Search - Schneider Tm :: 6 Peace

Junkmedia.org Review - For the beginners

junkmedia | Los Angeles, CA | 05/01/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is basically "Schneider TM for Beginners." Which is to say that you'll want this record if for whatever reason you haven't been paying close attention to Schneider TM up to now; close followers of the German elektropopmeister otherwise known as Dirk Dresselhaus probably already own most of what's here. That's because 6 Peace repackages a half-dozen previously released tunes. In fact, there are only four different songs, as there are two versions of "Reality Check" and "Frogstears" and "Fruktos" are variations of the same song. It seems that the primary reason for this disc's release is because Schneider TM is currently touring and needs something else to sell.Still, it is not like he's selling [bad stuff]. Schneider TM here delivers catchy melodic laptop fare and smears vocoder vocals over most of the cuts. The icing on the cake is that this disc includes his striking cover of the Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" and two pretty cool Quicktime videos. What's underneath the icing is pretty good, too: "Reality Check" is first-rate techno-clicker that will have you trying to approximate singing along with the chorus (the robotic vocals are sort of hard to make out), and jeepers, the version that closes the album was remixed by Mogwai! The Scots add a plethora of electrogrit and careening bleeps to the end of their contribution, making it the highlight of 6 Peace.Newbies will be somewhat surprised by the unremarkable acoustic strumming and harmonica on "Frogstears," a remake of "Frogtoise" that touts a decidedly country bounce. But don't flip out, the heavily manipulated but more minimal take, dubbed "Fruktos," will satisfy your atmospheric glitch quotient for the day. The video for "Reality Check" is pretty clever and deserves the effort of popping the disc into your PC; the video for "Frogtoise" is nice but not much more than nice. Watching either one will get you extra credit toward graduating out of "Schneider TM for Beginners" to an enlightened future. Or at least "Schneider TM for Intermediates."Jay Breitling
Junkmedia.org Review"