Unreal
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Artist:
The thing I like about techno (I gave up on genre names after electronica and can no longer keep up, so I'll use techno as a generic name until I break that rule) is that at its best it can transport you to other places.
Just Close Your Eyes
Forget the World
Forget the People
Okay, its got a beat and you're meant to dance to it, but I never had the freedom to go out and do much dancing when I had the opportunity so instead the music went inwards and filled me up.
It fired off neurons and synapses that nothing else did.
It expanded my mind.
It fed my imagination.
Not all of it of course. Some of it was hideously formulaic and pedestrian.
It was all about 808's and 303's. Synthesizers and sequencers.
It was about making something so totally mechanical into a wonderfully organic soundscape.
Tracks that could manipulate the building blocks of sound itself and create a living, breathing atmosphere in which you could immerse yourself and forget it was just a song.
Whilst going through my CD collection recently I came across an old favourite of mine, forgotten in the midst of family life as not being listenable enough, most of the tracks accompanying it were rave standards that tend to get recycled with every 'new' compilation, but I remember before 'rave' music became its own worst enemy and Altern-8 were known as Nexus 21.
The Deep Heat and Thin Ice compilation albums of the late eighties early nineties capture the diversity of what was going around at the time.
The track that I was surprised to find that reminded me of this was by Nightmares on Wax.
'Aftermath' is such an ethereal, monstrous pleasure I was cross with myself that I had let it be forgotten.
Rediscovered and replayed many times on my walkman phone, every time it comes on I just have to stop what I'm doing and close my eyes, savouring every second of it.
One thing that I'm a sucker for on techno tracks is the way they use the vocals. I'm not interested in hearing some sea-cruise songstrel belt one out over the top of a by-the-numbers synth-string overload. I want the vocals to contribute something interesting to the song.
Take the two tracks I've written about already 'Cowgirl' and 'The Box'. Both have a unique dynamic because of the way the vocals create their own rhythm or set the tone. If I want to listen to some real singing I'll pull out my motown albums. There needs to be a more playful, experimental aspect with the vocals to match the intensity of the bleeps. I want to hear someone play with the frequencies of the human voice as much as they do with their synthesizer.
The last track I heard that came close to this approach was The Audiobully's 'Shot You Down'.
Here though Nightmares on Wax enhance the otherworldy aura of the music with a vocal that pitches itself like nails on a blackboard at just the right moments to send shivers through you.
So, here's another piece of my musical history I want to share with you.
Nightmares on Wax - Aftermath
Enjoy!
Just Close Your Eyes
Forget the World
Forget the People
Okay, its got a beat and you're meant to dance to it, but I never had the freedom to go out and do much dancing when I had the opportunity so instead the music went inwards and filled me up.
It fired off neurons and synapses that nothing else did.
It expanded my mind.
It fed my imagination.
Not all of it of course. Some of it was hideously formulaic and pedestrian.
It was all about 808's and 303's. Synthesizers and sequencers.
It was about making something so totally mechanical into a wonderfully organic soundscape.
Tracks that could manipulate the building blocks of sound itself and create a living, breathing atmosphere in which you could immerse yourself and forget it was just a song.
Whilst going through my CD collection recently I came across an old favourite of mine, forgotten in the midst of family life as not being listenable enough, most of the tracks accompanying it were rave standards that tend to get recycled with every 'new' compilation, but I remember before 'rave' music became its own worst enemy and Altern-8 were known as Nexus 21.
The Deep Heat and Thin Ice compilation albums of the late eighties early nineties capture the diversity of what was going around at the time.
The track that I was surprised to find that reminded me of this was by Nightmares on Wax.
'Aftermath' is such an ethereal, monstrous pleasure I was cross with myself that I had let it be forgotten.
Rediscovered and replayed many times on my walkman phone, every time it comes on I just have to stop what I'm doing and close my eyes, savouring every second of it.
One thing that I'm a sucker for on techno tracks is the way they use the vocals. I'm not interested in hearing some sea-cruise songstrel belt one out over the top of a by-the-numbers synth-string overload. I want the vocals to contribute something interesting to the song.
Take the two tracks I've written about already 'Cowgirl' and 'The Box'. Both have a unique dynamic because of the way the vocals create their own rhythm or set the tone. If I want to listen to some real singing I'll pull out my motown albums. There needs to be a more playful, experimental aspect with the vocals to match the intensity of the bleeps. I want to hear someone play with the frequencies of the human voice as much as they do with their synthesizer.
The last track I heard that came close to this approach was The Audiobully's 'Shot You Down'.
Here though Nightmares on Wax enhance the otherworldy aura of the music with a vocal that pitches itself like nails on a blackboard at just the right moments to send shivers through you.
So, here's another piece of my musical history I want to share with you.
Nightmares on Wax - Aftermath
Enjoy!
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