Dopplereffekt - 'Calabi-Yau' album on way

New Dopplereffekt album on the way from long time supporters Rephlex Records. ‘Calabi-Yau Spaces’ is listed on their site to be released on LP and CD on 5th March 2007. This will make it the first European release from Dopplereffekt not to appear on Gigolo Records but, on the face of the title alone, the only available info on it I have, it appears more than likely that it will be consistent in continuing its predecessors, 2003’s ‘Linear Accelerator’, scientific/theoretical physics theme.

Calabi-Yau Spaces, also known as a Calabi-Yau Manifold, are connected to string theory and are made up of six tightly curled ‘compact’ dimensions of space time. I found an image of one on the web and have reproduced it here.If these type of images are used for the album cover it should prove to be a very attractive artefact indeed.

We have another three months to wait so if you feel like researching the subject of Calabi-Yau Spaces for yourself I found three fairly accessible and relatively easy to read for the layman pages which explain the theory, listed below. The first link is the one I would recommend for the reason mentioned and also that it goes into some detail about the concepts of other dimensions as well which might be of help considering what has gone before with Drexciya.

I’m sure if you’ve been reading DRL for sometime now your well aware that a dimensional theme was central to Drexciya’s Storm series, each storm said to be a dimensional wave, this also being the name of their so called production company of the time. It’s at times like this that I can’t wait to catch up with where Gerald Donald is right now both conceptually and musically. I’m still wallowing around his releases up to about 2000 right now, which should pay it’s own dividends, but it’s obvious from his work in the last 4 years that there has been a huge crossover between concepts first explored by Drexciya. The crucial difference being that Donald is following a much more scientific route than Drexciya’s more philosophically fanciful one, but it does seem to be towards the same end. Donald is evolution through science while Drexciya envisioned a more spiritual one. To somehow combine the two approaches may be a way through for both mind and body, mental and physical? As ever interesting times lay ahead, here is another reason to look optimistically to 2007.

http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~mbw/astro18200/dimensions.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/27930/stringtheory5.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calabi-Yau_manifold

Japanese Telecom s/t album

Japanese Telecom first announced itself to the world in 1999 with a self-titled mini album on the Detroit label Intuit Solar. It would be issued on CD the following year with some remixes as bonus tracks. Certainly it was the work of Gerald Donald even though there is absolutely no credits to its authorship, which is surprising as by now he had begun to use his beloved Heinrich Mueller pseudonym and you would expect him to have used it at every opportunity from this time on. However on this and its follow up, 2001’s ‘Virtual Geisha’, all personnel credits are absent. Given also that the sleeve used here is the generic Intuit Solar one of the time, albeit well designed with a nice cut out, there isn’t much information here beyond the titles and music to go on, just the way he wanted it!

As far as the name Japanese Telecom goes it does have a resonance with his history previous to this point. Donald's interest in Japan first revealed itself in some of the subject matter of the 1995 Flexitone project with Ectomorphs Brendan M Gillen (see the AKA article for more on this). His interest in electronic communications tangibly appeared about the same time with Dopplereffekt's ‘Cellular Phone’. Taking the name and the artwork (2 phone connections in a ying/yang configuration?) alone you might be forgiven for expecting an album specifically about Japanese communications but actually that album would eventually appear three years later as Arpanet’s 'Wireless Internet'. So to some degree the name Japanese Telecom is misleading and perhaps a sign that Donald had plans for this project that weren’t realised or it just simply went off in another direction after the name was committed to. So I suppose it's worth considering that Japanese Telecom may be flawed conceptually if not musically. On this topic the following additional text not found on the album was featured on the Intuit Solar website.

'Telecom continues to trek down the path of Nipponese technology with second project, the first was the introduction and the second concludes the vision. Japanese technology continues to influence our daily lives directly and indirectly and this music reflects the influence of this fascinating and progressive culture. On this version of Telecom the social and human side of culture is explored and visualized sonically. We hope that the interfacer of the music will feel the speed of the bullet train, the beauty of Fuji and the historical mission of the Asian race collectively...'.

From this we learn that they see themselves as Telecom and this does perhaps become apparent looking at their logo which has each word in a very distinct typeface from the other. This may mean they might have been conceiving of a string of Telecom projects eg. German Telecom, Dutch Telecom etc. Not a bad idea if this fascination with the communication technologies of particular countries was to continue with only perhaps the use of British Telecom becoming an issue of copyright. I'm also confused by this text as to how this is the second part of the project, although it may have been written referring to the yet to be released 'Virtual Geisha' as the second which would make this the first. This would make sense as an introduction I suppose with 'Virtual Geisha' concluding the vision. So far there has been no more releases under this name and after almost 7 years it seems likely that it won't be reactivated, at least not with the Japanese prefix anyway. The word telecom did appear as an email to contact Dopplereffekt on the 'Gesamtkunswerk' album but I think it unlikely that Dopplereffekt as a whole was seen as the first introductory part of this 'Telecom' project, even less likely that it would be Der Zyklus. Anyway the text may not have been added to the Intuit Solar site till well after the first albums release. Although to confuse matters 'Virtual Geisha' did not even come out on that label, Gigolo would get that honour in 2001, but it appears they did have to license it from them so I guess Intuit Solar had the rights to it even though they didn't actually release their own edition of it. The confusing waters of global independent music.

A misleading picture of the ‘group’ with black strips across the eyes can also be found on the site and is reproduced here. Perhaps Japanese Telecom was a collaboration with a female, certainly we are being given the impression that it was a group effort, a gender balanced one at that ala Dopplereffekt! This might have become more of an issue with the follow up which must stand as Donald's most fully realised sexual themed album yet, but more on this when I get to it. But from the text we get the message loud and clear that this is all about Japan, specifically the technological breakthroughs of the Nippon corporation. We also learn that Donald also sees Japanese culture as ‘fascinating and progressive’ which could be seen as making a criticism of his own.

There are 7 tracks here, the short opener ‘Rising Sun’ kicks of proceedings. Musically the track is dark with a slow bass line, a few noises and not much more, the classic short intro track. The title ‘Rising Sun’ is obviously very Japanese and makes a positive statement as the lead track of the album. Many people refer to the album as 'Rising Sun' as well. Next up is ‘Japanese Animation’ which in my opinion is one of the best tracks on the album. A very playful and jaunty cut with a computer game vibe throughout. Laid on top of the same mid-temp backing the track sort of goes back and forth between some really cool atmospheric sounds and then a more insistent computer game level jumping part. When I have used the term ‘busy production’ in the past I use it to mean there’s a lot going on and that is certainly the case here.
The next track is short and very incomplete and maybe this explains why it is not titled. It’s definitely a great track in waiting. When the album was reissued on CD the following year a title was obviously needed and it became 'Asian Amazons'. This title refers to Asian female body-builders like these. Does he have a sense of humour, enough said! The previous fascist imagery used in Dopplereffekt does tie in here to some degree with Japan obviously allies of Germany during World War Two, both states having shared a similar ideology. The picture in the artwork of the guy operating at some telephone exchange is also clearly a Japanese solider circa WW2. Donald, as an American, is here still allying himself with an old enemy and is obviously still very concerned with race and which is superior. Of course we all make up the whole and in a perfect world this would be accepted by everyone and should at this stage be self evident in everyday life. Particularly it must be said in Donald's home country of America, a country made up of immigrants from every member of the human race. While a more obvious and tangible expression of these individual races can only be found in their own countries and regions it seems a shame to me in the age of globalisation to limit any artistic exploration of it to just its native version as Donald in this case has. Just a thought, ‘just trying to plant seeds’ as the comedian Bill Hicks would say, himself another artist whose ultimate concern was evolutionary. But it’s only music after-all, the information given limited to a title and nothing more, he wasn't writing a thesis on the subject, you can leave that to me! Finally on this subject of Donald's sensitivity to race it must be said that as a white European I have never experienced any discrimination against me because of my race, but Gerald Donald as an African American might well have and race would therefore have become an issue for him. How he has dealt with that through his music can only really be understood by no one but Gerald Donald, while I can only ever speculate.
‘Character Maps’ is another computer game sounding track which cracks along at a fair old tempo. Whatever type of game Donald had in mind here there is a lot of running involved , the paranoid and relentless sound of pursuit. This track was later remixed by Perpects and appears to have got the thumbs up from the fans as the best of the 4 mixes on Intuit Solar's 'Japanese Telecom Remix' 12". The other remixes were from The Man From P.A.C.K. aka I-F, John Selway and DJ Assault, later all but the DJ Assault one collected on the CD version of the album. I spoke with John Selway a few years ago and he mentioned that this remix was a favour he did for friends who were starting a label. The final track on this side is ‘Game Player’ which again is short and could almost be the classic generic game intro or theme track. It strikes me that if he had done this album on a game boy he would have been well ahead of the pack, a whole genre for this of course exists today. Regardless of how it was made, this album could very much be seen as a precedent to that genre. Also it’s worth considering that by this time Derrick May had done the music for a Sony Play Station game about this time and perhaps this was Donald’s reaction towards/against that?
Side 2 very much moves into another territory than computer gaming. ‘Nipponese Robots’ has a huge sound and is dark and somehow oppressive. This could decimate a dance floor if dropped at the right moment. Actually reminds me of the very earliest stage of Drexciya, the two tracks on side one of ‘Deep Sea Dweller’ which were aimed squarely at the dance floor come to mind. Some nice double beats get thrown in towards the end which shows this was done live and not sequenced, revealing the secret of their, Drexciya and Donald's, production style if not their sound. Another dark track next, the stop start ‘Kubi’. Some really strange sounds here over a classic almost dated sounding beat but in saying that you’ve never quite heard anything quite like this before. This track is alive and again certainly done live so watch out, it has teeth! Kubi in this context most likely appears to be referring to Japan’s Samurai warriors. The scatter gun ‘Bullet Trains’ is next and brings the album to a close perhaps on a bum note but a note nonetheless. It’s just that it kind of doesn’t go anywhere and is a bit throwaway to these ears but according to the notes from the website we should be imagining this as the sound of a bullet train.

