Blatant Propaganda CD:

::: Various = "Electricity" (2003) BPCD016

2CDs of electronica club acid house drum&bass electro trance industrial dance power-noise ambient

track-list || price || reviews || artist information (biographies)

CD cover image

A showcase of the amazing depth and diversity of contemporary talent in Australia's capital city: Canberra.

February 2003: At long long last , this terrific double CD has finally been released (after 4 years in the works). And it sells for only $10 Australian or $7 U.S. (that includes postage) for 150 minutes of great electronic music. 31 artists. The CD price is low as , yet again, we have our charity badge on (a bad habit) and this is a promo-focussed release - aimed to get these great artists better known.

TRACK-LIST:

CD1 :::::

1. E.L.F. - a nice walk in the park (radio mix) 04:27 (electronica-house)
2. Chris Fresh presents Dark Code - consciousness (single edit) 3:49 (house)
3. Dark Network - pizza 08:14 (acid-grooves)
4. Bounder - underground 03:13 (club-pop)
5. DJ Archie vs Nash T - twisted anthem 07:49 (club)
6. Groovescooter - boots on 04:17 (electronica)
7. Meem - ole geaza 03:07 (electro)
8. Gruv Dios - the flute song 04:58 (house)
9. Q T - hoppin' around 04:09 (techno-pop)
10. DJ Citizen - never before, have we been so contented 05:11 (industrial powernoise)
11. SysX - miraculous (cheese-mix edit) 03:53 (industrial powernoise)
12. Mr Fink - hunting 05:04 (electronica)
13. E.L.F. - (polleetishuns are) puppets (for...) 05:20 (drum&bass)
14. Stalker - untitled #6 05:20 (electronica)
15. Artificial vs DJ Toupee - hole in my programme 04:44 (stoner house)
16. Chindogu Circuit - operation benny barbarosa (collapsed mix) 03:40 (noise)

CD2 :::::

1. EYE - psychological warfare (dystopian mix) 03:16 (industrial drum&bass)
2. Continuum - neurosis (single edit) 04:26 (electronica)
3. Pearldivers (of the Subconscious) - dali's martini 03:17 (trip-hop)
4. EYE - lords of this planet 03:11 (glitchcore drum&bass)
5. Paul Richter - meteor (lounge edit) 07:11 (trance) 6. Futureretro - cannot explain 03:40 (vocal house)
7. Whiteplan - against stupidity 05:58 (acid-electro)
8. Combat Wombat - police brutality (live) 02:36 (hip-hop)
9. Lacklustre - let us help you spend more than you earn 02:42 (techno)
10. AlÕs Backyard - into deep 05:34 (house)
11. STK - 2:11 05:03 (electronica)
12. Clone - filler (dub) 06:46 (acid-dub)
13. Trancendental Anarchists - prime 11 04:36 (ambient)
14. Igloo & the Icicles - twist 03:47 (ambient)
15. Reductionist - sound bite 03:30 (ambient-noise)
16. Voice of Dog - mushrooms, part 1 (cook up) 00:45 (noise)
17. Kimmo Vennonen - reality intrudes (edit) 10:55 (ambient-scapes)

PRICE:

SOLD OUT, sorry!

REVIEWS:

"CD of the Week": review in The Canberra Times newspaper, 10th April 2003 by Lexi Metherell... click this link to view the newspaper clipping.

Excerpts from a review by Tom Colman in Cyclic Defrost magazine, March 2003:

"... Spread over a double CD Electricity attempts to showcase the rhythms and beats emerging from our nation's capital. As you'd expect from such a venture the results are diverse, and while not lending themselves to cohesive listen, do offer up many entertaining moments. Not restricting itself to Canberra residents Electricity opens itself up to past inhabitants, meaning some familiar names pop up. Groovescooter, Meem, Combat Wombat, Artificial vs DJ Toupee, Dark Network, EYE, Chris Fresh and Nash T (to name a few) all appear adding their particular capital beat.

