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█▓█▓▒┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐▒▓█▓█
░ █▒╔┤ ├╗▒█ ░
█ █░║│ ARTiST........: beckett and taylor / spandex │║░█ █
░ █░║│ TiTLE.........: lies │║░█ ░
█▓█░║│ GENRE.........: electronic │║░█▓█
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
█ █░║│ PRE DATE......: oct-06-2004 │║░█ █
░ █░║│ STREET DATE...: sep-00-2004 │║░█ ░
█▓█░║│ YEAR..........: 2004 │║░█▓█
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
█ █░║│ COMPANY.......: hand on the plow │║░█ █
░ █░║│ CATALOGUE NO..: HOTP002 │║░█ ░
█▓█░║│ │║░█▓█
░ █░║│ GRABBER.......: adobe audition │║░█ ░
█ █░║│ ENCODER.......: LAME 3.90.3 Modified (VBR --Alt-Preset Standard) │║░█ █
░ █░║│ QUALiTY.......: VBR/44.1Khz/Joint Stereo │║░█ ░
█▓█░║│ NO. OF FiLES..: 04 │║░█▓█
░ █░║│ SiZE..........: 25,8 MB │║░█ ░
█ █░║│ │║░█ █
█ █░╚┤ ├╝░█ █
█▓█░ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ █▓█
┌███▓▒░░────────────────────────────────[TRACK LiSTiNG]────────────────────────────────░░▒▓███┐
▒██▓▒┌───┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────┐▒▓██▒
░└█▒╔┤NO.│TRACKNAME │TiME: ├╗▒█┘░
░ █░║│∙∙∙│∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙│∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙│║░█ ░
░ █░║│a1 │beckett and taylor - lies │04:17 │║░█ ░
░ █░║│a2 │beckett and taylor - more lies │04:15 │║░█ ░
░ █░║│b1 │spandex - snakeskin teeth │04:43 │║░█ ░
░ █░║│b2 │spandex - abusing the body │05:22 │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │ │ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │ │∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙│║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │ │ │║░█ ░
░ █░╚┤ │ TOTAL TiME:│18:37 min ├╝░█ ░
█▓█░ └───┴──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────┘ █▓█
┌███▓▒░░─────────────────────────────────[RELEASE iNFO]────────────────────────────────░░▒▓███┐
▒██▓▒┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐▒▓██▒
░└█▒╔┤ ├╗▒█┘░
░ █░║│∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙│║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Hand on the Plow - Reviews │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ HOTP002 - Beckett & Taylor / Spandex - (Lies) - 12" │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Just a few months after releasing the startling debut single on their Hand on the │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Plow imprint, Laszlo Beckett and Steve Taylor return with two new tracks plus two │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ from new HOTP signing Spandex. Beckett and Taylor's "Lies" and its remix "More │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Lies" share the clunky, clattering patterns of their debut, but where that record │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ imagined Chicago House in the shape of a sharecropper's lament torn by the rake's │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ blades, the new tunes resist any obvious reference point. A faintly melancholy │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ vocalist holds centre stage in a seemingly empty theatre; the backing sounds like │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ it's been sourced from tumbling piles of folding chairs and an orchestra noisily │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ clacking its instrument cases closed. Spandex plays its marginally straighter, but │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ his two tracks, chopped with abandon and riddles with hair-trigger beats on the │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ ricochet, still push the idea of house music to its brittle edge, chipping off │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ little pieces and letting them fall where they may. "Abusing the Body" is an attack │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ on the corpus of pop music itself; barely recognisable bits of a Hall & Oates │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ sample splatter about like the fatty morsels of Matmos's operating room. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Philip Sherburne - The Wire │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Beckett and Taylor's second release for Hand on the Plow almost shames their debut │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ single. On "Lies", the duo hook into a slippery, stutter-funk backbone, making │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ woozy with the edits, crooning 'all of us lie' over accumulating detritus, as if │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ they were born politicians. "More Lies" reduces the stew of language to pure │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ phonemes, suggesting 'the truth' may lie in the steady pulse of the body. Spandex's │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ two cuts alternate between sex music for languorous lover-men, faintly slurring │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ their lines over bass that squirms like an octopus on heat, and the hiccuping │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ micro-edits of "Abusing the Body", a child compulsively cracking its joints in time │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ to some subterranean rhythmic knowledge. Spandex is drunk on plastic. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Jon Dale - Stylusmagazine.com │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ This new EP on HotP is again quite tricky and even funkier than the last - if │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ that's possible - and perhaps stranger still. I hardly know anyone right now that │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ tears up sound digitally with such vigor while still remaining that soulful. Caro │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ might still come to mind, but even Herbert must be well impressed by this posse, │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ and we totally understand. Staccato and depth in a most beautiful unity in the two │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ mixes of "Lies", and on the flipside creepy-crawly micrononsense, nano-grooves from │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Spandex, who in his tracks seems to sing the microphone to pieces. 