The two of us that comprise Monster Loop have been listening to electronic music for quite awhile. Every once in awhile, we’ll throw out suggestions of what we consider great electronic music – currently and from the past. We believe that, in many ways, the electronic music being produced today is as good as has ever been produced. On the other hand, we’re benefiting from great artists from the past who have influenced the current sound. Moreover, production technology has immensely improved, giving artists greater control over the final sound.
There have, however, been some outstanding productions in the past with no current parallel. The Belgian “New Beat” movement, circa 1990, for example, produced a phenomenal, grinding bass-heavy, chill-but-oh-so-intense-groove that, at its best, produced a mysterious, compelling cutting-edge sound with no modern equivalent. Some of Psychic TV’s productions (e.g., Jack the Tab, Peak Hour), as far as lunatic creativity, possibly hasn’t been matched. The Acid House movement, around 1988, is also distinct and unmatched – many of the original acid house tracks have a powerful groove one rarely hears these days. Incidentally, a band from northern Europe, the Havanna Acid Club, may well produce the most powerfully authentic “Acid House” sound since that day.
If you like:
- Unique ambient: Check out Aphex Twin – “Selected Ambient Works” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selected_Ambient_Works_85–92
- Unusual/tripped out electro: Try Psychic TV’s Jack the Tab – “Acid Tablet Volume One” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_The_Tab_-_Acid_Tablets_Volume_One
- Outstanding early techno/industrial dance: We recommend Front 242 – “Front by Front” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_by_Front
- Provocative, erie synthetic atmosphere: Try ClockDVA – “Buried Dreams” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_DVA
Monster Loop recently stumbled upon what we consider to be an interesting electronic music artifact: A list labelled “100 good techno tracks,” dated April 11, 1995. Unfortunately, one page was torn from the list so it ends with #78. Nevertheless, we felt it was worth reprinting what we have, which included the following introductory language:
100 good techno tracks
The following 100 tracks are, in our opinion, good electronic music tracks. This list is not intended to be complete. We are sure there are many, really good tracks unjustifiably left off the list either because we haven’t heard of the track, or because we have heard of the track but are just too dumb to realize the track is good. On the other hand, there are a thousand tracks we left off the list that are outright BAD. We mean REALLY bad, and the purpose of the list is to let people know that there is actually good electronic music out there, it’s just hard to find in most vinyl & CD bins. The tracks are in no particular order.
| Track | Artist | ||
| 1 | Pscilocybin | Oliver Lieb/DJ Jorg | |
| 2 | Das Omen | Mysterious Art | |
| 3 | Carnaval | Signal Aout 42 | |
| 4 | Biting my nails | Renegade Soundwaves | |
| 5 | High Energy Protons | Juno Reactor | |
| 6 | I sit on Acid | Lords of Acid | |
| 7 | The Comeback | Love, Inc. | |
| 8 | Word of God | The Subjects | |
| 9 | Mantel Der Nacht | Time Modem | |
| 10 | The definition of taking a step into another dimension | Skydiver (T. Heckman) | |
| 11 | Remind | Psychic TV | |
| 12 | Spice Must Flow | Eon | |
| 13 | America | Bigod 20 | |
| 14 | Contrast | Recall IV | |
| 15 | Die Zukunft (last minute mix) | Scope | |
| 16 | Age of love | Age of Love | |
| 17 | Bit Stream III | ClockDVA | |
| 18 | Headhunter | Front 242 | |
| 19 | Jesus Loves the Acid | Ecstacy Club | |
| 20 | The Model | Kraftwerk | |
| 21 | Move your Body | 101 | |
| 22 | Fahrenheit | Umo Detic | |
| 23 | Liquid Empire | Cold Sensation | |
| 24 | 8080808 | 808 State | |
| 25 | No Way Back | Adonis | |
