Salaryman – Salaryman (City Slang)

Low-mono samples, Theremin, telephones, live TV snippets. These are just some of the low-tech elements used in creating the funky trip-hop muzak of Salaryman. Whereas most bands are striving to use the most high-tech and expensive equipment on the market, Salaryman are the sort of band you find recording tracks in old TV repair shops. And the finished result is intended for purely "basement" listening. Funky live drumming is mixed with keyboard jamming and there's a live feel throughout tracks like 'New Centurions' and the more hard-core 'Burning at the Stakes'. They're at their most accessible with tracks like 'Voids' and Superclusters' (full of epic big-beat histrionics) and 'Rather' (set for the 12" and remix treatment later this year). But the thing that makes this album - and band - unique is something which is more than extra instrument (in fact more like a fifth element). Through all seven tracks Salaryman use TV samples, recorded live and in one-take. Whatever was on TV during the recording process has become part of the finished product. This works to great effect on tracks like 'Inca Picnic' and 'Hummous' and takes the music into a whole new dimension. As the band recently told DJ, "The TV broadcasts ensure not only that each of our performances will be unique but also that each performance will contain an element that someone out of the performance arena will be able to participate in." So if you cant find this album in the shops, try the Innovations catalogue. 7/10