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Venetian Snares: Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006 [ZIQ 056] Planet Mu, 2002 Tracks: 01. Dance Like You're Selling Nails 02. Banana Seat Girl 03. Fuck Off 04. Make Ronnie Rocket 05. Vokeheads 06. Deadman DJ 07. Cobra Commander 08. Walmer Side 09. Dismantling Five Years 10. We Are Oceans

I bought this because I loved the "Shitfuckers!" EP (which I admittedly bought just for the name), and also because the description on the Soleilmoon website convinced me that I could not go wrong. They were right: once you've been hooked by Aaron Funk's madness, there's no going back. From the opening kitschy vibe this album just makes you laugh. And how could you not, with a Julie Andrews-type crooning in "Dance Like You're Selling Nails" over Funk's freakshow drum'n'bass demolition? Or the high-speed jazzy meanderings in "Banana Seat Girl" that sounds like a cross between Squarepusher and repeatedly fast-forwarding and rewinding a DAT tape while it's in play mode? You know, where you hear clear bits of the music on the tape, but which eludes you before it whizzes by. One of the highlights of the album is certainly "Make Ronnie Rocket", which starts modestly enough with interspersed dubby MC samples over Funk's characteristic bombastic drum'n'bass beats. But a minute or so into the track, all hell breaks loose as you're given a spoonful of C4 and forced to watch from the inside while your head explodes. This is not music to tap your foot to, or shake your ass to while you try to pick up chicks at the club. It's not exactly arrhythmic. It's not exactly asymmetrical. It's not exactly math-geek music.

If you just sit and listen to it, preferably with headphones or loudly in the car while driving down the freeway, it's perfectly acceptable to just try to follow the grooves and beats with your mind. More than likely you'll just find yourself chuckling as Mr. Funk throws another curve. Some of the changes are just plain ridiculous. Take "Deadman DJ" for example. Once again the dub MC returns, his one-liner minced and butchered along with the frenetic beats. Midway through the song, it sounds like it's over, but it picks back up with the MC repeating "Deadman DJ" while a sound like the annoying high-pitched whistle sound that you hear in a lot of modern-day slow "rap" music whirs in the background. You know what I'm talking about. So now you've got a rasta MC backed by cheesy rap noises and absolutely breakneck d-n-b. How can you not laugh out loud? You might not even notice it if you weren't listening attentively. I find that half the fun is trying to figure out what Funk's sound sources were, and just what the fuck he was thinking (I like to imagine that he laughs out loud a lot while he composes). Or better yet, try thinking as you listen about how you would make this music if it were up to you? The beautiful thing about Venetian Snares is that this is truly music for the moment. (July 25, 2002)