nward and upward to Beatz column number two-seven, and this time we are spoiling you with reviews of Robert Hood, Simian Mobile Disco, Thomas Brinkmann, and James T. Cotton, as well as new stuff from Tigersushi, Crème Organisation, and ~Scape. But first, here’s Todd Hutlock to tell you all about Villalobos and his infamously long single/album on Playhouse.

Villalobos
Fizheuer Zieheuer
Playhouse / PLAY CD021/PLAY 133
November 2006

Given how Ricardo Villalobos’ track times have been gradually and steadily increasing over the years (he now averages around 12 minutes per cut), it was only a matter of time before something like this happened—a 37-minute “single.” There actually is precedent for such a thing—in 1992, the Orb released (and sold truckloads of) the 40-minute “Blue Room” single. While the Orb’s sound (anchored by the mighty bass of Jah Wobble on that particular cut) was based in long, meandering ambient passages and samples, Villalobos’ is based in layered, programmed percussion, not necessarily the easiest thing to hold one’s attention for that long without getting old. Still, if Alex Patterson & Co. could pull it off, surely the mad Chilean scientist can too. Right?

From my very unscientific straw poll of those who have heard “Fizheuer Zieheur,” opinions are split. Some claim it to be nothing more than an overlong DJ tool, not worthy of their cash and shortened attention spans, given that they likely would never have use for more than a fragment of it for their purposes. Others have praised it is a psychedelic journey of a track that flies by before you know it and lulls you into a deep suspended state of rhythm-induced hypnosis. To my mind, it falls squarely between the two camps, and therein lies its fascinating appeal.

The length isn’t the only memorable thing about “Fizheuer,” of course. The track is built around two basic elements—a relentless, ever-shifting rhythm track, and loops of an Eastern European horn section of the Oktoberfest variety (or so it sounds from the short bits used). “Fizheuer” kicks off with the sample and a fizzing hi-hat to set the tempo. Whereas one might expect Villalobos to take his time in introducing the beat to elongate the track length, it really is fully up and kicking by the two-minute mark. From there, its all down to the mixing—the sample is slowly faded, tweaked, and phased, and the beat is added to, subtracted from, folded, spindled, and manipulated, and that’s really about it. No giant breakdown, no crazy percussion flourish. It all just unfolds itself, like a time-lapse video of a blooming flower. There are some new horn flourishes that appear at various points beginning at the five-minute mark and a few sound effects for color, but for the most part, this is what we’re dealing with—drum machines and oom-pa-pa. So how on Earth does he get this to work over the course of 37 minutes? I’m still working that part out...

Surely much of it is Villalobos’ deft programming skills which have long been his strong suit. The man has done his homework and he knows how to weave beats together into exciting new tapestries that forge a whole greater than the sum of their parts, and those skills are on full display here. I find that “Fizheuer” works best when taken as a whole, fully immersing oneself in it for the entire running length. It’s no wonder why the club kids who spin three minutes of this on the cueing turntable at their local shop would walk away wondering what the fuss is all about. To really appreciate “Fizheuer” you need to almost un-focus your ears, like what your eyes would do when looking at one of those 3-D computer paintings that hide a spaceship among a seemingly random pattern of colors. The nearest point of comparison—other than Villalobos’ other extended works, of course—are the early minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass, especially the former’s early “phase” recordings. It all sounds vaguely of the same cloth, but if you drop the needle at various points in the record, you’ll hear radically different things.

The formats make a difference, too. The 12-inch version features the title cut split across two sides with not so much as a fade between them, and it of course suffers from comparatively low fidelity thanks to the length—you can only cut those grooves so deep when you’re dealing with that much music. Those with deep wallets might invest in two copies and fuse together their own infinite “Fizheuer,” something I’m sure Villalobos himself would richly approve of. But that aspect aside, the vinyl version really suffers from the break in momentum, which for some unknown reason is split after just 15 minutes, leaving 22 on the flip. Unless you really are going to use this in a DJ set (and it certainly lends itself to that), the CD version is recommended, not only because the uninterrupted “Fizheuer” is presented in all its glory, but there is the bonus of “Fizbeast,” a “stripped-down,” 35-minute mix that excises everything but the beats. Sort of a shame that this version wasn’t made available on wax, as it would obviously be useful to the jocks even more than the standard version. No use crying, however—it isn’t like there isn’t enough on the 12-inch for them to work with as it stands.

So where does Villalobos go from here? Well, to a double-pack on Perlon, of course, featuring four tracks and a total running time near 50 minutes. It, too, is brilliant in its own way, but the lone sub-10-minute track does sound a bit out of place now that the bar has been raised. Long may he run.

