DROP THE LIME: INTERVIEW AND MIX

For the benefit of those who haven't been paying attention, this is actually Part 3 in an occasional series, where I get to quiz those artist exploring the outer limits of the dubstep continuum. Although probably a long way from what the South London originators envisioned, it was simply inevitable that others would cross-pollinate the sound with other forms, creating new hybrids that will alter the genetic code of electronica yet again. Pockets of mutoid activity are cropping-up all over the place, from here in Bristol, to Northern Ireland, Sweden and remote zones in the Australasias. This time I'm looking across the Atlantic to see how the virus has mutated in the States, specifically in New York City, through the eyes and ears of Luca Venezia (right) , better known in certain circles as Drop The Lime. I met Luka very briefly in person last month at Toxic Dancehall and managed to persuade him to put together a little mix for the blog...actually he didn't need much persuading - he was as enthusiastic about the idea as I was! So my thanks to Luka for taking the time to put the mix together in the cause of furthering The Knowledge, and for his very open and enlightening responses to my questions.

THE INTERVIEW:

Gutta: You've been making beats since an early age. Can you just give me a flavour of the kind of things that were inspiring you as a kid?

DTL: Growing up in New York City, you're surrounded by mainstream hip hop and rock. I'm talking about commercial hip hop like Ja Rule and bands like Pearl Jam. That's still the case today, it's what the radios play and it's what runs the music industry. Music like Wu Tang Clan and Tribe Called Quest were exceptions - when I was 14 I loved all that stuff. Then I got into going to rave parties and making electronic music in rebellion against all of the pop music.

G: Anything specific to growing up in NYC that's shaped you as an artist?

DTL: Growing up in a city as hectic and packed as New York definitely influences the music I've made. I've always found architecture and design to be a big influence in making music - I grew up in Downtown Manhattan by the World Trade Center, so skyscrapers were a constant comfort to me as a child. Eventually I began to think of music visually in my mind while making it. Sounds traveling like the height of skyscrapers...the endless darkness of subway tunnels...the unity of a busy city... everybody doing their individual thing, yet moving together. So yes, growing up in NYC has had a huge influential impact on my music.

G: Were there any particular styles of music that inspired you to begin working in the electronic medium?

DTL: I definitely started to produce electronic music after hearing my first Jungle and Drum'n' Bass tracks. The basslines and rhythms drove me mad, so I went straight to buying two decks and a drum machine. Before I bought a sampler, I spent half a year trying to emulate the Amen break on a Roland DR-550. Shitloads of compression got me close, but eventually I just called up a local shop in New York, Breakbeat Science, and played them a Hype record and asked them how he made the drums sound like that. They laughed and were like, "nothing, he just sampled it".

G: Any other specific artists/tracks that stick out as important early inspirations for your work?

DTL: 2 Bad Mice, Jungle Sky artists like 1.8.7... Aphex Twin, Squarepusher...DJ Godfather, Assault and other ghetto-tech stuff, DJ Hive and Ed Rush & Optical were all big electronic/dj-related influences on me...still are!

G: You've since established yourself as a breakcore producer, yet recently you've been taking the bpms down and drawing on the latest grime/dubstep sounds from the UK for fresh inspiration. What first attracted you to that sound?

DTL: I heard my first grime tunes from DJ Scud, who released my first record, "Sweet Desire" (AMBUSH 13) a few years back. He gave me some cd-rs of pirate radio recordings, like Deja Vu fm, etc. I had already heard of Dizzee Rascal and Wiley, but that's all America really picked up on. The Deja Vu fm had instrumental grime sessions and it blew my mind, dropping tunes like Wonder's "What". After a bit, I teamed up with my neighborhood boys Shadetek and started New York's first Grime/Dubstep monthly called Bangers & Mash. Since I started out dj'ing drum'n'bass, I was into more of the Subtext, Storming, and Hotflush releases, so I touched that base, while Shadetek focused on the vocal grime.

G: What were the general reactions to these nights from the NYC crowds?

DTL: The parties went off! We had I-Sound, DJ/Rupture, Jammer, D Double E & Ears as some of the guests. We still do them, just not monthly anymore since we're all touring a lot these days.

G: So is there already a strong following for dubstep in NYC?

DTL: New York is starting to pick up on the dubstep movement, but the line between grime and dubstep is still very blurred. New York understood grime because of hip hop - it had that attitude, the urban aggression and they could relate to the MC's. Dubstep seems to scare some people away because of it's techy sounds and hypnotic feel. It's instrumental music that a dance culture like the UK understands, but the US is still stuck in hiphop/rock mode. We're not a dance culture.

G: I'm not sure most of the UK understands dubstep yet, either! Yet, with yourself, Shadetek and others like Mathhead, there seems to be a creative momentum picking up, in NYC at least....?

DTL: There is a good handful of us, but I really only know of the ones I play and chill with - Mathhead and Shadetek are some of those. Philadelphia has got some good cats - Starkey and Dev79 repping the sound, and California has got Kid Kameleon who's is also a good friend from when he lived here - but New York as of now, as far as I know, its slim. I had a weekly last year with Criterion from the Brooklyn Beats label, and attendance was slim. Drum 'n' bass crews are starting to pick up on it in New York, and I'll be dj'ing at a few parties in 2006... wonder how that will cross over though?

G: Hmm, there's a similar experiment going on here in Bristol with the Noir d'n'b night, although I haven't managed to attend that one yet, so not sure how the clientel are reacting to the dubstep t'ing...but let's talk about your music - are you enjoying the freedom of working with beats under 150bpm again? Specifically, does it give you the opportunity to explore spacial/atmospheric elements that wouldn't be possible in the more frantic/edited breakcore styles?

DTL: Breakcore became very limiting to me. I found myself being experimental or fast just to be that, and stopped thinking about the actual production and vibe. With slower 150 and lower bpm tracks, I am able to let the music breathe, allow each and every part have it's moment to shine. Things just get muddled in those 200+ bpm ranges. I always found empty space, the pause, to be key in a track, and that pause is heavier now with 150 and lower - it grabs you instead of passing you by in the hectic storm that breakcore is these days.

G: Listening to your mix, it has sonic references from breakcore & ragga jungle but with the basslines and tempos from grime...a real crossover sound which doesn't fit easily in either camp. What do you call this new music you're making...and does 'Grim' mean anything to you as a generic tag?

