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It's a label showdown!
Metronomicon Audio vs. Jester Records - Round 30
coverpic coverpic Various Artists: 3.0
  (2006 Metronomicon Audio: MEAU.0030.CDR)
vs.
Ulver: Svidd Neger
  (2003 Jester Records TRICK-030)

Welcome to round 30 in the label showdown series between Metronomicon Audio and Jester Records! Since we've more or less totally missed out on reviewing the output of these two great labels, we are going through their entire catalogues, matching the releases from each label consecutively against each other. Humorously counting goalsIt's a GOAL! and giving out yellowOooops, a yellow card! and redOooops, a red card! cards, soccer style - but first of all reviewing the music. For more introductory information on this label match, see round 1.

Match preview
3.0 is presented in the typical Metronomicon fashion - a CD-R packed in a flexible plastic sleeve with a cardboard folder and paper inserts.
coverpic coverpic coverpic coverpic

The Ulver release comes in a CD jewel case with a multi-folded insert with art & info.
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The match

Not many of you have probably seen the Norwegian movie Svidd Neger, and even fewer of you might want to. Not that it hasn't got some entertainment value, but it's a well over the top bizarro road-movie portraying outcasts of various ethnical origins roaming about in northern Norway, where every character seems either to be crazy or suffering from severe inbred defects. Viewed ironically or with a large dose of dark humour, it's fun, but not for everybody, that's for sure. It received rather bad reception from the national critics, and some even said it was racist, referring perhaps mostly to the title, which means "burnt negro".

That Ulver got involved making the soundtrack for this movie, seems like a strange idea, adding a level of "seriousness" to the movie that seems undeservedOooops, a red card!. Ulver is not exactly known for having a lot of humour in their music, rather the opposite, being arty in a rather highbrow way, far away from the degenerated black humour of the movie, but the darkness is a common denominator. I was a little surprised to realize that this is a fairly easy Ulver album to listen to, unlike most of their previous post black metal releases. It's still mostly moody, of course. Mixing the orchestral with a slow and spacey piano and a dash of rock aestethics, the result almost becomes a mellow rock symphonyIt's a GOAL! with added elements from new age and electronica, shifting between drama, urgency, confusion, sorrow and solemn contemplation.

To sum it up: Taking into account that this music is created as a soundtrack and as such should not steal all the attention, it works well by itself. It is perhaps the most accessible album by Ulver so farIt's a GOAL!, and as such a noteworthy, if not central, piece of Ulver's discography. It is also worth noting that this album was released on limited vinyl in 2008, by Aesthetic Records.

Time for another Metronomicon Audio sampler, 3.0 is here, again consisting (I think) of brand new tracks by artists inside and around the Metronomicon environment. Some names we know, some we have never heard of, and there's also one surprise.

Center Of The Universe's "No Room For Space" has a Cuban melancholy touch, enjoyable at first but diverting into synthetics. Hanny's "The Birds Then" is a fragile and folky, rather nice. The skewed guitar strumming of Ergo's "Cosmic Blues For Alice" is also rather low-key. Meta Forever's "Mosaic Of Jerusalem" is a wacky homemade bubblegum space-prog-pop, but not quite on par with the quality of their Astroid Antics release, still, their vocals are fascinating. A lazy Koppen is rapping darkly in "Chimpira". After this we get a row of synthetic enterings that is way beyond my pleasure zone, all close to being annoyingOooops, a red card!: Helene Rickhard And Thomastic's "Down (To The Oak)", Toshybot's "The Life Of Toshybot" and Electrokursen's "Katnip, 19 Years Old". Then the surprise inclusion of Palace of Pleasure, a nationally successful electronica act. Their "Spine" is probably a footnote in their dicography, but in this collection it stands out productionwise and is not surprisingly one of the better tracks included hereIt's a GOAL!. Now's "Making The Stars Sway" is recorded live and sounds very inspired by Datarock's brand of sing-a-long track-suit popOooops, a yellow card!, not too interesting. Sepukku Zephyr Dance's "Embroys On TV" is an up-tempo mellow melody with nice female vocal, but sounds unfinished. Lower Than Lo-Fi's "Sorry" is not the lowest fi here, featuring guitar strumming, violin, sax, clarinet and a singer with good intentions. Tile's "Track 7" puts slow jazzy guitars and badly recorded drums to low intensity rap poetry. The dark r&b-spiced space pop of Legs 11's "Artificial" is minimalistic but with nice floating synths and one of the better tracks here. Honkoklubbe's "Then She Took Marvel" is a boring instrumental piece played backwards, making it even more boringOooops, a red card!. En's "En" is an experimental piece with one person blowing into a saxophone and another working inside a pianoOooops, a yellow card!. Lanzarote's "Days Of Raga" is perhaps a raga, I don't know, but I know I don't enjoy it. Laconic Zero's "Wheeltrasher" is melodic and rhythmic noise, in a slightly abusive synthetic way. Magnus Moriarty's instrumental "Jolly Dub" will not save the day, and ending it all is The Rough Bunnies's short sad song "Patchouli Boy".

