Customer Reviews

Out of Breach: Manchester's Revenge

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

 

 

Mu are a husband-and-wife duo, Maurice Fulton and Mutsumu Kanamori. Fulton has an impressively long resume in house and hip hop, but his production here is pretty much unclassifiable. Over tweaky electronic mayhem that references breakbeat, house, rock, and even blues, Kanamori screams broken-English lyrics about hating lots of things, including former label Tigersushi, haters of Michael Jackson, and haters in general. In both their obsession with pop culture and their diction, the lyrics bring to mind Wesley Willis. If Willis were female, Japanese, and worked with Aphex Twin, the results might sound like this. This is a very digital, sick, and twisted record - who knows how long its shelf life will be, but it has surprising depth.

Well, I guess I'm a hater now. But hear me out anyway, because I actually like Mu's first album. This album sounds like a collection of B-sides for the songs on the first album: the same exact style, but without the good parts. As you might expect, there's lots of noise, lots of Mutsumi Kanamori's distorted vocals and crazy lyrics. Except now there are no sudden pop breakdowns like in "Let's Get Sick," no driving keyboard lines like in "Why I Left," no funky guitar lines like in "Tell You Something," fewer atmospheric bits, and no fun announcements of "You know what? We done!"

That's the problem. This album just isn't fun at all. Kanamori actually sounds kind of defensive when she attacks the "Haters": "I may have no talent, but...you don't have the magic power, do you?" Well, I guess it's true that any time someone becomes successful, a bunch of haters pop up to spoil the party. But if you have to spend a whole track addressing that, well...didn't Axl Rose do that at one point? Look on the bright side, Mu! Your first album received many positive reviews! Relax! Light up a beer! Forget those haters!

It's not just haters who come in for abuse. Most of the album is about settling scores with someone or other. Kanamori also disses the owner of Mu's former record label. The charges: "He has no respect of what I do / Talks down to me / He's mean / He's unfair / Very, very evil man." Take that, label owner! I can totally identify with her here, since I've run into a couple of guys like that. I'm not sure I'd write a song about them, though.

There's also a critique of "So Weak People," and a track about some unfortunate whose demeanour resembles that of a small female dog. Kanamori says, "I'm sick of so weak people / who can't solve their own [problems] / Dragging people who have nothing / To do with this stupid problem." Dragging people such as the listeners of this album, perhaps? Unsurprisingly, there's a lot more profanity here than on the first album. This is usually the first indication that one doesn't have much to say.

After all these petty squabbles, it would be a relief to hear Kanamori try to spread some positive vibes. Unfortunately, the only time this occurs on the whole album is in a track called "Throwing Up," which includes lots of vomiting noises to illustrate the negative consequences of alcohol abuse. They should totally use that song in those high school programs that try to dissuade teenagers from drinking.

It may seem stupid to look at Mu's lyrics, of all things, but Kanamori is the focus of this album. Her voice appears throughout almost every song, with fewer instrumental stretches than on the first album. But the overall sound is very similar. Kanamori sticks to her "dominatrix voice" and her "screechy voice," both featured prominently on the first album. Those growly bass lines reappear in many songs. The abrupt shifts in dynamics, unfortunately, do not.

The one exception is "Stop Bothering Michael Jackson," which goes from a dense, aggressive diss track to a moody ambient fade-out with deep bass and piano chords. The bass also reappears at the end, on "Extreme," which is by far the best track on the album, and hopefully represents some kind of new direction. There, it gyrates in awesome long, funky lines, which could have provided a foundation for a really great dance song.

But there is no such song here. For example, why did anyone like "Paris Hilton"? Is it because Kanamori squawks like a chicken a couple of times? The underlying beat is completely generic. Not only that, but it sounds weak next to the intense pounding rhythms from the first album. That just leaves Kanamori's sarcastic lyrics, but come on, they're about Paris Hilton. That's such an easy target that there's nothing to say about it, funny or otherwise. And Mu already made fun of trashy pop culture in "My Name Is Tommi" on the first album.

It's enough to look at the difference in the cover art. If you look at the cover of Out Of Breach, you'll know exactly what this album sounds like. Kanamori's got a butcher knife and a hand sticking out of her head, and she's got messed-up hair and a demonic grin, and she's all unpredictable and crazy. Whereas the black-and-white cover of Afro Finger And Gel really is unpredictable.

This album is a perfect example of what rock critics call the "sophomore slump." Mu have beaten the style of their first album into the ground, and the result is mostly just boring. Hey, it happens. Let's hope it's not the end. It would be a bad way to go out.

Despite how ugly much of this is, there is an undeniable energy emanating effectively on some of the better orchestrated moments of unhinged dance-punk nastiness.

