The Rubber Room column is a weekly look at recent and notable releases that don’t fall into the rubric of traditional reviews or reviewed material—namely 7”’s, 12”’s, 3” CDs, EPs, cassette-only, DVDs and MP3-only releases.

Sigur Rós
Sæglópur
[Geffen, 2005]

The Bippity-Boppity-Boo dance album aside, Sigur Rós has hardly faltered since they started getting some recognition a few years ago. Despite that success, I wasn't feeling too excited about their forthcoming album Takk. Well, now I've heard the single, with it's piano/glockenspiel lead-in and its heavenly build and its ... well, it does the stuff that Sigur Rós does, but even better than usual. The parantheses are gone, so I don't have to whisper to be heard and I'm fawning out loud—this is gorgeous. If the rest of the album lives up to the single, that last full-length's going to feel like an aside.
[Justin Cober-Lake]

Mushi Mushi
Chicken EP (Limited 7” vinyl)
[Distraction Records, 2005]

Consistently purposeful and aggressive on this release, Mushi Mushi take the EP’s title track and send it scudwards with drumming like the kicking down of Squat doors and loose wire noises heaving from shattered software. Swaggering crunchy Punk-Funk minus the posturing and drained of all that hipster shite drives home the kind of bass that the Chemicals used to ram you with when they used to have testicles and attitude. They’ve even managed to pull off a cracking, if sparse, hook that brings to mind 808 State’s riff for MC Tunes’ “Tunes Splits the Atom” on their “Sequins Save Lives.” But even with these contenders it’s the mean spirited Jesus Lizard / Stranglers teeth grinder hybrid “Not D’n’B” that demands the band be kept in Stella till they are old and grey.
[Scott McKeating]

Pit er Pat
3D Message (Tour EP)
[Thrill Jockey, 2005]

With this tour EP the Kevin Bacon of rock, John McEntire, does some studio mathematics on a rhythm-centred tip to help sharpen up some live experiments for relative newcomers Pit er Pat. Coming over like a more instant and obviously structured Tortoise it’s a shame that the only thing that keeps this EP from bobbing above the surface is the reedy female vocals. Still, the playing on the two instrumentals is jerky and gripping enough to gratify, with “Diamond Messages” snarling away as an incompressible shouty Fall tune with Rick Wakeman on keyboards.
[Scott McKeating]

Schneider TM (Dr Drek)
More Time 7”
[Earsugar, 2005]

Having made one of the best cover versions EVER with his icytronica re-reading of The Smiths “There’s A Light That Never Goes Out” (“The Light 3000”), Dirk Dresselhaus’ self penned material as Schneider TM never really hit pay dirt. Undoubtedly feeling a little pissed off at the success afforded The Notwist/The Go Find/Styrofoam et al.; Dresselhaus has opted to test the water for his forthcoming album with this sublime 7”. As catchy as bird-flu, “More Time” tacks a simple, off synch vocal sample to a slow-mo analogue beat that builds and builds until it’s in deep enough that you’ll be humming along till Christmas. Unreasonably catchy, “More Time” suggests Schneider TM’s new LP will avoid the willfully esoteric pitfalls of his past albums and instead drench the listener in delicious pop-marinated digital noise.
[Adam Park]

Her Space Holiday
The New 2000 (Exclusive B-side on “A Match Made in Texas” single)
[Wichita, 2005]

This isn’t exactly what I was expecting from a Her Space Holiday b-side seeing as this wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the last Brandy or Destiny’s Child LP. If it wasn’t for the very male very indie vocals this would’ve been a peerless slice of pop R&B. As it is, it’s just begging to be covered by some up and coming starlet. With its xylophone intro, sweeping synth lines, plucked strings and pattering percussion this is a textbook Darkchild or Shek’spere production job. But just in case it was all getting a little too settled and predictable Mr Space Holiday ends up taking a quick diversion via Alec Empire and Squarepusher to round the track off on a high. Oddly fantastic.
[Scott McKeating]