Happy Electrons (With Beats)
by Bob Pomeroy
When you tell stories about the pioneers of jazz, you get stories of cutting contests in smoky bars. A whole mythology has grown up around improvisers trying to outdo each other on the bandstand. Being in the presence of great players going to town can be truly awe inspiring. It’s harder to work up the same romantic notions about the pioneers of electronic music tinkering around in labs with circuits and wire. Leon Theremin developed the first proto-synthesizer as a by-product of work on alarm systems and radio transmitters. Theremin was also a Soviet spy, which does make things more interesting.
Modern electronic music experimenters have image problems too. It’s hard to keep an audience spellbound when the performer is someone sitting at a table messing around with a powerbook. This fall, some modern electronic music artists are hitting the road on the Immediate Action Tour. Slicker, Telefon Tel Aviv and Beneath Autumn Sky are all on Hefty Records, which is run by John Hughes III. Hefty started out in 1995 releasing records by experimental rock band, Bill Ding. Hughes’ tastes and his label have since moved toward the experimental end of the electronic dance music spectrum. Among the recent high profile achievements of the label is Hughes’ score for the Italian film Scarlet Diva, directed by actress Asia Argento.
Hughes is also the man behind Slicker. “My main attraction to electronic music is that it’s accessible and immediate,” Hughes told the Chicago Reader. “You don’t have to go into a studio. You can do stuff without needing a huge budget, so you can take a lot of chances.” Hughes recorded the new Slicker disc, The Latest, in his home studio with the help of a few friends. The disc displays a range of mellow grooves. “Oper Huru” has a spacey lounge jazz feel. There is a robotic reggae groove to “Red Track” while “Words” sounds like vintage video games making out. Is this date music for computer hackers?
New Orleans residents, Joshua Eustis and Charles Cooper initially found common ground in avant garde classical music. The pair began working together as Telephon Tel Aviv in 1999 blending electronics, live acoustic instruments and studio manipulations. Their latest effort, Fahrenheit Fair Enough, is a study in contrasts. The songs feel like they exist on two levels. The base of each tune is a slowly evolving melodic wash. On it’s own, this part of the song would work well on a meditation tape. The rhythms and hooks exist on another level. At this level, we hear beats, pulses and odd squiggles of electronic sound.
Smaze and Zane3 came together in Jacksonville, Florida to form Beneath Autumn Sky. Smaze had previously made a name for himself in the world of graffiti art and beat making. His solo work relied heavily on pause button, 4 track manipulations and manually created tape loops. Zane3 brought the PC into the mix for the Beneath Autumn Sky sessions. The duo’s dance club roots are evident in the central role that beats and bass play in their music. Around the central groove, samples and sounds are layered to spice up the tunes. The five song Ernki-du’s Mono EP is the groups first release. A full length CD is on the way.
The Immediate Action Tour takes will be making their way across the South in September with stops in Tallahasse on the 13th, Miami on the 14th, Tampa on the 15th, Orlando on the 16th and Atlanta on the 17th. To get around the inherent sterility of a performance based around laptop computers, the performances will be complemented by lighting and video designed by OVT Visuals, which has done similar work for countless raves.
