Coming in at a sprawling 20 tracks over 79 action-packed minutes, this latest low-priced compilation from Tigerbeat6 manages to adeptly showcase the head-spinning diversity of the Oakland label’ artist roster these days. With a tracklisting drawing upon both tracks from recent Tigerbeat6 releases as well as previously hard to find rarities, Let’s Lazertag Sometime features contributions from some of the label’s more well-known names such as Kid 606, Knifehandchop and Drop The Lime alongside those of an array of “affiliates’, some of whom manage to provide the biggest surprises here.
Vintage synth eccentric Quintron opens proceedings alongside Miss Pussycat with “Swamp Buggy Badass’, an icy piece of electro-biker sleaze that comes across like Russ Meyer gone off on some Kitty-Yo tip, squelching analogue electronics and motorik rhythms powering beneath the trailer trash vocals. Berlin’s Phon.o opts for clattering IDM-influenced hiphop breaks on the robotically mechanical “313 Dumpster Railing’, a standout moment that gives Jimmy Edgar a good run for his money, while Clipd Beaks throw the first of many curveballs amongst this tracklisting with “Nuclear Arab’, a sprawling slice of wall-of-sound shoegazer rock that descends into agonised Ornette Coleman-esque brass squawks.
The curiously named Indian Jewelry meanwhile set the controls for Troggs-styled psyche rock with the blisteringly distorted “Emptyhanded’, delay-heavy vocals bleeding out across a thick wall of guitar fuzz, before Eat Tapes goes head to head with The Soft Pink Truth for “Uh Huh’, a retro-styled slice of stripped-back acid techno that shows the title phrase being cut and shuffled in Drew McDaniel’s signature style. There’s also a chance to check out Kid 606′ new “And Friends’ band project, with previously unreleased new track “We Need To Make A Change’ pitting programmed rhythms against indie-inflected angular guitars and shouted Anglophile vocals that call to mind Blur’s punkier moments. While the predominant focus throughout is upon more pop-informed outings, a final teeth-rattling samplemash blast from Puzzleweasel on closing track “Taliban Terrorist Training’ proves there’ still some breakcore lurking at the very edges. An excellent label primer for anyone looking for an introduction to Tigerbeat6, complete with gorgeous digipak artwork from www.slanginternational.org.
Chris Downton