To sum it up: Like the previous sampler from Metronomicon Audio, this collection consists of too many uninteresting tracks or inclusions of inferior quality, either sounding like too early demos or leftovers that should have been left over. The handful of highlights are not enough to make this release recommendable, at least not as a sampler representing the generally more interesting Metronomicon Audio output.

Match result: Metronomicon Audio 1 (Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a yellow card!) - Jester Records 2 (Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!)

THE LABEL TABLE
# Metronomicon Audio (MA) Jester Records (JR) MA JR
01 C.O.U.: Darklow Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! Ulver: Themes From William ... Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! 1 4
02 C.O.U.: Sellout EP It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card! Esperanza: Esperanza Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card! 2 1
03 C.O.U.: Bestboy Electric Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! Arcturus: Disguised Masters It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card! 1 1
04 Cyrano & C.O.U.: s/t It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! When: Psychedelic Wunderbaum Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card! 2 1
05 Täppas Strepens: Beans, Bacon ... Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! Bogus Blimp: Men-Mic It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! 2 4
06 Center of the Universe: Curious .. It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! Ulver: Metamorphosis It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 2 1
07 C.O.U.: Taking a Nap With It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL! Ulver: Perdition City It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! 2 4
08 Täppas Strepens: The Future ... Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! Bogus Blimp: cords. wires Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 3 3
09 Magnus Moriarty™: Drive Fast ... It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! When: WriterCakeBox It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 3 5
10 Various Artists: 1.0 It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL! Star of Ash: iter.viator. It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card! 3 1
11 Now We've Got Members: Le Jardin It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! Virus: Carheart It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 3 3
12 C.O.U.: Promotional Copy Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! Ulver: Silences Teaches You ... It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 3 1
13 Magnus Moriarty™: ...And The Hippos... It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! Origami Galaktika: Stjernevandring It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! 3 4
14 Cyrano: You Sensualize My Soul Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! When: The Lobster Boys It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card! 3 3
15 Koppen: Truckdriving Songs Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card! Rotoscope: Great Curves Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 1 1
16 Täppas Strepens: Dance, Dance ... It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card! Ulver: Silencing the Singing It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a yellow card! 3 1
17 C.O.U.: Staying Up All Night ... Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a red card! Kåre João: Captain Trips It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 1 1
18 Magnus Moriarty™: U R On A Radar It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! Head Control System: Murder Nature It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 2 2
19 Now We've Got Members: Tiny Disasters It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! Single Unit: Family of Forces It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! 5 3
20 Various Artists: 2.0 Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card! [unreleased] 1 0
21 Koppen: My Fashion Statement ... Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a red card! Kåre João: Sideman It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 1 4
22 Täppas Strepens: The Great American ... It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL! Upland: Upland It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 4 1
23 Magnus Moriarty™: Sky-Fi Beatitude It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card! When: Sunshine Superhead It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! 3 1
24 Cyrano: I Cannot Smell It It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a red card! Ulver: Lyckantropen Theme It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! 3 2
25 Hanny: Moderning Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL! Ulver: 1993-2003: 1st Decade ... Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card! 1 1
26 C.O.U.: Bellydance Nation It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card! Ulver: A Quick Fix Of Melancholy EP Oooops, a yellow card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! 2 2
27 Meta Forever: Astroid Antics It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card! 1349 Rykkinn: Brown Ring of Fury It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a red card! 4 2
28 Cyranq & Phil Emile: [sic] It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card! Kåre João: Sleepers It's a GOAL! 2 1
29 Ergo: Reclaim The Mall! It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! Ulver: Teachings In Silence It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! 2 2
30 Various Artists: 3.0 Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!Oooops, a yellow card!Oooops, a red card!Oooops, a yellow card! Ulver: Svidd Neger Oooops, a red card!It's a GOAL!It's a GOAL! 1 2
Total 69 62

Next match
Next head-to-head meeting is the Magnus Moriarty™ Vs. Center Of The Universe: CD Did U Order A Radar? from Metronomicon Audio which is up against the Origami Galaktika release Horisont from Jester Records.

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