Thursday, July 28, 2016

ELECTRIC SIX/DICK VALENTINE - ROULETTE STARS OF METRO DETROIT/RAW

Another awesome Kickstarter exclusive from E6 and frontman, Dick Valentine!  This time, the band deliver a soundtrack to a mocumentary film they made called, "Roulette Stars Of Metro Detroit".  The two disc set also includes a new Dick Valentine CD entitled "Raw".  But more on that in a minute.

The E6 disc is actually quite amazing!  It's made up of a selection of tracks.  There's new original material, some covers and a remix.  Together, it's a rather satisfying listen and one I'm currently enjoying on a regular basis.  The covers are interesting choices.  The first one, 'All Night Long' is from a band called Rainbow.  They're made up from former members of Blue Oyster Cult.  I think the track was originally released in 1979 but I'm not sure.  I didn't know this one at all prior to it showing up here.  I had to research it online.  The first time I listened to it, I thought, "Holy smokes, they're turning into an 80's hair band!" but the song is so rocking and fun it's become one of my favorite on the disc.  The second cover is 'Obsession' by 80's one hit wonder band, Animotion.  I actually remember buying their cassette when the song first came out and hating the rest of the tracks.  'Obsession' was the only track worth owning and I never upgraded that cassette to CD.  The third and final cover is Oingo Boingo's 'When The Lights Go Out'.  Danny Elfman is an amazing songwriter and his quirky song writing style translates well into E'sixian.  It's excellent!

The mix on the disc is the Dubai Bros. remix of 'Night Vision'.  The first time I heard it, I thought it was weird and I wasn't sure if I liked it.  However, on subsequent listens, it's become one of the tracks I love the most.  In fact, I play it all the time in my truck while I'm driving.  It's such an odd remix and yet it feels completely right!  It's actually made me excited to listen to mixes again.  I've sorta got to the point where I think they're not worth my time.  As much as I like the original 'Night Vision', I like this one just as much if not more.  It adds so much dimension to the song.  Wow.

As for the new original material, holy smokes!  I love 'An Omen Of Things To Come', 'I Upgraded To You' and 'Shrink The Bastards'.  They're simply phenomenal and yet another reason I've become such a hardcore fan of this band.

The second disc, the Dick Valentine album, isn't a disc full of new songs like his other previous efforts, but rather an outtake disc of sorts.  Don't get me wrong, you hear demos of songs that haven't been released, but the majority of the tracks are music demos for tracks that were released.  He includes his rough musical ideas for tracks he wrote for both Electric Six and Evil Cowards.  The majority of the tracks are instrumental or the musical blueprints of the songs, but what makes the disc so fascinating is you actually get an idea of how the songwriting process works for him.  It's interesting to hear these rough versions compared to the produced and polished released tracks.  I'm highly pleased with the amount of material included on these discs and I'm enjoying the discs equally!

This set was a kickstarter exclusive.  If you didn't buy it through the original campaign, I'm not sure you'll get another chance to own it.  It's certainly worth having and for those of you who didn't, you're missing out.  My final words:  ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE ROULETTE STARS OF METRO DETROIT!!!!  THEY WIN ALL THE MONIES!

ELECTRIC SIX/DICK VALENTINE - ROULETTE STARS OF METRO DETROIT/RAW
DISC ONE - Original Soundtrack
01. Compensation
02. All Night Long
03. An Omen Of Things To Come
04. Obsession
05. Night Vision (Dubai Bros. Remix)
06. I Upgraded To You
07. Shrink The Bastards
08. Lottery Reptiles (Tropicalia Mix)
09. When The Lights Goes Out
DISC TWO - Raw
01. Classon Av. Robots
02. Digital Jackass
03. Hello! I See You
04. I Belong In A Factory
05. I Can Translate
06. I'm Not Scared Of Flying Saucers
07. Laughing Gas
08. Making Progress
09. Miami
10. Rubbing Me The Wrong Way
11. Suitcases
12. Synth 2
13. Theme From Garage Band (Test 1)
14. Tonight Should Have Never Been Tonight (Test 3)
15. Waste Of Time And Money
16. Zora And Nora

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