Directions in Electronic Music

BEAUTIFULNOISE

A WORK IN PROGRESS (3rd rev., Oct 2003)Comments to eluna@ele-mental.org

www.ele-mental.org/beautifulnoise/

A Few Antecedents

“The musical telegraph”Elisha Gray’s interesting instrument, 1876

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The Age of InventionsThe 1800s produce a whole series of inventions thatset the stage for the creation of electronic music,including the telegraph (1839), the telephone (1876),the phonograph (1877), and many others. Many of theearly electronic instruments come about by accident:Elisha Gray’s ‘musical telegraph’ (1876) is an extensionof his research into telephone technology; William DuBois Duddell’s ‘singing arc’ (1899) is an accidentaldiscovery made from the sounds of electric street lights.

The TelharmoniumThaddeus Cahill's telharmonium (aka the dynamophone)is the most important of the early electronic instruments.Its first public performance is given in Massachusettsin 1906. It is later moved to NYC in the hopes ofproviding soothing electronic music to area homes,restaurants, and theatres.

However, the enormous size, cost, and weight of theinstrument (it weighed 200 tons and occupied an entirewarehouse), not to mention its interference of localphone service, ensure the telharmonium’s swift demise.No recordings of the instrument survive, but some ofits principles are later incorporated into the Hammondorgan. More importantly, Cahill’s idea of ‘canned music,’later taken up by Muzak in the 1960s and more recentcable-style systems, is now an inescapable feature ofthe contemporary landscape.

Ferruccio BusoniThis Italian composer reads about the telharmoniumand is prompted to consider the future of music.

(1907) “Sketch of a New Aesthetic of Music”:Suddenly, one day, it seemed clear to me that fullflowering of music is frustrated by our instruments ... Intheir range, their tone, what they can render, ourinstruments are chained fast and their hundred chainsmust also bind the composer....

... Let us take thought, how music may be restored toits primitive, natural essence; let us free it fromarchectonic, acoustic and aesthetic dogmas; let it bepure invention and sentiment, in harmonies, in forms,in tone-colours ... let it follow the line of the rainbowand vie with the clouds in breaking sunbeams; let Musicbe naught else than Nature mirrored by and reflectedfrom the human breast; for it is sounding air and floatsabove and beyond the air; within Man himself asuniversally and absolutely as in Creation entire...

Alexander ScriabinThis short-lived Russian visionary composer imagineshis last work to be a vast, seven-day apocalypticshowcase for his convulsive music. Called Mysterium,it would have included music, dance, changing lightsand smells, and bells suspended from clouds. Leftunfinished at his death in 1915, it inspires many latercomposers to propose similar ideas.

Telharmonic HallCahill’s 200-ton experiment in canned music, ca. 1910

Ferruccio BusoniImagined it all, ca. 1900s

Alexander ScriabinEnvisions early multimedia event, ca. 1915

Futurism(1909) “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism,”article by Filippo Tomasso Marinetti:We will sing of great crowds excited by work, bypleasure, and by riot; we will sing of the multicolored,polyphonic tides of revolution in the modern capitals;we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervor of arsenals andshipyards blazing with violent electric moons; greedyrailway stations that devour smoke-plumed serpents;factories hung on clouds by the crooked lines of theirsmoke; bridges that stride the rivers like giant gymnasts,flashing in the sun with a glitter of knives; adventuroussteamers that sniff the horizon; deep-chestedlocomotives whose wheels paw the tracks like thehooves of enormous steel horses bridled by tubing; andthe sleek flight of planes whose propellers chatter in thewind like banners and seem to cheer like an enthusiasticcrowd.

Luigi Russolo(1913) “The Art of Noises” booklet:Ancient life was all silence. In the nineteenth century,with the invention of the machine, Noise was born.Today, Noise triumphs and reigns supreme over thesensibility of men. For many centuries life went by insilence, or at most in muted tones. The strongest noiseswhich interrupted this silence were not intense orprolonged or varied. If we overlook such exceptionalmovements as earthquakes, hurricanes, storms,avalanches and waterfalls, nature is silent…

Every manifestation of our life is accompanied by noise.The noise, therefore, is familiar to our ear, and has thepower to conjure up life itself. Sound, alien to our life,always musical and a thing unto itself, an occasionalbut unnecessary element, has become to our ears whatan overfamiliar face is to our eyes. Noise, however,reaching us in a confused and irregular way from theirregular confusion of our life, never entirely reveals itselfto us, and keeps innumerable surprises in reserve. Weare therefore certain that by selecting, coordinating anddominating all noises we will enrich men with a new andunexpected sensual pleasure.

