arDATE = new Array( "September/October 2004" ) arARTIST = new Array( "Various Artists", "Various Artists", "Pimmon", "Senking", "The Chaperones", "Bauri", "The March Violets", "The Harptones", "Future Bible Heroes", "Pulse Programming", "The Pandas", "Jos Smolders", "Carrie", "The Royals", "The Bop-A-Loos", "New Order" ) arTITLE = new Array( "Frente 57", "Open Up and Say...@_|^[!]", "Assembler", "Tap", "Cruise To The Moon", "Morning Dew EP", "Grooving In Green", "Life is But A Dream", "Eternal Youth", "Tulsa For One Second", "Pan De Monio", "Music for kalx.com", "I Gotta Keep Dancin'", "Moonrise", "Sincerely", "Ceremony" ) arTRACK = new Array( "3. Mannequin Lung - Turo Plays Solo", "22. Nudge - Blue Screen", "9. not_PATH", "4 Maybe", "A Side", "Side B - Solvind", "B Side", "A side", "12. Kiss Me Only With Your Eyes", "3. Stylophone Purrs and Mannerist Blossoms", "8. To A Long Lost Puppy Love", "5. 01042000", "A Side", "A Side", "Side B, Track 1", "Side A" ) arDESC = new Array( "This release consists of all ten tracks from the now out-of-print first and second Beta Bodega 12-inch releases, 2K and B-2. The Beta Bodega Coalition consists of Hamijama, Patcha Kutek, Atlajala, TPM and special allied member, Mannequin Lung. In addition, Frente 57 contains new bonus tracks by Patcha Kutek (Push Button Objects), v8 & La Mano Fria and Hamijama (Takeshi Muto)." , "Wham, bam, thank you man! Truly defying all expectations, Tigerbeat6 brings you afull-length super-budget-priced label compilation featuring all vocal tracks. A stunning musical showcase of vocals, instruments and electronics fused in drastically varying ways, this compilation serves as a guidemap to what Tigerbeat6 has been up to recently, and where we're going in the near future. Featuring a full 80 minutes of music, comprised of 24 previously released, new and upcoming songs by all the best and essential Tigerbeat6 divas and troublemakers. Never before have we managed to create such a kickass representation of what we're about, or offer it at such a low price. The tracklisting speaks for itself -- this is the definitive Tigerbeat6 release of 2003!Wham, bam, thank you man! Truly defying all expectations, Tigerbeat6 brings you afull-length super-budget-priced label compilation featuring all vocal tracks. A stunning musical showcase of vocals, instruments and electronics fused in drastically varying ways, this compilation serves as a guidemap to what Tigerbeat6 has been up to recently, and where we're going in the near future. Featuring a full 80 minutes of music, comprised of 24 previously released, new and upcoming songs by all the best and essential Tigerbeat6 divas and troublemakers. Never before have we managed to create such a kickass representation of what we're about, or offer it at such a low price. The tracklisting speaks for itself -- this is the definitive Tigerbeat6 release of 2003!Wham, bam, thank you man! Truly defying all expectations, Tigerbeat6 brings you afull-length super-budget-priced label compilation featuring all vocal tracks. A stunning musical showcase of vocals, instruments and electronics fused in drastically varying ways, this compilation serves as a guidemap to what Tigerbeat6 has been up to recently, and where we're going in the near future. Featuring a full 80 minutes of music, comprised of 24 previously released, new and upcoming songs by all the best and essential Tigerbeat6 divas and troublemakers. Never before have we managed to create such a kickass representation of what we're about, or offer it at such a low price. The tracklisting speaks for itself -- this is the definitive Tigerbeat6 release of 2003!

