Archive for the techno tag

Marc Houle: Undercover

Wrylab (one of the funniest people I follow on twitter) posted this on facebook today, and I had to share. I'm a fan of Marc Houle already, but I hadn't seen this video for a track from his forthcoming album. Houle started off playing new wave in Windsor, Canada, before his then-roommate (superstar DJ Magda) convinced him to strip down his tracks for her sets. Many techno records and a move to Berlin later, he's returning to his roots with his label Items & Things (which he runs with Magda), releasing material far different than what he previously did on Richie Hawtin's iconic minimal techno imprint M-nus. He'll also be releasing a synthpop album later this year on Tiga's Turbo Records label, under the name Raid Over Moscow.

Marc Houle official site

Aswefall: Nevermore

Thank the internet for free translation websites, because there is damn near nothing about this band in English. Hailing from Paris, Aswefall appears to have not a lot of output, the most notable of which is this single from last year, "Nevermore". I didn't need to google translate the names of bands that kept coming up in reviews about them; it seems like everyone thinks they remind them of some band from the '80s, or maybe three or four of them, but no one agrees on which one. Like Colder, they're decidedly French, and appropriately, one of their songs is the official music for Air France. But what stands out to me here isn't their techno-slick repetitive new wave, but the dark atmosphere, Cure style bassline, and Poe-esque lyrics that bring to mind a goth warehouse party.

Aswefall official site
Available on beatport.com

Richie Hawtin Interview with Daniel Miller

Whoever came up with the idea for this is brilliant. Superstar techno dj and producer Richie Hawtin interviews Daniel Miller, founder of legendary UK label Mute Records. They talk about the early days of the British electronic music scene, the trials of starting up a label, his signing of Fad Gadget and later Depeche Mode, synthesizers, Berlin, and the influences Mute has had on Hawtin's own Plus 8 label. Miller signed Hawtin to his sub-label Novamute in 1992 as his dark alter ego Plastikman.

Mute Records
Plastikman

Rayaline: Ashland

I met Marcos Raya years ago, when Kamar and I were djing at Uptown Lounge. All I remember is that he was there with Mr. Bobby, and some shots were consumed and a lot of geeking out about music was done, and we parted ways that evening with plans to do a Front 242 tribute at Neo, which Marcos and Bobby both did a fantastic job at several weeks later.

It was quite a long time later that I found out that Marcos actually made music. As Rayaline, he's on Kompute, one of Chicago's best electronic dance music labels. His output is as broad as his interests, with everything from electro bangers to thoughtful techno. He's supposed to put out an album soon, but I won't hold my breath; with all of his djing and vjing gigs, he's a busy guy. We're lucky to have him as a guest at Atomic this week, and I expect he'll be one of our best guest djs to date.

He sent me a couple of tracks, but I had to post "Ashland", as it reminds me just a wee bit of Yello. See you Thursday!

Kompute website

Cybotron: Cosmic Cars + Model 500: Night Drive / Movement Detroit May 29-31

Movement 2009 photo by donte

If you go back far enough in electronic music, it all sort of starts to sound like one genre--and in the very early '80s, it sort of was. Before Justice and The Presets, THIS was the original electro. Cybotron was the first moniker of Richard Davis and none other than Juan Atkins, a name I can only hope you recognize as, you know, one of those Detroit guys who created a type of Kraftwerk-sampling futuristic electronic robot music that he called "techno". After founding the label Metroplex in 1985, he started using the name Model 500. In these tracks, you can hear both a European new wave influence and the infancy of the titan that came to be known as Detroit techno.

Movement, more commonly known as the Detroit Electronic Music Festival [or DEMF], comprises of five stages with almost 100 performers as an annual celebration of both the city's influence on and the future of electronic music. Acts range from legendary producers such as Atkins to up and coming musicians and DJs, turning downtown Detroit into a massive party as 80,000 people from all walks of life listen to music and dance for three days. It's an amazing experience I'd recommend to anyone who isn't put off by the sound of a drum machine.

Juan Atkins will be performing live as Model 500 at Movement on May 31. See the Paxahau website more information.

Buy Juan Atkins' music on Amazon.com
Juan Atkins on MySpace

Note: Whether you've never been to Detroit or a seasoned DEMF-goer, if you're planning on attending, I highly recommend reading this article from our friends at JustQualityMusic: JQM Guide To Getting Down At Movement 2010, with festival tips and a list of must-see Movement sets, outside events, and Detroit attractions.