Basically on this album we do get an introduction to Japanese culture which specifically references its computer gaming, the production line robots of the technology giant Nippon, its comic books and its famed bullet trains. A selective introduction for sure, as a short mini album can only be, but it is certainly an enthusiastic and genuine homage to this world and its culture. I wonder if Donald ever got to visit Japan for himself or was it a fantasy fuelled from his own imagination and second hand knowledge? Our imagination/fantasy of something unknown is a powerful thing, just witness our impressions of the, itself a fantasy, underwater world of Drexciya and what we imagine the lives of its creators being. Once real life gets in the way of these fantasies however illusions are not always shattered and bubbles burst but sometimes when reality and fantasy meet at an individual point of truth our expectations can even be exceeded. To test the waters and reach this point of knowledge is the key to developing a depth of understanding of a subject. I would say that if Donald had gotten to experience Japan himself he would not have been so concerned with these very much surface elements which we get here, almost clichés of Japanese culture, but given us more depth and insight which only experience could have brought him. Different cultures get misunderstood and reinterpreted all the time in all art forms and these misunderstandings will be kicked back and forth between cultures forever. Just think about it that’s all I'm saying and I believe that Donald has if you look at his more recent albums which are far more studied than before. For example the promised theme of Japanese communications technology here would be followed up much more specifically with the already mentioned first Arpanet album in 2002. But if this debut as Japanese Telecom is flawed then give me more of this type of confusion.

Another 2000+ words expelled on an artefact I never thought I would be able to find so much to say about. The DRL MySpace site is going great, thanks for joining and the nice comments so far.

What is next will be next.

Japanese Telecom at Intuit Solar

DRL at MySpace

I've decided to start a MySpace page for Drexciya Research Lab. Why you ask, why for you dear reader! It may serve you as a way to connect with people with similar interests from the same city (Stay Safe) or at least in an online capacity. The MySpace thing is a good principle and another way to help all things Drexciya/Heinrich Mueller related to reach some sort of critical mass/tipping point leading to who knows where, reissues, a wider recognition/influence, their place in the Hall of Fame! I guess I'm also curious, as you may be, as to who is reading at this stage and what their and other fans feelings are regarding all things Drexciya related at this point in 2006 and beyond. The Blog is getting about 1000 hits a month at this stage which to me seems like a lot so maybe there's enough regular readers to justify this expansion into a third format, although this is more another aspect of DRL rather than another version of the same material as the website is. Post what you want but best to still use the comments box on the Blog when raising an issue on a particular article. But in saying that it's still totally up to you what you use it for, it will all get read by me in the end, but at this stage I see it primarily as a way for you to connect with each other. So please drop by, join, discuss, lurk, whatever and we'll see how it evolves.
http://www.myspace.com/drexciyaresearchlab

This additional text can be found on the MySpace page which is probably worth including here for our own new comers.

If this is your first time to come across Drexciya Research Lab and your wondering what it is I will explain.

Since May 2005 I have written extensive articles on each of Drexciya’s albums and 12”’s including discovering what I believe is the correct order for the Storm Series. I have also collected six interviews by James Stinson, putting his words into categories like origins, water, storm series etc to see his overview on these subjects. I am currently working my way through all the Gerald Donald/Heinrich Mueller releases, who was of course the other half of Drexciya. Various other strands of thought on this subject come and go.

Who are you? Like you, just a fan of Drexciya with too much time on their hands, or just enough. Alongside my ‘normal life’ I am also an artist and musician. More details on me can be gleamed at http://www.freewebs.com/stephenrennicks

Why a Blog? It started as a Blog, more for the free web space than anything, but this decision turned out to be the perfect zeitgeist surfing format for people to send corrections and communicating their own opinions. http://www.drexciyaresearchlab.blogspot.com

Why start the website version? The website version is easier to read and navigate through the 6 main topics featured on the Blog. Namely, Drexciya 1992 - 1999, The Storm Series, Gerald Donald aka Heinrich Mueller, Interviews, related links and miscellaneous. http://www.freewebs.com/drexciyaresearchlab

What’s next? More words on a subject that still remains essentially an enigma.

Black Replica

Black Replica is a new unsigned project from Heinrich Mueller and at least one other so far unidentified female. They first appeared, as so many new groups do these days, with a MySpace page (first registered on 16th October 2006) and later two video's of theirs were posted on You Tube. So far so enigmatic but this is a real break from the Mueller norm as far as it being a purely cyber affair so far. Whether this will continue time will tell, it may just be a way to publicise a forthcoming release of a more conventional nature. But with no commerce taking place and no artefacts to collect; the act just existing as music and video files on third party web portals with only the barest title information to stoke the imagination I think they may here have struck on the perfect medium for creating mystery. There is something very new, pure even, about this aspect of cyberspace which could very well suit someone that has a very high production rate and fondness for multiple pseudonyms. Perhaps Black Replica will turn out to be his first exploratory steps into a true virtual reality.

So far there are three audio tracks available to download from their MySpace site, namely, Mathematical Eyes, Spider Theory and Black Feathers. Two spooky video’s for the first two listed can additionally be viewed at You Tube. The user name of whoever put up the video's on You Tube is Paradox Twin which reversed is the name of a track on the new Arpanet album, 'Inertial Frame', coincidence? The MySpace site lists membership as being Black Replica and Heinrich Mueller which is factual, the only other information being listed is their location as Detroit??? which is something of a ruse trust me.

I can't say there's a whole lot more I can tell you about this project that you can't see for yourselves but by the time I get to it I will at least be working with the benefit of hindsight and better able to understand Black Replica and put them in some context. In saying that it's obvious Mueller and company are getting into some mystical stuff here with cloaked figures and magical symbols as featured in the video's; the music could also be described as being electro gothic; it looks like things are about to get very interesting.

Black Replica at MySpace
Black Replica at You Tube

The Seventh Earth Connection

For some time now I have been hoping to bring to your attention how Drexciya/UR was an essential link in a 10 year chain of thought which has culminated in The Seventh Earth by Alan Lambert. In the Origins section of his website for this project he has detailed how he arrived at this ever evolving position but basically he sees our solar system as a timeline, with each planet gradually moving away from the Sun and each having at one time supported life very much like our own. This makes our Earth the seventh so far. If you are thinking or hoping that this is just an artistic exercise on his part a trip to his website will soon discount this. There is a wholly artistic side to how this idea evolved however and this aspect of it does feature the influence of Drexciya and I feel this is worth bringing to your attention to show how at the very least idea’s and concepts influence each other and inspire and help evolve the idea’s of others. I also feel that if you keep an open mind and get into what Alan is saying, particularly in the Origins section on the myth background story of Pangea (you’ll have to read it for yourself to see what I'm talking about) then you may begin to see a lot of parallels between these two, on the surface quite different, parties and might start to reflect on how we are all essentially human beings from the same planet, no matter what number it is, and therefore share the same myths, struggles and aspirations in life.

My side point this time is to say that the signed poster of The Quest Alan mentions as hanging ever present in the various offices the D1 Recordings label have occupied over the past 10 years is the one I have already mentioned in The Quest article. I just updated said piece by the way having been recently in the D1 office and finally took down the exact poster text which differs from the album liner notes. I even got the low down from label head Eamonn Doyle on it as well, James Stinson himself having signed it right in front of him back in the day at the UR HQ. Check it out in the archives here.

Origins

Jump straight to the Drexciya/UR section of Origins

The Seventh Earth

D1

D1’s annual DEAF festival site

Underground Resistance

Der Zyklus I and the birth of Heinrich Mueller

Late 1996 early 1997 marks the close of the active production side of Dopplereffekt mark 1 and also roughly coincides with the release of the final Drexciya 12", ‘Uncharted’, before their own hiatus. This period would have given Gerald Donald plenty of time to begin to conceive of what his own next move would be and begin anew his experimentations in his Reaktor studio. He certainly didn't hang around as by 1998 his debut 12" as Der Zyklus was released. Not being a fluent German speaker I came up with two possible translations, one being the more obvious The Cycle, or the far more subtle, Termination Cycle. I'm sure it won't be long before some DRL reader settles this one and when that happens I will appropriately amend this piece.

