I had no idea what to expect. With a name like satanicpornocultshop, you would think that they were going for shock value, sort of like Smell and Quim. When I put it in, I was pleasantly surprised. But most people who put this into the CD player will probably respond with "what the hell is this?!" Here’s the short answer. It’s a lot like Nurse With Wound and Negativland. If that sounds good, read on.
One problem that I see with this album is that it’s almost too disjointed. In a review of a previous album, Anorexia Gas Baloon" David Cotner described them as follows: "While the pubicity touts Satanicpornocultshop as "surrealist hip-hop", it would be more correct to advertise the group as 500 channels with a beat." This album follows a similar recipe, which makes sense considering that this is a compilation of remixes. What is not cut up is reversed or stretched. There are 19 tracks on the album that wade through a variety of styles all mashed together. "Punusunic > Remix" is a track I could see becoming a hit at "Club Acid Junkies." "To Be > Feat. Electronic Café" moves us into weird lounge. Other tracks sound like circuit bent video games.
And then there are the covers. The covers are a lot of fun. "Kylie Minogue > Arabic Belly Dance Music" is like a disco from hell cover. A cople of tracks rip off lyrics from Duran Duran’s "Save a Prayer" in interesting ways.
The last track, "59054087 (reprise)" weighs in at 13:55, making it the longest track on the disc. However, it behaves more like several tracks put into one. It’s more mellow than the others and has a synth line playing the music from "Imagine" by John Lennon slamming into War Pigs by Sabbath and voice speaking about killing the President of the United States. There are a lot of other songs mixed in as well. This sounds a lot like smething Negativland would do. Political commentary mixed with pop culture references.
The cover art is an interesting artistic collage (what else would you expect from a band like this?) Overall, this is interesting, but definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. If you like spastic cut up music that never quite descends completely into noise, this is a good place to look.