There is currently a lot of discussion about electronic music videos
over here so I thought I'd throw in a word or two.
I have been collecting some of the most easy-to-find videos for the
past two years now, and have acquired a considerable collection of some
of the finest videos around. The first I got was `Energy', music by
Flowmasters, Subliminal Aurra, Looney Tunes, Musto/Bones and Dave Tech
Nice. This is a very early attempt at a such a video, thus it isn't
very much, but the music is good. To think that this video is from 1989,
it's pretty decent. The visuals are just people dancing in parties,
light shows and some computer graphics on top. Heartily recommended,
for those nostalgic sessions over the record shelf.
The second video I happened to stumble upon was Stakker's `Eurotechno'.
Yes, the music is by Brian Dougans & Cary Cobain, nowadays better known
as The Future Sound of London and Amorphous Androgynous, for those not
initiated this early. Dating back to 1989, too, this is still one of the
most audiovisually pleasing videos I've got. Running 25 minutes, Dougans
and Cobain release the acid out of their machines, while your retina is
bombarded with strobing images of 25Hz and up. The video was re-released
sometime last year, but it went before it even hit the shops. A real gem,
and really hard to find. It's surely the best one I've got, though
technology has advanced from those days (the whole video is done with
Fairlight CVI, using mostly preset imagery, for those interested), and
comparison with more recent videos would be unfair.
While idling around in a record shop, waiting for a shipment of new
vinyl, I was almost breathless when my eyes collided with the cover of
The Orb's `Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld: Patterns & Textures'.
It was running in my VCR for quite a while back then, and it finds its
way there still. I have always liked Orb, so I have an emphasis on the
audible side of the video, but the visuals are quite nice, too. Very
relaxing after a hard day, or a head-banging spinning session at the
local club.
Although music-wise not includable in this category, `Mind's Eye'
and `Beyond the Mind's Eye' (music by James Reynolds and Jan Hammer,
respectively) are for those interested in computer animation (not
just shapes and strobing effects). Some of the finest animation I
have ever seen, and the music is not bad, either, if you're into
more relaxing and background-ish stuff.
`Future Shock' was an impulse-buy, because of FSoL's `Papua New Guinea'
and Aphex Twin's `Aegosopolis'. Buffed by Autodesk, Inc. the video is
relatively good, with some stunningly good animation in between. Music,
by the two above and Brian Eno, Banco De Gaia, HIA and The Orb, make
this a good buy.
Then, there are the three series, 3Lux, X-Mix and Dr.Devious. The
latter has released the most videos, five or six to my knowledge (I
own two: More Dance In Cyberspace and ... I can't now recall the name
of the other; it's in loan). While the music in Dr.Devious' videos
is not that good, the computer animation is really worth seeing.
The 3Lux series has three releases, the first being hardest, with
music by Fuse, Exit 100, and even Mixmaster Morris (!), the second
the tranciest (Music from at least House Of Usher, I can't recall
others as it is in loan, too :-). Third, of course, is the ambient
one, with Sven Vath, Aphex Twin et al. producing the audible element.
The visuals on these could be better, though the music makes them
a worthwhile buy. I have not personally seen either of the X-Mixes,
but being from the same producer as 3Luxes, at least the visuals must
be quite same. The music, to my knowledge, is at least mixed by
Laurent Garnier on the other. Have to delve into these more later,
as one of my friend has both.
`Global Chaos' by Hex is a chaos of many genres of music (produced
by Coldcut), and so are the visuals. Running approx. one hour, you
get a mixture of 3Lux, Stakker's `Eurotechno', Dr.Devious and
`Future Shock' on the visual side, and music ranging from hard acid
to smooth jazzy house. Nothing special really, but a well displayable
at gig if you have access to the video display.
`Motion'. What can I say? I have been an avid fan of WARP since I
first heard Forgemasters' `A Track With No Name'. Progressing from
1989 to this day has seen a lot of good music, and I thought it was
about time for them to release a video. And I wasn't disappointed.
The animation could, of course, be better, but as hooted in many
mediums (including Usenet and IDM), there is an ideal behind this
video, `to access areas usually only available to our subconscious
minds'. I love the animation, I love the music. I can't wait to see
the next one.
FSoL's `Lifeforms' video EP tops the original `Eurotechno' by far,
but only because of the quality of the animation. Smooth, with
varying textures, patterns, shapes and trajectories, Buggy G. Riphead
can really create visuals worth mentioning (I wonder if he was
responsible for `Eurotechno', too...). The music is, of course, plain
FSoL (`Lifeforms A/V' is `Dead Skin Cells' from the album, and
`Lifeforms Path' is a mismatch of almost everything. If I'm wrong,
someone pleases set me straight). Running 12 minutes, I just bought
this to see _if_ there was something to see, after the video for
`Cascade' (has anyone got information if this is released separately?).
So, there you go. I hoped to make an incision deep enough to let
those not initiated to take a peek at electronic music videos (what
a wonderful figure of speech :-). I don't claim that I know everyhing
or even a fraction of all the video production revolving around
electronic music, these are just about the ones I have, or know about.
Thank you for listening.
--
Nuutti 'Gordon' Meril{inen (gordon@otax.tky.hut.fi) (InterNet Ronin)
Use `finger gordon@otax.tky.hut.fi' to obtain my PGP 2.3a public key.