DTL: The 'Grim Dubs' releases are heavy, and I love what Atki2 and Boxcutter are doing...so many good releases right now coming out from the heavier side of dubstep, but I don't want to be fast and label something quite yet. That is what attracts me so much to dubstep, fuckstep, breakstep, grimecore beats - whatever you want to call these things - it is brand new, and so many good producers are pumping out something everyday, but each thing is all so different.

G: 'Grimecore'? Kinda obvious, but I like it! Or how about 'Dubcore'? Or 'Subcore'?!

DTL: I think we will find a name in a few years, but I'm not ready to label it...I want to see what happens, because at the rate it is moving right now, it's likely to completely branch off into new sub-genres within itself in a year from now.

G: True 'nuff...Boxcutter said almost exactly the same thing when I interviewed him recently. Are there any other UK producers you're particularly excited about?

DTL: Artists like Skream and Toasty are both making beautifully melodic and atmospheric dubstep, but are both so different at the same time. I first began djing a lot of Search and Destroy, who's earlier releases seemed to be more on the breakier side of things, yet their dj sets are heavy as fuck - half-time canons of 'drowning you down' rhythms and bass. Everyone is dipping in and out of all the possible dubstep executions, and its fucking exciting!

G: You mentioned that you've been touring a lot. What's the reaction been to your dubstep- influenced material at, say, a breakcore party like Toxic?

DTL: It's very mixed, still. I just finished a six week tour around europe with Kid 606 and I'd drop a few things along those lines and it was always a different reaction. The UK was great, always open minded, probably because you all invent the new electronic subgenres! France and Belgium was good, but places like Germany, Holland, and Italy were not feeling it at all. They'd yell "faster!" and "speed it up !", which is kind of rough when it's fans who are yelling these things.

G: While we're on the subject of live work, I gather that you've gained a lot of attention over the fact that you like singing/shouting over your beats. Was this a deliberate ploy to destabalize the accepted notions of how 'serious' electronic artists should perform...or does it come from listening to your older brother's punk records?

DTL: My first experience playing live was by singing and playing guitar in bands influenced by acts like Quicksand, Helmet, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Jawbox, Joy Division, and Suicide. I think when I first began incorporating a laptop for live sets, I felt distanced from the audience, like a wall had been built between us with the computer screen, so I began using vocals as a way to re-engage the audience and artist's relationship during a show. Musicians who use laptops got a bad rap in America, maybe even in Europe - but I think worse in Europe, because of all the clicky-cutty microhouse doffuses. So yes, I wanted to cut that notion of laptop artists being ridiculously serious and boring. Add some life into the electronics. Incorporating my vocals was more of a natural decision - I didn't plan on it. I remember it gradually became more dominant in my sets when a microphone was available. Eventually I began singing and making songs that had lyrics. Now, when I play live, I will shout, hype-up the crowd, but sing over tunes I don't normally sing over as well, and that is really the best part of being a solo electronic act - you dont have to follow the same formula as rock bands, things can change last minute according to the crowd and your ideas. The attitude of punk has always been in me, and I felt that same energy in early breakcore pioneers like dj Scud and Aphasic. I will always need to incorporate that agression in music.

G: Your mix focuses on instrumentals, but I gather you sing on most of the recorded material nowadays?

DTL: On my first CD I sang on 5 out of the 17 songs, but now the majority of my new tracks have vocals on them.

G: Yourself and Mathhead have releases forthcoming on a new imprint called Ruff. Could you explain a bit about what we can expect from this new label, both from yourself and other artists. Is it specifically for grime-influenced electronica?

DTL: Ruff is run by Rotator, the head of French label Peaceoff. It started out as a project inviting breakcore and other electronic artists to produce grime influenced music for Peaceoff, but then he decided to make it something separate after that. It's amazing to me that he started up Ruff, since he does the hardest, fastest, nastiest breakcore I know!

G: Any firm release dates yet?

DTL: The first release of Ruff, the "Urban Collision EP", will drop early in '06 with me and Black Ham (Rotator), and the second will be Mathhead's heavy "Skyjacker" anthem and Starkey doing a remix of one of my tracks, "Glassy Eyes" .

G: With Planet Mu also moving further into dubstep territory, can you see other established idm/electronica/breakcore labels embracing this new hybrid style?

DTL: It seems natural...Planet Mu has moved into grime territory, Rephlex has as well. Dubstep and grime stuff is the freshest thing out there right now. It gives me the same feeling I would get from drum'n'bass & jungle when it first hit. A good dubstep-grime track makes me jealous in a way I can't explain. I hear a tune that is so good, it triggers impatience and drive in me to make something better than it... I hate to love it.

G: So what other material have you got planned for release?

DTL: There's a CD EP called "Shot Shot Hearts" which is dubstep/breakcore kind of stuff with vocals on Tigerbeat6 released March 16th. Also "Shot Gun Wedding 4" coming out January 26 on Violent Turd. That's all dubstep, grime and 4x4 grime. I'm the A-side and the B-side is Syrup Girls from NYC. Nasty, nasty djs! I also have a grimy, dirty new Shockout 12" split with Machine Drum coming out, with "If Yuh Nuh Yu Cockie Bruck Dung" featuring Guess on vocals.

G: There's also a couple of tracks in your mix from a release called "We Never Sleep". What's that all about?

DTL: That's my next full length LP, scheduled for April 2006. It's still not done yet though...

G: What about these tunes from you and Starkey coming out on Minikomi's new Kid Magnet label?

DTL: Ooh. Yes. Shit, I haven't heard from him in a while - don't even know what the EP is called...err...but yes, I'm looking forward to it...

(a quick call to Minikomi reveals that he's still skint, so no sign of the EP getting pressed in the immediate future!)

G: The final track in your mix, called "Bad Girls", is one sick piece of work...but what's 'Trouble & Bass'? Is it an artist you've remixed or a label, or something?

DTL: Trouble & Bass is actually a label I am starting. As of now it's just a sound crew with a bunch of local New York acts like Mathhead. He did a killer dj mix for it - it's on his website. The first release from Trouble & Bass will actually be a white label series, hopefully ready for May. I'm still waiting on whether or not Cargo will do distribution though, so the whole thing is still pretty up in the air. Raah...

G: I gather you're quite in demand as a remixer, aren't you?

DTL: I've got a bunch of remixes out there - one megamix of Mathhead's debut EP, a Kid 606 remix of "Ecstacy Mutherfucker", "Planet of the Fight Club", a Versusbattle EP...I know of a bunch more, but I've had too much scotch...

G: You've remixed an Atki 2 track as well, haven't you? When's that coming out?

