Assemblage 23 - Let The Wind Erase Me (single)

Although my personal BPM (beats per minute) rate while depressed or caught staring at the nilhistic emptiness of existence is significantly lower than 130, who am I to judge what other people's should be. My horror at the world sends me into drinking binges where I embarrass myself in front of strangers and ask girls to punch me in the face, in some weird self destructive fetish guilt trip. It never helps me feel better, and yet I struggle on, my BPM's lower. I'm not big into having the wind erase me. I want it to punish me, punish the world, and at the same time, I want to laugh at it and mock everything. I rant and rave and talk about, apparently, how there should be large clear buildings in the centre of each city filled with garbage and baby shit. It all has meaning and at the same time is just hostile ramblings.

But is this review about me, or about Assemblage 23's latest single? Let the Wind Erase Me, which is the precursor to his forthcoming release Storm, is a 5 track teaser, with 2 exclusive tracks and 2 mixes of the title track. Assemblage 23 does the remixing himself, offering a higher BPM club version and a hard version, with vocal distortion and a more aggressive feel.

The exclusive tracks bring down the BPMs a bit and do indeed offer a 'darker' (track 2) sense, that makes Tom Shear seem much more a 'tragic figure' (track 4). Its music that says, "yes, you are sad, so let's feel that sadness, let's experience it, and get it out of your system." Behind it all, there is hope (there isn't really, but the music makes you think there is).

Far from the anonymity he claims he desires (in the title track), this single just confirms Assemblage 23's position at the top of the future pop scene, and should be fairly (perhaps over)played club fodder for some time to come. It'll please.

Squid @ Sept 2004