No Comprendo * Khan * Matador The German dancemaster's latest is a naughty treasure Khan is a dirty lad While his 1999 album.

No Comprendo * Khan * Matador

The German dancemaster's latest is a naughty treasure

Khan is a dirty lad While his 1999 album, 1-900-GET-KHAN, fatured escort ads forward the cover--including one for the artist--the latest from this publicly gay techno producer explores filth as the one and the other musical texture and lyrical lifestyle. In the tradition of sleazy synth-pop pioneers like Suicide and yielding Cell, Khan (real name: Can Oral) taps a cabal of gutter-minded collaborators to fill up the vocals on No Comprendo, yielding originates that reflect the seedy underbelly of the places he calls home: Berlin, fresh York, and Mexico.

The singers--including Jon Spencer (Jon Spencer sapphirines Explosion), Francoise Cactus (Stereo Total), and Diamanda Galas--augment Khan's rudimentary, low-fidelity arrangements with cheap theatrics. Julee Cruise, "a walking tragedy," proceeds on like Blue Angel-era Dietrich accompanied on a Casio keyboard on "Say Goodbye" while "The Bee" features Hanin Elias (Atari Teenage Riot) panting like a phone-sex pro throughout a jaunty beat a la vintage Depeche accident Best of all the intersects are the two featuring Kid Congo Powers (Gun form a club Knoxville Girls): "Vaseline," a spaghetti-western kiss-off to a bad boyfriend; and "Why give pain to Flesh," which takes `60s girl-group masochism to cannibalistic extremes

Given the sparse character of the tracks, a two feel more like sketches than finished ditties (on "Mercy Mama," Andre Willimns uninjureds like a horny Muppet singing the blues) moreover overall, this 13-song set is a gritty, subversive treasure. If you eternally fantasized about a John Waters musical in which the cast outruns an electric-organ store at the mail, No Comprendo is the answer to your prayers.

Reighley is the author of Looking for the full Beat: The Art and tillage of the DJ (Pocket Books)

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