No Comprendo

text

The irrepressible Khan, aka Can Oral, has lived on the experimental edges of various DJ and techno scenes since 1982, first in Germany and then in New York, where he ran Temple Records, a small but terminally hip Manhattan record store, and started his own record label, El Turco Loco. His last reported residence was Mexico.

Restlessly dipping into hiphop, no wave, illbient, ambient, lounge and whatever else catches his fancy, Khan is similar to many other talented DJs and studio wizards - infinitely adaptable, but seemingly without a distinct voice or perspective. He tries to turn this limitation into a strength on No Comprendo, laying down 'custom' instrumental tracks for a number of guest vocalists, and inviting them to supply lyrics around a common theme of sexual congress, i.e. 'doing it'. The results are aesthetically mixed, but sociologically fascinating, ranging from gross to silly to ludicrous and - in a few instances, even sexy.

Khan's instrumental backgrounds are hardly cutting edge, but he provides an interesting variety of styles for the artists to work against - swamp boogie, rockabilly, roots rock, techno, loungecore, and so on. Admittedly, the sample may not be representative, but the male participants on this CD display a decided lack of finesse (and taste) when dealing with sexual matters.

The title of a Jon Spencer contribution, 'Fishes Fuck', pretty much sums up a certain type of admittedly amusing (but adolescent) college boy smut, which Spencer also displays on 'Monster', with the memorable couplet, "I'm gonna to give it to you baby, and that's no lie/ I'm gonna hump ya, baby, 'til the day that I die". That raunchy septuagenarian, Andre Williams, delivers his standard X-rated, "smell my finger" party monologue, which is puerile but pretty funky (in more ways than one). Kid Congo Powers contributes a growly, 'mean streets' narrative ("the dope, the lies and the Vaseline"), and adds a cool reverb guitar. His piece is an amusing Lou Reed parody, if nothing else.

The low point on the CD (or high point, if you're scoring points for camp), is Khan's 'The Wolf', which depicts a compulsive, bestial exchange of 'sexual favors' between two strangers. OK to that, but Khan loses his credibility completely with lines like "I bit you in pieces/and covered you in faeces". Eewwwww. Even wolves (or maybe, especially wolves) are not that kinky. But it's sorta funny - if you can dig that kind of humour.

The most seductive material on the CD is delivered by women, with two tracks sung in French by Stereo Total's Francoise Cactus ('Les Gros Nichons, 'Fantomes'), and two others in English by Julee Cruise ('Say Goodbye') and Atari Teenage Riot's Hanin Elias ('The Bee'). The French lyrics and Cactus's seductively demure delivery leave a great deal to the imagination, of course - unless you're a Francophone - but Elias leaves a great deal to the imagination as well, with lyrics like "I like to show, I like to see", and "taste the honey on my lips". This is soft core porn at its best, full of innuendo and vague but delirious promise. The music is effective, too - hypnotic, quietly insistent techno.

The other true standout on the CD is a piece of wordless vocal gymnastics by the redoubtable Diamanda Galas, again accompanied by hypnotic, insistent (and this time somewhat ominous) electronics. Galas sounds, as usual, like some scary primal force. Maybe she's inspired by sexual fantasies, maybe not - but whatever her motivations, she's not fooling around. Comparing her contribution to those of Williams or Spencer, one cannot help but think of the female spider who devours the male after mating. They wouldn't have a chance - she'd eat 'em alive.