Higher Intelligence Agency & Pete Namlook - S.H.A.D.O.

Fax +49-69/450464: 1997

Another of those mysterious HIA projects I'd stumbled upon in the AudioGalaxy days, the first two tracks off here cropping up in search queries. I may have even learned the tunes originated from a Pete Namlook collaboration, though only Lord Discogs confirmed it. It made sense for the two to cross paths, the Namlookian One having worked with chaps within the orbit of the Agency's music (Biosphere, David Moufang of Deep Space Network). Really, it's more surprising the pairing didn't happen sooner, but I suppose Pete's scheduling was quite tight in the mid-'90s. Gotta' crank out a few more LPs with Klaus Schulze and Bill Laswell, after all.

And boy, when I first laid eyes on that S.H.A.D.O. cover, as though viewing the classic Fax+ art through a ceiling window canopy (in space!), I knew I had to get it at some point. No, not the Ambient World re-issue, or even the HIA digital re-issue, I wanted the O.G. CD. There just wasn't any way that bad boy would come down to a reasonable price on the collector's market, no hope at all. Until it did, which is how I finally nabbed me a copy. Patience perseveres!

Right from the jump, we're in familiar territory where HIA is concerned. The bleepy sounds, the crisp electro-dub rhythms, the slightly quirky vibe of it all. In fact, for much of Intruder Detector's runtime, I don't hear much of Pete Namlook at all. Even the sections with synth pad work aren't that far removed from the sort heard in older Bobby Bird works. Aside from some of the squeely synths well past the half-way mark, Pete's sound feels absent for a collaboration. And I find that most odd because it always seems HIA is the one that gets subsumed in any musical pairings.

Following that is Secret Location, an ambient piece that's not only among the dreamiest slices of music out of the HIA/Fax+ camps, but ever. What's remarkable is I can't imagine it existed without the combined brain-share of Bird & Namlook, the former's ear towards retro-kitsch fully intact all the while making full use of the latter's impeccable sense of sonic space. You can easily imagine taking in the vista of some moon base huddled in the shadows of a lunar crater, anonymous blinking lights landing and lifting off, soon lost among the stars above. So good is this track that it's inexplicably tacked onto the bookends of Skydiver. But, why? The rest of the track sounds nothing like Secret Location, Skydiver instead doing more HIA electro-dub rhythms with Namlook synth jamming. Space Interceptors too, but that one's kinda' rambly in a vintage Fax+ way.

Never mind those two, S.H.A.D.O. ends strong with Maintaining Scan For UFO's, some crisp, crunchy electro boogie with trance-tastic synth leads. Along with the opening two tracks, I'd love to have heard more of this. Come to think of it, Namlook never did a collaboration that didn't result in multiple LPs. That must mean...

Sons Of The Subway - Ruff Rugged & Real

Infonet: 1997

That was it for Bandulu music. I'd gotten all their CDs, even nabbed a compilation or two with outlier tunes. All that remains is their series on Foundation Sound Works, which I'll never get because vinyl remains the one unattainable format for yours truly. Practical reasons, y'see. Maybe... maybe, if the North London conglomerate can band together long enough to create a Bandcamp page, and make their entire back-catalogue available in a digital format, I'll finally grab items like Black Mass, New Foundation, and EP Judgement. For now though, I must remain content with what I have. Content... content... content...

Wait a sec'! There's another Bandulu album out there, released under a completely different project? How have I never heard of this before? For sure I could have clicked on that additional alias on their Discogs page, but figured Sons Of The Subway was nothing more than another little-used pseudonym like Thunderground and New Adult. A one-off EP here, a compilation contribution there, and that's all they wrote. But nay, when Bandulu were off gallivanting with vinyl on a their own label, a full-length of Sons material was released in the waning days of Infonet. One of that print's last items, if Lord Discogs is to be believed. What a strange coincidence.

Far as I can tell, the side-project was a brief flirtation with techno a little more Detroit or 'street' than Bandulu's dubby, tribal excursions. A lone EP - Escape Ventures: Part One - was released, then sat fallow until this album came out. Again, I don't want to assume anything, but listening to this CD, I can't help but get a sense of a concept album that for whatever reason, skidded to a halt, and was filled out with other material to make good on releasing anything at all.