On one level Donald here gets to indulge his German fetish to the max with this untitled 12”, although it would become known as ‘Der Zyklus I’ once its follow up was titled as ‘Der Zyklus II’. The artwork here solely consists of a label, and I mean that in the singular as it is the same one used for both sides of this increasingly enigmatic release. Apart from an inexplicable ‘Made in Germany’ there are only German words used throughout, right down to the listing of the Gigolo ‘Phax’ machine number, even the usual copyright sentence which runs in the traditional circular fashion around the edge of the label is in German which I‘ve never seen done before even on a Gigolo record. Strangely, the follow up, also on Gigolo, had this legend back in English. Perhaps he was excited that this new label that wanted to work with him was German and that he could now so easily present himself as a totally German looking act that he just found it all too tempting not to. Anyway, this release is very much about detail so we must therefore look even closer at it than usual, which I always do anyway!

On the ‘Seite Eins’ side we have the lead track ’Der Tonimpulstest’(Tone Impulse Test). We also get some quite detailed writing and production credits to help us out but not before we translate them. ‘Abgemischt von (mixed by): Heinrich Mueller und Anthony Shakir. Aufnahmeteildienste (something like recording facility): Reaktor und Blackploit.’ To give have I believe is the full picture for the origination of both of these tracks I will continue on with the credits listed for track 2, ‘Die Dammerung Von Nanotech’ (The Dawn of Nano-technology), on ‘Seite Zwei’. ‘Alle Stucke gestchrieban und produziert von (written and production by) Rudolf Klorzeiger. Spezieller Dank an (special thanks to) Herrn Geier & Eschker, which might be a thank you regarding equipment like the previous Dopplereffekt credit on ‘Sterilization’, but who knows. So it looks like Gerald Donald is being a trifle playful or schizophrenic with us by using both of his pseudonyms at the same time. If Donald or even Gigolo were concerned that this release might appear as almost too anonymous for potential fans to notice perhaps the reference to Dopplereffekt’s Rudolf Klorzeiger would assure them of the true identity and what they might expect. Perhaps also, strictly speaking Donald may have felt that the tracks when written and produced did belong to his previous persona but by the time they were finally mixed he had by then become Heinrich Mueller. Certainly one of the tracks, ‘Der Tonimpulstest’, if not both, had an extended birth by being run through the machines at Anthony Shakir’s Blackploit studio before being deemed complete. As a side point, it was probably an oversight but when this track was reissued as a 12” which compiled 4 tracks from Der Zyklus I & II by Frustrated Funk in 2006 it did not credit Shakir at all. But this isn’t really surprising. As another side point perhaps Martin Matiske when titling his Heinrich Mueller indebted Blackploid project, whose 12” also confusingly came out on Frustrated Funk in 2006, he came across the word Blackploit referring to Shakir‘s studio, if true then he’s even ripping off Mueller’s small print as well as his music! I actually really like Martin’s stuff, if your gonna plagiarise, plagiarise the best.

I suppose I should really explain for anyone who doesn’t know who Anthony 'Shake' Shakir actually is. One of Detroit’s 1st generation techno legends, although he didn’t really make an impact as a solo artist until 1992, which sort of makes him 2nd generation, regardless he had been involved on the periphery of the scene since the early days, having a big hand in Octave One’s classic ‘I Believe’ in 1989 for example. He is popularly known as someone ahead of their time that doesn’t really get the credit he deserves and that is probably a fair enough assessment. He does have a reputation as a collaborator also, having worked both professionally and musically with Claude Young, Keith Tucker and Daniel Bell, not to mention his extensive remix work so perhaps its no big surprise that he should work with Donald, even though he appears to have taken quite a minimal role but respect is due. At some point he tragically contracted Multiple Sclerosis. I only mention this because I did meet him once when he played a DJ set in about 2001 I think (I was detailed by my mate the promoter to drive him back to his hotel) and at that time he was walking with the aid of a stick or some sort of crutch. Thankfully he is still with us, but up to date information on him I found is hard to track down on the net, but I can remember his set on the night being superb, very tasteful and in person he was very approachable and friendly. For more on ‘Shake’ follow the links at foot of article.

Musically it appears most obviously that Donald has jettisoned any recognisably human element on these two tracks as no vocals are present. Both tracks have equally fast tempo’s and are very short tracks to boot, ‘Der Tonimpulstest’ only reaches the 3 minute mark while the other doesn’t even make that. Now while this does tally with the Dopplereffekt model on the vinyl if you look at the gap between the grooves for ‘Die Dammerung Von Nanotech’ you can see a lot of open space between them. Both sides are also cut at 45rpm as well so it starts to comes across as a real decadent artefact, no value for money here, which is a statement in itself, but luckily is not a case of style over content. Also this is a sign that the quality of the pressing/cut is at issue with this artist, a sign that he takes sound very seriously. In fact because the follow up would be a more conventional 4 track 12” this debut has all the hallmarks of an aesthetic statement of intent, in a perfect world he would probably have liked to continue on like this but it’s the music business at the end of the day and it needs to turn a profit. I would also not discount the possibility that his unusual demands for this release were a test for Gigolo to see how seriously they would treat Donald’s work and his demands in the future. If so they must have passed as they would soon have a history together stretching up to 2003. Will there be more?

‘Der Tonimpulstest’ opens and closes with what sounds like an audio identification signature, another sign of an attention to detail where the quality of sound is concerned. This track is the more Dopplereffekt of the two and would not have seemed out of place there, the only difference being that it is a little bit more minimal and is of a higher tempo than it. It has a nice eerie keyboard pattern which is of course one of his signatures, but this is the first time he uses it. The pace is relentless with only a slight breakdown but it does have a playful ending which could be argued balances out its rigid structure. This is robot disco of the most barren kind. Of the two ‘Die Dammerung Von Nanotech’ is the most obviously other or new sounding. If Shakir did have any production input it might have been on this one but it’s hard to tell without knowing for sure. Certainly this track would not have sat too comfortably amongst the running order of the following years ‘Gesamtkunserk’ compilation of Dopplereffekt material. The track has a funk element that if you pitch it down is slightly more obvious, in fact both tracks benefit immensely from this, the genius of vinyl! It does have a jam feel and sort of bursts into life fully formed at the start but on closer inspection has a lot of fine detail layered throughout with quite a few new sounds for him on display. A busy production with a number of percussive rhythms lines competing against each other which all actually gel very well. It does end up with an unfinished feel however but is chock full of new potentials, the sound of an artist at a crossroads.

At this stage of Der Zyklus the science theme is somewhat of a token, with only the titles reflecting this concept. For example how exactly is this the sound of ‘The Dawn of Nano-Technology’? In fact it would not be till the second Dopplereffekt album ‘Linear Accelerator’ in 2003, before he could boast that he had managed to truly fuse the music and the concept. I think we’ll find as we go further that the period from say 1997 to 2003 is very much a transitionary one for him where he would hone his more accessible sound to its highest level while seemingly being drawn in parallel towards much more uncompromising and experimental forms.
A word on the Heinrich Mueller pseudonym. I think at this stage after nearly ten years of him using it we should give him the benefit of the doubt that he sees this as just a name, the persona he is most comfortable with. In fact it would be a very common name in Germany, and really I should start referring to him as this from now on as well.

In 1998 the 'Suicide Commando' 12" by DJ Hell came out with a Heinrich Mueller remix which was the first time I believe he used the name officially as a stand alone artist. Hell is of course the label head of Gigolo which makes this a likely collaboration, I must admit I've never heard it and can't comment further on it, and you thought I had everything! In 1999 he did a remix also under this name of ‘Cinematic Automatic’ by Michigan’s Le Car. The 12” the track is on I was lucky enough to come across a good few years ago now as today, well, good luck! It was a very early release on Detroit's Intuit Solar label, the record came simply stickered, housed in what was at the time their generic sleeve. Again as seems to be habit for Mueller he would go on to release at least one more thing on this label, namely the Japanese Telecom self-titled mini album which would arrive later the same year. The sticker attached for the 12”, 'Comin' From Tha D, Instalment 3.0' does list it as containing a remix by Doppleffect(sic) but this is more a marketing thing than a mistake as the label lists the artist as Heinrich Mueller. It’s a nice release if you can track it down, the other remixes are by Adult., D. Wynn and DJ T-1000 of tracks by Ectomorph, Keith Tucker and Punisher respectively. While I haven’t heard the Le Car original I feel confidant to say this sounds like an almost 100% Mueller production with only a vocal sample left intact from the original, or is that even Mueller himself? Can anyone compare the two and let us know? This remix is actually one of my favourite productions of his, certainly from this transitional era, all the hallmarks are here, the bass line, the sharp snare, the eerie keyboard riff, the unpredictable sounds ricocheting round the mix. Solid, really nice and very modern sounding, there’s somehow a real futuristic sheen to this production, not having dated in the slightest, I could see it someday sound-tracking some scene in a stylish movie set in the future, it’s that good, and Le Car will get all the credit! Actually I would like to hear more of their stuff, now defunct but the guy from Adult. was a member as was Ian R. Clark who has been recording as Perspects since 1999 so at least their both still making good music.

