I was happy to learn that Antenne had a new record out. I am a fan of Danish musician Kim Guenther Hansen's project because they are the only band I know that is able to achieve a mixture of experimental music, noise ambience, jazzy textures, trip hop coolness... It's quite unlikely in words, but it works great in action. The knowledgeable balance of lush electronica pieces, the sporadic breathy sax parts, the occasional upright bass jazzy flavors, the smooth female voice of Marie-Louise Munck, the synth pads lounging the slow drum beats (brushes, rim shots and machine), the noizy background rush, the reverb wash wetting the instrument of choice, the delayed guitar enhancing the swirly effect, the piano donating grace to already beautiful songs, the warping electronics... All these elements interact with a savvy that is uttermost astonishing and establish an environment of melancholic smoothness and emotional expressiveness. "#2" is more minimal than their debut "#1" and I don't consider it to be superior than its predecessor, but if you like Staalplaat's experimental edge and you also enjoy Massive Attack, Portishead and bands like that, this could really be the best of both worlds in one record! Look out for a remix EP of the opening Nick Drake cover "Black Eyed Dog" with contributions from Opiate, Freiband, Monotonos, Manual and Dub Tractor later this year (or early next year).

San Fran's vintage experimental musician Thomas DiMuzio (read review of his "Mono::Poly" double CD on Asphodel records elsewhere on these pages) and NYC's Arcane Device member and audio/video artist David Lee Mayers, have engaged into the coast-to-coast mail collaboration, which eventually lead to "Uncertain Symmetry", after the two played together at the renowned Tonic club in NYC's Lower East Side. They actually started working together in 1991 for the Generations Unlimited record outlet and eleven years later they picked up the pieces of that collaboration and started all over again. They have been shipping each other CDs with feedbacks and both have been editing and re-arranging all of that into a blend of astral feedback-based music. Mayers is actually the inventor of a portable device he calls the "feeback machine", which he has been playing with since 1987. Obviously to recognize the differences in style between the contributions of one and the other, you'd have to have a throughout knowledge of their music, but even if you do, in this record it is almost impossible, considering the bicoastal ping-ponging has been going on for a long time. Considering the source of the material expect sonics that develop mostly in the mid to hi-range frequency spectrum. What I found interesting is that the result is not harsh material but has rather got a certain "cosmic" feel to it which is kinda pleasant and relaxing. Besides the two URLs provided for your convenience in the header of this review, you may also visit Dimuzio's Gench (www.gench.com) and Dimuzio's personal website (www.thomasdimuzio.com) as well as Myers' website (www.pulsewidth.com).

A band that describes their style as synthpop-grind-core with influences of Depoche Mode and Napalm Death is quite an interesting concept, hard to imagine until you hear it. Musically speaking the Plainview, NY, duo Estrogenocide plays fast electro-core music that is quite minimal in structure. Think fast hard core or grind double kick drumming but with drum machine instead, guitars replaced by reso-like synth-lines and a semi-distorted vocal that would feel at home with any german ebm band from the nineties (or even earlier). What is disappointing to me is that the sound palette is extremely limited. The entire record is pretty much played with the same presents on the drum machine, the synth and the vocal processor and at the end it becomes quite repetitive (not boring, 'cause the songs are short and to the point). If you are not bothered by the uniformity of sounds, then you might find a bone to pick with them when it comes down to lyrics... I doubt that NYC has made me too politically correct or conservative, but these lyrics really sound sexist. The words you hear (also printed in the booklet, to their credit) are centered around sex and quite obsessed with the male-dominant thing: "kick that cunt in the cunt", "two black eyes and a broken jaw, now make me some dinner, pick yourself up the floor", "chew and swallow down your midnight snack", "rape is fun, rape is good, rape is so misunderstood", "I will cut your nipples off" are just some of the less explicit parts.

After their triple LP/CD "Geogaddi" (almost a year ago), Scottish Boards of Canada are back with a re-issue of their legendary debut "Twoism", originally released as a 100 copies limited edition LP and MC in 1995 and subsequently sold for up to about 1000 dollars among collectors! Warp, who signed them in 1998, is to be thanked for here, as this, by many considered a true masterpiece of ambient music, is readily available at human prices again! The drifty chill-out ambient music magically performed by Boards of Canada has been entirely re-cut and re-mastered and the same track-list (including the unlisted hidden bonus track) is reiterated. The peculiar Warp signature sound bleeds through this record with its lush electronica, dreamy harmonic sounds, minimal song bodies and straightforward drum patterns. Among the Warp artist roster I would probably pick Autechre as a good match (even though I haven't heard the latest Autechre music), but also Jimmy Cauty and the Hartnoll brothers are a plausible inspiration here. Some of their analog synths actually sound like Aphex Twin (check out "Seeya Later" to know I am right ;-) but it's just the sounds, not the beats. "Twoism" is now available as a digipack MCD with the original artwork and a sticker as well as a 12" black vinyl. This music is beautiful, powerful, emotional, hypnotic, relaxing... a great example of the "less is more" philosophy!

The beginning track "Swamped" displays the graceful flow of chords on the CD, flowing from one gorgeous power chord to the next, getting metalheads and Goths alike to moving. Even the Sarah McLaughlin types can get into this one. The song shows their power to be both heavy and graceful at the same time, which was well displayed on the last CD, Unleashed Memories. Gliding along side it is "Heaven’s A Lie", which can be considered both a pop song and a metal-ethereal song at the same time. Throughout the CD, power chords paint an atmosphere for both male and females both masterfully done. The sound seems to be going towards a more This Ascension-type style of ethereal rock, with very tight playing and the occasional keyboard adding to the atmospheric mood. And for the fans of their Italian sung songs like me, there is the closing track "Comalies" (the promo pack says it’s sung in a dead language. When did Italian die?!? Did I miss something and Italy just disappeared?!?!). My faves on here are Swamped, Heaven’s A Lie, Self Deception , Tight Rope, and Unspoken, though this whole CD is meant to be listened to all the way through for that good trance effect. The entire CD is pure delight for both Goths and metalheads out there to enjoy, getting these two different and often opposing groups together. And to me, with my found again love of metal I put his band as my top ethereal outfit, led by some of the best guitarists in metal and one of the most gorgeous and talented women in music (she sings not with classical training like some would think, but just on sheer heart). Stay tuned for the posting of the Lacuna interview soon! Rating: 10.