What concept would that be? Nothing less than going straight-up hip-hop, the titular opener a funky, swingin' slice of street sampling and scratch swagger. Cool, I'm diggin' this, but is anyone gonna' rap over this beat? No? Oh... oh dear! This isn't going to be one of those records, then? Repetitive instrumental hip-hop that desperately needs an MC toasting over top, but no MC here, no one to toast a crowd. Follow-up Fly Trap sure suggests as such, loopy acid jazz that quickly overstays its barely three-minute runtime. Roxy at least hints at some classic b-boy boogie, with some vintage Bandulu dub thrown in.

And if that isn't a foreboding of the group abandoning the Sons Of The Subway concept, Da Tunnelz basically gets right back to the Bandulu business, just in a break-beaty sort of way. Despite a heavy reliance on jazz and funk samples, things grow ever more techno as the album plays out, to such a point we're basically right where we started with the alias: the back alleys of Detroit. Which may be all that it ever was meant to be. Given Bandulu's cred' though, it feels like it could have been so much more.

The Higher Intelligence Agency - Reform

Beyond/Headphone: 1994/2014

Another of those almost mythical EPs I suspected of existing, but could never confirm until the burgeoning days of Lord Discogs. Pentatonik's remix was among the first rubs of a HIA track I ever came across in my early ambient dub explorations, while two more remixes were discovered through the old AudioGalaxy app. Imagine my surprise when I found out there was a whole single dedicated to 'reforming' tracks from the Agency, with such names like Autechre, A Positive Life, and The Irresistible Force attached to the project. Okay, that last one I guessed immediately, since even in the dodgy days of mislabeled MP3s, there was no mistaking Mixmaster Morris' distinct sound with his go on Speedlearn.

Though knowing of Reform's existance was half the battle (huh?), I still didn't see much need in nabbing myself a copy. I technically already had three of the four tracks, and despite the CD not being that expensive on the used market, those international shipping fees sure are, especially for what I was getting. So I let it slide, content in having what I had, and oh what's this? HIA has a Bandcamp, with remastered versions of all his old material? Sure, why not. Be worth finally hearing that APL remix, I wager.

I wish I could say it was worth the wait. Music from Stefan Pierlejewski is skint enough as it is, and Ketamine Entity was one of the quirkier, fun tracks from Bobby Bird. I was quite anxious in what the downbeat acid-ambient producer would cook up, but the results are rather tame and ultra-mellow. The sweeping space synths, subtle acid burbles, softly chugging rhythms and languid pace are nice enough in a stripped, dubby fashion. I just know what APL is fully capable of, and for whatever reason, if feels like Stefan was holding back.

Well, that was that. Time to revisit the tunes I did already hear, starting with Autechre's rub on Conoid Tone, titled Speech3. Fun fact: this was the first time I heard anything from the IDM darlings, and my conclusion was... “huh, like a harsher HIA”. Yeah, this being early-years Autechre, don't go expecting something circuit breaking. Just a moody, crisp little reformation of acid bleep-dub. As for TIF's go with Speedlearn, it's Mixmaster Morris. There's swirly sounds, buoyant tones, trippy sound manipulations, and ooh, watch as the fractals twist and contort when the LSD trip hits!

As nifty as these rubs are though, Pentatonik's Alpha 1999 reformation of Delta remains king. I mean, right from the drop, that bassline! Then, a funky rhythm that has you strutting in the sun within a genre that has no damn business being so struttable. And that synth lead, so perfectly complementing the original's singing bleepy goodness! Is more of Pentatonik's music like this? I've only heard a few tunes, and they aren't like this, but the dude debuted with a double album (Anthology), so surely there's some like this. Maybe it's about time I look into that...

Bent - Programmed To Love

Sport: 2000

Just how popular was Bent at the start? Though Misters Tolliday and Mills had been active throughout the '90s ('Nail' had roots as far back as Nottingham's DiY 'free tekno' parties of yore), as a duo they seemingly sprung up out of nowhere. A couple EPs, a little hype in an increasingly over-saturated chill-out market, then boom, a perfect score for Programmed To Love within the pages of Muzik Magazine. Surely that's plenty 'nuff to get the majors buzzing. I don't see any chart info in their Wiki though, to say nothing of Bent being a near non-factor on my side of the pond. For sure they must have been doing something right to get all that compilation action at the turn of the century, but had it not been an accidental stumbling-upon of Muzik, it's possible I'd completely miss them for several years (Faithless' Back To Mine appearance notwithstanding).

