Released
(1994)/1998
Label
(Death By Blowjob)
Skin Graft Records
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
Skin Graft Records
PO Box 257546
Chicago, IL 60625
USA
Visit
Last Edit/Update
02 september, 1998
Strangulated Beatoffs
DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Track Listing
1. Earth To Satan
2. Satans Pool Party
3. Bewitched
4. Bothered
5. Bewildered
6. It Isn't Fair For You To Taunt Me
7. Pied Piper Of Hamlin
8. One Life To Live
Originally this CD was released in Europe by the Belgian label Death By Blowjob,
and, as a consequence, very difficult to find in the States. However, a certain quantity
of this much sought after dancehall classic has now become available domestically in the
U.S. through the efforts of Skin Graft Records, who also recently
released Strangulated Beatoffs' new self-titled album.
Days Of Our Lives is of
course a healthy dose of completely mind numbing music, and features a number of Strangulated
Beatoffs' most celebrated hits -- "Satans Pool Party" amongst them. The
band here takes their unique style of beat-driven, sample-heavy "loop" music to
unexpected heights. "Bothered" for instance -- its brevity aside -- is a
masterpiece of pitch and tempo variations of a single sample source: that of a
horny-sounding woman blabbering incomprehensibly. This piece richly illustrates the duo's
ability to make the incredible happen out of extremely sparse sound material, but even so,
it is a mere sketch compared to what follows.
The approach taken on
"Bewildered" is one that surely gives the band's name new meaning. Basically,
the listener is here treated to twenty-some minutes of the same pulsating beat and sample,
the only element of flux throughout being some doodling with a whistling tone -- probably
handled with the left hand by one of the Beatoffs, while consuming a beer
with the other. The discerning listener will notice that this piece in truth is a homage
to another duo famous for their sample-based dance-music, who actually managed to stretch
one track to twice the length that Strangulated Beatoffs here accomplish,
and still managed to pass it off as a single. In any event, while "Bewildered"
undoubtedly is the band's crowning achievement on this CD, the rest of the tracks are
confirmations of Strangulated Beatoffs' high style and class. It is quite
simply the kind of record any DJ should always carry with them, in case their Orb
CD should be damaged or turn up missing.
The sound on Days Of Our Lives
is generally a little more on the electronic side than on some of their other releases,
but this should scarcely chase any of the band's followers away. This is another milestone
Strangulated Beatoffs record -- a small step in the stormy career of the
band, a great step into eternal darkness for music as such.