DTL: Yes. That's on the "Sweaty Palms" EP, out on Shadetek this month I believe. I remixed "Shocking Out".

G: Your mix features a remix of an artist called Maudcore. Who the hell is that?

DTL: She's this girl in France, 'D-Mo', who got a bunch of people to produce for her - Rotator, Patric Catani, Roy Z. It's not done yet though. "Club Diggerz" is the track I produced for it. Technically it's my tune, but it's coming out as if it's her project...confusing, huh?

G: Er...yeah. Any further live/touring plans?

DTL: I've been touring and doing one-offs for six months in europe, so I'm going to head back home and tour the US in the spring.

G: Okay, let's finish off with the really obvious question: Where does the name Drop The Lime come from, and what does it signify?

DTL: When dirt bikes race in India, there is a ritual where you drop a lime and bless the bike before it takes off. After the bike has been blessed the lime is dropped in front of the front wheel and crushed by the bike as it begins the race. That's one explanation behind the name - it changes all the time. At the moment, this is what it means to me. Mysterious blessings of soulful, passionate desire. Take it to the max yo. Pump pump pow. Haha...

DROP THE LIME - GUTTERBREAKZ SET

Tracklist: (all exclusive DTL dubs unless stated)

0:00 Strong Pony
3:19 Coal Box Black
5:36 Man Deer Hunted
9:15 Brooklyn Skank (forthcoming on Ruff Records, RUFF 001)
11:33 Guts (Dollars Down mix)
13:10 Club Diggerz (Maudcore - DTL remix)
14:05 Scary Love (dub mix, forthcoming on "We Never Sleep", Tigerbeat6 Records)
17:17 Grills
19:15 Oceans (4x4 mix, forthcoming on "We Never Sleep",Tigerbeat6 Records)
21:06 Life Vest
24:00 Bad Girls (forthcoming on Trouble and Bass)

DTL Website
DTL @ discogs

GUTTA GALLERY 2005

DJ Pinch


Rooted Records, Gloucester Road, Bristol


Analord: Fully Loaded


Loefah & Mala @ Subloaded II


Skull Disco cd-r


Atki 2 & Hannuman - Monkey Steak


Sick mix CD - buy it here.



DJ Blazey & Joker


'Pinch Dubz'


Forensics


Received today - cheers, blud...


Bristolian Graffiti c/o Psychbloke


Grim Dubs Vol.4 - Test Pressing


The mission continues....


Thanks to everyone...you know who you are.

Apologies to uncredited photographers.

I'm nearly done for the year...one more post to come...it's big!

PS. I hope everyone's been following the' Blackdown Soundboy End Of Year Review' series? If not, check the latest entry by me, then scroll down the page to see what else you missed...

MORE RETRO-FRESHNESS...

Following my recent Belgian post, I got mail from Ed DMX, casually informing me that he put out an EBM-influenced EP on Sonicgroove Records earlier this year. Apparently he'd been going 'round claiming that EBM and Industrial was the next big thing! Can't see it happening somehow, but I'm really feeling the "Body Destruction" EP regardless. Having mined so much goodness from the '80s over the years, it was inevitable that Ed would eventually zone-in on the Euro Body Music vibe and, on the opening title track, he seemingly imagines a world where the shady DX-7 sounds of Front 242 are still a dominant factor in the dancefloor equation. Retro(a)gressive? Yes, but it's so far off the cultural radar, it's literally screaming with originality. Wicked nostalgia grooves on a record that, if it didn't exist, I would've eventually felt compelled to invent. Oh, and check "Regolith" on the flip too...kinda EBM meets Aphex Twin circa "Mindstream Remix" (it's all about that lush snare sound!). Then there's the slow-mo meltdown of "The End Of The World" - pure apocalyptic synth-dirge of the highest order. The EP's still available over at Juno, if anyone else is interested.

Check this - inspired by my post, Ed started working on a New Beat tune to rival V/VM's efforts. This is what we need - a (new) New Beat production race. Who else will join in the fun?

DUBLOADED

The basic concept behind Bristol's new Dubloaded event is to take all the elements of the original Subloaded (quality dubstep and grime selection with a weighty soundsystem to do it justice) but scale it down as a regular monthly thing, with a few more traditional dub, dancehall and jungle elements to draw new punters and hopefully build a lasting fanbase for this sound. On the strength of last night's second outing, this tactic seems to be working. The party went off, although I noticed that once again nobody seemed to be taking any photos. I'm trying to report on this scene as best I can, but if there's one thing I'm totally useless at it's taking pictures in these semi-darkened rooms. I'd like to have a few images to illustrate these little write-ups, but I need help from a decent photographer. I'm looking for someone who's attending all the same sort of events as me, who happens to have a decent digital camera and a bit of technique, who can e-mail me a few good shots within 24 hours. Anyone out there think they fit the bill? If so, gimme a shout. Anyway, onto the muzik...

Appleblim back-to-back with Wedge was a real shocker. I had no idea these guys were sitting on so much strong, original material. Apart from Shackleton's "Limb By Limb", I don't think I recognised any of the other tunes they played during their hour behind the decks. Wedge's dubplate selection in particular had me drooling for the cd-r he's been promising me for a while, and he's definitely a producer to watch out for next year. I was really hoping to hear 'Blim's massive "Cheat I" over a soundsystem, but unfortunately he'd given away all his test pressings and didn't have any remaining copies with him! (these guys play out strictly on vinyl/acetate). Maybe next time....(and please let there be a 'next time' for these guys very soon!)

Next up was Rinse FM's Chef (so called presumably due to his similarity to the South Park character, rather than his culinary skills?!), a hugely respected DJ in London, and last night he showed the Bristol crowd why, cooking up a ferocious set that provided a perfect balance between the familiar and the jaw-droppingly unfamiliar. Highlights for me included the really long transition between Skream's "Lightening Dub" and "Pop Pop" by Vex'd, and the way he had the riddim from Macabre Unit's "Lift Off" underneath Coki's "Officer" giving that track such a different sense of momentum ("Officer" got rewound about five times during the night) plus several incredibly sick new dubs by God Knows Who? I had several more of those "what the FUCK am I listening too?!" moments, for sure. Chef was undoubtedly the star of the night. All you night-owls, Aussie dubheads and Kiwi steppers out there can catch his Rinse show on Sunday nights from 1-3am GMT, or download this recent show from last month, featuring a special guest appearance from Skream!

