Klinik - Live (1993)
Klinik is a Belgian band (on the Brussels Subway-Antler label) that was originally formed in 1982 by Marc Verhaeghen, its only constant member throughout the years. The band has released an impressive number of albums, but this is the only one I can present to you. The music is dark, cold and harsh electronica that swerves between industrial and EBM, and has a unique touch to it in that Verhaeghen often plays the trombone combined with synths and samples. At times some tracks may seem a bit too similar to each other, but they're nevertheless all great examples of early (dark) electronic music. And even though this is a live recording, the production quality is definitely good. Enjoy!IFNKOVHGROGHPRM (Pt 1)
IFNKOVHGROGHPRM (Pt 2, RapidShare)
IFNKOVHGROGHPRM (Pt 2, MedaUpload)
posted by Paxjorge @ Wednesday, August 30, 2006
3 comments
Well, it's frustratingly difficult to find even the slightest amount of information regarding the classical music conductor Oskar Fried (1871-1941)... I'll have to move down to the library, which has reached near-obsoletion since the advent of the internet! Anyway, I found this disc at the local library and considered posting it after another b-logger posted Saint-Saëns' Carnival des Animaux. What you get on this release are actually two productions from two different eras.
Exactly two years ago I was in a bar here in Antwerp, and this guy walks in carrying a bag full of promotion cds of his own music. A friend of mine who knew the chap told him I was into industrial and that's how I got my hands on one of 'em. Very heavy and dark electronic music - not for feeble hearts! It's industrial, all right, but not the kind I've posted earlier (cfr. Front 242, Skinny Puppy, etc) - nope, this gets closer to extreme repetitive music such as the stuff from the Cold Meat label (Brighter Death Now, Bocksholm). And to boot, the cd contains hi-res wav files which you can use if you like to make your own music; these are contained in the second file I'm posting here. So don't download the second file if you don't want wav sounds and I hope you like it!
Even though I'm not a huge fan of this genre called electro, I have to admit that this double cd is one of my favourites when it comes to dark electronic music with a futuristic edge to it. Taking the bleepy, melodic stuff we all know from Kraftwerk and combining it with dark 90s techno music, as well funky beat structures from hip hop, Mr Rother from Frankfurt ("Frankfurt? Ja ja ja ja jaaaa...") paradrops a number of his own tracks, a bunch of remixes, and lots of other German electro music. Unfortunately, I don't have proper speakers, but right now I'm listening to it with my headphones (which are of high quality) and I have to tell you: the bass makes me wish I had a pair of boobs. Who just said that? Man? Machine? Hell, the older I'm getting and the more mind-operations I'm going through, the less I'm seeing a difference! Komputersimulieren und Robotte assistieren - Simulationszeitalter!
David Kempston aka Clatterbox brings us with Eazy Does It his second release on the London-based Clear label. With influences ranging from hip hop, funk, electro and techno music, one might expect a 'collectio-cacaphonos', but in fact all fourteen tracks on this album are gorgeously minimalist. To quote from All Music Guide, "Clatterbox's sound is reliant on a sort of refined, left-field minimalism, with tracks often composed of only three or four loops judiciously arranged." A really great album, filled with bouncy basses, humorous arrangements - and no lyrics!
Definitely heavier and more towards the psychedelic/progressive spectrum of rock than Pork Soda and its predecessors, but also less of the "cool" funk, Tales From the Punchbowl was not at all what I expected when I bought it back in '95. Yet I can't say this is a bad album, not at all! It's just not quite easy on the brain, which -to me- Pork Soda can be. Very heavy 4/4 structures, atonal guitars (add a dash of redneck country), drawn out psych-melodious vocals and overall weirdness, that is my personal definition of this rather strange release. And a number of tracks on this disc are without a doubt brilliant freak rock tunes! Give it a go, it's interesting to say the least.