| 26 | Weather Experience | The Prodigy | |
| 27 | Flesh | A Split Second | |
| 28 | Choice | Trilithon | |
| 29 | Ver Vlads | Crazy Ivan | |
| 30 | Substance Abuse | Fuse (aka Plastikman) | |
| 31 | Warbeat | Bassline Boys | |
| 32 | UT1-DOT | Polygon Window (aka Aphex Twin) | |
| 33 | The Gardens | X-103 | |
| 34 | Clap Me | Jack Frost | |
| 35 | Testtone | F/X1 | |
| 36 | Germany Calling | Houseman | |
| 37 | Placebo Mix | Force Staccato (Oliver Lieb) | |
| 38 | Radioactivity | Kraftwerk | |
| 39 | Helter Skelter | Meat Beat Manifesto | |
| 40 | Umsturz Jetzt | Robotiko Rejecto | |
| 41 | Schottkey 7th Path | Aphex Twin | |
| 42 | Antenna | Kraftwerk | |
| 43 | Warsaw Ghetto | Nitzer Ebb | |
| 44 | Acid Rock | Rhythm Device | |
| 45 | Ritual of Life – Tribal Acid Mix | Sven Vath | |
| 46 | Kampfbereit | Front 242 | |
| 47 | Digital Tension Dementia | Front Line Assembly | |
| 48 | Meet Every Situation Head On | Psychic TV | |
| 49 | Welcome to Paradise | Front 242 | |
| 50 | Sun | The Ambush (Oliver Lieb) | |
| 51 | Jack to the sound of the underground | Hithouse | |
| 52 | Russian Radio | Red Flag | |
| 53 | Nocturne | Age (T. Heckman) | |
| 54 | Human Transmission | Konzept | |
| 55 | Living in a Land | Robert Owens | |
| 56 | Slam | Humanoid | |
| 57 | El Wer | Wonderland | |
| 58 | Sympathy for the Devil | Laibach | |
| 59 | Alone (It’s Me) | Abfahrt (Torsten Fenslau) | |
| 60 | Acid Trax | Phuture | |
| 61 | Remind | Orbital | |
| 62 | Time to die | Aircrash Bureau | |
| 63 | Hearts & Minds | Nitzer Ebb | |
| 64 | Tanzen | Tragic Error | |
| 65 | System | Force Legato (Oliver Lieb) | |
| 66 | Colosseum crash | A Split Second | |
| 67 | Little Fluffy Clouds | The Orb | |
| 68 | Over the Shoulder – ext. remix | Ministry | |
| 69 | Hypnautic Beats | Konzept | |
| 70 | UHF | UHF | |
| 71 | Ultimo Imperio | Atahualpa | |
| 72 | Deadly | Renegade Soundwaves | |
| 73 | Acknowledge | Koto | |
| 74 | Look on this side | X marks the pedwalk | |
| 75 | I’ve lost control | Sleezy D | |
| 76 | I’ll never let you down | William S | |
| 77 | Evolution | Nostromo Department | |
| 78 | Our Darkness | Anne Clark |
He has been called “the mad genius” due to the extraordinarily diverse, innovative tracks he has produced since 1985. The Guardian Newspaper called him “the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music.” He has been an inspiration to both members of Monster Loop. In honor of him, we’ve selected a few tracks by some contemporary artists which we think evidence the enduring influence of Richard James, aka Aphex Twin.
Artist / Country / Track
- Musical Craft / France / Tum Tum Tu Tu Ta
- Ocoeur / France / Trip hop in the night
- Kay / Hungary / inka
- Jam’s / France / Sentiments eparpilles
- Maelstrom / England / Music Technology
- Monster Loop / USA / Jacked
At this writing, over 450,000 artists/musicians have registered with Reverbnation, a cutting-edge music streaming website based in the United States, and are eligible to be ranked within the artist’s respective musical category, of which there are 18. Currently, 23,904 artists have registered with Reverbnation under the broad category “Electronica” (there is no sub-category for “ambient,” “acid house” “trance,” or “progressive house,” for example) and are therefore eligible to be ranked in the Electronica category.
Reverbnation calculates and updates its rankings using an objective and democratic rating system which, each day, generates a “band equity” score (the higher the better). Band equity is awarded based on several factors, including the number of times an artist’s page is visited, the number of times the artist’s music is streamed, and the number of individuals who click to become a fan of the respective artist. Currently, Paul van Dyk from Berlin is #1, while the artist “DJ C@iDa*” has the dubious distinction of being ranked #23,904, or last. Perhaps his name plays a role; we wish him well.
