MUSIC FOR SUPERMARKET

"Music for Supermarket" succeeds to capture the anxiety of fast paced consuming machine and works a political statement very well. But due the destructive subject and tonal solutions suiting to the theme, I admit this short EP was quite painful experience for me to listen trough. I believe if one is open to monotonic minimalist electronic music for programmed loops and drums, it is easier to analyse the nuances on sound textures and subtle compositional solutions. Few saxophone lines and manually played percussions bring some touch of humanity for these mechanistic sonic constructions, but are certainly absorbed by the merciless flow of discount vouchers and supermall's product information announcements. Deterministically primitive songs rejoice in the chaos of lo-fi sounds and melodies familiar from television commercials. Constant haste is going on in the world of purchases, except on the final song describing slowly developing queue disagreements on the cashier. The disc was released by wonderful record company Bad Vugum, which got fame from the trial related to their release of Shitter Limited's "Eat Shit" vinyl featuring Ronald MacDonald on the cover.

If you expect kraut/jazz jams of later Ektroverde albums, you're in for a surprise or disappointment with Music for Supermarket. It's got these ridiculously fast programmed drums and odd keyboards on top of them. Think, I dunno, Neu! played on double speed (or faster), or maybe an amateur version of some of the more hectic and rhythmic Jarre tracks, alsoon double speed. Whew! "Kuvasto" could be a later era Zappa song composed for hyperactive cartoons. "Kierros" has very good saxophone playing but it doesn't carry all the way through the track. Closing track "Olin teitä ennen" is a slower one with really strange beat. Could be a leftover Residents demo.

Music for Supermarket works as a conceptual piece, cf. its title, but not as something you'd put on for enjoyable musical experience.