We've now left Detroit and moved to England, where
our phenomenally talented British friends take over.
Black Dog Productions: Bytes CD (Warp)
The Artificial Intelligence era for Warp was a great one,
producing eight excellent CD's, but Black Dog had the
best one for my tastes, the one that is some of the most sugary sweet
techno ever. Black Dog always went for the skies with
tremendously beautiful and developing melodies, and this
stuff is also Techno 101 as the Dog were maybe the best
at evolving tracks and skillfully adding elements. So good!
I still listen to this almost every day. BTW, the new Plaid
3CD will be just about the equal of this record (making it one of the
best CD's ever released).
Reload: A Collection of Short Stories CD (Infonet)
If Black Dog were the study of light and perfection, Reload is the
study of the capacities of darkness and imperfection. I think
many IDM enthusiasts consider this the best album of all time,
although I'd see it more as a balancer with "Bytes", each covering
the best aspects of one of the two directions you can take with
electronic music. This is also a much more varied album with
so many different elements, from pounding acid to ambient
soundbath, and is still somewhat available if you look around. It
will also really challenge you and make you accept all sorts
of structural elements and album diversity than a lot of other
electronic music does not. Truly a classic.
Global Communication: 76:14 CD (Dedicated)
Remotion CD (Dedicated)
The two pure ambient releases from Global Communication,
who shied away from the terrifying splendor of the Reload work
and the Dog-ish soaring aesthetics of their Link work. This stuff
is as good, but different: for those late nights or quiet mornings
when you need those long, beatless gorgeous pieces. Fantastic.
B12: The Prelude, Part 1 CD (B12)
B12: Electro-Soma CD (Warp)
The two essential albums from B12. The first is very interesting,
having mostly short cuts of tracks and musically-enhanced
interview snippets, a CD that challenges the notion a track has
to be eight minutes long and cuts down right to the heart of each
song. Also works really well as a mix of B12 and as a summa of
what UK techno was working at. Electro-Soma is very good,
sounding a lot like a solemn, echoing Black Dog, and has one of
my favorite pieces ever, "Soundtrack of Space" starting it up.
Redcell/Stasis split CD (B12)
A great one featuring some Global Communication-ish pieces
from Redcell (a B12 alias) and some of the nice Detroit-styled
techno of Steve Pickton (Stasis). Definitely in the Dog/Likemind
style, very very good.
All four Likemind 12"s (Likemind)
Not too much to say about these. I just like them. A lot.
Nuron had the best quality control of any UK producer, although
that's partially because I never heard anything from him post-aesthetic
Detroit-style period, unlike the rest of the UK producers. These
are absolutely legendary EP's.
As One: Reflections CD (New Electronica)
As One: Reflections on Reflections CD (New Electronica)
The first is Kirk's first album, a very pleasant, passive, downtempo
study of electronics, certainly not for any dancefloors. I never really
found tracks on the album that stood out: it seemed to work as
a full-length cooldown rather than a pick-and-choose radio show album
(see his Future/Past material for more standout tracks). The
second is an incredible remix album featuring appearances from
almost all of the best producers out of the UK (and even Carl Craig).
Ifach, Volume 1 CD (Ifach)
This one seems really, really relevant these days, as many of the
German producers are working in a similar vein: how to blend the
very minimal, flat school of tech-house with more engaging melody.
The Ifach stuff is great, very quirky and original, with tons of cool
electro twists and unduplicated sounds, always keeping you
interested and wishing more people had made music like this.
The Philosophy of Sound and Machine CD (A.R.T.)
Applied Rhythmic Technology CD (A.R.T.)
The first is the comp of UK electronics, with everybody on it. It
also has a Derrick May mix of Neuropolitique which is almost
too cool to be believed. The second is pretty much a split between
Black Dog and Future/Past with lots of those wicked catchy,
super friendly, uptempo tracks I've hinted at earlier. These are
probably the two best introductions to UK electronics.
Fake Fruit and Horrible Shoes CD (Pure Plastic)
A tremendous comp featuring all sorts of UK producers, from
Pickton to Broom to Hill to even Plaid (I think, they are fairly
vague about who is producing what). Eschews that
super syrupy techno in favor of a more blended mix, ala
Ifach with selective Black Dog/Nuron sensibilities. A good
primer in the Repeat/Pure Plastic school of UK electronics.
Polygon Window: Surfing on Sine Waves CD (Warp)
This is my favorite Aphex release, and one of only two full-lengths
of his I really like (the other being SAW2). This is the most techno
Aphex ever got, and sounds a lot like the B12 album except even
more emotional and individual. Sounds like the sort of techno music
that would bring happy tears to the eyes of a lighthouse keeper.
I realized I didn't mention the John Beltran stuff when I was going
over the first Detroit wave. Whoops. The first three Beltran albums
(Earth & Nightfall, Ten Days of Blue, and the Cry (as Placid Angels))
go next to Red Planet as my favorite entirely pleasant deep techno
releases. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in elevating Beltran as maybe
the best emotional techno producer (Hk!, are you with me?) although
I haven't been as fond of his last two albums.
Alright, I could go on and on like this, to Holland, Germany, and
to much more of the UK and Detroit, but I'm getting a little weary
of writing these blurbs and it's sunny out, so maybe sometime later I'll just
post a
very long list of 12"s and albums and respond to specific questions.
Peace,
Matt
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