Electronica. It's having a bit of a crisis I reckon. Stylistically fractured (Glitch/Electro/Spazz/Micro/Post) floating free of the kind of socio-cultural undertow that underpins scenes like (Grime/Ragga/Glitz). Rather than pin themselves down with distinct imagery and discrete releases they're washing out the market with endless minimally-designed 12"s, EPs, CDs with any micro-divisions within the genre a nonsense which the artists themselves ignore. Everyone turning a hand to a zillion different styles: "You see I am also very funky as well as (hand to brow) intelligent and (jumps up and down on the spot) sporty and (pulls funny face) abstract."
Ghostly International of Detroit came to my notice as a result of their Tangent 2002 Disco Nouveau Series, a very handy survey of Electroclash. The "Idol Tryouts" compilation is a label sampler of theirs. They may be the first Techno label of that city without historical connections to Detroit Techno. I'd say straight away that I favour the idyllic sounds vastly over the other offerings here. For example Charles Manier's "At the bottle" is a little "Electrocliche" (TM). Human League ahoy! Vintage drum-machines pock and chee. Also I didn't like Matthew (media darling) Dear's "Some New Depression." Which wasn't atonal enough to be thrilling. I checked the cabinet but just don't have the drugs to make this work properly. Ditto Twine and Kero and James Cotton's "Help me think of one" spazzcore. Would these tracks work innna de dancehall. Nah, I'd be kipping in the bass-bin.
Nicer by far are the contributions by Ann Arbor's Midwest Product. These dudes smell of rock. It's in their veins! They can't run from it. They don't want to run from it. "Laundry" floats on a synth-ated guitar riff (almost sounds like picking, almost like a sequencer) though at the spangly Pastels chorus it becomes clear which side of the tracks they hail from from. Their "A Genuine Display" a bit more curious, G Funk squiggles in a pastoral setting. Kiln's "Ero" was grown on the same farm, this could be off Springsteen's "Nebraxas" or a Steven Stills' b-side. Not exactly a flattering comparison, but nearly. This kind of post-rockery possibly more enticing when hailing from Germany. The rock thing also contributes to my least favorite track of the LP, which I heard first last year, Dykehouse's "Map Ref. 41º N 93º W", a hatchet job of a Wire cover version, adonyne where the original was gnarly.
The best track is outputmessage's "Bernard's Song" a masterpiece in fact, and on a constant loop here this Autumn. Reminiscent of Plaid at their most sublime and a real tear-jerker. Watch this man! Proving conclusively that electronica, while in a bit of a mess, is still capable of producing exquisite wonders.
Posted by Woebot at October 20, 2003 10:41 AM