. Right now, I’m mixing, 

recording, and adding little sounds from Reason or Logic myself. 

What are you working on right now 

I’m working on Motion Man’s new album; other than that I got to 

make some new tracks. 

Does running a label hinder your 

musical output 

It definitely gives me less time. There’s only so many hours in the 

day, so you’ve got to make what you do count. If I’m finishing up an 

album, I might be in the studio six to ten hours a day for a week; other 

times I might not touch anything for a week. 

What do you do to make your studio 

more comfortable 

My apartment is my studio. I just make beats in my underwear. It’s 

the way to do it, how you’re comfortable. You can’t really do that 

when people are around though. 

www.kutmastakurt.com 

In KutMasta Kurt’s studio: 

Serato Scratch, Akai MPC-2000, 

Ensoniq ASR-10 

106 107

machines 

components 

Vaultz Media Storage 

Cases 

binder MSRP: $39.99, wallet MSRP: $16.99; 

www.vaultz.net 

To guard your laptop against unwanted visitors, a password is your 

answer. Protecting your bicycle is as easy as a sturdy kryptonite 

lock. For CDs and music devices, Vaultz Media Binder (available 

in black, silver, and rolled-aluminum) holds 128 disks, is lined with 

soft black-felt, and features two large mesh storage pockets for 

PDAs, cell phones, or MP3 players. A combination lock security 

system means only the user can access their stuff–peace of mind for 

crowded subway rides. Vaultz CD wallet comes in 24- and 32-disk 

capacities, has a nylon shoulder strap, and key-lock security. Send 

a stylish message to would-be thieves: “Don’t even think about it, 

punk.” Tomas Palermo 

Native Instruments 

Reaktor 5 Software 

MSRP: $579; www.native-instruments.com 

Soft synths, plug-ins, sequencers, blah, blah blah. We’re always 

prowling for some new sound, some perfect beat. Straight out of the 

box, Native Instruments Reaktor 5 has a heavy arsenal of them 

and more. With Reaktor 5’s core technology, you can build an FM 

synth, a vocoder or delay from scratch. No more soldering together 

pots and oscillators like Bob Moog; it’s more like playing Lego on your 

desktop. Also, at native-instruments.com you can up and download 

your creations with other cutting-edge geeks. The possibilities are 

endless, but by no means overwhelming. Marc Kate 

M-Audio iControl Hardware 

Controller For GarageBand 

MSRP: $179.95; www.m-audio.com 

M-Audio iControl takes the company’s reliable USB controller technology (used in 

Trigger Finger and Ozonic controllers among others) and designs it specifically for users 

of Apple’s powerful GarageBand software. At first I thought “kinda redundant,” then I 

took it for a spin. Not only is the unit’s design elegant and no-nonsense, its interface 

(transport buttons for play, stop, record, fast forward, and rewind, tracking jog wheel, 

master volume fader) enhances GarageBand recording sessions. Eight assignable 

rotary encoders can be used for effects processing. I experienced a little latency (slow 

response) from some of the volume knobs and the unit lacks a LED reference screen. 

Overall, a nice add-on for the dedicated user seeking to speed up their Gband action. 

Tomas Palermo 

108 

recording interfaces USB keyboards studio monitors microphones preamps sound libraries music software 

www.m-audio.com

machines 

components 

One touch is all it takes… 

Josh EustIs Guest Review 

Grado DJ200 Turntable Cartridges 

MSRP: $110; www.gradolabs.com 

For the uninitiated (I’m just a recent convert), Grado makes turntable cartridges and headphones that 

rate among the finest from Mercury all the way to Pluto. I had the distinct pleasure of putting these 

through the “Pepsi Challenge” with lesser cartridges. Using Grado’s DJ200, I put on “The Rain” by 

Missy Elliott featuring Timbaland; it played with the most rubbery, gorgeous bottom end, warm, wide 

mids, and a flawlessly airy top end. Lightning Bolt’s Ride The Skies sounded as if it were recorded by 