21st century │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ blues, yes, this we can agree on. What a follow up after the first ep. HotP is and │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ remains one of the best labels in England, and although we now know it, we still │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ cannot quite fathom its potential. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ 5/5 │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Bleed - De:Bug Magazine │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ The second double-A side from the extremely promising London house label Hand on │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ the Plow, Lazslo Beckett & Steve Taylor's "Lies" somehow rivals the energy and │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ catchiness of the duo's cut-up debut, "Work". The duo clearly knows their voices │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ are damn sexy, and once again take up in duet a well-worn truism ("All of us lie") │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ and surround it with their own whispery subtexts ("I love you... I've been thinking │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ about you all day"). The fragmented beats are equal parts Herbert and Edwards, with │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ a warm dash of Safety Scissors and the laborious metallic sheen of Matmos' A Chance │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ to Cut. Coupled with ripples of harmonica and dew-drop keyboard, cut-up has rarely │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ been so palatable. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Nick Sylvester - Pitchfork Media │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Following the gospel-infused house romp of Hand on the Plow 01, Beckett and Taylor │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ go back to back with Nottingham's Spandex for another bout of cockeyed contemporary │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ blues. The glitch-rich jam of 'Lies' staggers out of the stereo, drenched with │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ sunny soul and floppy funk, whilst 'More Lies' whips up the same ingredients into a │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ rumbling, chugging remix. 'Snakeskin Teeth' from Spandex ups the heat, laying down │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ a feet-friendly slab of skewed deep house, whilst his 'Abusing the Body' breaks up │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ the general 4/4 flava with a truly frazzled blip-fest. You can see why Matthew │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Herbert said the first HOTP EP was the best record he'd been sent in six months. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Dance tunes overflowing with personality, that's what we want. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ SD - Overload Media │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Beckett & Taylor's debut single "Work" whipped all the new media glitch kids into a │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ creamy lather and now "Lies" does it again. More fidgety click-hop with a funky │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ tuneful edge? Just say when. And Spandex? Dude's working that spazzy-shuffle │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ bit-pop garage mother till it snaps. Mistake music for people who think they know │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ better. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Theydon Bois - Vice Magazine │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Hand on the Plow's first release, the 12' "Work" garnered copious praise from the │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ electronic music cognoscenti. Matthew Herbert named it one of the best records he's │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ been sent in some time, and the often highbrow Wire showered it in praise. Not bad │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ for a debut. Here, Beckett and Taylor return with another four track, split │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ release. "Lies" is generally in the same vein as their first release; Microsamples, │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ crunchy textures and attention to detail tied together with an underlying pop │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ sensibility that seems to be reemerging in electronic music today. In short, it's │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ catchy as all hell. "More Lies" is a 4/4, uptempo continuation of the same │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ formula--small chunks and slices of the original vocal track cut up and pasted back │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ together over a stomping beat. It's reminiscent, yet not overly derivative of the │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ aforementioned Herbert's productions. The highlight of this release, Snakeskin │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Teeth by Spandex, is an absolutely warped electrofunk tune with a dirty synthline, │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ heavily edited vocals and lyrics that tend not to leave your head-- The most │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ logical pick for the dancefloor. "Abusing the Body" is a leftfield mishmash of Hall │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ and Oates microsamples, with shards of percussion and elements of the original tune │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ chopped up and rendered nearly unrecognizable, other than the familiar lyrics to "I │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Can't Go for That." │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Colin James Nagy - Prefixmag.com │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ YOU'VE GOT THE BODY │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ This blogging lark's OK when you get free stuff as good as this. