techno in the beginning was dirty. fucked up. dark. a thousand messed out ravers getting wild in the basements, bunkers, warehouses, fields.
it was a big "fuck you" to the dance music of the 80s and 70s. to the luxurious disco of the 70s, or chic "dance" pop tunes of the 80s. where those with the most expensive suits and fashion dominated. where you would not go mental on the dancefloor, but repeat the dancesteps john travolta showed you on TV. where the was a "well behavedness" to the dance activity - not go all out insane and twirl your body around.
the techno crowds largely fit to this. to the anarchy and mayhem, and uprising from below. freaks, anarchists, squatters, working class people, lower classes. the outsiders, the jobless, those who were different, but still hopeful.
there was a huge backlash against this techno and hardcore momentum by the mid 90s. it was decided, techno had to become "chic". be respectable, well-behaved too. "intelligent" techno was pushed in forefront, "elegant" house and dance beats.
the working class and nihilistic roots were forgotten too. now the "luxurious" dorks discovered techno for themselves too, fine, chic, party people, intensively boring, and the middle class, mediocre men and women, intensively boring too. all those who sneered at the dirt and mayhem of techno - and especially at the ravers, the crowds, the hardcore possee - before.
was techno at the beginning a form of class warfare? it is hard to say. but by the mid 90s it had become one, waged by people from the upper and middle classes, to take techno away from the working and outcast classes they despised. and this war was waged quite directly; for example, now they were bouncers who often guarded the clubs and didn't let you in if you not looked like money or at least pretended too.
it is now history, so we have to recall the debates, the emotions, and motions of all these people who despised the former "childishness", "ridiculous" of anarchist techno, of rave, of hardcore - and now demanded chic and conformistic - and utterly boring - "electronic" music. this can still be seen of how many of these, or other people, still think in the same patterns when it cames to early techno and hardcore music. 'how dumb that music was', 'how silly those people looked and danced who loved this music'. as if you wouldn't look ten times as silly with your chic outfit at the minimal techno night, you asshole.
yes, this is history. so, it's time to turn the tide. blast them away. blow the lid off. bring the dirt back to techno music, to hardcore. make it the music of the lower classes - and the freaks - again. we need a different form of techno and hardcore again - full of rebellion, uprising, anarchism. full of nihilism and energy and activity.
Mittwoch, 14. Mai 2014
Dienstag, 13. Mai 2014
The Specialness Of Early Techno
when i started producing music, the early techno and hardcore productions were despised by many people of the newer generation of producers. was the sound not cheesy? weak? technically inferior?
i too had such a mindset, and was at first not much interested in this sound. after all, i had lived through the first "techno explosion" and even then it did not catch much of my interest.
over the years, this changed. i felt a certain attraction to the earliest techno and hardcore productions. there seemed to be something intriguing, special about it. i felt i was about to grow an obsession for this music. a lot of my friends were shocked. why was i going back in the past when seemingly others moved on?
it took me a while - years - to be finally to realise what is so special about early techno.
the cheesy stabs, the dancy vocals in a lot of those tracks put many people down - especially those who come from the rock field. isn't this cheesy dance music? for the last remaining candy ravers?
the point is. no it's not. the earliest techno, at the end of the 80s, and the beginning of the 90s, was simply made, produced in a different way, than most other music at that point, and later. it's all about the effect. the melody, the sound, the samples, in itself are not so important, if they don't reach a certain effect. to get wild on the dancefloor. to trip out. to move. to groove. to drift off. and, most importantly, to feel that energy rush. yes, some melodies might be cheesy, but this is missing the point completely. if the melody can make you rush to the adrenaline, then the effect was succesful, and wether this was done by cheesy methods is not so important at all. this is what makes early techno different from pop music or most other forms of music.
the various elements, structures, the keys, melodies, tunings, harmonics, rhythms, are only secondary. the tunes are made with the effect, the impact they can have, in mind. the impact on the body, and mental.
you have to see through the apparent sounds to realise this.
this also why techno producers easily switched elements over the years, from the 808 to sampled drums to breakbeats and more.
if it makes you dance, it is correct. don't question anything else.
the interesting thing here, is, again, that this is something that is not found in most other genres. it *can* be found; jazz, blues, 60s rock, had a similiar approach. where the elements and structure used is not so important as the effect induced by the music. and, in the last years, i see that this approach is also heavily speeding into other forms of music, even pop.
the other thing, techno, hardcore, the early stuff, is simply some of the best produced music ever. what makes it special, to write it down, could fill a whole book. it is not so much the complexity - early techno was often simplistic - as how they used the limitations of the early equipment, and of the techno method itself. and what they stuffed into the tracks, as ideas, creativity, vision. techno tracks feels so much as a whole, and packed with action. also, they have a quality what i call "seamless" producing. in the best tunes, every basshit, every drum, every stab just fits absolutely perfect and you can find no flaw in the production. again, this is rare in most genres, and again, compares with equally seamless music as the best jazz or blues productions.
i will stop here for now; it is too much to explain and maybe can't be explained. if you are a producer yourself or interested in techno, just listen to the early techno productions over and over, and maybe you can find the genius in these tracks and their productions.
these two things are what make early techno and hardcore stand out, and a lot more. maybe you can find enjoyment in these genres too.
i too had such a mindset, and was at first not much interested in this sound. after all, i had lived through the first "techno explosion" and even then it did not catch much of my interest.
over the years, this changed. i felt a certain attraction to the earliest techno and hardcore productions. there seemed to be something intriguing, special about it. i felt i was about to grow an obsession for this music. a lot of my friends were shocked. why was i going back in the past when seemingly others moved on?
it took me a while - years - to be finally to realise what is so special about early techno.
the cheesy stabs, the dancy vocals in a lot of those tracks put many people down - especially those who come from the rock field. isn't this cheesy dance music? for the last remaining candy ravers?
the point is. no it's not. the earliest techno, at the end of the 80s, and the beginning of the 90s, was simply made, produced in a different way, than most other music at that point, and later. it's all about the effect. the melody, the sound, the samples, in itself are not so important, if they don't reach a certain effect. to get wild on the dancefloor. to trip out. to move. to groove. to drift off. and, most importantly, to feel that energy rush. yes, some melodies might be cheesy, but this is missing the point completely. if the melody can make you rush to the adrenaline, then the effect was succesful, and wether this was done by cheesy methods is not so important at all. this is what makes early techno different from pop music or most other forms of music.
the various elements, structures, the keys, melodies, tunings, harmonics, rhythms, are only secondary. the tunes are made with the effect, the impact they can have, in mind. the impact on the body, and mental.
you have to see through the apparent sounds to realise this.
this also why techno producers easily switched elements over the years, from the 808 to sampled drums to breakbeats and more.
if it makes you dance, it is correct. don't question anything else.
the interesting thing here, is, again, that this is something that is not found in most other genres. it *can* be found; jazz, blues, 60s rock, had a similiar approach. where the elements and structure used is not so important as the effect induced by the music. and, in the last years, i see that this approach is also heavily speeding into other forms of music, even pop.
the other thing, techno, hardcore, the early stuff, is simply some of the best produced music ever. what makes it special, to write it down, could fill a whole book. it is not so much the complexity - early techno was often simplistic - as how they used the limitations of the early equipment, and of the techno method itself. and what they stuffed into the tracks, as ideas, creativity, vision. techno tracks feels so much as a whole, and packed with action. also, they have a quality what i call "seamless" producing. in the best tunes, every basshit, every drum, every stab just fits absolutely perfect and you can find no flaw in the production. again, this is rare in most genres, and again, compares with equally seamless music as the best jazz or blues productions.
i will stop here for now; it is too much to explain and maybe can't be explained. if you are a producer yourself or interested in techno, just listen to the early techno productions over and over, and maybe you can find the genius in these tracks and their productions.
these two things are what make early techno and hardcore stand out, and a lot more. maybe you can find enjoyment in these genres too.
The Techno-Krautrock Connection
eventually i got interested in the way techno was originally created, at the end of the 80s, 90s. what made acid house, early techno, early hardcore so special? to me, it seemed obvious, that the method of production must be connected to this. i realized early techno was quite differently produced from later fully thought-out productions using cubase, or similiar programs, with every elements carefully sequenced and preprogrammed.
techno, in the beginning, had much more or a DIY, quick attitude, lowfi production values, with the focus on improvisation, experimentation.
then i realised that techno, in many senses, was a re-emergence of the krautrock, psychedelic, experimental rock and electronic productions of the hippie, anarchist 60s and 70s.
the set up was similiar was in so many ways: setting up synthesizers, equipment, jamming with them, creating easy sequences, going on from that and becoming more complex, more sophisticated. improvise, put everything together, try out as much as you can. just jam and get into the groove and tune out.
this is was how many of the earliest techno tracks were produced: just adding sequences to bassline and other synthesizers, drum machines and effects, then just jamming with them, turning channels on off and off, playing, letting the music flow.
this is of course extremely alike to the jam session of the 60s musicians. the only difference is the obvious lack of electric guitars, and a lesser focus on traditional singing.
this again is to me one of the things that prove that techno is, as i said, to many parts of recreation of the sounds, ideas and methods of the anarchist 60s.
techno, in the beginning, had much more or a DIY, quick attitude, lowfi production values, with the focus on improvisation, experimentation.
then i realised that techno, in many senses, was a re-emergence of the krautrock, psychedelic, experimental rock and electronic productions of the hippie, anarchist 60s and 70s.
the set up was similiar was in so many ways: setting up synthesizers, equipment, jamming with them, creating easy sequences, going on from that and becoming more complex, more sophisticated. improvise, put everything together, try out as much as you can. just jam and get into the groove and tune out.
this is was how many of the earliest techno tracks were produced: just adding sequences to bassline and other synthesizers, drum machines and effects, then just jamming with them, turning channels on off and off, playing, letting the music flow.
this is of course extremely alike to the jam session of the 60s musicians. the only difference is the obvious lack of electric guitars, and a lesser focus on traditional singing.
this again is to me one of the things that prove that techno is, as i said, to many parts of recreation of the sounds, ideas and methods of the anarchist 60s.
How I Discovered Planet Core Productions
in 6 parts
1. First Contact
my story with PCP starts back in 1996. i had discovered the sounds of Hardcore Techno just a few months ago. i wanted to know more about this wonderful sound and started to explore the depths of the Internet about it. i soon ran into c8.com which was the electronic focal point of the hard electronic underground at that time, and hosted labels like Bloody Fist, artists like Somatic Responses, and the PCP website. i eagerly devoured the subsites and the information i could find. if i recall correctly they had a lot of previews of PCP tunes up, and i found them interesting, but i wasn't too impressed i must say - yet. then i came into contact with PCP in another way. i bought the compilation "ravers night III", which was put out by ruffneck records i think, in a big store. that was a time when gabber and hardcore techo (at least it's commercial variant) was part ofthe mainstream youth culture and CDs by the likes of Nordcore, Mokum, Industrial Strength were just a few meters away from mainstream rock and pop CDs in stores. back to the compilation. i don't remember if i checked the booklet first or put the CD in the player first. when i read the booklet i noticed the first track of the CD, "Inferno Bros. - Slaves To The Rave", was related to Planet Core Productions. i felt excited, a track of the mysterious underground hardcore scene that so far i only knew from the internet, in my hands on a CD!
when i put on the CD and put on the track, i was completely blown away. there are only a few tracks, maybe 3 or 4 in total, that hit me so hard, so extreme, when i first listened to them. it was like everything i had known about music faded into the past and was replaced by something new. it was a bit like experiencing lying on a beach in a tropical paradise during sunset, being peaceful and happy. so sweet, so exciting, so thrilling, so overwhelming. there was simply so much in this track, so much power, and emotion. needless to say, it was also much more intelligent and complex than most of the more known "gabber" during that time.
2. Checking The Catalogue
It may sound weird, but after my interest in PCP grew, i actually read through the whole catalogue of PCP records and wondered how these records with interesting titles (Cyborg Unknown, Planet Phuture, Reign...) would sound like.
3. The Phuture
after i became a regular visitor to the local store here that sold most of the hardcore vinyls and CDs, i decided that this was my chance to finally check out the PCP sounds more. i bought a CD called "PCP - Phuture". when i listened through the CD, i was actually disappointed. the tracks let me down a bit at that time - they seemed repetive and very minimalistic - quite different from the over-the-top hardcore by Mouse or Burning Lazy Persons that i listened to that time. the only track that stood out for me was MF Skulls by Program 1.
so while PCP was a love at first sight to me, it was not a love at second sight. but would that change in the future?
4. A New Style
in the meantime the sound of PCP had changed a lot, and they put out records like Purple Moon, XTC Express, Reign - Time Machine, or vinyls on Futureworld and Narcotic Network Recordings. this was stuff i loved again. they all had that dreamy, spacey feel to them, that i adore in music.
5. At Last
then i slowly developed an interest in the older style of PCP too, yet a lot of the early stuff still seemed not that exciting to me - too repetive and simplistic.
then one friday night i was working on music, chatting with other hardcore artists, listening to music, checking websites till the morning. i eventually switched the Nordcore internet radio stream on. they were playing a PCP special. around 6 or 7 am a track came on. i don't know anymore if it was Headshop - Universe or T Bone Castro - Return To Planet E. this track hit me so hard again. when the choirs of the tune came on, i can't describe what i felt then. it was just incredible. bliss. i now realised there was much more to PCP than i first had noticed, and it would soon become one of my favorite labels.
6. At Party
now i liked most of pcp, yet it seemed to me that tracks like Ace The Space - 9 is a classic and such, even if they were really sweet to me, might have been more powerful in 1992 then now - the beats, the synth, seemed a lot weaker, less impressive than later productions to me. maybe they were too much part of the then ongoing techno movement? this opinion of me soon fell too, though.
it was All-Out Demolition! II, the most succesful party we did then, 300-500 visitors or so (can't count the exact amount since the crowd was linked with another party in a different part of the building).
the party was almost over already, it was early in the morning again, the regular sets of the DJs were finished. Sampler19 started a PCP set, beginning with We Have Arrived and later Turbulence - Whurlstorm, i continued the set and played stuff by T Bone Castro, Marshall Masters and such, the Dance Ecstasy and PCP classics.
when playing this set, in this pitch-black, fog filled basement, on an super loud system, i noticed that they sounded quite different from normally listening to them. they sounded extremely powerful, hard hitting, varied, full of sound - the minimalism and "mainstream techno-ness" i criticed before that, had simply gone.
this was the time i learned to truly appreciate these tracks too.
1. First Contact
my story with PCP starts back in 1996. i had discovered the sounds of Hardcore Techno just a few months ago. i wanted to know more about this wonderful sound and started to explore the depths of the Internet about it. i soon ran into c8.com which was the electronic focal point of the hard electronic underground at that time, and hosted labels like Bloody Fist, artists like Somatic Responses, and the PCP website. i eagerly devoured the subsites and the information i could find. if i recall correctly they had a lot of previews of PCP tunes up, and i found them interesting, but i wasn't too impressed i must say - yet. then i came into contact with PCP in another way. i bought the compilation "ravers night III", which was put out by ruffneck records i think, in a big store. that was a time when gabber and hardcore techo (at least it's commercial variant) was part ofthe mainstream youth culture and CDs by the likes of Nordcore, Mokum, Industrial Strength were just a few meters away from mainstream rock and pop CDs in stores. back to the compilation. i don't remember if i checked the booklet first or put the CD in the player first. when i read the booklet i noticed the first track of the CD, "Inferno Bros. - Slaves To The Rave", was related to Planet Core Productions. i felt excited, a track of the mysterious underground hardcore scene that so far i only knew from the internet, in my hands on a CD!
when i put on the CD and put on the track, i was completely blown away. there are only a few tracks, maybe 3 or 4 in total, that hit me so hard, so extreme, when i first listened to them. it was like everything i had known about music faded into the past and was replaced by something new. it was a bit like experiencing lying on a beach in a tropical paradise during sunset, being peaceful and happy. so sweet, so exciting, so thrilling, so overwhelming. there was simply so much in this track, so much power, and emotion. needless to say, it was also much more intelligent and complex than most of the more known "gabber" during that time.
2. Checking The Catalogue
It may sound weird, but after my interest in PCP grew, i actually read through the whole catalogue of PCP records and wondered how these records with interesting titles (Cyborg Unknown, Planet Phuture, Reign...) would sound like.
3. The Phuture
after i became a regular visitor to the local store here that sold most of the hardcore vinyls and CDs, i decided that this was my chance to finally check out the PCP sounds more. i bought a CD called "PCP - Phuture". when i listened through the CD, i was actually disappointed. the tracks let me down a bit at that time - they seemed repetive and very minimalistic - quite different from the over-the-top hardcore by Mouse or Burning Lazy Persons that i listened to that time. the only track that stood out for me was MF Skulls by Program 1.
so while PCP was a love at first sight to me, it was not a love at second sight. but would that change in the future?
4. A New Style
in the meantime the sound of PCP had changed a lot, and they put out records like Purple Moon, XTC Express, Reign - Time Machine, or vinyls on Futureworld and Narcotic Network Recordings. this was stuff i loved again. they all had that dreamy, spacey feel to them, that i adore in music.
