NEWSLETTER

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2K1 almost licked my balls. At least musically speaking. As the number of techno tracks selling Fords and deodorant increased, good music, it seemed, got harder to find. In a year marred with overly hyped and, in the end, unspectacular releases from some of experimental techno’s “heroes,” a few fresh faces offered a glimmer of hope. Phoenecia and Richard Devine on Schematic, Jetone on Force Inc., Ovuca on Rephlex, Marumari on Carpark, Scott Heren (a.k.a Savath + Savalas, Delarosa + Asora, Prefuse 73) on a bunch of shit, and Cex and Blechtum from Blechdom from the Tigerbeat6 camp all had some new shit to say last year. This year, some new crews are eager to forge ahead on the front lines of the experimental music scene. Several young labels with solid releases for the 2K2 are ready to make some noise and turn shit out hardcore.

Ghostly International is an Ann Arbor label headed by 21-year-old Sam Valenti IV. Their first 12" “Hands Up for Detroit” (Ghostly) turned more than a few headz and their first full-length Winking Makes a Face (from newcomer Tadd Mullinix) got props from music mags across the continent for its soulful take on IDM. A gig at last year’s DEMF kickstarted Mullinix’ rep as one of Detroit’s “Next Wave” of producers and his new full-length for Ghostly (under his Dabrye moniker) further solidifies it. With a handful of solid releases under its belt Ghostly has also just released a quirky-funky dance-floor stomper of an EP by James Cotton (no, not the black harmonica guy) called “Mind Your Manners.” Think Herbert meets Cristian Vogel on absinthe in a Thai bordello and you’ll begin to get the picture. Not wanting to get stuck in one particular sound Ghostly are ready to switch shit up for 2002 with their first compilation Disco Nouveau. This shit has been getting serious rotation in my Discman and all I can say is that any self-respecting fan of electro has absolutely no choice but to pick this shit up. Featured on this comp are some killer tracks by the heavy hitters like DMX KREW, I-F, Adult. (bomb track alert!), Lowfish, and Legowelt. Check ‘em out at www.ghostly.com.

OMCO (Outward Music Company) is a Portland-based label and fully functioning music distributor. Their last release Trick Doubt by the trio known as Nudge twists cold electronics into a humanistic form not unlike Anthony Michael Hall in Weird Science, except without all that bras-on- the-head shit and that fuckin’ Oingo Boingo theme song. Shifting melodies and sliding tempos give Trick Doubt the continuous sensation of what can only be described as “re-lastic.” With a growing roster of talented young artists and well-wicked packaging to boot, this is definitely a label heading in the right direction. Check ‘em out at www.outwardmusic.com.

Based in San Francisco, Highpoint Lowlife Records just released their flagship 2CD comp entitled Tired of Standing Still. I can’t tell you much about these guys but I can tell you that Tired totally rocks! 27 tracks culled mostly from local Frisco bands—anyone into the more organic/electronic Thrill Jockey or Kranky sound would do well to pick up this comp. Sounding like a mishmash of shoegazers vs. laptop jockeys, some highlights include the hypnotic but all-too-short “Near Death” by a group called The Evening and the lonely-as-fuck melancholy of “2021/sill” from newcomers Your Friend. Once I stop being lazy with my emails, I’ll get back to you with more info.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still some established headz that’ll keep shit fresh next year. When I first put in Sign from Nobukazu Takemura, I thought it was total shit. Great, I thought, another fuckin’ total noise-glitch album. After I realizsed I put in the CD-Rom disc by accident, I put the right one in and everything was OK again. Originally released last year on a limited 12", Sign sounds very much like an extension of his 1999 fragile minimalist effort Scope. Takemura dips back into his glitch aesthetic à la Markus Popp but this time comes out with something much more playful and beat-oriented while still retaining the loopy Steve Reich-y feel. Make sure you also check out the kick-ass flash video by comic artist Katsura Moshino and Takemura’s latest full-length Hoshi No Koe on Thrill Jockey.

Rephlex also has some shit lined up for next year. Cylob, the man responsible for the insanely infectious “Rewind!” and “Living In The 1980’s” singles is set to drop another irreverent 12" on our asses. On the cut “The Midrange Drop the Bass” (Rephlex) Cylob creates a raver’s hymn, mining the territory of classic clichéd dance-music phrases (“jack to the sound of the underground” and “don’t stop till the break of day” etc.), using his trademark computer voice in a choir style over a funky-ass break. Irreverent and catchy, Cylob puts out another one for tha headz who don’t take themselves too seriously. Also check out his new full-length, Mood Bells (Rephlex), a much tamer, more personal excursion in a nanobots-playing-gamelans style. Speaking of robots playing instruments, French artist Pierre Bastien joins the Rephlex roster with his new Macanoid (Rephlex) album. Bastien has built his own robot band out of Meccano parts and motors and the results are far from mechanical. Totally fresh and definitely worth a listen. Stay tuned for more shit.

