From Alex Reynolds Sent Tue, Feb 2nd 1999, 05:01
From Alex Reynolds Sent Tue, Feb 2nd 1999, 05:01
"PIG" (V/Vm) = V/Vm's brilliant, groundbreaking ambient work 'PIG' is most definitely a strong contender in the bid for Most Bizarre release of '99. Opening with a farmer's intense monologue on a preferred antibiotic regimen for his swine, the surreal PIG follows with several minutes of emptied slop buckets and the harsh, hellish squealing of Porky Pig on speed. For an interlude, we are treated to a brief, V/Vm-style fucked-up mix of pigs and beats, concluding with the beatless ambience of additional porcine squeals and grunts. PIG left such a deep impression on me, that I immediately had to grab a smoke and a double bacon cheeseburger afterwards. [Rumors that V/Vm used scratch n'sniff pig stickers on the labels could not be confirmed, although the author would confirm getting woozy after inhaling the abundant monomers wafting from the fresh packaging. -Ed.] (9/10) "Machine Components //0001" (V/Vm) = With non-4/4 beats buried underneath a thick, lead blanket of high-frequency noise spun at 45 RPM, machine 0001 is not for the high-strung, nervous or pregnant among the list community. While the liner notes indicate that the tracks on one machine release should 'fit' with those from another release, each "component" works on some level on its own merits (some components more so than others). V/Vm hints that the use of two decks to mix machine components is a 'menial task' -- a simple binary operation -- implying the intended use of up to four decks; one for each machine release (or more). Is this just subtle bullshit, meant to sell more records? I can't say. It's tough to see how adding noise upon noise upon more noise will give you something other than noise, but then I'm not the artist. Nonetheless, as an experimental work, 0001 stands adequately on its own two feet. (7/10) Autechre, Boards of Canada; "Peel Sessions" (Warp) = Because the music on these two releases has already been distributed between fans more or less illicitly, it's pointless reviewing the sound content. Of course it's great music: it's Autechre and BoC, and it's a "Peel Session". Plus we get the CD-quality goods -- not the noisy, CD-Red radio dubs that get passed from hand to hand like a weak joint at a bad party. So what would motivate Warp to release this stuff, other than the fat profits to be made? The Designers Republic's satiric artwork and design lends a clue, perhaps. Once you open the cover, note the half-labeled design with the logos and data printed off-center: three lines denoting the artist, title, and "TX" (transmission) date. Note the "74 min/650 MB" logo in the mid-right side of the disc. To me, this ripoff of blank CD-R stock was nothing less than a brilliant, shiny middle-finger from Warp to everyone who couldn't wait, who had to copy and distribute the label's artists' music without permission. Three cheers to Warp for fighting back in such a classy and smart way. (11/10) -A. __________________________________________________________________________ Alex Reynolds E xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxxxx.xxx UPenn : SAS Computing : Biology Dist Support V +1 215 573 2818 http://www.sas.upenn.edu/biology/ F +1 215 898 8780 'The central message of Buddhism is not "every man for himself"!' -- Wanda