Cover

The Hardcore Condition - Experimental Hardcore of the 90s

Content:

Introduction
What was Experimental Hardcore?
Some Experimental Hardcore Labels
Reading Material
Review Somatic Responses - Passages EP
Review Atari Teenage Riot - 1995
Review Auto-Psy - Necrophage
Review Senical - Dark Domestic Temper
Photon Collisions - A Review And A Story
The Story Of Fischkopf
About Fischkopf
On Mouse And No Name
The Senical Label Family
The Horrorist
Taking Techno Seriously
The 70s 80s 90s Continuum - Music

Now also available as a PDF for free download here

Introduction

the first question is: did the experimental hardcore scene actually exist? it might be weird to pose such a question, as this book is based on it. but even back in the day, this question was not easy to answer. producers, organizers, labelowners seemed to be positoned between two standpoints: yes, there is an experimental
hardcore "scene", or rather social surrounding, that has a cultural, political, social content (without insisting that everyone ought to have the same political belief, of course). an underground structure of renegade electronic talents. the other point being, is that they are just into dark or "disturbing" electronic music, and share it with friends, which happened to be also DJs and label owners, so basically a close community of people, which for some reason have a common musical taste.
these points of view are echoed in the publications from those times, i.e. in the various online and paper fanzines, interviews, and such.
so, we have two positions: yes, there was an experimental hardcore field, a world of its unknown, closely connected, or, it was just a very interesting period of experimental and bold electronical music outings.
what should be noted though, is there are now attempts to categorise these outings into newer genres; fischkopf was not just an early form of "gabber", or "terror", hangars liquides not an early form of "frenchcore" or praxis an "early breakcore" label during these days. these are defintions and categories that have been added way later.
it should also be noted that for many people, there definately *was* an experimental hardcore field, a form of music that was different to the common gabber/speedcore outings of that period, aswell to the "intelligent electronica" of the same period. people who listened to labels like anticore, fischkopf, sans pitie, read the zines, followed ideas. for which this was a cult object and also a way of life. this book is dedicated to these people.
but i also like the idea - and i'm sure i will regret this later - that we can't clearly say what was and was not. that there was both no experimental scene, and it the same time, in a different sense, there was - again, juding from whose person's viewpoint we look at it.
in this way - welcome to this book.

What was Experimental Hardcore?

With Experimental Hardcore i mean a certain style of music, which for example was made by fischkopf, early praxis, or labels like CFET, early Epiteth, or even the first phase of DHR recordings. i once described it as a crossover of experimental / avantgarde music and gabber, speedcore and jungle methods. so we had frantic rhythms, over-the-top distorted bassdrums, shattering percussion, mixed with avantgarde concepts, experimental soundcreations, odd, outerwordly drones and harmonies. i like to put it into comparision with both the intelligent electronica of the 90s aswell as the gabber/hardcore techno routines. it was a lot smarter, experimental, - may i say intellectual - than your average gabber or speedcore record. and it came from a much larger field of sound and possibilites - not just a "motherfucker" scream and a 909 mixed with a juno sound - but sounds from all possible sources, from classical music to electronic avantgarde to original industrial / dark ambient sounds, or even weird rock sources and "commodore" style computer sounds. yet, it was also much different to the "intelligent" electronica - first, of course, much more brutal, vulgar, direct, relentless. and also much rougher, less polished in sound, and, should i say - dancable. or rather, not dancable - rather intented to be able to get mad and all-out on the dancefloor to it.
what i loved with experimental hardcore, was the sheer possiblites of it. a track could have a 4/4 rhythm, or an unstraight one, or be beatless, or just a composition of sounds, or a net of multifacted parts - if you could imagine it, you could put it into sound. melodic, amelodic, arhythmic, pure noise - you name it.
this scene more or less emerged in the beginning of the 90s, and actually more or less ended with the end of the 90s. in the end, it gave rise to a variety of more specified genres - such as breakcore, frenchcore, "industrial hardcore", or influences on speedcore and noizecore genres.

