i’ll start off by admitting that i have always been aware of alecs history, but until this album dropped on the mat @ ireallylovemusic hq, i had never had the (dis)pleasure of hearing any of his previous music.

this oversight was often due to the fact that the descriptions, even when the reviews were glowing, would make me concerned for my mental health should i ever be exposed to the extreme digital noise that alec is renowned for.

however, this album is like a year zero release for alec, and very listenable it is to.

despite the fact the such phrases as industrial, noise, distortion, anger, difficult can easily be applied to each of the albums 10 tracks.

apparently, for this first release on alecs new label, eat your heart out, he has decided to make an album that is chocka with singing in a style that’s not too far from the spoken rant-n-sing of mark e smith, which is a little weird when the music is often a mutated variant of electro, with the constant appliance of acid squelches, distressed analogue noise (synthetic or guitar), and pounding drum machines.

thankfully though, amongst the soul baring negativity are some tunes.

oh yes. tunes.

for a start, album opener, new man, will have gary numan fans biting hard being a direct update of garys use of dark moods and cheap synths.

whereas several tracks such as if you live of die, ups the nine inch nails connections with its processed guitar chords.

not all of the songs work so well, especially towards the end of the 43 minutes as the words become increasingly direct and difficult listening.

a warm hearted love album this is not.

the decidedly cold atmosphere of bug on my windshield (”i don’t wanna be with you”) is matched by a intensely sparse combination of electro-bleeps and thin and crispy drum machines, leaving the grand finale to be a drawn out noise treated bass riff over which alec drones on about a fire killing out the both of us, pause for dramatic effect, slowly.

ooooh, the old romantic. except, rather than this sounding like a reach out to another soul, it sounds like some form of homage to the evil twists of angst ridden revenge.

still, despite these concerns, there is no denying that the album is a cracking blast of testosterone fuelled, straight to the central nervous system, electronic rock, that when in the right frame of mind, will entrall and pump up the adrenalin and emotions of many a listener, thus proving that not all music that comes out of berlin, the city in which alec recorded this, is of a minimal techno meandering type.

 

more detail : here