THE APHEX TWIN - ANALOGUE BUBBLEBATH @ 40

 

 

In September of 1991, the world of techno music would welcome the debut release from The Aphex Twin as the Analogue Bubblebath EP hit the shelves for the first time.

Richard D. James wasn’t initially interested in releasing his music. He was content to hand out cassettes to friends and play his tracks occasionally during his DJ sets, but the idea of putting out records didn’t hold any real interest for him. It wasn’t until James was tripping on LSD during a rave at the Academy in Plymouth that he was cornered backstage by Mighty Force record shop owner, Mark Darby, and Rich’s friend, Tom Middleton, that he was browbeaten into submission as they dangled money and contracts in front of him until he relented to have his music become the debut release on Darby’s newly minted indie label. Middleton had been playing Darby cassettes at his record shop and the two were amazed that James wasn’t bothered about putting anything out officially, so they set up this ambush to convince him to change his mind and it finally worked. If not for this acid trip, the world may never have heard of Aphex Twin!

It didn’t take long for the EP to take on cult status as the initial pressing of 1000 while label copies sold out within a week and demanded immediate subsequent re-pressings. Critical response was also instantly positive as people recognized an entirely new breed of UK techno had been birthed by the record. James had put a distinct personal stamp on the world of electronica, one that would soon catapult him to legendary status within the span of a few short years. The release of Selected Ambient Works 85-92 a year later would quickly consolidate his status as the premier producer of the most original and advanced form of techno in the country, or the world, for that matter. The music on this EP was so far ahead of the curve that it still sounds fresh and current some 40 years after its release.

The impact of James’ music is incalculable at this point. So many people have been influenced by him and so many of his releases have achieved iconic status over the years. He’s still able to stir up excitement and controversy with his releases as he’s continued to carve his own path through the record industry. He’s remained enigmatic and aloof from the business while securing his stature for the foreseeable future. It all started with this one most exceptional collection of four tracks. Music that set new boundaries and then broke them just as quickly.

THE RESIDENTS - MARK OF THE MOLE @ 40

Released in September of 1981, The Residents’ Mark of the Mole is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month.

After taking some time to decompress with something relatively “light” in the form of The Commercial Album in 1980, The Residents were ready to dig back into some serious conceptual ground again, similar to what they’d done with their epic and exhausting Eskimo LP from 1979. For this new project, they set their sights on something far more ambitious than a single album. The concept for this new project was to create a “six part trilogy” of releases to tell the tale of two vastly different fictional civilizations and their complex conflict with each other. Thus, they embarked on the creation of the infamous “Mole Trilogy”.

Mark of the Mole was the first chapter in this story, which told the terrible tale of the “Mole” people, a subterranean society who were driven from their underground homes by catastrophic flooding. The Moles were known for their work ethic and valued their labors above all else. As refugees, the Moles found themselves searching for new lands until they came across the aquatic “Chubs”, a race rooted in their hedonistic leisurely lifestyle. The Chubs initially welcomed the Moles as workers, but then rejected them when automation technology rendered them obsolete. Thus the conflict ensues.

The scale of this project proved to be rather more than the eyeball headed four had anticipated, but the project proceeded with some struggle. These efforts eventually resulted in The Residents mounting their first ever live tour after only ever having performed a couple of times in the prior decade of their existence. The complexity and expense of these endeavors would eventually take their tole on the group and there are rumors that these conflicts caused the eventual departure of at least one founding member of the group during this period. However, the touring and promotion of this release and the albums that followed on its heels raised the profile of the Residents to the higher echelons of “cult” status. Still, it didn’t make them rich, by any means.

Though Mark of the Mole was followed by releases such as The Tunes of Two Cities, Intermission and The Big Bubble, the narrative of The Mole Trilogy became very confused and fragmented and it was never made particularly clear if any of these releases was actually part of the “trilogy” proper. In that respect, the story of the Moles and Chubs never seemed to come to any resolution and the group moved on to other projects soon enough, abandoning the threads they’d woven thus far. Ultimately, it seems the Mole Trilogy proved to be a lesson learned as the group matured and became far more consistent when developing their larger conceptual works and bringing them to some kind of completion. In hindsight, however, the Mole story and the tours that were connected to it remain a high water mark for The Residents as far as creative depth and cultural impact are concerned.

CABARET VOLTAIRE - RED MECCA @ 40

 

Released in September of 1981, Cabaret Voltaire’s third full length studio album, Red Mecca, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month.

Before becoming dance floor staples in the mid 1980s Industrial/EBM club scene with their breakthrough album, The Crackdown, Cabaret Voltaire were pursuing a strange brand of discordant pseudo-free-jazz funkiness that drifted between fractured syncopated grooves and flat out noise. The pinnacle of that strand of their early career is centered on the Red Mecca album. It’s where they managed find the perfect balance between accessible grooves and atonal dysphoria. While their earlier efforts had their moments of genius, they also had experimental misfires or moments that just came across as merely academically interesting, though not necessarily “enjoyable” or emotionally engaging. Red Mecca offers up a much more consistent collection of tracks that straddle the eccentricities while clinging firmly to the rhythmic core driving the music forward.

Thematically, the group were very much influenced by their recent tour of the US and the looming totalitarianism evident in the American Christian Evangelical movement which formed a counterpoint against the erupting fundamentalism of Islamic states like Afghanistan and Iran. How prophetic is it that, here we are, four decades later, and we’re still witnessing these ideologies thrashing against each other on the world stage with the US even more threatened by religious fundamentalism than ever before. In that sense, the album’s themes have remained just as vital and relevant as ever.

This was the last full album to feature the founding trio of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson. Though Chris would be around for the beginning of the 2x45 sessions, he’d be gone half way through working on that album, which was a record where the first steps towards more conventional dance floor grooves would be emphasized. As such, Red Mecca is the natural end point for the evolution of the band from its early experimental roots to their fullest sophistication within the avant-garde musical arena. It’s an album of spiky beauty and razor sharp charms.