Some Experimental Hardcore Labels

this list is by no means intented to be conclusive, or correct, or even exact, and each one, if you would ask him, would probably give you a slightly different list.
these labels, especially at later times, also often made music in quite different genres.

the "big three":

Fischkopf (Hamburg)
Praxis (London)
Digital Hardcore Recordings (Berlin)

Deadly Systems (USA)
Killing Rate (Denmark)
Anticore (France)
Hangars Liquides (France)
Sans Pitie (France)
Epiteth (France)
Spite (Berlin)
CFET (Berlin)
Zero Tolerance (London)
Six Shooter (Belgium)

some of the output of PCP and sublabels can also be considered as being part of this style of music

Reading Material

one of the backbones for the experimental hardcore scene was the network of fanzines that existed and circulated, both virtually and based on paper. apart from the records, this is also one of the only available "proofs" that the scene even existed, as the various texts, interviews, commentaries, give credit to it.
an important focal point for the zines was the c8.com website (a focal point for the scene aswell), which had a lot of them available online and attracted others to add content to it.
these are some zines i know of:

The Skreem
Break/Flow
Fallout
Alien Underground
TNT Cosmos
Digital World Net Newsletter (used to be a website, aswell)
Datacide

a lot of reading material is online at:

http://c8.com/c8/archive/
http://datacide.c8.com/?s=alien+underground

Review: Somatic Responses - Passages EP

this record had a huge impact on the scene. it received praise from everywhere. it marks a shift in the transition of the sound of somatic responses, from the 4/4 driven, industrial-acidish relentless tracks they did on the likes of their first CFET EP or on Shockwave, to the experimental, dreamy music with arhythmic beats, limitless sonic exploration and deep space sounds they became rightfully famous for.

A1 - Sickwave
Sickwave starts with slow, spacey synth stabs, sounding dark and futuristic. a friend of mine told me that he thinks the synths in this track are full of despair. maybe the most defining track of this record. then distorted and hard beats come in, with a rhythm that makes one want to dance to (is it offensive to describe a somatic responses track as "dancable"?) and get the track going. in the middle part the melody changes and we get a different variation of space travel sounds. i remember the PCD catalogue described this record as "sounds like lory d meets the mover" (or a similiar wording), this might be an accurate description for this track (without taking anything away from the individual, unique style of somatic responses).

A2 - Freezing Point
indredible. this can't be made on earth, it must've been created on a planet far far away. i don't know how somatics created these sounds and melody, but i don't think i've heard something similiar in other artists' tracks yet. this is just the far away future feel that seemingly only they can do.
the track starts with ice cold cascading sounds - "Freezing Point" is correctly named so - then very hard distorted drums kick in, with a 4/4 rhythm this time. more elements get added in and the melody changes, the track progresses in a good way. the drones at the end of the track give me an extra chill.

B1 - Milk Jugs
this is more of a traditional somatics affair here. faster, distorted 4/4 kicks and lots of sound exploration, and spacey synths too. a very great composition again.

B2 - Passage
Sickwave and this track are my favorite ones on this record. it starts with electronic sounds, then kicks off into relentless hardcore drums. it has a strong build up, first it is drums and effects only, and slowly synths are added which build up the tension and one starts to expect what might come. we arrive at it then; the kick drops off and the synths unfold to a huge composition of sound, like a space symphony, as i said, only somatics really manages to do melodies as this. after this breakdown, the drums come back in and synth and kicks move alongside. if dropped in a set, i am sure this track would give the crowd a total adrenaline rush from the start to the end of it.

this is a groundbreaking record, and one of the first big records of somatics in their own, special style.
if you are interested in the sound of the duo, this is likely something you would love.