Otyg brings you quality folk metal from Sweden. They started out in 1995 as a celebration to old Scandinavian folk music. Vintersorg, the main songwriter, combined his talents with a highly accomplished bassist and violin player and created this album. As a sidenote, there's also a mouth harp featuring on this release. I must say that at my first hearing I wasn't too impressed with the music: it came over as a chaotic, mish-mashy wall of sound. But, as my friend had warned me before he lent me his disc, it needed a few listenings before I could reach full appreciation. Maybe it's due to the sound production, maybe it's due to the fullness of the music, or maybe it's just complex folk music, although I don't feel it's overly complex. I don't know really, but it sure needed more than two listenings before I could say it's actually quite a good album - they do capture the right atmosphere, which is very important in folk metal. So, if you like folk metal in the way Storm brings it (see earlier post), I bet you'll like this one, too. Superb front cover, by the way...
Rotting Christ is a Greek death/black metal band that was formed in Athens in 1987. This release shows nicely why I use the slash in the previous sentence, as the guitars and drumwork are typical for death metal, using a highly distorted melodic thrash sound with ample bass, whereas the vocals use the more black related high-pitched, more expressionist sound. And then there's the discerning touch to Rotting Christ, something you can clearly hear in an album I posted earlier (Diabolos Rising): their very economic yet effective use of an ethereal synthesizer. Their music as a whole is fairly simple, I guess, but it stays interesting nevertheless, probably because they're good at keeping a steady rock rhythm combined with a great atmosphere. I really like this release, it's heavy without being too dark.
William Orbit (aka Ørbit) is a British musician and producer who has throughout his lifetime received much critical acclaim, notably for his production work with Madonna. When Pieces, Orbit's sixth solo release, came out in 2000, I was intrigued by the idea, but also a little wary: more often than not, digitalized classical music verges dangerously close to kitsch (if you've seen A Clockwork Orange, I'm sure you know what I mean!). Nevertheless, Pieces is a meticulously crafted album, very warm and beatifully touching. You'll mostly hear deep synths, little blips and an acoustic guitar here and there, all merging very nicely. I think it would be fair to say that this is a masterpiece in the genre (most other similar attempts reaching back to the 1970s). If you're into soft, lush ambient music or possibly if you're a lover of classical music, I think you'll like this. And I'm quite interested in your opinion here!
Now here's an album that has profoundly influenced me! Ever since this pandora's box of freak insanity came out, life became a rollercoaster of madness. Oh why did Les Claypool have to bring out an album like this? Apparently it's politically correct to claim that Sailing the Seas of Cheese is a better release, but to be honest I like Pork Soda way more, I guess it simply suits my mind. I will presume that I don't need to introduce you to Primus, but if you've never heard Pork Soda: it's extremely nutty alternative rock that skates the thin line between funk and metal. The musicians (bass, guitar and drums) are all highly gifted and when combined provide an explosive recipe for great, albeit pretty weird, 90s classic alt rock. My favourite is probably "The Hamburger Train", it just gets me laughing madly all the way through. Prepare for an audio rollercoaster!
Quite a number of you will probably know Ned's Atomic Dustbin, but just in case you don't... The Ned's bring you pure power-pop as only the ninetees could deliver. God Fodder is their debut album, and the band members were only 17 or 18 years old when it came out. Apparently they got slagged off a lot at the time, I read often because of their ridiculous image (ah yes, that's it: "You look like a bum... You look like a goddamn girl.") - but luckily they didn't care the least and just made really good music with a super positive vibe to it. They're quite unique in that they use two bass player: one for the typical undercurrent, and another for extra melody. This is done really well, as the bass lines are kept very neatly apart. Great music, a 90s classic alternative rock album! Their later work is supposed to be even better, but unfortunately I can't tell you whether that's true or not.
After their '94 smashing Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Underworld released a heavier, more dance-oriented 2-cd album in 1996. Many of the tracks have a higher bpm rate and tend to move closer to the trance music of the time. However, they still use their typical mellow bass drums and the songs are intelligently written, quite unlike much of the abovementioned trance music. Some may find the lenght of many tracks a tad tedious -boring even- but fans of Underworld or dance music in general won't be disappointed with this. It's not all fast paced, though: the album is nicely balanced, all in all. I used to own this double cd, until some dude with the surname "Himmel" stole it from me. Not a very heavenly act, indeed. I'd like to thank 
Hello, gays and gulls, sorry for the pause lately, but I'm afraid the music stuff will be getting somewhat dampened from now on, as I am officially no longer unemployed. What this means b-log-wise is that I won't be too keen on sitting in front of my pc screen after being exposed to near-X-ray flatscreens for 8 hours. Hope you all understand...