Then Chef handed the cans to Loefah who, presumably still buzzing from his retro-JA selection in the bar earlier, kicked-off with "Ring The Alarm" by Tenor Saw and Buju Banton, which is for me a particular favourite vintage Dancehall cut. But from there on in it was strictly old skool 'propa' jungle. I'm terrible at ID'ing this sort of stuff...quite a few things I recognised from old mixtapes but couldn't tell you what or by who. My man Tom aka Peverlist came on next winding up the junglist pressure even further. To look at him, so neat and bespectacled, you'd think Tom would be playing some really brainy abstract electronica or something, but no...hardcore badbwoy vibes all the way. And for someone who claims to hate DJing, he managed to keep his shit cool despite having Chef, Loefah and Pinch standing over him watching his every move. I would've crumbled into a fucking pile of rubble under their overly-attentive gaze! Fair play, mate...fair bloody play.

One thing I noticed last time I watched Tom in action, is that you'll never see Pinch quite so hyperactive, nor for that matter will you see the dreadlocked, imposing figure of Sgt. Pokes quite so animated, or Loefah with such a huge grin on his face as when the jungle riddims are being played. When they're spinning dubstep the vibe is really concentrated and intense....it's almost like they're as curious and shocked by this 'thing' they've created as we are. Jungle is where they let their hair down and party, cos for most of these guys it's their first love. Probably the reason why Plasticman, despite emerging from the same general scene, has such a different sound and attitude is due to the fact that his only influence is Garage.

It was a great night all round, and really busy too! As a regular home for the local dubstep community,this venue feels about right in terms of size and location (for now!). Speaking of community, this is probably the final dubstep related event I'll attend in 2005, and so it was fitting that just about everyone I've come to know this year on the local scene was present (with the notable exception of Blazey who was ill - get well soon, mate - and ThinKing who was at Destructive in London). It was struck home to me just how many new friends I've made recently. This time last year the only person in the whole room I'd even heard of was Loefah (via Rephex's "Grime 2") , yet here I was saying hello and chatting away with all the people mentioned above, plus other regular faces like Sam Atki2, Pete Bubonic, Jack, Ed, Tim 'Dub Boy' etc. I seem to have become involved with the local scene in a way I haven't felt since probably the mid-90s. Despite my advancing years I don't even feel out of place anymore. Oh, and I finally got to have a chat with Henry from Dubstudio as well, concerning the technicalities of cutting dubplates (which I'm still seriously considering doing) so that's another useful contact made! One other thing - Loefah let slip that his album project might not be as dormant as suggested at the Blackdown interview, but he wouldn't elaborate any further cos he reckons I'm a 'journalist' -haha. Martin Blackdown is a real journalist and I'm surprised he decided to blog that interview. I appreciate that I probably have a slightly myopic view of the music scene as a whole, but hands down Loefah is one of the most important artists to emerge from the underground in the last couple of years - surely Martin could've sold that interview to a magazine?! And if not, then all those magazines need to be put in a big fucking pile and torched, cos they're obviously just a huge waste of trees. Fuck 'em. If you wanna know what's going on with innovative new music, just keep checking my links bar...

I'm off out partying again tonight, so this is just a quicky to say that Kek-W's review of The Fall gig, and all the other stuff that happened before and after (or should that be 'after and before'?) has finally arrived. I think we'll take that as the official document of the evening. And looks like disposable analogue cameras still have the edge on those fancy digital things, eh Psychy? ;-)

Also, just in case any of my visitors don't read the Idiot's Guide (and if not, why not?), I'd just like to second Loki's recommendation for new blogger Kid Kameleon. If this first offering is anything to go by, I think we're gonna be in for quite a few treats in the future from this fella....

BACK TO THE BENELUX

As hinted in last week's retro post, before I made the connection with Chicago House one of the biggest sounds in my life was EBM (Euro Body Music) and specifically the Belgian group Front 242. Having gotten over the shock that anything good could possibly be produced in Belgium, I was soon immersed in their particular brand of dark, semi-industrial dance music. I remember skipping a free study period in school to make the journey into town to buy their latest album "Official Version" in 1987, then returning to the Sixth Form common room at lunch time triumphantly brandishing this monumental release, slapping it on the stereo expecting my fellow students to be blown away by this record. This is what they heard:

FRONT 242 - W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G.

I was of course transfixed by it's relentless, grinding electronic embrace, in awe of the nameless dread and paranoia as the singer bleated out the line "They're coming down! They're coming down for you!" But, just like previous attempts to get them into groups like Cabaret Voltaire, Mantronix and even early Kraftwerk albums, the music was met with either blind incomprehension or outright hostility by my piers. Yes, it was a lonely road I traveled back then, without the sense of community that can be established with like-minded souls through the internet today. My only guide was the excitable reportage of certain journalists at Melody Maker, NME and Sounds, plus of course John Peel (who definitely played the odd 242 track) and not forgetting Janice Long, who had a good ear. She was the Mary Anne Hobbs of the '80s.

One of the things that I found most intriguing about Front 242 was their militant pro-European stance at a time when most music produced on the continent was generally considered to be worthless pap that slavishly copied British and American trends. In a Melody Maker interview from February '87, The Stud Brothers asked them if England was a major influence on their work, to which they responded:

"No England, in my eyes, at the moment, is just turning around, doing the same old stuff, going back to the old things like hip-hop for example. And anyway we always saw the electronic scene as coming from Germany not England".

This was an outrageous, egotistical slur on my nation's honour, but that made me even more excited about the whole concept. The very fact that they referred to hip-hop as 'old stuff' in 1987 gives some idea of how far ahead these guys were thinking. Undoubtedly it was Front 242 who bestowed an almost fetishistic interest in all things Belgian in me, that would carry me through the late '80s New Beat period into the Hardcore sound of the early '90s.

Ahhh, wait... let's spin back there and talk about New Beat for a while. I mentioned it last year in my first post on Belgian Hardcore (that was supposed to be a regular series, but other forces were at work moving me into new territories). One point I failed to make was that New Beat was a very different animal to EBM. Rather than being a militant anti-everything-else movement, New Beat, in essence, took inspiration from 242's lead, but by assimilating the new dance sounds from England, Chicago and Detroit synthesised a new bastardised Frankenstein hybrid that, if you'd asked me in early 1989, I would've probably said was the most awesomely strange and inventive music on the planet. Bar a few exceptions, the UK dance scene didn't really start getting interesting until about 1990 and although I was by that point very much 'involved' with the Chicago/Detroit thing, Belgian New Beat had, by accident or design, a distinct taste of it's own. It was darker than anything else, yet at the same time side-splittingly funny. It was tasteless, smutty and offensive yet resonated with a brutal, elemental force that simply couldn't be ignored once you got the virus. As a typically uptight Brit, I found the Belgian's unabashed flaunting of sexuality both seedy and appealing, a similar sensation to casting furtive glances at the outrageously rude adult magazines that lined the bookshelves in most european cities I visited on family holidays.

