Customer Reviews

Autoimmune

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this album! Best think yet, and I love the new direction. [...]

"Let's start this off by weeding out a few people. If you belong to any of the following groups, skip this review completely, and just go buy the album right now (yes, seriously):

1. Any previous Meat Beat fans
2. Fans of electronic dub, glitch, or dubstep music
3. Lovers of grimey, deep bass

Now that we have them on their way, I can get to talking about what makes Meat Beat Manifesto, and this album in particular, so interesting.

Jack Dangers, the figure-head visionary behind the group, started playing heavy, repetitive, industrial-esque music many many years ago in a country far, far away. He found his sound-style early on--with a love of Dub/Reggae, syncopated rhythms, and obscure samples--and has been refining that sound ever since. We have seen MBM move from the raw industrial sounds, to acidy electronic samples, to dub, then a quick dip into jazz, all while keeping a seriously grounded, deep reggae-like bassline and layers upon layers of funky drum patterns.

I was almost certain that Jack and Crew were going to spiral off into more of this Jazz-infused madness with their new record, but was pleasantly surprised to find Autoimmune following in the footstep of the best previous albums, but yet again, pushing new sound elements into the already perfected mixture. By adding the wicked dirty dubstep bass sounds to their palette (distinguished by the dark, gritty mood, sparse rhythms, and emphasis on bass), Meat Beat Manifesto has followed the natural course which today seems totally fitting (although was shockingly new when I first played the album).

So who really should be a fan of Meat Beat Manifesto? If you are a fan of deep, dirty funk, dub/reggae, hip hop, dubstep, or glitch; it is a must-have. Mind you, MBM is all and none of these at the same time. You will hear pieces and parts of most everything and yet if they were played alongside of any of these on a radio station, it would definately stand apart. If you however, prefer your music light, fluffy, and soft... you could probably easily skip this release and be on your way.

Okay, so all this means mostly nothing without some music right? Well, here you go... a few samples of the new album, fresh-in-stores tomorrow. Enjoy."

MBM's Jack Dangers has, from the beginning, continued to hone his panoply of ideas with each release, sometimes dedicating whole albums to just one of them (i.e. dub on In Dub, the use of his EMS Synthi 100 on R.U.O.K?). His practice makes perfect, as demonstrated on Autoimmune, a culmination of the 21-year-old MBM mythology. The hip-hop of "Young Cassius" tears apart your speakers with vocoders, spine-bending breaks and an MC (Young Cassius) tough enough to handle it; "Hellfire", "62 Dub" and "Guns `n' Lovers" feature enough bass and lugubrious backdrop sounds to make Scorn blush; MBM's trademark scratchy spoken-word samples abound, particularly on "Solid Waste" where Dangers takes his fierce, punctuating, circa 1992 raps (Satyricon) and explodes, both politically and musically, alongside baller-a$$ turntable scratches. Some artists can get away with recycling concepts, especially when said old tricks are creative light years away from anyone else on the planet.

If RUOK took Meat Beat in the direction of modern hiphop done with access to a room full of rare vintage synthesizers, Autoimune refines that vision to a razor blade and adds a splash of everything that has made Meat Beat work from album to album. Eclectic, polished, ugly, beautiful, and soulful. Solid Waste echoes Freindly Fa$cism era Consolidated and songs like Edge Of No Control and Asbestos Lead Asbestos while other songs echo everything from Jack Dangers solo work on Important Records to strait ahead hip hop and dub. All is infused with challenging rhythms and gut shaking bass.

This is a test.
This is only a test.

Short Review: Just Buy It!

Long Review:
I recently saw Meat Beat Manifesto (Great live show) and heard a bunch of tunes that were new to me and very mind bending. I didn't check out the merchandise area because there were about a million people around a 4 x 4 table. So once I got home I did some detective work (aka check amazon.com) and find Autoimmune. First thing I would like to say is the recording is top notch. It is pure sound. The second thing I can say is the music is very deep or rather has a lot of depth. It is the kind of music that makes your mind feel like it has expanded one thousand feet out of your head. This CD alone makes me want to buy $1000.00 headphones. With so many good MBM recordings it is hard for me to say this is the best, but as of late, it is what I listen to most when I want to experience Jack Dangers world. You will not be disappointed with this CD. I am hard pressed to say that there is one bad song. If MBM comes by your area don't miss the show. Just buy it!

This album is very dissimilar from MBM's other albums. Its their first voyage into Dubstep, and it works. The whole album has a creepy feel to it, i often describe it to friends as the music i would listen to if i was high on drugs and killing people. its calming in an electronica way, but it can also incite excitement. excellent to dance to, excellent to chill to. this is actually the album that turned me on to dubstep. i recomend it strongly to anyone curious about dubstep, or anyone who already enjoys dubstep and wants to add to their collection. this is one of three albums i keep in my truck, along with "Diary of an Afro Warrior" by Benga, which is also excellent dubstep, and "Pretty Hate Machine" by NIN.

Jack dangers once again seems to breathe new life into the very genre he helped define. Complex layers of sound take the listener on an incredible sonic journey as only MBM can do!!

It is safe to say after the last couple of (in my opinion) not so stellar CDs, MBM IS BACK !!! It is nice to see a return to the old formula,but with some new twists. This disc is worth it for old and new fans . Jack Dangers is once again,the master with a plan !

I'm a little sad that this album sounds so much more like previous material. It's very good, but after the innovation of the last album, I had my hopes up for more jazz and less hip hop, or at least something further from their comfort zone.

C'est La Vie. Their live show will still make a straight edged square dance and hollar like a burnt out fiend.

Remember when Meat Beat Manifesto used to write actual songs? You know, with structure, a sense of progression from beginning to end, occasionally with lyrics, choruses, and the like. It seems as if that approach has gone out the window in recent years, with releases like RUOK, In Dub, At the Centre, and now Autoimmune largely ignoring any kind of focused songwriting. Instead these albums are collections of repetitive, monotonous drum and bass loops overlaid with a lot of unpleasant squelchy sounds, chunky arrhythmic percussion, and predictable samples from international radio stations.

I think Autoimmune represents a low point in MBM's sound. It embodies all the weakest elements of his recent releases and takes the songcraft to new levels of laziness. These tracks simply don't go anywhere; they are defined by their utter lack of direction or energy, making this the first truly boring MBM album. Even the CD cover lacks originality, as the grid concept echoes the cover of RUOK.

To be fair, it does have a couple bright moments. "I Hold the Mic!" is a truly excellent Meat Beat track that shows he can still pull off a tight, trippy and well-mixed song with a devastating bassline if he puts his mind to it. And "Return to Bass" is held together by a fun vocal sample and isn't as meandering as the rest of the album (although it would've benefitted from a more propulsive beat IMHO). The rest is pretty forgettable when compared to such classics as "It's the Music," or anything off "Actual Sounds & Voices."

I don't want to be too negative as MBM has produced more than its fair share of great electronic music over the years. This disc, however, is not the best example of their sound.

okay effort by Jack but sounds like old MBM, stuff released under Jack's name and very much like Mick Harris's SCORN in parts, also let's thank someone or something that the jazz is gone.