Globa Communication 76:14

[Steve Sole]

I went to see Kraftwerk, oh, maybe fifteen years ago or something like that, and I thought they were very dull people. They did just stand there and twiddle and push buttons, but apart from the one time when one of them came down to the front and offered the folks at the front line to push some more buttons, they really did just stand there and look as though they were marking exams, or whatever it is they do. The music was great but, so I suppose I got the money's worth.
On the other hand, I've seen some absolute bangers out playing live. Saw Aphex do his own live thing back in 94 when he played Industria in Glasgow, and that was a deal and a half.
I saw Vapourspace do his own brand of liveness, and he also was amasing.
Saw Underworld play when Dubnobase came out....and well, that was something else!
Saw Carl Craig out in Oz and he was amasing!
Green Velvet also rocked my world, and he's a really nice guy too!.
and Daft Punk, oh my Lord...Daft Punk, when Homework came out.....WOW!
I do know what you mean about Autechre but. They are indeed trying to push the bounderies, but what's the point, when it sounds like they do just now? Or maybe the bounderies should be left alone. I think they take themselves a little bit too seriously these days. I'm not into music now where you have to have a primer to figure out what the hell is going on.
I had a BIG debate with someone about AE, and they said they were the most influential arteests in the whole electronic scene these days - period! I said, how can that be, when it's like sitting listening to Japanese for 50 minutes between 20 people?

I absolutely adore Second Peng though. I reckon that track IS one of the most influential tracks in electronic music today.

[blastik]

I agree, I just don't care about 'pushing the boundaries' any longer. Just make something that's good for crying out loud. When you're in the teens and early 20's, I suppose music like that will always be something new and exciting, but once you start listening to the older stuff and discovering where the influences come from, you realize that the stuff really isn't that ground breaking at all, it's just damn good music. Autechre take themselves WAY too seriously. The first three albums were unbelievably good, but they definitely started to crawl up their own backsides with Chiastic Slide.
I saw Underworld live too, and that was feck awesome! I guess they're not strictly electronic, though....

[hayhook]

Yeah, Autechre...

worthless of late

the last three albums have been nothing more than variations on polyrhythmic nails on the chalkboard

so sad.
they used to kick such ass.

[darlo]

Useless fact about me and Autechre


I fell asleep under a table at the wedding reception/party with about 80 unknown people of the one who married the girl who worked at Warp records and now puts out music of her own. It was out in the country and quite a surreal affair

[EndlessNight]

>They weren't as painful live as Autechre was though

Hi, there. I agree; saw Autechre at Bowery Ballroom in NYC in 2001 , I think '01, so boring! (i'm sorry to say....) I love them on CD , but will not go to another *live* event . I have no idea what they are up to lately, but I love their previous output....

To Mist, um Steve Soles, would have loved to see Vapourspace aka Mark Gage, still love his Themes From Vapourspace CD, from about 94 or so. Is he still located in upstate NY? (Rochester, I believe)
Would put it on this minute, but there is a blackout in Long Island, NY at the moment. (Was listening to Microgravity by Bioshpere & then Secret Life of Trance 5 before the power went out...

Liked Tom M DJing at Movida in NYC, which has been closed by the way.... I like *DJ* events, when they have them at a club rather than a concert venue....

Endless..

[chuckcogan]

never really been a big fan of autechre....
if im not misstaken the only release i got with them are the "Tri Repetae" album
havnt listened to it for a long time though

and i always bought in to the rumour that Gescom was a Autechre sideproject, so i was going to name "Go Sumo" as my fav autechre track
until i read on discogs that its NOT hehehe
so there goes my electronicmusic knowledge out the window hahahahahah

[Steve Sole]

Hi Endless.
Good to see you - how are you doing?
Yeah, I believe Mr. Gage is still active http://www.vapourspace.com/ though I'm not sure if he's still flying the Vapourspace flag. I'm gonna check him out and see what he's up to these days.
When I saw him, must have been back around 93 or something like that, he was promoting Themes From, and if I'm also not mistaken, I actually think he was very low to the ground, or maybe even sitting on the floor playing his mixer (or keyboard), and he was absolutely amasing!
I too LOVE the Vapourspace album, and I think it got really overlooked when it came out. It really does sound very unique.

Also, check out http://www.discogs.com/release/48519 http://www.discogs.com/release/640 http://www.discogs.com/release/5684 http://www.discogs.com/release/5683 http://www.discogs.com/release/67037 http://www.discogs.com/release/40436 and http://www.discogs.com/release/265956
They're all by Biosphere, and they are ALL absolutely amasing. Geir Jenssen is right up there with Mark and Tom (for me) in the quality music department. Serious, seriously beautifull music.

[hayhook]

loved the themes from album as well, but never understood why it was released as a "single track" album.

