pHlow.Toonz: What I Like To Listen To

Music Music soothes the savage beast. It can invoke memories of emotions and experiences and it can make you Gah-roooove !! Given the proper environment, it can be an intensely engaging workout for the cortex. What kind of music do I listen to? Chances are, you never have and never will hear most of it on the radio. Although technology is allowing the music scene to mutate so quickly that it's almost pointless to label and pigeonhole; the music I groove to is filed under such genres as Techno , Ambient , Electro , House , Drum & Bass and Trance . Where you hear mindless repetition, I hear carefully crafted and programmed polymorphing waves of rhythm and melody. No words, but how many ways can you say "Baby, I Love You" anyway? It's been said before --- these sounds have not been heard before. You'll find info on sounds that are breaking new ground at some of my fave music spots are linked below: You'll find info on my favorite: Sources Artists Labels Scenes Zines Places To Buy This Stuff Sources
	Hyperreal is the place to start for all things electronic, ambient and rave. Its the home of the Epsilon Ambient Pages, the IDM pages, the Rave archives, and it even has reviews, samples, DJ set lists, label discographies. Make sure you check out the great reviews that lots of folks have archive there. You'll also find the pHlow.reviews, a boatload of metaphor-laden techno reviews I've done. (most of them are HTML with realaudio or *.au snippets.)
With the advent of Realaudio and streaming MP3, there are now a boatload of places where you can listen to electronic music on-line for yourself. Check out some of the following spots for a good online tune dump.	inaudible netcast pirate radio the womb betalounge E-groove Needle Drop BeatBox
		Urbansounds is a newcomer, but it's supahfffresh. Loads of great reviews, cool interviews, online DJ mixes, and a sweeeeet desaign. I even have some reviews in there.
One guy who's always in the know with the hottest ambient / techno tips is Mixmaster Morris. Check out his home page, which also has a lot of other cool links. Morris maintains his ambient chill date schdddedules here, pages for many of his fave artists, top 10 lists and even some sound samples of his work as "Irresistable Force". There's a stateside site and a UK site. Morris always gets the goods about 4 to 8 weeks before most anyone else so he's a good indicator of what to look out for.
		You've heard alot about an "Interactive Web", but it's finally starting to happen in a meaningful way. Check out Sound System 7X7, where Shockwave technology is put to great use. Several 300K - 400K modules are presented that allow you to create and mix Jungle, Techno, Ambient, and Electrobop interactively. Very addictive and a mandatory stopoff point.
	State 51 has links to a lot of European and British techno music, clubbing, culture and entertainment resources. Nice multimedia content. Make sure you check out the Daniel Pemberton Bedroom pages.
A Cyborg's Eye View is really a stunningly designed page. It's based out of blackpool, has sections on artists(signed and unsigned), charts from a local record store Zanzibar, a full report on the Love Parade '95, mucho detail on analogue and MIDI music making, and more. Beauty to the eye, ear, and the mind.
	UK-Dance is actually a pretty good mailing list, but they have their own site here as well. Handy stuff like guide to London record stores, charts and a very concise review database that's easily scannable by artist and title (with a handy , consistent 1 - 10 scale). This is also one of the "original" sites, so if you're looking for something on a release from the "good ole days" of 1990 - 1992, this site is a good bet. The list is interesting too, especially if you get the digest form.
The Digital Dream is a great UK-based jumping off point for all things ambient. It's actually a site based around a local radio show, but has grown to include monthly recommendations, tonz of reviews, artist and label pages on the site, and links to many other pages off the site. Worth visiting.
If none of the stuff you find is on this page is to your liking, check out the three mega-links lists: Michael Hauben's Musical Web Connections MKB's Musical Harmony List If you can't find it on one of these lists, it doesn't exist....

