PREACHING TO THE PERVERTED
by Various
Coming wrapped rather fetchingly in an all-over leather-effect gimp mask, this CD certainly sat up and
begged for attention. Underneath the surface lurks the soundtrack to last year's UK art flick, "Preaching
To The Perverted": a journey through the pleasures and pains (mostly pains) of the country's S&M and
fetish clubs. In other words, it wasn't a Disney movie.
Since Tarantino made the soundtrack cool again, no LP from a movie has been a simple selection of songs "featured in and inspired by" whatever Hollywood flick it is supposed to augment. "Preaching To The Perverted" is no different. The 17 tracks are split between those from established and underground dance acts (like The Aloof, Way Out West and Omni Trio), and those composed by the soundtrack's compiler's, Magnus and Maya. Each of these tracks is mixed into the other and peppered with samples from the film, providing one long experience that attempts to capture the mood and feel of the movie. As I've not seen the film, I can't comment, but the LP certainly succeeds in conjuring up all kinds of images you usually don't see outside of Eurotrash.
Beginning with the Magnus and Maya composed hi-nrg Eurobeat of "Welcome To The House Of Thwax", the LP grabs you by any appendage available and ties you up with industrial techno ("Evil Queen" by Shimmon & Wolfson), ambient malevolence ("Journey To Hell"), electronica (The Aloof's "Mind") and more. Throughout, the mood is dark, dangerous and also - like its subject matter - a little bit camp. Whereas some of these tracks don't really work when listened to at home - such as the disco stomp of "Ajare" by Way Out West, which I think you would only really appreciate gyrating about in some rubber pants and a dog leash - on the whole the LP works both as a compilation and a moodsetter. Don't play songs like "Good Morning Mistress" to granny, mind you - that's not quite the mood she would appreciate.
Mangus and Maya's stuff works very well as continuity between the other tracks, and they have succeeded in taking a musical theme and expanding on it a couple of times, with tracks like "On Wasteland (Requiem Flagellum)" and "Grindcontrol Transubmission" (oh, those crazzeeee titles). In essence, what they have done is create a product that stands alone, apart from the film it supports and one which allows an insight into another world entirely. Now, where did I put that riding crop?
Check out Preaching To The Perverted at Naked Records.
