This is Part 10 of 10 in a series analyzing the way that Reverbnation, the popular artist/dj/rapper/band ranking website, ranks artists
(scroll below for a super long play list of awesome electronic music you can stream for free)
Background: After nearly 3 gruelling days, we completed our Focus Group. And then, for the first time, we showed our 5 Judges the results of their music evaluations. The results sheet we provided them listed the name of the top songs/tracks (sorted in their final order), the name of the artist/group who created the song, and the artist’s rank on the Reverbnation Charts. We then gave our Judges an hour to surf through the Reverbnation website. We concluded with a final debrief. Excerpts of this final debrief are included below.
MONSTER LOOP: First, thanks for undertaking this monumental task – listening to so much music. We promised we’d give you a chance to provide your final thoughts.
Seth. I’m reading the final results. I have a lot of thoughts going on in my head… but I can’t get any words out…
MONSTER LOOP: No problem, we’ll help start the discussion. So, looking through the list of the final 20 tracks based on your results… any surprises? A couple things we noticed were, a lot of different styles are represented in your list and that, out of the 100 different artists and 260 tracks we began with, your final 20 has one artist, Burn in Noise with two tracks in your top 5, and then there are two artists, Laura Escude’ and Going after Zen,who both have 2 tracks in your top 20. Maybe you could talk about that briefly.
Mike. I did not have a preconceived idea of where [the final rankings list] would end up. I’m not surprised there’s an artist or two with more than a track in our top 20 but I am surprised we have an artist in our Top 5 twice – none of us even realized those two tracks were by the same artist. So, you know, we are for sure curious about him.
Jose. Burn in Noise, that guy – I see that his name is Gustavo Manfroni – he’s the real deal. He puts out some intense, crazy <bleep>.
Jason. What makes Gustavo so good is, it all comes together… production, sounds, rhythm, beat, and you never get bored, he keeps changing it up and takes you on a journey. Cheers to him.
MONSTER LOOP: The other artists with multiple songs in your list, Laura Escude’ and ‘Going after Zen‘ aka Chris Hirons – any comments you want to add?
Seth I have a comment. ‘Going after Zen‘ – Chris Hirons you say? (yes) He is super smooth – very polished, incredibly talented – it’s obvious. It’s pretty flawless, his work. It’s also very interesting and gets better the more you hear it. He’s a pro, pure and simple. I think the same goes for Laura Escude’ – those two have a very polished product. You can also tell those two are thinkers – it comes out in the music. There are a lot of subtle complex things going on in their tracks that are like, “whoa” – I never would have thought to do that. But they make it sound simple.
Katja If you’re into power or intensity in techno, those two aren’t for you. It’s downbeat, IDM, ambient. And very good.
MONSTER LOOP: When we noticed those two receiving high scores, we did a little research on them. Laura Escude’ is actually an Ableton Live instructor and appears to work behind the scenes with some major global artists. Chris Hirons is a bit of an enigma – it was not easy to find out much about him or Stickleback (aka Ben Heppel).
Mike It’s interesting you say that because, maybe it partly explains why, in this anonymous listening process, we liked them so much, but those 3 artists were ranked between 1000-1050 – which is just shocking honestly. What I’m wondering is, you know, if they aren’t ranked higher because they don’t put much effort into marketing themselves. Their music is just phenomenal.
MONSTER LOOP: The very reason for putting this Focus Group together was to find and promote artists that are extremely talented but that people might not know about. Let’s shift topics for a moment. Right now we hear a lot about Dubstep, but Burn in Noise, which did very well in your reviews, his Electronic Music style is Psytrance, as is the case with Amit Bharadwaj and Infected Mushroom, who also did well. Scanning through your final 20, Psytrance and a Downbeat-type sound seem strongly represented.
Jason. Yeah, but I’m not sure how much you can read into that. It could be we just heard artists this weekend that are really good that happen to make those styles.
Jose. And I did hear some dubstep that was really good. I think Downlink is Dubstep. And Excision… Datsik, those artists from Canada that did Dubstep were good.
MONSTER LOOP: Let’s talk about that briefly. After day 1, some of the highest scores were by 3 or 4 artists that make Dubstep. But we noticed their scores started to decrease a bit as the weekend went on.
Seth. I’m one of those who started decreasing their score. I was not super familiar with Dubstep. Sure, I’ve heard about it, but it’s still relatively new on the scene so I haven’t heard as much of that style. So when I heard it this weekend- my first reaction was “WOW, this is some powerful <bleep>. It’s new, it’s different, it has a lot of bells and whistles. I wouldn’t say it’s “cool” because there’s nothing laid back about it. It’s kind of hyper. But then, after hearing it over and over I, you know, it started to wear on me a bit. So as the competition went on, and tracks were eliminated, the Dubstep music was being compared against some great Psytrance and other styles and, for me at least, it wasn’t quite as good. In contrast, the music by Amit Bharadwaj & Burn in Noise seemed to sound better the more I heard it, to hold up better..