[Todd Hutlock]

Stephen Beaupré
Macro-House EP
~scape / sc 034
April 2006

If ~scape began life as a half-way house for dub explorers lost-and-found in their own reverberation tanks, it has of late become something of a shelter for another sub- species of musical voyager—that group of Mutek-hnicians working between micro-techno and what I call “deeptop.” You know, it’s a Canadian thing—the ungodly alliance of Montreal (basically) channelling Berlin channelling Jamaica, with the glitches indicative of both the signal distance and a keen sense of the ridiculous. Beaupré’s contribution to this new ~Scape sound takes the template in his own characteristic dimensions, blending boompty beats, chip-chopped vocal snippets and the audible equivalent of a raised eyebrow into a thick, slurpy brew. The A-side borrows from Beaupré’s earlier Crakhaus outings, which always came off sounding like an overly goofy derivative of Akufen, as far as my ears are concerned. “Misshapely” is her name, and lumpy is the arrangement of her parts and pieces. On the B-side, “Stay Here Every Night” goes for it in much more direct fashion, coming off as the less annoying and more floor-functional cut. The overall effect is nice, but not enough to really smoke my meat.

[Peter Chambers]

Antena
Camino Del Sol (Remixes)
Permanent Vacation / PERMVAC 003-01
October 2006

Antena were the greatest post-punk bossa nova band never to make it big outside of France. Their first single “The Boy from Ipanema” (co-produced by John Foxx and released on Factory Records’ Benelux outlet Les Disques Du Crépuscule) has been a sleeper hit ever since, prompting this, the second re-release of the original material in CD form, for your retro-diggin’ cool-kid delectation. Who better then to remix the originals than men of the moment Todd (not) disco Terje and the re-update / re-edit master Joakim (Kitsuné, Tigersushi, Versatile, Pokerflat)? Joakim’s mix does unto Antena as Radio Slave recently did unto the Kills, rendering the original pumped and beefed enough for this season’s dancefloors while still retaining something of the original atmosphere, albeit very much in the background. He also adds some nice, celestial chimes and shapes the motherload into a growly arrangement with far bigger’n’furrier balls than any of the original members could have conceivably had (or wanted). Terje’s mix keeps much closer to the original arrangement, retaining the vocal and the flow, but sending the whole kit (as is his wont) into deep disco spaceland. Compared to Joakim’s mix it all seems initially underwhelming, but repeat listening reveals… a repeat of first impressions, plus the vague presentiment that neither treatments of the record—Joakim’s “too much” and Terje’s “too little”—have the right amounts of the good stuff to satisfy. Go for the original.

[Peter Chambers]

JTC
Psychedelic Mindtrip
Crème Organization / Crème 12-29
October 2006

Tadd Mullinix has revealed himself to be one of the most remarkable and idiosyncratic producers this side of Ann Arbor, effortlessly alternating between dense, smoky hip-hop grounded beatz under his Dabrye alias and acidic jack tracks, either cleaner (as James T. Cotton) or filthier than an aging rock-star’s hard drive (as TNT, with Osborne, or here, as JTC). This is some of the most seriously monged, script-flipping munt music out there folks. Watch your pets run yelping from the room as you put it on. Hell, play it at a party and watch everyone except the dude on mushrooms completely lose their shiznit. To me, “The Sound of Winedrinking” is more like the sound of a dreaming drum machine with all the freakquencies of its unconscious thoughts streaming freely across its dozy circuits. “Psychedelic Mindtrip”? Well, mind the title, then dig right in. This side gradually piles on the hits and effects until the whole swirling mélange finally goes off like a howl from a bent head. Freaky stuff, indeed.

[Peter Chambers]

Özgür Can
On a White Day
Precinct / PREC 014
September 2006

Fuck me, for some reason I thought this was a Holger Czukay record. Instead it's this Swedish guy practicing with his sweet new computer but on my time, shitting out three minimal trance cuts (i.e. short on ideas, zero build) of the same flimsy loops: a quote spooky whatever “bells in the water” riff, a faceless kick, and some stuttering percussion. A1 ("Whitest") to A2 ("Whiter") to B1 ("White"), Can changes up sub-genre dressing but keeps that ass bell loop, all to increasingly bad effect. The electro-housed A1 gets by because it sounds like a Bpitch demo, but A2 couldn't even cut it on a Spectral comp, and B1 desperately wants to be acid-house but forgets the mindmelting squelch. Buy this record only if you have a comically large coffee mug and happen to need a coaster.