Alan Moulder–simply put: Herculean sound. Autechre’s Untilted was met with joyous shrieking. If you 

watch the heavy cueing, your records sound better than they ever have, or ever will. JLE 

Josh is one half of Telefon Tel Aviv. His remix of Oliver Nelson for the Impulse! jazz label is out this fall. 

djgproductions.com 

Waves L3 Ultra Maximizer 

Software 

MSRP: $600; www.waves.com 

If you’re a pro, the L3 Ultra Maximizer can help you fine tune and 

sweeten the perfect mixdown; if you’re an amateur, the L3 can get 

your tracks up to snuff for your next DJ gig or demo pressing. In 

layman’s terms, the L3 is a compressor/limiter that listens to your 

music on multiple frequency bands, and individually adjusts the 

volume peaks and valleys over time, resulting in a sound that is 

rich, robust, and perceivably (though not actually) louder. The perfect 

mastering plugin for all levels of producers. Jesse Terry 

Chris "The Greek" Panaghi DJ, Producer, Remixer 

Introducing the new CFX-20 Professional Tabletop CD Player, the latest and greatest addition to Gemini's product line. With its revolutionary 

Touch-Sensitive Technology built right into the Jog Wheel, Gemini brings you a new level of control never before seen in its 

price bracket. We recently put the CFX-20 into the hands of world renowned producer Chris “The Greek” Panaghi, who has worked 

with such remarkable talent as Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Jessica Simpson, and Michael Jackson. He had this to say about the 

Gemini’s latest innovation: "The CFX-20 is the perfect CD player for any professional DJ. It's truly the most powerful and 

flexible CD player Gemini has released yet – a must-have for all club environments." 

One touch and he could feel the difference… 

Chris “The Greek” Panaghi’s new Top 10 single 

“Movin’ On” (Peaked at #9 on Billboards Hot Dance/Club Play Chart) 

110 

geminidj.com

machines 

components 

Stanton Final Scratch 2.0/Native 

Instruments Traktor 

Scratch amp MSRP: $799; www.stantondj.com, www.native-instruments.com 

Growing legions of DJs are happily going to clubs armed with a laptop and an iPod, leaving their dubplates 

at home to roll spliffs on. While you can’t roll a spliff on an MP3, you can do just about anything 

you can do with a set of decks with the powerful combination of Stanton’s Final Scratch 2.0 and 

Native Instruments Traktor. ScratchAmp2 adds inputs and outputs to the hardware interface, meaning 

you can now record your voice/guitar/etc and immediately scratch it. The new version adds stability, and 

also plays AAC and WMA files in addition to MP3s. Jesse Terry 

Stanton Scratch 

Amp (left) works with 

Native INstruments 

traktor software. 

SUBSCRIBE TO XLR8R AND RECEIVE OUR 

INCITE CD FREE WITH EVERY ISSUE. 

Stay on the cutting edge of music, style and technology 

with XLR8R Magazine. Subscribe now and receive 

an INCITE CD with every issue. That’s twelve or 

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Get your nut on. 