It may just be that Bent was a tad too British in its sense of humour at the start for American appeal. Now, I likes me some British humour in my laid-back house jams - what would The Orb be without it? And really, if you're not getting some Orb vibes right off the jump in Exercise 1, what with cheeky samples and dubby grooves setting us up for a gently warped little ride of an album, then... um, go listen to some old-school Orb, I guess? For comparison's sake. Welly Top Mary has me feelin' some of that reggae-dub house sound many a Youth-orientated Orb cut kicked out, but that's about the extent of it.

Elsewhere, there's Ninja Tune influence at play. You got the jazz-hop bop of Invisible Pedestrian, the funky shuffle-dub of I Remember Johnny, and the quirky toy-town trip-hop of Private School Investigations (relegated to 'secret song' status on the original UK version). And let's not forget the tunes that simply defy easy categorization beyond “well, that sure is a fun little tune”. Cylons In Love imagines, well, cylons strumming an acoustic-folky to... something. I can't understand those digitized vocals, but hot damn, is that bassline ever a deeper shade of love. Follow-up Invisible Pedestrian sounds like a lounge-lizard performing at a Callisto casino, while Irritating Noises goes country twang. Okay, not full-blown country twang, but I can't help but imagine some cowboy strumming a guitar while riding his horse down an old country road.

But honestly, all these are surprising, tasty supplements to the main reasons folks nabbed up Programmed To Love. The dreamy pastoral chill-pop of Private Road. The fragile, cinematic grace of Swollen. Zoë Johnston's providing vocals on each, basically debuting her voice to a whole slew of future trance producers. And, as always, Always, the utterly dreamy slice of Balearic house (somehow topped by Ashley Beedle's rub on it a year later!). A perfect tune to end the album on... followed upon by a slapstick nod to old-school rave with silly monkey squeals. Oh, these gents with their bent humour.

Carbon Based Lifeforms - The Path

Blood Music: 1998/2018

I'd heard whispers of music out of the Carbon Based Lifeforms camp that existed before they landed on Ultimae Records, but never felt much need to explore for it. I figured these early productions were simply lost artifacts of a duo still finding their feet, any choice material from those sessions eventually called into service on later albums. I had no idea their start reached all the way back into the tracker scene, from which evolved into acid techno as Notch. Along with Mikael Lindqvist, they released a couple albums of such on MP3.com, but they had aspirations for something grander, the sort of genre-bending, music-fusing, epic LP that might be said in the same breath as such classics like Lifeforms, U.F.Orb, Chill Out, 76:14, and whatever other under-heralded records you wish to throw in there (more love for Journey To The Sun, yo'!).

Okay, I'm overselling the story some, but compared to what the trio was doing prior, The Path does come off almost over-ambitious, full of ideas and influences but not quite able to pull it off. It's certainly fine for a debut from artists getting their feet wet, but compared to where Misters Segerstad and Hedberg went in the following decade, comes off strangely dated too. Still, even with Carbon Based Lifeforms and Sync24 their focus, The Path floated about the digital domain for those who were interested in hearing it, where it remained for two decades. Like, no way Ultimae would re-issue it into a spiffy CD. That Blood Music though... (Blood Music!!)

After a three-track intro that, honestly, should have been left on the cutting floor (those tracker roots really showing there), things kick off proper on Rise To Tomorrow, a moody little number of graceful pads, subtle vocal samples, dubby rhythms, burbling acid, wormy synths, and didgeridoo. Getting some serious Planet Dog vibes off it. Same with Sinful Things and Or Plan B. Meanwhile, Machinery and Submerged feel more in line with vintage Fax+, Dreamshore Forest goes pure dreamtime ambient, while Contaminated Area and Last Breath... Um, well, like I said, still figuring things out on the production front.

As for any musical hints of future CBL tunes, you can't hear Station Blue without immediately thinking their breakout MOS 6581. The subtle bassline, dubby beats, and distant samples are of the same genetic backbone, just not really explored much further. Station Blue is like a simpler, evolutionary step to the heights that MOS 6581 would soar to.

