Meat Beat Manifesto
“Actual Sounds & Voices”
nothing records
Grade: B
Squarepusher
“BigLoada”
nothing records
Grade: A
When Trent Reznor of Nine Inch
Nails fame said he was starting a
record company, it sounded a little
strange. Then he started getting
groups, and it ail started to make
sense.
With Nothing Records, Reznor
picked up two of the best digital musi
cians working today: Jack Dangers
(a.k.a. Meat Beat Manifesto) and Tom
Jenkinson (a.k.a. Squarepusher.)
Start with Jack Dangers - call him
the most hit-or-miss musician work
ing today.
Dangers, under the name Meat
Beat Manifesto, has been part of the
music industry for nearly 10 years
now, working as a remixer and a
breakbeat whiz kid with a flair for
heavy-bass techno. He has a knack for
creating house music gone acid then
clean again. He’s worked with dozens
of people, from the Disposable Heroes
of Hiphoprosy to Emergency
Broadcast Network.
MBM is almost better known as a
remixer than a composer, and there are
reasons for this. Dangers is the master
of the hard and fast single, but after
that, he tends to waver a little bit, and
pads each album with filler.
Sometimes a great album slips out, a
la “Satyricon.” Other times, he gets
overly gratuitous, as in the thoroughly
padded “Subliminal Sandwich.”
The newest album, “Actual
Sounds & Voices,” finds Dangers
backed by two other folk - Lynn
Farmer who handles drums and per
cussion, and John Wilson on prepared
guitars. Dangers himself is listed as
performing voice, bass and “stuff” i.e.
everything else.
It’s also only Dangers’ second
album working with computers, fol
lowing “Subliminal Sandwich.”
While “Actual Sounds & Voices”
isn’t anywhere as self-indulgent as
“Subliminal Sandwich,” it does have a
few moments that will build an auto
nomic reaction to hit the track skip
button; “The Tweak” immediately
comes to mind.
Dangers is getting great at adding
layer upon layer of sound and filling
headphones or speakers with a lull of
waves - only to be followed by a rage
of drums and distorted guitars.
Unfortunately, though, “Actual
Sounds & Voices” doesn’t really con
tain a stand-out song like most of
Dangers’ work. There is no “It’s the
Music” here, which is perhaps the
most redeeming part of “Subliminal
Sandwich.”
Part of the problem is that Dangers
is trying too much too fast too often.
He’s learning how the computers work
and readapting his tape-loop mentality
to the flexibility of a digital system.
Some people like to compare
Dangers to fellow digital gurus Future
Sound of London or Aphex Twin.
Neither of these, unfortunately, is a
fair comparison.
If MBM were to be compared to
anyone, the closest and most likely
suspect would be Fluke, but both take
very different approaches to their
music. MBM loves to flood noise after
noise after noise until there’s almost a
complete cacophony. By contrast,
Fluke lets huge walls of drum and bass
fill each track-and color in the rest
with little details. While the two are
very different, they are also very simi
lar.
“Actual Sounds & Voices” isn’t a
bad place for someone to start listen
ing to MBM, but it also isn’t the best
work that Dangers is capable of. It’s
good, but not stellar.
Then there’s Tom Jenkinson - call
him the most fluid man in music today.
As Squarepusher, he has slowly
changed from the hard-hitting drum
’n’ bass techno to a sort of jazz-techno
hybrid, the likes of which are new to
the ears.
But the first thing Nothing
Records did when it signed
Squarepusher was to collect all of the
early singles and compile them into
one CD. It’s called “Big Loada.”
The singles are the raw techno
breakbeat powerhouse kicks one
would expect from a person bred in
London’s acid house scene.
The key to “Big Loada,” however,
is to realize that it’s a collection of
7?
early tracks that don’t have any real
continuity.
That said, “Big Loada” is a balls
out combination of good solid drum
’n’ bass, including the surreal fuzz
tones and slap-bass of “Come On My
Selector.” The CD is even enhanced so
you can see the video for the track on
any computer.
Don’t buy “Music Is Rotted One
Note,” Squarepusher’s newest album,
or “Buddakhan Mindphone,” its latest
EP - expect heavy techno. The jazz
that isn’t prevalent here gets much
stronger.
All in all, these two releases hold
promise for Nothing Records, which
might just start to establish a counter
to Astralwerks, the label that’s had a
firm hold on techno in the United
States.
Thanks to labels such as nothing
records, V2 Records and Warp
Records, there are other options.
And thanks to artists like
Squarepusher and Meat Beat
Manifesto; there’s good music to sup
port them.
