Depth Charge Lust Vol. 1

[DC Recordings; 1999]

Rating: 4.5/5

Styles: techno, acid house
Others:  none


B Movie soundtracks, dance beats, Kung Fu, Westerns and porno collide on this free falling, complex dub record. This sophisticated album opens with a sample from a kitsch porno film in which a Latin lady promises she will make your dreams come true and never leave. "Don’t Worry I will look after you" she promises seductively. The album is continuously punctuated by surprising movie samples. Before the classic Bounty Hunter 3 (The first and second can be found on the seminal Nine Deadly Venoms LP and a collection of EPs, which also include Dead by Dawn) a Mexican bandit exclaims "4 cents. 4 cents is mighty little, I’m worth a lot more that…" amid cackling laughter. The track is an alternative dance classic, which can kick start any gathering.

Other thrills include a cover of Bridet Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg’s motor revving "Harley Davidson" and "Sex, Sluts N Heaven". There are instrumentals which rely heavily on sampling and pure sound pieces which evoke atmospheres of Westerns, Sci-fi, Orientalism and Exocticism which eventually give way to dance influenced tracks. Drum and Bass and Disco pop up. J.Saul Kane (aka Depth Charge) is a maverick, not a DJ or a dance act. (I know, I witnessed his exhilaratingly so-bad-it’s-funny ‘Djing’ at a club in Bristol, England. He basically just plays his records, without mixing. Just slams on his storming tracks when he’s in trouble. He spent the night sniggering with his mates back stage.) He specializes in pseudo soundtrack albums. He doesn’t perform live. The format is like a bastardised StarWars/Spagetti Western/Bruce Lee/Russ Meyer movie soundtrack with slacker art dance grooves chucked in.

The formula is great for staying home and messing around to. J. is a master of this form. At first the album seems simple, but as the record stretches out, the tracks continuously get longer and more ambient, so by the end the listener feels like they have been on a prog-dance magical mystery musical. Thrill seekers? Search and Destroy.

1. Hronn's Intro
2. Harley Davidson
3. T.D.A.
4. Streets of Golo
5. Blue Lipps
6. Bounty Killer III
7. Dreaming of the Jungle
8. Sex, Sluts & Heaven
9. The Snare
10. 21.3.1993
11. Desire
12. So You Want to Be a Secret Agent?
13. Genius of Sci-Fi