RAF+ VINCE

Send Promos to Raf + Vince c/o Electric Independance, 264 Ste Catherine O., Montreal PQ, Canada, H2X 2A1

Electric Independence’s 2001 Top Five Lists
(in no particular order)

Top 5 12”
L’usine/Surface ep (Isophlux)
Drew Daniels/The soft pink truth (Soundslike)
Rhythm & Sound w/ Cornell Campbell/King in my empire (Burial Mix)
Kit Clayton & Sutekh/Pigeon Funk (Poptronix)
Ark/ Le magicien d’os (Briff)

Top 5 Albums
Jetone/Ultramarin (Force Inc)
V/A/Superlongevity 2 (Perlon)
Spacek/Curvatia (Island)
Atlon Inc/Main Things (Force Inc)
Telefon Tel Aviv/Farhenheight fair enough (Hefty)

Top 5 Things to Check Out
Jay Hunsberger/Kneecap (Revolver)
Pan Tone/Qui es su papa, mama fina? (Revolver)
Deadbeat/Miso (Revolver)
Akufen/Horrorama (Revolver)
Altitude/ Cynosure# 6


CANADA BONUS
For some reason the USA guide to hip hop on p.78 left out the people of the north. Here is the other half of North American hip hop.

The Halifax scene has strong ties to the whole Anticon movement. Pioneers include Stinkin Rich aka Buck 65, Six Too (collectively know as the Sebutones), but there’s mad cats out there making music in that same vein, such as The Goods, Tachichi & DJ Moves, Classified and Josh Martinez. You have to peep those dudes. Some of them straight up look like skaters, most of them write graff, and they do tons of funny moves on stage and kids love it. All of them have an encyclopedic knowledge of hip hop. If you can’t really get with the lyrics, you’ll at least feel the dusty loops they’re rocking on.

Montreal has two rap movements: one French and one English. KC LMNOP and Dubmatique were the first to put out French rap albums. Nowadays the scene’s major players are Sans Pression, Yvon Krevé, Les Architekts and Muzion. Most of them combine French, Québécois slang, Creole and English into a unique brand of dunn language. Over the years, what could be defined as a typical style of Montreal rap beats has also developed: dramatic strings or pianos layered over hard drums. (Lots of those samples actually come from seventies’ French records.) Listen to a dope Mont Real instrumental and you’ll think there’s someone in your house. The city’s English scene has been struggling a bit but groups like Shades of Culture, Butta Babees, Obscure Disorder, Overproof and Offsides maintain the focus.

Toronto is definitely the Canadian city whose rap acts have received the most exposure. That’s partly thanks to the power-movers over at Figure IV, who has managed to get every single act on their roster singed to a major. Kardinal Offishall inked a deal with MCA and killed it earlier this year with the T.O. anthem “Bacardi Slang”, K-OS is signed to Universal and Vancouver’s Rascalz are BMG soldiers. On top of that, Kardi’s Circle crewmembers got put on as well: Choclair has already dropped an album on Priority and Saukrates – widely recognized as Canada’s most versatile rap talent – has signed to Def Jam. Plus Thrust is doing his thing on Virgin. Laying the foundation behind T-Dot’s ghetto-jiggyness are underground vets like Citizen Kane, Frankenstein, Ghetto Concept, and Da Grassroots production team.

Although there’s probably rap in Saskatchewan, we’ll move on to Vancouver, where the aforementioned Rascalz have reigned supreme since the mid-nineties. Swollen Members are the new school superheroes in Van-City, powered by their very own Battle Axe imprint. Coming up on the American underground circuit, they’ve collaborated with West Coast underground icons such as Dilated and Hiero, but their music maintains a distinctively darker, Dungeons-and-Dragons-esque edge. Some say Madchild is somehow related to Kurt Cobain. Another Vancouver icon is Moka Only, who releases most of his product on Battle Axe as well. Keep an eye out for Checkmate’s indie bangers as well as for Halifax affiliates Birdapres.

DAVE ONE

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