12" EP 1998
The most conceptually praisworthy disc yet from Comatonse is this offering from Terre's Southern Califoria comrades Ultra-red, made from recordings of men fucking in LA's Griffith Park. They call it a "Public Space Occupation", and that sums it all up real well, as sonically the tracks resemble environmental recordings more than the heavy-breathing electro-isms I was expecting. The sounds of bodies hurriedly rustling, night insects chirping, helicopters and distant car engines mix admirably with looped glitches and a deep recurring hear-beat rhythm on "Auto Body". The second track, "Cruise Control" sounds like some passerby's booming soundsystem looped quite funkily over the abstract nature sounds for a Kahn & Walker or Vermona feel. The two mixes of "Cruise Control" on the flipside, by Local 303 and Chugga, are more recognizably IDM-friendly, especially the Autechre-meets-Paradinas workout by Local 303, which wouldn't sound out of place on a Warp label sampler. Chugga's mix is a bit more idiosyncratic, as their retro-futuristic disco mechanics are a bit more difficult to pin down. It is very groovy and it swings quite nicely though. No colored vinyl, alas, but the cover graphic of an enhanced architectural section of Griffith Park (with blow-job) is deceptively subversive.