Pitchshifter - Infotainment?

Label: Earache
Catologue Number: MOSH137CD
Format: CD
Date: 1996
Style: Alternative Rock / Industrial Metal / Breakbeat
Rating: 8/10
Reviewer: Sidney James

Most people will probably first encountered Pitchshifter via their last two albums 1998’s www.pitchshifter.com and 2000’s Deviant. Infotainment? sees Pitchshifter in a process of rapid evolution and sonic development. Acting as it does as a transitory album between Pitchshifter’s early industrial grindcore sound and the punk and bass sounds of www.pitchshifter.com. It also marks the end of the relationship between Pitchshifter and Earache records before the band’s unsuccessful adventures on two major labels.

Sonically Infotainment? is a combination of heavy guitars , hip hop influenced beats and samples. This may make sound like a thousand nu-metal bands. However considering that Infotainment? was released in 1996 it predates the current crossover sound by several years. Also the truth is that all the sources of Pitchshifter’s sound maybe similar to the current crop of bands, their approach is and manipulation of these sounds separates them massively from the sportswear wearing hordes.

Infotainment? kicks off (following a short sampled intro) with the fantastic Underachiever. Bass and drums create a mutant hip-hop rhythm closer to the sampled rhythms of Ice and God than to Korn or Limp Bizkit’s Wigger beats. Then shock of all shocks, J.S Clayden’s vocals kick in and they are initially they are free of distortion and death metal influenced grunts of Pitchshifter’s early work. Then the guitars appear with the weight of a Juggernaut in free fall and Clayden’s vocals metamorphose back to their previous form (a transformation just as impressive as Fear Factory’s Burton C Bell’s vocal tricks). The over all effect is to make you want to mosh uncontrollably.

Next up is (We’re behaving like) insects, where the hip-hop beats start to become almost jungilised as the guitar and bass grind around the drums. The lyrics are typical Pitchshifter attacking the conformity of society and the promotion of individuality against the collective. All of course done in the typical tongue in dead pan tongue in cheek manner associated with Pitchshifter.

The following track Virus (my all time favourite Pitchshifter track) kicks off with chugging guitars and the familiar metallic hip-hop beats. Add to this grinding electronics, samples, Clayden’s growling vocals, a start/stop rhythm and somehow (and I don’t know how) you have an amazingly example of controlled aggression. Strange how such a great song can be made from some many missing links. The lyrics again are full of dark humour and irony, the chorus ‘Kill, eat, exploit the weak’ being a shining example.

More ironic lyrical attacks against mainstream capitalist society appear in Product Placement. Again the familiar musical elements are there, however this time around samples from TV documentaries are added to the musical stew. The strong acts as a raging missive against the way in which advertising and product placement and sponsorship have became dominant in a dog eat dog social environment.

Following another short interlude the album storms in within Bloodsweatsaliva which is the track closest in sound to Pitchshifter previous album Desensitised. This time Clayden’s lyrics promote the existence of a counter culture in a society where non-conformity is ridiculed and alienated. The song acts as a call to stick to your beliefs against all adversities and non-believers.

Just when you think you’ve got Pitchshifter sussed they throw you in a curveball, this time it’s the pure drum and bass song Hanger 84. A stunning track where the tripping jungle beats are melded with samples about the Roswell incident and the minimalist of guitar noise. Hanger 84 is a drum and bass track that is easily up there with the classic Valley of the Shadows by Origin Unknown. It also acts as an indicator to the type of music that Pitchshifter were to produce on their next alum.

The final two tracks Whiteout and Phoenixology continue the guitar and hip-hop beat aggression of the earlier part of the album. Again the use of clever vocal samples and Clayden’s polemic lead lyrics rise them above he average. Phoenixology sums up the whole message of the album that of globalisation and the dehumanising nature of modern capitalist. Its mantra of ‘This Town could be anywhere’ sums up the concepts of homogenisation that Pitchshifter are challenging.

For all you budding bedroom musicians the CD finishes with a whole bunch of samples and loops used on the album. We are a nice touch and it’s always impressive to see a band making their music available in a more hands on form. Also if your lucky you may still be able to find a limited edition reissue of the album that came with a bonus disc of remixes and promo videos.

If you have recently discovered Pitchshifter, I whole heartily recommend it. It’s combination of caustic hip-hop beats and grinding guitars still sound fresh and innovative today. It’s just a shame that others have co-opted to style of this album and erased all the radical elements and left an empty husk. Infotainment? much just clock in over 30 minutes, but when something is as good as this, do you really need more?