This is some crazy schizo electro/house industrial music featuring a screaming Japanese woman & is only recomended for people who want something completely different from modern day music. This album shouldnt work at all but it does & thats why its brilliant.

Fusion music: Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

And unfortunately, that's the case with the sophomore album for Maurice Fulton and wife/bandmate Mutsumi Kanamori (Mu). The disco/punk/experimental album has hints of promise here and there, but ends up too schizoid to actually turn into anything worth listening to.

It opens with Kanamori launching into a sort of dada rap, in which she denounces haters, eBay, people who hide her tampons, and threatens to "kung fu" them all. I'm not entirely clear on what she's saying, because she screeches out her announcements in a an earsplitting howl.

Then it switches into a techno beat with monster voices, a passable if overlong disco-drum song, a robot-pop song about guys named Luke, schizo techno beats with oddball electronica and what sounds like rattling cardboard, and a song called "Paris Hilton" where we get drums, bells, sirens, and clucking noises. Is that a comment on Hilton's brain, or her looks, or what?

Over it all, we are treated to more weird raps from Kanamori, often with her screaming the word "b*tch" repeatedly. We're even treated (not) to a song called "Throwing Up," which is basically a techno beat as she makes vomiting noises into the mike. The less said about it, the better.

In fact, not a lot of this album is actually that interesting -- hearing Kanamori yell "I'm coming to get you!" through a vocorder is not interesting, and it's not the sort of thing to listen to twice. This album is not original enough to be experimental, not cohesive enough to be punk, electronica or indie.... in short, they're not anything much.

Fulton is a decent enough producer, with a good grasp on what sounds and instrumentation to include. Bells, bongos, wild sampling, and some interesting albeit repetitive beats. The problem is, music is more than finding cool sounds and stringing them together. Yes, even experimental music -- good experimental music is about more than being as wacky as you can, in the hopes that SOME part of it will be appealing. Some of the songs here are solid and intriguingly weird, but they are also the ones that sound the least random.

And Kanamori is the kiss of death for this. From the very beginning it's clear: she cannot sing, she cannot rap, and her presence is just an irritant in some songs that might have been interesting without her (ex. "Like A Little Bitch"). And as an added bonus, half of what she says is completely indecipherable.

Mu's "Out of Breach" has some moments of musical excellence here and there, but Kanamori's screeching and Fulton's unappealing production drown them out. Just call me a "hater."

This is one of the weirdest records to come out this year. It is refreshing. MU is based in Sheffield. All similarities to Pulp and Spaudau Ballet end there. It's like Throbbing Gristle collaborated with Yoko Ono. They have some songs called "Stop Bothering Michael Jackson" and the more famous "Paris Hilton." Actually this band is comprised of performance artist, Mutsumi Kanamori, and Producer Maurice Fulton. It's a mix between electro, experimental music, and comedy. Their first album was regarded highly by Pitchfork Media. The first lyrics are "Welcome to the Mu World Bitch! I'm talking to the person who took $1800 from me on Ebay plus bitches who tried to release my vocals without my permission, plus another shout out to bitches who hid my tampon in backstage, and especially all the haters. I'm about to King Fu you!" This is Sheffield's answer to Les Georges Leningrad. It may be a little more fun too. Arthur Schopenhauer said: "Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think." MU is the new religion that breaks all form of thinking.

"especially all you haters! i'm going to kung fu you!" this album is downright brilliant, an excellent follow-up to their debut, and about, oh, i don't know 1,000 times more original than any electronic music for at least the past 5 years!!! long live mu! the first album is perfect, this album has a few missteps (the tracks run a little long, i think it should've been more vocal-heavy), but if you're in the mood for some serious fun/dance-y/weird adventure, then hurry up and buy!

Maybe one song in this album is listenable, actually no - to be honest it would be better if they just didn't sing!

This is like a Saturday night live skit gone bad. I guess if you are really into obscure German electonica this might be for you. But most of the songs like Throw up or Stop Bothering Michael Jackson simple suck.

First off, I wouldn't even have given this album the 1 star I gave it if I had the option. Now let me just come right out and say that I'm A huge electronic music fan, from Trance, to House, to Breaks, to DB & Jungle, and have been for like the past 10 years, I live and breathe it, and am usually pretty opened minded when listening to new music. However, "Mu - Out Of Breach" is without a doubt the worst, most god awful excuse for music(If you can call it that) I've ever had the displeasure of listening to. I picked it up after reading about it in "Mixmag", thought I'd give it a try. I Wouldn't even call this Music, it's noise, broken beats, and screaming. I know there's some of you out there who're gonna say it's experimental, but there's no excuse for this mess. Some people are gonna call this art, and that may be so, that said, it still doesn't make it any music. DO NOT, I Repeat, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS GARBAGE, If you do, don't say I didn't warn you.