Under The Influence

Messer fur Frau Muller (translates as 'Knife for Mrs. Muller' in German) originally started in 1991 in St.Petersburg, Russia. The current version, with the addition of Oleg Kostrow, takes its sound into unusual territory defining it as “post easy-listening,” drawing on samples from the 50’s and 60’s pop-culture, with addition of bass, guitars, synths and programming.

The influences on "Triangle, Dot & Devil" come from music styles as varied as surf, twist, mondo, lo-fi noise, experimental electronica, and even cartoons, children’s educational records, and sampled dialogue from Soviet cinema.

Have a listen to 'Agents and Spies'. You'll want to hear more, trust me...

It's so hard to classify anything these guys do. I love it, I really do. It's like they're able to strip the music back expose just the stuff that effects us. Then they rebuild with a layer of absurdity in place of traditional content. Those that don't try to understand are put of by this layer and those of us that do are left scratching our heads trying to figure out what it is that makes it so damn effective.

Music Midas Touch.

This certainly became one of my electro favourites of the (sailing) trip. I don't know the first thing about Apparat but of heard little bits and pieces of Allien before. I believe she's from Berlin. Turns out Apparat is a Berliner too. Oh, look at that, he owns Shitkatapult (the label T.Raumschmiere is on).

I'm glad this isn't like so much of the stuff you hear in the Berlin clubs (though I have come to appreciate that Berlin club sound a lot more in recent months). Really it has far to mellow of a vibe to make good club music. Bubbles is more about the shapes of the sounds than the beats. It really does sound like an Orchestra of Bubbles.

Mmmmmmm, Way Out is a silky little gem.

This sound is a hard one to throw a label on. I guess you can kind of think Whitest Boy Alive on shedloads of valium or maybe Sparklehorse on uppers. It's beautiful and oh so gentle. As are their videos.

I saw them play at the Goldmund Festival though I'm struggling to remember what they were playing... machines, guitars and drums I think. It would be stupid to point out that there are two of them in the group (it's late at night and my brain is going).

Listening to it again I simply can't pick a favorite but I Could is the most accessible track; hopefully that should serve to get everyone hooked.

What a simple loop based bit of loveliness. I love the way the same beat is carried throughout but the work has numerous different movements that all feel distinct. 4:10 sees the introduction of a shaky synth that sounds so frail you think it'll pass away on each note. Somehow the whole thing builds into a big dark cloud of sound. Something very NINish about the final soundscape.

It's the subtlety of this work that interests me - feel like I understand that whole German glitch obsession much better now (through this one piece). Then again, Matthew Dear really did help too.

The piece is far older than I'd originally thought. Not only that but it's also a cover of a Neu! track. Proving once again that I seriously need to go crate digging for kraut-rock.

Now, I can't remember if my well electro-educated (glitchy stuff in particular) friends told me if this guy was good or not but if they didn't, well, they were wrong. This stuff straddles the glitch/pop divide nicely.

Before I downloaded this album I actually grabbed a copy of a tune called Dog Days that everyone seems to be banging on about (those in the know cringe at my ignorance right now). It deserves the attention actually. Smart, upbeat, poppy, catchy and interesting. All the classic glitch noises are there but it's music your girlfriend would dance to. The same story goes for Asa Bread too.

The moment I arrived back in London after my travels I asked my friend, Will, to give me a big musical dose of the new and interesting. This was the second album on the stereo. Now I'm hooked. Currently sitting on the train back from Bristol trying to jam as much of this stuff into my head as possible before the Dan Deacon gig at The End tomorrow night. I can't wait, looks like damn good geeky fun.

Synths running arpeggios, fat basslines, catchy hooks all bashed together in wonderfully cohesive poly-rhythms. And let's not forget the sing-a-longs for the whole family (which seem to be the basis for the live gigs).

I guess, to most it's just noise (though I'm not going to presume to know what's going through the head's of the masses). Wham City has it all covered (12 minutes long, you gotta let it build). If you ain't got it by the end of that pearler, well, I guess you never will.

I overlooked the release of this album a couple of months ago (I was at sea at the time) and I've been feeling like I missed out on something special. Never mind though, relief comes in the form of Burial overdose. Back in June when I was completely blown away by his eponymous debut LP I had no idea that his second album was so near, nor that it would be met with such widespread acclaim; it's even taken the prize for album of 2007 on metacritics list!

There's plenty of stuff out there on the ol' inteweb saying the same thing, it sounds like South London in the dark; it sounds like a post-rave come-down; it sounds like the remnants of the dance culture that we've almost lost. But there's something else that nobody seems to have picked up on, Archangel is ambient pop gold. Those cut to shed vocals just couldn't get any more appetizing.

One gripe. Why isn't this stuff being nominated for the Mercury Prize? I mean, I fail to see the difference between what's happening here and what Roni Size was doing in the 90s. Maybe there's a slight conflict of interest going on these days?

Short, precise, punchy, hard rocking pop gems. I'm having trouble accepting that this is from the mid-90s. Well, not really but it's definitely aging well (sounds like it's knowingly trying to sound a bit old... if you know what I mean).

You don't have to look much further than Th15 L1ttl3 P199y to get a good idea of how powerful the hooks right alongside a demonstration of their more experimental ambient sound. Pop over to the next track, 5trun9, if you'd like a closer examination of the experimental work on here; reminds me of Fear Factory in a way.

Honestly, there are so many damn clever addictive little hooks on here I really don't know where to start. Helpfully, the whole thing is so concise you just start at the beginning. Once it has started you can't turn it off until it's over.

Not that it has anything to do with anything but all of the song titles are written in a semi 133t style. W1ck3d!

This one is getting the prize for most enjoyed album I've given to other people recently. There are a handful of people that I've shown this one to that seem to have fallen in love with it. I haven't listened to it enough to get to this stage but I can see why. I put it down to the super slick dubbed out hip hop production work.

There's plenty of variation in pace from soul vibes in Talk to Me to head nodding use of Beastie Boys samples in Got To Rock. The two city named tracks, Manchester and Milwaukee feel like abstract Shadow/RJD2 productions.

There are guest vocalists all over the place here (a different one on each track). We even get treated to the current favourite in my house of residence, Skinny Man.

If you're off to go chill out in the sunshine anytime soon put this one on the top of the playlist. You really won't regret it.