ＳＯＤＯＭ - P.E. / Peak Experience

so, here's another acid house album by my favorite band, ＳＯＤＯＭ. this album is at least as fabulous their self-titled album that came after this. that's all you really need to know; if you liked ＳＯＤＯＭ then i can pretty much guarantee you'll like this.

the first track, "U Can", seems to be like an early blue-print for the fantastic performance of "Can U Acid?" (which, tragically, does not exist on any album, single, or EP that i'm aware of). it's not quite as tight or giddy as that song that i fear was only played live, but it's still really great.

the second track is a totally questionable remix (and re-recording of) their opus, "Beyond...". i'm not entirely sure what drove them to remake this song, but whatever; it's totally awesome/retarded. fortunately, it sounds like an entirely different song, so it's not really tainting the original. i've listened to it billions of times by now, of course, but it's still a goofy song.

track three ("Voice In Your Eyes" . . . what?) opens with this ridiculous synthetic strings, and just gets stupider/awesomer from there. the vocals are great, though, so this is one of my favorite tracks from the album. and basically the rest of the album keeps up with this same sort of corny-awesomeness. i can't get over how much i love this album.

also, that album cover is so excellent. it kinda reminds me of Grace Jones (and the music does have roots in disco, so this is a little fitting).


p.s. i'm almost tempted to call this a remix album, except that these are re-imaginings; all of the recordings here are fresh.


1. U Can
2. Beyond (Tom Tom Mix)
3. Voice In Your Eyes
4. Art Of Lav (Factory Style)
5. Joy & Pain
6. Castle In The Air (Sweet Dub)
7. King Of House (Groove Your Body)
8. Lovers Around (O・A Mix)
9. Egypt (Haza's Beat)


ENJOY

ＳＯＤＯＭ - SODOM

so, on this album, zazie and the gang decide to go all out gay dance club disco pop. i feel like wrapping a pink feather boa around my shoulders and dancing down the street in a pair of white nylon zip-up boots (yeah, i've thought quite a bit about this, obviously). it's very hard to take ＳＯＤＯＭ serious at this point, yet the band seems to be entirely serious. which is what is so fantastic about this, i suppose; they're not being ironic. like, not even a little bit. they most certainly want you to get into the groove, and feel the acid. which is wonderful, i guess. i mean, good for them that they want to have fun.

it's good for us, too, because this is a really fantastic album. if you enjoyed their album KING OV HOUSE (which is my favorite LP from them, though my favorite EP shall always be the dramatically different BEYOND) then you will like this. this is very much like their EP MATERIAL FLOWER, as well. though, here they have completely cut all of their ties to post-punk. and really, they shouldn't be remembered as a post-punk band (and certainly not a hardcore band, as they only had two hardcore LPs), as most of their output was this silly/sincere dance music. and i love them for it.

my favorite track on this album is probably the second track, "Slave To The Body". zazie's vocal delivery on this album is so delightful. he's completely given up his weird growling/moaning vocals here, which is fine, because he's a completely competent singer.

a second favorite would have to be the second to last track, "Dream..., Illusion...". the synth line (mimicking a flute of some sort) on this track is absolutely delightful. and, once again, zazie's voice sends shivers down my spine. so, maybe his voice isn't traditionally beautiful, but something about it really does make my hair stand on end. honestly, i think i'm rather glad that i don't know what he's singing about, because that could very well spoil it.

anyways, check this out if you want a really slow paced but completely catchy and still very strange pop album. i think ＳＯＤＯＭ may have finally become my favorite band. i can't get enough.



1. Skin Deep
2. Slave To The Body
3. It's Paradise
4. Morning Light
5. Dancing In The Moon
6. Orange Sunshine
7. Dream..., Illusion...
8. Double Side, Double Meaning


ENJOY