5. At Last
then i slowly developed an interest in the older style of PCP too, yet a lot of the early stuff still seemed not that exciting to me - too repetive and simplistic.
then one friday night i was working on music, chatting with other hardcore artists, listening to music, checking websites till the morning. i eventually switched the Nordcore internet radio stream on. they were playing a PCP special. around 6 or 7 am a track came on. i don't know anymore if it was Headshop - Universe or T Bone Castro - Return To Planet E. this track hit me so hard again. when the choirs of the tune came on, i can't describe what i felt then. it was just incredible. bliss. i now realised there was much more to PCP than i first had noticed, and it would soon become one of my favorite labels.
6. At Party
now i liked most of pcp, yet it seemed to me that tracks like Ace The Space - 9 is a classic and such, even if they were really sweet to me, might have been more powerful in 1992 then now - the beats, the synth, seemed a lot weaker, less impressive than later productions to me. maybe they were too much part of the then ongoing techno movement? this opinion of me soon fell too, though.
it was All-Out Demolition! II, the most succesful party we did then, 300-500 visitors or so (can't count the exact amount since the crowd was linked with another party in a different part of the building).
the party was almost over already, it was early in the morning again, the regular sets of the DJs were finished. Sampler19 started a PCP set, beginning with We Have Arrived and later Turbulence - Whurlstorm, i continued the set and played stuff by T Bone Castro, Marshall Masters and such, the Dance Ecstasy and PCP classics.
when playing this set, in this pitch-black, fog filled basement, on an super loud system, i noticed that they sounded quite different from normally listening to them. they sounded extremely powerful, hard hitting, varied, full of sound - the minimalism and "mainstream techno-ness" i criticed before that, had simply gone.
this was the time i learned to truly appreciate these tracks too.
Tribute to FFM Shadow Orchestra
my appreciation of ffm shadow orchestra runs for a long time now. like most of the acts in my early days of hardcore, i discovered them through the c8.com site in the mid 90s. i remember when i first read the name, i assumed it must be a strange rap group from frankfurt. i soon learned better, since stevvi (who ran the old pcp website, which was hosted at c8) put up some preview tracks by them. they became some of the first underground hardcore tracks i ever heard, when i was 15 year old, and i instantly liked what i heard. i remember stevvi wrote that marc had send him some white labels, so he doesn't know who wrote these tracks, but he assumed it was the ffm shadow orchestra. since then, and probably before then, the orchestra was always associated with some sort of mystery. fast forward one year, it's 1997 and i'm in the container record store in hamburg. i spotted two new releases that really stood out from most of the rest of the vinyls. the cover art intrigued me, and on the backside there were printed lyrics to the song. that was really something stunning for me, underground hardcore with full vocals and lyrics! i immediately bought the records, without prelistening to them. i think only at home i realised i bought something by the ffm shadow orchestra, because of the weird font they used i couldn't really decipher most of the text at first.
the records were interzone 1 and 2 (the name of the label is a reference to william burroughs and/or the movie naked lunch, by the way), and i instantly fell in love with them. the tracks had such an outerspace feel to them, pure phuture, with long ambient intros that would make one feel as if one is travelling among the stars. over the years i've listened to a lot of futuristic music, but ffm shadow orchestra is still something that stands out with it's vibe, and there is something else to it, not just phuture, or rather, a special brand of phuture sound that no other artist did yet.
here ends the text of my personal story with the ffm shadow orchestra, so i'll talk a bit about the mystery surrounding this act. the first mystery is of course, who are they actually? they have not released on any other label outside of the pcp family, and almost nothing is known about the persons behind this project. needless to say, they seem to never have done any live perfomances either. in fact, for a long time, i thought it is just another strange project done by marc, miro or thorsten, or all three together, using a different name. it seems though that the people behind the orchestra have released under other names on pcp too, using aliases such as "terrorists" or "3 from i.o.".
another mystery is the nature of their releases themselves. around 2000 i noticed a release called "ffm shadow orchestra - radio inferno" in the phuture-rave record store on the web. it's a full album, only released on cd-r. who released it? why didn't it get a proper release? is it really the same guys - it sounds much different to their earlier releases? one might never know.
the biggest strange thing is maybe that the ffm shadow orchestra is still much less known than other acts of their era, or especially other pcp acts. they had a lot more going on than a lot of acts - fully lyricized tracks, big productions, good ideas (on one of their records all four tracks are an hommege to the classic movie "killing zoé", for example). they really would have deserved much more recognition, in my opinion.
the records were interzone 1 and 2 (the name of the label is a reference to william burroughs and/or the movie naked lunch, by the way), and i instantly fell in love with them. the tracks had such an outerspace feel to them, pure phuture, with long ambient intros that would make one feel as if one is travelling among the stars. over the years i've listened to a lot of futuristic music, but ffm shadow orchestra is still something that stands out with it's vibe, and there is something else to it, not just phuture, or rather, a special brand of phuture sound that no other artist did yet.
here ends the text of my personal story with the ffm shadow orchestra, so i'll talk a bit about the mystery surrounding this act. the first mystery is of course, who are they actually? they have not released on any other label outside of the pcp family, and almost nothing is known about the persons behind this project. needless to say, they seem to never have done any live perfomances either. in fact, for a long time, i thought it is just another strange project done by marc, miro or thorsten, or all three together, using a different name. it seems though that the people behind the orchestra have released under other names on pcp too, using aliases such as "terrorists" or "3 from i.o.".
another mystery is the nature of their releases themselves. around 2000 i noticed a release called "ffm shadow orchestra - radio inferno" in the phuture-rave record store on the web. it's a full album, only released on cd-r. who released it? why didn't it get a proper release? is it really the same guys - it sounds much different to their earlier releases? one might never know.
the biggest strange thing is maybe that the ffm shadow orchestra is still much less known than other acts of their era, or especially other pcp acts. they had a lot more going on than a lot of acts - fully lyricized tracks, big productions, good ideas (on one of their records all four tracks are an hommege to the classic movie "killing zoé", for example). they really would have deserved much more recognition, in my opinion.
Montag, 5. Mai 2014
The Story Of PCP
to write down the whole story, history and context of pcp would demand a whole book, or rather, a whole library of books. so excuse that i will only focus on parts and occassions of the pcp history, and can not adress the whole - yet.
about the beginnings of pcp, not that much is known. the two key creaters seem to have been marc acardipane and thorsten lambert. acardipane played guitar before that, and had various rap projects. the first outing of pcp was, aptly named, a release by mescalinum united called into mekong center. this is still far, but not that far, from the sound pcp got later quite famous for. we find some sort of a cross between house, electro and EBM sounds, but also plenty of new ideas. this was 1989. the end of 1989. the decade ended. the pcp saga had begun.
of early influences is not much known, or rather, not much specific. in the alien underground interview marc acardipane denounced the industrial EBM influence of the likes of front 242, yet in another interview he says this, together with detroit techno, was the starting point for his own sound. this confusing stance on things runs through the history of pcp. they are not known to play their cards too much in the open, for good reasons.
PCP continued, and with the movers first outing, frontal sickness volume 1, and mescalinum united's reflections of 2017 ep, two of the most important records in the history of techno, in the history of hardcore, and in the history of music have been made. much has been said about these tracks elsewhere; i will leave it at this short notice right now.
in these early days, it was the height of the first techno wave, in germany, europe and britain. PCP thrived in this milieu, and as far as i know, were very welcome by this scene. we got plenty of interviews in early german and other techno fanzines, they played a lot of parties, even at the biggest rave than, the mayday rave by low spirit. hardcore and gabber was also a new thing; and pcp paved the way for that sound; they were celebrated by the dutch and belgium gabber crowd, and were legends even back then. but, even at that point, acardipane in interviews expressed the motion that, especially in germany, they were ignored in light of other DJs and producers of the techno scene who made it "big".
indeed, the techno landscape was changing. techno was no longer one sound, one family, one unity. a DJ wouldn't play all styles in one set anymore. the scene fragmented into further subscenes, such as breakbeat, jungle, "intelligent", hardtrance, and hardcore and gabber. the DJs and producers adopted, and went with the flow, instead of beating the system. pcp did not. they stayed true to their core. they kept putting out hardcore sounds en masse. for the german techno scene, this became problematic. hardcore was now seen as "childish", not being liked by the now stucked up crowd who demanded "intelligent" and "minimal" sounds.
this explained why, while other DJs that started together with PCP, rose to fame, mainstream fame, pcp did not, and instead became more obscure.
pcp did not only stay with their original sound, they expanded it, explored other venues. i think any type of dance and electronic music must have been covered by their catalogue. they ventured into krautrock, goa, jungle, EBM, speedcore, abstract; anything: you named it, they did it.
in this "second" period, in my opinion, fall some of the most interesting releases of pcp fall, as the outings by miro, or the movers countdown trax EP, or the jupiter pulse of mescalinum united.
in an interview, miro expressed disappointment that seemingly everyone had forgotton about pcp. and this was largely the case; pcp was more of a "secret hint", passed on by an elite circle. the parties were usually headlined by someone else.
yet, the tide for pcp changed once again. or rather, it ended, in a true phoenix style. pcp ceased to exist by the year 1997. but this was also the time when, as a live act, or marc acardipane as a DJ, under various names, such as marshall masters or kotzaak, they were increasingly booked at the "big" parties again, especially in holland and belgium. they released a marshall masters album which sold weld. "i like it loud" became a hit for the first time. acardipane records was started, which later led into resident e records.
so, the recognition was finally there. recognition by a larger audience.
after the 2000s, things changed even more. by the breakcore, the techno, the experimental hardcore crowed, pcp was no longer seen as "childish" finally anymore (yes, there was a time when you were ridiculed by self-appointed elitists, when you stated that you listened to pcp.)
pcp was rediscoverd again, its mysterios, excellent sound came into the open again.
and, a new generation of artists, of listeners, of human beings, discovered pcp newly again.
about the beginnings of pcp, not that much is known. the two key creaters seem to have been marc acardipane and thorsten lambert. acardipane played guitar before that, and had various rap projects. the first outing of pcp was, aptly named, a release by mescalinum united called into mekong center. this is still far, but not that far, from the sound pcp got later quite famous for. we find some sort of a cross between house, electro and EBM sounds, but also plenty of new ideas. this was 1989. the end of 1989. the decade ended. the pcp saga had begun.
of early influences is not much known, or rather, not much specific. in the alien underground interview marc acardipane denounced the industrial EBM influence of the likes of front 242, yet in another interview he says this, together with detroit techno, was the starting point for his own sound. this confusing stance on things runs through the history of pcp. they are not known to play their cards too much in the open, for good reasons.
PCP continued, and with the movers first outing, frontal sickness volume 1, and mescalinum united's reflections of 2017 ep, two of the most important records in the history of techno, in the history of hardcore, and in the history of music have been made. much has been said about these tracks elsewhere; i will leave it at this short notice right now.
in these early days, it was the height of the first techno wave, in germany, europe and britain. PCP thrived in this milieu, and as far as i know, were very welcome by this scene. we got plenty of interviews in early german and other techno fanzines, they played a lot of parties, even at the biggest rave than, the mayday rave by low spirit. hardcore and gabber was also a new thing; and pcp paved the way for that sound; they were celebrated by the dutch and belgium gabber crowd, and were legends even back then. but, even at that point, acardipane in interviews expressed the motion that, especially in germany, they were ignored in light of other DJs and producers of the techno scene who made it "big".
indeed, the techno landscape was changing. techno was no longer one sound, one family, one unity. a DJ wouldn't play all styles in one set anymore. the scene fragmented into further subscenes, such as breakbeat, jungle, "intelligent", hardtrance, and hardcore and gabber. the DJs and producers adopted, and went with the flow, instead of beating the system. pcp did not. they stayed true to their core. they kept putting out hardcore sounds en masse. for the german techno scene, this became problematic. hardcore was now seen as "childish", not being liked by the now stucked up crowd who demanded "intelligent" and "minimal" sounds.
this explained why, while other DJs that started together with PCP, rose to fame, mainstream fame, pcp did not, and instead became more obscure.
pcp did not only stay with their original sound, they expanded it, explored other venues. i think any type of dance and electronic music must have been covered by their catalogue. they ventured into krautrock, goa, jungle, EBM, speedcore, abstract; anything: you named it, they did it.
in this "second" period, in my opinion, fall some of the most interesting releases of pcp fall, as the outings by miro, or the movers countdown trax EP, or the jupiter pulse of mescalinum united.
in an interview, miro expressed disappointment that seemingly everyone had forgotton about pcp. and this was largely the case; pcp was more of a "secret hint", passed on by an elite circle. the parties were usually headlined by someone else.
yet, the tide for pcp changed once again. or rather, it ended, in a true phoenix style. pcp ceased to exist by the year 1997. but this was also the time when, as a live act, or marc acardipane as a DJ, under various names, such as marshall masters or kotzaak, they were increasingly booked at the "big" parties again, especially in holland and belgium. they released a marshall masters album which sold weld. "i like it loud" became a hit for the first time. acardipane records was started, which later led into resident e records.
so, the recognition was finally there. recognition by a larger audience.
after the 2000s, things changed even more. by the breakcore, the techno, the experimental hardcore crowed, pcp was no longer seen as "childish" finally anymore (yes, there was a time when you were ridiculed by self-appointed elitists, when you stated that you listened to pcp.)
pcp was rediscoverd again, its mysterios, excellent sound came into the open again.
and, a new generation of artists, of listeners, of human beings, discovered pcp newly again.
The Beginning Of Doomcore
the story, the beginning of doomcore is synonymous with one label. at the beginning, everything doomcore was PCP, and PCP was everything doomcore. they created the whole genre. they started it. listen to the labels at that time; you will see there is not much that actually sounds similiar to the things pcp pulled off back then.
sure, there were other tracks to be found; and you might find even further; "the aftermath" on the adrenalin records EP; or some of the sound of rome works, to name some. but, as i said, at first doomcore was virtually the same as PCP.
PCP set the sound with some of their best records; with the cold rush records. with the mover outings. with the cold metallic sound of mescalinum united. techno, at its beginning, was dark. but pcp put the darkness even further. they had the idea to create technotic, or pounding, 4/4 drums with lush, sweeping synth pads, rave signals, dark choir outings. in a time when everyone seemed to focus mostly on the grove and beat of techno, PCP shifted the focus to the emotion, the setting of a track.
so that was it. the doomcore formula had been found. the dark dancefloor came into existence. and from that, the sound evolved even more.
PCP's outings became more intricate as time moved on, too. the reduced sound of the first mover EP later gave way to the complex melodic systems and spacious sounds of some of miro's work (the purple moon, the xtc express...).
at this point of history, doomcore was more or less a rarity. there were dedicated doomcore fans and doom supporters, but they were few. the core group was members of the dutch-influenced gabber sounds, oldschool techno heads who had "grown up" (at least technowise) with pcp, and the experimental underground scenes of techno, in the web surrounding the c8 collective, which to a large part was composed of PCP fans (that scene later gave rises to scenes such as breakcore or frenchcore).
that there was only one real label (or rather, label family) for doomcore didn't help with the spread of doomcore, of course. this changed by the mid 90s. other labels dedicated to the doomcore sound came into being. the most important were the crossbones tree of label, and fifth era. smaller labels and projects arose too, such as black blood and his frontline of sound label (still highly underrated), and even more obscure labels.
skip to the present. the situation couldn't be better for doomcore. doomcore is on the rise, and finally getting recognition and appreciation by people outside the small doomcore circle too. now we have whole events dedicated to doomcore with several acts (an impossibility in the 90s), and the doomcore scene seems to grow.
while this also leads to the danger of a commercialisation of sound, i think it will be a long while till this happens, and we still have plenty of time to enjoy the new doomcore outings. especially interesting to me are the large number of producers who are now interested in the doomcore sound and make great creations, on the internet and elsewhere.
the times are good for doomcore. let's enjoy them.
sure, there were other tracks to be found; and you might find even further; "the aftermath" on the adrenalin records EP; or some of the sound of rome works, to name some. but, as i said, at first doomcore was virtually the same as PCP.
PCP set the sound with some of their best records; with the cold rush records. with the mover outings. with the cold metallic sound of mescalinum united. techno, at its beginning, was dark. but pcp put the darkness even further. they had the idea to create technotic, or pounding, 4/4 drums with lush, sweeping synth pads, rave signals, dark choir outings. in a time when everyone seemed to focus mostly on the grove and beat of techno, PCP shifted the focus to the emotion, the setting of a track.
so that was it. the doomcore formula had been found. the dark dancefloor came into existence. and from that, the sound evolved even more.
PCP's outings became more intricate as time moved on, too. the reduced sound of the first mover EP later gave way to the complex melodic systems and spacious sounds of some of miro's work (the purple moon, the xtc express...).
at this point of history, doomcore was more or less a rarity. there were dedicated doomcore fans and doom supporters, but they were few. the core group was members of the dutch-influenced gabber sounds, oldschool techno heads who had "grown up" (at least technowise) with pcp, and the experimental underground scenes of techno, in the web surrounding the c8 collective, which to a large part was composed of PCP fans (that scene later gave rises to scenes such as breakcore or frenchcore).
that there was only one real label (or rather, label family) for doomcore didn't help with the spread of doomcore, of course. this changed by the mid 90s. other labels dedicated to the doomcore sound came into being. the most important were the crossbones tree of label, and fifth era. smaller labels and projects arose too, such as black blood and his frontline of sound label (still highly underrated), and even more obscure labels.
skip to the present. the situation couldn't be better for doomcore. doomcore is on the rise, and finally getting recognition and appreciation by people outside the small doomcore circle too. now we have whole events dedicated to doomcore with several acts (an impossibility in the 90s), and the doomcore scene seems to grow.
while this also leads to the danger of a commercialisation of sound, i think it will be a long while till this happens, and we still have plenty of time to enjoy the new doomcore outings. especially interesting to me are the large number of producers who are now interested in the doomcore sound and make great creations, on the internet and elsewhere.
the times are good for doomcore. let's enjoy them.