Tracklist:

1. The Rip Off Artist-Vibrating Vegetable (edit)
2. The Bug ft Daddy Freddy-Politicians & Paedophiles
3. Dynasty-You've Got Problems
4. DJ /rupture-Bonechip
5. Com.a-Bitches from Outerspace
6. Dwayne Sodahberk-Partying Without Inhibition and Dignity
7. kid606-Titanium
8. Numbers vs. Caro-Intercom (stalker mix)
9. Max Tundra-Lysine
10. Stars as Eyes-Some Life
11. Numbers-Disease
12. Electric Company-Black Beauty
13. Crack (we are rock) -The Sabbath
14. Knifehandchop-Transition Emotion (edit)
15. Max Tundra-Lights
16. Cex-Stillnaut Rjyan
17. Total Shutdown-Pond
18. Zeigenbock Kopf-Death in Disguise
19. Terminal 11 feat. b. bond-In Place of Love
20. Original Hamster-Hamsta My Dear
21. Nathan Michel-Rings
22. Nudge-Blue Screen
23. Stars as Eyes-Settled
24. Dwayne Sodahberk-The Agreeing Song", "Paul Gough (aka Pimmon) has been making waves these past twelve months; he says he is 'addicted to sound manipulation' and it clearly shows. His early proto-ambient loops on, for example, 'Vovul II' (Static Caravan, 7-inch) and 'Gleznot' (A Posteriori, 8-inch) have since been overtaken and overturned by the anarchic digital cut-up fun of 'Top40Fodder' (fals.ch, mp3) and further refined in the industrial/melodic sound-worlds of 'Kinetica' (K-RAA-K3, CD).

'Assembler', his third full-length CD, is accompanied by 10 x 60 second MP3s, 60 x 01 second SimpleTextAudio files (in collaboration with Japanese media artist Otaku Yakuza) and 'graphic scores' (by Fällt's Fehler). All are available for end-user 'assembly' from the Fällt web site and, although each part merits individual attention, for brevity's sake only the CD is considered further here. Suffice to say that the components fit together cleanly and that a clear thread runs through audio and visual.

The CD, opens with '%macro.prologue', a torture chamber in miniature which unleashes a swarm of angry hornets on the unwary listener before splattering great gobs of digital effluent across the stereo plane, finally inflicting the auditory equivalent of a brilliant strobe at painfully close quarters. 'Just another exercise in digital pyrotechnics?' Thankfully, no. Despite the hard edges (and, be assured, many do follow) 'Assembler' soon reveals something a little more melodic at its centre. Many of the tracks are marked by their use of buried melody, subtle peripheral activity and underlying drones. In 'random n' dust devils whip up loose earth close at hand but distant chimes suggest that, although a storm may be brewing, there may yet be some clemency. 'Repeat', on the other hand, begs to be turned up loud. It's shuddering form suggests the blue/black anvil of an imminent storm front, one which rages with considerable ferocity for some minutes until, a spent force, it plays out on a looping refrain.

The final track '%macro.end' is something of a contrast to its immediate predecessors; totally unexpected, it is beautiful, elegiac and quite breathtaking. Suggestive of a wounded animal crying out in final death throes or in mourning it is a timely reminder of our own mortality.

'Assembler', like 'Kinetica' before it, exhibits tremendous attention to detail but never at the expense of emotional engagement. For its obvious use of digital technology it might draw easy comparisons with, say, Pita or Christian Fennesz; however Pimmon, like the others, has his own artistic signature - in his case warm and emotional - and on the strength of this and his previous work, one worth attending to...", "With his new album »tap« senking expands his personal style in a consistent manner. Atmoshpheric fields and brief fragments of melody are again and again combined with autonomous, multiple piled, percussive sound particles.

Nevertheless »tap« has nothing to do with producer attributes like »clicks and cuts« or »microsound«. Senking knows how to hide the technological aspect of these purely electronic tracks. He stresses the more timeless and more important facet of his compositions – the atmosphere. Openly structured tracks flow, fill the space and produce a certain density communicating very privatly with the listener.

Jens Massel aka Senking lives and works in Cologne, Germany. Besides the »senking« project he regularly works under the pseudonym of »kandis« and »fumble«.

»tap« is a hundred per cent studio album in contrast to the rasterpost predecessor »forge«.", "I'm not much of a fan of white doo wop, but this is one of my favorite songs. And I just got a very nice clean copy of this 45.

