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25th Anniversary [BOX SET]
The Miami-based KC and the Sunshine Band scored again and again in the '70s with their spirited, ultracatchy pop-disco. As this two-disc set makes clear, hits such as "Get Down Tonight," "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty," and "Keep It Comin' Love" remain utterly delightful. 25th Anniversary Collection also places emphasis on lesser-known prestardom singles such as "Queen of Clubs" and "I'm a Pushover." Its only real flaw is in a certain too-completeness that leads to the inclusion of three versions of the ballad "Please Don't Go" and a couple of weak Motown covers (KC's own Detroit pastiche, "Who Do Ya Love," is much more successful). Still, it's hard to imagine a more definitive look at these party kings. Click here for more information or to order this CD.
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EP 7
Thick fractals of bloops, blips, flutterings, and kerrangs are combined on EP 7, Autechre's least textural, most rabidly experimental release yet. At this point, Autechre's music pretty much exists within its own, idiosyncratic subgenre of the experimental techno subgenre. Their music invites hyperbole rather than external comparison: one could easily imagine that the discordant bleeps of track 4 are the sound of R2D2 flipping out on angel dust or that one segment of track 9 captures the demon baby from It's Alive devouring a microphone. While some tracks approach sublime chaos--where a dense, hard-to-grasp internal order is revealed after multiple listens--most of the pieces are perfectly content to resemble indecipherable alien transmissions. EP 7's 60 abstract, knotty minutes will clear most any dance floor but, by sheer force, cleanse the brain of all but the most primitive functions. It's fabulous. Click here for more information or to order this CD.
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Moist
If Aphex Twin taught us one thing it's that electronic pop's playfulness is most potent when it's to the point. Schneider TM, the nom du hard drive of Dirk Dresselhaus, has learned this lesson well; half of the tunes on Moist terminate before the five-minute mark, on each track he clearly expresses just one musical idea rather than throw in the kitchen sink, and he always finds room to indulge a sense of humor. But Dresselhaus remains his own man. His drum programs are much less hyperactive and more backbeat-oriented than those of the Twin. On the title tune and "Starfuck" he manages to invest overdriven noise with an almost nostalgic poignancy. And he does know how to stretch a piece out when it merits the treatment. The delightfully driving "Raum in Ort" lasts eight-and-a-half minutes, and gains even more authority when it's put on Repeat and just let go. Click here for more information or to order this CD.
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Party Album
This is one of those records crafted purely to dance around to and have a great time with. "We're Going to Ibiza" has to be one of the catchiest dance-pop songs of the late '90s; luckily the rest of the Vengaboys' greatest-hits collection provides similarly hedonistic, gloriously vapid pleasures. The Vengaboys' sound is what might happen if one were to throw Ace of Base, Stardust, and Miami Sound Machine into a blender and press the Purée button. The group (two women and two men) may look like a Saturday morning Spice Girls-meets-the-Village People cartoon, but their sound is not quite as campy as they look; it's all about fun--nothing more, nothing less. Click here for more information or to order this CD.
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Remedy
Finally, Basement Jaxx's long-awaited full-length, Remedy, has been issued in the U.S. It's aptly titled, to be sure: the production duo's record is a remedy to the dull, faceless house and techno that populates dance floors. The duo are unrepentantly pop savvy, bringing vocals and lyrics to their unique blend of electro, house, hip-hop, salsa, and soul. It's a weird combo, but like the best of all pop songs, Basement Jaxx tracks stick like putty to the ears within a few listens. In fact, you may feel that you've already heard much of Remedy when you give it a spin on your CD player. With their boisterous samples, vocal hooks, and funked-out, catchy bass lines, the songs "Rendez-vu," "Yo-Yo," and "Red Alert" seem like familiar friends, rather than just the next big thing. Click here for more information or to order this CD.
