- Ken Lewis
- Cosmic Cars b/w Best Beat
- (Scorpio Records)
- Toronto, ON
- Originally Released: 1982
From the dubious disco of
Brandon Hocura:
Ken Lewis’ reverent cover of
Cosmic Cars released in 1982, the same year as the original
Cybotron 45, proves that people were almost immediately feeling Juan Atkins’ electric ripples just North of the assembly line. Released on Scorpio Records, home of countless dubious disco, boogie rap and dub records with peculiar provenance, Ken’s whip is more deluxe DeLorean than hot Spinner, his cruising spin more Grace Jones than
The Normal. Although his version almost mechanically reproduces the original, it feels like a glossy photograph of a photocopy; the recording less raw and in-the-red, the drum machine less biting, the cold-creep synth noises replaced by a cold-sweat guitar riff. Still, Ken’s facsimile evokes a dystopian future, not the super-industrial cyber-sexuality of
Cronenberg, but a world of simulacra coated in a vacuous veneer of replicated pleasures, like Ryu Murakami’s depictions of Tokyo. Still this record bumps and burns when played loud, so thumb a ride if you ever see this avant-coupe roll by.