[Nick Sylvester]

Joakim + DJ Morpheus / Minimal Compact
Give Us Something!!!
Tigersushi / TSR 018
September 2006

Wow, this is terrible. I know my standards for electroclash and rock remixes and all the Franco-filter-metal perversions of late are a tad too high, but this may be the most vapid of the bunch yet: needly guitars but not a hook, some rock drum flavor but nothing close to a driving beat, Minimal Compact's Samy Birnbach saying "give us something" but obviously unwilling to return the favor. But hey, the synths are analog! Come on now. New York's Rub 'n' Tug do better on the b-side, a remix of MC's "Nil Nil." I never heard the original, but this one sounds like a lost Siouxsie extended mix; not quite as dark, but with creepier vox, really deep drums, and percussive bass sounds as per usual for R-n-T remixes. The guitar stabs are so frail they'll make you cry, and here, it’s a good thing.

[Nick Sylvester]

Roxy Music
Roxy Remix #01
Virgin / UK VJSTDJ 1919
November 2006

Imagine my excitement when I first heard about my beloved Roxy Music being remixed by the likes of Tiefschwarz, Lindstrom/Prins Thomas, the DFA, Kaos, and The Glimmers! Now imagine I'm listening to not one, but two takes on the insipid "Angel Eyes." What, couldn't get their hot little hands on any of Ferry's Dylan covers? Of course, this is only the first round, but if their best foot is being put forward first, expect the whole project to end ass-up in the gutter. The re-edit is fine from a technical standpoint, but the source material is... still "Angel Eyes." Kaos does his best to push the song towards the disco floor, highlighting the diva vocals over Ferry's, but it's in the name of a lost cause. Far superior is the second 12", which takes in Tiefschwarz burying "Rain Rain Rain" in their backyard and then unearthing it covered in rust and old bits of tinsel. Far more minimal and elegant than most of their recent outings, it bodes better for the future of Tiefschwarz' catalog than the past of Roxy's. Last and best is M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade's team tackle of "The Thrill of It All," which sounds rather like one of their tracks with bits of the original filtered in the background. An inauspicious start. More details on the Roxy Remix project can be found here.

[Mallory O’Donnell]

Simian Mobile Disco
Tits & Acid
White Label
November 2006

A white-label affair on a much more aggro tip than 2005's "The Count," this two-track release preserves the SMD's propensity for high-energy jack tracks that rip new fissures in the earth with the electricity of their expansive movements. "Tits & Acid" could be used to hammer out rivets for avant-garde factory designs, or it could soundtrack your next basement face-melter. You decide. "Animal House" sounds almost sedate in comparison, but keeps the shuffling beat moving in their favor—now proceeding at a tempo that allows for some texture to be explored, rather than merely rifled-through. Play this one loud.

[Mallory O’Donnell]

Robert Hood
Hoodmusic 2
Music Man / MM 127
September 2006

For someone whose nickname during his Underground Resistance years was “Noise,” Robert Hood sure has been quiet of late. It’s especially odd considering that the aggressive, stripped-down sound he helped pioneer has been so in vogue of late. His only release in 2005 was Hoodmusic 1, and its taken him a year to follow it up with this three-tracker (one of which is a remix by latter-day UR commandos Los Hermanos). Luckily, these two new tracks are crackling returns to form: the tough, menacing “Still Hear” (a message-sending pun of a title) sends shivers with its stormtrooper jack-beats and short, tight loops of cosmic fury, while “School” is a bit funkier and spacious but constructed on the same familiar building blocks. The Los Hermanos remix of “Still Hear” (by Gerald Mitchell this time out) puts some layers of their trademarked Latin percussion in it, and the melding of conga and sci-fi proves to be most effective. Here’s hoping we hear some more Noise in 2007.

[Todd Hutlock]

Thomas Brinkmann /Alex Under
Naranja Monje
CMYK Musik / CMYK009
October 2006

After the decidedly un-Brinkmann-like Lucky Hands LP in 2005, electronic pioneer Thomas Brinkmann has been a bit quiet, and from the sounds of his track on this split EP with Spaniard Alex Under, he’s spent that time honing his old sound rather than moving further away from it. Brinkmann’s “128 Rua Villalobos” sounds like it could have been lifted directly from one of his singles circa 2000, an up-tempo, Basic Channel-style dub workout that doesn’t do much but sounds oh so good doing it. Buoyed by that familiar looping, loping style, Brinkmann’s side slips on like an old comfortable shoe, pulsing along with that familiar rhythmic invention and phasing technique that made that style so irresistible in the first place. CMYK boss Alex Under, for his part, heads in the opposite direction, with the jumping “Naran Jamón, jejeje,” following in the funky footsteps of his EPs on Plus 8, Apnea, and Trapez from earlier this year—rollicking, bumpy, and full of shifting layers of clicky percussion that keeps the action moving along with regularity, with a really nice breakdown series in the middle to top it off.