To sum up, this debut Der Zyklus release is primarily about making an aesthetic statement about what Heinrich Mueller sees himself achieving/exploring in the future on this new European label with his new project. Remember, this did not come out first in the States on Dataphysix and then get licensed to Gigolo, this is an important development for Mueller, another first for him. The music, good as it is, is not there conceptually yet but it is an effective beginning. You could call it a conceptual false start as well, as if anything he becomes for a time more accessible from this point on, but come on, this is a guy capable of working on many different levels simultaneously, we should just take it as a sign of things to come.

If anyone’s interested after over a year of doing this I've finally noticed a pattern emerging in that I only seem to write these articles when it’s raining or I consider the weather somehow too miserable to go outside. In fact today wasn't too bad, but I restarted the piece yesterday when there was a downfall outside all day. I promised and began this article at what seems like a long time ago now but got bogged down early in translations and then came across that Sun Ra book and got side-tracked by it. Whatever, Japanese Telecom will be my next port of call regarding Mr Mueller, but anything could be posted next, depending on weather.

Old but gold Shakir interview
Gigolo Records
Intuit Solar

Influence on Storm Series?

In the book 'Space is the Place', the life and times account of Sun Ra by John F. Swzed, I came across a possible inspiration for Drexciya's 7 album 'Storm Series' which I would like here to further explore. The relevant lines in the book go thus and are in the context of what was informing the philosophies of Sun Ra. “Theosophy was the force behind Prometheus, “The Poem of Fire,” Scriabin’s fifth symphony, with a chorus (and audience) dressed in white, and an organ which played lights and colours; and the source of what the composer planned as his ultimate work, The Mysterium, a week-long piece that would literally destroy the world and raise the human race to a higher plane at its finale.”

I did some research about this intriguing individual and came up with the following. The Russian composer Alexander Scriabin’s (1872-1915) final unfinished work was to be called 'Mysterium' or 'Preparation for the Final Mystery' and was to be what we would call today a mixed media presentation to be staged over seven days to culminate he was sure with nothing-less than the transformation of the human race into what he termed "nobler beings." He himself described it as follows. "There will not be a single spectator. All will be participants. The work requires special people, special artists and a completely new culture. The cast of performers includes an orchestra, a large mixed choir, an instrument with visual effects, dancers, a procession, incense, and rhythmic textural articulation. The cathedral in which it will take place will not be of one single type of stone but will continually change with the atmosphere and motion of ‘The Mysterium‘. This will be done with the aid of mists and lights, which will modify the architectural contours." The venue he envisaged his masterpiece being performed for what would presumably have been a one-off concert was to be built at the foothills of the Himalayas. One of his commentators elaborates here about some of the more fanciful aspects of the imagined performance, ‘This seven-day-long mega-work would be performed at the foothills of the Himalayas in India, after which the world would dissolve in bliss. Bells suspended from clouds would summon spectators. Sunrises would be preludes and sunsets codas. Flames would erupt in shafts of light and sheets of fire. Perfumes appropriate to the music would change and pervade the air.’

Perhaps your thinking the only obvious and tenuous link here is the seven day duration but I think the piece’s ultimate aim, the transformation of Man, is what really ties it in. I think it’s only natural when any artist hears of any grand unfinished work in their field to consider how they might realise it today, circumstances and technologies having changed with time etc. The movie director Francis Ford Coppola has spoken of how as a film student he was drawn to bringing Josephs Conrad ‘Heart of Darkness’ to the screen partly because the same feat had beaten the genius of Orson Welles. This of course turned out to be his own masterpiece, ‘Apocalypse Now!‘, which in this case perhaps a combination of better funding and a general change in the times played their role in bringing it to fruition. In a similar way once the members of Drexciya came across this reference to Sciabin's unfinished master-work maybe they too briefly considered how this could be realised today and would they themselves be up to the task. I'm postulating that if indeed any of this occurred then this question might have been the first act of this idea gestating in their minds. If so it would take another 3 years for it to emerge as the 'Storm Series' to the public.

So we have Scriabin's seven days condensed to seven albums and all recorded within a year and his concept of the transformation of man into 'nobler beings' brought into line with their own concept of evolution which they had been using since their earliest days. They first used mutation through nuclear radiation as the starting point to this new evolution in what Stinson himself later described as their ‘false start’ on 1992’s 12” as L.A.M. (Life after Mutation). Whether this idea as a concept would have satisfactorily sustained them for a career is unlikely but when they conceived of a mutated aquatic species originating from the babies of African slave’s they must have instinctively known they now had a far more rich and sophisticated evolutionary concept which would sustain them creatively.

Their use of the storm metaphor, its transforming of the surface nature, might have been their acknowledgement of Scriabin’s desire to combine the elements of nature into his piece. Of course Scriabin did not complete or even outline any explanatory content for this unfinished piece so this must also have appeared as a particularly tempting blank canvas for Drexciya to conceive of how exactly this transformation of Man was to occur.

There’s no doubt that this is how idea's can and do ripple through the mass consciousness, in this case reappearing and becoming realised to some extent almost a 100 years later. Drexciya themselves are responsible for creating these ripples of idea’s or re-stirring old ones which can potentially become waves that can sweep people or whole nations along on their current. It strikes me that an even more appropriate metaphor for this, although it may also be a scientific fact also, would be that of an idea being like a butterfly flapping its wings and eventually this having a climatic effect somewhere else on the other side of the world, maybe even causing a storm! Whatever the metaphor, small actions eventually bear fruit and hopefully Drexciya's idea's are still rippling around the world, with you and DRL itself can play our parts in this process. However they can only go further is we expand and build on them because when something stop growing it dies. But this is work for the individual, I will continue to share my own work on this subject, just keep an open mind, don't get fooled by illusion or sweat the small stuff, life is fast ending, so live.

As far as all this goes regarding Scriabins possible influence, as always make up your own minds. I would just say to be on the look out for any precedents to today like Scriabin and Sun Ra and especially those who failed or went unrecognised in their time. A definition of these type of people are those few who dream of a future in opposition to the many who only regurgitate the past. In many cases it was a future in which we have yet to find ourselves, so we can learn from them, to grow and evolve.

Alexander Scriabin at Wikipedia.

Drexciyan Philosophy

In a previous post I brought to your attention and explained why I believed the members of Drexciya had more than likely read ‘Space is the Place’, a life and times account of Sun Ra by John F. Szwed in and around it’s 1997 publishing date. On rereading it further myself, having probably not picked it up since 1998, I was fairly shocked to discover one of the names I had already mentioned as possible influences on their thinking while conceiving the ‘Storm Series‘, namely Rudolf Steiner. I really should also have mentioned Gurdjieff but at the time probably thought that would be going too far but now I wish I had. Luckily for me I can simply quote a chunk of the book for this link to be apparent as otherwise I fear a book would be the only thing to do full justice to the links between the two. I’m just saying that there’s a strong chance they would have followed up on some of these names which were such a strong influence on Sun Ra’s own thinking and philosophy. From this section of the book it’s also tempting to wonder if this would also have been the first time Gerald Donald came across the word gesamtkunstwerk, here mentioned in conjunction with Wagner, someone that an obvious germophile like him no doubt would have more sensitively picked up on.

“Through Blavatsky’s writings Sonny(Sun Ra) learned of all the secret societies, real and imagined, that were theosophy’s precursors...In the work of one of her offshoots, Rudolf Steiner, he read of a German who attempted to bridge the everyday and the spirit worlds by means of scientific methods. Even though he was a scientist, more than any other theosophist Steiner knew the arts and treated them as central to his spiritual project. he had studied architecture extensively, extended Goethe’s theory of colour, and drawing from Wagner’s notion of Gesamtkunstwerk - in which all arts would be incorporated into drama - he developed Mystery Plays which traced the spiritual development of characters through the use of music, colour, speech, movement and stage design...he recognised that dance rhythms had been involved in the creation of the cosmos, and saw the need to restore rhythm to modern life as a means of communicating with the spirit world. "

"Then through the Pyotr Demianovitch Ouspensky’s writings Sonny uncovered the strange Greek-Armenian mystic George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. By means of a synthesis of number symbolism, Pythagorian musicology, cabbala, physics, esoteric Christianity, theosophy and an interest in theatre and music, Gurdjieff saw that man lives in habit, that he is asleep and must be wakened from this sleep, that there were other possibilities as yet unthought of in human life. It was necessary to shock people from their sleeping state, and music and dance were means of awakening emotional spontaneity. "

"Sonny was particularly impressed by Ouspensky’s ’A New Model of the Universe’, which took seriously his concern with the limits of scientific reasoning, especially in matters as important as the theory of evolution and the need to reach beyond the limits of what are called objectivity and subjectivity to answer questions which otherwise appear unanswerable. "

"The key ideas he received from his readings in theosophy were those which reinforced what he already held: that the Bible needed to be de-mythologized, decoded and brought in tune with modern life; that it was possible to unify all knowledge; that the universe was organized hierarchically, with forces or spirits which moved between the levels and affected life on earth; and that there were charismatic leaders who had the means to come to know these secrets."

