Konono No.1 v The Dead C
split series 18
/fat cat; 2005/

 

 

 

 

www.fat-cat.co.uk

So. On this split 12" you get:

a. tribe music from Congo.
b. indie rock from New Zealand

a. is funny, as you don't really expect whistles, steel drums, marimbas and trance chants when you insert a fat cat cd in your faithful cd player. It reminds me of Animal Collective or Black Dice's wildest compositions, but i'm not sure whether or not Konono No.1 are on drugs. Anyway, it's probably great music to freak out at if you're into drugs and all that jazz. It's interesting as a listening experience, mainly because it's not bad like usual world music (it's authentic, electrified traditional African trance music) and even though i don't really feel like going to Africa i think attending a Konono No.1 show could be much more enjoyable than, say, a Rapture show. And you hopefully get to see less hipsters. They're touring Europe in June with Tortoise.

b. is less funny. The Dead C used to be one of Sonic Youth's favourite bands sometime in the early 90s. It sounds like badly recorded feedback/drone experiments. They're jamming y'all, and if these guys don't take drugs they must be really, really boring. Out of the three tracks on this side of the 12", two were recorded live in the audience on a minidisc. and one of them fades out.

BANDS: you can send your microcassette rehearsal / audience recordings to: Fat Cat Records, PO Box 3400, Brighton, BN1 4WG UK

- Barbara H

/apr 1st 2005/