Weird Uncle Betty
In Porn We Trust
(Dune Records)
The porn theme has been done numerous times in electronic music. The Lords Of Acid were the pioneers of the dirty electro ditty with their album Lust way back in 1993 and they've continued that trend since, as well as tons of others hopping on board. While they're simply pornographic in their approach to making music (and writing lyrics), many others have gone the route of sampling moans and other bits of cheesy dialogue for background in their tracks. Whether it's hard-edged J.G. Thirwell doing remixes of Front 242, the more mainstream Rob Zombie, or the more kicked-back recent Suck It And See 2CD release on Pussyfoot Records, porn samples will probably be something that have their place for quite some time.
Weird Uncle Betty goes the route of sampling the porn movies, but it's really not as huge of an element in the music as the title of the CD might suggest. Whereas one might be tempted to go quite overboard in doing something of the sort, instead there's a fair amount of restraint shown in samples included, and it actually works better that way. Musically, things probably fall into a big beat sort of category, as most of the tracks on the disc have pretty good thumps behind them and there's also some pretty heavy feedback and chunky guitars layered in on a couple of tracks. A recent release that it kind of reminds me of is Junkie XL's Saturday Teenage Kick with maybe a smidge of the Crystal Method and Gearwhore thrown in for good measure.
After the minute or so long intro foolery of "Sexorama," the discs busts loose more with the bigger beats and live-bass sound of "Lolita." Of course, there are some heavy breathing samples and other small bits of dialogue thrown in as well, but nothing that ever derails the track. The BPM slows down on the third track entitled "Shemale Thunder" and things get thickened up for an even more meaty sound. There's a huge distorted beat that fuels the entire track and some more harsh noises, as well as a sample of what sounds like a drag queen (as is probably suggested by the title). After dragging on for just a bit too long, the very next track follows the same sound somewhat before the stutter-stepping of "The Intruder" and the goofiest samples yet. Instead of layering on things as heavy as the previous tracks, it relies on a great beat and some swirling blirps and beeps to drive it along.
The disc picks up a ton again on "Susan's Party Dress" with a guitar sample that sounds like it could have been pulled from a hard-rock hair band solo. Despite using the same sample as Junkie XL did on their song "Underachievers" (from the aforementioned album), it's a pretty darn decent track and would definitely appeal to those looking to get their guitar fix along with big beats. The rest of the album continues along sort of the same track, including the super-heavy "Sticky Fingerz" and it's flaming guitar lick. It's a nice 130 or so BPM track that should pump a dancefloor into a sweat. Overall, the disc is a pretty darn good effort from the smaller label. It's a little harder-edged than most of the fun big beat out there, but if you're into it, it's put together well and the porn samples make for a funny addition.
Rating: 6
