CD, Access Tonal Communications, 2005
www.rewirethefuture.com
Have you ever heard the proverb ‘never judge a book by its cover’? Well the same can be said for CD’s.
When I got hold of this “War Industry” I admit to thinking that the cover and some of the song titles sounded and looked an awful lot like some mediocre terror-EBM band (I’m not a fan of the genre personally). The cover features a man dressed head to toe in black, save for a black balaclava, armed with a rifle. That to me signifies something hard and stompy. Really not so. I couldn’t have been more wrong in fact.
This is wonderful, glitchy electronica, with titles that are an obvious statement to how war is seen in today’s media, and how the general public react to it. There are a lot of interesting sounds here ranging from… dare I say it… an almost funky, micro beats/house sound (in “Blame the Minority”), to minimal breakbeat (in “War Crimes”). There is a great hip-hop influence here, which is very refreshing to hear. A lot of electronica tries to go for a minimal sound, and tends to not really work with a lot of beats/bass and personally I think this should be embraced an awful lot more.
Political motivation aside (something else that generally doesn’t do much for me) this is something that should be looked into. Breakbeat, drum and bass, electronica, glitch – it’s all here and used brilliantly. Truly excellent.
[10/10]
— Kate Turgoose