Thankfully, in these troubled times, there are still a handful of tried-and-tested record labels at the vanguard of the true and noble mission to keep on bringing forward-thinking, intelligent, cutting-edge artistry to the masses. Berlin’s City Slang is one such of the Old Faithful, of course; entertaining and enlightening us since 1990 via The Flaming Lips, Caribou, Arcade Fire and all the rest. This glitchy gem from Tel Aviv’s Noga Erez, mercifully, maintains the high-quality control the label’s legions of devotees love and have come to expect.
Cherry-picking the finest fruits from the cortexes of kindred trailblazers MIA, Missy Elliott and Radiohead to name but a few, ‘Dance While You Shoot’ is a twitchy, dark, idiosyncratic shot in the arm that crackles with all the nervous energy of a country engaged in cultural conflict since the dawn of living memory. It sounds as stark and unwelcoming as the torn tower blocks its stunning accompanying video depicts. At the same time, it feels like the perfect sonic embodiment of a generation fed up with conflict, fear and repression; breaking free from the shackles of an unwanted history and into the dawn of a better, brighter future. This is the sound of the crack in the door, and of course, the cracks are where the light gets in.