PCP - Rare And Unreleased Projcts
a look at rare, obscure, exotic projects of the PCP crew.
Jack Lucifer Full Length Album
the second Kotzaak Compilation, From the Deepest Depths, features 3 tracks by jack lucifer (and 1 hidden track),
that were supposed to be of a full length jack lucifer album release, that is announced to be upcoming.
they are in the later style picked up by jack lucifer, not the early kotzaak style, but his blend of death metal
and electronic equipment. the name of the album was supposed to be "contaminated black planet".
in a later interview he said, this album was finished, but never released. he doesn't want to release it so far,
unless he has re-recorded all the tracks again.
See Ya In 2017
See Ya in 2017 was a different version of what was later the Frankfurt Trax 3 Album. it exists only as a
white label testpressing. it has almost the same tracklisting as the frankfurt trax album - but it has three
extra tracks, which are not released elswhere. one is a techno track, one in white breaks style, and one in 303
nation style (probably done by them?).
Unreleased 1993 Mover Demotape
a tape marc acardipane made in 1993. not much about this is known. the tracks are in mover style, but could also
be tracks supposed to be put our under other monikers of acardipane (nasty django, ace the space?).
The Praxis Tape
a rumor from the internet, that the "track 2" put out on the praxis CD compilation paraphysical cybertronics was part of a tape with much more tracks (thus the name "track 2") by the mover.
The Live Double CD
in the early years, the pcp liveact often didn't play pre-existing tracks, but did special live tracks, that were often improvised live. almost nothing of this surfaced later. there seems to be a split between normal tracks, that were put out on vinyl and CD, and the pcp live stuff, which was just for the liveacts. in an interview acardipane talks about a planned PCP live double CD with this material, but it never surfaced.
The Mescalinum United Ambient Album
in the famous alien underground interview, marc acardipane mentions having finished a mecalinum united album of twisted dark ambient tracks. it never came to light. could it be that later ambient releases (1987 metamorphosis, jupiter pulse) were originally part of this album?
Tomorrowland Recordings
this, and i think other labels, were mentioned in an old pcp feature in a magazine. these labels were planned, but never came to existance. one can only wonder what sound wouldve been put out on them.
the PCP DVD
around 2004, marc acardipane announced on the planet core forum, that he had rediscovered masters of plenty of unreleased tracks he done under monikers such as alien christ, ace the space. he said he wants to put them out on a big DVD, complete with unreleased video and live footage.
again, this never came to light.
the only thing that surfaced was the PCP mayday 1993 live video, which was planned to be released on this DVD.
Jack Lucifer Full Length Album
the second Kotzaak Compilation, From the Deepest Depths, features 3 tracks by jack lucifer (and 1 hidden track),
that were supposed to be of a full length jack lucifer album release, that is announced to be upcoming.
they are in the later style picked up by jack lucifer, not the early kotzaak style, but his blend of death metal
and electronic equipment. the name of the album was supposed to be "contaminated black planet".
in a later interview he said, this album was finished, but never released. he doesn't want to release it so far,
unless he has re-recorded all the tracks again.
See Ya In 2017
See Ya in 2017 was a different version of what was later the Frankfurt Trax 3 Album. it exists only as a
white label testpressing. it has almost the same tracklisting as the frankfurt trax album - but it has three
extra tracks, which are not released elswhere. one is a techno track, one in white breaks style, and one in 303
nation style (probably done by them?).
Unreleased 1993 Mover Demotape
a tape marc acardipane made in 1993. not much about this is known. the tracks are in mover style, but could also
be tracks supposed to be put our under other monikers of acardipane (nasty django, ace the space?).
The Praxis Tape
a rumor from the internet, that the "track 2" put out on the praxis CD compilation paraphysical cybertronics was part of a tape with much more tracks (thus the name "track 2") by the mover.
The Live Double CD
in the early years, the pcp liveact often didn't play pre-existing tracks, but did special live tracks, that were often improvised live. almost nothing of this surfaced later. there seems to be a split between normal tracks, that were put out on vinyl and CD, and the pcp live stuff, which was just for the liveacts. in an interview acardipane talks about a planned PCP live double CD with this material, but it never surfaced.
The Mescalinum United Ambient Album
in the famous alien underground interview, marc acardipane mentions having finished a mecalinum united album of twisted dark ambient tracks. it never came to light. could it be that later ambient releases (1987 metamorphosis, jupiter pulse) were originally part of this album?
Tomorrowland Recordings
this, and i think other labels, were mentioned in an old pcp feature in a magazine. these labels were planned, but never came to existance. one can only wonder what sound wouldve been put out on them.
the PCP DVD
around 2004, marc acardipane announced on the planet core forum, that he had rediscovered masters of plenty of unreleased tracks he done under monikers such as alien christ, ace the space. he said he wants to put them out on a big DVD, complete with unreleased video and live footage.
again, this never came to light.
the only thing that surfaced was the PCP mayday 1993 live video, which was planned to be released on this DVD.
Sonic Threads
it is interesting to note there is seemingly a sonic thread, in terms of content, message, philosophy in the music of the last decades; and this thread even continues along the seemingly rifts in music; the breaks between declining and new genres, and creates a bit of a whole connection.
60s rock, hippie, countercultural revolt grew stale in the 70s; i think this also shows in their music, and i think "the wall" by pink floyd is a good example of this. it paints a complete bleak, depressing hopeless picture. take a look of the lyrics of its song, "Another Brick In The Wall Part 3"
I don't need no arms around me
And I dont need no drugs to calm me.
I have seen the writing on the wall.
Don't think I need anything at all.
No! Don't think I'll need anything at all.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
All in all you were all just bricks in the wall.
the ending point. all is hopeless. how to go on from this? this was the ending of the first rock period that originated in the 60s. yet, something new was beginning. the punk explosion. and, lyricwise, and in their philosophy, they actually went on from this. okay, so everything is shit. everything is hopeless. but hey, let's have fun with that. we got decay? give us more decay. gives us anarchy, nihilism. "there is no future on in englands dreaming". so get on the floor and get wild to the guitars.
so, even though punk wanted to be a total break from 60s and 70s rock, which they saw as "hippie" music, in content, they went on from it (and transcended it). this was likely not a conciousness decision - but it is interesting, to find indications for this thing.
a second example is the acid house and techno explosion, which came at a point when "indie" and genres as shoegaze dominated the subcultures.
punk had given way to postpunk, new wave and indie bands. while they had their cheerful moments too, they were also in most cases considerably bleak in their lyrical and sonic content.
yet, at the end (but also from the beginning), in their content, they reached a strange form of transcendence. okay, everything is bleak, everything is hopeless. but if you realise this, if you give in, if you see that all is in vain, you reach some point of exalted feeling of freedom. give up the world and the world won't faze you anymore. yes, it all was in vain, but it doesnt matter. it doesn't reach you.
this not only was the end of postpunk, or a certain grey worldview; it was also the farthest deconstruction of the modern worldview in general, with its ideas, morals and values, that had lost its meaning for its youth and discontent.
now, the interesting thing, is that techno and rave exactly pick up at that point, in their mindset and spectrum of ideas. postpunk led to the point that all in the world was meaningless. so rave tried to create something that was outside the common and of meaning again. techno in its ideology, at the beginning at least, was very unwordly. go into ecstasy, into trance, "higher states of consciousness", into introspection and bliss. also, the issues of everyday experience were negated to an extreme point: we don't care about the political systems anymore, about cold wars, nuclear arms, all the bleak and disappointing issues in this world: let's dance, have fun, enjoy your life, relax and be happy.
so, techno originated from the meaningless, and set out to create meaning again. inevitably, the ecstasy and exaltation of rave grew stale about a decade later too, again. but it is interesting to see this ongoing sonic thread; and it is to wonder, what will be the next developement, the next movement?
60s rock, hippie, countercultural revolt grew stale in the 70s; i think this also shows in their music, and i think "the wall" by pink floyd is a good example of this. it paints a complete bleak, depressing hopeless picture. take a look of the lyrics of its song, "Another Brick In The Wall Part 3"
I don't need no arms around me
And I dont need no drugs to calm me.
I have seen the writing on the wall.
Don't think I need anything at all.
No! Don't think I'll need anything at all.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
All in all you were all just bricks in the wall.
the ending point. all is hopeless. how to go on from this? this was the ending of the first rock period that originated in the 60s. yet, something new was beginning. the punk explosion. and, lyricwise, and in their philosophy, they actually went on from this. okay, so everything is shit. everything is hopeless. but hey, let's have fun with that. we got decay? give us more decay. gives us anarchy, nihilism. "there is no future on in englands dreaming". so get on the floor and get wild to the guitars.
so, even though punk wanted to be a total break from 60s and 70s rock, which they saw as "hippie" music, in content, they went on from it (and transcended it). this was likely not a conciousness decision - but it is interesting, to find indications for this thing.
a second example is the acid house and techno explosion, which came at a point when "indie" and genres as shoegaze dominated the subcultures.
punk had given way to postpunk, new wave and indie bands. while they had their cheerful moments too, they were also in most cases considerably bleak in their lyrical and sonic content.
yet, at the end (but also from the beginning), in their content, they reached a strange form of transcendence. okay, everything is bleak, everything is hopeless. but if you realise this, if you give in, if you see that all is in vain, you reach some point of exalted feeling of freedom. give up the world and the world won't faze you anymore. yes, it all was in vain, but it doesnt matter. it doesn't reach you.
this not only was the end of postpunk, or a certain grey worldview; it was also the farthest deconstruction of the modern worldview in general, with its ideas, morals and values, that had lost its meaning for its youth and discontent.
now, the interesting thing, is that techno and rave exactly pick up at that point, in their mindset and spectrum of ideas. postpunk led to the point that all in the world was meaningless. so rave tried to create something that was outside the common and of meaning again. techno in its ideology, at the beginning at least, was very unwordly. go into ecstasy, into trance, "higher states of consciousness", into introspection and bliss. also, the issues of everyday experience were negated to an extreme point: we don't care about the political systems anymore, about cold wars, nuclear arms, all the bleak and disappointing issues in this world: let's dance, have fun, enjoy your life, relax and be happy.
so, techno originated from the meaningless, and set out to create meaning again. inevitably, the ecstasy and exaltation of rave grew stale about a decade later too, again. but it is interesting to see this ongoing sonic thread; and it is to wonder, what will be the next developement, the next movement?
Music Is Dead - Long Live Music!
for the last years, i've becoming more and more interested in a certain kind of music. sometimes, it's the only thing that interests me in music. i am not alone in my preference; i guess a million people discovered this special form of music, and enjoy it and crave to hear more. the problem is, this form of music has no name.
and, even its most dedicated listeners, might not even know that this kind of music does exist at all.
what am i talking about?
well, in western music, especially in the 20th century, there has always been the attempt to break out of the framework of music. especially in academic and avantgarde music. it has reached a point where it's not easy to go on from; we have had music of pure noise, random sounds, or silence - how more extreme can you get? how more rules can you bend? how can you progress from that, and create something wholly new?
it is easy. just abandon music altogether. but still make music. for music is dead - but long live music!
what do i mean with that? let me tell you the history of how i discovered this "kind of music". it arose out of chat sessions i had with some of my friends; it was, for us, the days of hardcore techno; but we had grown intensively bored with this genre. so we send ourselves suggestions for other kinds of music, bands, songs, that one should listen to. this was from all other the map; rock, ballads, 60s, 90s, classic, all mixed up. what i noticed after a while, was, that style was not so important at all. in each genre, there were songs that were special and stood out. but it was not easy to say what was special or different. take 60s music for example; some songs of it shine bright, and are different from the efforts of their contemporary bands. yet, the use the same set up of instruments, singing style etc. where is the difference?
it took me a while to realise what was going on.
they simply had a quality, that was not just in the set up of instruments, in the melodic key they used, i.e. in none of the musical and sonic categories. their brilliance was above the music, and its framework.
there was just something that stood out, was different, which could not be explained in musical or sonic terms or qualities.
this doesn't mean, of course, that there was something else, that was not music, to their songs; the instruments, singing, melody, transported this brilliance; but it also transcended it.
there is a quality of music that can not be explained by rhythms, chords, lyrics, pace, keys, harmonies, song structure and so on. it transcends music. it is something different to the very structure of a song or piece of music.
it expresses something, but it does so in its own way, in a special way.
say, you have the traditional setup: guitar, bass, drums etc. you could use them to create songs that are similiar to other music in that style; or you could create special songs, which transcend this setting; which are unique, and can not be attributed to the use, or the way, structure, form it is used, of these instruments. it is something of its own, which is outside the structure, outside the form, outside the instruments.
there can be something else to music, which can not be easily explained. some songs, some artists, just 'have' it, and others don't. in musical terms, it could not be written down what this is - but it is there, and people recognize it, as many agree on certain songs, which have this specialness, this quality.
let us look at it another way to show this:
a musician has a certain idea for a song. now, with this theory on mind, the musical framework or sound is not important. he wants to write a deep, philosophical song. he could use rock for this. or techno. or folk. or a classical setting. he could write a bassline, drum and percussion only 'dance' song or an acoustic guiter folk song. yet, his message would still be the same. the point of his music would be the same, regardless of the method. because the method, the structure of music have been overcome. it is not in the music and the structure anymore. it is outside of it.
this is a break from the past, where certain attributes, qualites, intentions were attributed to genres such as rock, pop, dance. etc
for music is dead - and long live music!
this, then, brings us back to the beginning. what is the next step? the next avantgarde? how more radical can you get? it is easy - deny music altogether. deny anything that is associated with music - yet still do music. just completely ignore the framework. make a folk song, make a dance song, an experimental or 'avantgarde' song - but use it to express something that is not in the music itself. that is not in dance or avantgarde. leave music behind, use it as a tool for a message - and still use music to transport it.
again, it should be said that, in the end, there is not something else in the songs than its structure and elements - there is bass and guitar and synth and percussion, and anything else, but not something without it. yet, how they are used, in these special songs, they transcend this. they create something which cannot be explained in the forms of their use.
lately, i've come back to the idea, that the musical framework should not be totally discarded, after all. maybe there are qualites in certain rhythms, sounds, that are important too, and have an important quality, and content of their own too. yet, the i think the general idea of this still holds true.
music is dead - long live music!
and, even its most dedicated listeners, might not even know that this kind of music does exist at all.
what am i talking about?
well, in western music, especially in the 20th century, there has always been the attempt to break out of the framework of music. especially in academic and avantgarde music. it has reached a point where it's not easy to go on from; we have had music of pure noise, random sounds, or silence - how more extreme can you get? how more rules can you bend? how can you progress from that, and create something wholly new?
it is easy. just abandon music altogether. but still make music. for music is dead - but long live music!
what do i mean with that? let me tell you the history of how i discovered this "kind of music". it arose out of chat sessions i had with some of my friends; it was, for us, the days of hardcore techno; but we had grown intensively bored with this genre. so we send ourselves suggestions for other kinds of music, bands, songs, that one should listen to. this was from all other the map; rock, ballads, 60s, 90s, classic, all mixed up. what i noticed after a while, was, that style was not so important at all. in each genre, there were songs that were special and stood out. but it was not easy to say what was special or different. take 60s music for example; some songs of it shine bright, and are different from the efforts of their contemporary bands. yet, the use the same set up of instruments, singing style etc. where is the difference?
it took me a while to realise what was going on.
they simply had a quality, that was not just in the set up of instruments, in the melodic key they used, i.e. in none of the musical and sonic categories. their brilliance was above the music, and its framework.
there was just something that stood out, was different, which could not be explained in musical or sonic terms or qualities.
this doesn't mean, of course, that there was something else, that was not music, to their songs; the instruments, singing, melody, transported this brilliance; but it also transcended it.
there is a quality of music that can not be explained by rhythms, chords, lyrics, pace, keys, harmonies, song structure and so on. it transcends music. it is something different to the very structure of a song or piece of music.
it expresses something, but it does so in its own way, in a special way.
say, you have the traditional setup: guitar, bass, drums etc. you could use them to create songs that are similiar to other music in that style; or you could create special songs, which transcend this setting; which are unique, and can not be attributed to the use, or the way, structure, form it is used, of these instruments. it is something of its own, which is outside the structure, outside the form, outside the instruments.
there can be something else to music, which can not be easily explained. some songs, some artists, just 'have' it, and others don't. in musical terms, it could not be written down what this is - but it is there, and people recognize it, as many agree on certain songs, which have this specialness, this quality.
let us look at it another way to show this:
a musician has a certain idea for a song. now, with this theory on mind, the musical framework or sound is not important. he wants to write a deep, philosophical song. he could use rock for this. or techno. or folk. or a classical setting. he could write a bassline, drum and percussion only 'dance' song or an acoustic guiter folk song. yet, his message would still be the same. the point of his music would be the same, regardless of the method. because the method, the structure of music have been overcome. it is not in the music and the structure anymore. it is outside of it.
this is a break from the past, where certain attributes, qualites, intentions were attributed to genres such as rock, pop, dance. etc
for music is dead - and long live music!
this, then, brings us back to the beginning. what is the next step? the next avantgarde? how more radical can you get? it is easy - deny music altogether. deny anything that is associated with music - yet still do music. just completely ignore the framework. make a folk song, make a dance song, an experimental or 'avantgarde' song - but use it to express something that is not in the music itself. that is not in dance or avantgarde. leave music behind, use it as a tool for a message - and still use music to transport it.
again, it should be said that, in the end, there is not something else in the songs than its structure and elements - there is bass and guitar and synth and percussion, and anything else, but not something without it. yet, how they are used, in these special songs, they transcend this. they create something which cannot be explained in the forms of their use.
lately, i've come back to the idea, that the musical framework should not be totally discarded, after all. maybe there are qualites in certain rhythms, sounds, that are important too, and have an important quality, and content of their own too. yet, the i think the general idea of this still holds true.
music is dead - long live music!
