Kling Klang Bedlam

Amazon.com
Like their fellow Texans Mentallo & the Fixer, Fektion Fekler turn out dense, multilayered industrial dance songs aimed more for the headphones than the dance floor. (They also share a curious concept of what makes a decent band name, but that's another story.) Fektion's debut, 1996's From Here to Heaven, showed brothers Robert and John Bustamante to be capable musicians and engineers, but the album, while strong, was a bit too much like Mentallo. Kling Klang Bedlam sees them taking a few more chances; it's definitely still industrial, but the undistorted vocals and lighter, more playful mixes are liable to throw some for a loop. To what degree you like this disc depends largely on how you react to the unadorned voice credited to someone known only as the "Womb Dabbler." As it turns out, we soon hear the reason for the anonymity: his irritatingly whiny vocals threaten to distract from the often engaging array of melodic synth and rhythm patterns in the background. Musically, however, there are several highlights, including "Dehabilitated," with its swirling effects and complex beat pattern, and "Reverb Deficiency," a short instrumental piece that makes good use of sampled strings and tinkly keyboards. Still, for Womb, the bell tolls. --Steve Landau

Tracks:

Dehabilitated (Off The Wagon Mix)
The Dowser That Couldn't Dowse
Just Another Try
Reverb Deficiency
Tingle
Limbic (Blue Torpedo Mix)
Anawanala
Unconditional Surrender
Maker, Make Believe
Dipsomania
Wiser For The Winter
Overway (Wibble Wobble Mix)
Setting Sun
Bonus Track
Bonus Track

Amazon.com

Like their fellow Texans Mentallo & the Fixer, Fektion Fekler turn out dense, multilayered industrial dance songs aimed more for the headphones than the dance floor. (They also share a curious concept of what makes a decent band name, but that's another story.) Fektion's debut, 1996's From Here to Heaven, showed brothers Robert and John Bustamante to be capable musicians and engineers, but the album, while strong, was a bit too much like Mentallo. Kling Klang Bedlam sees them taking a few more chances; it's definitely still industrial, but the undistorted vocals and lighter, more playful mixes are liable to throw some for a loop. To what degree you like this disc depends largely on how you react to the unadorned voice credited to someone known only as the "Womb Dabbler." As it turns out, we soon hear the reason for the anonymity: his irritatingly whiny vocals threaten to distract from the often engaging array of melodic synth and rhythm patterns in the background. Musically, however, there are several highlights, including "Dehabilitated," with its swirling effects and complex beat pattern, and "Reverb Deficiency," a short instrumental piece that makes good use of sampled strings and tinkly keyboards. Still, for Womb, the bell tolls. --Steve Landau

Customer Reviews:

6 of 5 stars.......2004-03-05

This CD is on my top 10 favorite albums list of all time. Apparently it's not for fans of NIN (from "Yummypuff"s review below). All their work is entirely original and you have to actually have a taste for the style of music, and not come at it from a Pop music angle (NIN IS POP). If you listen to fake underground music like Godhead, NIN, and Tool, you're not going to like this CD. Don't buy it then come back to amazon to tear it down because you found out it isn't on 'Nothing Records'. Anyway, give it a listen... if you like the samples, chances are you're going to like the whole CD. I recommend both albums, but if it's one or the other, then it depends on your taste. Kling Klang is softer and more catchy, while From Here to Heaven has more of an industrial edge. Both have their share of instrumentals. And, every song is different, so don't judge it from one 30 second clip.

Worthy of owning..........2000-12-26

I've been listening to this one quite a bit lately...it's a bit mellower than their first release, but it's still very obviously the same band. FF do share many stylistic similarities with Mentallo (They are, after all, from the same town, appear in each others' recordings and hang out toghether. You don't see people saying same things about Bigod20 and F242 curiously), but they are far from clones of anyone. If you value high emotional maturity, creative use of sound, and melodic content, then you'll probably like this. While I generally like John Bustamente's vocals, I can see why the main reviewer complained that they were too whiny...a couple of trax here suffer from that a bit, but it's really only a couple. I'd say %80 of the material on here is quite good, Dowser Than Couldn't Dowse, Just Another Try, and Tingle being standout tracks. The only song I didn't care for was Anawala, which sounds like something I wrote when I was 18. Very good sophmoric release, and definite points for evolution in sound, unlike bands like Wumpscrud who seem to release the same contrived music over and over again.

Refreshingly original.......2000-08-09

Unlike a certain unnamed someone who thinks Fektion Fekler worked best as a Mentallo & the Fixer clone, I value originality. Kling Klang Bedlam rewards my expectations, giving me just that.

It takes the whole Mentallo sound to a whole new level, bypassing the typical construction of bells, flutes, chimes, etc. into electro songs and working with everything from sweet ambience to guitar. The songs really tug on the heartstrings, which isn't to say that they are cheesy, but genuinely effective.

Also effective is the new incorporation of (for lack of a better word) psychology. Unlike From Here to Heaven, this album times itself much better and works in *gasp* introductions, drawn-out pauses, and general tension-building techniques. Some of those spaces are filled with orchestral elements, which is another new trick for an otherwise old-dog sound.

In a nutshell, Kling Klang Bedlam is more refined and polished than its predecessor, From Here to Heaven. It has none of the debut's dated, monotonous, and formulaic tracks. It only shares a similar sound (and the band name, of course!), but the 180-degree turnaround is nothing short of stunning and refreshing.

For people who bought one Mentallo album, and, while loving it, didn't want more of the same album, this is for you. Kling Klang Bedlam pushes the sound into new territory, expanding the emotional range from mellow to aggressive and only earning more praise for it. Beautiful and essential.

Should have stayed unoriginal.......2000-04-09

Well, after "from here to heaven' this album does take more chances but they are not chances that should have been taken. Imagine a repeated loop of those happy techno bells playing a simple melody and layered unto that you have a Skinny puppy voice singing ballads. About 3/4 of the cd are those. There are a few highlights. Some songs are more traditional darkwave, where the layering and interweaving of sound goes all the way until it turns into one giant of a melody which slowly forces you to step into another world... until you realize that one of those sappy songs is playing again. Track 1 and 3 and a bunch of others are what you would expect from an industrial dance band, which is what you should expect. The best track of the cd, is track 2, The dowser that couldnt dowse. The relevation is that they use a guitar, which instantly makes the song more interesting and powerful. So hey, if you are reading this mr Fektion Fekler, please use guitars in your music. You know why NIN and Stabbing westward are better? Well, they use guitars so thats a start, ha? Anyway, buy from here to heaven first, it will make you happier or wait is depressed or is it supposed to be angry? Hmmm. Another criticism I have of the band is that the entire catch of electronica is to layer things together and have awesome breakdowns and such. Fektion Fekler doesnt go all the way. Most songs dont have a chorus and are just very short repetative loops, with very minor changes throughout. The sound quality could use improvement, and on the cd itself it says that they converted the sound from an analog recording so... But on the other hand, they are very light to listen to, kinda relaxing (to an industrial fan), some songs are very catchy and cool. They can manipulate sound well, but sometimes the band just doesnt try.

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