Artists


Gianluigi de Costanzo is better known as Bochum Welt. He is one of the most consistent artists on the Rephlex roster, laying down gorgeous tracks very smoothly mixing crunchy elektro beats, mournful ambience, and harder Replexian sounds that we've all come to crave. You'll catch wisps of your favorite 80's nu-wave influences amidst a backdrop which is definitely for the next millenium. I worked with Gianluigi to recently set up the new official Bochum Welt site, Technology and Nostalgia. ...Looking towards the future while dreaming of the past...
	Aphex Twin Richard D. James is as phukked up as the day is long, but he sure makes some wickedly beautiful music. You may have also heard of him as Polygon Window, AFX, Caustic Window, GAK, The Dice Man, et al. This isn't his home page, but it's a comprehensive discography, complete with words, BPM / times, pics of most covers, and sound samples. Fluid did a nice job setting up this page, as well as his latest HTML masterpiece, The Aphex Effect.. Not to be outdone, Gonzi's complete Aphex Twin Discography, has lots of cool trainspotter facts.
Global Communications (Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton) make some of the most emotive, creative electronic music out there. They also create techno as Reload, Link, and E261, make electro as the Jedi Knights, and record jungle as Chameleon. The page is well constructed too with discographies and background info, thanks to Ben Middleton, who wrote and maintains it.
	Michael Paradinas goes by the names u-Ziq, Tusken Raiders, Kid Spatula and Jake Slazenger. The music is alternatively quirky, noisy, cheesey, beautiful and scary. Check out the ziq-FAQ to find out more about this young talent. Again, we have Fluid to thank for constructing this nice page.
The Black Dog (as we knew them)have recently split with Ken Downie retaining the Black Dog moniker, and Ed and Andy composing and producing as Plaid. Their intricately carved rhthmic sculptures live on. Check out their view on the world at the Tower of Dog.
	Banco de Gaia is the 90's ambient ethno techno version of the one man band. Toby Marks is Banco de Gaia. The music is good, with a lush, world traveler feel and the live shows are mind blowing. This site has cool info and some great quicktime movies of the live Banco experience.
Richie Hawtin records for Plus8 records under the names Plastikman and Fuse, and redefines the use of the 303 as the paintbrush of choice for hard minimalist acid trance. Richie's music is not about lush , layered production, it's about minimalism in structure and the way that timbre, tone and rhythm can make you groove. You can check out RealAudio toonage of his monthly ultra-minimal Concept series at the +8 site. Shake it!!
	The Future Sound Of London (FSOL) record ambient music that is composed almost entirely of samples. They weave it all into a patchouli of sound so dense that even they can't remember where all the individual snippets came from. They have also recorded under the monkers Amorphous Androgynous, Far Out Son of Lung and Yage. Their "Live" broadcasts over the internet via ISDN pushed the envelope of today's technology (and bandwidth). Their "official" site, the Electronic Brain, will push the limits of your mental bandwidth. Make sure you explore all the image maps fully. If you're interested in actually learning something tangible about FSOL, try the FSOL page at Hyperreal. Guy Elden's done yet another good discography here.
Chris Jeffs records under the Cylob and Kinesthasia monikers for Rephlex records. Challenging and uncompromising, his music ranges from crunchy Rephlexian beats to blissed out ambience. The Cyclob Information Center tells all. Another Gonzi tech production.
	One of the fairly new arrivals on the intelligent dance music scene, Tom Jenkinson, aka Squarepusher is a purveyor of an intriguing blend of techno, D&B bar scum jazz. Imaging Stanley Clarke on shrooms jamming with Buddy Rich hepped up on crystal meth and you're pretty close. This page gratuitously broght to you by Gonzi.
Autechre make challenging yet revered sounds very fitting for a mechanical age. Steady-J also maintains an Autechre / SKAM / Gescom page which has loads of useful info.
	There's a new sound coming out of the fringe of the Black Forest in Germany. It's Funky, it's Distorted, it's Funky Distortion, or Funkstörung. Chris de Luca and Michael Fakesch are making some extremely challenging and exciting sounds. In 1997 they started their own label, Musik Aus Strom, to release their own and other's work.
Orbital has at least three pages that I know of, Stopped Clock is here, and an official site (with sound and video samples) is located at the Rise Media site. You can over an hour of bitchin' RealAudio3.0 live Orbital at the ClubMusic server. Groovy , electronic, complex trance. Their latest album "Insides" is highly recommended.
	Not to be confused with Orbital is the Orb, near originators and unchallenged masters of the psychedelic ambient dub trip tip. Check out their official (label run) site here, or my preference, Lazlo's even better Ultraworld site here.
Spacemen3 were a seminal band from the late 80's who really explored and redefined the concept of drone and the use of the guitar and effects pedal as an endorphin stimulator. Taking drugs to make music to take drugs by. They spawned several SP* bands, including SPectrum and SPiritualized, which still exist today. Chris Barrus constructed this nice page, where you'll find the SP* family tree, complete discographies, interviews, many graphic scans and lots of other good stuff.
	Pavement are the current slacker princes of the indie rock scene. They hail from Stockton, CA and a fan created home page is here. Most recent Album = "Wowee Zowee", appropriately named. Songs that fall apart with cryptic lyrics that you'll never understand, but will make you cry nonetheless.
RIDE came on strong at the peak of the shoegazer craze in the early 90's and really epitomized the sound. Guitar pyrotechnics, dreamy lyrics, tasty 2 part boyish harmonies. They've since gon quite retro and have broken up (maybe thankfully).
	Cocteau Twins are probably one of the most "ethereal" sounding outfits around. Very beautiful music, fueled by Robin Guthrie's masterful and heavily processed guitars, and Liz Frazer's vocals, which redefines the voice as a musical instrument. You don't really need to be able to understand the words, just close your eyes......I cut my teeth on these guys back in the early 80's, and their latest "Milk and Kisses" released early '96 proves that they can still create the lilting, gossamer magic of old.