The 70s 80s 90s Continuum - Music
i think there can be a kind of connection - maybe meta-connection - drawn, from the underground and widespread music of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
i think each decade can be drawn to a kind of focal point in music, in expression and intention, or maybe effect.
the decades are not clearly drawn; (in this text) 70s will refer to the music of mid to late 60s to late 70s, 80s from late 70s to late 80s, and 90s from late 80s to mid 90s. as you can see, i'm more about the sonic epochs than the actual decades and years.
i think, the best, and most refined productions of these epochs, generate a certain ecstasy, a feeling of ecstasy, an acting of ecstasy, under the right circumstances, in the listener. and these are very equal to each other, but also quite different, depending of the point of view.
70s music is about the ecstasy of the mind. the krautrock and progrock, psychedelic experiments of that era, made people zone out, trip out, go off in their minds. it's about stimulating the mind, the intellect. with it's complex rhythms, production. the lyrical themes that deal in deep mysteries and pondering. music that is food for your mind - or, as the doormouse said, "feed your head".
90s music is about the ecstasy of the body. dance, dance, dance, while the record spins. techno, rave, hardcore, acid, dance music in general, breakbeat, jungle, breakcore, gabber. made your feet move fasts, your body twirl and shock, until you again zone out, but this time because of the frantic dancing, which is remniscent of tribal dancing, which, in those times were used to reach a state of ecstasy too. your body gets ecstatic, and your start to shiver, and shake, and drift off into a natural high.
80s music seemingly lacks the ecstatic focus of this sonic continuum. yet i think a method of ecstasy can be found here, too. the ecstasy of the heart.
the lush, melancholic sounds that drown you into their emotions, when sorrow and happiness join at the horizon of the emotional set. postpunk, punk, gothic, new wave. with its repetive rhythms and overdose of reverbation while creating synthesized waves of sound, it too makes you trip away, get lost in the sound, reach a pleasurable high.
the repitive vocals with an overdose of delay at the end of some new wave or postpunk songs at that era echo this effect.
this is far from being too exact, or sharply defined. of course 70s music had it's moments of body movements too (actually quite a lot), techno also feeds the mind, and postpunk is intelligent and 'dancable' too. this text doesn't aim to tell something too in a too clearly defined way.
yet it is interesting, to assume these focal points are there, and to explore these connections, and similarities of music, in those different epochs, and in their own epoch.
and, of course, it is due, to go into ecstasy oneself - again.
i think each decade can be drawn to a kind of focal point in music, in expression and intention, or maybe effect.
the decades are not clearly drawn; (in this text) 70s will refer to the music of mid to late 60s to late 70s, 80s from late 70s to late 80s, and 90s from late 80s to mid 90s. as you can see, i'm more about the sonic epochs than the actual decades and years.
i think, the best, and most refined productions of these epochs, generate a certain ecstasy, a feeling of ecstasy, an acting of ecstasy, under the right circumstances, in the listener. and these are very equal to each other, but also quite different, depending of the point of view.
70s music is about the ecstasy of the mind. the krautrock and progrock, psychedelic experiments of that era, made people zone out, trip out, go off in their minds. it's about stimulating the mind, the intellect. with it's complex rhythms, production. the lyrical themes that deal in deep mysteries and pondering. music that is food for your mind - or, as the doormouse said, "feed your head".
90s music is about the ecstasy of the body. dance, dance, dance, while the record spins. techno, rave, hardcore, acid, dance music in general, breakbeat, jungle, breakcore, gabber. made your feet move fasts, your body twirl and shock, until you again zone out, but this time because of the frantic dancing, which is remniscent of tribal dancing, which, in those times were used to reach a state of ecstasy too. your body gets ecstatic, and your start to shiver, and shake, and drift off into a natural high.
80s music seemingly lacks the ecstatic focus of this sonic continuum. yet i think a method of ecstasy can be found here, too. the ecstasy of the heart.
the lush, melancholic sounds that drown you into their emotions, when sorrow and happiness join at the horizon of the emotional set. postpunk, punk, gothic, new wave. with its repetive rhythms and overdose of reverbation while creating synthesized waves of sound, it too makes you trip away, get lost in the sound, reach a pleasurable high.
the repitive vocals with an overdose of delay at the end of some new wave or postpunk songs at that era echo this effect.
this is far from being too exact, or sharply defined. of course 70s music had it's moments of body movements too (actually quite a lot), techno also feeds the mind, and postpunk is intelligent and 'dancable' too. this text doesn't aim to tell something too in a too clearly defined way.
yet it is interesting, to assume these focal points are there, and to explore these connections, and similarities of music, in those different epochs, and in their own epoch.
and, of course, it is due, to go into ecstasy oneself - again.
Revolution Or Interest
i have had it with mediocre art being defended; with claims that art shouldn't meddle in politics; that art should be seen on its own, not being associated with social issues; and not other issues either; i've had it with talentless artists praising their meaningless, bullshit art, abusing the rightful idea of "freedom of artistic expression" - yes artistic expression should not be quenched - but i retain my freedom to call your art boring if it is boring.
let's get rid of all that postmodern, substanceless art, that is completely generic, without goal, aim or purpose, all in the name of being "pure art", free from the seemingly drag of politics or cultural issues. yes, pure art might indeed exist or be viable - but your art isn't, it is not pure, it is dirt.
i propose the following: art should be revolutionary again. anarchistic. anticapitalistic. subversive. rebellious. against the status quo. for a free, just society. for ecstasy. or, if it is not, willingly - as i said, i value the freedom of the artist, he or she can of course be free of politics (although this might be a bit of a hard task, as everything is inherently political) - then at least have an interesting idea, concept, purpose with your art. something that is new, well-thought out, beautiful, groundbreaking, that was not there before. revolution or interest - that should be the claim. revolution or bust. if you don't want to be revolutionary in politics - at least be a revolutionary in mind. bring me something that stimulates my mind. that gives people new thoughts. but don't bore me with your generic art that has no purpose or substance, that wants to achieve nothing at all (there is indeed a way this could work - but this would have its place in another text), that sets not out to conquer gold, to reach out for the exciting.
be revolutionary. for a revolution of the mind. of society. but best - for both.
let's get rid of all that postmodern, substanceless art, that is completely generic, without goal, aim or purpose, all in the name of being "pure art", free from the seemingly drag of politics or cultural issues. yes, pure art might indeed exist or be viable - but your art isn't, it is not pure, it is dirt.
i propose the following: art should be revolutionary again. anarchistic. anticapitalistic. subversive. rebellious. against the status quo. for a free, just society. for ecstasy. or, if it is not, willingly - as i said, i value the freedom of the artist, he or she can of course be free of politics (although this might be a bit of a hard task, as everything is inherently political) - then at least have an interesting idea, concept, purpose with your art. something that is new, well-thought out, beautiful, groundbreaking, that was not there before. revolution or interest - that should be the claim. revolution or bust. if you don't want to be revolutionary in politics - at least be a revolutionary in mind. bring me something that stimulates my mind. that gives people new thoughts. but don't bore me with your generic art that has no purpose or substance, that wants to achieve nothing at all (there is indeed a way this could work - but this would have its place in another text), that sets not out to conquer gold, to reach out for the exciting.
be revolutionary. for a revolution of the mind. of society. but best - for both.
Anarchy and Extacy
the system, society, capitalist civilization, dulls our minds; our senses; our bodies. the everyday oppresion by police, surveillance, capitalist factories, are a thousand times surmounted by the oppression of our minds and thoughts. society leaves us with only a small pile of dust of joys and enthuasim still available for us; boring reality tv shows; shopping for overpriced shoes; all the small and large, but false, attraction of all kinds of luxury items.
there is so much more in life. there should be so much more. all these adventures that could happen. all these journeys one could begin. all these joys, excitement, satisfiction that is out there, that waits to be discovered.
the sweet, sweet tears of ecstasy.
there is so much joy and pure bliss one can experience in this life. i feel there is no limit on happiness. you can always surpass it. yet capitalism bores us with the "everyday life" we are locked in. yes, the institutions of the state have to be questioned. those of the capital. those of other forms of oppression. but we mustn't forget the other struggle too, the struggle for adventure, for the fantastic. we need to pave a way for ecstacy. for a true anarchy, an anarchy of the wondrous, of the brilliant.
there is so much more in life. there should be so much more. all these adventures that could happen. all these journeys one could begin. all these joys, excitement, satisfiction that is out there, that waits to be discovered.
the sweet, sweet tears of ecstasy.
there is so much joy and pure bliss one can experience in this life. i feel there is no limit on happiness. you can always surpass it. yet capitalism bores us with the "everyday life" we are locked in. yes, the institutions of the state have to be questioned. those of the capital. those of other forms of oppression. but we mustn't forget the other struggle too, the struggle for adventure, for the fantastic. we need to pave a way for ecstacy. for a true anarchy, an anarchy of the wondrous, of the brilliant.
The Story Of Fischkopf
fischkopf first caught my awareness when it was mentioned on the old DHR website ca. 1996 on the haywire tree of sites. they wrote, about DHR, labels with 'similiar' had sprung up in other cities as berlin, for example fischkopf in hamburg. it was not long ago that i discovered the hardcore / experimental world, and was completely in love in it, so i was pretty excited; a label from that scene, with that sound, here in hamburg, where i live? i immediately tried to find out more, and got to know fischkopf records operated from a store here in hamburg called container records, for records and CDs of all kinds techno; i think they had one of the largest sections for hardcore only in europe, at least this side of rotterdam. multipara's label discographies webpage - he had one area solely for fischkopf - provided me with further information.<br />
but now, let's cut the introduction, and get to the basics.<br />
fischkopf was started in 1994 by a group of people, including the operator of container records, martin, and people such as DJ Raid. the first release was done by cybermouse. in an interview it was stated, that cybermouse caught the interest of the fischkopf crew as he was known for his eclectic taste in music in the container record store. this resulted in fisch 1 - cybermouse - surprise attack. the tracks on this release were done on an amiga 500, and actually first released in a diskmag called neurowaver, before they found their way on this fine 12".<br />
the follow up was christoph de babalon's "love under will" EP. these two releases already set the way of what was to come, with their exotic, experimental approach to music that was not easily found elsewhere.<br />
after the fourth release, the old crew disbanded. DJ Raid and others set out to create their own label (with others), Cross Fade Entertainment. the first release on the, "methods of mutilation", by somatic responses, was actually the first somatic responses EP also. it had originally planned to be released on fischkopf. also planned, but scrapped, was a fischkopf release by alec empire.<br />
gerhard storz, called hardy, now took over the business of running fischkopf. the first release under his hands was "shortage of oxygen" by eradicator aka patric catani, one of the masterminds of the experimental and digital hardcore scene back then. what followed were releases by monoloop and lasse steen under the name of p.server, which, with their spaced out jungle and hard acid madness, showed that fischkopf could not be pinned down to one style. in this early period of fischkopf falls also the first outing by one of the most celebrated persons in experimental hardcore: joerg buchholz aka taciturne. with this release, "potpourri" EP, he also had the track which is probably the only one known to gabberists by this label; "der toten". it became a sort of "rave anthem", played on many a gabber party, and is, according to my knowledge, the best selling record of this label.<br />
it also sometimes fetches wondrous prices on the discogs page to sell records.<br />
cue several other later releases, and we arrive at fisch 12, "6 fragmente in der chronologie des wahnsinns". named after an independent movie, "71 fragmente einer chronologie des zufalls", it features hard hitting sonic experiments that were unseen at that point in history. you can find a more lenghty and conclusive review of this record on my blog. let's just add, that is also known to fetch wondrous bids of money on discogs.<br />
<br />
by now it should be noted, that at that point, fischkopf had become a sort of phenomen. the "normal" hardcore scene more or less chosed to ignore most of its releases. hardy, in an interview for signal zero said, that it was actually one of his intentions, to make music that was outside the hardcore scene at that point, what he called the pcp and nordcore crowd.<br />
so, fischkopf was actually much less known as many of its contemporary labels which sometimes even managed to drop compilations with their stuff in supermarkets and mainstream stores (hey, it was the hardcore heyday back then).<br />
yet, to a smaller group of people, fischkopf was already known as being the source for brilliant, exquisite hardcore creations and sonic experimentation. so fischkopf managed to pierced many a subculture with its sound.<br />
it is only now, it seems, that fischkopf seems to finally get wider recognition (although slowly growing), by the possibilites of the internet - or is it fading into total obscurity? only time will tell.<br />
<br />
let's get on.<br />
fisch 14 saw the first and only album by eradicator. tonal assault between 4/4 madness and an industrial record collection can be found here. catani actually got annoyed by the label, as they used a self-made artwork for this, instead of his own cover design.<br />
<br />
in this middle period of fischkopf - we are in 1996 - three more important names appear on fischkopf. nawoto suzuki aka burning lazy persons, and the michelsen sisters, no name and auto-psy.<br />
lenghty reviews are due elsewhere - let's just say i consider these releases to be amongst the most important at this point of hard electronic music.<br />
<br />
fisch 20 had amiga shock force, with an aptly named assault of "psycore kids vs rave fascists."<br />
<br />
fisch 23 saw the master release of fischkopf. a compilation with its acts and related artists. everyone always was about the vinyl version; but, according to me, better get the 2xCD, as some of the best tracks are CD only.<br />
again, not the time for a lenghty review, but it is the outing of some of the best artists at that date with some of their best tracks, and spans from breakcore to acidtechno, from all-out noisecore to the most calm ambient.<br />
<br />
fisch 24 saw a release by EPC, whose items are the subject of a collectors hunt these days.<br />
after that - it was the end. why and how fischkopf ended is not clear. did hardy fell out with the container records crew? or didn't fischkopf generate enough attention and a clear balance, in the end?<br />
no matter what it was, the shock hit the fischkopf supporters hard.<br />
<br />
we're in 1997 now. by the fourth quarter of 1998, a white label suddenly appeared, followed by a regular release.<br />
fisch 25 by mathey olivers. excellent french hardcore with surreal ideas can be found here.<br />
apparenly fischkopf was due to a relaunch? but just as it appeared again so fast, it faded away again - a shame.<br />
the last outing was the white label of fisch 26, of which only a few test pressings seemingly existed. later, it was found out that it was done by cybermouse, who has also done fisch 1 - a nice and worthy ending for this great label.<br />
<br />
this text only covers a fragment of information (or of "wahnsinn"?) about this underrated, appreciated, fantastic, groundbreaking label. much more is to be found out. it is up to you to find out more - or wait for more information to appear.<br />
<br />
further information: <a href="http://www.discogs.com/label/4356-Fischkopf-Hamburg">http://www.discogs.com/label/4356-Fischkopf-Hamburg</a>
but now, let's cut the introduction, and get to the basics.<br />
fischkopf was started in 1994 by a group of people, including the operator of container records, martin, and people such as DJ Raid. the first release was done by cybermouse. in an interview it was stated, that cybermouse caught the interest of the fischkopf crew as he was known for his eclectic taste in music in the container record store. this resulted in fisch 1 - cybermouse - surprise attack. the tracks on this release were done on an amiga 500, and actually first released in a diskmag called neurowaver, before they found their way on this fine 12".<br />
the follow up was christoph de babalon's "love under will" EP. these two releases already set the way of what was to come, with their exotic, experimental approach to music that was not easily found elsewhere.<br />
after the fourth release, the old crew disbanded. DJ Raid and others set out to create their own label (with others), Cross Fade Entertainment. the first release on the, "methods of mutilation", by somatic responses, was actually the first somatic responses EP also. it had originally planned to be released on fischkopf. also planned, but scrapped, was a fischkopf release by alec empire.<br />
gerhard storz, called hardy, now took over the business of running fischkopf. the first release under his hands was "shortage of oxygen" by eradicator aka patric catani, one of the masterminds of the experimental and digital hardcore scene back then. what followed were releases by monoloop and lasse steen under the name of p.server, which, with their spaced out jungle and hard acid madness, showed that fischkopf could not be pinned down to one style. in this early period of fischkopf falls also the first outing by one of the most celebrated persons in experimental hardcore: joerg buchholz aka taciturne. with this release, "potpourri" EP, he also had the track which is probably the only one known to gabberists by this label; "der toten". it became a sort of "rave anthem", played on many a gabber party, and is, according to my knowledge, the best selling record of this label.<br />
it also sometimes fetches wondrous prices on the discogs page to sell records.<br />
cue several other later releases, and we arrive at fisch 12, "6 fragmente in der chronologie des wahnsinns". named after an independent movie, "71 fragmente einer chronologie des zufalls", it features hard hitting sonic experiments that were unseen at that point in history. you can find a more lenghty and conclusive review of this record on my blog. let's just add, that is also known to fetch wondrous bids of money on discogs.<br />
<br />
by now it should be noted, that at that point, fischkopf had become a sort of phenomen. the "normal" hardcore scene more or less chosed to ignore most of its releases. hardy, in an interview for signal zero said, that it was actually one of his intentions, to make music that was outside the hardcore scene at that point, what he called the pcp and nordcore crowd.<br />
so, fischkopf was actually much less known as many of its contemporary labels which sometimes even managed to drop compilations with their stuff in supermarkets and mainstream stores (hey, it was the hardcore heyday back then).<br />
yet, to a smaller group of people, fischkopf was already known as being the source for brilliant, exquisite hardcore creations and sonic experimentation. so fischkopf managed to pierced many a subculture with its sound.<br />
it is only now, it seems, that fischkopf seems to finally get wider recognition (although slowly growing), by the possibilites of the internet - or is it fading into total obscurity? only time will tell.<br />
<br />
let's get on.<br />
fisch 14 saw the first and only album by eradicator. tonal assault between 4/4 madness and an industrial record collection can be found here. catani actually got annoyed by the label, as they used a self-made artwork for this, instead of his own cover design.<br />
<br />
in this middle period of fischkopf - we are in 1996 - three more important names appear on fischkopf. nawoto suzuki aka burning lazy persons, and the michelsen sisters, no name and auto-psy.<br />
lenghty reviews are due elsewhere - let's just say i consider these releases to be amongst the most important at this point of hard electronic music.<br />
<br />
fisch 20 had amiga shock force, with an aptly named assault of "psycore kids vs rave fascists."<br />
<br />
fisch 23 saw the master release of fischkopf. a compilation with its acts and related artists. everyone always was about the vinyl version; but, according to me, better get the 2xCD, as some of the best tracks are CD only.<br />
again, not the time for a lenghty review, but it is the outing of some of the best artists at that date with some of their best tracks, and spans from breakcore to acidtechno, from all-out noisecore to the most calm ambient.<br />
<br />
fisch 24 saw a release by EPC, whose items are the subject of a collectors hunt these days.<br />
after that - it was the end. why and how fischkopf ended is not clear. did hardy fell out with the container records crew? or didn't fischkopf generate enough attention and a clear balance, in the end?<br />
no matter what it was, the shock hit the fischkopf supporters hard.<br />
<br />
we're in 1997 now. by the fourth quarter of 1998, a white label suddenly appeared, followed by a regular release.<br />
fisch 25 by mathey olivers. excellent french hardcore with surreal ideas can be found here.<br />
apparenly fischkopf was due to a relaunch? but just as it appeared again so fast, it faded away again - a shame.<br />
the last outing was the white label of fisch 26, of which only a few test pressings seemingly existed. later, it was found out that it was done by cybermouse, who has also done fisch 1 - a nice and worthy ending for this great label.<br />
<br />
this text only covers a fragment of information (or of "wahnsinn"?) about this underrated, appreciated, fantastic, groundbreaking label. much more is to be found out. it is up to you to find out more - or wait for more information to appear.<br />
<br />
further information: <a href="http://www.discogs.com/label/4356-Fischkopf-Hamburg">http://www.discogs.com/label/4356-Fischkopf-Hamburg</a>
Photon Collisions Curated By Somatic Responses - A Review And A Story
generally, there is much talk about records being life-changing. but, let's face it, in most cases it can hardly be called that. yet the demo tape somatic responses send me in 1998 really was that for me - life-changing.
