POST SCRIPTVM: Homunculi
nEGAPADRES.3.3.: Transelow (Magyar dwarf myks)
DUSK OF HOPE: Arkan (electric version)
DUSK OF HOPE: Etat d'Urgence
SEA-GREEN SERIES: Le Carré des Indigents
PROPERGOL: Emotional Rescue Show
RADIODRAMA: Vestibular Disorders
OLD IRON FENCE: Wrong Number

During my reign as reviewer for AP I’ve written thousands of words for one hell of a lot of recordings. Never the most articulate or great writer, my grammar is appalling, I’ve always done my best to convey my thoughts in a way that everyone can understand. Even then I occasionally fall flat on my face. In fact I’m still prone to the odd ‘hitting the tarmac’ moment. What then do I do when faced with a recording as spellbinding as "A reassuring voice on the television" that’s just been released on the French Hermetique record label? I made a statement in a previous review when I stated that that compilation recording and one other were all you would ever need in your collection for 2006. Dumb and stupid I know… but hindsight is not a gift I’ve been born with. So I’m going to make amends. A bit late but what the fuck. Add this to the essential compilation releases for 2006. Better still put it top of your shopping list… if you still make them of course. Here’s why…

Featuring Radiodrama, Post Scriptvm, Dusk of Hope, Negapadres 3.3, Propergol, Sea-Green Series and Old Iron Fence the eight tracks (Dusk of Hope appear twice) of music featured on this release are what I would call examples of intellectual spectral noise or sample strewn audacious soundscapes. Take your pick. Both are correct. For let it be known that these featured artists know how to confound and delight by playing and manipulating sounds into indescribable majestic music.

What makes this recording so different in many respects is in the way that the samples are integral to the accompanying music. A more thoughtful and interesting batch of diverse samples I’ve experienced for many a long while that doesn’t actually overpower or play down the sonics but enhances and riches the whole experience. Samples though aren’t the be all and end all. The music must reach new heights to work in amalgamation and here we have the equivalent of a Mount Everest. A prevailing thunderous approach that isn’t afraid to throw in monstrous beats or high-powered fragments of noise at will. Where electronics dominate and are used ingeniously and diligently. Every trick of book used by the artists fertile imagination Where the sounds reflect a certain organised chaos and feral abandon restrained at the leash. A take no prisoners recording with a cinematic flourish that has no equal. Nightmarish visions brought kicking and screaming through the stereo speakers. This aint no honeymoon baby. Power noise and experimental fragments transect each other continually. Incredible. Just awe inspiring and jaw dropping.

Any CD that has the mighty Post Scriptvm, Dusk of Hope, Radiodrama and Propergol on the same release can’t fail. They have already gone down in myth with their "Marginal Existence" [read review here], "Flexible Response" [read review here], "Autopsy No 9" and "United States" / "Renegade" / "Program Vengeance" [read review here] recordings - and their contributions alone are worth paying for. Add in the ‘soon to be great on this showing’ of Negapadres 3.3, Sea-Green Series and Old Iron Fence and what you’re left with is a recording that fulfils all the criteria that the discerning music lover demands. Even the DVD case and enclosed cards are a touch of class. You won’t be disappointed.

ANM