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Mood Ruff Night.Life.Types (Slo Coach) Partners Spitz and Odario put their heads together to hammer out this 11-song piece of Winnipeg hip hop. Odario rhymes kind of simplistic, but it's soothing and genuine. I was surprised at the level of boom-sha-lack in the production, but that's probably because I saw they were from Manitoba. Overall the beats are great, broaching a kind of Brand New Heavies/Heavy Rhyme Experience vibe at times. I wouldn't mind seeing these guys live. 7.5/10 (Scott C) Aphex Twin Windowlicker (Warp/Warner)
Pan sonic A (Blast First/Mute/Fusion III) Last year, the twin Finns of Pan(a)sonic Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen paid homage to their stark, electronic inspiration by recording with Suicide's Alan Vega (on VVV). This year they're back to their own bag of tricks, in which they turn tones and bursts and bleeps (and more and more 808 slap) into something greater than what might come off as a stereo test record. Harsher and more minimal than Oval, Pan sonic is second only to those Germans when it comes to pointed ambiance. 8/10 (Chris Yurkiw) With Trans Am at Cabaret this Wed. April 21 Spectrum & Silver Apples A Lake of Teardrops (Space Age/Brilliant)
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The other Rick James returns with a trio of tracks that are edgy, innovative and utterly self-indulgent. The title number is a twisted hunk of android disco slow jam with an unnervingly sensual character--sorta like a naked hairy fat man in makeup who just wants to "snuggle." The piece that follows it is a riot in the robot factory, a dada-damaged patience tester. My pick, however, is the closer, "Nannou," a clockwork lullaby with a Balinese flavour that more than makes up for the shortcomings of the first two tracks. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Here's a marriage made in heaven. Simeon was one-half of forgotten techno-pop pioneers Silver Apples who, in the late '60s, did the unthinkable: minimalist folk pop in a Radio Shack science kit stylee (drums 'n' oscillators, see--guitars verboten). Sonic Boom was one-third of drug-positive trance rockers Spacemen 3 in the '80s, before diving headfirst into circuit board surfing. Now they join forces for a psychedelic sixpack of out-there analog activity. Catchy one moment, downright weird the next. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)