The Chaperones were five guys from Long Island - Tony Amato (lead), Roy Marchesano (1st tenor), Tommy Ronca(second tenor), Nick Salvato (baritone) and Richard Messina (bass). Tommy and Roy went to Farmingdale High School on Long Island, Tony was from Deer Park and Nick was from Bethpage. As Tommy Ronca remembers, the group was put together by Tony Amato who sang with the Fabulous Exquisites previously. The group had a couple of different names prior to the Chaperones including the Sharptones and Fairlanes. The name 'Chaperones' was chosen because dances and proms were popular at the time and the term was in vogue.

In 1959, the group was invited to record for the famous Josie label. Nick went to school at C.W. Post with Steve Blaine whose father was Jerry Blaine head of Josie. The song was 'Cruise To the Moon.' It was produced by Steve Blaine and Mickey Eichner. 'We go into the studio,' recalls Tommy Ronca, 'and there is this big band. It was just terrific - the most exciting time. We never dreamed it would do anything. All of a sudden you start hearing it on the radio. I'm in my 1955 Chevy - my Dad's car and I'm listening to my song on the radio. It was a wonderful time of life.'

While the group was waiting for Cruise to the Moon to be released (it was recorded in May 1959 but not released until the summer of 1960), they backed up Lee Adrian on Barbara, Let's Go Steady and So Lonely (Richcraft Records). Off the success of Cruise to the Moon, the group became, what Tommy Ronca calls, the 'Kings of Supermarket Grand Openings' as they played their share of the same. 'We used to go in a limo, our record was really cooking then,' recalls Tommy. Other memorable shows included Murray the K gigs at Frontierland and Freedomland, shows with the Earls and one memorable show when they appeared with the Five Satins and one where they backed Paul Anka.


They backed Lou Jordan on Paradise for Two b/w Close Your Eyes (1961) on Josie. They then released their last record on Josie a remake of Blueberry Sweet by the Chandeliers b/w Man From the Moon - the follow up from their early success.

Following Shining Star, Tommy Ronca left for Las Vegas where he performed for many years and produced Vegas shows. Tony Amato kept the group going for many years until his death in the late 1980's.", "Bauri is Martin Abrahamsson from Stockholm, Sweden. He has recorded for a bunch of labels incl. Mille Plateaux, City Centre Offices, Neoouija and English Muffin. From his Swedish homebase, he also runs his own label Saundart. His Embryo EP on Debug Hartwaren features his irresistable blend of clicks'n'cuts inspired rhythms mixed together with the most beautiful, overwhelming melodies.

This single is out on the English Muffin imprint, in a very limited, now out of print run. It's sweet. There is a wealth of music around from Bauri, and you can read about all of them [here]. The only other work of his that i've heard is the Slacker Journal full-length out on the UK's Neo Ouija imprint, which was a huge hit among the WZBC No Commerial Potential crowd. ", "The March Violets began in 1981 as one of Leeds' four famous drum machine bands, alongside the Sisters of Mercy, Three Johns and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. The Violets favored stark, primitive rhythm-box beats (as did the others), overlaid by Loz Elliott's heavy bass throb and Tom Ashton's inventively droning guitar (reminiscent of Magazine's John McGeoch). What set this quartet apart was the unique interplay between the two complementary lead vocalists — big, bearded Simon Denbigh (woof!) and enigmatic Rosie Garland. His dark, commanding intonations intertwined with her eerie soprano wailing, imbuing the simplistic material with a strident, almost dissonant mystery.

Before a schism with Andrew Eldritch led the Violets to start their own Rebirth label, they were on the Sisters' label, Merciful Release, starting with Religious as Hell, an establishing 7-inch. Natural History collects the band's early work, including the EP (save for the odd 'Bon Bon Babies'), three follow-up 45s (the brilliant 'Grooving in Green,' 'Crow Baby' and the insistent '84 dancefloor hit, 'Snake Dance') and such rarities as the searing 'Radiant Boys' (copping the riff from the Cure's 'Object') and mesmerizing 'Undertow.' Though not a discrete album, Natural History flows magnificently.

