On their sophomore album, producer Maurice Fulton and his wife, Mutsumi Kanamori, a.k.a. Mu, make broken-beat house music with a free-for-all, disco-punk aesthetic that sounds even broken-er than their debut. And that’s totally meant as a compliment. The duo, here augmented by lots of scrappy "real"-sounding congas and bells and such, make hilariously over-the-top music that's fun, screwed-up, and accessible (yes, you can dance to it). Kanamori's Dada vocals seem somehow very Japanese, in the sense that the Boredoms, After Dinner, and Shonen Knife are very Japanese. Check the obvious single, "Paris Hilton," with its chicken squawks (are they calling the heiress a chicken head or saying that she looks like a chicken or is it just totally nonsense?) and drunken jackhammer electro beat. Out of Breach sounds like LCD Soundsystem making music for an old Nintendo system and freed, at least a bit, from the tyranny of the beat. --Mike McGonigal
Out of Breach (Manchester's Revenge),Mu,Output Recordings,Club/Dance,Dance Music,Electronic,Left-Field House,Pop
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R.A.B. vol. 2 [CD & DVD] 28 Tracks Plus 6 Short political short films that you just have to see...
Favorite Son - Green Day (unreleased) / Let Them Eat War - Bad Religion / Unity - Operation Ivy / Necrotism: Decanting the Insalubrious (Cyborg Midnight) Part 7 - The Lawrence Arms (unreleased) , We Got the Power - Dropkick Murphys (rare) / Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly / Doomsday Breach - Only Crime / Gas Chamber - Foo Fighters (rare) , Status Pools - Lagwagon (unreleased) / What You Say - Sugarcult / 7 Years Down - Rancid / Off With Your Head - Sleater-Kinney (rare) , Scream Out - The Unseen (unreleased) / Violins - Yellowcard (unreleased) / Like Sprewells on a Wheelchair - Dillinger Four (unreleased) / Chesterfield King live - Jawbreaker (unreleased) , Born Free live - Bouncing Souls (unreleased) / No Hope live - Mad Caddies (unreleased) / Kids Today - The Dwarves (unreleased) / Can't Wait to Quit - Sick of It All (rare) , Comforting Lie - No Doubt / State of Fear - Useless ID (unreleased) / I'm Thinking - Autopilot Off (unreleased) / My Star - The International Noise Conspiracy (unreleased) , and Time's Up - Donots (unreleased) / Kill the Night - Hot Water Music (unreleased) / You're Gonna Die - Thought Riot / Fields of Agony acoustic - No Use For a Name (unreleased) ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  Short Sleeves
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Out of Breach (Manchester's Revenge)
Mu Manufacturer: Output Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B0002W19MY Release Date: 2005-02-08 |
Tracks:
- Haters
- Out Of Breach
- Stop Bothering Michael Jackson
- Tigerbastard
- We Love Guys Named Luke
- Throwing Up
- So Week People
- Paris Hilton
- I'm Coming To Get You
- Like A Little Bitch
- Extreme
Amazon.com
On their sophomore album, producer Maurice Fulton and his wife, Mutsumi Kanamori, a.k.a. Mu, make broken-beat house music with a free-for-all, disco-punk aesthetic that sounds even broken-er than their debut. And that’s totally meant as a compliment. The duo, here augmented by lots of scrappy "real"-sounding congas and bells and such, make hilariously over-the-top music that's fun, screwed-up, and accessible (yes, you can dance to it). Kanamori's Dada vocals seem somehow very Japanese, in the sense that the Boredoms, After Dinner, and Shonen Knife are very Japanese. Check the obvious single, "Paris Hilton," with its chicken squawks (are they calling the heiress a chicken head or saying that she looks like a chicken or is it just totally nonsense?) and drunken jackhammer electro beat. Out of Breach sounds like LCD Soundsystem making music for an old Nintendo system and freed, at least a bit, from the tyranny of the beat. --Mike McGonigalCustomer Reviews:
Better luck next time........2006-12-17
That's the problem. This album just isn't fun at all. Kanamori actually sounds kind of defensive when she attacks the "Haters": "I may have no talent, but...you don't have the magic power, do you?" Well, I guess it's true that any time someone becomes successful, a bunch of haters pop up to spoil the party. But if you have to spend a whole track addressing that, well...didn't Axl Rose do that at one point? Look on the bright side, Mu! Your first album received many positive reviews! Relax! Light up a beer! Forget those haters!
It's not just haters who come in for abuse. Most of the album is about settling scores with someone or other. Kanamori also disses the owner of Mu's former record label. The charges: "He has no respect of what I do / Talks down to me / He's mean / He's unfair / Very, very evil man." Take that, label owner! I can totally identify with her here, since I've run into a couple of guys like that. I'm not sure I'd write a song about them, though.
