FluxEuropa - dark music and more

FluxEuropa has suspended active publication and no longer requires items for review. The site is, however, being maintained as an archive and you can still post to the Gigboard and order Amazon products which helps to subsidise its continuation.

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ATTRITION

ATTRITION is an electronic music group which describes itself as combining "left field dance rhythms and atmospheric experimentation, coupled with a surreal lyrical content and unique male-female vocal blend." Founded by Martin Bowes in the early 80s, the group now consists of Martin (vocals, electronics) and Julia Waller (vocals) and is based in Coventry, England. FluxEuropa was pleased to receive a review copy of Attrition History (1996), a promotion-only CD sampler featuring ten tracks, one from each of their releases to date. Although this CD is not for sale, the individual CDs are of course, and details will be found on Attrition's own official home page.

The first track on this sampler, 'White Men Talk', is from their recent CD, 3 arms and a dead cert, and straightaway establishes the unique style which makes them hard to classify. One element is upbeat techno dance music, but there is a lot more to offer as well, including Julia's vocals (sometimes in classical, operatic, style, sometimes whispered) and nice classical touches of synth violin. It would be risky to draw any conclusions about the evolution of their music from this sampler alone, but the track from their latest album, 'I am' from Etude (1996), suggests an increasingly classical orientation.

Unlike much techno and other electronic music, and despite the group's aggressive sounding title, this music does not rely on bludgeoning the listener with an unimaginative and repetitive bombardment of noise. This music is varied, melodic and cerebral, and in this they carry forward the Kraftwerk tradition. In a field where artists sometimes struggle to produce something different, Attrition are special and distinct and thoroughly to be recommended.

Rik - 1 May 1996

EXTERNAL LINKS

http://www.attrition.co.uk