www.xlr8r.com 

112 

Rain LiveBook Laptop 

MSRP: $2699.95; www.rainrecording.com 

Gaming geeks have been coughing up serious cash for customized 

laptops since DOOM hit in ‘93, so let me just say off the bat that 

the Rain LiveBook features no monogrammed alien heads or awful 

airbrushed stencils. Instead, the LiveBook is a laptop specifically 

equipped for powerful mobile recording: 533MHz SDRAM for blazing 

fast speed and multiple plug-in use inside your favorite DAW, 

FireWire for connecting all the latest external hardware, a gorgeous 

15” screen, and High Definition audio capable of both 5.1 and 7.1 

surround to start. Add the modular external StormDrive (which can 

cool itself without a fan) and you got yourself a pretty damn slick and 

efficient all-in-one recording computer. Ryan Sommer 

Shure E4c Sound 

Isolating Earphones 

MSRP: $299; www.shurestore.com 

If you’re looking to ditch those mediocre bundled iPod earbuds, 

and upgrade to something a little more sophisticated, Shure’s 

E4c Sound Isolating Earphones are a top notch investment. For 

all those hours you spend on Napster–or ripping CDs you actually 

own–and enduring public transportation after a night of heavy drinking, 

the separation these puppies give you from the outside world 

will have you feeling better faster than you can say “Sapphire and 

tonic.” The kit comes with multiple sizes to interchange, plus the 

precision drivers right up on your ear socket are the same caliber 

used by musicians everywhere. Ryan Sommer 

XLR8R.com has re-launched with 

Free MP3 downloads, updated weekly 

Over 100 hard-to-find music videos 

The latest news in music, fashion, and technology 

Music reviews of current releases 

Exclusive online contests 

Event and tour listings from across the country

Inspiration is a hyperactive 

shape-shifting mutant child locked 

away in a basement. Will you 

be able to recognize it when it’s 

unleashed at this year’s RESFEST 

Witness the latest creations from today’s 

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Experience the best short films, music 

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35 cities, 6 continents, resfest.com 

Sept. 15-18 

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Tribeca Performing 

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Sept. 21-25 

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Palace of Fine Arts 

Sept. 28- Oct. 2 

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National Film 

Theatre 

Sept. 29- Oct. 2 

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Egyptian Theater 

Oct. 6-9 

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Museum of 

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Oct. 28-30 

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Royal Cinema 

“Here is 

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“An eye-popping 

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The Village Voice

vis-ed: 

andrew pommier 

Delving inside the figurative fantasies of a shy Canadian skateboarder. 

Words: vivian host Images: andrew pommier 

above: 

“...and out came the sparrows” 

RIGHT: 

Exclusive piece for XLR8R Vis-Ed 

Andrew Pommier likes to draw bunnies, sparrows, and 

people wearing animal heads. And more often than not, 

they’re smoking. Seems pretty weird for someone whose 

favorite saying is “never smoke,” but this Canadian is a 

study in contradictions. He and his younger brother–skate 

photographer Scott Pommier–were raised in the comparatively 

little mining town of Sudbury in Ontario, 

Canada but their work has been all over the world, from 

the pages of Thrasher and Transworld (Scott) to shows in 

Italy, Australia, and New York (Andrew). And though 

skate graphics often convey toughness through hackneyed 

metal clichés (skulls, hesh fonts, monsters), Pommier’s 

art for skate companies like Toy Machine, RVCA, and 

Momentum is often touching, with renderings of Ed 

Templeton hugging an owl and Rick McCrank screaming 

in a squid outfit. 

Many of these graphics–along with Pommier’s signature, 

saucer-eyed indie kids–can be found in Things I 

Don’t Remember, published last November by the UK’s 

Holy Water. “The book draws from the past nine years of 

sketchbook drawings, paintings (both watercolor and oil), 

and a smattering of the commercial work I have done,” 

says Pommier. “I really like that I could include a lot of 

sketchbook stuff because I love it when I get to see how 

other artists get their initial ideas. Sketches pull back the 

curtain a little.” 

Following his May show, The Parallel Campaign, with 

Derrick Hodgson at Los Angeles’ Lab 101 gallery, we 

caught up with this soft-spoken 31-year-old back home in 

Vancouver. He advised us to stay humble and, of course, 

never smoke. 

www.andrewpommier.com, www.holy-water.co.uk 

116

Your human characters often wear animal ears, 

horns, or costumes. What does this symbolize for 

you 

I don’t really think in symbolic ways. My paintings 

and drawings aren’t created based on a grand theory 

or for cerebral satisfaction. The images are created 

for the love of humor and affection for the odd 

and out of place. The displacement also rings with a 

kind of sadness. My paintings are about playing with 

images and icons. The costumes and cigarettes in 

some cases reinforce the separation of the characters 

from a normal day-to-day–the outsider. 

Are the people that you draw and paint people 

that you know 

The people that I paint are almost always faces 

from my head. There are maybe one or two paintings 

that I was thinking about a person but never 

trying to duplicate their features; it’s more about 

picking up on visual clues. I just draw and the face 

that comes out is the face that comes out. 

