More than 100 artists use the electronic music medium here in Albuquerque, estimates producer and eight-year veteran of the city’s electronic scene Keith Woodell, “and no one has any clue that they exist.”
Though surely a slight exaggeration, consider: how many outside our burg have heard of Death Will Be Digital, Novemdecillion and Zamchowa? The latest edition of Burque Luv marks volume three of the set. Five hundred copies of the disc have been pressed by Fear Studios and, despite Woodell’s take on the relative obscurity on the disc’s 14 acts, this free collection just may sell out before its Aug. 30 release party at Pulse.
As of this week, 200 copies are already gone, with Woodell estimating a complete selling out of stock “within two weeks at most.” Clearly, Burque loves this stuff.
Burque Luv can be most easily described as “eclectic” within the framework of the synthetic, electronic and industrial music. Indeed, the opening track “Torchlight Needles” by Alchemical Burn is something of a shock, sounding much more like an homage to hours spent with Love & Rockets albums than those of Meat Beat Manifesto. This one, were Albuquerque radio more given to risk-taking, could be a bonafide hit.
Efesar’s “Black Inside,” meanwhile, owes something to that artist’s influences, which he lists as Nine Inch Nails, Dead Can Dance and Ministry, among others. Novemdecillion’s “Amnesia” and “Artifact” by Death Will Be Digital flaunt their Depeche Mode overtones. Strangest of all must be “Like That” by great Fox — is this what Lyle Lovett would sound like in the world of electronica?
As for the more minimal, mostly instrumental stuff, there is much worth checking out on Burque Luv. “Residual Resuscucitation” (sic) by Digital Epilepsy features an excellent trance groove with synth samples guaranteed to invade your mind and nestle there cozily through repeated listenings. This is no track for those who just can’t get that damn song out of their heads.
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“Indika” by Shoestring Cowboy is — as the title might imply — a mellow groove, yet deceptively complex. The great Terrorstate contributes the minimal bit “No Time For Shopping.” “Reject (Babel-17 Remix)” by Diverje, the last full-length track, provides a nice conclusion to the album, but be sure to check out track 13, “Pussy Hop,” a hilarious two-minute track put together by four of the album’s artists who “were sitting in the studio just screwing around.”
If electronica is your bag, the third volume of Burque Luv is your next music acquisition — but you probably already knew that. Should those willing to try something different miss out this time, Woodell promises there will “definitely” be further volumes. Feel the luv, Burque.
