Actress doesn’t invite you, doesn’t pick you up: Actress just leaves you standing and throws a record at you, aiming for your head. Its name is »Ghettoville« and Actress couldn’t give less of a crap whether you find an approach to it or not. Instead, he just does what he feels like: Has a few post-apocalyptic mutations squirm under the bass-music’s last spastic convulsions, until they perish on the ground (»Time«), opens the door to the dance floor through four-four time and Yippie-Kai-Yay-synths (»Gaze«) only to slam it in your face with a cold laugh (»Skyline«). »Ghettoville« is tough by any measure. It almost gives you the impression that Actress tries to shake off the listener with every single track. It’s like riding a wild bull through a steel-desert. The ignorance of the record and the utter coo-coo-ness of the track order is best illustrated with the help of a triplet: Actress opens up with almost liberating melodies, even slightly gliding towards funk. However, what follows is a drumless Burial-imitation before closing the triplet with a codeine-R&B-jam in cassette-quality. What’s most remarkable is that Actress still sounds like Actress, despite the record’s schizophrenia. »Ghettoville« is like chewing on rocks – you’ll get digestion troubles like you had when eating at your school’s canteen for the first time and you’ll feel utterly unwanted. For those wanting to fulfill masochistic fantasies: Here’s your chance!
Ghettoville