Hifana – Channel H [2005]

Hifana is a Japanese breaks duo notorious for their live shows in which they trigger all samples by hand.  I imagine that they must cut a lot of studio tracks based on that kind of live improvisation as well, as you won’t hear a lot of intricacy in the layering of sounds in the tracks on Channel H.  Instead, a few carefully-selected samples are cut and collated into continuously shifting phrases that can be intuitively understood.  I’m surprised at the mileage the duo can get out of something like a few bars of shamison music or whatever the bamboo-sounding percussion is in track five.  Generally I prefer music that feels more carefully composed, as opposed to “jammed,” but the good source material and playful feel make this easy to recommend.

 [YouTube] Hifana - Wamono

[Artist Website] http://www.hifana.com/

Hifana – Channel H [2005]

01 - Channel Push Breakin'

02 - Wamono

03 - Mr. Beer

04 - See'em

05 - Tanglang

06 - Now Thinking

07 - Nampooh

08 - Now Playing

09 - Ryukyu Long Board

10 - Akero

11 - Raggachin H

12 - Waiyandub

13 - www.Hifana.Com

14 - Peeteejay

15 - Asalato

Machines of Loving Grace [1991]

By the mid nineties every major label had an industrial pop rock band in their back pocket, cleaning up the disposable cash of NIN and White Zombie fans.  Not all of the bands probably deserved the attention they received.  Machines of Loving Grace benefitted modestly from that trend, if mostly from track they had on The Crow soundtrack.  Really, Machines of Loving Grace is a rare case of a 90s industrial rock band that should have – and, I think, could have – been bigger. 

I like this album the best, their 1991 self titled debut on the then-still-indie Mammoth Records.  It’s easy to draw comparison between this album and Pretty Hate Machine.  Hard rock guitars, programmed drums, samples, synth, occasionally processed vocals, check, check, check, check, check, but beside the point.  What makes the albums kindred is the quality of pop songcraft.  While most of their peers were reveling in the mechanical coolness of electronic music production, MOLG created not necessarily warm, but at least human sounding music, with real hooks and catchy choruses.  And, unlike a lot of studio-based artists of the time, it sounds like an actual band.

 

Rumor has it that the demo submitted to Mammoth Records consisted of the very same audio tracks that were released as this record.  That may explain why the recording lacks a robust bottom end, but otherwise sounds good for an 8-track garage recording.

[Youtube] Burn Like Brilliant Trash (at Jackie's funeral)

Machines of Loving Grace [1991]

01 - Burn Like Brilliant Trash (at Jackie’s Funeral)

02 - Cicciolina

03 - Rite of Shiva

04 - Lipstick 66

05 - X-Insurrection

06 - Content

07 - Weatherman

08 - Terminal City

09 - Number Nine