Pitchshifter - Deviant

Label: MCA
Catologue Number: 112254-2
Format: CD
Date: 2000
Style: Nu Metal / Industrial Metal / Alternative Rock
Rating: 5/10
Reviewer: Sidney James

Let’s start with the obvious, Deviant is another Pitchshifer album, and like other Pitchshifter albums the band have changed their sound again. Where as previous albums have seen them go from grindcore to industrial metal to “punk and bass’. Deviant sees them go in another new direction mainstream alternative rock. www.pitchshifter.com was a stunning album; Deviant just leaves me stunned. It’s not that Deviant is a bad album, it’s still offers so much more than the bulk of alternative rock bands, it’s just the feeling that I know Pitchshifter are capable of producing much more interesting and innovative music.

Gone in the main is the electronic undercurrent of www.pitchshifter.com replaced by live drums and a lesser use of samples. The guitars also sound cleaner and lighter, with the normal punishing grind pushed out of the mix. Part of this change is partially due to the change in the membership of the band, with a new guitarist and a drummer bought in for the first time. This formula makes Deviant the most accessible release by Pitchshifter.

Pitchshifter have managed another transformation, which I initially was sceptical about, but recently going back and listening to Deviant again, I was actually pleasantly surprised. There are a few outstanding tracks from the attack on conformist society that is Dead Battery (a phrase used by the late great comedian Bill Hicks) to the sub www.pitchshifter.com track Hidden Agenda with its programmed breakbeats. Also credit most go to the track 'As seen on T.V 'featuring a long time hero of mine, Jello Biafra (ex Dead Kennedys). Where Mr Biafra gives another one of his observational rants, over a punishing track.

The other main factor than makes Deviant, a worthwhile is that Pitchshifter have lost none of their uncompromising political stance, again the various problems and failings of modern society. A necessary voice in an industry where your dance routine and your level of personal banality are the dominating factor. It’s just a shame that Pitchshifter fury against the modern condition is not always matched by fury of the music on Deviant.

The main question that Deviant leaves me is where no go from here. Will they succeed in their attempts to infiltrate and corrupt the mainstream, or end up as a slightly pissed off version of Feeder? Only time and Pitchshifter can give us the answer. (2007 Update: Well the answer was to come up with the even more commercial PSI album which failed to make the band any bigger and just pissed off their older fans even more).

Pitchshifter - www.Pitchshifter.com

Label: Geffen
Catologue Number: GED25163
Format: CD
Date: 1998
Style: Industrial Metal / Punk / Drum & Bass
Rating: 7/10
Reviewer: Sidney James

www.pitchshifter.com saw Pitchshifter once more undergo a metamorphosis in style. The chameleon abilities of the band may have always been evolutionary rather than revolutionary. From the grindcore sounds of Industrial and Submit via the post Ministry aggro rock of Desentized and Infotainment? Pitchshifter have never stayed stationary in their musical approach. With www.pitchshifter.com they moved in a direction more influenced by Drum and Bass and Punk, which another reviewer aptly named “Punk and Bass”.

This approach led to Pitchshifter creating a monster of an album, closer to the breakbeat guitar meltdown of Atari Teenage Riot than to the previous Industrial metal sound that they had been associated with. The guitars maintain the heavy grinding sound that is almost trademark Pitchshifter, but it what is going on beneath this where the real change has happened. Pitchshifter have always been interested in the rhythm of music, with JS Clayden saying that he was always more influenced by Public Enemy than bands such as Biohazard. On www.pitchshifter.com the beats are more in line with drum and bass and the prodigy, with programmed bass and beats speeding and twisting around the guitars. This is used to great effect on tracks like Microwaved and Please Sir.

The other instantly notable and welcome change on www.pitchshifter.com is JS Clayden’s vocals once they lurked in the realms of the death metal grunt. Now they have been replaced with a punky snarl, which fits comfortably with the change in musical approach. If anything they are actually make it easier to understand the diatribes and political polemic that Pitchshifter deal in.

Even though with www.pitchshifter.com, the band had signed to a major label, there is no end to their rage and fury against the injustices of modern capitalist society. A brave move in a climate where politics and music are both dominated by style over substance. Some people will argue that there is no place for politics in music, but we need bands like Pitchshifter not only for their musical explosions but also their uncompromising stance in a world where apathy has become a marketed lifestyle accessory.