Review: Atari Teenage Riot - 1995

Atari Teenage Riot - 1995

the debut album by Atari Teenage Riot. they had been around for a few years before releasing this, but they were more active in doing concerts and gigs before that than releasing stuff (as far as i know). this CD came out when the first hype about ATR, Alec Empire and DHR was at its high, with a lot of indie/underground magazines such as frontpage (now defunct techno magazine) praising them for their music and attitude.
it is almost a "compilation" of tracks on this CD, with some live versions, some tracks from other output, some older and some newer tracks. the name "1995" thus is quite a good name, since the album captures a lot of what was going on in that year then.
since there are 12 tracks on this record, i will only review a selection of them.

1. Start The Riot

what an absolute killer of a track. it's a clever choice that this is at the beginning of the listening experience. from then till now there are not many tracks that could be compared in terms of high adrenaline experience. after the strange intro ("i would die for peanut butter"?), the track blasts of into an assault of beats, guitar riffs, screaming and shouting. this track is just so hard hitting, i can't describe it, you need to listen to it for yourself. a legendary track.

2. Into The Death

this is the track that had the most effect and impact on me on the first listening ever, more then any other music i listened to in my life. i heard it first when i was listening to the "harder than the rest" compilation. when that track came on shivers ran through my body and i felt intense. i re-listened to it over and over again on the spot, with the same effect.
on the structure of the track, it is very similiar to Start The Riot, but i do not mind that at all.

4. Speed

this is the track most people know of Atari Teenage Riot, as it was used in the mainstream movie "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". it is actually a very good track. the concept here is really well, it is an oldschool-ish Underground Resistance-like techno affair mixed with guitars and shouting. i don't think ATR ever made a track similiar to this again. it packs a lot of energy, especially since ATR made these elements really fit each other.

8. Hetzjagd Auf Nazis

this anti-nazi breakcore number really hit the scene hard when it came out. a necessary political statement and a very good track.

11. Kids Are United

the most unusual track on this record, with its anthemic singing and melody. i think someone denounced this as being too "pop" once. yet it was sort of a hymn for ATR fans back then and it still is for today's fans, i think. the video to it is quite known and features some hardcore slamdancing with a lot of the DHR people back then.
the track itself is a cross between breakbeat rhythms, electronic effects and punkrock.

12. Riot 1995

this track from this album is underrated, but it is one of my favorites.
basically just guitar sounds, effect machines and "riot" shouting on and on, it also has some killer vocals. it has its own emotion which is hard to put in words. well, i just love it.
"do you find it easy to confront your emotions, or do you run away?".

Review: Fisch 22 - Auto-Psy - Necrophage

i picked this up as a white label from the container record store. this was one of the earliest releases of mouse aka stella michelsen - the 3rd or the 4th? i had listened to fisch 18 by her, and was enchanted by it. the record came with a group of poems in the sleeve, one for each of the tracks. i thought this was a a nice touch, and the poems were touching. it is something i am missing with hardcore releases today - especially the connection with artforms such as poetry. A2 i'll start with the second track so it's a bit of a change of order. this is one of the roughest track i heard at that time (i considered it to be the hardest track). after the creepy intro, killer bassdrums hit you hard in the head. very industrial sounding, very metallic, very dirty. they have a bit of a varispeed thing to them, which is nice too. the track keeps pounding the whole minutes it runs through. weirded-out, surreal, psycho samples come and go and make it somewhat of a sonic journey - a very fulfilling journey. A1 the starter track. i remember the poem linked it somewhat to the "nerve cables" inside ones head being torn apart as being the sound source of the first seconds. a very fitting comparising. this is full on noise, yet not in a wall of white noise way, but screeches, ringing, like fingers running along the chalkboard to drive you mad. excellent! B1 frantic, frantic, frantic. again. yet, this track also has somewhat of a relaxing feel. various "ambient" sounds - dark ambient - are employed here. the kick brakes down, comes back in, drags you forward. this has somewhat of a very interesting feel. different planet hardcore. B2 next to A2 my favorite track on this record. it seems to me generally the B side on this record is more calm than side A? calm is an understatement though, since this is as frantic, hectic and brutal and it can get with hardcore. again we have a full on attack of noises and surreal, spacy sounds. the last seconds of this track are my favorite part, also my favorite part of this record. strange, bizarre, reverberated sounds that fade out and leave you on into your dreams - or rather, nightmares.

