Mount Sims
Wild Light
International Deejay Gigolo
To the pejorative music media/snob, electroclash is a thing of the past, vanquished by hype and a one-dimensional approach. Whether this observation is true or not, nobody seems to have clued the International Deejay Gigolos in on it.
Slap whatever label-of-the-moment you want on this cold, sweaty amalgam of ’80s synth-pop, gothic swaths and meditative electro pulses, it still doesn’t faze DJ Hell’s troupe, especially acts like Mount Sims (aka Matt Sims). The LA-based artist, whose 2002 debut Ultrasex was unfortunately overshadowed by the likes of Fischerspooner and Miss Kittin, is a learned pupil of Bauhaus, Cabaret Voltaire, Gary Numan and, most importantly, his mentor Hell.
Whatever you thought of the dark, pheromone-spewing anthems on Ultrasex, at least they weren’t fraught with tongue-in-cheek like Kittin’s playful cuts. But with his follow-up, Wild Light, Sims has detoured from the bump n’ grind clubs to the back alleys flooded with steam from sewers and a host of sinful pleasures. With the guidance of Bauhaus/Jazz Butcher/Love&Rockets alum David J and Beck/Air producer Roger Manning, Sims is able to stir up romance in the Red Light District of his mind.
Carried along by the sparse bass patented by Jazz Butcher and Joy Division, “Morning Birds Scream” and “Ergent No Ergent” needn’t the dancefloor to provide some delicious debauchery. Sims, along with Gemma Ascot, is a specter on the duet “Ashes,” where subtle guitar solos and plodding, echoing beats are all that’s needed to haunt the soul.
Even with all the slow-burning odes to nightcrawling electro-sex, Sims still knows how to bring people back to the floor. “Restless” and “No Yellow Lines,” though crafted with by-the-numbers beats and synth patterns that defined electroclash, still show Sims can have unemotional fashionistas swaying robotically in no time. While 15 tracks is too much for Sims to be consistently effective, Wild Light does a suitable job elevating him from the clutter. It’s a post-punk, new-wave, rock-tinged effort that’s bathed in doom n’ gloom. It won’t do much to sway the jaded listener, but as least it shows Sims isn’t as superficial as his colleagues make themselves out to be.
International Deejay Gigolo: http://www.gigolo-records.de
