I would say the Good Old Days of IDM probably
started with Kraftwerk and Manuel Gottsching and
ended with the break up of the Black Dog, but they
are definitely concentrated from the time of "Strings
of Life" and "Night Drive" to the first albums of B12,
As One, Black Dog, etc. before their later work.
So about 1987-1993. As always I disagree with the
Jet Jaguar about music (I don't think we've ever agreed
on anything) and I pretty much hate the later material
of Kirk, Carl, Plaid, etc. not so much because of the music
itself (which doesn't bother me) but the fact that these
guys don't make tracks like "Nebula Variation", "How the
West Was Won" or "Scoobs In Columbia" anymore. Now
I do realize I can't (and have no right) to tell them what to
as artists but I still hate their current material. This is true
of just about every producer I liked who has "old" material.
It seems in these scene nobody gets better: they just get
worse. In reality they get more developed and gather moss
down the abstract hill, but I prefer the pure techno sound (and
think I am not alone).
On another note, someone out there with connections and
money: there is an extremely lucrative and ethically rewarding
market for legitimate reissues. There have been a lot of people
e-mailing me lamenting that these tracks we're speaking so
highly of aren't available anymore. One person put it best when
they said that it sucks to hear about the greatest IDM tracks to
know he'll never get the chance to hear them. Hey, anybody in
the UK, talk to B12, talk to Kirk, talk to Nuron, talk to Black Dog,
get some clearance and make some nice discography CD's of
old singles and reissue some albums and comps.
On another note, however, in the past year I have seen all of
these available (most not more than once or twice):
Everything on A.R.T.
Everything on B12
Everything on 100% Pure
Everything on Ifach
Everything from Black Dog / Plaid
Everything on Likemind
Everything on Void
Everything on Otherworld
Virtually everything in the old Detroit scene
etc. etc. etc. etc.
So for those with time and money and dedication, they still
go up out there. But obviously there just aren't enough especially
for those who haven't heard the tracks and aren't slamming down
months of looking and piles of cash....
Matt
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