. Ray Rumours : The Hemulen (Stich Stich).
Some people are moving, touching. they have this magic, this tenderness for details that make things important. they read mumitrollet and they play music, mainly on guitar, that they sometimes record in their bedroom. In hackney, or anywhere else. Ros is one of these people and she is making these beautiful lo-fi tunes that follow her life and she simply offers to anybody who wants to hear. Her record has a little bit of the Lesbo Pig sound, no wonder, really, since she's part of them. she also plays bass for Electrelane, but this almost sounds like another life. She s talking about her and her friend, she s talking about you, she’s talking to you... and sometimes she can also whistle. The artwork is totally homemade, with a booklet of drawing to illustrate the tracks. From her bedroom to yours. We love you Ros.
http://www.rayrumours.org/
. Gossip : Standing in the Way of Control b/w Le Tigre remix (Kill Rock Stars).
First track out of this Gossip's long awaited lp... it's due in January, so you're going to have to be a bit more patient. The album will also be called Standing in the Way of Control: an ode to resistance rock. It should turn into any dancefloor anthem in the coming months, especially thanks to the Le Tigre dance remix of the song, although to tell you the truth, I don't like it quite as much as the original version, probably I don't need a dance pill to appreciate an excellently rocking track.... Now you're hating me and your hair is all straight up on your head and disapproval shows on your face...while I am smiling my way to the next full stop ah ah. The Gossip's version has this angry, edgy soul to it, with this firing drumming on the chorus. This track has the guts and power of some "Rebel Girl," "Her Jazz" or "Dykes and Fageterians": it's empowering. "You live yr Life, Survive the Only way you know, Standing in the Way of Control"
.Gossip/Tracy and The Plastic split CD (Dim Mak Records).
2 bands, 4 tracks, pure rawk'n'roll stripped to its essential essence and electrorock: queer power to all! By order of appearance: "Left Out Now": Think Aurora Plastic Monster, they are the few, the happy few who can take you there too. "Sleepers": probably THE track where you can really appreciate Beth's voice fully, stripped on a simple, repetitive musical line, inflating. Beautifully tragic."Dawn Feather": a narrative over a rock (80s style) guitar and an aging sound drum machine. Pleasingly awkward, mockingly perfect."Save Me Claude": Think Miranda July's, Anna Oxygen's Sue P. Fox's type of narrative, shorten it to the minimum, put in a circles.... and you have a 50 seconds long track that might save your life whether you're called Claude or not.
.Heidi Mortenson : Wired Stuff (Wired Records).
We put the cd on. Breathing. Organic, orgasmic in a loop, between Kraftverk doing the Tour de France trick and PJ Harvey, Dry period. Then the song begins, somewhere between trip-hop and pop. Soft start, with sounds cut and sharp as diamonds. Forward, backward, some drops of Ruby (the Salt Peter album.... I just remembered it dates back to 1995….where the fuck is she now?!?!). From the very first tracks, it's obvious that Wired Stuff is a rich, dense album of layers, radical changes, and pop experiment without any set rules. It goes down unexpected strange paths and radically changes direction. "Working On It" starts as a Neubauten meets Future Lisa track to take some Scream Club ( I wrote this before I read they rocked together at Ladyfest Berlin... somehow I was not surprised) style traces, falls into a break which makes you check whether it's still the same song, and comes back again. Electronic sounds, sudden soft melodies, sweat and sex. It's HOT! She is Hanin Elias and Tara Delong talking about love, hurting, power, sex, and more. Irresistibly attractive. I thought about the freedom of Kevin Blechdom when I first heard the album (they are friends.. again, not really surprised I am). What is amazing about this record is that it is both really simple and really complex, it's difficult to explain, you have to feel it, really. it works as hell... and this adaptation of Rid Of Me she does.... goose bumps!
http://www.nosnetrom.net
