UNDERGROUND A&R REPORT

These reviews will appear in Electroid webzine out May 2005

http://undergroundrecords.org/electroid/


Faetal - '[sic]'

Electronica with a smattering of guitars, plenty of samples, feedback and the oblique anglish vocalist who is multiple parts of many electro-industrial singers. The higher BPM numbers here are generally lacking, though when the tempo slows and the groove is more apparent (21) at least the music is somewhat enjoyable. Vocalist Pete Boyd is close to a'la Rotten circa PIL era, yet Boyd needs to draw a bit more blood, his delivery being hinged onto melancholic phrasing. The sound engineering and production overall of this album (produced by the more-than-able Justin Calloway) keeps the Wasp Factory label known for strong sounding product. For the UK, Faetal probably feel at home, abroad, especially in the US, they'll need a more definitive sound, not to mention some hit singles material, to bring it together. Contact: Wasp Factory Recordings, http://www.wasp-factory.com, enquiries@wasp-factory.com,
+44(0)1242521713

Charlotte Summer - Bizarre Love Triangle

Charlotte has done a decent job presenting herself as a dancefloor pop star. The flat vocals and lackluster production don't help her out much though, though I will
give her points for trying to layer things for some fullness in the vocals, regardless if the finished work sounds.......unfinished. One could hear a protege of Prince, circa 1985, and this dating does not help as much as you'd might expect demographic wise. Charlotte has a few above-par songs, "Cage" is an "early in the evening" dance floor spin, really the closest thing on this album to a single and a pretty good one at that; yet why she would do something like a remake of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven", in a monotone, karaoke kinda way, ahhhh, you're guess is as good as mine. Miss Summer's image and presentation are ok, now we need to work a bit on the tunes. Contact: http://www.charlottesummer.net


The Invincible Sex - split ep by The Fair Sex & The Invincible Spirit

Love it when I get cd's with nothing written on either side and no label whatsoever, both sides blank (don't even get me into the new ones I've seen that were clear
almost). I almost always first time put in the wrong side. When you get a split like this though, it's worth it to turn it over, as this will surely be a collector's item. Seven big beat euro-industrial skull rattlers, nothing too overpowering, just nice donations from both these underground superstars. Tops for contributions goes to the very trademarked sound of The Fair Sex's "The Naked And The Dead" with it's combo melodic dark electro goth deep and nasty throughout. It is but the setup for the prussian craftmanship of The Invincible Sex's "Red Glow Horizon" which follows. The majestic synth line and just enough warbling vocal wise make for a classic dub candidate. A heavy industrial version of this song is being called for, let us pray. While there isn't alot of new ground being broken anywhere on this split, and just a tad reload from either band's by now extensive libraries, industrial cornerstones like "Alphasex" from The Invincible Spirit show while the collaborative numbers (herein known as "The Invincible Sex") work, it is the seperate work of these two artist that contribute to the overall greatness. Turn this motherfucker up and zone baby, zone. Contact: http://www.thefairsex.de, http://www.theinvincible-spirit.de, http://www.endless-records.de


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