You’ve said that you’re a big fan of John Currin’s 

work. Where did you first encounter his work and 

what is it you like most about it 

I became aware of Currin’s work when I went to the 

Venice Bienniale in 1995 while I was going to school 

in Florence. It didn’t really strike me at first but 

in later years I would trip over his work here and 

there and I really liked the direction he was going. I 

like that he sticks close to figurative work and works 

within the traditions of painting; also, his work is 

very playful and whimsical and sometimes just plain 

silly. All that and he is pretty successful. 

What does the cigarette as an object represent to you 

The cigarette adds a certain toughness to the 

image. Also it seems to make the characters I draw 

or paint to be more based in the real world, [as 

if] the characters are just normal people going 

through their day. I also like the cigarette because 

it is one way to spoil the cuteness factor. I have 

always liked using symbols and this one symbol has 

been with me for a while. It seems to really connect 

to people. It is a commonality. 

Who was your favorite skater growing up 

Mike Vallely. At the time he was one of the best 

street skaters and he rode for Powell-Peralta–everybody’s 

favorite company in the ‘80s. As he states 

proudly these days, he was one of the first pros to 

break away from the major companies and ride for 

World Industries, a small upstart at the time. So he 

lead the charge and that was pretty dope when I 

was a 15-year-old kid living in Sudbury. 

What character from a movie do you most relate to 

Fiver in Watership Down. 

What is your big fear 

Immobility. 

How do you and your brother [skate photographer 

Scott Pommier] influence each other 

We have introduced each other to so many different 

things. I can’t even imagine what I would be like if 

I didn’t grow up with Scott. He is pretty integral to 

the person I am today and I’m sure he would say 

the same of me. Scott has showed me what hard 

work and sacrifice can lead to. He has such a strong 

work ethic and is sharp as a tack figuratively and literally. 

Yes, he is a very pointy young lad. Ouch. 

Where is your art going next Any new mediums 

or stuff you’re changing 

I think I’ll be changing a lot of the imagery I have 

relied upon for the past few years. Once I finish 

paintings for a show I always feel that it is time for 

a change. I don’t really plan what to do next. I just 

roll with what I’m drawing in my sketchbook at 

the time. There is no medium shift at the moment. 

Oil painting will always be what I love to do. 

Watercolor is still pretty new to me and I’m happy 

with what I am producing so that will continue. 

What song did you have your first make-out session 

to 

Something by Led Zeppelin. The fact that was 

playing in the background will forever piss me off 

because I really can’t stand that band and it will 

always be with me. It was only playing because I 

was at my friend’s apartment and I put the tape on 

because I thought the girl would like it. As it turns 

out it didn’t really matter what I put on, so I wish 

it had been Black Flag or the Dead Kennedys. 

What are some of your favorite skateboard graphics 

ever 

I have always been a fan of the Chris Miller decks 

from the ‘89-‘90 period–the ones with the drawings 

of the cats. The Mike Hill period at Alien 

Workshop was also pretty kick ass, all those dioramas. 

I really get a big kick out of skate graphics 

from the early ‘90s because there were no rules– 

nobody was thinking of branding or marketing. 

There was almost no money in skateboarding so 

nobody cared all that much about the graphics, 

a lot [of boards] didn’t even have company logos 

or pro names on them. There are some real gems 

from that period, boards that would never see the 

light of day if you produced them today. 

List five random things that are making you 

happy at this moment in time. 

A day out with [my girlfriend] Tiffany and the dog. 

Morning coffee. Faber Castel pens. Apple products. 

Velcro. 

opposite page: 

“Panda” 

“Captain America” 

“Walrus” 

“Vampire” 

“Blue” 

this page: 

“Versus” 

“Buckminster” 

“Bilbybosch 

Sketchbook excerpts 

118 119

TBC 

sense and nonsense 

Alternet’s new book offers a youthful revolution 

in politics–old lefties watch out! 

