Ok, so some kind of artist extrovert from Japan – Mustumi Kanamori aka Mu decides to pitch-deck over to Manchester (or perhaps it’s Sheffield?) in England & link sucker-pads with this dude Maurice Fulton – a poly-instrumentalist/programmer/producer to eject a riotous farrago of digital-dance/disco/funk/garble under the influence of Glitch, discordant Electronica/IDM Experimentalism with scrapings of amateur Hip-Hop, Batucada & Latinesque percussion with moody art-house battleaxe bitch-craft in the scowling Grace Jones emasculation mien kinda’ colliding with hyperactive histrionics & uninhibited incessant theatrics & deliberate over performance! Sounds fun right? & it is, utterly delightful energetic nonsense! hilarious, dope, unpredictable, tangential & enigmatic. The entire project/conduct is a piss-take, but within relentless fooling & performance-ridicule they exercise substantial effort. Maurice composes some excellent tunes, drops some fly bass-licks & mires the whole gig in tons of super distortions/filters/synths & digitized sonics & FX that constantly agitate n’ alter. Th tracks twist & evolve & even the more binary tunes boast a progressively mutating set of phonetics & drum-programming that introduce new details, sounds & subsections. Mu comes more with energy, LOTS of energy, opting for fanaticism & fervency rather than conventional training/skill/adeptitude or what you will. She reminds me of the kind of girl that can’t swim but has the courage to jump into any swell…. & drown with style if necessary. This kind of sedulous amateur nutcase that just throws themselves at the task with as much confidence, vim & confrontational brashness whilst lacking “craft” expertise is often a winning formula where the unbridled spirit, enthusiasm & artistic-belligerence manages to smash the door off. With the astuteness of Maurice’s manic production, this shit ends up really fucking kicking. It’s also just hilarious & the paradoxical nature of trashy vs hi-end, well structured vs free-wheeling ridicule & clean, well-produced professionalism pitched against discordant garbage & infantile indifference overseeing commercial elements colliding with more extreme/unconventional genres is a total bullseye. Shit never seems to run out of ideas either, & the scavenging miscellaneous pantheon of ingredients means that you can run into almost anything without warning (cue some kind of Country lampoon on So Week People & tons of oddities & variety throughout across a whole species of genres). You can imagine Wire reading wankers & expresso addict Hipsters falling off there fold-up bikes fa’ this shit, but remember – it’s 2004 & it’s not Shortditch but Sheffield via Nihon & NY. Also, despite ticking so many boxes in the aforementioned territory – this stuff clearly is cut from a genuine pedigree & has a strut all of its own. I got this disk ages ago & hugely enjoyed it, but listening back now I actually think the entire project was even more special & have not heard anything in this bracket at this level since. A thorough knock-out!

Rekd – 2004

Label – Output Recordings

Mu-Afro Finger And Gel CD:

so I finally got a copy of Mu’s first album recently. Much like it’s successor (Out Of Breach) it’s the same mad melange of over-excited bitchy digital dance dementia & distortions dilated with dollops of – well, whatever they feel like really. Overall, I think it’s not as accomplished & consistent as the superb Out Of Breach, but there is some seriously fatal shit on this album & I also think it’s less accommodating/more intense even exhibiting some nebulous Grind/Noisecore signature/influences in places. Afro Finger & Gel, My Name Is Tommi & the instrumental I Hate U all blatantly override the safety restraints/comfort zones & plunge into more extreme territory (you can see the audience thinning). The title track – Jealous Kids is a classic. All dead-pan snarl, catty gorgon vitriol & FX modulated mangling with amazing production from Maurice. Mu’s atrocious grammar (utterly endearing) was even worse during this album (& therefore better) before her English picked-up, so expect misshapen sentences jutting out of blissfully mispronunciated wreckage (“everybodys should respect what people do)”. Totally essential, but of course.

Rekd – 2003

Label – Tigersushi Records/Output Recordings