Customer Reviews

Chocolate Wheelchair Album

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

 

 

Like all other VSnares albums, you have to listen to it from beginning to end in order to get a full experience of the Snares Man. This album was actually the first Venetian Snares album I bought when I discovered Mr. Funk, then went backward then forward again, getting everything I could possibly get from him. Now as a true fan of his articulation, there should be a sub-genre of electronic music based off his style. Hand throw!

Anyone who's interested in Aaron Funk's music is aware of his complete disregard for conventional musical structure. Fans are also probably aware of how attractive that disregard can sound- i know i am. My first time listening to "doll doll doll" all the way through, i felt like my life had changed. It was dark, and raining, and i was on my way home from somewhere in the dark and rain with the volume on my stereo cranked all the way up. It was amazing; relentlessly attacking snare sounds placed at jazzily flawed time signatures, and distorted voices from under the bed from god knows what horror film. It was scary, and i wanted ta shake my booty to the fear. Who else can do that?

On his first and second albums "print/f" and "songs about my cats", Funk showed obscurity through fractured drum & bass songs with odd time signatures, and there was an individual theme for both. These themes were vague, and ended up being more like undertones (did you really imagine different kinds of cats when you listened to "songs about my cats"? Probably not). However vaguely the songs represent their theme though is irrelevant; when listening to either album, your brain can fill in the blanks, and you'll get something that could possibly be the sound of cats, or evil (or in the case of this year's dissapointing "nymphomatriarch", sex).

With Chocolate Wheelchair, it seems Mr. Snares has abandoned all theme structure, and created an album full of songs that are all experimental in their own right. The opening track "Abomination Street" begins with some jazzy meddling; horns swell and flush while the snare drums segment them on a cutting board. Eventually a punk-esque female vocal comes in, which acts as a hook for the song. Venetian snares songs don't generally have hooks, so this is a relatively new thing for listeners to hear from him. And when they do hear it, they'll love it.

"Einstein Rosen-Bridge", the album's strongest track, takes a funk guitar segment, a cow bell, and a sample from something old and science fiction ("its about time, its about space, about strange people in the strangest place!"), and blends thems into one of the catchiest songs of the year. And its a Venetian Snares song! Epidermis continues in a slightly similar fashion, with emphesis on its chorus / hook vocal, and lightning fast drums of all shapes & sizes.

good stuff. But herein lies the problem- what about the more experimental stuff? What about the songs without hooks? This is what makes the album inconsistent. Its not that any of the 10 tracks on this album are "bad", per se- its just that a select few tracks stand out, and the others...don't. I found myself popping this cd in my discman and skipping stright to "einstein rosen-bridge", over and over. Is it the album's lack of flow, or is it my impatience? Either way, Mr. Snares sets the listener up for accessible songs done in a violent and drum-driven fashion, but falls slightly short of that expectation with the more obscure stuff. This is a good album, and i'm sure snares fans will find alot to like in it. But for those looking to dj some snares songs at their next party, a word of advice: go with the einstein rosen-bridge 12".

Yeah, I like Einstein-Rosen Bridge, but for me the key track is Marty's Tardis. I love the gradual transition from what sounds like Tourette's Syndrome to a gorgeous mellow soundscape. Not sure, but from the title I'd say the track mimics the Hostile Action Defense System (HADS)feature on Dr. Who's tardis that teleports the 'ship' from danger when under attack. In this case, it has moved Funk from the usual breakcore to the sort of music I'd like to hear a lot more of from him.

Yet another aggressive one from Aaron..

Insanely off the wall and disconnected from your everyday break beat time frames, get it.

Aaron Funk, the man behind the one-man 'band' Venetian Snares, describes his music as 'f*cked up'. I'd be willing to agree with that. Venetian Snares is hardly the sort of music to put on over a romantic dinner. Its the sort of music I'd probably request to have played at my funeral if I knew I was going to die in a month just to have a last minute laugh imagining the look on parent's faces. And you'd probably need to have that sort sick sense of humour to like Venetian Snares in the first place, so I figure that it all evens out.

However, despite the f*cked-up-ness of it all, Chocolate Wheelchair Album has a bizarre parallel to it. Now bear in mind that I'm yet to hear half of Venetian Snares' back catalogue, but of what I have heard Chocolate Wheelchair album is both one of the most aggressive yet also one of the most accessible in a strange, angry kind of way. Make no mistake, nothing I've heard from him is on the same level of heaviness as Hand Thrown and only a few tracks here are subdued. The album is still incredibly energetic, to put it lightly. But its also catchy in weird way - a way not present on his other work.

There's an extensive use of catchy vocal samples - Aboniation Street has an almost punky female voice over the top, Einstein-Rosen Bridge has samples that sound like a Eurovision song gone VERY wrong and Hand Thrown features stereo-typical drum n bass MC-ing over it (before it turns into a cross between speedcore and a car being repeatedly crushed and scratched). These seem to work as memorable hooks for the music, something not widely used on a lot of his other work.

Another noticable feature is bass lines. Its a much more subtle difference, but considering how random a lot of his music is, having a humable, memorable bass line like those featured in some (note the word 'some') parts of this album makes a huge difference to how instantly likable, memorable or accessible the music is.

Is Chocolate Wheelchair Album my favourite Venetian Snares album I've heard? No. Will it satisfy fans of Doll Doll Doll or Winter In The Belly Of A Snake? Maybe not. Is it a great Venetian Snares album? Oh yes.

This album is very good and I would highly recommend it to any fan of Aaron Funk's. The whole album is great, full of intricate beats as always. This is a definite must-have for fans of electronic, gabber, breakcore, or whatever you want to tag it, it's amazing...

This just in: People dance to 3/4 time music without even knowing.

In a related story, Arron Funk attacks dancefloors; dancefloors surrender.

In an attempt to distance himself from his work on hymen, and not get pideon-holed as "teh scarey technos guy," the latest release by infamous one man act, Venetian Snares, took off into the land of the dance-party. That's right kids, you don't have to listen to this album in the dark; now you can use a strobe! People will still look at you funny if they hear you playing it, but they will no longer clutch their children and hurry off looking back over their shoulder. This is a new Venetian Snares, and he's not really here to stay! He's just here to confuse your dog!

Your friends will say, "Wow, I feel like I should be in some European club getting hit on by a guy in leather pants named Franz!" Except they probably won't say it that excitedly! All in all this album is interesting and fun to listen to, but it lacks the cohesiveness that made his earlier works so special! Still it grows on you. My only complaint is that he makes little use of his virtuosity in the art of sonic texturing. :,(

Still though:
It has a Coronation Street remix.
It has a glitched out 80's pop tune.
It's still in the top 99% of all music made in the year of 2003.
How could you not love it.

[edit]oh, and the ultra-accessable feau-euro-dance track, einstein-rosen bridge, comes in at under 2 minutes. not exactly the best thing to base your purchase around.

3 1/2

At this point, anything Mr. Funk is putting down was worth a listen to the ears of the mechanically dense, but CW does fully embrace his earlier more noise-collage side at the expense of more far-ranging melodic appeal. This still results in a study compilation of the intense, out-of-control, momentary audio party drill-and-bass aficianados take for granted.

Sent a cd by mistake still waiting for LP vinyl after returning cd to amazon, haven't got the lp or even a reply from amazon yet!