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Szenariodisk Ep
On Szenariodisk Markus Popp, a.k.a. Oval, feeds warm, almost organic sounds into his Oval process software and they emerge wholly changed as textural, distorted washes of drone, din, and crackle, accompanied by Popp's signature looped, skipping-disc click tracks. As usual, it's pretty astounding and mesmerizing stuff, sounding like a computer that's been fed far too much information and hence is sort of stoned. There are 11 tracks on this 25-minute EP, with the longer pieces tending to be more hypnotic and songlike and the shorter works tending toward bursts of pure, experimental noise that approach dirtier-sounding areas than those previously experienced by Oval. A few of the pieces are mind-boggling; track 7 is made up of overlapping waves and verges on an orchestral vastness that threatens to capsize the listener, especially if you play it really loud (which by all means you should). Click here for more information or to order this CD.
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The Seduction Of Claude Debussy
Seminal mid-'80s electro-pop players (their hit "Close to the Edit" recently provided sample fodder for Prodigy's "Firestarter"), Trevor Horn, Paul Morley, Anne Dudley, and new addition Lol Creme (of 10cc), have regrouped as Art of Noise just in time to introduce classical-jungle fusion to the world. Using revered composer Debussy's melodic blueprint to build its elaborate, velvety drum & bass compositions, the group manages to make what initially seems like a dodgy idea sound somewhat viable, particularly on dreamy, atmospheric tracks like "Out of This World." Vocal contributions come from Sally Bradshaw, Donna Lewis, Rakim, and even actor John Hurt. Click here for more information or to order this CD.
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Unknownwerks Vol. 1
"The New Crop of American Artists" reads the subtitle of this electronica compilation, and it's the "The" that rankles. America is crawling with widely disparate dance communities, from Bay Area junglists to midwestern techno purists to those ubiquitous tranceniks. Unknownwerks checks in on these various tastelands, but its main focus is on the latest wave of American breakbeat producers. This isn't the new crop, but it is arguably the new consensus: 4/4 is out, block-rockin' beats and cock-rockin' aggression are in. The result is 12 dance tracks that seek inspiration from Astralwerks licensees Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers, as well Florida's Funky Breaks scene and our native tradition of cutting and scratching. Though this can get as silly as the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" remix Norman Cook unveiled on tour--check "Hard Hit," Illinois producer Central's cheeseball reworking of "Tequila"--most of the time (i.e., Metrodub's "Cut Up Music (Jazzy Mix)" and Shiverhead's "Ready to Rock") this collection earns the right to someday be renamed Knownwerks. Click here for more information or to order this CD.
MUSIC LINKS BACKSTREET BOYS - CDs - Videos - Books BESTSELLERS - Page 1 BESTSELLERS - Page 2 RHYTHM N BLUES - Page 1 RHYTHM N BLUES - Page 2 RHYTHM N BLUES - New and Notable BRITNEY SPEARS CELINE DION - Page 1 CELINE DION - Page 2 CELINE DION - Biography COUNTRY MUSIC - Page 1 COUNTRY MUSIC - New and Notable COUNTRY MUSIC - Page 2 DANCE AND DJ DANCE AND DJ - New and Notable HIP HOP MUSIC - New and Notable JAZZ MUSIC - Page 1 JAZZ MUSIC - Page 2 JAZZ MUSIC - Page 3 JAZZ MUSIC - New and Notable JENNIFER LOPEZ - Page 1 JENNIFER LOPEZ - Page 2 MARIAH CAREY - CD's and DVD MARIAH CAREY - Video and Books MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS NEW AND FUTURE RELEASES NOTTING HILL - Soundtrack,Video,DVD,Books POP MUSIC - Page 1 POP MUSIC - Page 2 POP MUSIC - New and Notable RICKY MARTIN ROCK MUSIC - Page 1 ROCK MUSIC - New and Notable - Page 1 ROCK MUSIC - New and Notable - Page 2 SARAH MACLACHLAN - Page 1 SARAH MACLACHLAN - Page 2 SHANIA TWAIN WHITNEY HOUSTON
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![K.C. & The Sunshine Band - 25th Anniversary [BOX SET] Cd](kc.gif)
