Tara King TH : Sequence 01.( Mudahpeach).Or the art of dark-electro /down temp fairy tale (Mudahpeach rec in France-release in March, Lakeshore in the US-released in Feb... no further info for Norway)
It usually takes me a very long time to listen to a new record. I know it is probably the same for everybody, but it takes me an extremely long time -I try not to include everybody when I am talking about myself, anyway. I like to be responsible for my own bullshit. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, record listening... I like letting the record take me where it is going without forcing it, without resisting it. Only then can I talk about it (hence the small amount of reviews... see, it s not only because I m so lazy). Sometimes it does not work, though, and I remain as blank as muzak can be. My mind is just floating around and I have to grab it back every once in a while (and no, I don t smoke pot). It was not the case for this album, though. I was taken on a trip by surprise. Trip-hop beats as introductory foreplay on "H2-C15", piano parts flying around dark, rich samples in a lid-like sky over a cemetery with no gates. When "Tightrope Walker" started, with its male-female vocals magically intertwining over the lonely silence of a post-war battlefield. This record has to stand in your record collection next to Cure (they have a really good cover of Cold), Massive Attack, Lamb, Portishead and Broadcast, although it is going to raise some ordering issues (have to forget about the alphabet on this one... who decided letters were supposed to be in order anyway?). Arno Boyer, the lost soul behind Tara King TH will not mind, I promise. As a matter of fact, he is very concerned with personal freedom. He started this solo project to open up an other space of expression, besides his post-rock trip-hop band Curtis Newton (his band members took part in the project, though). For our immense pleasure, he made an enthralling album that will bring to your ears a Requiem for a Dream type of misty, mysterious atmosphere built up in layers of dreams. Enjoy the magic.more info
The Kills : Black Rooster e.p.B (Domino Records). (Don't forget to check their website, for the visual part, since they are not planning to paying us a visit right now: www.thekills.tv) Here come the Art School audio and video genius DIY simplicity concentrated in a male/female guitar-drum duo. Start with a sexy gum chewing on a music box background (sounds like a parody of Brigitte Bardot on Godard’s Le M2pris) and yes, I will chew gum for you anytime, baby! It is The Kills hot line that will take you all the way to New York in the best of Jon Spencer/Boss Hog/ Sonic Youth style: white light, white heat, raw guitars and sweaty sex. With your light-hearted fuck-it-all-sex-drugs-and-rock'n'roll style, oh yeah, you really got me.
Growin' Hair : Animal vs Mineral. (Les Disques du 22).
Two boys and two girls for this guitar-free French band. Quite a relief to hear them, really, we were started to think France was, from now on, only going to export such shitty tracks as "Generation Desanchantee" (remix even worse than the original). No, I will not talk about Ingrid, since she does not seem to be French and I do not want to get in trouble with you for misinformation (she is Danish, from what I heard). Growin' Hair has a very untrendy name, you are going to say, are they hippies, or something? Which would be very unpopular indeed, hairstyle wise, when 75% of the under 30 population is cutting their head fur into a digested and very proper mohawk (ouch!). But if I have no idea about their hair cut, I know that Growin' Hair do not make hippy music, fear not. Poisoned voice and suicidal bass lines fighting and embracing alternatively, or simultaneously. Samples, noises and screwdrivers help setting a deeper atmosphere. Elixir you will drink to the last drop, among other tortured tracks. Play this record Loud!