HUNTER-GATHERER

I have a confession to make, for all of my old school punk rock posturing on this blog there was an era where I got so burnt on rock n’ roll (or a lack there of) that I turned to electronica for inspiration. I use the term electronica, as the myriad of sub-genres within this field is a bit lengthy to describe. To be specific, I loved break-beat, trip hop, progressive house and especially those artists bridging the rock/beats world like the Chems, UNKLE, Underworld and The Crystal Method. For the record, I still do.

Some of their records even defined an entire period of time for me. Walking through the city or another port of call with my ears confined to a pair of cans driving the infectious beat was a new brand of euphoria. I believed then and still do that this music just hits a different part of the brain altogether and there is nothing like it to aid workflow. I would often go on 24 hour work marathons aided with little but coffee, cigars and my carefully collected live sets of the Argentinian dj phenom Hernan Cattaneo.
During one particular era, that being the winter of 2003/2004, I was quite taken by the work of Holland’s Tom Holkenborg, AKA Junkie XL.

Holkenborg was unique in that he had produced a fair bit of heavy metal in addition to the dance tracks, film tracks and video game soundtracks he was known for. He also plays a number of instruments and was comfortable taking the stage with guitar in hand. Because of that, his tracks had a musical sensibility that was missing in much of the din that dominates the genre. There were tracks on Radio JXL: A Broadcast From The Computer Hell Cabin that made me feel like I was under the influence of something more than just the deli coffee I was drinking. In addition to buying the CD, I even went to his website and plunked down $7.99 for additional mixes that accompanied the album. I grabbed almost every track that his name was attached to. I forgave him for the Britney spears, Justin Timberlake (c’mon people he was in n’sync, wake up!) and Madonna remixes he produced that never made it into my collection. I just hoped he was fleecing them and after all, the guy is a producer.

When he came into town and played at the old Avalon I was eagerly in attendance. I should say he performed, a kind of dj set with a vintage Moog that was there more as a prop than anything else. But every track that flooded out of the club’s system was his. He either wrote it, produced it or both. If they were selling t-shirts that night I would have bought three, just to show some extra love.

Then I waited for the next record. Waited for over two and a half years for the watered down, anemic, uhhhh……release(?), Yesterday. Paid full price at Tower to listen to it twice and then let it collect dust ever since. This record was mellow, but not good Audio Valium-like mellow, just weak. I assumed that Mr. XL had just fallen in love or was just spending some time stretching his creative wings. Hey, even Bowie fans either love or hate Tin Machine (I fall into the former, btw).
So after waiting another 2 years for the latest Junkie XL offering, Booming Back At You, I hesitantly plunked down another $18, despite the mixed reviews. As a fan, he deserved the benefit of doubt, at least. The verdict, basically: unlistenable trash. The material is not weak, it’s downright stupid. I’m embarrassed for him.

I realize that releases within the genre of dance music do not generally enjoy a long shelf life and among musicians and rock purists it is often looked upon disdainfully. But with Junkie XL and the small group of aforementioned acts, I know I can go back to tracks that I listened to five years ago and realize why I bought those records in the first place. The entire UNKLE discography still enjoys heavy rotation.

In lieu of a track by track tirade, I will instead defer to a review from Music Emissions that caught my eye when I looked for anyone that actually liked
this album. It not only seconds my opinion, but affirmed a larger underlying feeling of dread that our aesthetic bankruptcy is now reaching artists that I once followed. It is also one of the most clever “pannings” of a record I have yet to see and perhaps served as inspiration for this long-winded post.

Music Emission’s review of Booming Back At You in it’s entirety:

“This is a great party!”

“Love ya!”

True, there is no real reason to review a bad record that was released a month ago. But when one of your favorite artists marches squarely into league with the artistically vacant, you worry who and what is next.
And they wonder why nobody is buying music anymore………….