Cone Toaster

For all the buckled-knee worship accorded to the DFA label's first batch of 12" releases, the Cone Toaster platter of ballast-blasting death-disco from Black Dice just might threaten to destroy them all in one half-hearted swipe. The nine-minute "Cone Toaster" is an abstracted update of the Big Black of "My Disco" and "Grinder." For the first three and a half minutes, a thumping machine rhythm is joined by an assortment of panned scrapes and electronic mites. It all comes to a halt when a guitar enters with a solitary jolt, and then pounded human drums kick in and are almost immediately joined by the machine rhythm and scrapes. The intensity is doubled, until it all fades out with rolling drums and a treated vocal sample. Awesome. On the B-side, the Boredoms' Eye remixes Beaches and Canyons centerpiece "Endless Happiness," placing a less threatening dance rhythm beneath the contorted recorders and squalls of effects. By track's end, nothing's left but a kick drum and rattling electronics. ~ Andy Kellman