Someone give Massimo the award for least commercially viable aesthetic ever. Looking to outdo his 2001 rhythmic static-fest, Hey Babe, Let Me See Your USB and I'll Show You My FireWire (complete with a naked, cock-wielding hermaphrodite in the artwork!), Massimo presents his latest bit of unpleasantness, Hello Dirty. A relentless mess of clumpy noise, Hello Dirty is destined to be sold or permanently shelved by almost all who own it. That's fine with Massimo, though, because the rest are going to crank it and throw a TV out the window at some old man walking down the street. That makes Massimo giggle.
Hello Dirty can be taken one of two ways. For most listeners, it will be an awful experience. It offers little in the way of immersion, analysis or plain old bop-along enjoyment. There are no hidden textures, complex arrangements, striking ideas or catchy hooks; Massimo simply takes a dozen generic tracks and butchers them. Conventional structures pop up fairly often (one segment introduces a four to the floor house beat, another could be a riff from an eighties cock-rock band and most of the tracks have some sort of rhythmic foundation), but the abrasive digital garbage that those structures are built upon ruins any enjoyment. And that's the point. Everything here is a big “fuck you.” From the taboo imagery to the sandpaper in your ear distortion and clipping to his pornographic live shows, Massimo aims to make the listener uncomfortable. For most, this will be a huge turn-off and make everything he touches (well, almost everything - his releases for the Mego-related Fals.ch label are more welcoming but accordingly lose the power of his harsher work) unlistenable. For those who aren’t intimidated, though, Massimo is a hero and Hello Dirty is an
exhilarating treasure.
Finally, all the spiteful kids that don't do analogue have their anthem. Massimo takes all the anger of the most violent, hateful and obscene music and digitizes it for those of us who never related to punk, metal or gangsta rap. There are no politics or burning emotions here, kids, just pure, callous aggression and a couple of dirty jokes. What Hello Dirty lacks in complexity and accessibility it makes up for tenfold in catharsis and vitality. Grab your excrement and smear it on the walls! Barbecue your turtle! Kick grandma in the face! Massimo is here to set you free! For thirty or so minutes, you can let go of all of your inhibitions and indulge in your most reckless, evil desires; this is destructive music at it’s best. While not for everyone, Hello Dirty should prove classic with those who come around to it’s snotty charms. Crank it and laugh while the world around you suffers.
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