08'02

CURSOR MINER Explosive Piece Of Mind (LCD29) Lo Recordings 2002 13 Tracks. 42mins32secs. Buy this CD on line now

The cover of Cursor Miner’s first album says it all. A Kraftwerk-esque young man dressed in a light grey suite, black shirt and black and white tie leans slightly towards the front, with eyes closed. But looking closer, a drop of blood can be seen coming out of his ear. Disturbing. Explosive Piece Of Mind is a disturbing record in many ways. Described recently by Uncut as “electro Syd Barrett meets Aphex Twin meets Gary Numan with a touch of early Eno and a nod at Beck”, this album shifts constantly between edgy electro and obtuse electronica, with little catchy bombs cleverly placed along the way. Hailing from Chichester, in West Sussex, young Cursor Miner was first noticed on last year’s Complete Death Of Cool and this year’s Lo & Behold compilations which gained the man critical acclaim from publications as diverse as The Times and Muzik, and was championed by the likes of John Peels or Mary-Anne Hobbs. Explosive Piece Of Mind is a rather heteroclite collection of sounds and tunes, ranging from the noise abstraction of Scrapma to the almost anthemic chorus of Salt Solution, condensed into forty minutes of comical mayhem. Because Mr Miner dares not to take himself – or his laptop for that matter – seriously, his compositions are amongst the most entertaining heard this century. His lyrics are equally nonsensical and amusing. The man seems to adopt a resolute cut-and-paste technique, resulting in moments of pure genius, as in Remote Control, released as a 12” earlier this year, where the man analyses all you can do with an infrared box, culminating in the line 'Through the information you float, in control but so remote.. With this album, Cursor Miner presents a vision of the future similar to that of the 50’s, where people actually contribute to better life and develop technology to help them in their everyday tasks. On the consumerist U Want 2 Want, he claims 'Don’t you want to want/The things we want you to/You need to need/We made just for you', depicting a society of pleasure consumption. In between those strangely offbeat moments, Cursor Miner inserts some playful gems of sonic distortion and chaotic electronica, which would make Aphex Twin and Squarepusher terribly jealous.  Armed with intelligent beats and deconstructed, yet incredibly catchy melodies, Cursor Miner presents here a piece of work which is likely to leave the listener intrigued, charmed and begging for more. Explosive Piece Of Mind rises to the challenge of its title, and, even more, exceeds all expectations. And nowhere else will you hear Sir David Frost on an electronic album! This album is a must.

Buy this CD on line now

TRACK LISTING 01 Scrapma 08 U Want 2 Want 02 Never Been Seen 09 Bezerk One 03 Bodily Functions 10 Salt Solution 04 Like DNA 11 Battery Powered Joy 05 Dragon Drop 12 Propaganda 06 Remote Control 13 Brown Study 07 Alphawaves

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO CURSOR MINER CURSOR MINER This site offers loads of exclusive tracks. RIVERMAN RECORDS This London-based record label is currently home to Alpinestars, Throat and The Bardo. FAITH & HOPE RECORDS This young label, based in Manchester is the home of Mint Royal, Los Paranoias and National Forest.