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ An upcoming release on the Hand on the Plow label. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ The opener, 'Lies' by Beckett and Taylor (I echo Philip's entreaty that these guys │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ please get a less delibidinizing monniker; Beckett and Taylor sound like a firm of │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ provinicial solicitors), is a kind of digital blues: an unplaceable and displacing │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ suturing of house, funk, plantation chant and glitch that gratifyingly refuses to │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ airbrush out the stitchmarks. 'More Lies' attenuates the vocal to vowel-stabs (o's │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ and i's) and distributes it over a more driving house beat. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ But the stand-outs here are the two tracks by Spandex (which is, if possible, an │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ even worse name than Beckett and Taylor). The desire-drunk-funk of 'Snakeskin │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Teeth' boasts a gloriously, deliriously stoned vocal that recalls Arthur Russell at │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ his wooziest or an even more slurred John Martyn. It's like the Junior Boys if │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ their reference points were house and blues rather than 2-step and OMD. As the │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ track develops, it's as if the vocals simultaneously become increasingly │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ intoxicated and increasingly artificialized (as the lines - scarcely coherent at │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ the start - become wreathed in delay and thick digital fog, and the voice devolves │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ into tics and stammers) until, by the end, it sounds like it's being sung by a │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ drunken cyborg. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Not surprsingly, one of the tracks of the year for me so far, no contest. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ If 'Snakeskin Teeth' has the majestic torpor of a supine body reclining into │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ satiation, 'Abusing the Body' (whose title has an unfortunate topical piquancy en │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ ce moment) is all datapaniked confusion and stuttering anxiety, a chatterspasm of │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ digitally-agitated vocal and hesitant beats. The track's hook is a sample that, │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ when, initially, it's submerged in the mix and abbreviated to the briefest of │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ stabs, registers only as a shiver of deja vudu, the merest subliminal sliver. As │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ the track progresses, the suspicion that there's something familiar here hardens │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ into recognition when the line 'You've got the body....' from Hall and Oates' │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ epochal 'Say No Go' emerges from the digital mist. │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Killer second release from the label that's risen from the ashes of the legendary │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Spymania - delivering a spannered, awesomely constructed set of tracks from Becket │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ & Taylor and Spandex. The release does the unimaginable and manages to sound like │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Prince one minute, Supercollider the next, then dipping into the broken dancefloor │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ frame of the Perlon crew / Villalobos one minute later, than a bit of Matthew │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ Herbert styles, throwing in some grimey basslines and the odd Atom-Heart fuelled │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ glitch edit, all for the cause of unbridled, disturbed midnight jacking. This is an │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ incredibly fresh 12" - seeping with a knowledge and understanding of technology and │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ a million different generic splinters - working a treat and making itself an │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ essential purchase for anyone looking for something a little bit different with │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ which to f*ck with dancefloor heads. Lethal weaponary - killer styles! │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ │║░█ ░
░ █░║│ www.boomkat.com │║░█ ░
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░█░║│ Greetings to all our friends in groups such as... │║░█░
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█░║│ and the electronic music alliance │║░█
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░█░║│ And to anyone we forgot! │║░█░
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ASCii Painting by AyLieN of CHEMiCAL REACTiON 2oo2
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