i had come into contact with SR on the biophilia mailing list (anyone remembers what an electronic mailing list is?) which was one of the pinpoints for several hard and experimental producers in those days (the result later was the biophilia allstars LP). young me emailed somatic responses in a bout of youth and asked if they would be possibly interested in a demo CD-R by me. to my suprise they not only replied, but also offered to send me one of their demos in return. this was a moment of awe for me; some of my sonic heros send me, some bored weird-out teenager, some of their stuff! okay, the mail was sent, it arrived here. i put the tape in the recorder. and i was blasted away. the very second the synths of "umbrella" come on, i was not in this world anymore. it was as if life started to curve and twist and change. i felt that everything i knew about music and art moved away from me. *this* was art. this was the music i had always been looking for. this took sounds to a whole different level.
i became an avid fan of SR then and i tried to hype them whenever i could, much to the annoyance of my friends in the hardcore milieu, which couldn't understand my enthusiasm for this act. didn't they divert from 4/4 rhythms (major sin)? didn't they not use guitar samples and shoutings (another sin)? and so on.
they were picking up praise by a fast pace already back then. yet their music stood out from the other acts. it seemed that somehow, that it still felt uncanny to a lot of people.
so, by this story, you can imagine i felt well when SR asked me to contribute a track to their "photon collisions" compilation. i felt even better when i listened to it. now, about 15 years after i first fell in affection with this musical act, i listened to various dozens of other producers, who seemingly feel similiar, and chosed a style with an inspiration of this special type of music. the sound really had an impact, and the works of SR resulted in a new generation of artists who follow their roots. seemingly, it is far from being single and uncanny music now. people learned to understand, appreciate, follow this music.
well done!
"Photon Collisons" can be found at https://somaticresponses.bandcamp.com/album/photon-collisions-curated-by-somatic-responses
i had come into contact with SR on the biophilia mailing list (anyone remembers what an electronic mailing list is?) which was one of the pinpoints for several hard and experimental producers in those days (the result later was the biophilia allstars LP). young me emailed somatic responses in a bout of youth and asked if they would be possibly interested in a demo CD-R by me. to my suprise they not only replied, but also offered to send me one of their demos in return. this was a moment of awe for me; some of my sonic heros send me, some bored weird-out teenager, some of their stuff! okay, the mail was sent, it arrived here. i put the tape in the recorder. and i was blasted away. the very second the synths of "umbrella" come on, i was not in this world anymore. it was as if life started to curve and twist and change. i felt that everything i knew about music and art moved away from me. *this* was art. this was the music i had always been looking for. this took sounds to a whole different level.
i became an avid fan of SR then and i tried to hype them whenever i could, much to the annoyance of my friends in the hardcore milieu, which couldn't understand my enthusiasm for this act. didn't they divert from 4/4 rhythms (major sin)? didn't they not use guitar samples and shoutings (another sin)? and so on.
they were picking up praise by a fast pace already back then. yet their music stood out from the other acts. it seemed that somehow, that it still felt uncanny to a lot of people.
so, by this story, you can imagine i felt well when SR asked me to contribute a track to their "photon collisions" compilation. i felt even better when i listened to it. now, about 15 years after i first fell in affection with this musical act, i listened to various dozens of other producers, who seemingly feel similiar, and chosed a style with an inspiration of this special type of music. the sound really had an impact, and the works of SR resulted in a new generation of artists who follow their roots. seemingly, it is far from being single and uncanny music now. people learned to understand, appreciate, follow this music.
well done!
"Photon Collisons" can be found at https://somaticresponses.bandcamp.com/album/photon-collisions-curated-by-somatic-responses
DIY 2.0
what is often forgotten these days, is, that it was not as easy to become an "artist" as it is today. art, music, was a world of its own; it was almost confusing that musicians belonged to the same human race as everyone. they were stars, idols, far above the common world and common people. it was not something that was "copied" easily. surely, in those decades there were also many kids who tried to become rock'n'roll, or other music stars themselves. but generally, for the general population, trying to pursue a "music career" seemed irrational, far away from the serious occupations one should dedicate oneself too. you were either born a musician - or you were not.
punk was one of the first biggest challenges to this. everyone could become a punk musician. this is one chord, this is a second - now start your own punkband. it was not a "specialist" "occupation" you had to learn lengthy.
kids could do what they want, express themselves musically - and became "stars" (or anti-stars) in the new scene.
with techno, the change was even more drastic. people, with somewhat of a lack of social contact, would buy a second hand sampler, and a few months later play in front of thousands at a people at a rave, and punching out a new 12" every few weeks.
with techno, *really* everyone could finally become an artist. the aristocracy of music and art, it's elitism and tradionalism, was finally overcome - seemingly.
nowadays, even the techno revolution seems kinda shrunken compared with todays field. today, literally "every joe" is out to be an artist and doing techno, or other music, or other art.
yet there is a bitter taste to it. this "grassroots cultural revolution" was propagated by some of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, and countless of energy by a multitude of persons was invested in it. and now this victory finally came true. yet it does feel like a bitter victory, after all. it doesn't feel like the envisioned utopia after all, were the common people and the societal fringe make wondrous works of art one after another, now that they own the means of cultural production in true "cultural anarchist" style. in fact, a lot of music that is now produced feels bland. and in fact, to many it feels more bland than the music of the times when producing music was only left to "experts" and the elite.
what did go wrong? were our sonically revolutionary ideals too lofty? maybe people are not just interested in music too experimental or groundbreaking after all?
no. what went wrong was something entirely different. what is wrong is that, in the moment, we have only made half the way, for a true cultural anarchist revolution.
the revolution was more or less total in the field of the ability for people to create music themselves. but creation is only one half: what is missing is distribution.
we have the means of production, but the means of distributing music, art, sounds, is still "in the hands of the enemy". a lot of peole will concur: everyone can "distribute" the music himself too now; put it on soundcloud or youtube or any other service. yes, but this is very weak distribution. at the lowest level. a band that plays in a famous TV show or at one of the big festivals will reach *much* more people than those who just upload it to youtube, or soundcloud, or a social network.
yes, there, and there are many, people who got "well known" (remember, we should be anti-stars though - but this would need to be addressed in a different text) by social networks or soundcloud only - but these are a few - in numbers maybe even comparable to the "elitist" artist before the DIY age.
to a large number, using this services, usually yields a very minimal result. some of the most wondrous tracks i heard on soundcloud do not even have listener counts above one hundred.
so, yes, distribution is open to everyone - but the "powerful" distribution to only a few, and the real powerful ones to even fewer people. for example, even the sonic experiments of those who attend an academic setting (students) usually arise more interest than those who "just" put it on a cloud. because academia offers a more powerful distribution to the clouds.
i am hundert percent sure this problem can be overcome, maybe easily, but it would probably a hard, difficult task - at least as difficult to attain as the first DIY revolution i addressed at the beginning of this text.
it is possible to generate a situation where you, as a noone, as the average guy (but not with average mindset, i hope!) can make wondrous, fantastic, adventurous music, and then use a form of distributions that will easily let you reach hundred of thousands, maybe even millions (or billions?) of listeners.
how that would, and could be done, that would demand the place of a different text.
punk was one of the first biggest challenges to this. everyone could become a punk musician. this is one chord, this is a second - now start your own punkband. it was not a "specialist" "occupation" you had to learn lengthy.
kids could do what they want, express themselves musically - and became "stars" (or anti-stars) in the new scene.
with techno, the change was even more drastic. people, with somewhat of a lack of social contact, would buy a second hand sampler, and a few months later play in front of thousands at a people at a rave, and punching out a new 12" every few weeks.
with techno, *really* everyone could finally become an artist. the aristocracy of music and art, it's elitism and tradionalism, was finally overcome - seemingly.
nowadays, even the techno revolution seems kinda shrunken compared with todays field. today, literally "every joe" is out to be an artist and doing techno, or other music, or other art.
yet there is a bitter taste to it. this "grassroots cultural revolution" was propagated by some of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, and countless of energy by a multitude of persons was invested in it. and now this victory finally came true. yet it does feel like a bitter victory, after all. it doesn't feel like the envisioned utopia after all, were the common people and the societal fringe make wondrous works of art one after another, now that they own the means of cultural production in true "cultural anarchist" style. in fact, a lot of music that is now produced feels bland. and in fact, to many it feels more bland than the music of the times when producing music was only left to "experts" and the elite.
what did go wrong? were our sonically revolutionary ideals too lofty? maybe people are not just interested in music too experimental or groundbreaking after all?
no. what went wrong was something entirely different. what is wrong is that, in the moment, we have only made half the way, for a true cultural anarchist revolution.
the revolution was more or less total in the field of the ability for people to create music themselves. but creation is only one half: what is missing is distribution.
we have the means of production, but the means of distributing music, art, sounds, is still "in the hands of the enemy". a lot of peole will concur: everyone can "distribute" the music himself too now; put it on soundcloud or youtube or any other service. yes, but this is very weak distribution. at the lowest level. a band that plays in a famous TV show or at one of the big festivals will reach *much* more people than those who just upload it to youtube, or soundcloud, or a social network.
yes, there, and there are many, people who got "well known" (remember, we should be anti-stars though - but this would need to be addressed in a different text) by social networks or soundcloud only - but these are a few - in numbers maybe even comparable to the "elitist" artist before the DIY age.
to a large number, using this services, usually yields a very minimal result. some of the most wondrous tracks i heard on soundcloud do not even have listener counts above one hundred.
so, yes, distribution is open to everyone - but the "powerful" distribution to only a few, and the real powerful ones to even fewer people. for example, even the sonic experiments of those who attend an academic setting (students) usually arise more interest than those who "just" put it on a cloud. because academia offers a more powerful distribution to the clouds.
i am hundert percent sure this problem can be overcome, maybe easily, but it would probably a hard, difficult task - at least as difficult to attain as the first DIY revolution i addressed at the beginning of this text.
it is possible to generate a situation where you, as a noone, as the average guy (but not with average mindset, i hope!) can make wondrous, fantastic, adventurous music, and then use a form of distributions that will easily let you reach hundred of thousands, maybe even millions (or billions?) of listeners.
how that would, and could be done, that would demand the place of a different text.
Hardcore Techno, What Was After That, And How Nihilism Got Old
the underground and experimental hardcore techno movement of the 90s was in many senses, to me, the logical end of the era of the modern, of the 20th century so to speak. we had seen uprisings in the 60s, in which many of the so called western "values", ideas, concepts, authorities and oppressive structures and their philosophy were attacked and criticed. the punk era took the nihilism even farther than that. with hardcore techno, the nihilism became total. experimental hardcore techno rejected everything. soundwise, it more or less made no amends to any genres that were around at the time; neither to pop, dance, or alternative rock, or the "intelligent electronica" genres that were around, and in a sense not even to its own techno and hardcore roots, as the funk and groove of techno and house were completely eradicated with the brickstone killer kicks.
i was around at that scene, so i know a lot of people in it where pissed at any scene, at any existing form of music, at all of society and western civilization, all the politics left and right. it was not uncommon to listen only to various forms of hardcore and to lock oneself in on friday nights when everyone else went out to the "club".
the lyrics, label pictures, quotes used in hardcore tracks and their records point to this nihilism. the frenetic use of any sample material available regarding global nuclear warfare; "the missiles take to the skies by the thousand" via brandon spivey "devastation on an unimaginable scale will occur" via surgeon 16 records. "Imagine surveying earth after nuclear destruction and enjoying what you see" via the mover's interview in alien underground.
it was like saying. hell, you people build these missiles. you kept us in fear of war for decades. just go ahead. launch the missiles. let nuclear warheads reign from the sky. it will not be a loss anyway. who cares about humanity.
okay, i could go on with further examples. but i will stop here. so we were sitting here, being over and disattached to anything and everything. now a new generation of idiots arrived, and immediately tried to make us feel old. especially in the breakcore scene. they were basically saying: "okay, everything sucks. but, resistance, rebellion, anarchy is a concept too. an ideology, if you will. so if you cling to it, you are still attached to something that is outdated. we are one stop further in nihilism. we won't even resist or scream anymore."
that's how they wished to appear, unconsciously or consciously. their standpoint was easy to refute and overcome, though, as they embraced mass culture, pop music, society's authorities, things that were used to be rejected. so they were the opposite of being nihilistic, after all. the 60s rebellion might have been old by 2000; but pop culture was even older and more outdated. so the new breakcore crowd actually put themselves into a conservativism of a long gone past. yet the problem was, their point was not so easy to refute after all. if you ought to reject *everything*. shouldn't you reject radical politics and anarchism too?
there are two things to say about this. first, the whole "art for art's sake" stance has one major problem. you can say art should be free of all catogories, and just be made for the sake of art itself, to spread and create art. but, this leaves one category intact. which is that "art" itself is a category. if you really want to remove all categories, you have to take art itself out of the equation too.
as long as you still say you create or enjoy art, you are still trapped in walking in categories.
this might seem very abstract - and it is, but it is entirely possible to remove the category of art itself. for example, in music, you could stop buying records altogether and just listen to car's driving on the streets or birds singing in the forest - "sounds" that are usually not classified as being "music". there is more to say about this, but this is not the room for that.
the second thing is, that, while in theory, all categories and concepts indeed should be removed, this doesn't hold so true in reality, or rather, it is not correct at all, at least not fully correct.
you ought to use categories, concepts, theories, symbols, thoughtsset. base art on them, entangle your art in them, use them as a focus point for your art. and also elsewhere. if you reject all ideology, you should be aware that anarchism can easily become an - oppressive - ideology too, if taken in the wrong direction. yet anarchism is necessary, in order to create a free society.
this sounds paradox, and it is paradox, one of the biggest paradox. but it is also right.
maybe the only thing one could say is: follow concepts, use concepts, ideas, theories; but be also on the guard about them, prepare yourself to reject them, deconstruct, and use this ability often.
this can lead to an interesting outcome.
i was around at that scene, so i know a lot of people in it where pissed at any scene, at any existing form of music, at all of society and western civilization, all the politics left and right. it was not uncommon to listen only to various forms of hardcore and to lock oneself in on friday nights when everyone else went out to the "club".
the lyrics, label pictures, quotes used in hardcore tracks and their records point to this nihilism. the frenetic use of any sample material available regarding global nuclear warfare; "the missiles take to the skies by the thousand" via brandon spivey "devastation on an unimaginable scale will occur" via surgeon 16 records. "Imagine surveying earth after nuclear destruction and enjoying what you see" via the mover's interview in alien underground.
it was like saying. hell, you people build these missiles. you kept us in fear of war for decades. just go ahead. launch the missiles. let nuclear warheads reign from the sky. it will not be a loss anyway. who cares about humanity.
okay, i could go on with further examples. but i will stop here. so we were sitting here, being over and disattached to anything and everything. now a new generation of idiots arrived, and immediately tried to make us feel old. especially in the breakcore scene. they were basically saying: "okay, everything sucks. but, resistance, rebellion, anarchy is a concept too. an ideology, if you will. so if you cling to it, you are still attached to something that is outdated. we are one stop further in nihilism. we won't even resist or scream anymore."
that's how they wished to appear, unconsciously or consciously. their standpoint was easy to refute and overcome, though, as they embraced mass culture, pop music, society's authorities, things that were used to be rejected. so they were the opposite of being nihilistic, after all. the 60s rebellion might have been old by 2000; but pop culture was even older and more outdated. so the new breakcore crowd actually put themselves into a conservativism of a long gone past. yet the problem was, their point was not so easy to refute after all. if you ought to reject *everything*. shouldn't you reject radical politics and anarchism too?
there are two things to say about this. first, the whole "art for art's sake" stance has one major problem. you can say art should be free of all catogories, and just be made for the sake of art itself, to spread and create art. but, this leaves one category intact. which is that "art" itself is a category. if you really want to remove all categories, you have to take art itself out of the equation too.
as long as you still say you create or enjoy art, you are still trapped in walking in categories.
this might seem very abstract - and it is, but it is entirely possible to remove the category of art itself. for example, in music, you could stop buying records altogether and just listen to car's driving on the streets or birds singing in the forest - "sounds" that are usually not classified as being "music". there is more to say about this, but this is not the room for that.
the second thing is, that, while in theory, all categories and concepts indeed should be removed, this doesn't hold so true in reality, or rather, it is not correct at all, at least not fully correct.
you ought to use categories, concepts, theories, symbols, thoughtsset. base art on them, entangle your art in them, use them as a focus point for your art. and also elsewhere. if you reject all ideology, you should be aware that anarchism can easily become an - oppressive - ideology too, if taken in the wrong direction. yet anarchism is necessary, in order to create a free society.
this sounds paradox, and it is paradox, one of the biggest paradox. but it is also right.
maybe the only thing one could say is: follow concepts, use concepts, ideas, theories; but be also on the guard about them, prepare yourself to reject them, deconstruct, and use this ability often.
this can lead to an interesting outcome.
