Electro Sun are a band from Germany with a vocalist whose voice reminds me of Suran Song (of the NJ band Suran Song In Stag) and Ann Magnuson of Bongwater. 'Blossom Red' (#1) starts off the disc, introducing the dissonant minor key melodies played on cello, acetone organ, and drums which Electro Sun use as the bed under which the vocalist (who so uncannily recalls Suran Song) maneuvers. 'Blossom Red' has the same type of feel as Pink Floyd's 'Set Your Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' and has true intensity as the drummer's tom toms heat up the tempo. 'Leave You Lying There' (#5) is a ten minute song which has vocals that remind me of the final part of the Patti Smith song 'Radio Ethiopia' when she wails in a twisted voice through to the songs conclusion. 'Guardian Angel' (#6) is my favorite song on this seven song disc. It has a roller rink styled organ and a good melody that pulls it out of the gloominess that Electro Sun so comfortably inhabit.
Faves: 1,6

The original soundtrack album for the film 'Christie Malry's Own Double Entry' is as much a Luke Haines solo album as a soundtrack disc. Luke Haines is the leader of The Autuers, Black Box Recorder, and Baader Meinhof. Each of those bands have released some amazing material, yet have never enjoyed commercial success. I'm sure both the film and this record will follow in that path, shame that it is. Fully half of this 12 song disc are fully realized songs with lyrics and structure. The other half are more typically soundtrack fare, though never typical in the hands of Luke Haines. Fans of The Autuers will love 'Discomania' (#1), 'Discomaniax' (#6), and 'England Scotland And Wales' (#10). Fans of Black Box Recorder will find 'How To Hate The Working Class' (#3) like BBR with Luke singing. The two odd tracks that the disc offers are 'In The Bleak Midwinter' (#2) and 'I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass' (#9). 'In The Bleak Midwinter' has a church boys choir singing with Luke in a way that perfectly compliments the song. It is my unlikely fave of the disc - the song I passed over on first listenings which eventually became my favorite by far. 'I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass' is a cover of the Nick Lowe song which was released as a single on Radar Records in 1978. The song became Nick Lowe's signature tune, and still sounds great today. Luke Haines cover of it is very Black Box Recorder sounding. I like the track because it is a clever choice of song to cover, but feel that the treatment of it pales next to the original.
Faves: 1,2,3,6,9,10

Jazzanova are a German brazilian-jazz-fusion band best known for the remixes they do for others, and for the label they run, Jazzanova Compost Records (JCR), a division of the widely known Compost Records. To give you some info about them I didn't know myself, Compost tells us 'Jazzanova is a Berlin-based producer collective, consisting of the Jazzanova DJ-team (Jürgen von Knoblauch, Alexander Barck, Claas Brieler), Extended Spirit (Axel Reinemer & Stefan Leisering) and Kosma (Rosko Kretschmann)'. These guys are heavily into deep jazz and modern beats'. This 12" has three remixes that Japanese artists Calm, Kyoto Jazz Missive, and Yukihiro Fukitomi did for Jazzanova. The standout cut which defines the need to own this 12" is clearly Yukihiro Fukitomi's mix of 'Coffee Talk', a track which originally was recorded by Jazzanova for the 'Future Sound Of Jazz Volume 4' compilation on Compost. Yukihiro Fukitomi is a man whose name can be found in the small print of many J-pop records as programmer. The only release that he has on his own (that I know about) is the 'I Am' 12" on JCR. On this 12", 'Coffee Talk' has the cool feel of a Kruder and Dorfmeister track, slick female vocals, and the effervescent life that characterizes the best J-pop records. It is a killer of a track.
Fave: A2

