This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Pop culture loves winners — you don’t have to look beyond Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous to know that.
But if Australian art-pop outfit New Waver had their way, we’d all be watching Lifestyles Of The Poor And Anonymous, starring a cast of losers, mental patients, misfits and failures. The band’s 11th release The Defeated could be the soundtrack. Its 13 unlucky tracks feature real-life accounts of suicide, depression and cat killing, nicked Negativland-style from medical films, documentaries and talk radio, then set against electronica soundscapes — from upbeat drum ’n’ bass to sweeping, shimmering ambient — whose joyful textures belie the pitch-black content. When you hear the tale of a man who castrated himself with an electric drill, you wonder if The Defeated is art or voyeurism. Either way, it’s as mesmerizing as a car wreck.