When I think of what the New Beat artists achieved in barely two years it's nothing short of staggering. Here was a nation suddenly finding a sense of purpose and identity through music, compressing the Acid House blueprint into a monotonous, pornographic netherworld, with the tracks sometimes slipping below the 100bpm mark to create a druggy warped alternative that probably comes from the fact that the style was accidentally discovered when dj's started spinning disco records at 33rpm. To give you a classic example of how New Beat mutated the American sounds, check this track by 101 - seemingly a straight cover of Reese's "Rock To The Beat", which manages to crush and spit out every last drop of euphoria, every nuanced element of 'soulful' funk inherent in the original, leaving only a ghoulish, plodding, emotionally numb aberration - music for acid zombies and decaying automatons. It's so fucking wrong, yet somehow I still feel drawn to it, in the same way that it's possible to feel aroused in the presence of a gorgeous yet extremely bored and disinterested female.

101 - ROCK TO THE BEAT

This is the opening track on "New Beat Take 3", part of the iconic series of compilation albums released by the Subway label, and invaluable to us Brits who wanted an affordable way to keep up with the prolific output from Belgium at that time. I don't know what possessed me to pull it off the shelf a few weeks ago for a spin, but it hit me like a ton of bricks all over again. As well as early tracks from future Belgian Tekno stars like Spectrum, The Project and T-99, "Take 3" also contains other stone cold classics like "Acid In The House" by Miss Nicky Trax, one of the most fearsome excursions into detached hypno-house of the era. Over a dirge-like 120bpm acid lockdown with off-key synth stabs, Miss Trax mutters the words "There's Acid in the House" sounding more like a dead-eyed junkie prostitute ushering you into some hellish backstreet drug den, rather than an ecstacy-fueled diva of the dancefloor. Then there's another personal favourite in "Something Scary" by Zsa Zsa Laboum which, with it's creepy sampled female voice saying "I was alone in my room...something grabbed me and smothered me" pre-dates hardcore's paranoid horrorshow phase by several years. When a second female voice hisses the word "Acid!" it conjures none of the hedonistic bliss associated with the UK Acid House scene - it's more like a cruel dominatrix taunting, teasing, hinting at dark illicit secrets lying just beyond your reach. Here's one more tune for now - the sort of record that could only have come from Belgium, with it's cheap, slutty samples and a sinister yet slighty silly male voice saying "This is New Beat Generation" (they all loved bigging-up themselves, and the genre, on the records), with snatches of sound hijacked from popular UK/US dance records of the day locked into a sluggish sub-Front 242 4/4 stomper. Damn, they don't make 'em like this anymore....

NEW BEAT GENERATION - SUCK THE BEAT

The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that this was a cruelly ignored yet vital genre in the evolution of dance music, one that seems to have been brushed under the carpet; an embarrassing anomaly that bent the structure of dance the wrong way and is now best forgotten. Like Italodisco, I imagine that anyone who wasn't involved with it the time might now assume that it's true relevance (if any) is marginal. But I was there, man. I know how good those records sounded at the time and I'm sure they must've had some influence on the course of music, even if the influencies might not care to admit it now. I seem to recall that jungle/tekstep pioneer Ed Rush had a thing for the Belgians. My intention was to start researching it a bit more, start tracking down more of the key releases, labels and artists and present my findings over a period of time. Shame I sold off most of my original collection for the sake of shelf space years ago. Dammit!! Then, when I mentioned the idea to Simon Reynolds he informed me that, by a bizarre twist of synchronisity, the New Beat revival had already commenced, under the patronage of James Kirby, better known in electronica circles as the mischievous V/VM. Not only has James begun building a website for New Beat info and resources, he's even recorded a 12 inch EP that pays heavy dues to "The Sound Of Belgian New Beat".

On tracks like "Benelux (Ghent Mix)" and "Be-Dash - Must Do", James concocts a near perfect facsimile of the original New Beat blueprint. Although one could question the validity of such a straightforward homage, the fact that he's prepared to imitate such an apparently 'dead' genre is what invests this record with such a fresh sense of excitement. Yet he can't resist pushing things a little too far, as on "Viag.ra" and the outrageous "Anal Acid (butt plug mix)" (perhaps inspired by Edwards & Armani's "Up Your Bum"?!) which revel in new heights of scuzzy porno filth, whilst opening track "I Wanna Fuck Miss Nicky Trax" (boy, can I relate to that concept!) takes New Beat to new extremes of bleak, corrosive dirge-tronica that I never heard on the originals. For reasons too complicated to discuss here, this record is not available in the shops and probably never will be. However, James has already sold a substantial number of copies through the website by word of mouth alone. It seems the New Beat fans are still out there... somewhere. Actually, I know a few of them myself, which is why I made sure to get copies into the hands of some of my local bloggin' colleagues. You can read some early responses from Kid Shirt, Loki and (in his own inimitable style) Psychbloke, with more to come hopefully. My plan is to generate a 'Belgian Wave' of New Beat enthusiasm throughout the blogosphere!

Anyone who still needs convincing should check out the Mixamatosis "New Beat Take 0" mix, which features plenty of classic examples of the genre, including most of the ones I mentioned above. What struck me most about it was the fact that Mixamatosis is actually some young guy who, inspired by what he saw at the site, downloaded all the tracks off P2P and assembled the mix digitally, proving that New Beat can inspire a new generation of fans who's judgement isn't clouded by nostalgia.

Having corresponded with V/VM recently, it's obvious that he's way ahead of me in terms of research and enthusiasm for this sound, so for anyone out there who is intrigued by what I've written, make sure to bookmark his website and keep an eye out for future updates, including the original video for "Acid In The House" and further New Beat mixes for download. For my part, I'll probably do a few more little posts on the subject over time, perhaps focusing on certain key artists or labels.

