From 1999, the cover of a 5 track CD of songs by Add N to X. Do you see Louise Brooks?
Add N to X's four-song Revenge of the Black Regent EP mixes science and
fiction into a compact version of their inventive electronic rock. The
majestically sinister title track is propelled by a toxic-sounding synth
bass and Steven Claydon's unabashedly (or is that bashedly?) rock
drumming, over which gooey, synthetic strings and Alison Goldfrapp's
operatic super-soprano hover, recalling the diva at the Korova Milk Bar
in A Clockwork Orange. The rest of the EP's tracks are similarly moogy
and droogy; "Is That Alright FYUZ" adds more pummeling percussion to
another piece of Avant Hard's synth fetishism, and "Old Lady Ealing Does
Man Experiments" evokes a mad scientist's lab, replete with bubbling
test tubes, buzzing electrodes, and robotic minions muttering non
sequiturs. Finally, with its slightly eerie groove and cryptic French
vocals, "The March of Pure Mathematical Evil That Ends and Results in
War" recalls Stereolab, if they used their powers for evil instead of
good. The CD is also enhanced with the very necessary addition of the
group's hilarious video for "Metal Fingers in My Body," a cartoon
depicting a Louise Brooks-esque flapper ordering and using the services
of a robot gigolo. As with all of Add N to X's work, Revenge of the
Black Regent uses quirky, unpredictable vintage technology to describe
-- and celebrate -- the ghosts in the machine. ~ Heather Phares