Review: Senical - Dark Domestic Temper - Killing Rate 2

senical works on killing rate are imho his best.
the dark vinyl with its gloomy blue printing prepares us for what is to come on this record.

i will focus only on the tracks that i assume to be the best, or most interesting, this time:

A2 more mellow than most of the other tracks here. a very technoid feel, with a long, multi-channel build up. when the melody comes in, it is killer. we have exotic space synth hits that could be used in a movie such as blade runner. beat and melody stay with us for a long time, and this creates an intricate hypnotic feel. i guess this track would work wonders on a crowd on dancefloor in a dark, strobe flashed location. the, almost, howling synth at the end makes a great finish to this wonderful track.

B1 non-4/4 floor beats make a nice change here. it's hard to describe the feel of the track; it is almost electronesque. maybe if electro was done by a kind of cyborg soldier from the future. it has one of these almost oriental sounding melodies i adore in hardcore and techno of that era so much, based on high filtered saw-waves.
the build-up in this track is strong, as usual with senical, and deep space fx add the finishing touch here.

B2 the space beauty of the other track is exchanged with jackhammer romance here. noises, screaming machines, pain, all around. the speedcore bits are another nice touch. this track proves how powerful and disturbing analogue equipment can be used.

B3 for me, this is the true gem of this record. marching drums come in, supported by a powerful techno beat. it goes, hypnotically, along like this. till the melody comes. and this melody is so deep space, so otherwordly, so far away in the universe, i can't describe. it could be the fuel for the most vivid dreams. it sounds as it was sent straight from the year 3035. this shows the true and deep skill of senical, and makes for a perfect ending track. of a wonderful, great record.

Photon Collisions Curated By Somatic Responses - A Review And A Story

generally, there is much talk about records being life-changing. but, let's face it, in most cases it can hardly be called that. yet the demo tape somatic responses send me in 1998 really was that for me - life-changing.
i had come into contact with SR on the biophilia mailing list (anyone remembers what an electronic mailing list is?) which was one of the pinpoints for several hard and experimental producers in those days (the result later was the biophilia allstars LP). young me emailed somatic responses in a bout of youth and asked if they would be possibly interested in a demo CD-R by me. to my suprise they not only replied, but also offered to send me one of their demos in return. this was a moment of awe for me; some of my sonic heros send me, some bored weird-out teenager, some of their stuff! okay, the mail was sent, it arrived here. i put the tape in the recorder. and i was blasted away. the very second the synths of "umbrella" come on, i was not in this world anymore. it was as if life started to curve and twist and change. i felt that everything i knew about music and art moved away from me. *this* was art. this was the music i had always been looking for. this took sounds to a whole different level.

i became an avid fan of SR then and i tried to hype them whenever i could, much to the annoyance of my friends in the hardcore milieu, which couldn't understand my enthusiasm for this act. didn't they divert from 4/4 rhythms (major sin)? didn't they not use guitar samples and shoutings (another sin)? and so on.
they were picking up praise by a fast pace already back then. yet their music stood out from the other acts. it seemed that somehow, that it still felt uncanny to a lot of people.

so, by this story, you can imagine i felt well when SR asked me to contribute a track to their "photon collisions" compilation. i felt even better when i listened to it. now, about 15 years after i first fell in affection with this musical act, i listened to various dozens of other producers, who seemingly feel similiar, and chosed a style with an inspiration of this special type of music. the sound really had an impact, and the works of SR resulted in a new generation of artists who follow their roots. seemingly, it is far from being single and uncanny music now. people learned to understand, appreciate, follow this music.
well done!