"Now everything flowed towards him, one idea leading to another, connecting unpredictably...strange ideas, bizarre associations. Sometimes only a single word he read had meaning to him, but sooner or later it connected to others, so that everything was eventually related...relativity, synchronicity, telepathy, clairvoyance, levitation...all parts of the whole. After all the years of wandering he had done, all the blind spots and dead ends in which he had wound up, his reading was pointing him to the way; a golden road was opening up before him, leading him through the rubble of life, concentrating his dreams and fantasies, making clear what he must have always known, that there was something greater than Birmingham, than Chicago, greater than the earth itself, and in it he had an ordained role: he was a secret agent of the Creator. With music he would reach across the border of reality into myth; with music he could build a bridge to another dimension, to something better; dance halls, clubs, and theatres could be turned into sacred shrines, the sites of dramas and rituals, and though people would be drawn to hear the music, it was they who would become the instruments on which it would resonate, on which he would create the sound of silhouettes, the images and forecasts of tomorrow...all of it disguised as jazz."

If you substitute the last word for electro/techno then this could have been written about Drexciya. Certainly on reading this last particularly inspiring paragraph they would have recognised that this was what they had already been doing, “With music he would reach across the border of reality into myth.“, perhaps now they got a glimpse of the wider possibilities of what their next step could be, “with music he could build a bridge to another dimension.” 1999’s ‘Neptune’s Lair’ is the point where they most fully realised their music in myth and from here there was only one route for them to take without becoming a parody of themselves. This way out could only be dimensional and the wider possibilities of inner and outer space which this opened up for them.

I’ve one more piece almost ready to go which began from another piece of information I gleamed from this same source, but will get back to documenting the work of Gerald Donald soon after that.

John F. Szwed

Rudolf Steiner at Wikipedia.

Gurdjieff at Wikipedia.

James Stinson

A few days late but through one thing and another I never got to post anything to note the fourth anniversary of James Stinson's death but it's still well worth marking it with something here.

I've no doubt that whatever I and his fans may be feeling at this time about such a talented and loved human being departing this life at such a young age in such a sudden and unresolved fashion it can bear no relation to what his wife, seven children, family and friends must be experiencing, not only at this time but all the time. While life goes on, his absence for them becomes a part of their lives. To channel that sense of loss into something positive can only be done through their memories of him. As he is in their thoughts they are in ours.

With the re-issue of 'Neptune's Lair' this year it seems that at least one more of the labels which worked with Drexciya will not allow their records to go out of press entirely. I'm quite confidant that as long as there is a demand then it will be met by all of them from time to time in one way or another. As his music goes on, so will his memory.

James Stinson 14th September 1969 - 3rd September 2002 R.I.P.

In keeping with the archival side of DRL I thought it about time I included three appreciations written at the time to mark James Stinson's death. The first is by Tom Magic Feet, the second by UR's Mad Mike Banks, the third by Andrew Duke.

James Stinson, founder member of electro-techno outfit Drexciya, died on September 3rd in Newnan, near Atlanta, Georgia, from what have been described as 'heart complications'. Stinson, who was 32, had been ill for some time, even instructing record labels with whom he had deals to go ahead and release his music should he not live. Prior to his death he had been working as a truck driver, a job he said he enjoyed because of the time it gave him to think.

As a youth growing up on Detroit's East Side, James Stinson first encountered electro music through Cybotron's 'Alleys Of Your Mind' and became a regular listener to radio DJ The Electrifyin' Mojo. In 1989 he founded Drexciya (he claimed the idea came to him in a dream) with Gerald Donald, although it was several years before any Drexciya music was released. (The duo's first actual records were released under the names Glass Domain and L.A.M. in the early 90s.)

Drexciya's releases proper began in 1993 with 'Deep Sea Dweller' on Shockwave, which also established the mythological underwater theme which would characterise all their subsequent releases in the '90s through the UR, Warp, Rephlex, S.I.D., Submerge and Tresor labels. 1997's double CD 'best of ' collection, 'The Quest', was heralded as Drexciya's 'farewell release', but 1999's all-new 'Neptune's Lair' LP on Tresor proved that talk of the group's demise had been premature.

By shunning the usual means of promotion - interviews, publicity photos, live performances etc. - and working on a strictly need-to-know basis, Drexciya inadvertently cultivated a mystique that only added to their appeal and they became renowned as one of the classic 'faceless techno' acts. Yet this approach allowed Drexciya a level of artistic freedom - not to mention career longevity - that many would envy.

Instead of media overload, Drexciya created a fantasy world of slaves-turned-fishmen and underwater landscapes around their music, building on Stinson's fascination with the oceans and African-American history and his vivid imagination. Recently, however, his gaze seems to have turned outerwards: the last Drexciya release proper before his death was the 'Grava 4' LP earlier this year on Clone, named after a star Drexciya had 'adopted'.

Although a jazz and hip-hop listener, Stinson also deliberately isolated himself from other electronic music, especially when recording, for the simple reason that he didn't want to be unduly influenced by other peoples' ideas. He was a notorious perfectionist too, and earlier this year told Detroit Free Press writer Tim Pratt, "I'll never reach the point where I can say this is the best I can do." Yet his music was hugely influential. Futuristic, dark, textured and compelling, Drexciya were one of the keys to the resurgence of electro music in the '90s and one of the bedrocks of the Detroit electrobass style.

Although Drexciyan releases throughout the '90s had been few and far between, the last couple of years had witnessed an unprecedented level of activity. Stinson had finally begun to give occasional interviews, speaking of his concept of seven 'storms' - seven albums created in the same year to be released on different labels around the world. The first was Drexciya's 'Harnessed The Storm' album, the second and third were solo releases under the pseudonyms Transllusion and The Other People Place. More material is known to be forthcoming on Tresor and Kombination Research and Rephlex recently released the second Transllusion LP, 'L.I.F.E'. It's as if he was just hitting his stride when he died.

He is survived by his parents, his wife Andrea, a brother and seven children.

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Born in 1969, James Stinson grew up on Detroit's east side and graduated from Kettering in 1989. His name may not share the familiarity of his Detroit techno peers, yet James Marcel Stinson anonymously produced some of the city's most celebrated recordings during the '90s as the primary member of Drexciya. For nearly a decade, he quietly produced numerous recordings as a loose affiliate of the Underground Resistance collective and also as part of the Tresor roster before succumbing to a heart complication in late 2002 and passing away on September 3. Stinson never sought personal fame or glory despite the international recognition of his music, instead emphasizing the music itself and shrouding his identity in fantastic and subtle ideology that further accentuated the wondrous nature of his work and earned him incredible respect among those who knew him personally.
Now there's a whole resurgence of electro, and James was the life force of it. He had a fascination with the ocean, and aquatic things, and African-American history, and the voyage African people had to make. He was fascinated with the strength and endurance you have to have to make a voyage. His best feature was that good enough wasn't enough. He always pushed the envelope. Even at UR, where pushing the envelope is the norm, he pushed it harder than any artist on the label. He would expect us to keep living on the edge.

James Marcel Stinson, musician, born September 14 1969; died September 3 2002. 'Negative evolution cycle completed. Now in sonic infinitum mode.' - UR

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September 3 marks a sad anniversary--the passing of Detroit's James Stinson at the age of 32 from heart complications.

I remember clearly the day I heard the news; I ended up spending the day listening to my Drexciya records over and over. The raw power and passion of "Positron Island" has been not just one of my favourite Drexciya songs, not just one of my favourite electronic music songs, but one of my favourite songs of any genre since the first time I heard it; just as Drexciya remains one of my favourite bands--regardless of genre. Though I have been very lucky and have had the privilege of interviewing many of my electronic music "heroes" over the years, my interview with James stood out to me right after I spoke with him--and continues to resonate even more so since his passing. After hearing the news, I re-listened to the tape of that interview from December 13, 1999 and was reminded of how many plans Stinson had--to tour, to release even more material, to build relationships with those who connected with his music. Stinson's music continues to be released even after his death, such was his level of quality productivity. And we know from the Submerge mail outs that the spawn of Drexciya are hitting vinyl. But what struck me most about my interview with Stinson was that, despite the incredible focus he obviously had on music, more importantly, he was always able to achieve a balance. James told me that music was the *third* most important thing in his life. I asked him what was ahead of music; "My family and God," he replied. I am not a religious person, but I do understand the importance of family, and today, as I did the day I heard the news, I thought of James' family and wished them peace and strength.

We now have only James' music to remember him by. He was only here on earth for 33 years, but he managed to give us so much joy in the time he was here, and we can continue to keep his memory alive by thinking of him whenever we play and enjoy the music of Drexciya in the future. I am sure James is now in that calm and tranquil place he fondly spoke of--somewhere over the Red Hills. Rest in peace, James Stinson. Take care.