This 10th anniversary sampler of RPMs back catalog offers much more than it's $5.99 price tag would warrant. RPM's slogan is 'by collectors for collectors'. They produce great quality re-issues of impossible to find records and overlooked treats from the 60's and 70's. I know that RPM has touched my life by putting out several discs which have had profound effects on my music tastes. RPM172 'The Go-Go Music of Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus', RPM 173 'The Thriller Memorandum', RPM 193 The Tony Rivers Collection Volume 1: Castaways', and RPM 194 The Tony Rivers Collection Volume 2: Harmony Grass' have each touched my life in large ways. Each are records I will advise you to buy right now through the RPM website should you be so inclined. As for this disc, you can hear Tony Rivers & The Castaways 1966 song 'Summer Dreaming' (#11), plus a 1970 song he recorded once he renamed his band Harmony Grass 'Mrs. Ritchie' (#24). Unfortunately it is not one of the best Harmony Grass songs, in my opinion. A super Mark Wirtz song is here: the 1965 song 'A Touch Of Velvet, A String Of Brass'. What a song! One of the songs I love on this disc is from a disc I have not seen around lately. It is Twinkle's 'Golden Lights' (#6). I hope to find this disc soon, because 'Golden Lights' is a great cut that has me thinking that the full CD must be great. I also like The Rocking Vicars 'Dandy' (#12). It is a beat styled track recorded in 1966 by the band which Lemmy played guitar in. The one cut on this disc which I really love and know nothing about is the 1968 track 'Time Traveller' (#17) by Frazer Hines. Glenda Collins 1963 girl group song 'If You Gotta Pick A Baby' (#4) completes my personal list of faves from this 25 song bargain comp. Your list of faves may be entirely different!
Faves: 4,6,9,11,12,17

A collection of German commercial jingles from the 60's and 70's. Each of the tracks here was known by it's twenty second or so appearance in a TV or radio spot. On this disc each song is presented as originally recorded in full length. What you end up with is an amazing mod view of easy listening/pop culture with plenty of beat. The compilers at Crippled Dick really deserve a hand for putting this together, so awesome are the final results. There are cars from Ford ('Ford Capri 2', Ford Taunus') and Opel ('Opel Commodore' and 'Opel Record'), chocolates by Tobler, candy ('Minikillers'), Nescafe, and kitchen appliances ('Moulinex'). Not to leave out my favorite song here, the ode to Nordwest Schuhe (shoes) 'Swinging Nordwest' (#4). It has male and female vocals, sounding like The Free Design crossed with Stereo Total. There is an instrumental version of the song later in the disc (#23) as well. Completely incredible. The song 'Nescafe Calypso' (#17) sounds like Robert Mitchum in leiderhosen. The 2 versions of 'Minikillers' (# 7 & 20) are bizarre tracks with a girl being taunted by a monster offering her candies; sounding like she is more aroused than scared. Kitchen appliances have never sounded as cool as they do in the 2 versions of 'Moulinex' (#5 & 26). This compilation is a fun ride that does not have any songs which are boring or out of place. That in itself is pretty special for a 28 song comp trawling the depths of such specialized waters. Quite nice.
Faves: 4,5,7,13,15,17,20,23,26

Ant-Zen is a division of Hymen Records specializing in 'Industrial music, chilling ambient, technoid rhythms, and power electronics'. The label is based in Lappersdorf Germany. The sound on all 28 of the cuts fits perfectly into the definition Ant-Zen give themselves above. It sounds like all the cuts were recorded in the same place using similiar production values. Everything has a 'wet' sound which compliments the material. Many of the pieces have samples of dialog or speeches. In general the songs on the first disc sound 'harder' than those on the second disc, many having industrial vocals in the fashion that Throbbing Gristle or the recently reviewed Storm Bugs used. Any of the cuts on played on air would contribute to an interesting radio show. The stuff here has an identity. As I started trying to pick my favorite songs I realized that every song on both discs was pretty good. That point aside, my faves were Moata Omen's 'Ash Nazg' (A1), Imminent Starvation 'Tentack' (A2), Noisex 'The Day After' (A3), Hypnoskull 'Rhythmusmaschine' (A6), Das Schreckenskabinett 'The Black Lodge' (B6), Ah Cama Sotz 'The Howl Of The Werewolf' - uses horror movie dialog to great effect (B9), and Hybryds 'I Walk Alone' (B13). If all these names are new to you (as they are to me) and you are looking for a handle on all this, I could picture Pineal Ventana sitting comfortably on the Ant-Zen roster.
Faves: A1,2,3,6 B6,9,13