Which kinda' sums up The Path, to be honest. In a vacuum, it holds up pretty good as a lost artifact of '90s psy-chill, but can't hold a candle to CBL's future works. I'm glad Blood Music finally gave this a proper CD release, as there are a few gems that deserved unearthing. Just don't go into it expecting Ultimae levels of production. I don't think even Aes Dana's immaculate mixdowns could have rescued some of those piano tones.

ACE TRACKS: June - July 2021

That whole 'heat dome' thing feels like a weird fever dream.

And I know, what a dangerous thought to have. We shouldn't be thinking of such events as 'once in a lifetime', no less than accepting it as some 'new normal'. Heck, there's already another one hitting the States, the edge of which is just kissing my neck of the burnt woods. It may not be blasting hot right now, where radiant heat off the pavement is enough to cook the rubbers of your soles, but it sure is humid and muggy, an almost stinky mank upon the air. I suspect this is what it's always like in those equatorial jungles.

Yet, we're still trying to carry on as if nothing's out of the norm. Folks eager to go on out-of-town vacations they were denied a year prior. Rushing to attend music festivals and theme parks, packing in like sardines in days of yore'. I even did my first day of maskless work, though more because I had an eye-infection that left wearing contact lenses an absolute pain, but at least I could again! I dunno, there's just been this feeling of everyone too anxious to return to our old normal, trumpting our medical triumphs in the face of an uncaring micro-organism, all the while others continue denying its leathality and very existence.

“Good luck, red states,” is all I'm saying.

Anyway, here's the ACE TRACKS from the past two months.


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Darren McClure - On Opposites
Wanderwelle - Lost In A Sea Of Trees
Mohlao - Landforms
Mick Chillage - Intervals Of Light
Sandoz - Intensely Radioactive
Hearts Of Space - Hearts Of Space

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Nothing of note. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy vibes throughout.

Man, even with extending this an extra month, that's still a lot of albums missing out of this playlist. Some of them I'm not surprised by, but the Silent Season ones did. It's not like all the offerings from that label are missing – Segue's The Island is available – just those particular ones. Seems peculiar.

Things continue to be slow-moving blog wise. As I said, feels like we're all playing catch-up to all sorts of things we put on hold this past year, so 'writing inspiration' is just low right now. It'll come when it comes, just can't push these things. At least, not when there's any life-threatening reason to. Now, about that energy-intensive, single-dwelling Arctic Destructor 3000 air conditioning unit I ordered off Amazon...

Captain Hollywood Project - Only With You

Pulse-8 Records: 1993

Though not as impactful as Haddaway's What Is Love, I'd rank Captain Hollywood Project's More & More just as influential on developing my eurodance tastes. Beyond that major hit, however, the musical conglomerate fronted by Tony Dawson-Harrison failed to have much presence in Canadaland, such that it was years before I heard anything else from him. By the time I did stumble upon CHP's debut album, I was well beyond my honeymoon years with the genre, wooed by the allure of goa and German trance instead. Love Is Not Sex sounded hopelessly dated and tired to those ears, and I utterly rejected it as anything worthy of future consideration. Not sure why I had such a knee-jerk reaction to it – was I just too over-familiar with Nosie Katzmann's songwriting?

Whatever the case, those are musings for a future review should I reconcile my impression of Love Is Not Sex. Instead, let's focus on the second single from that album, one that I do remember quite liking at the time. In many ways, it's More & More: Mark II, what with the simple, punchy synth lead, gentle backing pads, rugged eurodance rhythms, and sultry female chorus. Something about this one just hits better though, as though those elements have been further distilled and refined to peak perfection. Why, even the chorus is better, making more sense as lovelorn lyrics than the vague notions of More & More.

Then there's Mr. Captain himself. He was never a fancy lyricist (how many euro rappers were?), but he easily made that up through pure suave, with one of the most gravelly voices from that era. And for whatever reason, he sounds quite fired up here, dropping in with “You. Should. Just. Chiilll.” that sends shivers down my spine. In a totally ironic, cheese-adoring sort of way, of course, ha-rumph ha-rumph. Anyhow, his message is basically “yo', stop fucking up our planet so much”, which doesn't match the chorus in the slightest, but hey, I totally buy his “pleadin'” when he laments that “our Earth is bleedin'”. Poignant content even three decades on, darn it all.

