v/a "Notes From Thee Real Underground: Volume V" compilation 2xCD
[Underground, Inc.]
I don't know what the hell this is all about. They say, "Notes From Thee Real Underground is the metamorphosis of the original punk D.I.Y. philosophy. 99 bands from across the country and around the globe uniting to form what has become the largest network of hard working bands ever to be seen!" Really? If they're so hard working, why does no one know who they are, and why have I never heard of this compilation series before!? And okay, then why have I only heard of one of these bands before - Encomiast, the band that sent this collection to me!? Consequently, Encomiast is also the best band herein by far (sadly only offering up one track), whose "Nepenthe" is a masterful display of bleak and sinister ambient electronics with lots of swaying low drones and subtle melodies, even swirling around some carefully placed and indecipherable female singing. Very, very nice. The rest of the compilation represents everything from Railer's shitty indie/pop with a heavy edge, at times sounding like early Faith No More gone pop or something; to Worm's crappy industrial with goofy vocals, under-produced with a weak guitar tone and sort of sounding like an above average demo or something. There are also numerous weak goth/new wave weirdo bands (all of whom incorporate numerous other musical influences into a mesh of boring dog shit) - basically setting the bar for what basically amounts to a mishmash of left-of-center music that really makes the good projects sound fucking great. Shit, both The Supernaturals and Screaming Monkey (the latter of which sounds like a goth/industrial take on a nu-metal garage band) should be banned from ever polluting the ears of the public again. The other projects appearing that I actually enjoy are Torrent Vaccine (nice, melodic electronic music with solid programmed beats and a good atmosphere) and the minimal electronic ambience of Kamm (only in "Howthewestwaswon", as the vocals and drums in "Negative Space" are inexcusably awful). So out of more than two hours, maybe 20 minutes is pretty damn good. The layout's not that hot. It's all done in red, white, and black, and it looks clean and consistent, which is fine, but it's goofy. There's nothing to it. The tracklist is on the back, a list of the bands that contribute to the first four volumes of the series is under the traycard, while the inner spread is mostly art with a small statement about Paul Melville (a contributing artist who died prior to the completion of this release), and the only real statement about the series appears on the cover. Yeah, this is one of the worst compilations I've ever heard. How they made it past Volume 1 is beyond me. Encomiast's tracks is superb, though. (1/10)
Running time - 2:18:13, Tracks: 33
[Notable tracks: Torrent Vaccine, Kamm, Encomiast]
Underground, Inc. - http://www.undergroundinc.com

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