By 'Snake Dance,' Garland had departed, replaced by the more upbeat Cleo Murray. The lineup held for the subsequent 'Walk into the Sun' but, as 1985 dawned, Denbigh was squeezed out of the band (he immediately formed Batfish Boys). The first post-Denbigh 45 (the misnamed 'Deep') laid bare the Violets' weakened condition. Electric Shades, the band's second compilation album, assembles the entire contents of the three later singles: 'Snake Dance,' 'Walk into the Sun' and 'Deep.' With the dissipation of the band's intensity, Cleo's thin, pretty lead vocals simply don't carry the new material. The Violets continued to surrender to conventionality, obtaining a real drummer and crassly exploiting Cleo's beauty. After contributing two items (including an amazingly catchy rendition of the Rolling Stones' 'Miss Amanda Jones') to 1987's Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack, the March Violets faded away.

This track is the flip to the seminal Grooving in Green seven-inch. ", "My favorite doo wop group of all time, the Harptones finally land a spot in bunny notoriety. Despite not landing on the RB or pop charts during their entire careers, the Harptones were a superb doo wop ensemble. It's hard to believe this fact when listening to so many of their fabulous 45's today. This track, from 1955, is more of a transitional sound from their less disciplined sound on Bruce to their polish on Rama, Gee and Tip Top.

They initially emerged from a 1953 union of members of the Harps and Skylarks. Willie Winfield and his brothers Jimmy and Clyde first teamed with Bill Galloway and Johnny Bronson as the Harps. When Galloway sought a pianist for the Harps, he found Raoul Cita in the Skylarks. Eventually a new group with Winfield and Galloway plus former Skylarks Cita, Curtis Cherebin, and Bill Dempsey became the new Harps. Unlike most doo wop and RB units, the Harptones (who took that name in 1953 after Bruce Records executives Morty Craft and Monte Bruce informed them there was already a group on Savoy called Little David Baughn and the Harps) were more jazz-oriented in their harmonies and arrangements, thanks to Cita. But they weren't so sophisticated that they lacked earthiness or grit, thanks to Winfield. 'I Want a Sunday Kind of Love' featured Winfield's silky vocals and the group's magnificent harmonies. It was a big regional success, but never got national attention.

That was the story for virtually every Harptones single. Though they were popular enough to be included in the historic 1955 Rock and Roll Ball at St. Nicholas Arena in New York alongside the Drifters, Clovers, Fats Domino, Moonglows, and Big Joe Turner, they never scored a national hit. They recorded for Essex, Old Town, Rama, Tip Top, Gee, Warwick, Coed, Cub, Companion, and Raven, among others, besides Bruce. The Harptones cut an LP, Love Needs the Harptones, for Ambient Sound in 1981. They continue playing clubs and oldies shows even now.

I've been waiting to land a clean copy of this first pressing for a low price since I was 13 years old. Done. ;-)", "Future Bible Heroes are a songwriting collaboration between Stephin Merritt (words and melodies) and Chris Ewen (instruments). They met in Boston over a decade ago, forming a bond through their mutual love of chanteuse Yma Sumac, composer John Cage, and the collecting of exotic instruments and Tiki art. After many years of friendship and musical rapport, the band has released two albums ('Memories of Love' and 'Eternal Youth'), and three EP's ('I'm Lonely (and I Love It),' 'Lonely Days,' and 'The Lonely Robot').

Chris Ewen is the former keyboardist for the 80's alternative rock band Figures On a Beach, on Sire Records. He now composes incidental music for ads and films, as well as for a solo project called The Hidden Variable. He is a popular DJ at Cambridge's Man Ray club, and an aficionado of all styles of music from 50's lounge to 90's synth-pop.

Future Bible Heroes is the fruitful product of Ewen's exotic electro-pop instrumentation, replete with samples ranging from Hawaiian birds to computer printers, overlaid with Merritt's exquisite pop songs and humorous lyrical style.

