UMB - 10 Years of Transmission (CD, United Manipulation Broadcasting)

This label sampler introduces nine different projects of UMB Kollektif, by this reaching from pop and folk to Industrial and rhythmic Electro.
It starts with two songs of the great Geneviéve Pasquier, singer at Throfon and since the year 2000 on a solo path. While "Existance" comes in a functional outfit with a straight beat, "Nobodies Darling" is a beautiful romantic mid-tempo pop song, accentuating Geneviéves warm voice.
The Musick Wreckers are the successors of Thorofon, adding some more pop appeal to the Industrial tunes of their ancestors. "Coldbeat", a 80ies influenced Minimal piece, is a nice example for this evolution, even referencing to No More's "Suicide Commando". "Distorted Youth" tends a bit more to Industrial, by the propagandistic lyrics as well as by the song structure. It reminds me a bit of Die Form.
Tonal Y Nagual surprise me with their tracks, both mixes no originals. Number one is "Cog In The Machine" a straight techno tune with some noisy accentuation and a EBM-like singing. Second one is the melancholic Synthie Pop track "Lonliest place". I thought the band sounds different, but I especially like the second contribution, with a hidden Frankie Goes To Hollywood-quotation: "The world is my oyster!". Not to forget "See you in Hell" - but that words are not owned by this infamous Belgian project…
Thorofon start with the energetic "Gigamesh", very powerful monotonous beat and an aggressive voice. But it's not EBM because it's not to clean, but made of distorted sounds. "UHF Disco" is a bit more straight and mid-tempo - a fine dance song.
Really strange, what Dogpop - a project of Thorofon- and Anenzephalia-members - stands for: A mixture of sing-a-long pop and Industrial sounds. I especially like "Deutschland" with it's haunting lyrics. "Dogporn" stands for the strange humor of this project, using the melody of Hot Butters "Popcorn" (To be honest I had to do a heavy research to find out the name of this song, though everybody knows it. By the way I found out, this 1970ies Disco Hit is a cover itself of a song by Gershon Kingsley.).
Kommando comes along with the great Industrial / PE song "Bones Under Skin" - monotonous looped beats, building site sounds and angry shoutings, making no compromise!
M.A.O. goes to a similar direction, but "Bluescreen" get's a bit boring, maybe due to the poor sound quality. When I saw the project live,, they where much more convincing. Same problem I have with "Misery". But you can still hear, that M.A.O. has some power…
Jägerblut is a project of Thorofon- and Tonal Y Nagual-members, producing a very fine Neofolk. "Hunting" is a classical melancholically genre song with some guitar chords and a distinctive voice (not obvious in Neo Folk). "Gruß an Krampus" is a bit more cranky, even in lyrics, and adds some religious choirs and Noises to the sound profile.
On Lambitani I couldn't find a information, who's behind. "Neig Dich tiefer" is a Pop song, stripped to the bone. Only a male voice and some rhythmic elements, that's all, by this producing an intimate and intense atmosphere. On the contrary the other track, "Romantik", is a very funny Minimal song, not meant too seriously. The lyrics provide a perfect sing-a-long for a gaggle of drunken men :-)

All together a very nice compilation, with a great variety, that makes the listener curious for the UMB products. So, that's what it's made for…!

 

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