NY Muscle
DJ Hell
(Gigolo Records)
Reported Wednesday, March 10 2004
Courtesy of Jonty_Adderley @ www.skrufff.com
"I like to go where no man has gone before, or say where no DJ has gone before."
Describing his musical mission to Skrufff recently, Germany's Gigolo gunslinger DJ Hell sounded distinctly like Stark Trek's Captain Kirk, though listening to his latest 5 year mission (aka new album NY Muscle), he's clearly been looking to the past as much as some space age future: More specifically, the decadent, dangerous, exhilarating past of 1970s New York; the place where Hell recorded the album during the first half of last year.
Mixing retro punk rock-style guitars and vocals with acid house beats and twisted industrial style noise and effects, he's delivered an aggressive, noir-ish even violent musical vision, seeping with salacious intent. Album opener Keep On Waiting sets the tone, with first collaborator Erland Oye ditching his usual ultra-chilled out, butter-wouldn't-melt vibe to sound strangely reminiscent of Green Velvet at his angriest.And ratcheting up the menace even further, is Suicide's notorious mainman Alan Vega, taking the reign on two tracks filled with angst and raw power.
An unnamed vocalist on 9 minute acid house epic Let No Man Jack also sounds cross, despite helping create the album's finest club moment, before Billie Ray Martin takes the tempo deep into the shadows with her torchsong balled Je Regrette Everything.
Dark, twisted and unquestionably sleazy NY Muscle is an album that asks more questions than it answers. Though as Hell puts it simply: 'it's still rock& roll and I like it.'
NY Muscle is out on March 22 on Gigolo Records.
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