-CliffHicks
Jonathan Richman
“I’m So Confused”
Vapor Records
Grade: B
It’s a testament to Jonathan
Richman’s talent that he can make a
line work such as “I want to open up
my lunchbox and find a peanut butter
and jelly sandwich in there, like when
I was 6 years old and somebody loved
me.
For Richman, the world is an awk
ward, confusing place where he can’t
remember the address of a party
(“The Night Is Still Young”), his
favorite'places to shop are as awkward
as he is (“The Lonely Little Thrift
Store”) and love is a constant source
of tension (‘True Love Is Not Nice”).
But Richman never sounds
depressed. He’s the gawky teen-ager
who never grew up, but in this role the
world always looks brand new.
Richman may have been one of the
major inspirations for punk rock, but
his undying optimism is miles away
from the punk scene’s nihilism and
anger. Just imagine Johnny Rotten or
Joe Strummer singing a line such as
“People all over the world are good,
people all over the world ain’t bad,” as
Richman does on “Affection.”
Most people know Richman from
his role as the singer in “There’s
Something About Mary.” The small
part showed his wry sense of humor
and introduced him to a mainstream
audience. But Richman had made his
mark on underground rock back in
1972. A collection of demos made
with his band, the Modem Lovers pro
duced by the Velvet Underground’s
John Cale, was recorded then, but
cold feet from the record company
prevented the album from being
released until 1976.
The self-titled album is one of the
greatest rock records ever. Richman
copped the raw sound from the
Velvets, but injected die music with a
sweetness and naivete that Lou Reed
and Co. were too gritty and experi
enced to explore. The record saw
Richman put down drugs and pro
mote healthy living 10 years before
the “straight-edge” movement erupt
ed in hard-core punk, without that
scene’s preachy elitism.
Richman explores the same lyri
cal topics 25-plus years later on “I’m
So Confused,” and the music is as
catchy and honest as his first album.
Although Richman abandoned the
punk guitar sound of the Modern
Lovers for quieter acoustic-based
music, his songs still sparkle with the
punk ethic of simple, fat-free rock
that’s not trying to make a fast buck.
Ric Ocasek produced the album,
and it’s his most subtle work yet.
Ocasek, who usually takes the con
trolling hand in a record’s sound, sits
back and lets Richman and Ms band
mates play their songs cletoriy and
simply.
Richman’s guitar playing is not
going to get him on the cover of
“Guitar World” anytime soon, but his
playful mixture of flamenco, pop and
raw rock is subtle and perfect.
The album’s only flaw is the repet
itive pleasantness that mars a few of
the most ordinary songs. Some listen
ers may also get tired of Richman’s
adolescent themes.
Even though Richman has been
happily married for nearly 20 years
and has teen-age children, he is still
singing about the experiences of
being young. If listeners can get past
this, they will find Richman’s simple
observations surprisingly profound.
Unlike manufactured teen idols
from Leif Garrett to Britney Spears,
Richman actually nails down what it’s
like to be an awkward, insecure teen
ager. If it takes a middle-aged father to
get adolescence right, so be it
-JoshKmuter
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Magazine
covers stop
in Lincoln
STONE from page 9
cal elements of modernity. Sexy, nude
photographs of hot actors and bands
have become commonplace for the
magazine’s front covers, accenting the
growing lust in American entertain
ment
Simply put, Rolling Stone isn’t
exactly what it set out to be.
“How the mighty ambitions have
fallen,” Repprat said. “Although it’s
probably unfair to judge an era based on
an idealistic statement of another time.”
Thirty years ago, founding father
Jann Wenner sold a magazine about
“devil’s music.”
Now walking through the exhibit is
as much a business experience as it is
musical.
The aforementioned fust issue, as
well as its six successors, was printed
on non-glossy paper in a fully black
and-white design.
Rolling Stone’s financial growth is
obviously displayed as the production
quality improves from year to year.
Repprat said the magazine’s focus
has also changed, but didn’t go as far as
to hold it entirely against die publica
tion. Rolling Stone has always been
indicative of the times, he said.
“It wasn’t so much about hype as it
was content back when they started,” he
said. “It’s not the intellectual juggernaut
it used to be.
“Nothing is the intellectual jugger
naut it used to be.”
The layers of potential discussion
for the “Covers Tour” display are great
evidence of the impact Rolling Stone
has had on American culture.
Repprat said he enjoyed the exhibit
and still picks up a new copy of the
magazine from time to time.
“I believe that popular culture is an
important reflection of the time,” he
said. “I’m still interested in what’s
going on in popular arts and culture,
and Rolling Stone can give me a quick
overview.”
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