Was Culture, Music, Society Better In The Past?
the problem is that culture, music and society seemingly really was better in the past. which leads to missing the point in the debate of "current" vs "past". which is that life is about renewal, change, abandoning the past *and* the current. it's not about keeping things. it's about breaking free. and because of this, the current society, music and culture *has* to be rejected at the core. to compare it with the past creates a longing for past gone "better days". while in fact it doesn't matter if it was better in the past or not. the current, what is today, what exists nowadays, still has to be rejected, destroyed, dismantled, regardless of wether society is better, or worse, or the same as it was in the past. even if we would live in the perfect society and culture, and everything would be fine and nice and great, still - basically - everything that exist needs to be rejected and society would need to be challenged and fought. because, as i said, this is what life is. constantly evolving, constantly leaving everything that becomes "comfort" or "persistant" behind - no matter how nice it seems. today's culture needs to be fought. no matter how good or okay or great it is.
let's face it. music, mainstream culture, most forms of media, sucked in the 60s. they sucked in the 70s. and they sucked in the 2000 years and they especially suck in our decade.
but this is no need to resignate. because it enforces the need to move on from the old and the current and to create some new, something thrilling, something brilliant and fresh.
let's face it. music, mainstream culture, most forms of media, sucked in the 60s. they sucked in the 70s. and they sucked in the 2000 years and they especially suck in our decade.
but this is no need to resignate. because it enforces the need to move on from the old and the current and to create some new, something thrilling, something brilliant and fresh.
Social Networks And Delay Effects
delay, echo and reverb are some of the most important effects in music, often the effects that define the whole feel of a song, or even a genre. (Krautrock, New Wave, Shoegaze without these effects? impossible). it is actually one of the most basic and simple effects, compared to some of the more complex forms to process music. yet for literally decades, it was quite tricky to create before the advent of digital sound procession. basically what you have to do is to take part of the audio of a track, loop it (play it again) with slowly (or faster) fading volume each time. when perfoming live, the room the band plays in automatically adds reverberation to the sound. but how to recreate this with electric or electronic equipment? engineers came up with all kinds of adventurous solution to this... from reverb "spirals" and echo "plates" to tape delay effect units, which were amongst the most logical and most consequential solutions back in these days. but all these were far from being perfect. they could neither fully reproduce the sound as it was intended, nor the natural ambiance of a real room. often even change in temperature while perfoming would alter the sound slightly, or even more. they often had an artificial, outerwordly sound to them.
with digital sound processing, all these seemingly problems were over. a sound program, or workstation, or plugin could take a 100% copy of a sound and 100% correctly repeat it in echo and delay.
now, seemingly, all was well.
yet people started to realise that something was wrong. yes, the sound was perfect. but exactly because of this, it suddenly felt cold. dry. it has lost its sparkle. so a lot of people went back to the analog reverb units, especially those using it for their bands, but also people in the analog electronic music field.
it turned out that the imperfect, artificial, often low in frequency feel of the early reverb units was actually what added a lot of magic to the songs. it stood out. it gave the music a spacey feel. an otherworldly attribute.
the early sound of new wave and postpunk are unthinkably without the specialness of analog reverb. same goes for the krautrock of the 70s. or the rock'n'roll of the 50s. the outer world looped "woo!" shouted echos of the rocknroll singers that spiralled into psychedelia made up a large part of the impact of this type of music (note: for rock'n'roll, often even more "primitive" methods were seemingly used: the bands just played in large empty buildings during recordings, like farm silos).
the disadvantage was the advantage. the problem was the solution. that the units recreated the sounds imperfectly was the biggest plus. it was the whole point of them.
now on to social networks. before the advent of the internet and social networks, if you had a, let's say, strange taste in music, culture or politics, it was hard for you to find likeminded people. to reach out and get in contact with the others. to attain the music you like. to find out more information. to get fanzines or books if they were available.
now with social networks, this is wholly different. you can reach out to thousand of people. find dozens of new songs everyday. find every info about every band you ever want. see their concert videos or their studio work.
seemingly, this is good. but just like the example with the digital reverb units. it killed the magic. it made a lot of things disappear.
because that you had to *struggle* if you had a different or more sophisticated taste or point of view was the whole point. it was what made it worth it. it was what created results. that everything is so easy now in the internet age destroys so many things, it feels like too much to mention.
let me give an example. imagine you were the only one in your place to discover, krautrock, or punkrock, or techno first. at least the only one you knew of. so in order to spread this music, the ideas, to reach out to others, you had to do something. create a fanzine. annoy your record store to stock these records. organize a small concert in a local youth centre or another place. hand out flyers.
and by this, you already had created something. something beautiful. and out of this, more could grow. in your local record store you meet a girl that has similiar taste and you both start a band. and maybe you get picked up
and become known nationwide...
do you think you would start a band because you and others clicked on the same song on a social network page or commented on the same video? (note: one out of a billion it might happen... but much, much less than it was the case with real record shops).
the struggle was the point. it was what put things in place, enabled growth, and make wonderous things happen.
but don't get me wrong. life doesn't have to be hard. there are the solutions. but social networks are not the solution. and most other things on the internet are not either.
all you do is click, click, click, and nothing happens. watch videos like videos read biographies get news look up biographies. and nothing happens.
change this.
with digital sound processing, all these seemingly problems were over. a sound program, or workstation, or plugin could take a 100% copy of a sound and 100% correctly repeat it in echo and delay.
now, seemingly, all was well.
yet people started to realise that something was wrong. yes, the sound was perfect. but exactly because of this, it suddenly felt cold. dry. it has lost its sparkle. so a lot of people went back to the analog reverb units, especially those using it for their bands, but also people in the analog electronic music field.
it turned out that the imperfect, artificial, often low in frequency feel of the early reverb units was actually what added a lot of magic to the songs. it stood out. it gave the music a spacey feel. an otherworldly attribute.
the early sound of new wave and postpunk are unthinkably without the specialness of analog reverb. same goes for the krautrock of the 70s. or the rock'n'roll of the 50s. the outer world looped "woo!" shouted echos of the rocknroll singers that spiralled into psychedelia made up a large part of the impact of this type of music (note: for rock'n'roll, often even more "primitive" methods were seemingly used: the bands just played in large empty buildings during recordings, like farm silos).
the disadvantage was the advantage. the problem was the solution. that the units recreated the sounds imperfectly was the biggest plus. it was the whole point of them.
now on to social networks. before the advent of the internet and social networks, if you had a, let's say, strange taste in music, culture or politics, it was hard for you to find likeminded people. to reach out and get in contact with the others. to attain the music you like. to find out more information. to get fanzines or books if they were available.
now with social networks, this is wholly different. you can reach out to thousand of people. find dozens of new songs everyday. find every info about every band you ever want. see their concert videos or their studio work.
seemingly, this is good. but just like the example with the digital reverb units. it killed the magic. it made a lot of things disappear.
because that you had to *struggle* if you had a different or more sophisticated taste or point of view was the whole point. it was what made it worth it. it was what created results. that everything is so easy now in the internet age destroys so many things, it feels like too much to mention.
let me give an example. imagine you were the only one in your place to discover, krautrock, or punkrock, or techno first. at least the only one you knew of. so in order to spread this music, the ideas, to reach out to others, you had to do something. create a fanzine. annoy your record store to stock these records. organize a small concert in a local youth centre or another place. hand out flyers.
and by this, you already had created something. something beautiful. and out of this, more could grow. in your local record store you meet a girl that has similiar taste and you both start a band. and maybe you get picked up
and become known nationwide...
do you think you would start a band because you and others clicked on the same song on a social network page or commented on the same video? (note: one out of a billion it might happen... but much, much less than it was the case with real record shops).
the struggle was the point. it was what put things in place, enabled growth, and make wonderous things happen.
but don't get me wrong. life doesn't have to be hard. there are the solutions. but social networks are not the solution. and most other things on the internet are not either.
all you do is click, click, click, and nothing happens. watch videos like videos read biographies get news look up biographies. and nothing happens.
change this.
Why I Left The Breakcore Scene In 2001
the breakcore and experimental hardcore scene in the beginning revolved around a lot of radical, extreme, interesting, exciting, subversive and anarchist ideas. they were closely related - or similiar to those of guy debord, raoul vaneigem, hakim bey, ken knapp. even if one could argue that some artists did not directly espouse these ideas, at least they were similiar and it worked both ways. there were a lot of connections between, situationism, neo-luddites, "extropism" and the scene back then. especially, but not limited, through the free party scene then.
i don't know if i discovered these topics and ideas "through" the hardcore movement, or just around the same time, but both things fit very well together for me. in record names, track titles, interviews, and especially the magazines that were put out by the people, this connection of both things should probably become very clear. "pirate utopias", "chaos, mayhem and anarchy", and temporary autonomous zones, anyone?
now around 2000, things changed completely in the different direction. a new breakcore scene emerged, quickly replacing the old one, and they were very quick to jettison all the radical ideas. instead they took a for me extremly reactionary stance, celebrating market mechanisms and corporate pop culture, abandoning any attempts at social change, or radicalism.
this was the situation back then; i had started doing my own activites regarding hardcore and breakcore in 1997. my involvement was always about putting the aforementioned, and similiar, ideas accross. but with these new breakcore people this was simply not possible anymore.
now the thing is, you might say, okay ignore the others, and still try to put ideas accross, the majority will ignore them and maybe someone will listen to them.
but it was not as simply as that. the breakcore people, while maybe not understanding, were at least somehow aware of the ideas of the situationists and the others, but trying to coopt them and turning them around.
i came to the conclusion that it was simply not possible to put these ideas across, without them overtaking them or jamming them.
an example of this was pop sampling in hardcore tracks that was around in the 90s too (i'm not talking about the dance-scene related ID&T stuff here, but the extreme hardcore music). back then it was quite subversive. taking some bullshit pop singer crap, pitching it up until it sounds like a squealing weazle and give it the full-on 909 drum treatment. it was simply a "piss-off!" of all that pop crap that was around at the time.
with the breakcore crowd, this turned into pop crossovers, that were simply safe, that everyone done (and still does), and is not subversive at all. or does anyone claim these pop-breakcore tracks will incite any form of radical social change? not even the artists think that.
so for me it was very clear that i had to leave the breakcore sound behind, since it was simply not possible to get these radical ideas through anymore, not for me or for anyone else. now, in hindsight, this conclusion came maybe a bit early, and other artists and groups still tried to bring these things accross. but for me it is still the right decision.
especially, since back then, the upcoming speedcore, dance-orientated and doomcore scenes were very and extremely open to these ideas, so it was much better for me to be there then it would've been in the breakcore scene.
today, i wouldn't say the same about the current speedcore or mainstream hardcore world, but doomcore is still going strong.
addendum
i don't want to add this addendum, but i feel like i have to. some people might complain that i'm about "politics" or "ideology" and music should be kept free of them. while i don't think music should be free of it, principally, and situationism and neo-luddites, etc. were already beyond politics - and ideology - then simply drop the "politics" and think of radical, creative, extreme, exciting and interesting ideas. the sound was full of them - but with the breakcore scene, not anymore.
also i should add that i see this change in breakcore around 2000 as a - basically - totally deliberate move - not something that just (or inevitably) happened - even if the artists and people involved were not fully aware or conscious about it - to ultra-reactionism, or rather, ultra-boredom.
i don't know if i discovered these topics and ideas "through" the hardcore movement, or just around the same time, but both things fit very well together for me. in record names, track titles, interviews, and especially the magazines that were put out by the people, this connection of both things should probably become very clear. "pirate utopias", "chaos, mayhem and anarchy", and temporary autonomous zones, anyone?
now around 2000, things changed completely in the different direction. a new breakcore scene emerged, quickly replacing the old one, and they were very quick to jettison all the radical ideas. instead they took a for me extremly reactionary stance, celebrating market mechanisms and corporate pop culture, abandoning any attempts at social change, or radicalism.
this was the situation back then; i had started doing my own activites regarding hardcore and breakcore in 1997. my involvement was always about putting the aforementioned, and similiar, ideas accross. but with these new breakcore people this was simply not possible anymore.
now the thing is, you might say, okay ignore the others, and still try to put ideas accross, the majority will ignore them and maybe someone will listen to them.
but it was not as simply as that. the breakcore people, while maybe not understanding, were at least somehow aware of the ideas of the situationists and the others, but trying to coopt them and turning them around.
i came to the conclusion that it was simply not possible to put these ideas across, without them overtaking them or jamming them.
an example of this was pop sampling in hardcore tracks that was around in the 90s too (i'm not talking about the dance-scene related ID&T stuff here, but the extreme hardcore music). back then it was quite subversive. taking some bullshit pop singer crap, pitching it up until it sounds like a squealing weazle and give it the full-on 909 drum treatment. it was simply a "piss-off!" of all that pop crap that was around at the time.
with the breakcore crowd, this turned into pop crossovers, that were simply safe, that everyone done (and still does), and is not subversive at all. or does anyone claim these pop-breakcore tracks will incite any form of radical social change? not even the artists think that.
so for me it was very clear that i had to leave the breakcore sound behind, since it was simply not possible to get these radical ideas through anymore, not for me or for anyone else. now, in hindsight, this conclusion came maybe a bit early, and other artists and groups still tried to bring these things accross. but for me it is still the right decision.
especially, since back then, the upcoming speedcore, dance-orientated and doomcore scenes were very and extremely open to these ideas, so it was much better for me to be there then it would've been in the breakcore scene.
today, i wouldn't say the same about the current speedcore or mainstream hardcore world, but doomcore is still going strong.
addendum
i don't want to add this addendum, but i feel like i have to. some people might complain that i'm about "politics" or "ideology" and music should be kept free of them. while i don't think music should be free of it, principally, and situationism and neo-luddites, etc. were already beyond politics - and ideology - then simply drop the "politics" and think of radical, creative, extreme, exciting and interesting ideas. the sound was full of them - but with the breakcore scene, not anymore.
also i should add that i see this change in breakcore around 2000 as a - basically - totally deliberate move - not something that just (or inevitably) happened - even if the artists and people involved were not fully aware or conscious about it - to ultra-reactionism, or rather, ultra-boredom.