For their first album, 'Memories of Love,' vocals were provided by both Merritt and Claudia Gonson, Magnetic Fields pianist-drummer. For the second Future Bible Heroes album, 'Eternal Youth,' Gonson takes over as the lead vocalist on all songs. ", "Pulseprogramming is a multimedia collaboration featuring musicians Joel Kriske and Marc Hellner, film/video artist Eric Johnson, art directors Hans Seeger and John Shachter & poet Joel Craig.

Joel and Marc began the collective in Portland, OR, relocating since to Chicago. Both persue their own independent music projects outside of Pulseprogramming & Marc has contributed to L'altra at various times.

Hans Seeger resides in Milwaukee and his pervious Pulseprogramming packaging concepts have been recognized with various accolades (I.D. Magazine, Creative Review, & British Design among others). On 'Tulsa For One Second', he teamed up with long-time collaborator and art director John Shachter, who also illustrated the release. Recently both Hans & John art directed, edited and designed an issue of Big Magazine on the subject of Chicago.

Eric Johnson lives in Portland, OR and creates all of the wonderful imagery that accompanies Pulseprogramming on tour, as well as the video included with the 'Tulsa' CD. He has directed two Nike TV commercials for Widen & Kennedy. Joel Craig (Chicago) has recently published poetry in Fence and Bridge magazines and contributes all text for Pulse releases.

Over the years Pulseprogramming have performed live a handful of times. Performances include: the Andreas Gursky opening at the SF MOMA, headlining the Aesthetics showcase @ Sonar festival.2003 & The Wire Magazine's festival in Chicago. They have shared the stage with such artists as: Mum, Mouse on Mars, Lali Puna, Opiate, Styrofoam, Casino vs. Japan, Marco Passarani, Mice Parade, Add N To X, Nudge & most of the Aesthetics roster.

The group has toured N. America twice & Europe once. Marc has supported L'altra on tour in Europe and Joel performed in NY at Brian Alfred's (guitarist of 33.3) art opening. ", "I happened into Al-Bum's record store in Worcester one afternoon, where I sometimes go to unearth odd pieces of post punk minutiae evry now and then (this trip, a sealed Skinner Box LP, and a Spehrical Objects LP on Cherry Red, among others...watch for future bunnies. Woo Fucking Hoo!), when the very nice man behind the counter began playing some really wonderful music. This is it. The Pandas. Turns out he did the percussion on the record. The more I hear this, the more I love it. So many influences, from Mille Plateaux Click-Hop to Mole-era Residents to Hacker-era Clock DVA to Livonia period His Name is Alive. Really lovin' this. And the fact that they sample James Coleman and Liz Tonne makes this exceptionally high class stuff. Their website is still under construction, but [Bookmark It] for future reference.", "SHHHHHHH! You'll have to listen closely and remain attentive to this very quiet music. Ios Smolders has been composing music since the early 80s (under his monikker IOSS and his actual name) and was one of the original members of THU20, a Dutch electro-acoustic ensemble (which also features Roel Meelkop and Peter Duimelinks, both of Kapotte Muziek and Goem). In the early nineties he released two, now well sought after LP's, one for Korm Plastics and one for Quiet Artworks. His two CD releases for Staalplaat are interactive works and are still available. They are less a finished work, but a work in progress for which the active input of the listener is required. 'Music for Kalx.com' is his latest work and has five pieces from pure sine waves. The CD has a really nice flow in the pieces and can easily meet the best composed works of Ios Smolders, which some think to be the second LP. It has the Ios trademark all over it, despite the fact that he limits himself to just pure sine waves.", "Some background on Carrie Lucas from AMG: A Los Angeles vocalist, Carrie Lucas' light, feathery voice made several Solar singles in the '80s. Lucas was the girlfriend of Solar head Dick Griffey, but also was a background vocalist for the Whispers prior to signing with the company. She was never able to land any breakout hits while with Solar or Constellation, the closest being a number 20 R&B record in 1985, a cover of Barbara Lewis' 'Hello Stranger.' It matched her with her old group the Whispers.

