First up on this 12" split is D-Styles, whose name may indicate that the three provided tracks are basically your typical DJ stuff: Beats, samples, scratching, etc. Obviously I don't listen to this kind of thing on a regular basis, but I've been exposed to it, and I can enjoy listening to these particular tracks, so I'm cool with that. The first two segments ("Mr. Arrogant Remix" and "Felonious Funk Remix") are taken from the full-length LP "Phantazmagorea" and basically consist of well arranged beats and occasional vocal snippets that sound to have been sampled from old hip-hop records, with record scratching contributions from various DJ's throughout. I've never been a big fan of record scratching for whatever reason, so I'd almost prefer to just listen to the arranged beats and what have you, but... these are cool tracks to listen to, and the final cut, titled simply "Bonus Shit", is nothing but beats, so I can dig this. Side B sees members from Plutocracy, No Less, Agents of Satan, Bullshit Excuse, Elephant Man, Kalmex and the Riffmerchants, and Kompound joining forces in Go Like This, which is basically blazing fast hardcore with layers of cackled vocal shouts/yells/screams and frenetic arrangements that toss in lots of quirky midpaced dissonance for variety. The recording leaves a little to be desired since the maniacal vocals tend to dominate the mix and some of the details get lost, but it's not at all just a blur of noise or anything like that. After a pretty amusing Megadeth sample that transitions excellently into the grinding fury, "Hog Leg" is fast as fuck and has a little more of a humorous vibe happening, but they pull it off well. This continues in "Go Like This", and as you probably know, you can't really lose with a song that shares its title with the actual band name. So how about those quick fits of rock 'n' roll!? And the twisted, spacious dissonance that kind of creeps in out of nowhere in "The Eye of the Tornado"? Nice stuff. The LP (the first 100 of which come on clear red vinyl with hand-numbered inserts) is packaged in a black and white sleeve with a xeroxed insert, all of which has raw collaged artwork combining photos, illustrations, and text for a pretty D.I.Y. look that probably won't turn any heads, but does get the job done. Lyrically Go like This is pretty schizophrenic, jumping from serious socio-political commentary to silly tunes about drugs and alcohol, so... whether it's greed, corruption, and war or weed, beer, and vomit... there's something here for most everyone. I'm not overly impressed by this split or anything, but it's a good listen, not to mention an interesting pairing between two completely disparate musical entities. The two sides of the 12" don't exactly complement one another, but I can definitely respect and appreciate the diversity of the record, and each of the artists stands on their own two feet nicely. Fans of the whole West Bay Koalition thing will definitely want to look out for the Go Like This material, so...
[Alimentary]
Running time - 25:00 (approximately), Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Mr. Arrogant Remix, Hog Leg, Go Like This, The Eye of the Tornado]
Alimentary Music - http://www.alimentarymusic.com