(1913–20s) Public performances of ‘The Art of Noises’featuring Intonarumori noise instruments (hand-crankedto produce rattling and scraping sounds), destroyed inWorld War II.

The Great War(1914–1918) First time mechanized warfare used on amass scale (including chemical agents); greatlyaccelerates technological advances but at the cost ofover 10 million lives. Abysmal conditions in the trenchesand on the battlefields leave millions more scarredphysically and emotionally; directly leading to the riseof Soviet-style communism and German NationalSocialism (Nazism); while also leaving a legacy ofnihilistic art movements such as dada and surrealism,as well as utopian movements such as Russianconstructivism and Dutch De Stijl.

The Culture of Noise

Luigi RussoloWith the Intonarumori, 1910s

Filippo Tommaso MarinettiZang Tumb Tumb publication, 1912

Devastation in the Chateau Wood, France,1917

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Edgard Varèse [1.0]French composer inspired by Busoni’s “Sketch of aNew Aesthetic of Music” begins thinking about his owndesire to transcend traditional thinking; in 1915emigrates to NYC and all early compositions are lost.

(1917) Quoted in 391 periodical:I long for instruments obedient to my thought and whim,with their contribution of a whole new world ofunsuspected sounds, which will lend themselvesto the exigencies of my inner rhythm.

(1923) HyperprismOne of the earliest compositions written solely forpercussion; created riot in New York audience.

(1929–31) IonisationBest-known composition for percussion; also used twovariable-tone sirens.

(1930) “The Liberation of Sound” manifesto; froma round table discussion in Paris:

The raw material of music is sound. That is what the‘reverent approach’ has made people forget—evencomposers. Today when science is equipped to helpthe composer realize what was never before possible—all that Beethoven dreamed, all that Berlioz groppinglyimagined possible—the composer continues to beobsessed by traditions which are nothing but thelimitations oh his predecessors. Composers like anyoneelse today are delighted to use the many gadgetscontinually put on the market for our daily comfort. Butwhen they hear sounds that no violins, wind instruments,or percussion of the orchestra can produce, it does notoccur to them to demand those sounds for science.Yet science is even now equipped to give themeverything they may require.

And there are the advantages I anticipate from such amachine: liberation from the arbitrary paralyzingtempered system; the possibility of obtaining any numberof cycles or, if still desired, subdivisions of the octave,and consequently the formation of any desired scale;unsuspected range in low and high registers; newharmonic splendors obtainable from the use ofsubharmonic combinations now impossible; thepossibility of obtaining any differential of timbre, ofsound-combinations, and new dynamics far beyondthe present human-powered orchestra; a sense ofsound projection in space by the emission of sound inany part or in many parts of the hall as may be requiredby the score; cross rhythms unrelated to each other,treated simultaneously, or to use the old word,‘contrapuntally,’ since the machine would be able tobeat any number of desired notes, any subdivision ofthem, omission or fraction of them—all these in a givenunit of measure of time which is humanly impossibleto attain.

(1927–1940s) Engages in numerous failed attempts tofund development of practical electronic instruments;all but stops composing; strongly considers suicide.

HyperprismScore cover of infamous percussion piece, 1923

Edgard VarèseThe young composer, ca. 1910s

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The ThereminIn 1917, Leon Theremin (born Lev Sergeivitch Termenin Russia), invents one of the earliest electronicinstruments. The theremin, as it is later to be called, iscontrolled by waving the hands delicately over twoantennae. Despite the difficult requirements for playingthe instrument (perfect pitch and incedibly subtle handgestures), it quickly becomes the electronic instrumentof choice throughout the 20s, and is used in a numberof orchestral works. Clara Rockmore becomes thepremier virtuosa, and tours the world extensively.

By the 40s, however, its rather harsh timbre, as well asthe scarce number of virtuoso players, relegate thetheremin to film soundtracks such as the psychologicalthrillers Spellbound (1945) and The Lost Weekend (1945).By the 50s it becomes popular in science-fictionsoundtracks, where such films as The Day the EarthStood Still (1953) and It Came from Outer Space (1953)are among the first to link science-fiction with spooky,electronic sounds.

Even today, the theremin remains a ‘novelty instrument,’despite being revived numerous times by such artistsas The Beach Boys (whose hit “Good Vibrations” isgraced by a whirr ing, keyboard version of theinstrument), Led Zeppelin, and later groups such asMeat Beat Manifesto.

