DADA PROGROM RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR ALBUM BEATKAMP RELEASE: SEPTEMBER, 2007 REVIEW: OCTOBER 22, 2007

As always I’m more than happy to give something that catches my ear – known or unknown – a mention so here is another one you really should know more about. Dada Pogrom are an Icelandic combo, creating some rather fine techno/sampling/electro style music via their Canadian record label, Beatkamp. This isn’t altogether a shot from the blue however, there is some rather famous backing here – the producer of this project being Anthony “Fu” Valcic (who has also worked with Front Line Assembly, Linkin Park, Skinny Puppy and Marilyn Manson amongst others). The project was also recorded at Bryan Adams’ Warehouse studio in Vancouver.

The music is, well what can I say, very, very techno! There are obviously variations on a theme here, but this is actually quite exciting stuff. “Sinistar” is without doubt my favourite – crafted as it is seemingly out of mayhem! There is screaming, a deeply unsettling soundset, and a raspingly psychotic synth, all held down by a driving electronic beat. Another good example of what you will find can be heard on “Deja Voodoo” – a very entrancing squiggly electro bassline and excitable drumset providing the backdrop for a rather interesting, and slightly over-hyperactive old school techno/rave track.

Another thing that seems to be typical of this particular band's output are there penchant for Kraftwerk-esque tracks. “The Sky” is a great example – a very typical Kraftwerk-style song title, which leads into typical Kraftwerk style synths, all topped off with robot-effected vocals. “War Is a Pogrom” is one of my highlights here – a bizarre pre-apocalyptic techno-rap with the pace of a jackhammer, and the sensitivity of a bull! “Bees” is also worthy of note through taking the typical techno formula and lifting it into an altogether weirder, more jittery and unsettling place.

An area where the album falls down a little is possibly that the tracks don’t change as much as might be necessary to keep interest, especially as the length of the majority of the tracks is slightly on the long side (between four and a half and five and a half minutes on the whole).

This is a very long album, which would have represented great value in the height of the CD generation – but could cause a problem with the short-attention-spanned MP3 buying youth market these days. I don’t know how long people would actually be able to sit through this album – not that it isn’t very good – in places it is amazing. I just feel that some of the songs featured might not get heard due to the length and repetitiveness of some of the tracks. Still, a great addition to anyone who loves their beats pulsing and their rhythms acidic – count me in on that then!

MIKE WHYTE