RECENT FAVES FROM THE RECORD LIBRARY - December 2000


Music/Program Director Brian Turner calls 'em as he sees 'em.



FRANCISCO LOPEZ "Untitled #104" (Alien8)
With last BOHA's review of Jim O'Rourke dressed as black metal guitarist on the Takayanagi Tribute disc, it seems as if the dam is about to burst on introspective experimental music icons embracing the Dark One and his musical capabilities. Yes, its certainly about damn time the world of WIRE magazine readers figured out that metal has as many avant-garde properties as some Pita record; I point you all to Tumult Records' Andee Connors' brilliant contribution to the last WFMU Program Guide LCD, pointing out how Burzum is on par with Aphex Twin. Here, the normally sedate Francisco Lopez glitches amidst four minutes of tense silence before opening the faucet on a nonstop barrage of piledriver metal samples (which sources here have point out to be that of Meshuggah), whacking you on the head for an extended period with such ferociousness not heard since that 40 minute maniacal chord the Boredoms held on their Super Roots #5.

ENNIO MORRICONE Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura (Dagored)
A much welcome reissue of the score for a 1971 Italian horror flick, and a necessary listen for those who seek high points of this ultra-prolific composer. This disc features Morricone's "improv" outfit, Gruppo di Improvisazione Nuova Consonanza, who made a pretty incategorizable body of work that had not much to do with Ennio's work in the film score world. However here, they rise to the challenge well with great reverb-laden scrapes and drones, muted trumpets and some simmering fuzz guitar flares.

MOLDY PEACHES Moldy Peaches (Pro-Anti)
KIMYA DAWSON Knock-Knock Who? (Pro-Anti)
The loose collective of NYC kids known as the Moldy Peaches have been knocking around for the last year or so, dropping their CD-R's around (including solo discs from members Adam Green & Kimya Dawson) that have been charming our socks off. The "I can do this" aesthetic of 4-track seems to be at its complete bareboned here with songs both catchy, hilarious (often x-rated), and in the case of Kimya's ode to her departed kitty cat ("For Boxer") heartbreaking (she breaks down sobbing at the end). Steve Malkmus would be proud at some of the rhymes these kids come up with (and jealous): Kimya's "Time To Think" rips on "It's the End of the World As We Know It" and "We Didn't Start the Fire" with some amusing juxtapositions like "Silly friends/Incontinency/Yertle the Turtle and hierarchy" and then namedrops the two aforementioned songs for the hell of it. As the Peaches, Kimya and Adam come together without being some kind of Lower East Side Peaches & Herb; successfully playing off each other in a sweet but un-sappy way, and even drop the fuzzbox on the acoustic and completely rock out. Soon to be stars indeed.

DJ PICA PICA PICA Planetary Natural Gus Webbin (Comma)
AKA Eye Yamantaka, who has created a masterful plate of samples for the enjoyment of all. Having made almost every sound in the universe, the Boredoms' eventual alignment with the electronica world (also exemplified by the band's recent remix projects with UNKLE and Ken Ishii) is definitely something that does not dilute the impact of their aesthetic. Eye/Pica Pica Pica's mix is pure and astounding, incorporating samples from an amazing and wide spectrum of sound: water as beats, African musician Mama San, San Francisco hiphoppers El Stew, hardcore freaks Fat Day, and many more all flow into a cohesive and inventive listen.

EGNEKN 8 Track Magic (ATMOTW)
Nothing more needs be said about the genius of putting a warbly, beatup 8-track of Led Zep IV (found at a flea market) onto the Compact disc format in its untouched, stuttering & stop-starting glory.

LORETTE VELVETTE Rude Angel (Okra-Tone)
What could be very well an angel waitress of a Tennesse truckstop wraps up Booker T, Kim Gordon, Othar Turner, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Dolly Parton and Tav Falco (her initial mentor) into music so damn great that only the Germans would give her a record deal. At least til now; Lorette (who has been in bands like the Hellcats, Alluring Strange, the Kropotkins - Sonic Youth fans might recognize her for her duet on "Little Trouble Girl") now has an excelent anthology of her music from various solo discs and compilations & singles, and it sure is a necessary thing to have in the household. Besides her own great tunes she makes Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" and T Rex's "20th Century Boy" stamped with something new and special.


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