MERKER TV
– fat air
(CDR,
self release)
Why do I listen to this? I admit that I like Justin
Timberlake’s “Futuresexx/Lovesounds”-Album, which in a certain way
tries to do the same thing only in a trillion times better production. They
might sing that they are “supa tight” but they ain’t, actually for a
soul-dance band with aspirations to rock a dancefloor they are actually
quite loose. Strangely though, I like the four songs on here for some reason
which is not too clear to me. Let’s get the facts straight first: MerkerTV
seems to be the project of some scenesters from Linz, Austria and this CDR
made its way to me on strange, winded ways, into my player and stayed next
to it for some weeks now. I didn’t mind writing a review quickly, because
this was recorded in December of 2006 and to me it doesn’t matter if I am
late ten or eleven or nine months. I don’t matter at all for being on top
of things, actually. There are four songs on this CDR with dance songs about
dancing. Which usually means fucking (see Justin Timberlake above) but that
has been chewed. That is all the facts I have. What else do I need to know?
The production of “fat air” is remarkably bad for
such a record. Usually, I don’t care at all, but if you wanna move a
dancefloor (or increase your nookie-meter) then you need your technique
right. For instance the drums are not mixed tightly and with that crisp
hitting sounds, especially the snare, that demands people to move their hips
and heads underneath the stroboscope. (I’d recommend some Sly & The
Family Stone re-listening to get what I mean, or even better take “Look A
Py Py” by the Meters for reference). That weird bass sound on
“cortison” is way too much in the front for too long in the song. The
singers voices are too thin – listen to Barry White and how his low
frequencies rumble, then to Timberlake and the spectrum he is able to fill
even when he sings falsetto. All of this reminds me of the early days of
Austrian hip hop, when you could easily spot the national from the
international productions, because all the Austrian crews, even the good
ones, sounded like they wanted to but don’t know how to sound like the big
names.
Why do I nevertheless like this EP? I think partly
because it is a local production, partly because it is moving and funny
music, especially the cheap effects. But mostly because I feel like I am
listening to people who do this kind of music because they love it and not
for commercial success. Like they just got together in some other bands
rehearsal room to kick out four songs and recorded them right away. And that
is way cool. But if I want to get down and dirty with the lady I think
I’ll keep on stacking Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield next to the CD
player.
