music review

Anthropile ::: "Take"

industrial - socio - political - electronics

anthropile album cover

I can really relate to (Anthropile) Bryan Hughes as he's doing similar things to EYE ie. using electro-industrial sounds to convey information. Musically, Anthropile is mechanical industrial metal with large doses of old-school electronic body music. Think of a cross between mid-80s Front 242, Consolidated, late-80s Ministry, Skrew and the sampling & humour of Negativland.

Robotic industrial percussion and bass is overlaid with distorted keyboard, sampled guitar riffs and the occasional wicked jazz piano solo. The sparse vocals are mostly slightly distorted, pitch-shifted and often quite sardonic & tongue in cheek. For example, the line "I'm just a little paranoid" in 'My Shiny Toys'. The lyric and sample content broaches subjects like the mix of fundamentalist religion and U.S. party politics, U.S. military imperialism, control freaks, the Oil industry & consumerism. "Ambulatory Meat Plants" is quite an unique adventure. Bryan engagingly recounts a dream where he was a cow chased as a meal by a devil figure on top of an enslaved four-legged creature (could that be a nasty meat-eating humanoid on a horse?).

This has to be herd to be believed; you'll be moooo-ved. Sorry, couldn't help but throw in a few cow puns. As for another angle on describing Anthropile, Australian readers may be familiar with Sydney band Sterile (I was a member of them for a few months many yonks ago!). Anyway, if you dig Sterile (see review this issue) you'll also thoroughly dig Anthropile. The two projects have a similar style of percussion programming, distorted keyboard sound and choice and use of samples. Nevertheless, they are quite distinct from each other. Anthropile is certainly the more humorous of the two and lacks the outright bleakness of Sterile.

Overall, if you're into upbeat music that has something to say without forcing the point, you'll enjoy Anthropile. I certainly do. Great stuff! 12 tracks over 61 minutes.

Available for $12 US from:

AnthroPile/12Ton Productions: 2007 G St. #3 Bellingham, WA 98225, USA.

email: [email protected]

http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/30/anthropile.html or http://fp.netos.com/xon/anthroreleases.htm