"Photon Collisons" can be found at https://somaticresponses.bandcamp.com/album/photon-collisions-curated-by-somatic-responses

The Story Of Fischkopf

fischkopf first caught my awareness when it was mentioned on the old DHR website ca. 1996 on the haywire tree of sites. they wrote, about DHR, labels with 'similiar' had sprung up in other cities as berlin, for example fischkopf in hamburg. it was not long ago that i discovered the hardcore / experimental world, and was completely in love in it, so i was pretty excited; a label from that scene, with that sound, here in hamburg, where i live? i immediately tried to find out more, and got to know fischkopf records operated from a store here in hamburg called container records, for records and CDs of all kinds techno; i think they had one of the largest sections for hardcore only in europe, at least this side of rotterdam. multipara's label discographies webpage - he had one area solely for fischkopf - provided me with further information.
but now, let's cut the introduction, and get to the basics.
fischkopf was started in 1994 by a group of people, including the operator of container records, martin, and people such as DJ Raid. the first release was done by cybermouse. in an interview it was stated, that cybermouse caught the interest of the fischkopf crew as he was known for his eclectic taste in music in the container record store. this resulted in fisch 1 - cybermouse - surprise attack. the tracks on this release were done on an amiga 500, and actually first released in a diskmag called neurowaver, before they found their way on this fine 12".
the follow up was christoph de babalon's "love under will" EP. these two releases already set the way of what was to come, with their exotic, experimental approach to music that was not easily found elsewhere.
after the fourth release, the old crew disbanded. DJ Raid and others set out to create their own label (with others), Cross Fade Entertainment. the first release on the, "methods of mutilation", by somatic responses, was actually the first somatic responses EP also. it had originally planned to be released on fischkopf. also planned, but scrapped, was a fischkopf release by alec empire.
gerhard storz, called hardy, now took over the business of running fischkopf. the first release under his hands was "shortage of oxygen" by eradicator aka patric catani, one of the masterminds of the experimental and digital hardcore scene back then. what followed were releases by monoloop and lasse steen under the name of p.server, which, with their spaced out jungle and hard acid madness, showed that fischkopf could not be pinned down to one style. in this early period of fischkopf falls also the first outing by one of the most celebrated persons in experimental hardcore: joerg buchholz aka taciturne. with this release, "potpourri" EP, he also had the track which is probably the only one known to gabberists by this label; "der toten". it became a sort of "rave anthem", played on many a gabber party, and is, according to my knowledge, the best selling record of this label.
it also sometimes fetches wondrous prices on the discogs page to sell records.
cue several other later releases, and we arrive at fisch 12, "6 fragmente in der chronologie des wahnsinns". named after an independent movie, "71 fragmente einer chronologie des zufalls", it features hard hitting sonic experiments that were unseen at that point in history. you can find a more lenghty and conclusive review of this record on my blog. let's just add, that is also known to fetch wondrous bids of money on discogs.

by now it should be noted, that at that point, fischkopf had become a sort of phenomen. the "normal" hardcore scene more or less chosed to ignore most of its releases. hardy, in an interview for signal zero said, that it was actually one of his intentions, to make music that was outside the hardcore scene at that point, what he called the pcp and nordcore crowd.
so, fischkopf was actually much less known as many of its contemporary labels which sometimes even managed to drop compilations with their stuff in supermarkets and mainstream stores (hey, it was the hardcore heyday back then).
yet, to a smaller group of people, fischkopf was already known as being the source for brilliant, exquisite hardcore creations and sonic experimentation. so fischkopf managed to pierced many a subculture with its sound.
it is only now, it seems, that fischkopf seems to finally get wider recognition (although slowly growing), by the possibilites of the internet - or is it fading into total obscurity? only time will tell.

let's get on.
fisch 14 saw the first and only album by eradicator. tonal assault between 4/4 madness and an industrial record collection can be found here. catani actually got annoyed by the label, as they used a self-made artwork for this, instead of his own cover design.

in this middle period of fischkopf - we are in 1996 - three more important names appear on fischkopf. nawoto suzuki aka burning lazy persons, and the michelsen sisters, no name and auto-psy.
lenghty reviews are due elsewhere - let's just say i consider these releases to be amongst the most important at this point of hard electronic music.

