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(Intergroove; US: 21 Nov 2006; UK: Available as import)

This German techno/dance/electro outfit hasn’t been heard from in a while, but this album, released through Datapunk member Anthony Rother’s label, is filled with adventurous electronica, beginning with “Unknown to Millions”. Moby, NIN, Devo, and the Chemical Brothers all seem to be touchstones here. The album also has a lot of flow to it, especially with the aptly titled “Movin’ Along” that does just that. Although there are the blips and bleeps as almost required, songs like “Tank” are quite solid thanks to a slow-building groove based around an airtight backbeat that is a tad industrial in tone. Things hit a rough spot during “Demons & Girls”, which never gets off the ground and sounds like a Gorillaz throwaway, but “Aciklik” is sleeker and far better, as is the jungle-tinged “Bird”. Perhaps the band outdoes itself with “Black Zeppelin”, which is not a mash-up of Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin, but a dark, eerie kind of tune in the vein of classic Depeche Mode. Another nugget almost lost in the mix is the jazzy “Relax on Me”, which has better than expected results.

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Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


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