Pigeon Funk is a collaboration between 2 Oakland CA electronic artists- Kit Clayton, and Sutekh (Seth Joshua Horvitz). This five song 12" was described to me as 'analog soul funk', alluding to something akin to Thomas Brinkmann's Soul Center project. There are only slight vocal samples on this, so I would make a different comparison, probably to tech-house. I will say that any of the songs would fit on one of the International Deejay Gigolo compilations. The tracks have a slight electro feel to them, and zip along on upbeat breaks. From the insert on the 12" and the sleeve photos I can deduce a story about this collaboration: It seems that Kit Clayton and Sutekh live in the same house, and that they allow pigeons to roost on their house. The insert is a copy of as letter their neighbors left for them asking them to clean up the messes left by the pigeons. The neighbors point out that dust from pigeons feces is the leading source of the human disease MAC (microbacterium aviary complex). I imagine that the 2 artists had a kick with that, as one of the major tools in the electronic arsenal is their MAC powerbooks. This 12" doesn't really have any standout tracks, but I think it is my favorite thing I've heard from either of them, influenced no doubt, by their apparent love of birds. The back sleeve shows them each cutting out a set of letters from construction paper spelling 'pigeon funk', which they assemble on top of the pigeon mess to compose the photo which makes up the front cover. 'Fly The Coop' (B2) has sounds which (I believe) started in the throats of the pigeons which roost there.
Faves: A1,A2,B2

A seven song EP with mixes of songs from 'Pop Shopping'. Three of the tracks justify the existence of this, while the four others leave an indication as to why this is not a full length remix LP. Pizzicato Five's Konishi Yasuharu has the luck to get to mix my favorite song from 'Pop Shopping', the ode to women's shoes 'Swinging Nordwest' (#1). Even left alone it is a killer cut. Put into his hands it becomes a bouncing dance/singalong. NYC DJ Ursula 1000 mixes 'Ford Capri 2' (#2) into a much longer tracks than the original. It slinks and slithers with a library music 70's feel. Underground Berlin artist Mimok does great work to 'Ford Scampi' (#4), making it bounce around between a cool horn signature, samples of cars and dialog, and a human beatbox on top of the brushed drumkit. The rest of the tracks are fine, but don't do anything special for me. They sound like they could have come from anywhere, and don't take enough advantage of the unique material they originate from.
Faves: 1,2,4

It is strange that I always have such a hard time writing about the J-pop discs, even though they are clearly my personal faves of all the stuff I review. Maybe it is because they have such an identifyable sound and aesthetic that it is difficualt not to write the same thing for each new disc being added. So here we have the third installment of the 'Punch The Monkey!' 30th anniversary remixes. I have not been able to find the second volume. When I do, I will buy it! This volume has names that are all new to me except for the track mixed by Yasuharu Konishi of Pizzicato Five. The disc starts off with my favorite song the Readymade 440 mix of 'Lupin The 3rd '97" (#1) by DJ Yoshio. It is a vocal harmony fest with all the zing and appeal of the 'Swinging Nordwest' song on the Crippled Dick 'Pop Shopping' compilation. Plenty of vocals, plenty of twists and turns. Yasuharu Konishi 's Readymade 524 mix of 'Theme From Lupin The 3rd 3' (#3) is a wild ride that has multiple elements which find an unlikely balance in the chaotic stew. The 'We Love Lupin III' mix of 'Theme From Lupin The 3rd 3' (#4) by DanceMan & The Bandman is not as crazy as the song before it - it stays rooted in a tambourine/snare beat while hell breaks loose on top, making it rank as one of my faves. The Cyche-Outs 'Club mix' of 'Toward The Patrol Line' (#5) is a dancefloor ready electronic track that has a young female vocal saying 'Hey!' or laughing while a sample of a character from the show talks about freedom, enforcement, and the space patrol. It is a big departure from the countless homages to Lupin that this series offers in spades! Manabu Iwamura's 'Cinema Edit' mix of 'Samba Temperado' (#7) brings tuneage not far removed from the themes to 'Bewitched' or 'I Dream Of Jeannie' put through the Japanese blender, then taken out onto NYC's Broadway as a brass marching band giving it's all for the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. Finally Toshiya Arai gives the '80 a fool's paradise mix' of 'Lupin the 3rd '80' (#10) which features a glockenspiel and brass band playing over mad marching band drumming with a latin flair.
Faves: 1,3,4,5,7,10