On the music front expect a smorgasbord of styles. From down-beat acid growls reminiscent of early Clan Analogue rumblings to house styles of all persuasions (including funky), progressive trance-tinged anthems to industrial drum n' bass roars alongside glitchy ambience and noise. Everything pretty much gets a look in. While some keep to a loose song structure and are able to stand alone you get the impression other tracks are better suited to a DJ mix.

Electricity is an excellent and engaging introduction to Canberra's electronic music community."

Feature article by Dan Bigna in the Canberra music newspaper BMA (Bands Music Action) March 2003 ... click this link to view the newspaper clipping.

Excerpts from a review by Calico, www.inthemix.com.au, Australia's premier dance music website:

"... For such a small city, Canberra has had an inordinately large impact on the country's music scene. Nowhere has this been seen more clearly than in electronic music... This compilation from underground crew Blatant Propaganda ties in some of the disparate elements of Canberra's electronic underbelly. The fact that it attempts this is admirable, the degree of success they've had makes it doubly interesting (especially at the amazing discount price) ... It's diverse! But then again, so is the Canberra dance scene.

You get the lush electronic glitchiness of Stalker's 'Untitled #6' - probably the highlight of the compilation for me - rubbing up nicely against the quirky grooves of Artificial vs DJ Toupee's 'Hole In My Programme'. There's also the gorgeous flute-driven house of 'The Flute Song' by Gruv Dios (aka local DJs Jeremy Joshua and James Power, keep your eyes out for Jeremy's soon to be released solo CD). Al's Backyard delivers minimal deep house grooves while Chris Fraser (aka Dark Code) delivers his trademark throbbing progressive. Dark Network, Mr Fink and Groovescooter all drop lovely grooves that are decidedly easy on these ears. Electricity doesn't only stick with the more accessible stuff about town though. SysX and DJ Citizen are responsible for some pretty brutal techno and industrial sounds. Combat Wombat (are they really from Canberra?) drop their conscious activist rhetoric on a live version of 'Police Brutality' and E.L.F. opens things with a strangely compelling bit of electronic groove on 'A Nice Walk in the Park'. There's a lot here. But if you're interested in electronic music in Australia, then alongside releases like Sound Quality this is an excellent place to start. It's available for only $10 making it an essential purchase. For the full review see here

A review by Jay for Fiend (formerly Goth Nation) magazine, March 2003:

"This double CD compilation of 'capital bleeps and bloops' showcases the many and varied talents of Canberra's electronic music communities. Released by Blatant Propaganda, these CDs run the entire spectrum of electronic music, from industrial to house to trance to powernoise to ambient to dub to hip-hop to drum&bass to 'commercial' electro-pop-disco.

E.L.F. kicks off the first disc with the bouncey 'A Nice Walk in the Park'. DJ Archie and Nash T contribute an uplifting trancey track called 'Twisted Anthem' which seems to tip its lid to modern EBM. And 'Miraculous', contributed by SysX, is a noise extravaganza that wouldn't be out of place on the ant-zen label. The second disc starts with EYE's 'Psychological Warfare'. Continuum slow things down a bit with the beautifully smooth track 'Neurosis'. Whiteplan's track 'Against Stupidity' is guaranteed to pack dance-floors, and Combat Wombat's live hiphop track 'Police Brutality' bristles with energy and intent. The final track, Kimmo Vennonen's 'Reality Intrudes', is a journey. Eleven minutes of droning, ambient electronic soundscapes that is a perfect way to end the excursion into Canberra's electronic underbelly. The artwork on this release is pretty special too. If you live in or near the ACT, make sure you check local street press to see if you can catch any of these acts live!"

Here is a promotional article on the CD by Paris Pompor of the Sydney-based "DRUM Media" music magazine-newspaper: "... turn up the volume and prepare to be surprised..."