If y'all haven't all turned away in contempt at getting my cheddar on, how about some 'serious' remixes then? The Faze II Mix was apparently done by a guy called Paul Newman, whom you may know as Tall Paul. It's certainly trancier than the usual fare I've heard from The Tall One, though not as trancey as the Trance Mix at the end of this single. Sort of that middle-ground where anthem house and trance could meet back in the day. Speaking of anthem house, Rollo's here with two remixes as well! They're... not as interesting, the Piracy Mix sounding like it wants to be a Jersey club option, the Relentless Mix adding some acid and anthems to the fray. And where's Captain Hollywood in all these remixes? It's weird hearing him just in the Trance Mix, where you'd lest expect him.

Darren McClure - On Opposites

Neotantra: 2019

I've mentioned before that Darren McClure is something of a label journeyman, almost never releasing more than one item on any given print. The only exception Lord Discogs lists is an EP and a collaborative album with José Soberanes on Éter Editions. So it continues with Neotantra, as obvious a label he'd find his way on as any these days. 'Cause when you're down with the Lee Norris fam', you get all the sweet label bumps. Seriously, someone really ought to create an interconnecting chart with Mr. Norris at the centre of it all, just to discover how far reaching his influence stretches. Like, it wouldn't be Brian Eno levels of convolution, but at least on par with a top tier hip-hop producer.

Anyhow, On Opposites is Mr. McClure's contribution to Neotantra, and I cannot deny, there's little I've heard like how this one plays out. Yeah, yeah, I say that often, but seriously, there's something remarkably unique about this album. Even when I think there's some other producer's influence sneaking in (Strange Slip In Time had my John Beltram triggers flaring), I struggle placing this album in any tidy compartment.

Part of it is there's such diversity going on here, I sometimes forget this is all the work of one man as things play out. Many artists show off musical variety within their LPs, but they typically have a specific aesthetic tying everything together. Darren practically pulls a one-eighty with each track here, a pleasant melodic number followed upon by an experimental dark drone piece. Opposites indeed.

If there's any unifying theme with On Opposites, it's sonic exploration in unknown territory. Not that the sounds Darren uses are terribly unique, but it does feel like I'm excavating some future-shock archaeological discovery. Otaru Box and Strange Slip In Time are bright and spritely, like benign reflections of what once was. Meanwhile, Reflecting and Charmonia feature a low, thrumming pulses, like ancient machinery breathing, as distant airy synth pads paint pictures of a lost civilization farther advanced than we could comprehend. To say nothing of the straight-up field recordings of Snow Lapse, where something is literally being excavated (Geir Jenssen would approve). Elsewhere, Darren shows off his more experimental side, but never indulges things for long, serving more as sonic respites. Yes, even the six-minute long Slow Juno, essentially nothing more than perpetually layering synth drone, and unlike anything else on this album.

Are all of Mr. McClure's albums like this? The couple I've taken in were collaborations (with Porya Hatami and Lee Norris as Memex), so I don't have the strongest frame of reference there. I did dabble some samples of his other releases, but clearly it didn't leave the same impression as On Opposites has. I'm almost afraid to check them out, unsure if they could top the weird, captivating journey this one took me on. While not every track is a winner, it certainly kept my interest in whatever different turn it might take me on.

Motionfield - Luftrum

Carpe Sonum Records: 2015

Then suddenly, Motionfield. Without listening to anything more than a few snippets, I now have four of his albums within my CD collection. Yet I still can't be bothered springing for even one Orbital record, darn it all.

Is Petter Friberg's project some revelatory new talent lighting the ambient world up? A dope underground prodigy only a select in-the-know are keeping to themselves? Ask some folks, and I'm sure they'd say that, but I cannot front. The reason I've gotten four Motionfield albums before even listening to one is because they're being released on labels like Neotantra and ...txt. You know, those prints that print such limited runs of CDs, they sell out fast, so you gotta' get in while the gettin's good, b'gar. Still, I'm fairly certain they'll turn out good. Fairly certain...

