Electric Ladyland Clickhop Version 1.0
various
label:: Mille Plateaux
format:: 2xCD
28
songs spread over 2 CDs chronicling the so called 'clickhop' / 'glitch-hop'
sound. What we are talking about is minimal electronics (lowest common denominator
being Stefan Betke's work as Pole) combined with samples of sounds and vocals
as used by underground hiphop artists like Anti-Pop Consortium. We end up
with a busy sound that has a beat that a robot would be most comfortable
dancing the herky jerky to. This is not comfortable music. It is meant to
incite and cause pulses to race. It gives a dose of crank to electronica
and dumps its tired ass in the ghetto to adapt or die. Some of the tracks
take a more Bjork like stance (MRI's "As A Child I Could Fly Without
Wings") while others Cntrl-V right into my heart (AGF/DLAY's "The
Return Of Us"). A few names I know are here (Safety Scissors, Andreas
Tilliander, Kid 606, The Rip-Off Artist, Beige, Auch, DJ Spooky, I-Sound),
but ass usual (with quality comps) the joy is in discovering the new artists
you had never heard of. There are two well known names in side projects.
Vladislav Delay collaborated with vocalist Antye Greie-Fuchs (of Laub, with
records on Kitty-Yo) as AGF/DLAY. Their tracks is hands down my favorite
cut on the whole set. High Priest (of the Antipop Consortium) has an odd
track called "Soma". The first half of the cut sounds somewhat
like his main group, but the second half is more like Stockhausen than Antipop
Consortium. It is an odd track that is oddly appealing. Now the artists I
had never heard: Spectre's "Infra-Red (Danse of the Dead Pt.2)" is
a moody piece that features the sound on a vinyl LP running on the locked
groove at the end of a side. LOG's "Out 1" is my second favorite
track on the comp. It has the same type of electronic sharp edged dub sound
that I loved on the Mo Wax compilation 'Now Thing'. Open Source's track "Fullclip" uses
tones like something the Raster label would put out, but then the electronic
hiphop beat comes in. The track reminds me of those quaint early 90's cyberpunk
books I loved so much. For some reason I think of John
Shirley's (completely awesome) Eclipse trilogy of books (Eclipse, Eclipse
Penumbra, and Eclipse Corona). Part of the wonder he created were nightclubs
with wire dancer electronic artists playing a music that this compilation
have finally realized. Akufen's "Little Hop Of Horror" continues
the brilliance LOG and Open source started. These three songs make up the
tail end of disc one. This double CD set does the trick for me.
- --Carl
