Tribute albums are notoriously dangerous exercises. While usually not doing any favours to the original recordings, they usually prove to be rather suicidal for the bands and artists involved. Nobody’s Diary is no exception to the rule.
Although they only released two albums, Vince Clarke, who had just left Depeche Mode after one album, and Alison Moyet, became, with Yazoo, one of the most influential outfit of the early eighties. Combining the electronic twiddlings of Clarke and the soul/jazz/blues voice of Moyet, Yazoo presented a unique and captivating sound. Nobody’s Diary includes some of the duo’s best known songs (Situation, Nobody’s Diary, Don’t Go) as well as some of their most experimental moments (Ode To Boy, I Before E Except After C, Winter Kills). The bands and artists involved are part of the rising American electro scene, and adopt here one of two positions: either try to reproduce the originals (Brain Garden, Cosmicity, Exhibition) or revisit them to full extend (Science Park, Elevated Sins, Marianne Nowottny), but very few achieve to actually create something worth listening to here. For the hilariously painful rendition of Winter Kills by Elevated Sins, which sounds like Queen’s Bohemian Rapsody and Pink Floyd’s A Momentary Lapse Of Reason all in one, or the techno nonsense of Ganymede’s Don’t Go, there are very few intelligent versions here. The only two tracks that really give a new dimension to the originals and demonstrate any kind of personality are Strange Angels’s Ode To Boy, which sounds like Mark Almond doing the song in a seedy cabaret, and Vivid Suspense’s Winter Kills, but this is far from enough to salvage an otherwise poor project.
Barely a few months after the release of their first compilation, Estate, showcasing its roster, AI Records is bringing a vinyl only collection of dark and atmospheric electronic music. Produce investigates the realms of modern electro and vintage electronica with the likes of FZV, Crel, Yellotone, Nanque & Eiger and Normal leading the way. The album opens in style with the impressive Two Thousand by Claro Intelecto. Reminiscent of early Warp and deeply inspired by the Detroit movement, Two Thousand is a bumpy piece of clever electro. The second Claro Intelecto track included here, International, is carved in the same vein and demonstrates a similar dance floor potential. While FZV’s She Said flirts with minimal drum’n’break, Crel’s offering is more meditative. Despite its thumping beat structure, the track actually evolves slowly, AI co-founder Jason Smith applying a very structured concept to expend his minimalist soundscapes, recalling some of Baby Ford’s best work. The rest of the album offers pretty much equal quality music. With this second proper album from the AI team, they are proving to be developing in a very interesting way, and with a handful of interesting artists to choose from, the label should soon start to deliver what it has been promising for some time, that is a range of artist albums to complement their two essential compilations.
To celebrate nothing much more than a good health, Warp Records recently set up to tour Europe on their Magic Bus with some of their regular artists (LFO, Plaid, Jamie Lidell, Mira Calix, Chris Clark) together with some occasional contributors and associated misfits (Luke Vibert, Ovuca). A special CD, including some of the artists involved, was released and sold exclusively on the tour, and is now available for everyone to buy. The album features ten exclusive tracks by Luke Vibert, Richard Devine, Mira Calix, Phonecia, Plaid, Chris Clark, Russel Haswell, Req and Hecker, plus an intro by Rephlex’s Astrobotnia and the video for Plaid’s Itsu. Faithful to their ethic, this compilation demonstrates the wide spectrum of sound represented by Warp as a record label, and the constant experimentations of its artists. From Countdown, by Luke Vibert, a man who has proved over the years to be equally at ease with hip-hop, evocative electronica or retro electro, to the abstract abrasive hip-hop of Req, this album offers a great variety of styles and influences, brilliantly showcasing the Magic Bus sessions. The album doesn’t however capture the ambience of any of the night, but this is not the purpose here. Magic Bus Tracks acts as a souvenir of the events, and succeeds perfectly. Highlights include the dark and intriguing Simple by Warp’s former press officer Mira Calix, an intricate and distorted piece of heavy duty electronica, Plaid’s haunting Quickemit and Chris Clark’s rough edged Spinning Spines.
A more regular event, Barcelona’s Sonar Festival has become a must in the electronic calendar. Taking place over three days and three nights in the heart of the Mediterranean city, the festival is a truly multimedia event, regrouping everything from gigs and DJ sets to visual exhibitions, cinema, design and much more. Split into two different event, Sonar By Day and Sonar By Night, the event encapsulate everything from legends to emerging artists. As per usual, the compilation released to celebrate this year’s event is packed with influential names (Bomb The Bass, Jeff Mills, Yo La Tango, Francois K, Carl Cox), established artists (Thomas Brinkmann’s Soul Center, Static, Luomo, Kotai) and rising musicians (Cex, Wagon Cookin’). Divided into two sections, the album provides an interesting, if not complete, snapshot of the electronic and dance scene of today. The first CD focuses on more chilled moments, with Cloma’s Transparent, Bomb The Bass & Lali Puna’s Clear Cut and Static’s Headphones, featuring Ronald Lippok on vocals, stealing the show, while the second CD is filled with a variety of dance floor essential moments, ranging from the sun-drenched Brazilliade Mar by Wagon Cookin’ and the deep housey Tessio, courtesy of Luomo to the harder edge of Kotai’s Suker DJ or Arthur Baker’s Don’t Call Me AB. All in all an eclectic collection of contemporary music.
Second episode in the Dublad series of compilations, Dublab Presents: Summer is a fine selection of modern dance music. Broadcasting from the West Cost, Dublab has become one of the most important and best online radio stations around. With accessible archives including mixes by Faze Action, Mateo & Matos, Safety Scissors, Mixmaster Morris, Alex Gopher, Frederic Galliano, Ian Pooley, Mark Rae or Mouse On Mars to name but a fraction, Dublab is one eclectic and recommended listening on the web. Following last year’s Dublab Present: Freeways, Summer comes in a very limited edition CD release (1,000 copies worldwide) featuring some of the biggest names in future roots music, from Burnt Friedman & The Nu Dub Players and Prefuse 73 to Manitoba and Daedelus & Frosty. As Freeways was investigating the rising names in Los Angeles, Summer focuses on tomorrow’s sound, fusing hip-hop, jazz, soul/r&b, electronic, dub and breakbeat into the most diverse compilation reviewed this month. Diversity and eclectism doesn’t necessarily mean lack of focus, and this collection of tracks, donated by each artist to the Dublab team to promote the radio station, proves just that. A very charitable gesture it is indeed, and, considering the exceptionally high quality of the music on offer here, it should hopefully propel Dublab to the level of super world radio. Highlights include Prefuse 73’s Perverted Undertone, Beneath Autumn Sky’s Winter Solstice, The Dylan Group’s delicate A  Hue From The Land and Daedelus & Frosty’s foggy groove on The Age Of Aquariums. The best track here however is provided by Cody ChestnuTT. Serve This Royalty is a magnificent piece of dub/soul and, with a line claiming “Thank you Jesus for my mama/Thank you bitches for my money”, it is likely to become a classic in its own right. Just like this compilation.

V/A: Nobody's Diary - A Tribute To Yazoo 1/5
V/A: Produce 4.5/5
V/A: Magic Bus Tracks 4.5/5
V/A: Sonar 2002 4/5
V/A: Dublab Presents: Summer 5/5