Motionfield did kinda'-sorta' pop up out of nowhere though. He spent much of the '00s releasing and self-releasing music on various ambient net labels, even getting a CD release out on the short-lived Somnia print. Eventually he landed a deal with Carpe Sonum Records, this particular Luftrum the result. Ah, so he was undoubtedly a contributor to that label's immense, indispensable Pete Namlook tribute box-set Die Welt Ist Klang, helping him gain a larger presence within the contemporary ambient world? Nope! Surprisingly, Motionfield came into the Carpe Sonum family the old fashioned way (if the old fashioned way is luck and pluck), Luftrum essentially a debut. Or re-debut, if you'd been following his career prior. Given that he's since appeared on all the Very Important modern ambient techno labels, I'd say it was a very successful (re)debut indeed.

And I'll give Petter this: he definitely has a unique sound. Luftrum doesn't waste time getting things going, the first track (they're all eponymous) instantly hitting you with a filtered, sweeping backing pad that sounds like ancient machinery breathing, all the while a simple, crisp trip-hop beat plays. I almost want to make a Boards Of Canada comparison, but the more I listen, the less apt it sounds. It's not really dubby either, at least in the traditional warm way ambient dub goes, yet just as relaxing. A Moogy jingle joins later, and if you don't want to find yourself swaying in a summer breeze, dozing in a hammock, I guess this just ain't the music for you.

The album carries on with subdued twee melodies, sparse field recordings, floaty radio sampling, gentle pastoral chill, subtle glitchy sounds, and all that good stuff. In fact, there's almost too much spacious downtime on Luftrum, which makes sense given the title, but does leave one's attention drifting at times. And I can't say Luftrum 8's attempt at a more rhythmic tension builder is effective at shaking things up, that whirring pad and clicky glitch comparatively annoying compared to the album's general tranquility. Knocked me out of some pleasant dozes, it did.

It that's the extent of my quibbles, however, then I can't wait to hear my remaining stockpiled Motionfield albums.

36 - The Lower Lights

3six Recordings: 2019

Wot d'is, then? Even more 36 music, a double-LP at that? Is there any limit to how much material Dennis Huddleston can kick out anymore? Well, sure there is – he isn't Merzbow or something of the like. If inspiration remains hot, however, may as well continue capitalizing on it.

Unlike most of the other items I've covered from him, this particular album didn't have a particular theme in mind. Rather, it's a series of sonic sketches and ideas explored over a period of a year (an 'audio diary', Dennis called it while releasing them on Patreon), freeform music making at its purest. And you might be thinking, gosh, aren't there a bunch of those already in the 36 discography? Of a sort, sure, like those Version rubs he did for the Sine Dust sessions, but that was still working from an original concept. Nothing of the sort exists with The Lower Lights, each piece created as it came to him, with no thoughts of how it may fit within a broader, thematic album context. Ah, so it's like that Nine Inch Nails Ghosts album, then? Yes, yes it is, Mister somehow talking to me as I write this. I mean, obviously it's not exactly like Ghosts - ain't no harsh guitar tone going on here – but the core approach remains the same.

So seems like a fun concept for an album, and it certainly resulted in plenty of music. When The Lower Lights was initially released, the tracklist was culled down to just ten tracks, making it easier to fit on the spiffy vinyl option. Why let all those sessions go to waste though, so Beneath The Lower Lights gathered up the remaining pieces for a cassette release. And now, with all the music available, here's a nineteen tracker for the digital version. Um, oh dear, that might actually be a bit too much for one sitting.

The thing about 36's music is it can be rather draining. He seldom holds back on laying the emotions on, which can be a turn-off for those who prefer more subtlety in their ambient dronescapes. His albums understand this balancing act quite well, a run of major emotional pieces followed by some downtime to recharge. As these Lower Lights tracks weren't crafted with that in mind, hearing them all play out one after the other, relentlessly bombarding you with sweeping synths, unfortunately grows tiresome. It isn't until the Beneath... pieces that things taper off some, and only three tracks of which I'd consider 'soothing', one of which being the closer Signing Off at number nineteen.

There are variations among all the tracks – some even have rhythms in them! It's just the lack of any structure or narrative in their presentation that leaves me longing for the concise nature of a Void Dance or Black Soma (or even Dreamloops). Which, again, was the point of The Lower Lights' exercise. Maybe should have stuck with separate releases.