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It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when New Beat transformed into what we now refer to as Belgian Hardcore. For me the transition from affirmed New Beat compilations to stuff like the utterly seminal early volumes in the "Reactivate" series was a natural progression. I was just following the scene's development, same as I am with dubstep now. I guess the key lies in Joey Beltram's "Energy Flash", first released on Derrick May's Detroit label Transmat in 1990 and subsequently licensed to long-standing New Beat label R&S. Although it had many of the ingredients for New Beat, "Energy Flash" took the sound into harder, more intense areas that spawned a subtle yet significant shift in emphasis. By 1991, New Beat was already a distant memory as the Belgian's powered forward with heavier sounds and faster bpms. That year saw Belgium strike it's biggest assault on the UK's consciousness, with a regular flow Top 40 hits, no doubt aided by the brief but fortuitous use of breakbeats. To the casual listener, Belgian acts like T-99 and Quadrophonia probably didn't sound much different from the UK breakbeat-rave of Bizarre Inc., The Scientist, Kicksquad etc. I started writing about that period in my second Belgian post, this time last year. Never got any further, though...maybe next year!

But the breakbeats weren't to last, and if any track could be said to pave the way for Belgium's headlong plunge towards the pure speedfreak machine beats of Gabber, it's probably this one:

LA STYLE - JAMES BROWN IS DEAD

After a crushing salvo of sampled choir riffs and brutal hammering four-to-the-floor kick drum , the (fake) newsreader announces "James Brown Is Dead" which, by association, sounds the death-knell for breakbeats in Belgian hardcore. The track's militaristic, almost fascistic elements could be interpreted as an utter refutation of all American, 'black', funky influence. A return to the militant pro-European purist ideology that Front 242 first put forward nearly five years earlier, heralding a whiter-than-white future for euro-techno. Taken on those terms, the track could be seen as unspeakably evil, but there's an almost cartoonish element, an over-the-top, jack-booted caricature that makes me think the whole thing was very tongue-in-cheek. The sentiment seems to have been lost on the UK crowd though, as this was one of the few true Belgian anthems that failed to chart in this country. Whatever, I still think it's a brilliantly produced piece of music that always makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Interestingly, Dutch hardcore group Holy Noise recorded a splendid answer-back tune:

HOLY NOISE - JAMES BROWN IS STILL ALIVE!

An impassioned plea to the Benelux crew to keep their shit funky? - or a cynical cash-in? The jury's out on that one...

COMPILATION OF THE YEAR?

Well it is in my book, anyway. Matt Woebot's sublime collection of obscure German experimental new wave pop alternatives from the early '80s really is an outstanding document of the 'Neue Deutche Welle' scene (NDW for short), the culmination of months of research and probably spending a small fortune on e-bay tracking down all those artifacts. The fact that Matt must've trawled through hours of crap/average stuff to hone in on the real gems is equally to be applauded. Like No Wave, Italodisco and (dare I say it) New Beat, here's another 'Secret History' that absolutely needed to be unearthed and reappraised.

The full tracklist with some background on each can be found here. There's nothing that I don't like on this disc, although particular praise must go to Mathias Shuster for the incredibely primitive guttertronics of "Im Namen Des Volkes", the amazingly prescient dubtronica of Monoton's "Root Of 1=1" (I must get hold of the cd reissue!) and the weird yet extremely catchy electro-pop of "Wir Sind Gluchlicj" by Stahlnetz. The only act I'd even heard of was Die Krupps. I got into some of their later stuff when they were more like an industrial-rock group, but I never backtracked to 1981 when they released the mind-blowing 15 minute dub-funk whiteout that is "Stahlwerksynfonie". Yet most of these tracks sound like the soundtrack to a spectacular alternative pop universe where Neu!, Joe Meek, Suicide and early Sheffield pioneers like the Cabs and proto-Human League altered the DNA of mainstream popular music. The sound of my weirdest dreams....

Matt's only been handing out cd-r copies to a select few, so why am I bothering to blog about something that's unattainable to 99% of readers? Firstly, it's a public 'thank you' to Matt for sending me a copy, and second a plea to any discerning reissue labels out there to licence these tracks and put the compilation out officially, with a nice booklet 'n shit. And pay Matt a tidy little fee for compiling and writing the sleeve notes. Seriously, it needs to be done.

Fantastic work, Matt. Your chest....

TOXICITY

Wow, the final Toxic Dancehall was rammed. When I arrived the queue was spilling out all the way to the main road. This regular event at the Black Swan has obviously built up a huge following and it seems odd that it's all coming to a close now. But at least they went out on a high note, and I'm glad I finally attended, having managed to miss every other one to date! Of course, Toxic is all about the speed-thrill mentalism of breakcore-jungle insanity, which isn't really my thing these days. But I must say I thoroughly enjoyed Monkey Steak's junglist set, especially when they dropped down a gear for some skanky dancehall lockgrooves and occasional bursts of chunky Two-Step aggro. From a visual angle, there's something about the chemistry between Atki2 and Hanumann that makes me chuckle with glee. The way they bob up and down excitedly, occasionally throwing their hands in the air in an almost co-ordinated fashion gives them the appearance of malfunctioning android dancers. It's nothing they've actually planned, just the result of all that enthusiasm and love for what they do. I get a great 'feel good factor' from these guys...now I wanna see 'em doing another sublow set!

The problem with these big two-room multi-events is that it's hard to keep tabs on all the acts you wanna catch. Although I had the pleasure of meeting Drop The Lime, unfortunately I managed to completely miss his set, although I did catch fellow American Mathhead in action after hearing the familiar sound of "Skyjacker" coming through the walls. I featured an earlier version of this tune on GutterFM a few months ago and got some appreciative feedback. He's another artist who's come from breakcore but now incorporating the grimey sounds, of which there was much evidence last night. But the main bulk of his set was still firmly in b'core territory, and he obviously still loves that style cos at one point during a particularly hectic break mash-up he jumped up on the console, gurning like a psychopath, before launching himself onto the dancefloor where he proceeded to writhe around spasmodically like an epileptic for a few moments. Now that's what I call a performance! He was followed by Bong-Ra, but after a few more minutes of 200+ bpm Amen assassination, I'd pretty much had my fill of that style, thanks very much!

I figured it was time to chill out for a bit, but then bumped into Atki2 who informed me that I simply had to head upstairs to the second room and check out this guy called RLF. Never one to miss a good tip-off, I quickly made my way up to catch the last 20 minutes of his set. I immediately recognised the bearded figure of Mr. RLF, because he used to serve me regularly at Imperial Music, one of the best independent record shops in Bristol, before it tragically closed down over a year ago. He's now producing some very impressive beats, keeping it simple but intense, with some heavyweight sublow basslines and fierce metallic percussion sounds. But again, it was his performance that I found most striking. For a start he was playing live trombone over most of the tracks with occasional warbles from a Theremin, which he would wave his hand in front of when the mood took him. Then there was the way he said 'thank you very much' whenever the crowd cheered. The personal touch. I like that. He's currently unsigned but I managed to collar him for a brief chat and thankfully he knew who I was and said he'd sort out me out with a cd-r. Looking forward to that!