Words: james mayo illustration: UPSO 

In the aftermath of the 2004 election, countless 

scribes have performed autopsies on 

the Democratic body politic–unfortunately 

they’ve emerged with a message that’s about 

as coherent as John Kerry’s vision for a 

New America. AlterNet’s Start Making Sense: 

Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 Into 

Winning Progressive Politics (softcover; Chelsea 

Green Publishing, $12), edited by Don 

Hazen and Lakshmi Chaudhry, attempts to 

better address the myopia that has blindsided 

Democrats and progressives alike. 

Taking a more pragmatic approach than 

the majority of post-2004 election books, 

Start Making Sense compiles interviews and 

essays from some of the brightest minds in 

the progressive camp. AlterNet (alternet. 

org) bills itself as an “infomediary;” since 

1998, it has served as a warehouse where 

one can find articles from the alternative 

press as well as valuable resources for grassroots 

organizing. 

The book is organized into three sections–“Looking 

Back,” “Looking Forward,” 

and “Getting Active”–and includes analysis 

from people like Naomi Klein, Thomas 

Frank, and MoveOn.org co-founder Wes 

Boyd, among others. Take the example 

of Adam Werbach who, at 23, became the 

120 

youngest president of the Sierra Club and who 

co-founded the Apollo Alliance, an organization 

devoted to ending US dependence on foreign oil. 

After the election, Werbach composed a November 

3rd thesis and, in homage to Martin Luther, nailed 

his manifesto of grievances to the door of the 

Democratic National Committee headquarters in 

Washington D.C. As he states: “When the Senate 

Democratic leader is defeated while spending $16 

million to get the majority of 500,000 votes, the 

problem is not a lack of funding or effort.” 

While the book includes diverse perspectives, 

a common theme is that the Democrats have little 

chance of success if they continue to pursue their 

current poll-driven, top-down managerial strategy–a 

strategy that has little connection to the Democrats’ 

historically grassroots base and offers nothing in 

terms of vision other than an anti-Bush platform. 

A typical critique comes from commentator 

and California gubernatorial candidate Arianna 

Huffington. She argues that Kerry and his advisors 

drove his operation “straight over the edge 

of the Grand Canyon” by abandoning the tough 

language he used early in the campaign, when lambasting 

those “Benedict Arnold corporations” who 

outsource labor and hide their profits in tax shelters 

overseas. She believes that a cautious strategy 

designed to appease Wall Street and not alienate 

“swing voters” is a prescription for failure. 

While Kerry’s capitulation is cause for despair, 

what sets Start Making Sense apart is its inclusion 

of activist success stories. Markos Moulitsas 

Zúniga, a child refugee survivor from war-torn El 

Salvador and US Army vet, helped jumpstart the 

blogging revolution with DailyKos.com, a meeting 

site for activists who have helped organize 

against behemoths like the Sinclair Broadcast 

Group, Inc. On the eve of the election, Sinclair 

ordered its numerous television stations to air 

an anti-Kerry documentary. By targeting the 

station’s advertisers, the bloggers forced the station 

to produce a more balanced documentary. 

Start Making Sense makes it clear that the 

2004 election has provided progressives with 

a mandate to get actively involved in changing 

the direction of the country. Whether it’s lobbying 

for voter machine reform, participating 

in the anti-war movement or starting your own 

activist organization, now is the time for a creative 

re-envisioning of possibilities. The book’s 

last section provides provocative suggestions on 

how to accomplish this. 

Start Making Sense concludes with Barack 

Obama’s impassioned speech at the Democratic 

convention. In the address, he says: “It is that fundamental 

belief—I am my brother’s keeper, I am 

my sister’s keeper—that makes this country work.” 

Start Making Sense is available now. www.chelseagreen.com 

XLR8R (ISSN 1526-4246) is published monthly with bimonthly issues in January/February and July/August for $20 a year by 

Amalgam Media, Inc., 425 Divisadero Street #203A, San Francisco, CA, 94117. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Francisco, CA and at 

additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to XLR8R, 1388 Haight Street, #105, San Francisco, CA 94117.

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