December 23, 2003
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International DeeJay Gigolos CD Seven
various artists
label:: International DeeJay Gigolo RecordsIt's been tough for Gigolos to stay current and move with the changes of music in the past year, and even though the strain is showing, I think Volume Seven in the International Deejay Gigolos series of compilations for the most part works.
Bands like Freaks, Fat Truckers, Psychonauts, Dirty Criminals, Playgroup (heard here under his real name Trevor Jackson), Mick Wills (from Bevis Frond), Liquid Sky, Richard Bartz, David Carretta, Linda Lamb, Pink Grease, Mount Sims, Terranova, Gina X, and DJ Hell are a list of some old and new names, all adding something to contend with and to offer. Only a few sidesteps keep this compilation from being incredible.
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The Mummies
title:: Death by Unga Bunga
label:: Estrus RecordsIf anything Death By Unga Bunga!! - The Mummies second foray into the digital age, holds up even better than the first: last year's cd version of Never Been Caught. Death By Unga Bunga!! collects together singles The Mummies released on various labels on cheap ass sounding vinyl - and while they've made no attempt to clean up the sound, it is quite a coup to hear this fuzzed out mess in one place without hunting and pecking, or killing your friends for the coveted original vinyl.
Sometimes bands put their best foot forward on their singles - it's also where they put their sweat and blood. This collection of singles is a more easily digestible nugget of fuzz as compared to Never Been Caught mainly due to the fact that each song seems to come from its own universe, each song then has it's own brand of fuzz to wallop your earholes - this adds variety.
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Nino & April
title:: All Strung Out
label:: Rev-OlaNino & April - one of the best kept singing duo secrets of the 1960s. A brother/sister duo who worked together between 1959 and 1967, when the release of this album, All Strung Out, culminated their wondrous sounds together. Originally hitting in 1959 with April Steven's sultry Teach Me Tiger (a Nino Tempo original), then later hitting with the pre-Beatles styled free wheeling take on the chestnut Deep Purple, Nino & April were left to rethink, retool, and re-invent their inimitable vocal style on their 1967 platter All Strung Out.
Taking a kick from the drug addled youth of '67 and equating the addiction of drugs to the addiction of love was a masterful move, and with further use of the wrecking crew's (of which Nino Tempo was a member) Spectorian wall of sound production, and Gold Star studio's organic sound, Nino & April came up with a classic record, that just wasn't made for those times. The entire album was reissued previously in the mid-90s on Varese Sarabande, who also released the excellent Sweet & Lovely: The Best of Nino Tempo & April Stevens, but now it's Rev-Ola's turn to polish this classic off and re-issue it with some tracks in stereo for the first time and also with the previously unreleased mix of Nino Tempo's solo single Boys Town.
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Psychonauts
title:: Songs For Creatures
label:: International DeeJay Gigolo RecordsPsychonauts do their best on their debut release Songs For Creatures, and while there are definitely hints at greatness, as a whole the album fails. It's an album that will keep you guessing - which is real and which is a sample - it may even have you scratching your head in wonder "I know I've heard that riff somewhere!"
Originally part of the Mo' Wax label, Psychonauts were previously known for releasing Time Machine in 1997, a compilation which compiled a mix of 49 tunes by Mo' Wax artists into a short half hour mix. They followed this up with the single Hot Blood in 1999. Hot Blood is included here on Songs For Creatures. For an album that's taken this long to come out, I had hoped it would be somehow a little more current sounding - but to me it seems dated, not always in the best of ways.
