On Mon, 20 May 1996, Andrew E Hime wrote:
quoted 6 lines I read this list and I see talk of a lot of interesting stuff, but it> I read this list and I see talk of a lot of interesting stuff, but it
> seems to me that an entire country is getting left out of the talking
> here: the US. We do have some IDM labels, and I'd like to hear about
> more. I mean, sure we have Reflective, Hardkiss, Sunburn, basically
> anything coming out of San Francisco, but what else?
>
Lots of good stuff comes out domestic. Touched on but not often highlighted
on IDM is Detroit techno. Current standard bearers of the techno flag are
Underground Resistance, Generator, and [help me out teep!].
Of course, Chicago House music will not die, and if nothing else has
the rest of the world beat on the quantity tip. DJ Sneak must make
20 tracks a month, and Relief has to release 3 or 4 records a week.
Going to Gramaphone in Chicago is a stone cold trip -- at any moment they
probably have 1500 different House 12" in stock, and name DJ's spin in
the booth for you.
Is House Intelligent? It can be, and often is. Formulaic? Stupid? Sometimes.
But oh man what a formula -- Chicago Hard House can move your body like
nothing else. House music is 5000 years of dance music collapsed down
to the booty-bumping eigenvectors.
Other sites on the North American Tour -- Windsor -- across the border
from Detroit, home of Richie Hawtin's Plus8. Milwaukee Wisconsin's Drop
Bass Network has defined it's own style of Old Style addled hardcore
(which IMHO usually sucks, but there are good records in the catalog).
Minneapolis has a small but VERY creative scene. Freddy Fresh' Analog
and Butterbeat labels are all over the map stylewise, but usually interesting
and sometimes entertainingly bizarre. The Electric Music Foundation puts
out an interesting variety of electronic and acid tracks, always on luscious
colored vinyl. And Woody McBride's labels (Communique, Head in the Clouds)
define a style of contemporary Acid and techno that is currently very
popular in Europe.
Hell, I know a bunch of people in IOWA trying to make tracks. Most of them
just starting out, but interesting stuff.
The focus on UK and European acts on IDM comes from the fact that in the UK
electronic dance music and 'Intelligent' techno are part of the mainstream
youth culture. This means that the penumbra of dance pop is large enough
to hold Aphex Twin, Muziq, Autechre, et al. Here in the US, there are
only a handful of people actually making a living recording electronic
music on the IDM tip.
There's also a streak of American Anglophilia at work here. 30 years
ago we were buying Beatles and Rolling Stones records. 20 years ago
we were watching Monty Python and buying Elvis Costello
records. 10 years ago we were buying Human League records and watching
Dr. Who. Now we're buying Autechre and watching Absolutely Fabulous.
Factoid: They just brought a new Dr. Who online. Turns out, Dr. Who
isn't even on TV in England any more -- they're making it for the US
market now. I rest my case.
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