I think it made for much less appreciation of his work. People gots short attention spans and sometimes just want
to hear a song or two, not a 70 minute opus, and who wants to sit and hold a ffwd button for five minutes to get to that
track they want to hear?

grrr.

good stuff either way, but irritating choice.

[Steve Sole]

I think he wanted the album to be one long piece cause that's the way he intended it to be. I also think he knew what he'd made at the time, and believed in it enough too, to be able to have the balls to force people to sit and listen to the whole thing - just like Chill Out or heaps of others.
You got to remember, that this kind of music, is only goona be bought by people who really appreciate this kind of music, and as with Chill Out, I myself, only played the album on special occasions, or when I really waned to sit and listen to 50 minutes or so of somebody's ideas. You get that sometimes, where you just want to sit and listen to an entire piece, all by it's self. I done that with Oxygen, from age 5 to about 10 or 11, where I'd just put that record on, sit back, and head off to where ever Jean Michel intended to take me....
It's designer music, made with a wee journey in mind.
I love it!

[chuckcogan]

i for one havnt really heard the "themes...." from start to finnish
since i only own the vinyl, but i do think that its a great album
and i do LOVE albums that have a continous flow to them...sort of like a ONE track album, just as long as its QUALITY
"Chill Out" mos def is one of them for me
Pete Namlook's "Seasons Greetings - Summer" is a real feck winner for me
59:35 of pure chillbliss, love that rain and jazzy guitar...mmmmmmmmm

[Steve Sole]

EXACTLY!!

That is exactly what I'm talking about.
I've got three of them, and they are just the ducks nutz.
Also, as you know, 2350 Broadway too....man, those two disc on that release are just completely what it's all about.
I think it's the second CD that's just one track, and that's how you've got to listen to it. You can't possibly flick through CD's like that, cause they're built like movies - a start, a middle, and an end, to tell the whole story.
Same with Themes From....a lovely, noizy, funky little story.
Give it a listen man, you'll love it!!

[EndlessNight]

>Good to see you - how are you doing?

Hi, Mr Steve, good to *see* you too. I'm ok, hope you are well. Thanks for all the links, I definitely need another Bioshphere CD, as I only have Microgravity.

The Themes from... definitely was underrated, as I got it for free from an import CD distributor that used to charge me for most of the CDs I purchased from them. (but they thought that one wasn't worth anything....ha!) I still love it & sometimes do fast forward through tracks when I don't want to have the *total experience*. Would have been great to see that live.....

e

[cantosis]

Hi Cantosis.

Nah, both guys are pretty much doing their own thing nowadays.
Mark does a lot of stuff under Harmonic 33, Harmonic 313, Troubleman...to name but a few, and Tom is mainly focusing now on his Cosmos stuff, and off course, his Amba stuff too.
I'd say out of the two of them, Tom has been the consistently closest, in keeping the Global Communication flag flying since they both decided to go their own ways, and if you start listening to his Amba tracks, you'll see what I mean. However, Mark has also another Reload LP out (hopefully) this year, and that is gonna also be very special when it arrives, as a lot of people would probably feel that Reload is really the origins of what we now know as Global Communication - certainly a hefty progression anyways in my books. Mark also is responsible for http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?artist=Pulusha (serious music).
Blood Music is (for me), like Star Wars. Everybody loves Star Wars, but the crazy fan's favorite is Empire; and it's no different here; everybody knows & loves 76:14, but Blood Music is most certainly the king of the nuts around here.
http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?release_id=134716
Don't worry about the price too much, you can get it a lot cheaper!
There's also 'other' venders who'll be most accommodating as well, but you'll have to hunt around.
After Blood Music:
http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?q=relo ... %20stories (THE BALLS)
and then....
http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?q=amba ... eton&st=on
Mr. Middleton's little Amba baby. As I said, pretty close to what you and I know as Global Communication.

Enjoy.

Hiya Steve I have got A Collection Of Short Stories at last. Love It, listening to it now . I will look at the other ones you suggested.

[Steve Sole]

Hi Cantosis,

Glad you made it to A.C.O.S.S - how good is that rekkid!!
The beauty about Reload & Global Communications & Link etc is that you can't go wrong with any of their music. All of it is amasing!

I hope you've found/find Pulusha and Moonbathing - best of the best!

Keep us up to date on your discoveries.

[strawhattedman]

Dammit, I was all set to go and see Autechre live when they promote their forthcoming album. I saw a clip of them on youtube playing in the dark. Damn, that is scary. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv81iI_bQEA
As for pushing the boundaries, I think all good musicians should be trying to do that. The problem with Ae's recent stuff is not that it pushes the boundaries - it's that it's not very good. Some of it works, but they do take themselves very seriously. It's the sort of music Wire magazine will analyse to death - but it's got no bollocks.