Within their respective category, musicians generally strive to reach the Global Top 100, if for no other reason than the promotional opportunities the ranking creates. Reaching the Global Top 100 in any category is no easy feat: an electronica artist ranked 100 on Reverbnation’s global charts, for example, would rank in the top 99.6 percentile of global artists registered at Reverbnation – no small feat given the number of outstanding acts currently producing electronic music throughout the world that have already registered.
The country with the most representatives within Reverb’s Electronica Global Top 100 is the US, with 41. This number is somewhat skewed by the fact that Reverbnation is based in the US. American artists are, therefore, more likely to register. Besides the US, other countries strongly represented in the Global Top 100 include the UK (14), Germany (6), Australia (5), Brazil (3), France (3), Israel (3), Netherlands (3), Portugal (3), Turkey (3), and Canada (2). In all, these countries represent 86 of the top 100 slots. Other countries represented at this time are Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Ecuador, Finland, Greece, Japan, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The cities most represented—each with 7 artists in the Global Top 100—are New York City and London. Other strongly represented cities include San Francisco (4) and Chicago, Los Angeles, Istanbul, Lisbon, Montreal, Melbourne, Romford, and Sao Paula, which each have 2 artists in the Global Top 100.
Some very skilled artists who fall under the broad category electronica but that have not registered and therefore are ineligible to be ranked include Aphex Twin, Oliver Lieb (i.e., LSG), Autechre, Plastique de Reve, and Rob Acid – just to name a few. There are, however, numerous well-known artists who have registered with Reverbnation but who find themselves in line behind many lesser known artists in the rankings under Reverbnation’s democratic ranking process. Examples include The Orb (ranked #44); DJ Spooky (#177); Juno Reactor (#340); Massive Attack (#598); Boards of Canada (#704); Armin van Buuren (#722); Lady Gaga (#728); and DJ Tiesto (#822). This is less surprising once one begins to listen to the incredible wealth of talent represented in the rankings.
To view and hear these and other talented artists, visit the “Rankings” tab on this website.
6
Oct
Bordeaux is the capital of Aquitaine—one of the 26 regions of France in the south-western part of the Republic, along the Atlantic Ocean and Pyrenees mountains that border Spain. Known primarily for its magnificent red wines, we believe Bordeaux may also shortly be known as being the home of one of the world’s most exciting, emerging electronic artists: Ocoeur.
As with any great artist, it is not easy to describe the work of Ocoeur. He (Franck) produces experimental grooves that lie in an otherworldly ethereal realm that exists outside of time and to the extent they are in space, it is a space that has neither night nor day. Tracks such as “Trip hop in the night,” “Sonomie,” “I want,” and “Slenders Seconds,” for example, place one in a hypnogogic state – that condition of mind that is neither awake nor asleep but somewhere in between. It is a world where one remembers those long forgotten dreams of childhood; a place where fantasy exists peacefully alongside a darker reality.
Because the music is wholly original and contains no words, it is particularly difficult to describe, therefore one is handicapped by a vocabulary based upon his/her own limited experience. The sound conjures up great performances of the past: the mystery of life brilliantly captured by ClockDVA in “Buried Dreams;” the creativity of Richard James (aka Aphex Twin aka Polygon Window, etc.) in his ambient and IDM dance-music productions, albeit more subdued, more focused on melody. One is even reminded of the great group “Goblin,” which elevated Italian Horror Meister Dario Argento’s films, such as Suspiria and Phenomenon to cult status with haunting soundtracks (watch the first fifteen minutes of Phenomenon (the one directed by Argento – not the one that stars John Travolta). It is a juxtaposition of nightmares and beautiful dreams; of innocence and innocence taken. Technically, it is the coniunctio oppositorum described by the medieval alchemists and written about by the great psychiatrist Carl Jung—that which unites matter and soul.
Monsterloop gives its highest recommendation to Ocoeur. To stream (free) these, and other, tracks by Ocoeur, see the links below.
www.reverbnation.com/ocoeur
www.myspace.com/ocoeur