[Todd Hutlock]

Ricardo Villalobos
Heike
Lo-Fi Stereo / LO-FI 038
October 2006

Originally released in 1998 (and with a Nelson Machado mix not included on this reissue), “Heike” finds our man from Chile in transition mode from his earlier dancefloor-minded tunes to his latter-day expansive and experimental leanings—in fact, this one piece of vinyl may be the best example of that stylistic shift. The original mix on the A-side is perfectly serviceable, above-average banging techno, given to a chugging beat, hands-in-the-air type riffs, and a relentless construction that shows little of the sublime detours that have become his signature of late. On the flip, however, Villalobos provides a peek at what was to come. Far more sparse, mellow, and downright groovy, the “Mood Mix” gets dense and clattering at some points, nearly beatless at others, and leaves that intangible space between the noises that makes Villalobos’ more recent works such an adventure. Far from being simply a cash-in reissue of a hot artist, “Heike” serves as a significant signpost in the history of minimal that still sounds great eight years after initial release.

[Todd Hutlock]

Tantra
The Double LP
Importe/12 / MP-310
1980

A release scooping up most, but not all, of the Italo group Tantra's output, The Double LP revolves around two side-length epics—the A-side "Hills of Katmandu," and the D-side "Wishbone." I first heard the former (in truncated form) on the Idjut Boys classic Saturday Night Live, Vol. 2 mix, and if it blew me away then, it's even more potent in its full 16-minute-plus glory. Exotica and "orientalist" touches were always a feature of Italo, and "Hills of Katmandu" deftly weaves such fare into a monster of rumbling percussion, weaving analogs, and swaying female vocals. The sweet little nugget of disco fantasia that interrupts at the 6:30 mark is both unexpected and cheesily delightful. "Wishbone," on the other hand, is funkier and more mesmerizing—the odd female vocals are paired with echoed tribal percussion to a mystical and almost eerie effect, with a sitar-like lead making the odd appearance. It's the mirror of "Katmandu," but an unsettlingly purist one—making absolutely no concessions towards any but the most tripped-out of dancefloors. If I could find the crowd that would happily vibe along with me to all of its 15 glorious minutes I would never bloody leave.

Normally this would constitute a full and rewarding album, but in between these two leviathans is sandwiched another two full sides of goodness that interweaves primal and futurist elements. The B-side unveils two strong Eurodisco stompers: "Get Ready to Go," which could've soundtracked any number of early 80's prime-time buddy-cop TV shows, and "Top Shot," a track that pushes all the gay disco buttons it can find and then digs around for some more. The C-side, on the other hand, starts with "Su-ku-leu," a traditional African-flavored number that still kicks out on its disco heels, combining the chants and ethnic percussives with synth pops and sweeps, which blends right into "Mother Africa," a T-Connection-esque stomper with a delicious percussion break that sets the stage for the most stereotypically "disco" of their tracks, "Hallelujah." Side closer "Get Happy" points an arrow towards boogie, and could be a Chic b-side, with its warm syn-strings and chimes. It's the very spirit of disco's unabashed joyfulness, and a fine place to rest.

The Double LP is that great disco rarity—not just a classic album, but a classic double, and as such it demands a proper remix and CD release. Until then... keep those needles fresh!
[Mallory O'Donnell]


BEATZ STAFF CHARTS
Todd Hutlock
Alex Under - Naran Jamón, jejeje [CMYK Musik]
Villalobos - Fizheuer Zieheuer [Playhouse]
Robert Hood - Still Hear [Music Man]
Unknown Artist - #100 [Wooling]
Konrad Black - Coma Couch Surfing [Items & Things]
The Knife - We Share Our Mother’s Health (Radioslave Remix) [Brille/Mute]
Tres Demented - Demented Drums [Planet E]
Kate Simko - Strumm (Jonas Bering Remix) [Kupei]
Lindstrom - Take Me To The Metro [Capricious]
Gaiser - Neural Block [Minus]

Michael F. Gill
Zwicker – Made Up [Compost Black Label]
Yennek – Without (Acapella Mix) [Substance]
Jeff Mills – The Art of Connecting [Nextera/Axis]
Pieces of a Dream – Warm Weather [Elektra]
The Temptations – Zoom [Motown]
Jorge Santana – Darling I Love You [Underdog Edits]
Bjork – Pagan Poetry (Ripperton Remix) [White]
Jomanda – Got a Love for You (Hurley's House mix) [Warner / Big Beat]
Todd Edwards – The Journey [i! Records]
Klimek – Music to Fall Asleep [Kompakt]