Search - Various Artists :: Electric Ladyland: Clickhop Version 1.0

Dirty Pop from Mille Plateaux's Finest boy bands.

donkeye | all up in your face | 11/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fast on the clicking heels of Mille Plateaux's controversial second installment of the Clicks & Cuts series (controversial, I say, because people are so polarized by the seeming listenability of said album, and how upsetting this is to certain types of listeners who prefer their music to be painful and tragic to most other people. Like in the world of couture, it's safe to call these people Music Victims) here comes a new volume of the much lauded Electric Ladyland series. Not, as to be expected, vol. 7, but vol 0--clickhop version.And so it goes that what we have here is the new underground of pop music. Mille Plateaux has fed its artists so much Deleuzian philosophy that they've ran flailing into the arms of NSync's 'Pop' -- and, strangely, thank god.I liked both the Clicks & Cuts things. I liked the Electric Ladyland's that I heard. I like music. Whether or not this new clickhop EL v.O will appeal to those particular peoples who turn their nose up at anything that resembles a beat, the music here is insatiably good.Vladislav Delay turns in a great track with vocals, Safety Scissors are amazing. M.Singe and High Priest are massive, deep-hop kings, where they tread, beware. Thanks to an influx of money, I've been able to spend an obnoxious amount on music, and the Mille Plateaux label has continued to make me and Visa happy.This 2 cd set is more rambunctious than maybe people expect, considering the seriousness of most of their label's output. For instance, the usually affected Alvo.Noto has a delicious track that could suit the jazzercise routines of a Mouse on Mars fan.The only other label that is really turning my head around these days is Pole's Scape records. All their releases have been so dang interesting, especially the newest Pole, R, and Jan Jelenik's album. And then, on the Warp label, I think Brothomstates has really been an impressive debut.But that's sort of beside the point. What I'm saying is that this newest Mille Plateaux comp. is another sweet fall release. A major Wish List item, if I ever saw one. If I wasn't a favorite client of three or four major credit card companies, and a sad boy in a cold climate, I would still be waiting to buy this baby, but as it is, I'm lucky enough to be able to tell you that it's worth your post 9/11 fluctuating world dollar."

Electric Ladyland under the influence of Idiology.

donkeye | all up in your face | 11/03/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Really, the more I listen to it, it's hard not to feel the ghost of Idiology possessing most of the artists here. Two discs of artists reeling from the genius of a new Idiology. This is an album refining the Mouse on Mars musical etiquette: get funky, foolish, and richly layered.
But my mistake about the Alvo.Noto track. Mr Noto Nicolai still hasn't loosened his tie, which is maybe to his credit. He's still as stiff and mathematical as ever. Alvo Noto is quick to becoming the Isaac Babel of electronic music, where the key to creating strong art is not when you can't add any more, but rather when you can't remove any thing else.The truth is: The best track on the album is by a French Canadian (Akufen), which is maybe the first time that has ever happened in the history of music. Alors, c'est bon ca."

Click-hop heaven

C. Quinn | County Louth, Eire | 07/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Possibly not recommended to serious hip-hop fans, largely because what rapping there is (not much) is pretty lame. But if you enjoy anything else on Mille Plateaux and aren't anti-hip-hop (I know some glitch diehards weren't happy with the preponderance of hip-hop/breakbeats on the last Clicks 'n' Cuts comp), this is for you. IDM/glitch can often seem - or actually be - overly academic and experimental, so it's great to hear tracks that prove you can do this style AND rock. Some of this even makes you want to dance - surely this can't be Mille Plateaux?!



With some of this stuff you'll wonder where the hip-hop influence is; I have a feeling it's really a repository for anything too funky for the Clicks 'n' Cuts series. As I said above, some purists prefer the crisp, cold, clipped sounds of early glitch; personally, I just think the greater warmth and looseness here is a sign of technology advancing and a group of musicians (yes, I do class them as musicians) technically maturing.



The glitch sound has gone beyond a few arid experiments; you can hear it throughout mainstream dance music now. This album is a collection of some of its greatest achievements, and one you'll come back to for more than historical interest. It rocks! Check out Geeez 'n' Gosh's 'Nobody Knows' for another classic of the genre."