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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, Take A Bite - Review﻿</title>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Take A Bite

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by Sam Scott﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, September 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

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﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿Review of Meat Beat Manifesto's ﻿<i﻿>﻿Subliminal Sandwich﻿</i>﻿ (Nothing Records, June 1996).﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


Ryan Daum's review of Exit Planet Dust in issue 4 of New Socialist contained a description of the album as "... an example of great electronic pop music, containing all the covert political themes that come with that designation." 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

I don't know what covert political themes Daum is referring to, but the sad truth is that the techno scene is almost entirely devoid of any overt political messages whatsoever. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The best the scene has to offer -- acts like Aphex Twin, Goldie, and Clatterbox -- can't provide a political message because they make very little use of vocals. The worst the scene has to offer -- straight "thumpa thumpa" dance music -- is by nature not concerned with any politics other than who's who at the record company. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Some non-vocal techno acts have tried to incorporate political themes and in the process have failed miserably at the art of making music. The Canadian group Sucking Chest Wound provide a good example of how favouring politics can lead to tedium and an endless line-up of boring sampled voices. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The notable exception to this rule is the rap/hip-hop scene which has a style well suited to getting out a political message. The problem is that the in-your-face vocals can only be enjoyable if you agree with what the singer is saying. If you disagree even a little, it's just annoying. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

(For the best of political hip-hop, listen to Paris' short groove "The Hate that Hate Made" -- a great example of how to make an eloquent political point in a rap song. For the worst, listen to anything by Consolidated -- "The Sexual Politics of Meat" is a good place to start.) 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

One ground-breaking group which has been fairly successful at incorporating lefty political themes into techno music is Meat Beat Manifesto (MBM). Often referred to as pioneers on the techno scene, influencing artists like The Chemical Brothers and Nine Inch Nails, MBM have just released "Subliminal Sandwich" a double CD full of brand new material. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Formerly a duo, MBM are now reduced to just Jack Dangers and a handful of collaborators that includes Joe Gore whose last gig was with PJ Harvey, and Mark Pistel of Consolidated who thankfully stays well in the background. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The first disc is the more dancy and vocal of the two. If you're not a big fan of Reggae Dub then you won't like all of it, but the rest of the disc more than makes up for the reggae tracks. Memorable tracks include "She's Unreal" and "Mass Producing Hate" which both contain great whispery vocal samples, and the first single from the disc, "Asbestos Lead Asbestos," a laid back groove which offers up a condemnation of capitalism's neglect for ordinary people and the environment. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Throughout disc 1, Dangers carries on the MBM tradition of innovation and experimentation, but disc 2 is where he sets himself completely free from the constraints of the "pop song" format. Here you can find 70 minutes of ambient techno experimentation that places MBM alongside other great beat-driven ambient acts like Mouse on Mars and FSOL. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

If anything, "Subliminal Sandwich" is less political than previous MBM offerings. But then again, the political messages have always been very difficult to pick out of the obscure lyrics and sampled voices anyway. In the inevitable compromise between the music and the message, MBM has always favoured the music. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Go pick up "Subliminal Sandwich," but do it quickly. The double-CD is a limited edition release and may soon be unavailable. For more info on the band, check out their web site at: "http://www.brainwashed.com/mbm" 

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