A seven song sampler from this broken beat label based in Milwaukee. There are tracks by Venetian snares, Noize Creator, Emotional Joystick, Resuscitate The Battlemaster, Doormouse, Fanny, and DF1/Destro. My favorite tracks are Venetian Snare's 'Ichidh' (A1) and Fanny's 'Carousel' (B3). All the tracks are the new style of hardcore currently called 'broken beat'. It is music that recognizes that the so called digitasl hardcore of Atari Teenage Riot quickly became almost conservative in the monochromatic nature of it's continual barrage. Broken beat artists truly have a disconcerting sound by using computers to generate beats that could not exist in nature, and providing jarring changes that either will rev you up, or send you running for the 'off' button. To me both Fanny and Venetain Snares offer the most interesting tracks here because they have used sound samples over their broken beats which keep me listening. 'Ichidh' has dialog from a classic horror movie and 'Carousel' has sounds of people riding a carnival ride.
Faves: A1,B3

Kieth Fullerton Whitman is the Bostoner who records as Hrvatski. This EP is quite far from the sound that Hrvatski produces. It consists of 2 pieces he recorded in October 1999 for the NYC computer music event 'Invisible Cities'. The tracks remind me of Robert Fripp's 'Frippertronics' phase. They are quiet and subtly change during their ten minute length. He made the tracks with a realtime playthrough system he designed which combines acoustic guitar with a Macintosh G3 laptop. In the same way that 'The Soccer Girl EP' was an ambient diversion for Kid 606, '21:30 for Acoustic Guitar' is a break from the hardcore that Hrvatski usually produces to the love of all his fans.

Kate Mosh is the latest release from Panacea. As he has in the past, 'Dynamo' is a Panacea disc recorded under a different name. The music is harsh electronic sludge, tones twisted and torn between the devices and the amp. The cuts are clever though. 'The Fire This Time' (#3) has a vocal trapped in the cage of it's sonic slaw. 'Lifelines' (#5) takes an almost cliche disco sound and makes it jump through hoops of Pancea's invention. 'Crawford's Theme 2' (#7) has severely overmodulated mush rolling over a clackity clack rhythm track like the blob smothering a house. The disc has 12 new pieces that are not miles away from the only other Panacea disc I've heard, the 'Hanayo in Panacea' CD reviewed in the May 15, 2001 gullbuy. While many contemporary electronic artists go for a clean type of sound involving digital silence between tones, Kate Mosh reminds me an instrumental electronic version of the 80's Boston sludgecore band Kilslug. This is the first release on the new Killer Pimp label started by WZBC DJ Jon Whitney. Jon is also the owner of www.brainwashed.com, a much visited site which has an online webzine and hosts the websites of many bands featured in past and future gullbuys.
Faves: 3,5,7

As I first listened to this CD it was like a time warp back to the heyday of mid nineties indie rock. I wasn't sure it was a trip I was willing to take! Nik-L-Nip were a band from Bryn Mawr PA that put out a single and a few appearances on split singles. They consisted of Mark Powell on guitar/vocal and Lara on drums/vocal. Lara Cohen was an indierock queen who worked as an intern at the Kyhber Pass Pub, wrote a zine called 'Runt', then later 'Oh, Oh Cheri'. She became 'the face' for the blossoming indie scene.. Mark Powell worked at the well known record store Repo Records in Bryn Mawr PA. This CD was put together by WZBC DJ Patrick Rands. He knew Nik-L-Nip during the period that he went to school and played guitar in another PA band, Driver UFO. In fact Patrick plays drums on one of my favorite songs on the disc, 'Exhilarama' (#6). Through his love of the Nik-L-Nip's songs and his small edition label 'Room-Filling Sounds' this CD was born. The disc has 8 songs. The sound of Nik-L-Nip reminds me of a band I used to like from Scarsdale NY, Pumpernikel. Playing is incompetent, yet quite the richer for it. Vocals are both male and female. Lara's vocals at times sounds like those of a little girl. The music can get really abrasive, or can be rooted in an acoustic guitar and minimal drum kit. As I said, at first I was ready to dismiss this whole CD as simply 'time capsule' material, but as I relaxed into it I came to really like 'Running Fast and Drunk' (#4), 'Exhilarama' (#6), I Hope I Never Hear From you' (#7), and 'George' (#8)