Andrew Duke

Sun Ra

It’s quite obvious that one or more members of Drexciya were fans of Sun Ra fan or were at the very least admirers of his; there is the Shifted Phases track ‘Crossing the Sun Ra Nebula’ and Stinson was known to be a jazz fan, not to mention the conceptual parallels between the two acts. I recently came across my copy of the only published account of his life, ‘Space is the Place - The Life and Times of Sun Ra’, which came out in 1997 during Drexciya’s down period after ‘The Quest’. It’s very tempting to imagine them reading this book at the time and getting inspired all over again. I would say it’s very likely that they did read it, if not during 1997 itself then at some stage. If so they would have had to confront Sun Ra’s space obsessed concepts anew which was thoroughly explored by the books author John F. Szwed. I would recommend reading the book yourself. I‘ve said it before but it‘s worth stating again that if you are interested in precedents to Drexciya’s mythos then Sun Ra is someone to check out, in fact I would have to describe Sun Ra as a man without precedent! Sun Ra wrote a lot of words as well as music and would even lecture his band on his philosophies before live performances. I wish I had the time to research a complete article on this subject but I believe, like a lot of the speculative content of DRL, it’s better if I point people in a certain direction and let them come to their own conclusions. At an unspecified time Sun Ra wrote the following on the topic of evolution, a theme he shares with Drexciya.

“Man has to rise above himself...transcend himself. Because the way he is, he can only follow reproductions of idea’s, because he’s just a reproduction himself. He did not come from the creative system, he came from the reproductive system. But if he evolutes himself, he will come up from the creative system. What I’m determined to do is to cause man to create himself by simply rising up out of the reproductive system into the creative system . Darwin didn’t have the complete picture. I’ve been talking about evolution too but I’ve spelt it e-v-e-r.”

Sun Ra at Wikipedia

DREXCIYAN METAPHORS

The three key metaphors used by Drexciya were that of water, wave jumping and storms. I’ve written a few general words on my interpretations of each and their possible meanings. As usual this is just to be taken as a jumping off point for further investigations of your own or not as the case may be, just a few musings I pleasantly passed on a stormy day with.

WATER: To place the world of Drexciya in water seems to me the essential step of removing us from our usual physical and mental limitations on dry land, introducing us to this fantasy world which is limited only by their imagination. Through fantasy or science fiction we often find it easier to imagine ways to go beyond our normal limits and through immersing ourselves in these worlds we emerge into a land where we can escape. That word escape is key I believe as this is not just a temporary feeling as long as we play a record or read a book. The potential to escape forever mentally is also there and in Drexciya’s case they brought us further out when they started to explore other dimensions and then even space itself. I’m just saying that like any great art they provided a whole world where the normal rules don’t apply, a Wonderland for Alice to investigate, to learn in, question and grow. It is essentially somewhere to view our own World more objectively which will lead us to improve where we actually find ourselves.
Perhaps Drexciya were also thinking of the ancient Chinese belief of Taoism, the way of Man’s cooperation with the course of the natural world, when they picked water as their main metaphor. Tao itself means the flow of nature and is also known as The Watercourse Way. Even if this was not the case I feel it is a system which may have appealed to Drexciya and it shows that their intuition of linking the metaphor of water with change was not without precedent. I will go no further on this subject than this abbreviated quote from the Taoist Kuan Chung who died in 645 BC. The last paragraph is worth keeping Drexciya, those sages of change, in mind!

“Water is the blood of the Earth, and flows through its muscles and veins. Therefore it is said that water is something that has complete faculties. It is accumulated in Heaven and Earth, and stored up in the various things of the World. It comes forth in metal and stone, and is concentrated in living creatures. Therefore it is said that water is something spiritual.
Man is water, and when the producing elements of male and female unite, liquid flows into forms. It congeals to form Man, this is its refined essence. What is it then that has complete faculties? It is water. There is not one of the various things which is not produced through it. It is only he who knows how to rely on its principles who can act correctly.
Hence the solution for the Sage who would transform the World lies in water. Therefore when water is uncontaminated men’s hearts are upright. When water is pure, the people’s hearts are at ease. Men’s hearts being upright, their desires do not become dissolute. The people’s hearts being upright, their conduct is without evil. Hence the Sage, when he rules the world, does not teach men one by one, or house to house, but takes water as his key.”

WAVE JUMPING: Riding waves of water and latterly dimensional waves sounds like being in control of your life, staying upright without falling or crashing into the surf. When Drexciya became interested in going beyond their watery home and exploring other dimensions and on into space itself they of course continued to use this metaphor. Certainly they weren’t into floundering, they may have been asking us to follow their lead up to a point but there came a point when we had to ride that wave ourselves towards our own home, our own future. The activity of jumping from wave to wave itself could be read as successfully changing course at the right moment as we continue to grow and change, always moving forward, like a shark, which dies if it stops moving. Learning the knack to stay upright as the storms of change blow around you, which leads us neatly to.

STORM: The storm metaphor they used during the Storm series could stand for the transformation of the landscape it careens over and also, as explained previously, as the obscuring puzzle which keeps it’s real meaning hidden from us until we figure it out. To work out the puzzle would also bring the storm as a whole to an end for yourself, then becoming transformed with this knowledge. But while unsolved these storms continue to rage for many and unpredictably thunder in minds around the world and will excitingly continue to do so.

Sterilization/Gesamtkunswerk

The third Dopplereffekt 12" was 'Sterilization' which came out as usual on their own label, Dataphysix, sometime in 1997. Coming two years after their initial burst of creativity which spawned their first two EPs it's rather surprising that they only bring two very similar mixes of the same track to the table after this long lay off. Of course this could itself be a leftover from 1995. Not that any of this early period of Dopplereffekt sounds in anyway dated, as already discussed elsewhere, and this track is no exception. It's just that in releasing one track they have to be making some kind of statement with it. So obviously we need to examine the subject matter to find out what it is.

Which is difficult or perhaps not so as the sole lyric goes, "We had to sterilise the population." I feel a strong urge to put an exclamation point at the end of that line, as if it was being said ironically or for shock value but really it's a hard one to call and I don't personally believe that the author would agree so I will leave it's intent hanging ambiguously. Luckily they expand somewhat on this theme with the line ‘Racial Hygiene and Selective Breeding’ on the label. Of course it’s a Nazi thing, sadly, laid bare this time with nothing else to balance it out. I have it on very good authority that the original artwork for this 12” also featured a prominent swastika on the label which were even printed up but left unattached when it was realised that this is a banned symbol in Germany which was one of Dopplereffekts biggest markets at the time. Some evidence of this change of mind can be seen in the choice of apparel sported by Gerald Donald's very Kraftwerk-esq robot pose, the blacked out square on his brown shirt collar hides an SS insignia to match his brown shirt and tie. Interestingly, the Clone website use the original untouched photo of this for their Der Zyklus artist profile which clearly shows the insignia. There is most likely a sense of humour involved here, even though this is such a controversial subject, as an artist he's having to take a risk to be ambiguous and trusting of his audience to be in on the joke/understand he is being critical of what he is seeming to espouse. I can see a comparison to the The Third Reich 'n' Roll single (1977) by The Residents, which also sports Nazi swastikas on the cover and labels. 

In the previous two articles, using quotes of his from the recent past, I put this fascination with totalitarian/fascist states  down to his obvious acceptance of progress, you could even call it evolution, at any costs, an extreme sort of honesty to the situation. Staying in the same territory you could use the example of those Nazi doctors and scientists which suddenly became prized possessions to the Allied forces after World War Two. I think Donald would ask us what benefits did we gain from this but more importantly would we reject these benefits, especially if it meant saving our lives, or even just making them slightly easier? He might feel we are all complicit in the most atrocious of acts by not doing so. He might want us to at least consider this. If I was being very open minded and giving him the full benefit of the doubt I could see this period as Donald first making the point of assuaging any guilt he may feel connected to the onward march of science before fully embracing it as he would later on and up to today. Now I don’t know if that is what he was actually doing, as I said before he could just be thoughtlessly flirting with these very powerful images as many have before but he could on the other hand be seen to be coming across as a particularly honest type, if a little extreme in his methods. Hopefully it did make people question and debate it and perhaps this was their intention after all. So if this is their statement it is one final stare into the face of the cold harsh reality of progress, if we accept the good we must also accept the bad, no matter how debased aspects of it undoubtedly are.