The Ondes MartenotMaurice Martenot contributes his own theremin-styleinstrument in 1928, utilizing a standard keyboard andadding ways to change the character of the sounds.Composers such as Edgard Varèse and OlivierMessiaen immediately take to the instrument, whichis far easier to use than the theremin, thereby ensuringits survival as an occasional orchestral instrument tothe present day.

The Bauhaus(1921–29) Oskar Schlemmer and Lászlo Moholy-Nagy describe theories of abstract dance and theater(bodies functioning like geometric, machine-likeelements in space); experimental music is consideredbut not developed.

(1929–30) Paul Hindemith & Ernst Toch conductexperiments with variable-speed turntables; triggerexplorations by several Bauhaus members (but soonabandoned).

Spatial Delineation with FigureOskar Schlemmer, 1920s

Some Early Developments

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Clara RockmoreThe ultimate theremin player, ca. 1920s

The Ondes MartenotA new alternative in electronic sound, ca. 1928

The Lost WeekendBilly Wilder’s dark film about alcoholism, 1945

John Cage(1937) Lecture “The Future of Music: Credo”

I BELIEVE THAT THE USE OF NOISE

Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. Whenwe ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we findit fascinating. The sound of a truck at 50 m.p.h. Staticbetween the stations. Rain. We want to capture andcontrol these sounds, to use them, not as sound effects,but as musical instruments. Every film studio has a libraryof ‘sound effects’ recorded on film. With a filmphonograph it is now possible to control the amplitudeand frequency of any one of these sounds and to giveto it rhythms within or beyond the reach of anyone'simagination. Given four film phonographs, we cancompose and perform a quartet for explosive motor,wind, heartbeat, and landslide.

TO MAKE MUSIC

If this word, music, is sacred and reserved foreighteenth- and nineteenth-century instruments, we cansubstitute a more meaningful term: organization ofsound.

WILL CONTINUE AND INCREASE UNTIL WE REACHA MUSIC PRODUCED THROUGH THE AID OFELECTRICAL INSTRUMENTS

···

(1939) Imaginary Landscape No. 1Composed for muted piano, gong, two variable-speedturntables playing electronic test tones; credited as firstelectronic music composition.

(1940) Creates prepared piano as alternative topercussion ensemble; presages similar conceptualapproach to sampling keyboards by over 40 years.

(1950s)Begins introducing chance elements into hiscompositions; utilizing the I-Ching to determinecompositional structure. Composes 4’33” (1952), a so-called “silent piece,” to call attention to fact that allsounds (even audience noise) can be seen as music.Also creates Williams Mix, an early electronic tapecollage; later composes similar Fontana Mix usingtransparent score sheets that could be moved randomly.

(1960s)Cage and frequent collaborator David Tudor createnumerous live electronic works for choreographerMerce Cunningham, including Cartridge Music (1960),Variations V (1966), and Tudor’s own Rainforest (1968).Cage also revives interest in the music of Erik Satieby staging first performance of Vexations (1893), a simplepiano phrase that is meant to be repeated 840 times.The performance lasts about 18 hours.

John CagePreparing piano, ca. 1940s

John Cage

Fontana MixScore with transparent overlays, 1958

Merce CunninghamSeptet, 1953

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I-ChingChinese hexagrams used by John Cage

Pierre Schaeffer(1948) Concert de bruits (Concert of Noises) broadcastover Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (RTF) in Paris;first musique concrète ever heard.

Etude aux chemins de fer (Railroad Study) composedon turntable lathes (cutters) from preexisting recordingsof rail yards; marks first time that music is made purelyfrom prerecorded sources, turning usual model ofcomposition on its head.

(1950) Symphonie pour un homme seul(Symphony for a Man Alone)Collaboration with Pierre Henry

(1967) Excerpt from La Musique Concrète:We have learned to link the lute with the Middle Ages,plainchant with the monastery, the tom-tom with thesavage, the viola da gamba with the dress of the royalcourt. How could we not expect that a music of thetwentieth century, of machines and of the masses, wouldbe linked with electronics and calculators?

(1987) Interview, excerpted fromRecommended Records Quarterly Magazine:…so these were the three circumstances that compelledme to experiment in music: I was involved in music; Iwas working with turntables (then with tape-recorders);I was horrified by modern 12-tone music. I said to myself,‘Maybe I can find something different... maybe salvation,liberation, is possible.’ Seeing that no-one knew whatto do anymore with DoReMi, maybe we had to lookoutside that... Unfortunately it took me forty years toconclude that nothing is possible outside DoReMi... Inother words, I wasted my life.