Yello: Bostich

Last night started off really slow--after all, a good portion of our crowd was at The Queen Is Dead early in the night--but by the time Arturo went on and The Handsome Devilz arrived, it was a juggernaut. While Kamar was rallying the dancers over to Neo, I got to do a long early set. One of the things I love about doing early sets at Atomic is that I get to experiment a bit and gauge reactions before I play a song to a packed floor. Will they dance if I play this? Will the regulars run up to the booth screaming about how they love it or how they'll strangle me if I ever play it again? Sometimes, I realize that I should've been playing it at 1am all along.

Such is the case with the Yello classic "Bostitch". It blows my mind that this single was released in 1979. Typical of Yello's style, it's sophisticated, dark, and avant-garde. It's very new wave, it's really tech-house, it's vaguely industrial…and no, that is not Douglas McCarthy from Nitzer Ebb singing. Actually it's Dieter Meier [himself a very interesting person], the conceptualist half of Yello, whose ideas are executed by self-claimed perfectionist Boris Blank, who reportedly has a library of over 100,000 samples he made from scratch.

Now in their 60s, Meier and Blank are still making music as Yello, and it's still just as good. Most of their current work is in soundtracks these days. Recently, they've worked with Audi and been the subject of a documentary. I hope I'm half as cool as they are when I'm their age.

"Bostich" is on their debut album Solid Pleasure.

Solid Pleasure on Amazon
Yello Official Website

Give thanks for Nitzer Ebb!

Ok, so… it's a bit hypocritical for me to post this, I'll admit it. I mostly make fun of Nitzer Ebb; I have food related parody vocals for most of their songs. I hardly need to put much effort into it with stuff like this on their Wikipedia page: "Nitzer Ebb began when Bon Harris and David Gooday asked Douglas McCarthy to sing in their band. They shared an interest in witchcraft, talking to trees, and collecting runestones in Chelmsford and Little Baddow"

Talking to trees?

But I can't deny their influence, which is rampant everywhere from synthpop to Detroit techno and, of course, the industrial and EBM scenes that they had a hand in founding. Their style sounded very dated to me 10 years ago, but now the minimalism sounds fresh--all things come back again, of course.

I choose to post "Let Your Body Learn" from 1987's That Total Age release because to me, it relates well to new wave [and I'm sure the influence goes both ways]. I'm also including a new track from Neon Electronics vs The Hacker that I've been playing alongside various Nitzer Ebb tracks the last few weeks; it's a fantastic modern example of their continuing impact on electronic music and instantly got a warm reception on the dance floor.

We're thrilled to be giving away tickets to their upcoming concert on Thanksgiving night. Though lacking in trees, Nitzer Ebb put on a great live show, and I'm sure they won't disappoint. Opening for them is my absolute favorite local-Chicago-via-way-of-Detroit band Kill Memory Crash, and if you haven't seen them, get there early--you will be blown away. I've posted their song "Demento", also wearing a bit of Nitzer Ebb inspiration, from their 2004 album American Automatic. They have new stuff and it's amazing, but still unreleased so you'll have to listen to my radio show if you want to hear it.

See you on Thanksgiving night, and see you at the Nitzer Ebb show!

Amazon's Nitzer Ebb Store
Neon Electronics vs The Hacker
Kill Memory Crash on Amazon

Vicious Pink: Cccan’t You See…

Although only a band for five short years, the dynamic duo of singer Josephine Warden and keyboardist Brian Moss formed Vicious Pink (originally Vicious Pink Phenomenon) in 1981 and got their start as backing vocalists for Marc Almond and Dave Ball's Soft Cell. With two new wave godfathers to guide them, the influence of Soft Cell's provocative, sexualized lyrics and dance beats were apparent in Vicious Pink's music. Through the course of their career, they earned three club hits rather than making any commercial impact.

The band made their biggest splash with the release of their third single "Cccan't You See..." Yes, stutter when you say it - it's necessary. Legend has it that Vicious Pink were actually the first band to coin the word "techno" in 1982 when describing their music to the press. Maybe not techno by today's standards, but certainly modern electro. Listen to anyone from Ladytron and Goldfrapp and tell me you can't hear the influence these pretty in pink things had on them.

There are several versions of the song. The original 12" version of the song is the most common (and certainly most addicting), though there is at 7" version that varies slightly. A year after the original was released, the song was remixed to have a French vocal, which was recently re-released in a limited pressing on vinyl. Vicious Pink have yet to release an official CD though their MySpace states a retrospective is currently in the works.

Oh. Don't be fooled by the opening sample to the song either.  Your shuffle didn't accidently turn on "This Corrosion" by the Sisters of Mercy. Now go bust out those poppers and shake a tailfeather!