Old-school industrial meets hip-hop and Japanese-style experimentalism on this overcaffeinated CD from Bomb 20, released on Atari Teenage Riot ringleader Alec Empire's label. If, as the lengthy liner notes seem to indicate... more », Bomb 20 are trying to destroy the current political and economic system through their music, they seem to be having a whole mess of fun doing so. Samples from films, TV-movie promos, network news broadcasts, and rap songs compete for space with funky beats run through distortion effects, sheets of sheer machine noise, and more blips and bleeps than you can shake an R2 unit at. It's pop culture through a food processor, and while other groups have tried this kind of thing before (Some More Crime, Lassigue Bendthaus, and Black Lung come to mind), Bomb 20 take the Nobel Beats Prize for sheer inventiveness in rhythm programming and sample use. Apparently for Bomb 20, the revolution will be digitized. --Steve Landau« less
Old-school industrial meets hip-hop and Japanese-style experimentalism on this overcaffeinated CD from Bomb 20, released on Atari Teenage Riot ringleader Alec Empire's label. If, as the lengthy liner notes seem to indicate, Bomb 20 are trying to destroy the current political and economic system through their music, they seem to be having a whole mess of fun doing so. Samples from films, TV-movie promos, network news broadcasts, and rap songs compete for space with funky beats run through distortion effects, sheets of sheer machine noise, and more blips and bleeps than you can shake an R2 unit at. It's pop culture through a food processor, and while other groups have tried this kind of thing before (Some More Crime, Lassigue Bendthaus, and Black Lung come to mind), Bomb 20 take the Nobel Beats Prize for sheer inventiveness in rhythm programming and sample use. Apparently for Bomb 20, the revolution will be digitized. --Steve Landau
CD Reviews
(German Accent) Bomb 20 boy genius
garramonde@hotmail.com | Snoqualmie, Wa | 07/10/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What can I say about 18 year old Bomb 20, other than, the kid can rock.just like every other DHR Artist he produces music that one exec at Grand Royal (DHR's american releaser) calls music to kill your parents by. This album was the one that got me hooked on this style of music. it's hard fast at points, while maintaining the Anarcho-syndicalist ideals without ramming it down your throats. if you get one album this year, get You've Got the Fucking Power, if you get another get this one. and listen to it about 15 times, those feelings of rage will work their way out, and the headache'll go away after repeated listenings.Ciao"
Niiiiice.
09/02/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Incredibly clever use of movie previews, television and hip-hop samples combined with some of the darkest, grittiest beats ever created make Field Manual a must-have for any Digital Hardcore fan. "Burn the Sh** Down" has got to be my favorite song on the album, for the incredibly hard and fast bass beat and whining synth background. The beat is almost militaristic at times, which reflects the angst Bomb20 has against society in general....Good stuff...anyhow...hey you other person who has reviewed this in upland, write me sometime so i can have a fellow DHR fan in yuppytown here. Bye."
Abrasive, ingenious anarchy
J. L. Sosa | Frozen Wastes, MN | 07/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is probably too challenging to make any critic's Top-10-Albums-of-All-Time list, which is a shame. Truly one of the most original and shocking albums ever. The beats are heavy and distorted. They veer between hardcore dance/hip-hop and rythmic pulses of noise/static. The collage of samples from TV shows, movies and movie trailers is brilliant. Like a ransom note cut-and-pasted from a million different sources, Bomb 20 gets his political message across by stealing snippets of speech from Frank Zappa, Woody Allen, Al Pacino and a host of unwitting "co-conspirators." Required listening for anyone into avant-garde sounds."
Sonic nihilism
C. L. Mount | Hammond, Louisiana United States | 06/14/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is amazing, the sonic equivalent of a machine gun raid at a dance club. Menacing, dark, funky, noise-ridden breakbeat collages not for the faint-hearted popster. Excellent!"
NUTS
Nathan Wells | Wilmington, Delaware United States | 03/30/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"it would be very hard to find something more hardcore than bomb20, if you like hellfish and producer, venetian snares, or any of the other "harsh" electronic acts out there, definately check out bomb20"
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1