Labels

A collective headquartered from Hardwax Berlin make records with some of the most amazing sonically altered dance music around. Pioneering and uncompromising, the music on the Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, Maurizio, Burial Mix, Main Street and Rhythm & Sound labels is lush echo-laden bliss that could only come out of a city with a history like Berlin's. BoomBoomBoom. Multipara runs another detailed discography.
	Many of my favorite outfits record on WARP records, and you can find a very complete discography here. Greggie's (g303) original WARP page in the UK is graphic intensive and transatlantic, so use a fast link.
Tresor is the secret passageway from the conservatory to the lounge that links Detroit and Berlin. It's a label, it's a club (soon to be two clubs, one in Berlin and Detroit), it's home to many of the hardcore Techno masters. The Tresor compilations are essential listening and a great way to get into this addictive ear candy.
	Underground Resistance is a label for a movement. A movement that wants change by Sonic Revolution. We urge you to join the Resistance and help us to combat the mediocre audio and visual programming that is being fed to the inhabitants of earth, this programming is stagnating the minds of the people: building a wall between races and preventing world peace. It is this wall we are going to smash. By using the untapped energy potential of sound we are going to destroy this wall much the same as certain frequencies shatter glass. Techno is a music based in experimentation: it is sacred to no one race: it has no definitive sound. It is music for the future of the Human Race. Without this music there will be no peace. no love no vision. By simply communicating through sound, Techno has brought people of all different nationalities together under one roof to enjoy themselves Isn't it obvious that music and dance are the keys to the universe? So called primitive animals anti tribal humans have known this for thousands of years! We are all brothers and sisters of the underground to create and transmit their tones and frequencies no matter how so called primitive their equipment may be. Transmit these tones and wreck havoc on the programmers! Long live the Underground!!!
Another top notch label is Pete Namlook's FAX label, especially if your heavily into the ambient tip. Pete releases pretty consistently high quality stuff, and his collaborations with the likes of Dr. Atmo, Richie Hawtin, Jonah Sharp, David Moufang, Tetsu Inoue and many others are top shelf. The only problem is the label's prolific output, roughly 1 release per week (no lie). There's a lot to know, and WILL-E Perez set up a great frame enabled page at Hyperreal with the goods. CHARLES UZZELL-EDWARD's who (i think) runs FAX-USA has set up the Fax Homie Page, as well.
	Dot is a relatively new label out of Sweden that is generating some pleasant, innovative electronic music. Artists like hab, Quant, Roupe, and Friend are slicing and dicing drum and bass and electro with a Swedish flair. There's an official Dot label run site , but as is common, it was contentless last time I checked.

