May 14, 2002

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  All Tomorrow's Parties 2.0 curated by Shellac

  CD / various / ATP Records

  'You listen to ATP 2 and wonder if the last five years of music happened. Which is not to discredit the musical ability of any of these artists, but as a whole, the comp feels out of place in today's beat heavy musical context.'
  [read more] ---Donny

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  Bazille Noir

  12inch / Türbläser / Klein Records

  'Hamburg-based Bazille Noir (Jens Paulsen and Stefan Ebinger) bring us this their debut release, an enticing 12 inch single on Klein Records. Film noir springs to mind right off when first listening to this single, each track has a cinematic feel.'
  [read more] ---Patrick

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  Futurism.

  2xCD / various / City Rockers

  A contemporary electro comp is generally hard to critique, with the song formula, hard synths, beats, and vocal samples, being the same. While one wonders how long the sound can remain fresh, the Futurism. tracks, even as a continual mix, are remarkably alive: punchy and funky, detached and in some cases, playfully morbid.
  [read more] ---Donny

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  Ludus

  CD /The Damage / LTM

  'Nearly condemned to obscurity via releases on small European indie labels in the late-'70s/early-'80s, almost all of their songs have finally been brought together on CD. This band was essentially Linder Sterling and Ian Devine. Linder, although originally from Liverpool, was a fixture in the Manchester, UK art punk scene. Her personality and unique view of the world along with Ian Devine's music created LUDUS.'

  [read more] ---George F. Kilgoar III

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  Ursula 1000

  CD / Kinda Kinky / Eighteenth Street Lounge

  'Much more like the debut 'Now Sound Of...' CD by Ursula 1000 than his mediocre second disc, 'Kinda Kinky' has one killer track (the title song) and 13 other pretty fine cuts. Even with my high expectations I am satisfied with this disc.'
  [read more] ---Carl