Why I Do Not Use Facebook.
i got a soundcloud account. i got a homepage. and a few other addresses where one can reach me or find my sounds.
i got 2 email accounts, and i am active on various forums, where people could send me a pm.
so if someone wants to listen to my sounds, he has the chance to do so. if someone wants to communicate with me, he can do so.
why should i use facebook then?
now the thing is then. if i would be on facebook, maybe more people would listen to my music. or more people would communicate with me.
but the thing is. this is not *real*. if they would be *really* interested in my music, they would get to my homepage, or my soundcloud etc. if they only listen to my music because it is on facebook, they are not really interested in it.
so what's the point in getting more listeners, or communicating more, by using facebook?
the thing is, again, this is not *real*.
if someone really wants to stay in contact with me, he doesn't need facebook to do so, but could get into contact with me in another way.
this is entirely the problem with facebook. who wouldn't want to have more listeners, or more people who get to know ones art? who is not interested in having more "friends"? facebook seemingly does provide this, but in *reality* it doesn't. it's just illusionary. the facebook listeners are not *real* listeners, the facebook friends are not real friends. your facebook fans are not your real fans (one might say: unless one got into contact / is into contact with them without facebook, and it is so to say, only by chance that they are on facebook).
if they were, they wouldn't need facebook to be so.
this is the point.
i got 2 email accounts, and i am active on various forums, where people could send me a pm.
so if someone wants to listen to my sounds, he has the chance to do so. if someone wants to communicate with me, he can do so.
why should i use facebook then?
now the thing is then. if i would be on facebook, maybe more people would listen to my music. or more people would communicate with me.
but the thing is. this is not *real*. if they would be *really* interested in my music, they would get to my homepage, or my soundcloud etc. if they only listen to my music because it is on facebook, they are not really interested in it.
so what's the point in getting more listeners, or communicating more, by using facebook?
the thing is, again, this is not *real*.
if someone really wants to stay in contact with me, he doesn't need facebook to do so, but could get into contact with me in another way.
this is entirely the problem with facebook. who wouldn't want to have more listeners, or more people who get to know ones art? who is not interested in having more "friends"? facebook seemingly does provide this, but in *reality* it doesn't. it's just illusionary. the facebook listeners are not *real* listeners, the facebook friends are not real friends. your facebook fans are not your real fans (one might say: unless one got into contact / is into contact with them without facebook, and it is so to say, only by chance that they are on facebook).
if they were, they wouldn't need facebook to be so.
this is the point.
Hippies, Punk And Techno And The Question Of Ideology
punk was a movement against the hippies that dominated a large part of the counter- and subcultures till then.
the hippies had spread their ideas and propositions of love, harmony, equality and justice, a revolution for peace, for over a decade, and the punks were fed up with this. this is tracable if one looks at some of the songs of that era. take "sonic destroyer" by the band rocket from the tombs, and then by the band dead boys, with its lines of "i don't need anyone[...]don't need no human race[...]don't even need you too".
this was written just a few years after woodstock and the high point what is now called "flower power". it's the complete opposite of anything the hippies stood for. no more coming together and being in joy and harmony.
no more idea of a community of peace and progress. the antithesis of any sweet&nice hippie song.
it's also clear in "final solution", a song played by (again) rocket from the tombs and pere ubu. "don't need no cure - need a final solution". again, a line that would fit not nicely to hippie concepts.
the dreams and ideals of the hippies had turned to dust and withered away. they turned out to be something that could not easily be put into reality, not something that could be put into practice, in the end.
so the punks rebelled against this. they attacked the ideologies of the hippies and left them behind. yet there was also something else in punk. punk was amongst the first modern subcultural movements that criticised the concept of *ideology* itself, that turned against any *ideology*. punk bands sometimes used communist and rightwing symbolism at the same time, to show that every ideology in the end is devoid of meaning, and dangerous if followed with fanaticism.
now the problem of punk was that punk itself was and turned into an ideology very quickly. certain ideas, attitudes, hairstyles and clothing became and were a doctrine for punks, and punk became just as conformistic as any other braindead political movement. instead of following society, they followed the just as boring ideals of their "scene".
yet i think there was also something else in punk, a spark, that managed to break free of any ideology...
this rare, sugarsweet, happy-melancholic nihilism that one sometimes can feel at punk concerts...
so punk challenged ideology and failed in the end. what could come after this? punk had the most radical and extreme ideology then - against everything society and the "western world" stood for. how could you top this?
easily. drop ideology all together.
this is what techno did.
techno tried to break free of any ideology and launched a full-on attack on them.
one should maybe look at the situation in music at the time techno came around, especially in the subculture.
indie bands were hyped, the shoegaze sound was starting to grow. bands with elegic, over-produced songs, with "deep", intellectual lyrics, tales of tragic love, worries, melancholy.
techno had nothing of this. just dance to the beat, man! just stop worrying, enjoy your live, enjoy this momement.
this is something the rock crowd never forgave techno. that techno never cared about the "deep" issues of life, but unlike disco, which these people somehow justify and enjoy, that techno, basically, conciously decided to reject them. enjoy the lasers and the synth stabs and please don't talk or worry too much.
this can be seen in, for example, the use of samples of political speeches or philosophical text, that were common in early techno productions. unlike earlier music with similiar things, there was no intent to make the listener actually engage in politics and no need for him to follow a specific philosophy.
it is often overlooked how ultimately nihilistic techno in its consequences was.
the hippies had spread their ideas and propositions of love, harmony, equality and justice, a revolution for peace, for over a decade, and the punks were fed up with this. this is tracable if one looks at some of the songs of that era. take "sonic destroyer" by the band rocket from the tombs, and then by the band dead boys, with its lines of "i don't need anyone[...]don't need no human race[...]don't even need you too".
this was written just a few years after woodstock and the high point what is now called "flower power". it's the complete opposite of anything the hippies stood for. no more coming together and being in joy and harmony.
no more idea of a community of peace and progress. the antithesis of any sweet&nice hippie song.
it's also clear in "final solution", a song played by (again) rocket from the tombs and pere ubu. "don't need no cure - need a final solution". again, a line that would fit not nicely to hippie concepts.
the dreams and ideals of the hippies had turned to dust and withered away. they turned out to be something that could not easily be put into reality, not something that could be put into practice, in the end.
so the punks rebelled against this. they attacked the ideologies of the hippies and left them behind. yet there was also something else in punk. punk was amongst the first modern subcultural movements that criticised the concept of *ideology* itself, that turned against any *ideology*. punk bands sometimes used communist and rightwing symbolism at the same time, to show that every ideology in the end is devoid of meaning, and dangerous if followed with fanaticism.
now the problem of punk was that punk itself was and turned into an ideology very quickly. certain ideas, attitudes, hairstyles and clothing became and were a doctrine for punks, and punk became just as conformistic as any other braindead political movement. instead of following society, they followed the just as boring ideals of their "scene".
yet i think there was also something else in punk, a spark, that managed to break free of any ideology...
this rare, sugarsweet, happy-melancholic nihilism that one sometimes can feel at punk concerts...
so punk challenged ideology and failed in the end. what could come after this? punk had the most radical and extreme ideology then - against everything society and the "western world" stood for. how could you top this?
easily. drop ideology all together.
this is what techno did.
techno tried to break free of any ideology and launched a full-on attack on them.
one should maybe look at the situation in music at the time techno came around, especially in the subculture.
indie bands were hyped, the shoegaze sound was starting to grow. bands with elegic, over-produced songs, with "deep", intellectual lyrics, tales of tragic love, worries, melancholy.
techno had nothing of this. just dance to the beat, man! just stop worrying, enjoy your live, enjoy this momement.
this is something the rock crowd never forgave techno. that techno never cared about the "deep" issues of life, but unlike disco, which these people somehow justify and enjoy, that techno, basically, conciously decided to reject them. enjoy the lasers and the synth stabs and please don't talk or worry too much.
this can be seen in, for example, the use of samples of political speeches or philosophical text, that were common in early techno productions. unlike earlier music with similiar things, there was no intent to make the listener actually engage in politics and no need for him to follow a specific philosophy.
it is often overlooked how ultimately nihilistic techno in its consequences was.
the guy on the dancefloor at 6am doesn't care about anything in the societal world anymore, he is in his own world.
Review: Senical - Dark Domestic Temper - Killing Rate 2
senical works on killing rate are imho his best.
the dark vinyl with its gloomy blue printing prepares us for what is to come on this record.
i will focus only on the tracks that i assume to be the best, or most interesting, this time:
A2 more mellow than most of the other tracks here. a very technoid feel, with a long, multi-channel build up. when the melody comes in, it is killer. we have exotic space synth hits that could be used in a movie such as blade runner. beat and melody stay with us for a long time, and this creates an intricate hypnotic feel. i guess this track would work wonders on a crowd on dancefloor in a dark, strobe flashed location. the, almost, howling synth at the end makes a great finish to this wonderful track.
B1 non-4/4 floor beats make a nice change here. it's hard to describe the feel of the track; it is almost electronesque. maybe if electro was done by a kind of cyborg soldier from the future. it has one of these almost oriental sounding melodies i adore in hardcore and techno of that era so much, based on high filtered saw-waves.
the build-up in this track is strong, as usual with senical, and deep space fx add the finishing touch here.
B2 the space beauty of the other track is exchanged with jackhammer romance here. noises, screaming machines, pain, all around. the speedcore bits are another nice touch. this track proves how powerful and disturbing analogue equipment can be used.
B3 for me, this is the true gem of this record. marching drums come in, supported by a powerful techno beat. it goes, hypnotically, along like this. till the melody comes. and this melody is so deep space, so otherwordly, so far away in the universe, i can't describe. it could be the fuel for the most vivid dreams. it sounds as it was sent straight from the year 3035. this shows the true and deep skill of senical, and makes for a perfect ending track. of a wonderful, great record.
the dark vinyl with its gloomy blue printing prepares us for what is to come on this record.
i will focus only on the tracks that i assume to be the best, or most interesting, this time:
A2 more mellow than most of the other tracks here. a very technoid feel, with a long, multi-channel build up. when the melody comes in, it is killer. we have exotic space synth hits that could be used in a movie such as blade runner. beat and melody stay with us for a long time, and this creates an intricate hypnotic feel. i guess this track would work wonders on a crowd on dancefloor in a dark, strobe flashed location. the, almost, howling synth at the end makes a great finish to this wonderful track.
B1 non-4/4 floor beats make a nice change here. it's hard to describe the feel of the track; it is almost electronesque. maybe if electro was done by a kind of cyborg soldier from the future. it has one of these almost oriental sounding melodies i adore in hardcore and techno of that era so much, based on high filtered saw-waves.
the build-up in this track is strong, as usual with senical, and deep space fx add the finishing touch here.
B2 the space beauty of the other track is exchanged with jackhammer romance here. noises, screaming machines, pain, all around. the speedcore bits are another nice touch. this track proves how powerful and disturbing analogue equipment can be used.
B3 for me, this is the true gem of this record. marching drums come in, supported by a powerful techno beat. it goes, hypnotically, along like this. till the melody comes. and this melody is so deep space, so otherwordly, so far away in the universe, i can't describe. it could be the fuel for the most vivid dreams. it sounds as it was sent straight from the year 3035. this shows the true and deep skill of senical, and makes for a perfect ending track. of a wonderful, great record.
Review: Miro - Purple Moon / Understand - DE 2052
it somewhat doesn't feel right to review this record, as it has already be done a dozen times by other people. yet is one of miro pajic's most intriguing works, and worth reviewing.
when it came out, before, there was nothing. there was nothing like it. you can check the backcatalogues of the labels of that era, and you will see there isn't any record like this. maybe some earlier works of miro only can contend. and afterwards, there is nothing either. except for miro's tracks of course. but, as far as i can tell, no artist after this record has managed to pull off something similiar as this. it is definately one of the early highs of miro's music journey.
A1 Purple Moon
this is it. the purple moon. do i need to describe it? outer space beats open this records. we are moved along, more elements are added. while this track paces as a fast speed, it is nothing like the "hardcore" of it's time. this track feels more as if one of the great sonic pioneers such as jarre or klaus schulze had their go at techno, as if this was done by a techno man on a techno label. then, the breakdown, and the high-cutoff-synth-saws come in. i listen to a lot of music; especially melodical music. but this melody is something that is in a field of its own. i rarely heard something as beautiful; as sweet; as moving, as the harmonies of this track. it seems simple at first, but, in its simplicity it is extraordinary complex. the melody is what drives this tracks, and it creates a special track.
B2 Understand
this track is often overlooked in favor of purple moon. but, not rightly so. this too is one of miro and PCP's greatest work. the rising synth sound prepares us for what is to come here. i can't say what image this track invokes in me - a space station, space exploration, or an alien meeting somewhere far in the universe? but it is a powerful image.
the melody again is the main thing for me here, less melancholic, yet as powerful, and more complicated as in purple moon. i could listen to it in a loop for a long time.
the track is more of a hardcore affair than purple moon, yet again far removed from the normal "hardcore" of it's time. this track is a gem, and the whole record is a precious jewel.
when it came out, before, there was nothing. there was nothing like it. you can check the backcatalogues of the labels of that era, and you will see there isn't any record like this. maybe some earlier works of miro only can contend. and afterwards, there is nothing either. except for miro's tracks of course. but, as far as i can tell, no artist after this record has managed to pull off something similiar as this. it is definately one of the early highs of miro's music journey.
A1 Purple Moon
this is it. the purple moon. do i need to describe it? outer space beats open this records. we are moved along, more elements are added. while this track paces as a fast speed, it is nothing like the "hardcore" of it's time. this track feels more as if one of the great sonic pioneers such as jarre or klaus schulze had their go at techno, as if this was done by a techno man on a techno label. then, the breakdown, and the high-cutoff-synth-saws come in. i listen to a lot of music; especially melodical music. but this melody is something that is in a field of its own. i rarely heard something as beautiful; as sweet; as moving, as the harmonies of this track. it seems simple at first, but, in its simplicity it is extraordinary complex. the melody is what drives this tracks, and it creates a special track.
B2 Understand
this track is often overlooked in favor of purple moon. but, not rightly so. this too is one of miro and PCP's greatest work. the rising synth sound prepares us for what is to come here. i can't say what image this track invokes in me - a space station, space exploration, or an alien meeting somewhere far in the universe? but it is a powerful image.
the melody again is the main thing for me here, less melancholic, yet as powerful, and more complicated as in purple moon. i could listen to it in a loop for a long time.
the track is more of a hardcore affair than purple moon, yet again far removed from the normal "hardcore" of it's time. this track is a gem, and the whole record is a precious jewel.
Review: Fisch 22 - Auto-Psy - Necrophage
i picked this up as a white label from the container record store. this was one of the earliest releases of mouse aka stella michelsen - the 3rd or the 4th? i had listened to fisch 18 by her, and was enchanted by it.
the record came with a group of poems in the sleeve, one for each of the tracks. i thought this was a a nice touch, and the poems were touching. it is something i am missing with hardcore releases today - especially the connection with artforms such as poetry.
A2 i'll start with the second track so it's a bit of a change of order. this is one of the roughest track i heard at that time (i considered it to be the hardest track). after the creepy intro, killer bassdrums hit you hard in the head. very industrial sounding, very metallic, very dirty. they have a bit of a varispeed thing to them, which is nice too. the track keeps pounding the whole minutes it runs through. weirded-out, surreal, psycho samples come and go and make it somewhat of a sonic journey - a very fulfilling journey.
A1 the starter track. i remember the poem linked it somewhat to the "nerve cables" inside ones head being torn apart as being the sound source of the first seconds. a very fitting comparising. this is full on noise, yet not in a wall of white noise way, but screeches, ringing, like fingers running along the chalkboard to drive you mad. excellent!
B1 frantic, frantic, frantic. again. yet, this track also has somewhat of a relaxing feel. various "ambient" sounds - dark ambient - are employed here. the kick brakes down, comes back in, drags you forward. this has somewhat of a very interesting feel. different planet hardcore.
B2 next to A2 my favorite track on this record. it seems to me generally the B side on this record is more calm than side A? calm is an understatement though, since this is as frantic, hectic and brutal and it can get with hardcore. again we have a full on attack of noises and surreal, spacy sounds. the last seconds of this track are my favorite part, also my favorite part of this record. strange, bizarre, reverberated sounds that fade out and leave you on into your dreams - or rather, nightmares.
the record came with a group of poems in the sleeve, one for each of the tracks. i thought this was a a nice touch, and the poems were touching. it is something i am missing with hardcore releases today - especially the connection with artforms such as poetry.
A2 i'll start with the second track so it's a bit of a change of order. this is one of the roughest track i heard at that time (i considered it to be the hardest track). after the creepy intro, killer bassdrums hit you hard in the head. very industrial sounding, very metallic, very dirty. they have a bit of a varispeed thing to them, which is nice too. the track keeps pounding the whole minutes it runs through. weirded-out, surreal, psycho samples come and go and make it somewhat of a sonic journey - a very fulfilling journey.
A1 the starter track. i remember the poem linked it somewhat to the "nerve cables" inside ones head being torn apart as being the sound source of the first seconds. a very fitting comparising. this is full on noise, yet not in a wall of white noise way, but screeches, ringing, like fingers running along the chalkboard to drive you mad. excellent!
B1 frantic, frantic, frantic. again. yet, this track also has somewhat of a relaxing feel. various "ambient" sounds - dark ambient - are employed here. the kick brakes down, comes back in, drags you forward. this has somewhat of a very interesting feel. different planet hardcore.
B2 next to A2 my favorite track on this record. it seems to me generally the B side on this record is more calm than side A? calm is an understatement though, since this is as frantic, hectic and brutal and it can get with hardcore. again we have a full on attack of noises and surreal, spacy sounds. the last seconds of this track are my favorite part, also my favorite part of this record. strange, bizarre, reverberated sounds that fade out and leave you on into your dreams - or rather, nightmares.
