Album Review – Maqlu “Black” 2010

  It’s no secret that Vancouver is a hotbed of industrial music talent. Maqlu (a one-woman show)  occupies territory similar to that of fellow West coast rivet heads Numb, especially their earlier, more cinematic work. Heavily chopped samples and squelch-compression vocals rub elbows with brassy tones and improvised percussion on Black, as if Portishead eschewed jazz and were raised on In The Nursery and Tom Waits instead. Single “Whore” is getting some radio play right now, but I prefer the Oneroid Psychosis style of lunacy found on “Siamese Twins”.

Intriguing stuff for fans of experimental, tape-loop industrial film music, or a less traditional version of, say, Rhea’s Obsesion. I’d be very interested to hear a full-band version of Maqlu’s material with vocals up front. 7 out of 10