May 11, 2005 | Posted by mark at 2:19 AM

This is Not Far From Over

Mahjongg RaYDONcoNGMahjongg - Hot Lava.

Mahjongg seems to be completely concerned with making butts shake. With that thumping, thumping Def Leppard cum Dancefloor stomp, Hot Lava is clearly a floor filler. It's got that sunburnt sex appeal of a heavy rock number sprinkled with the chintz of electroclash and the steady pistons of early industrial. It's definitely ripe for the 12" remix treatment, and surely the folks at Cold Crush (who are really just the folks at Dim Mak [the Death Touch!]) are working on it as we speak.

The rest of the album is all over the place. Working from a seemingly limitless palatte of sounds and instruments, the album RaYDONcoNG 2005 is like nothing else I've heard this year. The Stubborn Horse is another solid track, with a bouncy pop beat and some fun little "do do do" backing vocals. I think that one's supposed to be the "single." Anyway, the band lives at the "Buddy Gallery" in Chicago, which is one of those communal living/creative spaces. So this is one of those "collective" bands, but don't let that throw you. It's not all patouli and tambourines-- it's political thought spliced through 70s funk and shredded with modern beats. I highly recommend this album -- it's crazy creative fun.

You can order the album Direct from the label. There's also a free mp3 copy of their excellent self-titled EP floating around in a few places. Definitely worth tracking down.

Comments

Thanks for posting this. For the record: Mahjongg is fucking great and they deserve to be better-known than they are.

Posted by: the management at May 11, 2005 11:11 AM

The people at Coldcrush are the same as those of Dim Mak? Like Steve Aoki or what?

Posted by: Haldan at May 11, 2005 1:11 PM

I'm not sure what Steve's involvement is, but I know that Cold Crush is under the Dim Mak umbrella.

Posted by: robot mark at May 11, 2005 1:19 PM

ah, word, robots! totally agree with the management - the lack of buzz on these guys (at least on the east coast) is a travesty.

Posted by: kristen at May 11, 2005 2:06 PM

i think they're going to be doing a lunch time concert at my school next week.

great live band, but they're usually touring with like pretty girls make graves and those kids hate to dance.

and i third the notion that cold crush is sorta sleeping on the promotion of them and a gun called tension, as well.

Posted by: Douglas Reinhardt at May 12, 2005 2:55 AM

they're doing their own headlining tour supported by various local bands right now.

Posted by: at May 12, 2005 10:37 AM

"It's definitely ripe for the 12" remix treatment, and surely the folks at Cold Crush (who are really just the folks at Dim Mak [the Death Touch!]) are working on it as we speak."

Untrue. Cold Crush is a Seattle-based label run by Derek Fudesco of Pretty Girls Make Graves (hence them being tour partners). He happens to be friends with Steve Aoki, which is why there is a strong connection to Dim Mak.

Cold Crush is not a big label with a serious marketing budget.

Are Mahjongg goth, too?

Posted by: Greg at May 12, 2005 1:06 PM

thanks for being our fact checker, Greg. All I meant was that Dim Mak is doing most of the promotion for Cold Crush. Go to the Dim Mak site and the second splash page has a big link to stream the Mahjongg record. I know that they're not the same label, but for all intents and purposes, you can find just as much info about mahjongg through Dim Mak. I assume that this is because Derek is a in a full-time touring band and doesn't have the time to rep his own records.

but I'm probably wrong.

now where did I put my black lipstick...

Posted by: robot mark at May 12, 2005 1:21 PM

I don't know exactly what Cold Crush and Dim Mak have as an agreement, but it probably has a lot to do with marketing and distribution. Aoki has money.

Posted by: Greg at May 12, 2005 3:03 PM

Mahjongg is the motherlovin' JAM y'all!!!

Respect!!!!!!

Posted by: Shrek 2.0 at May 30, 2005 6:25 PM

actually steve aoki and derek fudesco run cold crush together, it is a partnership

Posted by: way late at June 14, 2006 6:19 PM
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