Consumer Guide Album

Material: Temporary Music [Celluloid, 1981]
The two EPs here repackaged document not the no-wave-meets-new-thing experimenters but the art-rock band that likes its minimalism funky. At Material's best gigs Sonny Sharrock's aural grimaces challenge the impassively abrasive rhythm section; here Cliff Cultreri marches to bassist and drummer while Michael Beinhorn flatters Philip Glass. Still, both guys could choose stupider models--probably will someday. And there's something winningly perverse about ambient music that means to destroy its enemies. B+