a uobeig ey << ex10Y9 $01P3 >> cEvin Key/Ken hiwatt Marshall The Dragon Experience Metropolis 2003 Former Skinny Puppy front man, cEvin Key has been quite busy since Skinny Puppy was created back in the early eighties. He has worked on projects such as Doubting Thomas, Download, projects: with Bill Leeb and The ‘Legendary Pink Dots, as well as several solo releases. He recently teamed up with Ken Marshall, who has worked | | with Skinny Puppy, Download, and Sarah McLachlin, to produce “The Dragon Experience”. The album is an archival release of material dating back to the early days of Skinny Puppy, mixed by Key and Ken Marshall. “The Dragon Experience” is quite different from the industrial sound Key has been known for in the past, since it is a smooth collection full of ambient goodness. The tracks are well mixed, flow intelligently, and exhibit a pleasing variety of sound that is wonderful to experience in this day of mass produced pop filth. The CD is full interesting bass loops, entrancing melodies, and distorted vocals, with some funky drum beats thrown in for good measure. This album is per- fect to throw in the stereo for some nice background music for studying, or just relaxing to. cEvin Key continues to deliver excellent musical experiences that are incredibly refreshing and a relief from radio boredom. kak >Dana OVER THE EDGE’S RATINGS * Stinkier than a monkey’s poo ** Ahhhh! Bees in my anus. *%*x* Decent enough for toilet paper **x*x* Double ply, for your comfort *kxkx**x* Ribbed for her pleasure.... >> The Hard Word Sountrack Metropolis 2003 I can’t honestly say I’ve seen the movie “The Hard Word,” but now I’m sort of curious about it, due mostly to the giant inflatable cow on the back of the case. In fact, there is a song named after this cow, while many others are named after other silly-sounding pieces of the movie, displaying a quirky sense of humour on the part of the composer. The sound of the music (this isn’t a JEWEL CASE REVIEW, after all) also slips into this quirky mode every once in a while, without abandoning the somewhat serious sound of the album. Composed entirely by David Thrussell, this album is entirely instrumental, taking advantage of everything from guitars to trum- pets to - this is my favourite - whistlers. Though The Hard Word would probably never make it onto my must-have list, it was definitely worth a listen. Having heard this album, I would suggest it to anyone who likes instrumen- tal movie soundtracks by David Thrussell. kkk -Josh HASTE tha Mercury Litt >> Haste The Mercury Lift Century Media 2003 Having never heard Haste before, I didn’t know what to expect at all. Based on the back of the case, I had been looking for- ward to a metal band whose only tenuous claim to artistic talent is that they have two lead singers. What I ended up with surprised me no end: Haste is a metal band that often slips into gentler, more melodic tunes, without sacrificing their own unique sound. This initial discovery was ham- pered somewhat by the fairly pre- dictable “scream-then-sing” song pattern, but their hearts are in the right place. The results of their switching are a wider range of sound than many other bands in their genre (as well as a lot of other modern musical circles) exhibit, which kept me listening to the very end instead of shutting my discman off and watching Doctor Who reruns or something. Despite the somewhat repetitive back-and-forth sound, I found myself enjoying the album a little more every time I listened. Haste may not be revolutionary, but at least they’re trying to shake them- selves up. And in the current music industry, that’s gotta be worth something. kkk >> Haujobb Vertical Theory Metropolis 2003 Trust Metropolis to bring us hitherto unheard-of electronic acts from other countries. One of the latest of these is Haujobb, an elec- tronic duo from Germany. The band formed back in 1993, and released Drift Wheeler on cassette only. Many years and many releas- es later, Haujobb evolved to pro- duce their current brainchild, Vertical Theory. The album is sup- posed to be a dance compilation, full of fun tunes to dance to, but there seems to be dark industrial influences at work throughout the album. Hence, it is not a fun dance album, but a dark trip through somewhere, well, dark. The music is put together quite nicely, with well executed beats, melodic vocals which are only rarely dis- torted, and sparse synthesizer action. The album does not utilize the multiple layering of sound that is prevalent in North American electronica. The lyrics included on the album seem like they are supposed to be something thoughtful, but just succeed in being rather dark and depressing. This is electronic music for the industrial fan, and not the com- mon raver, so be forewarned before you go to pick this one up. kkk -Dana Page 8 >> Fictional Fiction Metropolis 2003 Fictional is the musical brain- child of Gerrit Thomas, former member of Funker Vogt and Ravenous. In the late 1990’s, Gerrit decided to blend the electronic sounds of Funker Vogt with the edgy vocals of Ravenous. This resulted in the debut album “Fictitious”, which was a hit on dance floors everywhere. Gerrit’s follow-up album, “Fictional”, is reminiscent of European dance music, with solid beats, edgy synth loops, and dark lyrics. These are not the average dance hits that one would hear in clubs in the riorth, so if you are tired of that drivel, then you could give Fictional a chance. The album con- tains an interesting variety of sounds, you can tell the difference between the different songs on the CD, and the singer can sing on key. Don’t expect a happening party compilation like those mass- marketed things that come from Much Music, however. Fictional is _ not a poppy, high energy dance act, in fact, Fictional is rather dark and sometimes dreary. This is def- initely not the CD to take cruising on a hot summer’s day. kk -Dana >> Passenger Passenger Century Media 2003 Passenger claims to be a great band. This is a pretty aggressive claim, but Passenger is justified to make it, since it features a very tal- ented line-up featuring Anders Friden, the vocalist of the. very popular band, In _ Flames. Passenger’s music claims to be “an aggressive mixture of melody and melancholy” which roughly