Mike. I thought Infected Mushroom was very slick. I liked the track that made our list a lot. Those guys remind me of Depeche Mode or early Ministry. But that’s also what worries me about them.
MONSTER LOOP: Worries? What do you mean?
Mike. Well, back in the mid-1980′s, Ministry released this EP called “Twitch” which I think is one of the best Electronic Music releases ever. Part of what made it so good was that it was just way ahead of its time. They actually made most of those tracks back in 1982, which I think was around the same time Soft Cell released their version of “Tainted Love.” ”Twitch” – and you’d have to hear it really to appreciate it – was radical. It was RADICAL compared to the music being created at that time. And it was a key link in the chain of what we know called “Electronica.” After they released “Twitch,” though, Ministry went into this very different direction with “Land of Rape and Honey.” They go full-on metal with an army of electric guitars, etc. And Ministry became, for me, the Darth Vader of electronic music – they went to the dark side. And a lot of people stopped listening to them at that point, including me. Of course, a lot of people started to listen to them. They reinvented themselves basically. But in a way that was not techno or electronica.
Jose. If Ministry was Darth Vader who was Obi-Wan Kanobi? (laughter)
Mike. Obi-Wan Kanobi was Front 242. Both bands were on the cutting edge at that time. And they even worked together for awhile. But compare their sound by the late 1980′s. Ministry releases “The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste” around the same time Front 242 releases “Front by Front.” Front by Front, that’s one of the greatest electronic dance music releases by any artist, ever. Front by Front did more to grow Techno music that possibly anything else at the time, and it was a time when Techno needed a force like Front 242. A band not only creative, powerful, but also polished. Their production was as good as anyone’s production in any genre.
MONSTER LOOP: Interesting. So what’s the connection between this and your comment about Infected Mushroom?
Mike. Infected Mushroom is very good. Their track that did best in our review (“Can’t Stop“), it has a lot of diverse elements in it. A few minutes into the song, the guitars kick in and I start having flashbacks to Ministry. What worries me is that, talented Electronica artists in the US, like Infected Mushroom, might take the path Ministry took. I mean, Ministry basically went to the dark side from Industrial Techno to Industrial Metal and I’m sure made millions in the process screaming into microphones to the cacophonous screech of grinding guitars. Another example is Nine Inch Nails (aka Trent Reznor), though not as extreme. Nine Inch Nails was, in the beginning techno – google “Down in it“, his first release. 
It sounds nothing like Reznor’s later work. Nine Inch Nails was at that time working with Adrian Sherwood. Sherwood produced both ‘Pretty Hate Machine‘ with Nine Inch Nails and ‘Twitch‘ with Ministry. Brilliant productions and way ahead of their time. But they never worked with Sherwood again, as far as I’m aware. And it’s a <bleep> shame. Now, when I hear Infected Mushroom, and I think “NUDE !” from Germany also falls into this category – I think there is the potential for those artists to take that Ministry direction. My advice would be, “Don’t go to the dark side of the force! Follow the example of Front 242.” On the other hand, Front 242 became a bit harsh years later. The dark side is tempting.
Don‘t misinterpret what I‘m saying though. Al Jourgensen is a genius. I just think – and let me interrupt myself to say, “what the <bleep> do I know?” – I never met the guy, just read a lot. Listened to a lot. Anyway, I think Jourgensen just went into this dark place within himself and, you know, it comes out in the music. So he did a brilliant job of expressing this absolute darkness. Can people relate to that? Sure. And this is when I bring it back to my Darth Vader analogy. The dark side is powerful. That is part of its lure. But remember, it’s the dark side of the force. I’m just saying, I hope talented bands like Infected Mushroom, NUDE ! and new kids coming up know that you can be creative, you can make money, you can kick <bleep> with your music without joining the Evil Empire. You mentioned the “New Beat” movement in one of our breaks – that underground electronic music movement came out of Belgium in the late 1980′s, so at the time Front 242 was peaking. And we discussed the “Lords of Acid.” 
I think the same applies with them. The New Beat was incredible there for awhile and was influenced by the Chicago Acid House, releases like ’House Hallucinates.’ They took the Chicago sound, harnessed it, and made it something highly original. But again, the Lords of Acid - these great pioneers of New Beat – abandoned this incredibly powerful and cool style and went to the dark side. I mean, it started to get ridiculous, like porn videos with an over-the-top aggressive beat. Why? They felt it would help them sell music maybe? I really don’t know.
