.. 1994.
before i had my musical reawakening by the emergence of such rock-n-roll chaos by bands like compulsion and earl brutus in 1995/1996, in 1994 i was completely fed up with the music that was being written about in the usual suspects in those pre-wired days.
hip hop had fallen into the g-funk gutter, rock was all about the love of grunge and crap hair, and dance music was heading into the overly complicated beats of jungle.
none of it hit home – making me feel disconnected and, well, old seeing as my clubbing days were behind me, and life revolved around having to figure out bus timetables and the ongoing realisation of having to hold down a depressingly crap job to pay the bills.
so, to feed my need for new music and lift my soul from the depths of the day to day, i ended up becoming addicted to what someone once referred to as ambient crack, in other words, the ultra-limited world of pete namlooks fax records, and the odd release on atom hearts (my favourite artist of the period) own rather interesting label.
amazingly, there were a few independent shops in leeds at the time that actually managed to get in a regular supply, meaning that over 12 months i ended up with over 30 cds (some now capable of paying off my mortgage according to listings on ebay !) of gloopy synths, dubby basslines, sci-fi atmospherics, and long long drawn out passages of drifting electronic ambience. the whole process of tracking down the latest release was all part of the fun. for a few months, fax really was the pokemon for music collectors.
of course, once i saw earl brutus in a tent at reading festival in 1996 (next to the super furry animals techno tank and described more : here) my world shifted back into place and the love of noise and beats came back to the fore, however, for those 12 months i hardly listened to anything with a pulse, which, seeing as i was working night shift was perfect.
so why is it, that 14 years later, i am going through such a phase again ?
is it down to the fact that once again i feel disconnected from the current groove both in the world of guitars, and dance music.
there is no way i can deny it, but the re-emergence of grime, the ongoing love for r-n-b blinged up fakesta hip hop, and the new variants of dubstep all leave me cold and uninvolved. currently the only saving grace is that dance/electronic music is definitely in a very healthy position, with justice and all the kids with laptops trying to catch up, and get signed to modular/ed banger/kitsune meaning that there are some decent records being released. maybe it’s just that having battered my head and sound system for the last 12 months with the ongoing stream of sharp sounding intense electro productions that seems to be the order of the indie disco kids and my body-n-soul has decided that enough is enough, tis time to take things down a notch or two, and enjoy music that wraps around you and fills a room with big fat warm ambience.
basically, i guess my ears need a hug.
i don’t know the reasoning as i am not one for overly deep self analysis, but this feels like a perfectly natural progression, or is it regression, given that the last few months, most music based enjoyment has been of the techno variety with the realisation that my constant craving for minimal/deep techno was often a mere whisker away from pete namlooks electronic music (i had forgotten re the hip hop beats that are the backbone to namlook iv making it a perfect slice of pseudo sci-fi trip hop).
all i can say is, its taking a lot of self restraint to stop myself clicking on the relevant buttons to purchase a whole chunk more, i know that if i succumb, things could get quite messy with my bank account.
with this in mind, please accept my ongoing apologies if you are expecting word on the latest schmindie band with a budget, or this seasons festival darlings, but the fact of the matter is, i think i’m going to have a little lie down and just let things meander a little.
i will try and dig out a few ambient styled remixes that were the flavour of the day, as i’m sure the archive has a few such forgotten nuggets hidden away.
till next time, quietly does it.
more detail (inc. a great description of the complexities of how the fax label worked with its use of repeated logos/names/colour schemes): here – – official site