REVIEWS

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Informatik
Re:vision

Metropolis Records

Posted: Thursday, March 16, 2006
By: Keith Rose

The opening track of Informatik's Re:vision disc is "The World Belongs to Us." It has an opening synth part that is in the exact same key as the opening credit music of the classic zombie film Day of the Dead, so naturally it made my man-snatch swell with delight. The programming and vocals are very tight and intertwining in on Re:vision. The only complaint that I gathered at the beginning of this disc is the fact that the vocals sound exactly like Tom Shear. Well, they sound a bit cruder, thus making them sound like Tom Shear would if he were flipping on some hallucinogen. Nonetheless, they're typical deep-throated vocals. But deep-throating is always more fun than listening to some bitch scream all horribly a la the 4,986 songs in the Hocico catalog. "Over (Iris Remix)" features music that you would expect from Iris: smooth, electronic, and melodic. Iris manages to take average everyday electronic band vocals and mesh them into a delightful state of bliss. "Revolutions" manages to crank out some synth sounds and melodies that are reminiscent of the main theme to the first Terminator flick. Managing to merge classic synthesizing with vocals has proven to be a dilemma these days for some bands. Hell, look at what Celine Dion does on every record; string synth swells from 1986 while she manages to force Barbara Streisand not only live in her Canadian throat-dungeon, but make her sing over top the cheese from it as well, all while merging Babs, herself, and the "music" until it makes for another hit record for middle-aged soccer moms all across the globe. What a pity. The tones in "Saints and Sinners" sounds much like Basement Jaxx's "Get Me Off" and unfortunately, after hearing that song, nothing has been able to get me off since, but no matter the state of my sexual dysfunction, the tones are more aptly applied by Informatik. "A Matter of Time" is a prime example of what Tom Shear can and cannot do. He can, A) write great albums and lyrics, but lately it seems he cannot B) come up with a new method of remixing. Every remix that man has cranked out lately appears that he is doing two things simultaneously: shitting and making money. Need I say more? I didn't think so, Simba. "House of Cards" is what I feel like I live in at times. By now, my drunken redneck neighbor downstairs has already beat a hole through my floor because he hears "that devil music," but needless to say, I'll fuck him to death later. "House of Cards" is a track that makes me proud to like electronic music, very much unlike anything by Velvet Acid Christ. Someone put that bitch out of her misery. I guess my point to prove with this album is this: go buy this album and skip the remix from Assemblage 23; you'll be happy that you did.