I’m from Chicago. Grew up here. Love Chicago. Ministry is from here and Rezner is, I believe from Detroit – so also from the Midwest. A lot of great music comes from Chicago – the whole acid house scene started on the south side of Chicago you know – and so this hits close to home for me. TWICE we’ve started something major in Chicago with Techno but then, both times it was Central Europe that took it to the next level. So maybe now with you guys (Monster Loop), maybe you can take Chicago back to being the epicenter of the cutting edge music, as is our tradition.
MONSTER LOOP: That’s kind of you to say that. Thank you.
Mike. I think we have to protect Electronic Music on several fronts: America, in particular, has this tradition with electric guitars. It’s become this cliche’ – that a band has a lead vocalist, a bass guitarist, an electric guitarist, and then a drummer. C’mon – it’s antiquated. So the first “front” to protect is – you don’t have to have guitar! I think this is partly because there’s the temptation to want to have that instrument for live performance. So then the second front, is hip hop. Rap music is really strong in the US. I like rap music, a lot actually, especially old school. But I think that, as Electronica gets more and more popular – and we’re seeing that now – we have to protect Electronica from being overtaken by rappers. Electronica is not rap music. We already have rap music. Rap music can benefit from the developments in Electronica. But I’d prefer not to see Electronica co-opted by these other styles. Pretty Lights is a great example of a good balance of rap/techno. There’s a third front, vocals in general, singers. Listen to Goldfrapp, great vocals. Great music. But it’s in balance. It doesn’t take over. It works with the music. They get equal footing. trezOra – check out his song ‘Loving You.’ Singing. But it doesn’t overpower the song. The French band Air is great about this – great balance between the music and the vocals. So the third front isn’t to resist vocals, it’s that the electronic music not get over powered by them, that the vocals not take center stage. And I think the first clue that the vocals are trying to take center stage is when the band highlights the singer instead of the creators of the music. I never cared for that. It never made sense to me.
I think the risk is related to a desire to perform live. Let’s face it, techno is really studio music. 
It really is. Live techno sounds like crap – and I’m sorry if I piss someone off saying it. If it doesn’t sound like crap, it’s because you’re triggering pre-recorded loops. And there’s no shame in saying that techno sounds best in a studio setting. So I think there is a temptation to, you know, want a vocalist – it makes more sense live because you can sing live. And a guitar – because it makes sense to play a guitar live, and it’s fun. But good electronic music, it’s layered and it takes hours and hours and hours to craft. It’s just not a “live” style of music. So that’s why DJs got big – because people want a face with the music, so the face became the DJ. And even that got absurd. There’s footage of a DJ – Tiesto maybe? I don’t recall. Anyway, there’s a large crowd, and they’re seated. And they are, they’re basically just watching him DJ up there on stage. So he’s up there playing other people’s music. And they’re cheering for him like he’s a rock star. I don’t get it. I think at that point, that was the point where people began to start moving away from DJs back to creators of electronic music – who, I know, can also be DJs. I think people have to just accept that, this style of music – at least at this stage – the great heavily layered music, as created by the original artist – it’s not a “live” production. Avoid the temptation to try to make it a live production. It is what it is. If you start to shift focus to the vocals and the guitars, and all that – well that’s all good and well, and the music might be fine. But if the focus isn’t on the electronic music, well it’s really not Electronica, is it? If someone reads what I’m saying at some point in the future, I would say, listen to these 20 tracks. THIS is techno.
Well that’s all for now – Monster Loop will post be posting more of the final Focus Group session soon. Right now, we have to fly to San Francisco.
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 |
17
Oct
Kirdec, aka “C-drik,” aka “Cdrk” (born Cedrik Fermont) is an academically trained musician, dj, singer, composer and drummer. He is a former student of electro-acoustic composer Annette Vande Gorne (Royal Conservatory of Mons, Belgium). On his Reverbnation page Kirdec indicates that he hails from “Terra nullius.” Not being familiar with this particular locale, I was forced to conduct some research which revealed it to be a latin expression which literally means “land belonging to no one.” Actually, he is of Greek, Zairian and Belgian descent, and was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), lived in Belgium, then later the Netherlands. Continuing his somewhat cryptic manner, Kirdec wryly describes himself as simply having “one head, two arms, a body and all the rest.” That particular collective of head, arms, and body began recording what it describes as “industrial and noise music” with the band Crno klank and, since then, has played in many other projects under different names including Axiome, Ammo, Ambre, Dead Hollywood stars, C-dri, Kirdec, Moonsanto, Tetra plok, Elekore, Logatomistes, etc. Kirdec describes his styles as including “electro-acoustic,” “noise,” “improv,” “digital punk,” “breakcore,” “electro,” and “dark ambient.”
