By Russell Baillie
Death In Vegas - The Contino Sessions
(Deconstructtion)
* * * *
For the smartest match of rock'n'roll sensibility, electronic urges and uneasy atmosphere look no further than The Contino Sessions (Deconstructtion), the second album by American outfit Death In Vegas. Quite a departure from their rudimentary big beat debut
Dead Elvis, the Dj/producer team of Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes took themselves off to London and mixed in bad company - Primal Scream Bobby Gillespie, the Jesus and Mary Chain's Jim Reid and Iggy Pop all stamping their mark on the microphone, along with decorative vocal contributions from Dot Allison and the London Community Gospel Choir.
The result is a menacing squalling hulk of an album equal parts electro-psychedelia and guitar-noise, monolithic drums and whirling organs. Those aforementioned walk-on parts help give a cinematic width to the general air of paranoia that hangs over it - even if, on Aisha, Mr Pop seems to be offering an improv audition for a slasher movie. But the creepy balance of The Contino Sessions suggests Death In Vegas have distilled Iggy's old after-dark anthem Nightclubbing into a creepy modern epic.