RLF was followed by Vex'd (well, one of them anyway). As soon as Jamie hit the decks I remembered why I'm such a dubstep head this year. Totally head and shoulders above anything else on the fucking menu, Jamie was reppin' the sound hard, spinning not just his own compositions but also some deadly dubs from Loefah, Skream, Distance, Wiley etc...it was fucking spiritually intense, maaaan. Everyone was shocking out to the vibes, including Pinch and, I noticed, young Mathhead - soaking up the vibrations and getting deep down and murky. Yes yes YES...this is what I'm all about. The weight, the space, the emotional intensity...Jamie's the fuckin' man. By the way, he had a famous fan in tow - Radio 1's Marie Ann Hobbs! I was introduced, and she was absolutely lovely.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to make it to the end of Jamie's set, due to what can only be described as 'a funny turn'. I swear I'd only had a couple of Red Stripes but suddenly I got all dizzy and nueseous and had to get outside to the garden area for some air...and promptly threw-up, although I did it quite discreetly into an empty pint glass. Felt slightly better afterwards, but realised I needed to get home fast. Pathetic or what? Maybe I really am getting too old for this shit?!!

CLICK & ENLARGE

So it's been twenty years since the Blissblogger started making a living from music journalism? Good god. Y'know back in the pre-internet stone age I call the '80s, writers like Simon were a lifeline for people like me. Through his writing at Melody Maker he regularly inspired and enthralled with his energetic (but never hyperbolic) frothings, giving me glimpses of fascinating futures and tickling my imagination with his keen descriptive language. It seemed that, wherever new innovative music was being made, Simon would be there to cover it. Although I wouldn't say he entirely shaped my tastes, he certainly helped guide me down certain paths, and often re-affirmed that which I already believed (such as his brief but totally on-the-money reference to Martin Rushent's Human League in the above Mantronix review, at a time when nobody was saying anything good about that sound). Although I would never consciously try to emulate his style of writing, I suppose that inevitably it must have influenced my own work here at Gutterbreakz. The very fact that I started blogging in the first place was because I was inspired by his work at Blissblog, along with other pioneers like Woebot, K-Punk, etc.

Anyway, I don't wanna lick his arse all night, so just to say congratulations on making it this far mate, and keep the inspirations coming. Thanks for the 'Spirals Tribe' link by the way (haha, good one) - I always get a shitload of extra hits whenever I get a mention at Blissblog!

HISTORY OF HOUSE - A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

So what was the tune or event or experience that got you into 'electronic dance music'? For people around my age maybe it was some ecstasy-fuelled adventure to one of the early illegal raves. By summer 1988, the tabloids were increasingly running frantic news features on the new Acid House phenomenon of E'd up youths dancing all night in an orgy of debauched psychedelic hedonism. I'd just turned 19 years old at that time, and you might expect that I was in the thick of this brand new Rave Culture. But I wasn't. I was just reading about it in the papers the same as my Dad was. I was not one of the early pioneers by any stretch of the imagination. I was still living at home at that point, in a small town called Yate on the very outskirts of Bristol.

Although me and my mates would occasionally take the bus into town for a night out, my social life basically revolved around the what was happening in Yate. We had quite a few pubs in the area, but the main focal point was Spirals Laser Disco, situated in the main shopping area. Thinking about that place now, it pretty much represents everything that I now detest about mainstream clubs. It was basically a 'cattle market' where the music was just a soundtrack for a bunch of young people to get pissed-up on lager and try getting off with a member of the opposite sex. But it was the only place you could go out drinking late and still stagger home on foot. Plus I was actually into drinking and pulling birds anyway, same as all my mates were. The music at the club consisted of the latest uptempo hits of the day (anything from Wham!'s "Wake me Up Before You Go-Go" to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", which was a massive Spirals tune) plus a few hi-energy disco numbers, a bit of New Order if you were lucky etc, etc. If the club had an anthem at that time it was probably Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me", which I freely admit dancing and singing along to when trying to gain the attention of females. And yes, it was one of those clubs that always ended with a couple of slow ballads at which point all the young lovers paired off, clasping each other tightly in a drunken embrace, swaying inelegantly whilst crudely groping each other and munching each other's faces off. Some nights I was one of the lucky ones playing tonsil tennis, but other nights not so lucky, reduced to standing awkwardly at the side of the dancefloor nursing a pint along with all the other sad bastards who failed to score.

But it all seemed so innocent looking back now. Back then, nobody in Yate knew anything about ecstasy or even marijuana. Alcohol and tobacco were the strongest drugs on the menu. We all got dressed-up for a night out at Spirals - the girls in their little frilly dresses, tottering on white stillettos, with freshly permed hair, the boys in a regulation uniform of white shirt, tie and dark trousers (you weren't allowed in with jeans and trainers!). I found this old photo of me taken one night in '88 just before heading out to Spirals (see left) , which kinda sums up the image. Ghastly, innit?!! Looks like I was still pretending that I didn't need glasses back then, too. I think the reason why white was such a popular colour to wear was cos it would go all fluorescent-purple when the laser lights were on. You became, in effect, a human glow-stick. Cool or what?! But the fact remains that whilst a cultural revolution was taking place elsewhere in the country, I was worlds away in this shitty little dump, locked in a depressing cycle of booze, birds, smart white shirts and Simple fucking Minds.

Yet strangely it was this scenario that facilitated my House Music epiphany. I was already well into various forms of electronic music by that stage, following a lonely path through Hip Hop, Industrial, EBM etc, but it actually took me a little while to really warm to this new Chicago sound that everyone was getting excited/annoyed about. I was appreciating some of the early crossover hits like Steve 'Silk' Hurley's "Jack Your Body", but at that point it was still a sort of novelty thing - nobody yet knew just how important those early signs were. The 'moment of clarity' hit me on the dancefloor one night. The fact that I was wankered on booze at Spirals rather than E'd up in a field is fucking irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. To be honest I never bought into that whole Rave dream anyway, I've always been more of a cosmopolitan clubber; more of a drinker than a pill-popper. But what was the track that triggered the thunder-clap in my psyche?

