textura

Albums
Alsace Lorraine
Becuzzi & Orsi
Andreas Bertilsson
Cheju
Coleclough & Liles
Dev/Null
DJ Bone
eRikm (Ferrari) & Lehn
Fisk Industries
Fridge
Hanna Hartman
Jazkamer
Laub
Madagascar
Manasyt
Mus
Organum
Pandatone
People Press Play
Laurent Perrier
Porn Sword Tobacco
Pylône
Milford Reynolds
Rumskib
Skeletons and Kings
Ran Slavin
Stateless
Televise
Throbbing Gristle
Tied + Tickled Trio
Akello Uchenna
Brendan Walls
John Watermann
Mark Williams
YACHT
Z'ev / David Linton
Zonk't

Compilations / Mixes
Beat Dimensions Vol. 1
Buzzin' Fly Vol. 4
Hernan Cattaneo
Hot Chip
Jamie Jones

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
A Guy Called Gerald
Ambivalent
Apparat
Atone
Audion
Dan Berkson
Andres Bucci
Taylor Deupree
Emot. Joystick / Line 47
Feel the Beast
Renato Figoli
John Keys
Komonazmuk
Ed Laliq
Miskate
Peace Division
Alix Roy
Sinner DC
Someone Else
Urban Tribe

Dev/Null: Lazer Thrash
Cock Rock Disco

Recorded between 2002 and 2005, Dev/Null's (Pete Cassin) debut full-length Lazer Thrash pushes breakcore to its zenith, with the collection's material so jam-packed with micro-detail (the drum programming especially), it implodes. Lazer Thrash s relentless, combustible onslaught is assaultive, but the light-speed style doesn't entirely negate the tracks' musical potential. “Hiphop2” and “Alien Washcloth Tumor” open the album with hip-hop heaviosity and funk shredding respectively, while the slightly slower “Goblin” oozes gloom as it demolishes whole towns with volcanic force. Along the way, one withstands metal raveups and soundtrack-inflected set-pieces. Cassin occasionally allows a piano to be heard sans deafening clatter, though the moment typically passes quickly before the instrument is swallowed into the vortex.

Dev/Null's sound is at its most extreme on furious cuts like “Real Ultimate Power,” where 8-bit arcade electro gets slaughtered by pummeling beats, and “I'd Rather Mainline Preparation H Than Listen To Your Shitty, Shitty Music,” which opens in dancehall-electro mode before being hijacked by shredding breaks. In “Bolt Thrower in a Chine Restaurant,” arcade synths and doomsday strings do battle before the detonation occurs, shattering everything within range. Less appealing are the spastic noisecore workout “Hello Japan !!” and “Symphonies of Suckness” where the tempo accelerates so much the drums seem to choke on themselves. Generally speaking, the material's overdriven style and claustrophobic density grow wearying by the time the epic roar of “Banal Universe” drops eleven tunes in. Lazer Thrash suggests that Cassin's completely insane and entirely proud of it.

June 2007