fisch 20 had amiga shock force, with an aptly named assault of "psycore kids vs rave fascists."

fisch 23 saw the master release of fischkopf. a compilation with its acts and related artists. everyone always was about the vinyl version; but, according to me, better get the 2xCD, as some of the best tracks are CD only.
again, not the time for a lenghty review, but it is the outing of some of the best artists at that date with some of their best tracks, and spans from breakcore to acidtechno, from all-out noisecore to the most calm ambient.

fisch 24 saw a release by EPC, whose items are the subject of a collectors hunt these days.
after that - it was the end. why and how fischkopf ended is not clear. did hardy fell out with the container records crew? or didn't fischkopf generate enough attention and a clear balance, in the end?
no matter what it was, the shock hit the fischkopf supporters hard.

we're in 1997 now. by the fourth quarter of 1998, a white label suddenly appeared, followed by a regular release.
fisch 25 by mathey olivers. excellent french hardcore with surreal ideas can be found here.
apparenly fischkopf was due to a relaunch? but just as it appeared again so fast, it faded away again - a shame.
the last outing was the white label of fisch 26, of which only a few test pressings seemingly existed. later, it was found out that it was done by cybermouse, who has also done fisch 1 - a nice and worthy ending for this great label.

this text only covers a fragment of information (or of "wahnsinn"?) about this underrated, appreciated, fantastic, groundbreaking label. much more is to be found out. it is up to you to find out more - or wait for more information to appear.

further information: http://www.discogs.com/label/4356-Fischkopf-Hamburg

About Fischkopf

taken from an older text i wrote for a fischkopf slideshow video.

During the 90s, a small scene devoleped, composed of producers and enthuasiasts, who fused together the energy and power of hardcore techno
with the experimentation and creativity of experimental and avantgarde music.
The result was a small but dedicated subculture with an ideology that was very nihilist and very hedonist.
This ideology might be best summed up by the slogan mentioned in the Fischkopf compilation CD: "Sie geben uns nix - wir nehmen uns den rest"
(which could be very badly translated to "They never gave us anything - now we go and take whatever we want.").

Fischkopf was one of the most important labels of this scene. Created in Hamburg/Germany in 1994, it soon attracted plenty of producers, releasing 25 records between 1994 and 1998. These releases gave the label a rising number of fans and supporters around the globe, until Fischkopf ceased to exist in 1998.
Some producers moved to other labels, some changed to a different style in music. But for many hard electronic music fans, the sound of Fischkopf Records is something that has not been paralled elsewhere.

On Mouse And No Name

i have always been intrigued by the music of stella and poka michelsen. to me, it is some of the most complex, complicated, intelligent music ever made. levels and levels of beats; noize; ambiance; abstraction; is built on top of each other. they're so far away from the "dumb gabber" and "speedcore" most people think of when the word'hardcore' is mentioned. is this hardcore? is that even techno? it is more of art - real art, abstract, maybe it would belong more to gallery, a museum, than to a party were people dance - if museums wouldn't be so boring!
i can't find many artists that could compare to this. the sheer level of complexity is overwhelming. some of the best somatic responses productions could compare - in complexity and experimentation of sounds. or the most intricate construction of underground PCP via acardipane. yet, maybe it is not right to compare this music - as it plays in its own universe. frantic noise, shrill, alien screams - often driven home by a powerful bassdrum, and killer punctured beats and hits. for some reason, i never compared this so much with other music, but to other forms of art, movies, pictures. this would fit well to dystopian cyberpunk picture, an onslaught of screeching robots pacing through a destroyed, wrecked industrial wasteland.
there are so many things i am missing in most hardcore that are in michelsen's productions; changes of beats, tempo, complex trackstructures with many twists, beginnings, endings, turn-arounds. lengthy intros of weird noises, laughter, ambient drones. some michelsen records fetch high sums at collectors at this time, and rightfully so.
while many other of their contempary artists around their decades became quite "famous" by now, known also to the dreaded "gabber" and "breakcore" crowd, the michelsen sisters still seem to be kind of a secret hint, with a cult following. yet, they are already legends, in their regard, in their own way.

