From multsanta Sent Sat, May 30th 1998, 07:28
V/A: Attention-Cats 12"(reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge r000) In a beautifully laid out package of clear vinyl with several birds on the label (geddit? attention CATS! what do cats eat?) this new Cambridge, Massachusetts label (with perhaps the longest name in music history) proves that mike paradinas' _mealtime_ comp and animals on wheels signing with hasn't completely killed off "drill n' bass" as we know it. With it's dozen brief flash tracks of around a minute or so long, this is (as the press release will tell you) the perfect compilation for the channel surfing generation. With everything from squarepusher-esque breakbeat fusion workouts to ambient interludes to full force wailing guitar solos, this record has something for everything. However, unlike certain compilations trying to pigeonhole this certain type of music, this record revives the humor and excitement that we heard in the early spymania records. Remember the first time you threw down wafta's _college street zoo_ and you heard that wacky sounding 'oooh' sample cut right in the middle of 'morpeth issot', just before it broke out into the wild chaos that we now know and love. Or the hip hop intermissions on 'spymania allstars'. That was innovative, that was funny. Now who cares when you've got every bandwagon jumper on all the run-of-the-mill-speed- junk-jazz compilation using the exact same tricks. Reckankreuzungsklankewerkzeuge (sorry, i had to say that word one more time in this review!)label head Hrvatski and his band of no good trouble makers do the same sort of spur of the moment mess with your head surprises that the already worn out motley crew of overseas wannabes can't touch. A serious blow to all those proclaiming the death of a sub-genre that barely got a chance to get up off it's still wobbly legs... [xxxxxx@xxxx://www.tiac.net/users/sheket/] ~mlt-- np: newcleus-jump on it