Thursday, October 17, 2019

Abstract Thought on Clone Aqualung and more


Great news, it looks like the next release on Clone Records Aqualung label will be a 12" by Abstract Thought. Not much more is known but I'm told these images came from Clone's Instagram account (may not be still there now). I was just sent this info by an eagle eyed reader, thanks.

The pics were taken during the Amsterdam Dance Event at Clone's pop-up shop, which is still ongoing (maybe it will be possible to buy it there during the festival?). This is how they launched the Transllusion 12" last year, at some kind of event like this but the record was for sale. There is no more info about it online. Can't wait, I had a feeling there would be more unreleased/reissued or maybe new material this year as well but something under the Abstract Thought name was unexpected.

A new sound-desk recording of Arpanet live in December 2018, an hour of new and unreleased material, grab this one while you can, great stuff.


This might spark some pre-internet memories for some of you, when choice independent records could be ordered by mail from small ads in the back of the NME and Melody Maker. I was impressed to see that Drexciya's Molecular Enhancement EP on Rephlex is listed (for just £6.49!). The ad is from Xmas 1993, which means the year of release (1994) on Discogs is wrong. Anyone know the exact date of release, possibly it was late '93 or even December?

I was sent a link for an Italian fanzine, Tunnel, from 1993 that listed Drexcya's Bubble Metropolis as the record of the year. You can down the whole zine (in Italian) at link.

This is a 2 hour radio special in German on Drexciya with plenty of talk and great tunes by DJ and producer Deep Down Dave on Visions of Boom on Radio8K. I also found another 2 hour radio special/documentary about Drexciya, again only in German but it sounds very detailed. It's by Paul Gorbach on internet radio station, stay fm, based in Augsburg, Germany.


I've continued to dig deep into my old magazines and I was rewarded with this epic chart from Melody Maker (7/8/93) by Jamie & Ben who placed Drexciya's 'Bubble Metropolis' at #2. The DJs were Jamie Bissmire of Bandulu and Ben Long who later became Space DJz. They had pretty great taste it has to be said.

The cover for the upcoming Drexciya graphic novel looks great too, the first edition is out very soon and then it will be published by Tresor. More details here.


The Miami based Isophlux Records are one of the few labels linked on James Stinson's own Dimensional Waves website. I asked them if they had plans to release a record with him or something. Shad T. Scott (Gosub) from the label kindly wrote back to me with a bit of new information.

“Yes I was friends with James back in the day. We used to enjoy each others projects and what Isophlux was about at the time. We did talk about doing some sort of project with Isophlux but the concept was never developed too deep once James got sicker. I hope this helps you understand why James had Isophlux linked to his page.”

It's sad to think how many more James Stinson projects there might have been. I've previously tracked down Digital Soul Records and got the story of their contact with James. Still no closer to the mystery of James' Digital Aphrodisiac project (listed on his site, perhaps he had this in mind for Isophlux?). I hope Clone Records can unearth that DAT!

Somehow I missed this video interview from 2018 with Serge from Clone Records where he talks about the history of his label and some of the artists. He speaks extensively about Drexciya at 48 mins but they get mentioned earlier too (best to watch the whole talk). There is a text version of the interview as well which is very useful. If you have been curious about how the Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller series came about for example you will love this, loads more info too.







2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just picked up the record at Clone, it's not for sale yet but if you ask they might give it to you. All three tracks are very, very good, but the A2 for me shows a new dimension of Stinson's sinister craftsmanship. Goosebumps. I would immediately put the A2 amongst some of the best tracks i've ever heard from him,

2:53 PM  
Anonymous Damien said...

Hi, not related to the post above, but here is a translation from french zine Octopus posted on your facebook page :

Drexciya is an imaginary subaquatic continent somewhere in the Atlantic ocean.
It is also the name of a techno band - for some, a duo, for others one single and same person - from Detroit, terrestrial land of one the most recent black machines re-territorializations - as England is for drum'n bass.
Musically close to Mike Banks and Underground Resistance, Drexcyans thniks themselves as aquatic warriors. "The Quest" cover, the double CD gathering all Drexciya EPs, provide 4 maps showhing past/present/future migrations of black diasporas :
* 1655-1867 : the slave trade,
* 1930-1940 : migration of black population from the south countryside to northern cities,
* 1988 : techno leaves Detroit to invade the entire world
* at last, in an unknown future, journey back to home (Africa)
"During the most important holocaust that world has ever known, thousands of african slave women heading to America on slave ships have been thrown overboard in the sea ... Are Drexciyans, aquatic mutants as far as we know, the childs of those human cupdity victims ? ... Are they walking among us ? Why is their music so strange ? Whait is their quest ?"
From Atlanctic - the "foetus" where they are currently living -, those aquatic afro-futurists drop their technïd bombs to the edges of the world, until the time comes to travel back to the surface, and journey back to homeland.

7:12 PM  

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