The Senical Label Family

one of the most profilic producers of interesting and experimental hardcore in the 90s was Lasse Steen, who not only spread his output on many of the key labels, but also created many labels of his own. he produced under various forms of music; sometimes closer to speedcore, sometimes closer to techno, but a main factor was pounding drums, piercing acid lines and abstract, spacey synth routines. in fact, i'd say a lot of his output is close to the atmosphere of movie scores, and for sure could be used in this way.
i knew some people who did mind that he often gave in to 4/4 brutality and were eager to lump him into the generic "hardcore techno" category but to me, these rhythms and techno appeal were a further plus on his music.
with his net of releases and sub and subsublabels he created his own dark catacomb of dark hardcore releases that are waiting to be explored. i must say his killing rate output harmonizes the most with me; often arhythmic beats, with some of the most deliberate cybernoid melodies and techno FX. check his "fraud" output for rough and fast terrorising tunes (as well as melancholic ones). or sut rov for very pounding, noizy hardcore. or his guest releases on acid assault for some of the finest in dreamy acid techno - before that genre became so big.
and don't forget a visit on drop bass network for just purely teethgnashing dirty gritty hardacid.
Lasse could be also known as "the man with 100" names as he is known as a person with some of the most aliases in both the techno and hardcore world, similiar to martin damm, and is only topped by acardipane with this.
Lasse definately had a distinct style of his own. while this music is mostly associated with acidcore now, it is by far more diverse than just this style.
his harder tunes were quite popular in the days and got played a lot on parties, and give a good expression of how experimental hardcore could sound like. nowadays he is doing trance music and we wish him much luck with that.

The Horrorist

what makes the music by the horrorist so special? first, there is the combination of oldschool-type techno with EBM; which in itself is clever enough to spawn dozen of great tracks; than there is also the influence of hardcore techno, which can be especially heard in early tracks. there is also a type of super-futurism in the sounds that is not often encountered. but there is always something else about the tracks by the horrorist too. the melodies, the vocal style, the appereance, doesn't seem to fit to me to any of the influences i mentioned. instead, it had always a kind of "out of time" aspect to me, similiar to 1920s german cabaret style, or even more so, to a victorian-time london or new york. i could image the horrorist appearing in a victorian type tavern in london in the 19th century; where people of "ill repute" sit around, and a strange guy gives some of them a hint, to lead them to a door at the back of the place while telling them about a secret show, which leads to a dim-lit basement at which the horrorist sings his songs about death, misery and gloom. the tales of the horrorist somehow, to me, fit so much to the special fascination for the obscure and the morbid in victorian times. the name "horrorist" itself has somewhat of a connection to me; think of the "illusionists" and similiar professions of that time, a performer called the horrorist would fit right in.
so, yes, in almost any song the horrorist tales us dangerous, vague, fascinating tales of the bizarre, the strange, the things that are out of line.
and i hope he continues to do so for many years to come.

more information about the horrorist can be found at http://www.thingstocome.com/