This misses her earlier days as premiere disco diva and this song on the Soul Train imprint, I Gotta Keep Dancin', where she is credited as simply 'Carrie'. This came out while we were seniors in HS, so it's a bit later than the 'First Days of Disco' compilations might imply.", "This early tune for the Royals is one of the dreamiest R&B ballads and ranks among The Flamingos' Golden Teardrops as the best examples of this ethereal, often ghostly sound of the early 50's. This Detroit band formed in 1952, with Henry Booth, Charles Sutton, Lawson Smith (heard on lead here), and Sonny Woods as the original lineup. Hank Ballard replaced Smith in 1953 and became the lead singer. They became the Midnighters in 1954. The group disbanded temporarily in 1965, then reformed with Frank Stadford, Walter Miller, and Wesley Hargrove. This unit worked in the James Brown Revue for several years. Hank Ballard also wrote the early 60's dance craze smash hit, 'The Twist', having recorded it two years earlier than the familiar Chubby Checker version.", "I have not been able to find any biographical information about this fabulous band, The Bop-A-Loos. The reason this is included under the strange record category is that it is just incredibly odd to hear this mambo adaptation of the Moonglows' classic. That ascending staccato saxophone and the totally aggressive dramatic conga playing really make me giggle. And all those rollicking parallel fifths on the piano! My Music Theory professor would most assuredly have been ripping his plugs out - a biiiiig Luigi NoNo that. Notice that they also cover another doo-wop tune, Hearts of Stone. Not as screamingly riotous as this, but also fun. And dig those crazy conga players on the cover. Put on your Dr. Scholl's cha-cha heels, Gladys, it's going to be a bumpy night...", "AMG says: The debut New Order single was actually one of the last songs written by Joy Division and sounds it, not least because of Martin Hannett's production and the tense, strong energy that that band made legendary. However, like 'Love Will Tear Us Apart,' it also showed a new warmth and spirit, a sense that while the frustrations of connection still dominated Ian Curtis's lyrics, a more optimistic surge of energy carried all before it in the end. Peter Hook's bass sounds less ominous and more like a promise of a new beginning, Bernard Sumner's lead guitar riff a recharged way to brighter visions. Sumner's singing is restrained and still very much in Curtis's vein, unsurprising for someone who never expected to be the vocalist, but effective nonetheless, with the wounded, gently human edge that would become his own calling card already starting to appear. As a valedictory moment to what was past and as its own effort, 'Ceremony' is a beauty.

Ok so why is this a pivotal song? Well. For obvious reasons, it's pivotal to the path of the band, a steering point involving Ian's death and the resulting musical shift. We don't believe this was the last JoyDivision song; it's obvious that the entire Movement album is a JD effort as well, but that's beside the point. This is particularly important to me because it marked the point where I began to take punk music much more seriously, as an artform rather than a backdrop to weekend club nights in college. By 1980, most tof the bands and their producers learned how to work the studios much better and were growing intellectually as well. This song in particular ushered in an entirely new way to listen to music for me, making it an appropriate choice for the first in a series of pivotal recordings to be featured here. " ) arLABEL = new Array( "Bets Bodega", "Tigerbeat6", "fallt", "Raster-Noton", "Josie", "English Muffin", "Merciful", "Paradise", "instinct", "Aesthetic", "Rogue Tape", "ERS", "Soul Train", "Federal", "Mercury", "Factory" ) arFORMAT = new Array( "CD, Full-Length", "CD, Full-Length", "CD, Full-Length", "CD, Full-Length", "7-inch 45RPM", "7-inch 45RPM", "7-inch 45RPM", "7-inch 45RPM", "CD, Full-Length", "CD, Full-Length", "CD, Full-Length", "CD, Full-Length", "7-inch 45RPM", "10-inch 78 RPM", "7-inch 45 RPM Extended Play", "7-inch 45RPM" )