The elegantly named record label Cock Rock Disco, home to such noisy mixmasters as Duran Duran Duran, DJ Donna Summer, and Disquiet.com favorite Drumcorps (aka Aaron Spectre), is both a commercial label and a netlabel. Its 11th and most recent free release is an intense bit of 8bit-flavored, pop-toned, mashed-up, data-packed, whimsical aggression from Tokyo-based act CDR. The album, CDR on CRD, contains 14 tracks that sound like they were sped up to aid in compression — a mix of amped up, jocular techno with found elements such as metal guitar riffs, pop melodies, and recorded dialog, not to mention a raucous sense of humor.
For example, there’s pixie-voiced “MIKUMIKU (ran ran ru mix),” in which a digital angel squeaks her lines above rampaging automated percussion, and “DANCE fuckin RAJA fuckin DANCE,” in which Bollywood-style touches make themselves heard amid the flurry of rhythmic data. CDR isn’t incapable of reflection, though he’ll still muck it up; on a track titled “shit ambient,” after a minute of soothing if canned vocal’n’synth calm he drops in pummeling, off-kilter beats that’ll have your earbuds standing on end.
The full release is available as a single archived file (ZIP), including a little movie and cover art, with additional info available at the label’s website (cockrockdisco.com). More on CDR at myspace.com/cdr and asahi-net.or.jp/~zr3a-tnmt.