HOUSEMASTER BOYS & THE RUDE BOYS OF HOUSE - HOUSE NATION

I dunno what possessed the resident DJ to start dropping that tune, but it was the first big House anthem at Spirals and all the kids went nuts when it came on. Imagine all those fairly 'straight', naive, exclusively caucasion youths, dressed in their posh clobber flaring fluorescent purpley-white, bouncing around excitedly to House Nation's relentless 4/4 throb for the first time, with the laser's emerald green beams tracing weird scribbles across the dancefloor, penetrating through thick clouds of dry ice, flashing in time to the electronic handclap rolls and mind-bendingly repetitive "ow-ow ow-ow-ow-ow 'owse nation!" sample. That first volley of four crash cymbals leading into the closed hi-hats on 1/6ths still takes my fucking breath away. And the bassline just sucks me in everytime. Maybe it's not one of the most widely revered of the Chicago classics, but in terms of impact on me personally, "House Nation" is up there with the greats.

Maybe this was the start of a whole new attitude at Spirals, but if so I didn't get to see it. Within a few months I'd left home to live in a damp, freezing flat above a hairdressing salon in central Bristol and start building a life for myself. A few years later, having risen to middle management in the civil service, I took a young lad called Paul under my wing. He was a Yate boy too and only about five years younger than me, but during our occasional conversations I learned that in the intervening years since my departure, Yate had become a total Skunk hole, with all the kids smoking huge amounts of weed and listening to Ragga. Spirals doesn't exist anymore. Last time I was in Yate, I noticed that the building was now a Pool Hall or something. It's gone forever, which is hardly important in the grand scheme of things, but it was a small part of my life that I now have very fond, if slightly hazy, memories of.

RARE TRAX

Looking through my collection of early House, Techno, Jack Trax etc, I'm ashamed to admit it's nearly all compilation albums/cassettes and UK re-presses. My limited 'beer and vinyl' budget back then didn't stretch to buying expensive American imports, plus I had no serious interest in djing at that time. Since then my obsessive music collecting habits have never reached the point where I have to own original pressings, so it doesn't bother me too much. Consequently I don't really have much in the way of classic, collectible releases from that period. But here's one I'm currently in possession of:

I'd love to claim that this record is mine, but it actually belongs to my mate Mike (who I mentioned a few weeks ago). I taped it off him many years ago, but was going through some of his records in his loft a few months back looking for anything worth ripping, came across it again and persuaded him to let me borrow it. I think it looks better in my collection...hope he doesn't ask for it back!

I met Mike through my first proper job, when we both worked as junior admin. staff in the Department Of Environment in the late '80s. Although he's now somewhat removed from the whole underground scene (basically, he grew up!), back then Mike was a bit of a mentor. Although only a few months older than me, he was an inner city lad, born and raised, and seemed so much more 'switched-on' than most people I knew from the days in Yate. He smoked weed regularly, already had an impressive collection of tunes, and vaguely knew some of the people who would go on to revolutionise Bristolian music (Massive Attack, Roni Size, etc) . We'd sometimes go out vinyl hunting together on our lunch break (often spending our entire monthly budget on pay day!) and we eventually invested in some cheap decks and a mixer (the same gear that I was still using until very recently) planning our rise to DJ stardom. Although broadly similar, our tastes weren't exactly the same - Mike was more focused on hip hop and smoother House tunes, whilst I was into darker, more experimental stuff, but that was part of the fun - the exchange of viewpoints and ideas. Also bare in mind that back then Electronic Dance Music was nowhere near as segregated and compartmentalised as it is now. It was a very healthy, exciting and open-minded time.

But back to this record...I believe it's a genuine, original imported Trax release from 1988 (although the label is printed in inverse colours to the one shown on Discogs?!). It's still got the price sticker on it, which shows how much Mike paid for it at the time:

Doesn't seem much now, but nine quid was pretty expensive back then. I've no idea what it's worth these days. It's an eight-track various artists LP featuring classic cuts from Armando, Mr. Lee and Pier's Phuture Pfantasy Club, with the whole of side two by Jack Frost & The Circle Jerks. For years I had no idea that Jack Frost was actually Adonis (most famous for the brilliant "No Way Back") but I always loved these incredibly primitive, ultra-repetitive acid workouts. As far as I can tell, only "Shout" has been re-issued in recent years (on "Acid Classics" in 2004), so can't resist sharing a couple of the others...

JACK FROST & THE CIRCLE JERKS - COOL & DRY

JACK FROST & THE CIRCLE JERKS - TWO THE MAX

I was already formulating this post when someone at Dissensus linked to this Pitchfork article. It's a fascinating series of quotes from some of the big names in the early Chicago and Detroit scenes which significantly expands on what is already known about the relationship between the two cities. I was particularly interested in the section on Roland drum machines, as it's an area that I've sometimes pondered on. Just listening to the records, you can tell that the TR-808 was quite popular with both communities, yet the TR-707 was very dominate in Chicago whilst the TR-909 was favoured in Detroit, and this article goes some way to explaining that. For those who might not know the difference, on the above Jack Frost tracks "Cool & Dry" uses a TR-707, whilst "Two The Max" is driven by an 808, with just the right amount of gated reverb on the snare.

One thing that isn't addressed is Roland's TB-303, the bassline generator used to create that distinctive squelchly noise, first discovered by DJ Pierre, which is the basis of the Acid sound. I sometimes wonder why it wasn't used much by the Detroit crew. Presumably they didn't want to emulate the Chicago sound, but when you consider that Alexander Robotnick's 303-driven Euro hit "Problemes D'amore" was such a massive influence in Detroit it seems curious that they didn't at least embrace the unique swooping accented basslines that only the 303's onboard sequencer could create. Maybe someone else might know about loads of Detroit 303 tunes (I certainly don't claim to be an expert), but the only one that immediately springs to my mind is this one:

KEVIN SAUNDERSON - THE GROOVE THAT WON'T STOP

Recorded in March 1988, this Saunderson tune fuses a perfect 303 acid squiggle with the kind of busy 909 beats, emotionally charged arrangements and structure that could only have been made in the Motor City. Wonderful stuff!

Before I go, here's another one from Kevin, recorded the previous year under his Reese guise. It's was an attempt to bring in an eerie soundtrack vibe to Detroit's tuff funk grooves and paved the way for some of the darker tracks that were to follow. The reason I include it here will be made clear in a later retro post. I just wanted to make sure everyone was familiar with it for comparison purposes...

REESE - ROCK TO THE BEAT

"The way I interpret music is different from other people. I think a lot of music sounds great basic. I try to keep it simple. It's not weird to me but for some people it's so different, they say it's weird. It's electronic dance music."

Kevin Saunderson.