Hanin Elias needs new men in her life. Merzbow, Can "Khan" Oral, Alec Empire: not one had the balls to be straight with her during the recording of No Games No Fun, to take her aside and let her know the album was slowly but surely devolbing into one of the biggest piles of shit in DHR or DHR-related history. Though the Digital Hardcore aesthetic has rubbed off all over her-- Elias talk-sings and spouts cold electro soundbytes over the album's cacophonous drones and drum machines-- she's completely unable to translate her message into effective lyrical content, and it's this inability to present insight into the issues that stoke her rage-- gender equality and pseudo-politics among them-- that render No Games No Fun so utterly pointless.
DHR artists are, in general, more passionate than articulate in their music, preferring their abused hardware and uncomplicated war cries over detailed explanations of their political views. Elias tries to simplify things even more, and in the process severely dumbs down her angle with insipid codas and strained vocal performances; otherwise catchy tracks like the skuzzy "The Bee" and Alec Empire's "You Suck"-- an orchestral cousin to "Shards of Pol Pottery"-- are wasted. Head producer C.H.I.F.F.R.E can't seem to reconcile Elias' inert, listless vocals with the demented machines that pound away behind her; his solution-- dumping extra layers of industrial distortion onto his compositions, in hopes of distracting from the unavoidable flatness of the finished product, doesn't hold up. Is it easier to program an elaborate yet terrible piece of electronic music than to tell a girl she shouldn't quit her day job?
For proof of Hanin Alias' shortcomings as a frontwoman and singer/songwriter, look no further than the opening cut, "Catpeople" (a collab with actor Mario Mentrup) and the obliviously hilarious rap that she lays down on "You Suck". An inexplicable acoustic ditty, "Catpeople" approximates a sort of stoned tropicalia, but the cringe-inducing refrain ("I wanna play with you/ I wanna stay with you/ I wanna get rid of you/ But now I don't know") and Elias' meowing wouldn't go over at a grade school open mic. After a complete listen to No Games No Fun, it's apparent that "You Suck" is the best example of what's wrong with the album. Although the instrumentation is solid, Elias trips herself up with her unstudied politics, railing against male-defined sexuality and the objectification of women in a terrible rap that might be the inspiration for Madonna's anal MC-ing. How does Elias respond to male chauvinist pigs and dickless bastards who try to marginalize and abuse her? With a resounding "You suck." Naturally, it's screamed ad nauseam over a groaning analog synth. If ever feminism were to do a little house cleaning, Elias would find herself in a bag on the curb for such a juvenile retort, the doors of the movement slamming behind her.
Within the ATR unit, Elias wielded her revolutionary power more admirably, working better as a component in the anarchist machine than the whole engine. No Games No Fun finds Elias trying on shoes that are just too damn big, and it's a crying shame no one told her before she hit the town wearing them.