The persona’s they take on for this release are predictably Germanic and sick humorously, Rudolf Fisher for Donald, Helena Eichmann for Kim Karli but their most enigmatic member, William Scott, is the exception being listed as himself. Special thanks is given to Doug Wagner which I am hoping is his real name and not a reference to Hitler’s favourite composer and the more innocuous sounding Sana Schuton(actually Sara Scruton, a DJ/promoter/music writer from Toronto). If you think you’ve seen the female mannequin pictured beside Donald on the label before well it bears a striking resemblance to the one on the label for Ultradyne’s 2004 12“ ‘The Privilege of Sacrifice’. I’m sure they won’t thank me for dragging them into such confusing waters but check out the likeness, if it is the same then these friends don’t mind sharing their mannequins! Perhaps this image would have fitted better on the previous 'Fascist State' EP and its infamous mannequin themed track 'Plasiphilia'. Musically 'Sterilization' itself is a strong and memorable track but also short at just under the 2 and a half minute mark, but of course it's quality not quantity that counts. Mix 2 is such a slight variation it is no wonder it was not included on the standard CD version of the 1999 ‘Gesamtkunswerk’ compilation which is our next port of call. There was however a bonus 7" on Gigolo's original double vinyl edition which contains both versions of 'Sterilization' for good measure.

The German word ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ fittingly means complete art work or total work of art or simply in this context, compilation, and a deal was struck for all the material of the three EP’s to date and one new extra track to be included here and released on the French label Source for the territories of France, the UK and Ireland, and with DJ Hells German based International Deejay Gigolo Records for everywhere else. To help promote the album a second time Gigolo produced a 10” in 2001 which paired the original version of ‘Scientist’ with its video mix on the flip, there was also a 12" version which confusingly had the same tracks. As mentioned previously the big difference in this version is that Kim Karli’s essential vocal is cut. Just previous to this Gigolo had marked it's first release involving Gerald Donald by putting out the first Der Zyklus 12" in 1998. They would go on to work extensively together over the coming years and were arguably the label that made his name, or that of his aliases, in Europe and the World. Surprisingly even this early connection with Source would continue up to today as Record Makers which put out the first and third Arpanet albums is one of their sub-labels.

Some striking artwork and the definitive Dopplereffekt pose of this period were contained in the artwork for this release. In the text they also very cleverly balance their previous German totalitarian stance with an equally totalitarian but crucially Communist version. The statement here reads 'Biological Socialism Leads Towards Victory.' So here they are four years later managing the tricky feat of putting a new but subtle spin on their previous stance. The small hammer and sickle logo and soviet star works really well on the black and white cover but these are still the symbols of the enemy, but an old one. Old or not they were still ultimately responsible for even more deaths than the Nazis over a period which stretched long after the war. From what we know of Dopplereffekt it would have seemed more likely of them to have used a swastika, if they had been allowed that is. What would our opinion have been of that? Would I still be saying how brilliantly it works on a design level? While the Russian symbols have successfully been reduced to the level of kitsch over time the other is still potent and liable to inflame opinion. Maybe they were even consciously making a point about this very double standard?

I’ve written before about the identity of the female who does not seem to match up with the girl seen in artwork previously but she does seem to be the same girl featured on the next Dopplereffekt album, 2003's ‘Linear Accelerator’. The identity of the girl who played live with Arpanet in Paris in June 2006 would also be interesting to know, the same? Personnel credits here read in lower case as Rudolf Klorzeiger and To Nhan Le Thi, the latter being Vietnamese, which also nicely refers to a Communist backed country, the northern half anyway. The black and white photo of the group make them look like members of a clandestine political party where the individual, both male and female, is nothing. They both wear black suit, shirt and tie, their faces dramatically illuminated from below, which at a glance makes Donald appear weirdly caucasian. The Russian and Chinese flags which hover above their heads dominate however and what they symbolise in this context is brought into focus. The ideology is all, it’s adherents anonymous, only working for the good of the collective.

I've written previously about the sole new unreleased track here, 'Gesamtkunswerk,' and how it prefigures the future experimental Dopplereffekt sound which they explored more fully on 'Linear Accelerator' and beyond. This slowly uncoiling 6 minutes of sound is evidence that they knew exactly where they were going next with this project, even if the first fruits of this thinking would only be revealed to the public four  years later.

Again as already discussed the music here stands up so well today never mind four years later, this is well ahead of the curve and set the standards for a time, helping to inspire more than a few musicians and even genre’s along the way. The revival must be just around the corner! It must be creatively, not to mention financially, reassuring that this small but influential body of work is money in the bank (no doubt in small amounts) for its creators for years to come. For evidence of this check out the huge on-going list of compilations this stuff has been licensed to at their Discogs page.

An old email address for Dataphysix is listed here, telecom@scientist.com, of course telecom would very much turn out to be a key word in the years to come as both his debut Arpanet project and also the name of the soon to be Japanese Telecom.

The period of Dopplereffekt so neatly and conveniently compiled on ‘Gesamtkunswerk’ is so different from what came next that with hindsight it was essential to separate it as distinct and now extinct. It can certainly be said that they really achieved something laudable and impressive in this compact body of work which a lot of other artists could take a lesson from. They could have signed a major deal and possibly cleaned up if they had wanted to pursue money and fame, but of course this does not appear to be in their nature. I see The Hacker and Miss Kitten as having travelled further along this road, check out their ‘First Album’, itself on Gigolo, to see how this template would become more mainstream if still largely remaining underground. Their choice to take a break and change direction did not happen overnight and this is where my gradual approach to the work of Gerald Donald will hopefully spotlight and help us to better understand the essential twists and turns he takes which lead up to today, as we have seen by this time he was already on his way.

A slight return to the beginning of Der Zyklus and Heinrich Mueller will be our next stop on this journey.

Arpanet back on Record Makers

Some good news has come to me of a new Arpanet 4 track EP, 'Reference Frame', out now on Record Makers with an album, 'Inertial Frame', to follow in September. The album is described at the Record Makers site thus, "Though 'Inertial Frame' serves the usual amount of killer loops, mysterious percussive treads and midnight melodies. Arpanet returns here for our greatest joy with BEATS and - please note the issue held in such an assessment - a whole bunch of fully SUNG tracks."

Arpanet also played on the 22nd of June just gone as a two piece at what appears to be a one off live show at La Geode, Paris, France. A still image from the show is attached. There's also a brief excerpt to view here.

Good overview of Gerald Donlad to date and even a short section of an interview with DJ Hell where he talks about him at Robot Sound.









'Reference Frame' cover image

DRL FAQ

Before I get too deep into Gerald Donald I think it's time for a recap on the main Drexciya points I've made in DRL so far. Because of the nature of the Blog format new comers have to dive straight into the latest post and if they go no further will get a very confusing introduction to my intentions for the site. Not to mention that the word count here long ago passed a point where you could just dip in and because people tend to skim read the web this also does not suit my content here. The Blog format is also quite a baffling place to locate specific information and while the website version does help to address some of these issues I've come up with a DRL FAQ to help people out. Basically when I'm dealing with such a mysterious and enigmatic grouping as Drexciya and Gerald Donald I am factual when I can be and speculative when I have to be.

DRL FAQ

Q 1. Why isn't Grava 4 Storm number 4?

A: Grava 4 is not storm number 4 because in the artwork for the Abstract Thought album it states that it is 'Drexciya Storm #4'. Grava 4 is also distinct from the other 7 albums because it is the only one which is not listed as being a Dimensional Waves production.


Q 2. The message you find in the Storm Series, is that your opinion or is it really there?

A: It is my opinion, which I have always clearly stated, but there is a message which is there to be worked out.

Q 3:What is the basic message/story you get from the Storm Series?

#1 Harnessed The Storm: Drexciya get metaphorically kicked out of the paradise of their underwater home because they forget the meaning of life and so begin a journey of rediscovery.

#2 Transllusion: They begin this journey by looking within and exploring their mental dimensions

#3 The Other People Place: Next they follow love in all its forms.

#4 Abstract Thought: They further stretch their minds by exploring 6 hypothetical situations.

#5 Lab Rat XL: They prepare their bodies for the physical trip home by carrying out 6 biological exercises.

#6 L.I.F.E.: They ultimately learn to overcome their fear of death, how to roll with the punches of life and remember the meaning of life, evolution. Paradise is regained at this point but now they go further.

#7 Shifted Phases: They can now begin the physical journey through space which ends in their final flux before they arrive at their long sought ultimate utopia, the Drexciya Home Universe they find in Grava 4.

For the details of each storm I would advise close reading of the original articles and even following up some of the references I make for this speculative material.

Q. 4: Evolution is the meaning of life in the Storm Series, please expand.

A: "Evolution is simply the capacity to register meanings that are already there. We are evolving into a universe that becomes progressively more fascinating as we learn to register new vibrations." -Colin Wilson.

More and more DRL makes sense to me as an on-going work in progress as this succinct interpretation of the Storm series was not evident to me the first time round. In trying to boil the meaning of each Storm down into one sentence this DRL FAQ (not a Drexciya FAQ) revealed the simplicity of their vital message. I could if I had the time rewrite each article and follow more closely just this theme but that would be to ignore the metaphor of the physical journey to Utopia which is also present throughout the series. This gradual approach might not be to everybody's tastes but as we grow older, have new experiences, even evolve, how can we ever write the last word on a subject or say that we have reached the end point of an investigation?