Scenes

The vibe in the Midwest is so thick you could cut it with a phat 'ol butter knife. Not too much hype, not too much posin', no corporate sponsorship, just some rad-ass underground parties, and loads of hot talent. It ain't about fashion, drugs, or cliques, it's about 'da MUSIC!!!!! Check out the PLUR on the MW-Raves Home Page to find out why!. If the whole concept of "Rave" is alien to you, basically it's a concept of tribal , spiritual release and freedom through techno music. Find out more in the following passages, all taken from the flow of dialogue on the mw-raves mailing list.:

What, might you ask, is 313? It's the area code for Detroit, that's whut!! Everyone knows that Detroit is the birthplace of modern techno, spawning geniuses like Kenny Larkin, Juan Atkins, Drexciya, Jeff Mills, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Blake Baxter, Carl Craig, Eddie "Flashin'" Fowlkes, Claude Young, Derrick May,and many others. Check out George Smiley's (the list admin) awesome comprehensive 313 Detroit Record Label Discographies. Also make sure you stop by Submerge's Datafiles, for loads of pictures, soundbites, discographies on all the Detroit masters. It's also a mailing list with one of the highest signal to noise ratios around. 313. Word.

One of the best starting points for the scene in Amsterdam and the Netherlands is 5th World's Amsterdam Partytown. (It does not appear that it is being maintained anymore.). Local info, club nights, art and much more educated info on a city like no other. There's also Lowlands, the homepage of the Netherland's Rave List.

Tokyo also has a pretty vibrant techno and club scene. Try the following sites on for size to get a feel for the rave of the rising sun:

The Perfecto page is a good place to start for what's going on in the Japanese techno scene.
DIGITAL BISCUIT has club, DJ and shop info
These maps might help to find Yellow and others.

For the full rundown on club events and megafestivals in London, check out Dale's London Techno Events page.

Zines

Pipe is part band home page (run by Matt Black, aka HEX, aka Coldcut), part zine, part post-humanist manifesto. Plenty of content, with a good mix of graphics, mind-expanding dogma, music news, and other all around goodies. Take a puff!!
	MAGiC FEET is the UKs only specialist Technozine available in both printed and online forms. If you're into the music we hope you'll find something of interest. Great interviews, DJ charts, loads of other good stuff.
G-Spot is another "electronic lifestyle zine" hailing from the UK. Good reviews, fashion and lifestyle tips, interesting articles, but all with a pretty UK club kid flair. Worth checking, and a nice feature that allows you to donload fulltext of articles via FTP.
	Mixmag sez: "Based in London we are the world's biggest dance music/club culture magazine and we've been running in one form or another for 12 years. Thanks to techno online, we're now here too. We don't just cover techno, but house, hip hop, ragga, soul plus clubs, drugs, DJs and the lifestyle that goes with clubbing in the UK and all over the world.
Energy Flash is the premier source for straight-up "Communications from the Homeyworld" style communications on the Detroit scene. Compiled monthly by Lance "Mook Fu" Burden, this is truly the motor city hotline.

On magazine is part of the Global Headz site, which has loads of reviews, playslists, clublists, etc.

Where Do I Find This Stuff? Where do I find all this crazy noise, you might ask? Well if you're in a major metropolitan area with clubs and DJ's, or possibly in a college town, just check some of your "hipper" CD/Vinyls stores, preferably those that carry Imports. How do I know which ones to hit? Check out
	Rotator Locator, a global listing of top notch stores that I compile and maintain on Hyperreal. Make sure you submit your own favorite. On the other hand, if you live in Southern Indiana like me, your best bet is to hit the Web! Several top notch outfits that I order frequently from are:
	Ear-Rational, run almost single handedly by Dave Steinhart. Good selection, good prices, service can sometimes take 2 - 3 weeks if he doesn't have it in stock. Dave has a good pre-order service and he's never done me wrong. He just recently established a Web presence, and the catalog that's listed may not be his most current. If you don't see it, ask for it.
	CDNow! has great prices, a bitchin' WWW interface that allows you to check inventory status and individual order status, although their selection is not usually as great as Dave's. They are starting to improve their import selection however, and you'll usually have your stuff within 3 - 5 days, which I find amazing.
	Submerge is located "Somewhere In Detroit" and is your one stop mail order source for the finest in Detroit Techno.
	ModernMusic has good selection and pretty decent prices, especially on FAX release. AMP and PJ will fix you up, check 'em out.
	Dr. Wax has a bitchin' mindmap interface and a decent selection of new and used CD's.

This page and all its contents Copyright 1995 Jeff Davis. All rights reserved. Last updated Sunday, October 19, 1997 9:46:11 AM. Contact me with any questions you might think of, permissions you might want, or problems you may have.

Music

Sources

Artists

Labels

Long live the Underground!!!

Scenes

Zines

Where Do I Find This Stuff?