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I'll be honest. I haven't really dug into my minimal electronic music obsession deep enough to be into really independent-type artists yet. But yesterday, I was introduced to a netlabel that specializes in electronic music called Thinner/Autoplate, and most of this stuff is pretty good. I chose one artist in particular to highlight: Christian Dittmann
The little bio thing (it's written in german and english) describes Dittmann's work on Emporio as:
Beyond the obvious musical influences of techno and dub, the elements of “Emporio” are of two kinds. The first ingredient is explicit and definable whereas the second is intrinsic, almost mystical - rooted in the experiences and emotions of it's creator - and only revealed in a minimal way.
Sounds pretty sophisticated. Anyway, the music is pretty decent and free to download in .mp3 format.
Christian Dittmann - Dub 2
Christian Dittmann - Rechazamos El Ahora
P.S.: Is anyone else on this VIRBº shit? I actually found this netlabel through that social networking site if anyone is interested. Hit me up! (http://virb.com/lofiunico)
Almost universally regarded as the defining mixtape of microhouse, Michael Mayer's Immer compilation is an exploration of the genre from its roots in 1990s Basic Channel dub minimal techno to the glitchy broken house of artists like Montreal's Akufen. If you have the ability to acquire the mix in its entirety, I highly suggest doing so.Audision - Gamma Limit
Frank Martiniq - Adriano (M. Mayer Remix)
Last night, Thomas came home from getting high with some guy. He sat down, ate a bowl of Grapenuts and then demanded that I put on Quadrant's Dub EP for like 5 minutes before I actually did it. I was consumed in my reading of Ghetto Bassquake (but more on that later). So we turned the lights out and got into bed (him on the top bunk, me on the bottom) and listened to techno for like an hour and a half before falling asleep. I was trying not to talk about Basic Channel for the first couple of weeks into my blog, but I just can't do it. This music makes me so emotional for some reason. It's so complex. Do yourself a favor when you listen to it: Do something dramatic. Lay on the dirty tile floor next to your subwoofer or something. Or do like I did, lay in bed with the lights off even. It doesn't matter. As long as you cede your mind to the music. If you do it right, your consciousness should be divided almost into thirds. One third of you will be really into the music and recognizing every fluctuation and groove change and how mathematical your perceptions of music are. For instance, a change in a bass hit that lasts fractions of a second can totally alter a beat's groove, where it's going in the song, et cetera. The second third of you should just be thinking about things in your life, even if on a superficial level. The music is really introspective while still being dance music and therefore really outwardly expressive. Think about life. Thirdly, just be dormant. Leave that part of your consciousness to sleep, so you'll be kind of dozing off, but your brain will still be really active. It's the best feeling ever, I swear. And maybe you might appreciate minimal techno as much as I do. Maybe.
Quadrant - Dub i (Side A1)
Quadrant - Dub ii (Side B1)
First up, Horace Andy is a fucking reggae legend. The man has been at it since the late 1960s creating hits for the dub soundsystem bangers in South London. He is still recording too and has been signed to Massive Attack's Melankolic label since the two collaborated in the late 1990s. Yesterday, I had to opportunity to watch Perry Henzell's The Harder They Come (1972) which has come to be recognized as the seminal film about reggae culture and the cultural conditions that created reggae. The protagonist, Ivanhoe Martin is an average street kid (played by Jimmy Cliff no less) who has a dream: to cut a record. He does so and it's a hit, the only problem is that he sells the rights to a recording baron for $20. So he decides to go on a murderous rampage killing countless police officers and innocent bystanders. Basically, the best movie ever except that Jamaican English is almost not English at all and the whole movie is really difficult to understand. Also, worth noting: many in the dancehall scene consider The Harder They Come a movie about their subculture as well, since it is fairly often that dancehall stars get ripped off for their music and they don't have the monetary wealth to make their own movie. Plus, who doesn't want to go on a murderous rampage and kill police officers?
Horace Andy - Dub There
Horace Andy - Government Dub