The Horrorist
what makes the music by the horrorist so special? first, there is the combination of oldschool-type techno with EBM; which in itself is clever enough to spawn dozen of great tracks; than there is also the influence of hardcore techno, which can be especially heard in early tracks. there is also a type of super-futurism in the sounds that is not often encountered. but there is always something else about the tracks by the horrorist too. the melodies, the vocal style, the appereance, doesn't seem to fit to me to any of the influences i mentioned. instead, it had always a kind of "out of time" aspect to me, similiar to 1920s german cabaret style, or even more so, to a victorian-time london or new york. i could image the horrorist appearing in a victorian type tavern in london in the 19th century; where people of "ill refute" sit around, and a strange guy gives some of them a hint, to lead them to a door at the back of the place while telling them about a secret show, which leads to a dim-lit basement at which the horrorist sings his songs about death, misery and gloom. the tales of the horrorist somehow, to me, fit so much to the special fascination for the obscure and the morbid in victorian times. the name "horrorist" itself has somewhat of a connection to me; think of the "illusionists" and similiar professions of that time, a performer called the horrorist would fit right in.<br />
so, yes, in almost any song the horrorist tales us dangerous, vague, fascinating tales of the bizarre, the strange, the things that are out of line.<br />
and i hope he continues to do so for many years to come.<br />
<br />
more information about the horrorist can be found at <a href="http://www.thingstocome.com/">http://www.thingstocome.com/</a>
so, yes, in almost any song the horrorist tales us dangerous, vague, fascinating tales of the bizarre, the strange, the things that are out of line.<br />
and i hope he continues to do so for many years to come.<br />
<br />
more information about the horrorist can be found at <a href="http://www.thingstocome.com/">http://www.thingstocome.com/</a>
Review: Atari Teenage Riot - Reset
i must say, the last ATR album, "Is This Hyperreal?", was a bit of a disappointment for me. so i expected to face a disappointment again with this one. but Alec Empire really delivered with this release. the haters might say, it sounds much different than ATR used to sound (think the first few albums). but i have to disagree. i think this album is how Alec always ATR envisioned to sound like. think a band that tries to combine punk with techno. and one that tries to combine a dark atmosphere with a "professional" (maybe wrong word) sound. and one that tries to combine thrilling music with a political and cultural message. this is what ATR was, should be, and how this album sounds like. this doesn't mean it's stuck in the old, there are plenty new ideas and concepts around here too. also interwoven are nice cultural and sonic references - the "Sonic Reducer" nod in Transducer, and i think i can hear a hint of an approach to Don Davis' scoreworks elsewhere, and more things than there is place here to mention.
i know the "hardcore fraction" will probably hate this album, but really, you are unfair here. ATR wasn't always "Into The Death" and "Start The Riot" repeated over and over again - distorted 909 and amens. remember tracks like Midijunkies, or the bonus release of early ATR tracks. ATR always had this techno meets punk, in an aggressive but also slighty "cheerful" (wrong word again, maybe) way. this is what the album sounds like to me, just in an updated version (and, again, with new ideas).
and it is something, that, to me, has really an impact, and brings a lot of fresh air. rarely i have been so thrilled by music lately, and i feel it is on an whole other level than most music in the moment.
and something that made it easily win my heart, is that it is something i wished to see for a few years now but never thought it would happen: a combination of modern guitar based music with techno/hardcore roots. it would be cool to see more music like this in the future.
so, if you are not a "die hard" you might like this album. if you enjoyed the original ATR works and like to see them in an updated context, you might like it too. and if you want to hear a kickass album, you'll love it.
ATR Webpage: http://www.atari-teenage-riot.com/
PCP - More Than Hardcore, Motherfuckers
PCP now is mostly known - and in fact, well known, with a huge fanbase - for it's hardcore, gabber and hardtechno productions. which is great - but also a shame - since there is so much more. even to add PCP's important role in doomcore (well, in fact, they created it!) and dark techno would not do the label justice, as there is a lot more to discover.
while PCP apparently was well received in the beginning of the techno scene in the 1990s, soon other producers and labels took over in germany... westbam, marusha, low spirit, you know the story. even worse, even the hardcore scene was on the verge of "forgetting" PCP, as miro noted in an interview from that era. this was the mid-90s then. but out of these ashes PCP, marc and miro rose like a phoenix. with a new label (but still encomparating the PCP classics into their live acts), acardipane records, and plenty of bookings at the big dutch parties, the "gabber" crowd was throughly reminded of the vital role PCP played in the creation of hardcore, and the status of the label soon rose to legendary. while this was what PCP and its members thoroughly deserved, it also created negative fact that PCP and acardipane were now, by many people, almost 100% identified with "Hardcore" and "Gabber". true, PCP probably supplied more perfect productions and all-time classics in the field of hardcore than anyone else - slaves to the rave, stereo murder, 6 million ways to die, and so on - but as hinted above, the backcatalogue went far beyond there.
there is hardly a style and field of electronic music that has not been touched, and soundwise conquered by the PCP masters yet. they only did not do a accoustic guitar creation yet. you can find house tunes in early PCP and Dance Ecstasy releases. electro (in the old meaning of the word) on narcotic networks. even dark ambient, krautrock and psychedelic music. electronic and techno music in any form and shapes. notable are the ambient workouts of "shakira"'s 1987 metamorphosis or the jupiter pulse. the liquified drum'n'bass classic combination of "beethoven's greatest works", found on dance ecstasy. the rap(!) of the factory of freebase by FBI. the finishing thesis on minimalism via the mover's ruff traxx remix of the meltdown. the departure of all genre-bounds on, again the mover's, last breath of the homelands.
there is too much to explore to fit it into this specific text.
it is a huge shame that the "hardcore" legacy now to large part blocks the public access to the consciousness to most people around the globe for these sounds.
it is hoped that these sound treasures are discovered and noticed by more and more people. it is collection of gems that wait to be found by cunning explorers and that wait to be appraised by people.
while PCP apparently was well received in the beginning of the techno scene in the 1990s, soon other producers and labels took over in germany... westbam, marusha, low spirit, you know the story. even worse, even the hardcore scene was on the verge of "forgetting" PCP, as miro noted in an interview from that era. this was the mid-90s then. but out of these ashes PCP, marc and miro rose like a phoenix. with a new label (but still encomparating the PCP classics into their live acts), acardipane records, and plenty of bookings at the big dutch parties, the "gabber" crowd was throughly reminded of the vital role PCP played in the creation of hardcore, and the status of the label soon rose to legendary. while this was what PCP and its members thoroughly deserved, it also created negative fact that PCP and acardipane were now, by many people, almost 100% identified with "Hardcore" and "Gabber". true, PCP probably supplied more perfect productions and all-time classics in the field of hardcore than anyone else - slaves to the rave, stereo murder, 6 million ways to die, and so on - but as hinted above, the backcatalogue went far beyond there.
there is hardly a style and field of electronic music that has not been touched, and soundwise conquered by the PCP masters yet. they only did not do a accoustic guitar creation yet. you can find house tunes in early PCP and Dance Ecstasy releases. electro (in the old meaning of the word) on narcotic networks. even dark ambient, krautrock and psychedelic music. electronic and techno music in any form and shapes. notable are the ambient workouts of "shakira"'s 1987 metamorphosis or the jupiter pulse. the liquified drum'n'bass classic combination of "beethoven's greatest works", found on dance ecstasy. the rap(!) of the factory of freebase by FBI. the finishing thesis on minimalism via the mover's ruff traxx remix of the meltdown. the departure of all genre-bounds on, again the mover's, last breath of the homelands.
there is too much to explore to fit it into this specific text.
it is a huge shame that the "hardcore" legacy now to large part blocks the public access to the consciousness to most people around the globe for these sounds.
it is hoped that these sound treasures are discovered and noticed by more and more people. it is collection of gems that wait to be found by cunning explorers and that wait to be appraised by people.
PCP - When The Phuture Was Born
"Phuture" is a concept central to PCP. it is referenced in tracks, record titles, project names, on backcover info and so on. and indeed, while PCP is known for great techno or hardcore, even more so it is futuristic music - or rather, phuturistic music.
the tracks by PCP evoke many a great imaginery before one's eye - the comet swarm rising. the purple moon. the blue sun. of suns and moons.
it was something that always stood out for me with PCP - even before i went fully in love with the label. the sound of PCP always sounded so much futuristic, modern, scifi, alien, outer space. 'music for huge-space arenas', as cold rush records said? rather music for huge space-arenas!
the cyborg unknown, the phuture project, the planet phuture, the dance ecstasy from 3001. PCP is so much riddled with alien, future, exotic references, tricks and hints.
i rarely had this "phuture" feel with any other artists - early Juan Atkins or Somatic Responses can maybe compare, and it is something verily unique with PCP, which makes it special, and i guess is also hugely for the large and dedicated fanbase PCP has now.
PCP is a lot like the best of science fiction movies, novels, art, comics turned music - but not only that, but also intensified, concentrated, enlarged. it feels as if you would really travel around space when you listen to PCP. a darkened room, or even better, a party situation, augments this experience even more, of course.
also noteworthy is that PCP supplies various types of Phuture. from the near-future suburban battles of the cyborgs unknown, to the interstellar travel to the coloured moons, to the esoteric aliens of the outer systems, to the computerised mind of the 303 nation technoville.
it is home to mystery what enabled marc and the others to create this extraordinary phuture vibe. a love for scifi movies? comics? substances? an attitude? regardless of this, they definately suceeded with their task
when enjoying regular scifi stuff, there is always a kind of detachment, that is not there with PCP. it brings the phuture home.
the tracks by PCP evoke many a great imaginery before one's eye - the comet swarm rising. the purple moon. the blue sun. of suns and moons.
it was something that always stood out for me with PCP - even before i went fully in love with the label. the sound of PCP always sounded so much futuristic, modern, scifi, alien, outer space. 'music for huge-space arenas', as cold rush records said? rather music for huge space-arenas!
the cyborg unknown, the phuture project, the planet phuture, the dance ecstasy from 3001. PCP is so much riddled with alien, future, exotic references, tricks and hints.
i rarely had this "phuture" feel with any other artists - early Juan Atkins or Somatic Responses can maybe compare, and it is something verily unique with PCP, which makes it special, and i guess is also hugely for the large and dedicated fanbase PCP has now.
PCP is a lot like the best of science fiction movies, novels, art, comics turned music - but not only that, but also intensified, concentrated, enlarged. it feels as if you would really travel around space when you listen to PCP. a darkened room, or even better, a party situation, augments this experience even more, of course.
also noteworthy is that PCP supplies various types of Phuture. from the near-future suburban battles of the cyborgs unknown, to the interstellar travel to the coloured moons, to the esoteric aliens of the outer systems, to the computerised mind of the 303 nation technoville.
it is home to mystery what enabled marc and the others to create this extraordinary phuture vibe. a love for scifi movies? comics? substances? an attitude? regardless of this, they definately suceeded with their task
when enjoying regular scifi stuff, there is always a kind of detachment, that is not there with PCP. it brings the phuture home.
this focus on its own "scifi" earned PCP a special place in the history of electronic music - or rather, put it on a level of its own - maybe a planet of its own.
PCP Reference Guide
PCP Reference Guide
references to books, drugs, concepts and other things in the works of PCP by title, artist name or other.
Labels:
PCP - 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine). the actual term for the drug "angel's dust". one of the most extreme drugs known to man. users regularly go completely mental when using it. causes hallucinations, voices to be heard and other insane things. linked to outburst of extreme violence. many people consider it to be the most dangerous drug.
Dance Ecstasy 2001 - ecstasy is a happiness inducing drug associated with "rave culture".
Narcotic Network Recording - narcotic networks are the drug traffiking networks by the drug syndicates.
Interzone - a concept by William Burroughs. also mentioned in the movie "Naked Lunch" about his life and works.
Adrenachrome - drug described in the movie "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas".
Future World - name of a famous 70s science fiction movie. sequel to "Westworld".
Gold Digger Records - a gold digger is a girl that dates men for money, i.e. to have the chance to marry a rich man and be well off.
Artists:
Cold Rush City Cru - possible reference to the rap group "Kold Krush Kru".
Dusty Angel - another reference for angel's dust, or PCP.
H flash - the high of a heroin user. (h is a term for heroin)
Mescalinum United: a psychoactive drug. mescaline.
Freebase Factory - freebase is a drug related to crack cocaine.
Free Base International - see above
French Connection - famous drug trafficing network. also name of two well known crime movies of the 70s.
Roy Batty (alias of Michael Hoppe, part of "Turbulence" and "Smash?") = Character from movie "Blade Runner".
Records and Tracks:
Killing Zoo - reference to the 1993 movie "Killing Zoe". samples from the movie are also used in 3 of the 4 tracks on this record.
Lightbringer - term used for "Lucifer". also used for Venus, the morning star, which "brings light" in the morning, which also has been called "Lucifer" in past times.
Subtopia - name for the underworld.
Louder than a bomb - reference to the public enemy EP of the same name.
Last Exit Interzone - possible reference to novel "Last Exit Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby Jr.. see also interzone.
The Art Of Shredding - reference to "The Art Of Stalking" by Suburban Knight.
The Eagle Has Landed - general term for signifying relevant events. has been used during the transmission of the first moon landing.
Yamantaka - ancient buddhist practice. also called "the terminator of death".
The Last Judgement - biblical term for the "judgement day". armageddon.
Skulls And Crossbones - traditional symbol used by the pirates
Leathernecks - "At War" ("Low Spirit, suck my cock"): Reference to German techno label "Low Spirit". [Also see: http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/363778]
2001 - one of the two dates that PCP continually references. the meaning of it is unknown.
2017 - the other date, that is even more referenced. again, the meaning is unknown.
FFM = abbreviation for Frankfurt am Main.
if you have more info, found an error or a correction, or generally have additional information, feel free to contact me: low.entropy.80@gmail.com
the reference guide is expected to grow a lot over time.
references to books, drugs, concepts and other things in the works of PCP by title, artist name or other.
Labels:
PCP - 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine). the actual term for the drug "angel's dust". one of the most extreme drugs known to man. users regularly go completely mental when using it. causes hallucinations, voices to be heard and other insane things. linked to outburst of extreme violence. many people consider it to be the most dangerous drug.
Dance Ecstasy 2001 - ecstasy is a happiness inducing drug associated with "rave culture".
Narcotic Network Recording - narcotic networks are the drug traffiking networks by the drug syndicates.
Interzone - a concept by William Burroughs. also mentioned in the movie "Naked Lunch" about his life and works.
Adrenachrome - drug described in the movie "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas".
Future World - name of a famous 70s science fiction movie. sequel to "Westworld".
Gold Digger Records - a gold digger is a girl that dates men for money, i.e. to have the chance to marry a rich man and be well off.
Artists:
Cold Rush City Cru - possible reference to the rap group "Kold Krush Kru".
Dusty Angel - another reference for angel's dust, or PCP.
H flash - the high of a heroin user. (h is a term for heroin)
Mescalinum United: a psychoactive drug. mescaline.
Freebase Factory - freebase is a drug related to crack cocaine.
Free Base International - see above
French Connection - famous drug trafficing network. also name of two well known crime movies of the 70s.
Roy Batty (alias of Michael Hoppe, part of "Turbulence" and "Smash?") = Character from movie "Blade Runner".
Leathernecks - slang for US Marine Soldiers, or generally, tough guys (with "necks of leather", so to say)
Killing Zoo - reference to the 1993 movie "Killing Zoe". samples from the movie are also used in 3 of the 4 tracks on this record.
Lightbringer - term used for "Lucifer". also used for Venus, the morning star, which "brings light" in the morning, which also has been called "Lucifer" in past times.
Subtopia - name for the underworld.
Louder than a bomb - reference to the public enemy EP of the same name.
Last Exit Interzone - possible reference to novel "Last Exit Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby Jr.. see also interzone.
The Art Of Shredding - reference to "The Art Of Stalking" by Suburban Knight.
The Eagle Has Landed - general term for signifying relevant events. has been used during the transmission of the first moon landing.
Yamantaka - ancient buddhist practice. also called "the terminator of death".
The Last Judgement - biblical term for the "judgement day". armageddon.
Skulls And Crossbones - traditional symbol used by the pirates
Leathernecks - "At War" ("Low Spirit, suck my cock"): Reference to German techno label "Low Spirit". [Also see: http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/363778]
The Mover - Frontal Sickness 2 (1992) - track "Body Snatchers" = Reference to the horror movie(s) "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956, 1978) or "Body Snatchers" (1993).
Leathernecks - "Speedfuck" ("Speedfreak, you're so fuckin' slow"): Reference to German hardcore techno act "The Speed Freak" (Martin Damm).
"Friends of Alex": Possibly a reference to Alex Christiansen from U96; also contains a musical reference to Ramon Zenker from Interactive. [See: http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/365652]
Digital Dictators - "Where the Rhythm Counts (Das Werk der Kraft)" (from FFM Trax Vol. 1, 1990) = Both linguistic and musical reference to German music group "Kraftwerk" (samples from "Musique Non Stop" and "Nummern").
Trip Commando - House Music's Not Dead (JVA Mix) (from FFM Trax Vol. 2, 1991) - "JVA" = abbreviation for "Justizvollzugsanstalt", the German word for "prison".
Konstablerwache = public square and metro station in Frankfurt am Main; famous for drug dealing activites.
Ace the Space - "9 is a Classic" & "9 mm Remixes" = Common gun calibre (9×19mm Parabellum).
Other:
2001 - one of the two dates that PCP continually references. the meaning of it is unknown.
2017 - the other date, that is even more referenced. again, the meaning is unknown.
FFM = abbreviation for Frankfurt am Main.
thanks to user inspector.godot for added information.
if you have more info, found an error or a correction, or generally have additional information, feel free to contact me: low.entropy.80@gmail.com
the reference guide is expected to grow a lot over time.
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