Kirdec’s music is wholly – one might even say fiercely, original – and intense (e.g., the track “Crno klank – Fatalite’ “). His tracks “No excuse,” and “Art mou moral,” while unique (as are all the tracks this reviewer had an opportunity to hear), deftly conjures up great artists from the electronic body music era which so heavily influenced modern electronic music (e.g., Die Warzau, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242. ) Similarly, these outstanding tracks bring to mind early Wax Trax greats such as Ministry in the band’s early days, as well as the Revolting Cocks, and Luc Van Acker. One could almost describe the tracks as a “reimagining” of electronic body music. It’s as if Kirdec exists and creates music in a dimension parallel to our own in which music evolved down a different path where, rather than morphing into modern techno/trance/progressive, the sound stayed truer to its original, raw industrial roots while continuing to advance creatively and technologically and without digressing into metallic distortions. That was a long sentence.
Kirdec’s tracks are diverse. A few, for example, are chill / ambient-like, mysterious, and, frankly, sinister. One example is “Ely” by “C-drik / Aluviana,” which, while listening to it, gave me the unmistakable feeling that I was alone in a vast desert surrounded by unseen, powerful and mystical forces. “Hypothetica” by “The Klank of Crno Migs” and “Morgen” by “C-drik & B6″ are similarly mysterious, suspenseful, to the point of being almost unnerving.
Kirdec describes himself as being interested in music, noise, veganism, ecology, atheism, anti-capitalism, linguistics, semiotics, and new technologies. “I’m fascinated by science and how it can help but also destroy everything” he indicates. “I’m fascinated by humanity: such an entity full of paradoxes, hate violence, self destruction. I’m fascinated by stupid ignorants blaming people different from them to be responsible of all misfortunes of this world. I’m fascinated by artificial intelligence and how complex and powerful it starts to be.”
One thing is certain, Kirdec is a unique spirit and Monster Loop wholeheartedly endorses Kirdec’s music. To stream Kirdec for free, go to http://www.reverbnation.com/cdrk
6
Oct
The City of Nottingham, located roughly in the center of England, enjoys fame for its connection to the mythical Robin Hood. And, like Robin Hood who was ultimately no longer able to elude detection or fame; Nottingham electronica artist Chris Bicknell, aka ‘BIK,’ may no longer be able to hide within his musical Nottingham forest.
A true student of the electronic music genre, BIK could be described many ways, though a common thread to his music is a detailed focus on composition. Each track appears to have been constructed patiently and intelligently. Moreover, while many contemporary electronica artists focus exclusively on percussion, BIK focuses on filtering synthesized sounds and building impressive soundscapes. The man knows how to construct a track. More importantly, those constructed tracks make you dance!
BIK’s influences are unclear to this writer; perhaps those European electronic music pioneers from the ‘80s and ‘90s who carried the torch of electronica when so much bad music was being produced as the genre spread rapidly. Whatever the source, BIK’s music reflects several interesting styles. The pure danceability evident in many of his tracks is, at times, reminiscent of early Front242 (e.g., ‘White Dwarf’). ‘Funk N Jive’ recalls early European techno classics, such as the 1990 mind-blower “Evolution” by Nostromo Department which appeared on the cutting-edge and influential compilation “Technopolis.” Other tracks suggest a more mature Oliver Lieb, aka LSG (e.g., ‘Rachael’s Song’). Several feature a mysterious, almost gothic, old-school electronic trance vibe (e.g., ‘Drance’) and an aggressive, psychedelic aspect is evident at times (e.g., ‘LTM vs. BLK’). Some tracks are relatively mellow and recall Vangelis (e.g., ‘Creed,’ ‘LollyB,’ ‘Automata,’ ‘Gabriel Kron,’ and ‘Roykion’). One could almost envision these appearing in a modern day version of Blade Runner. Turn up the danceability knob a notch or two on certain of these (e.g., ‘Roykon’) and you have his track ‘Eva3.’ But to this writer, BIK’s masterpiece is without question ‘Binary,’ which brings it all together.
Chris indicates on Reverbnation that “[m]y first experience of electronic music was spinning around to Popcorn by Hot Butter as an infant. It wasn’t until I heard Kraftwerk’s ‘Man Machine’ on my mum’s old gramophone that I realized that there was so much more out there. Listening wasn’t enough though; I needed to make it. There has followed years of buying and selling of different pieces of electronic music equipment making of songs: some good, some bad. The urge to make music still continues today.” That is evident in his body of work, which is artful, upbeat, hopeful, and intelligent music for the mind, body, and soul. Monster Loop recommends BIK!