V/VM (Volume Versus Masses) first came into my awareness through a split 12" they did with Third Eye Foundation for Fat Cat Records.

At the time I was a big Matt Elliot fan and bought the 12" just for the Third Eye side. However, I found that the curious band (if you could call it 'band', or for that fact 'music') on the flip appeared to construct a track from the static of a radio and the sound you hear between stations. It was radical stuff, but I liked it.

Then came the first CD on Offal Records. 'AuralOffalWaffle' was a double CD with 52 tracks. I loved it. That CD started a run of V/VM releases that has become so great that it seems impossible to keep up. V/VM received a lot of attention through a 'single of the week' in the NME for their cover of "All Night Long" and the subsequent full length of covers 'Sick Love'.

'V/VM - Hate You' is their newest release. It is formatted as a compilation. Almost all the bands are actually V/VM though. Gai/Jin is a Kieth Whitman (Hrvatski) project. All the songs are versions of other songs, but I can't identify most, as V/VM choose subject material way out of my musical sphere of knowledge.

One song I can recognize is Madonna's Music, which is chopped into a new (and really quite wonderful) piece titled Skkatter. I really like this track - it is my fave on the disc.

I also really like the song Ray Parker Snr. contributes. It is a version of the theme from the film 'Carnival Of Souls'. The track sounds like Brother Cleve from Combustible Edison playing organ in Mad Monster Party.

The last of the songs I like is a short one (1:43) by Mainpal Inv called Stomp Naffer. If has a toy feel to it and is not very noisy or menacing. Right after this song is the closing track, V/VM's version of The Beatles Hey Jude converted quite effectively into a 15 minute torture called Hate You.

At the end of Hate You a secret track starts on the CD. I don't know what song it is, but it is actually a pretty good V/VM goof which lasts for 2 minutes.

For me this disc is worth it just for the Madonna and Carnival Of Souls covers. They are very fine. The insert in this CD puts the project into perspective with words from V/VM and a hate list for guidance. I have wondered why they make the records they do - the insert puts their philosophy down in print.