Pepe Deluxe - Super Sound
Emperor Norton

I like the vocal samples in the songs on this CD; they are NEW and FRESH and
HIP and certainly fit in quite well. There are some Emperor Penguin-esque
grooves to be had, as well as some funky basslines and, yes, you guessed
it, this is an ELECTRONIC MUSIC CD. This is a CD where people play
computers and computers play computer-based instruments such as samplers
and synthesizers to make music that would hopefully make you dance. That's
what Pepe Deluxe is trying to do. They really want to make you dance.
Or at least make you chill out and listen to their CD, hopefully recently
after buying it.
Should you buy this CD? I don't know. I bet you're a Propellerheads fan,
or maybe a bit of an EMPEROR PENGUIN fan, as everybody should be. I bet
you're a fan of my mother, but that's a different story -- this CD would
entice you with its synth-laden grooves and stolen basslines. Though some
of the songs get repetitive, so it makes you wonder if they're trying to
rock you out or put you into a trance.
The members of this band also seem to think they are something
extra-special, which I'm not so sure may be the case --- I'm sure they're
all very sexy and luvvable and cuddly ... and it seems some of them can
scratch some records (or at least sample other people scratching records)
but can they make a CD which moves me deeply? Do I get sincerely rocked
out?
Take Moby, for instance. Moby started this thing meshing electronic music
-- traditional techno music, that is, with an ambient twist -- and mixing
in guitars. Guitars that, you would think, moby played himself. These
songs were powerful, and maybe Moby didn't invent this idea himself, as
it's a logical idea for somebody to come up with, but then Pepe Deluxe does
something similar. They lay down a beat a few years after moby releases
the song "Honey", and they put some snarey guitar, some fuzzy snare-like
guitar on top, which is seemingly sampled, and then add in a blues sample.
That sounds like ... Moby!!
So these guys might be coming to your town soon. Clap your hands, rock
your pants, this will be the best show ever. If you're a fan of old Moby,
and, like, trance techno rock hiphop groove funk jazz.
You'd think -- and maybe I'm going too far here -- but you'd think that
mixing all those different genres together would get muddled. You'd think
that it'd just create music that wasn't really worth listening to. But
REALLY -- and I mean REALLY -- it just kinda creates music that is trying
to be so many different things that it really isn't ANYTHING. Add a beat
and you have something you can shake your butt to... but is that so
spectacular? Couldn't you just shake your butt when the wind blows?
When there's money to be made, mo'fo?
It gets real sparse, this Pepe Deluxe CD does. And speaking of all the
various genres present, you could factor general electronica into the mix
because Pepe Deluxe knows how to effectively use synthesizers. Oh ...
wait, it's not that hard!! They can play ... NOTES on synthesizers. They
can play notes ... and lay those notes on top of beats... but the
synthesizers never really do anything exceptional. They make noises like
synthesizers. So if you've never heard one before, you might become
excited. If you're on lots of drugs and can't tell your ear from a hole
in your head, Pepe Deluxe's use of synthesizer noises may excite you. If
you've ever heard anything reasonably interesting that's been done with
synthesizers laid on top of beats, though, you might quickly wonder why
Pepe Deluxe is still playing in your CD player. Which is kinda the point
I'm at right now, and I think I might turn it off.
...tim johnson...
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