There's also a critique of "So Weak People," and a track about some unfortunate whose demeanour resembles that of a small female dog. Kanamori says, "I'm sick of so weak people / who can't solve their own [problems] / Dragging people who have nothing / To do with this stupid problem." Dragging people such as the listeners of this album, perhaps? Unsurprisingly, there's a lot more profanity here than on the first album. This is usually the first indication that one doesn't have much to say.
After all these petty squabbles, it would be a relief to hear Kanamori try to spread some positive vibes. Unfortunately, the only time this occurs on the whole album is in a track called "Throwing Up," which includes lots of vomiting noises to illustrate the negative consequences of alcohol abuse. They should totally use that song in those high school programs that try to dissuade teenagers from drinking.
It may seem stupid to look at Mu's lyrics, of all things, but Kanamori is the focus of this album. Her voice appears throughout almost every song, with fewer instrumental stretches than on the first album. But the overall sound is very similar. Kanamori sticks to her "dominatrix voice" and her "screechy voice," both featured prominently on the first album. Those growly bass lines reappear in many songs. The abrupt shifts in dynamics, unfortunately, do not.
The one exception is "Stop Bothering Michael Jackson," which goes from a dense, aggressive diss track to a moody ambient fade-out with deep bass and piano chords. The bass also reappears at the end, on "Extreme," which is by far the best track on the album, and hopefully represents some kind of new direction. There, it gyrates in awesome long, funky lines, which could have provided a foundation for a really great dance song.
But there is no such song here. For example, why did anyone like "Paris Hilton"? Is it because Kanamori squawks like a chicken a couple of times? The underlying beat is completely generic. Not only that, but it sounds weak next to the intense pounding rhythms from the first album. That just leaves Kanamori's sarcastic lyrics, but come on, they're about Paris Hilton. That's such an easy target that there's nothing to say about it, funny or otherwise. And Mu already made fun of trashy pop culture in "My Name Is Tommi" on the first album.
It's enough to look at the difference in the cover art. If you look at the cover of Out Of Breach, you'll know exactly what this album sounds like. Kanamori's got a butcher knife and a hand sticking out of her head, and she's got messed-up hair and a demonic grin, and she's all unpredictable and crazy. Whereas the black-and-white cover of Afro Finger And Gel really is unpredictable.
This album is a perfect example of what rock critics call the "sophomore slump." Mu have beaten the style of their first album into the ground, and the result is mostly just boring. Hey, it happens. Let's hope it's not the end. It would be a bad way to go out.
Weird but in a good way.......2006-09-11
Do new Mu.......2006-02-19
And unfortunately, that's the case with the sophomore album for Maurice Fulton and wife/bandmate Mutsumi Kanamori (Mu). The disco/punk/experimental album has hints of promise here and there, but ends up too schizoid to actually turn into anything worth listening to.
It opens with Kanamori launching into a sort of dada rap, in which she denounces haters, eBay, people who hide her tampons, and threatens to "kung fu" them all. I'm not entirely clear on what she's saying, because she screeches out her announcements in a an earsplitting howl.
Then it switches into a techno beat with monster voices, a passable if overlong disco-drum song, a robot-pop song about guys named Luke, schizo techno beats with oddball electronica and what sounds like rattling cardboard, and a song called "Paris Hilton" where we get drums, bells, sirens, and clucking noises. Is that a comment on Hilton's brain, or her looks, or what?
Over it all, we are treated to more weird raps from Kanamori, often with her screaming the word "b*tch" repeatedly. We're even treated (not) to a song called "Throwing Up," which is basically a techno beat as she makes vomiting noises into the mike. The less said about it, the better.
In fact, not a lot of this album is actually that interesting -- hearing Kanamori yell "I'm coming to get you!" through a vocorder is not interesting, and it's not the sort of thing to listen to twice. This album is not original enough to be experimental, not cohesive enough to be punk, electronica or indie.... in short, they're not anything much.
Fulton is a decent enough producer, with a good grasp on what sounds and instrumentation to include. Bells, bongos, wild sampling, and some interesting albeit repetitive beats. The problem is, music is more than finding cool sounds and stringing them together. Yes, even experimental music -- good experimental music is about more than being as wacky as you can, in the hopes that SOME part of it will be appealing. Some of the songs here are solid and intriguingly weird, but they are also the ones that sound the least random.
And Kanamori is the kiss of death for this. From the very beginning it's clear: she cannot sing, she cannot rap, and her presence is just an irritant in some songs that might have been interesting without her (ex. "Like A Little Bitch"). And as an added bonus, half of what she says is completely indecipherable.
Mu's "Out of Breach" has some moments of musical excellence here and there, but Kanamori's screeching and Fulton's unappealing production drown them out. Just call me a "hater."
like the first track says..........2005-09-22
Barclay.......2005-07-14
This is like a Saturday night live skit gone bad. I guess if you are really into obscure German electonica this might be for you. But most of the songs like Throw up or Stop Bothering Michael Jackson simple suck.
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