One thing we do know for sure was that Drexciya told us 'Don't be afraid of evolution'. The universe is infinite and we are a part of this universe and so have the potential for exploring and even becoming infinity ourselves. This has to be our ultimate destiny, we may forget this from time to time and get kicked out of paradise but the curiosity of Man and his search for meaning in the world and wider universe is what has got us this far and it will eventually take us the rest of the way. Storm #2 through to #6 are all evolutionary steps, the series as a whole is a reminder of this process and reassures us not to be afraid of evolution.

Q 5: What did James Stinson himself say about meaning in the Storm Series?

“They’re all linked, but there are very small, little links that you have to really listen to and even look at the titles or artwork that’s going to lead you to the next one and so forth and so on and you will see the cycle and the connection.”

“I suppose we’re trying to say ‘enjoy life’ with these albums. The world has become a dark place and it’s our job to entertain, make people happy and put the fun back in the music. That’s what Drexciya is about in the first instance and that’s why our concepts have become deeper lately. Sure, we’re political and deal with reality, but we also leave the door open so people can create, explore and go into their own world.”

Q 6: What story did you find in The Quest?

A: Again this was my own interpretation but firstly we are introduced to the underwater world of Drexciya and explore and adapt to it until we reach a point where we have to return home. Drexciya warn us that they are ‘going deep this time’ which makes this both a warning and a choice. It is not an easy journey but we make it by placing our trust in them. This quest ultimately leads us to discovering our true selves.

Q 7: Why are you sharing your interpretations with us?

I chose to share them for a number of reasons but primarily because I'm a conceptual artist and I applaud this when I recognise it the work of others. Also, as no-one else had done any work on the subject it was too good a field of research to miss. I like people to question things and think for themselves, to look for the meaning or the lack thereof in whatever surrounds them in their everyday lives. If you have found something totally different or a variation on what I've found or nothing at all I respect your opinion; if it’s genuine for you it's as valid as anything I've come up with. So take my speculations with a pinch of salt for sure, just make an informed decision about it for yourself.

It’s also worth pointing out that the beginnings of this endeavour was simply to compile all the James Stinson interviews as just another tribute page I guess and the rest just gradually grew like anything would when you post roughly every month. I am as surprised as anyone that I’m still doing it. I guess I continue because I am still getting a number of things from it. Like learning more about Drexciya and the subjects they seem to touch on, connecting with people, a break from my everyday routine and hopefully doing my small bit in keeping the name Drexciya out there. We shouldn’t take them for granted, give it enough time and people forget, their records are already out of press, a future without Drexciya would be a future worse off.

Not really feeling the loose ends of Dopplereffekt right now, combination of prolonged good weather, in a mood to listen to Arvo Part more than anything else and buying a house, but will get there.

Infophysix

Dopplereffekts second EP/mini album was 'Infophysix' and again like its predecessor came out in 1995 on their own Dataphysix label. The fact that the title should be such a clear restatement of the label name is interesting. These two made up words I would take to mean a kind of new physics based purely on provable information/data. If this is true it all sounds a bit too organised, surely more breakthroughs in science come from accidents and intuitions. For example Neils Bohr and his peers would often leave their laboratories and take long walks in the countryside when this brand of inspiration would hit. But I can also see the logic in following pure data even if it is a colder and more sterile way of doing things and when you think about it this is exactly the option that Dopplereffekt are following and espousing themselves, increasingly so today.

In my article on ‘Fascist State’ I concentrated more on their philosophy and as far as influences went just mentioned Kraftwerk in passing. Now there is no doubt that Gerald Donald and his cohorts here have a thing for that massively influential Dusseldorf group but there is another act that should be considered as a possible influence as well. Yellow Magic Orchestra are often described in classically lazy hackneyed journalise as the Japanese Kraftwerk and in a sense this is perfectly true in that they were each others peers at the time and but only YMO managed to fuse their own countries ethnic music with their own contemporary sound. They were also very ahead of their time. To someone like Donald this must have sounded like something right up his alley and if you get to hear their music I think you’ll agree that its rough, song based production bears something of a resemblance to 1995 era Dopplereffekt. Donald would of course go on to express his fascination with Japanese technology on his Japanese Telecom project, which has even more of a YMO influence, in 1998 but even by this point he had shown signs of an interest in Japanese culture when it was more than likely he who referenced the Japanese film ‘Nauticaa’ during his Flexitone grouping with Brendan M Gillen. Personally I find Dopplereffekt music unique enough and certainly more than the sum of its influences but like everything it must take its place in history. If you think about it the biggest influence on electronic music is really by the innovators of electronic instruments and software and it is within this sphere that history truly dictates where music belongs. Basically, there was never going to be a band that sounded exactly like Dopplereffekt in the 1970’s.

I would say there is a good chance that all of the material on this and ‘Fascist State’ could well have been recorded around the same time and just compiled onto two different releases. There is a sameness to the overall production and vibe, plus they both would have come out within months of each other. But who knows? The personnel details are different here in that William Scott’s contribution is now downgraded to that of liaison, of course by the ’Gesamkunswerk’ comp he would not be mentioned at all! Donald again uses his Rudolf Klorzeiger alias and Kim Karli is also listed. The artwork pushes the scientific aspect of recording I guess you could say, there's a sort of schematic for an ENIAC device. This is a reference to the very first computer system, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer which was built in 1942 by the U.S. army for the purpose of calculating ballistic firing tables. With this in mind it shouldn’t be so hard to understand why Donald is so accepting of the negatives as well as the positives of the computer age.
There’s also a black and white snap of a seated Donald with Kim in a more subservient position to him on the floor. Donald sports a blankly serious expression while Kim goes for a to the side preoccupied look. Both are wearing white shirts with black ties and trousers. Kim might even be wearing black gloves too. Of course this is significant in that the mask of their identities is being removed but if there were not to be any interviews I guess this photo is calculated to make us even more intrigued. Although you would have to wonder who was at the end of the line if you used the phone or fax numbers which are included as well. I once spoke with Dan Bell who explained that his label Accelerate actually manufactured the Dataphysix stuff and I presume distributed it as well so maybe the numbers would be for their office.

Musically we have seven tracks beginning with ‘Voice Activated’. Their usual sparse production greets us along with the core sample, ‘That is incorrect, try again’. I presume this is the actual voice from the famous children’s educational toy ‘Speak and Spell‘. If it is I think this early computerised toy was used most famously in the film E.T., so I’m guessing that makes it an early 80’s invention, here reclaimed by Dopplereffekt as a classic future retro artefact. There is also a certain looseness in the production too, the pause at the 1min 40sec mark is evidence of this. ‘Speak & Spell’ is built around a disjointed vocal sample and even features the ‘That is incorrect’ sample last heard on the preceding track. It’s also full of weird random laser gun and retro computer sounds as well. This track also has a point where the sound drops out completely, another sign of their confidence in their production. ‘Denki No Zumo’ sounds the most Kraftwerky of the lot, it also has a sample that uses what could be a close game-based cousin to ‘Speak & Spell’. “Here is your score, six correct, four wrong”, “That is in-correct”, “That is correct”, “I win”, “You win” run the samples. These are probably the only things the game said but they all get a hearing here. ‘Die Radiometre’ or simply ‘Radiometer’ when it appeared on the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ compilation turns out to be a sturdy instrumental with some nice sounds and throughout but with nothing remarkable about it. ‘Pornoactress’ is probably the best known Dopplereffekt track, a duet of sorts between Donald and Kim. His line, “Watching you on the screen’ hers, “I want to be a porno star’. The pause she uses between this delivery is everything and somehow contains the essence of what separates them from their imitators. Hard to believe this slice of perfection is just under 2 and a half minutes long! But in saying all that I would have to plumb for ‘Infophysix’ as my favourite track here. A computerised female voice asks us to “Enter you four digit code” which is answered by a male voice saying what sounds like “Information”. This track to me sounds the most interesting and modern production out of everything here. You can hear Donald’s future for the next few years in it, very 2002 era Arpanet and like a lot of his late 90’s remix work. The tempo is quite jaunty, so many expert touches, great bass line, weirdly stretched synthesised guitar, basically the template is complete. The last few stripped down seconds contain another essential part of their essence as well.
‘Pornovision’ or ‘Pornoviewer’ as it was re-titled on the compilation has Kim doing a solo vocal which turns out to be just the one line, “I love to watch, pornographic movies.” Again notice the nicely judged delivery, the pause is all. It has to be said over her three featured songs with Dopplereffekt she manages to nail them all. I don’t know if there is any other female vocalist that could claim to have done so little so effectively. It’s hard to believe then that on the Video Mix of her other finest 3 minutes, ‘Scientist’, her vocal is actually cut! A busy production all round with a somewhat sudden end and time-wise another short one to finish out the release but who needs length when the quality is this good?

I would say that conceptually the release is very much about play with side one being of the more innocent variety and side two exploring the link between technology and sex. This does tie in with the theme of accepting the good and bad aspects of technology, of which I believe Donald sees neither. More information and data is all, consequences are secondary to progress. Even though my analysis of Dopplereffekt sounds a bit dry and serious at the end of the day there is a lot of unmistakable humour running throughout their music of this era.

The next article will tie up the loose ends of the Sterilisation and Scientist releases as well as the final word on the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ comp.