Taking Techno Seriously

there was a time when, at least by "serious" people, anything that was not academic music, classical compositions were not taken seriously. surely, cheap fun for the plebs, but not comparable to any of the great maestros! you could enjoy them, but please don't analyse them.
this his changed a lot - extremely - in the last decades. the barriers between "serious" and "entertaining" music have been ripped down. by bands who combined both approaches, but also by public opinion. i still remember a time when everything "pop" has been sneered at by intellectuals. the experimental rock of the 70s might have been the first that got the blessing and the acknwoledgement that in such noisy, emotional, touching music could actually be a lot to analyse, to interpret, to ponder on. the next thing was that also pop albums have become the focus of serious attention. pop is no longer seen as purely entertainment music, but also having the ability to have serious musical merits - and cultural, philosophical too. even the dreaded eye of academic research now often looks at rock, pop, even hiphop, metal, punk records and culture. some of the later development was that disco and dance music got the "credibility card" and are taken serious now.
but there is one thing that is still overlooked. techno, rave, gabber, hardcore, of the 90s and later. this music, by the vast majority, is still seen as childish, immature - pure hedonistic trash to many. and to me, it was never like that. techno always felt mature and serious and deep and meaningful - being no lesser hedonistic and fun and ecstatic at the same time, mind you. so, my wish would be that slowly people would start to realise, that the same serious approach, the pondering and interpretation and worship, that is done to the famous rock and pop albums in the moment, could one day arrive at the important techno albums and EPs. that people realise that techno doesn't have to be cheaply produced music for dimwits.
and indeed, in techno, rave, hardtrance, some of the most complex and clever and intelligent production i encountered so far can be found. techno has so many philosophical, cultural, social, political connections; hints; ideas; thoughtsets (one idea of mine is that one of the reasons techno never had an outspoken political stance as such is that it was simply too complicated to express it in this way; and easier to express sonically). one can deep digger at techno, one can find so many things. there is plenty of stuff to activate ones mind on, to think about. this is the shame; that techno was not seen as the serious, deep music it is - until yet. i have a feeling this might change soon. but, also keep in mind, it is hedonistic and fun at the same time.

The 70s 80s 90s Continuum - Music

i think there can be a kind of connection - maybe meta-connection - drawn, from the underground and widespread music of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
i think each decade can be drawn to a kind of focal point in music, in expression and intention, or maybe effect.
the decades are not clearly drawn; (in this text) 70s will refer to the music of mid to late 60s to late 70s, 80s from late 70s to late 80s, and 90s from late 80s to mid 90s. as you can see, i'm more about the sonic epochs than the actual decades and years.
i think, the best, and most refined productions of these epochs, generate a certain ecstasy, a feeling of ecstasy, an acting of ecstasy, under the right circumstances, in the listener. and these are very equal to each other, but also quite different, depending of the point of view.

70s music is about the ecstasy of the mind. the krautrock and progrock, psychedelic experiments of that era, made people zone out, trip out, go off in their minds. it's about stimulating the mind, the intellect. with it's complex rhythms, production. the lyrical themes that deal in deep mysteries and pondering. music that is food for your mind - or, as the doormouse said, "feed your head".

90s music is about the ecstasy of the body. dance, dance, dance, while the record spins. techno, rave, hardcore, acid, dance music in general, breakbeat, jungle, breakcore, gabber. made your feet move fasts, your body twirl and shock, until you again zone out, but this time because of the frantic dancing, which is remniscent of tribal dancing, which, in those times were used to reach a state of ecstasy too. your body gets ecstatic, and your start to shiver, and shake, and drift off into a natural high.

80s music seemingly lacks the ecstatic focus of this sonic continuum. yet i think a method of ecstasy can be found here, too. the ecstasy of the heart.
the lush, melancholic sounds that drown you into their emotions, when sorrow and happiness join at the horizon of the emotional set. postpunk, punk, gothic, new wave. with its repetive rhythms and overdose of reverbation while creating synthesized waves of sound, it too makes you trip away, get lost in the sound, reach a pleasurable high.
the repitive vocals with an overdose of delay at the end of some new wave or postpunk songs at that era echo this effect.

this is far from being too exact, or sharply defined. of course 70s music had it's moments of body movements too (actually quite a lot), techno also feeds the mind, and postpunk is intelligent and 'dancable' too. this text doesn't aim to tell something too in a too clearly defined way.

yet it is interesting, to assume these focal points are there, and to explore these connections, and similarities of music, in those different epochs, and in their own epoch.

and, of course, it is due, to go into ecstasy oneself - again.

Credits

All texts written by Low Entropy / Soenke Moehl.
E-Book Released in January 2015.