Pierre Henry(1962) Le Voyage (The Voyage)A brilliant piece of musique concrète based on theTibetan Book fo the Dead.(1967) Messe pour le temps présent(Mass for the Present Day)Composed with Michel Colombier for ballet byMaurice Béjart; early example of combining electronicsounds with popular music (in this case, 60s psychedelicrock); later remixed by electronic artists (1997) astestament to Henry’s contribution to electronic music.

US InnovatorsThe need for collaborative space to experiment withelectronic tape music brings Vladimir Ussachevsky,Otto Leuning, and Milton Babbitt together in themid 50s to form the Columbia-Princeton Centerfor Electronic Music in NYC, a nexus for electronicmusic composition in the US for many years. Due toinfluence of Babbitt, most of the music is heavilyinformed by the 12-tone compositional approach calledserialism (which had been begun by the reluctantrevolutionary, Arnold Schönberg, in Vienna, around1910). Composers such as Morton Subotnick, PrilSmiley, Mario Davidovsky, Alice Shields, andWendy Carlos also emerge from the center.

Pierre Schaefferca. 1960s

Vladimir UssachevskySiberian-born US pioneer, 1960s

Musique Concrète

Pierre Henryca. 1960s

Pierre Henry and Michel ColombierFor Béjart’s Messe pour le temps présent, 1967

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Edgard Varèse [2.0](1954) DésertsAt the age of 71, Varèse finally has the tools he needsto realize his work; yet this piece—combininginstrumental sections with electronic/tape sections—isreceived with some hostility.

(1958) Poème électroniqueOne of the most important e lect ron ic musiccompositions ever made is created on a multi-channeltape for over 400 loudspeakers, placed inside hyperbolicPhilips Pavilion (designed by Le Corbusier and IannisXenakis) at 1958 World’s Fair. The exhibit is visited byover two million people and is later touted as the world’sfirst true ‘multi-media installation.’

Iannis XenakisGreek resistance fighter-turned-architect-turned-composer is among the first to util ize complexmathematical and algorithmic operations in his music.He is also among the first to visualize possibilities ofdigital/computer-processed music.

(1958) Concrèt P-HMusique concrète prelude piece for Philips Pavilion ismade up of small granules of sound taken from arecording of smoldering coal.

(1959–60) Orient-Occident IIIImportant work dealing with ‘mass structures’; cloudlikeformations of sound that are the sonic equivalent ofchaos theory.

Louis & Bebe BarronExperimental electronic music couple; begin workingwith homemade electronics in late 40s; work with AnaïsNin, John Cage (on Williams Mix, 1952), others.

(1956) Forbidden PlanetUnique science-fiction adaptation of Shakespeare’sThe Tempest serves as opportunity to create first all-electronic film score; continuing association betweenelectronic music and sci-fi. The Barron’s system utilizesself-destructing circuits arranged like human nervoussystem, resulting in sounds that are surprisingly organic.In the film, their work is billed as ‘sonic artistry’ (notmusic) to avoid wrath of music unions.

Electronic Music CentersOften based at universities or radio stations; which areamong the few places where electronic music can berealized:· Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center· University of Illinois· University of Toronto· Cologne radio (see Herbert Eimert, and especially the brilliant Karlheinz Stockhausen, whose vast body of work incorporates serialism, hybrids between tape and pure electronic music, radical presentational techniques, improvisation, and much more)· Radiodiffusion Télévision Française

Edgard Varèseca. 1950s

Philips PavilionWorld’s Fair, Brussels, Belgium, 1958

Forbidden PlanetElectronic score by Louis & Bebe Barron, 1956

Iannis Xenakisca. 1960s

Leaps & Bounds:The First Electronic Age

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Karlheinz Stockhausenearly 1960s

Robert Moog(1964) Moog modular keyboardMiniaturization of transistor technology allows fordevelopment of more affordable, portable instruments.The first one sold is to choreographer Alwin Nikolai,who uses it in a number of dance pieces. Soon Moogkeyboard (along with less ubiquitous Buchla systemdevised almost simultaneously by Donald Buchla)begins making appearances in commercials and popularmusic, starting whole craze of ‘switched-on’ classicaland pop music that lasts well into 1970s, as well aslonger-lasting psychedelic and ‘space’ rock movement.

Novelty Electronic Music(1968–ca.1975)Often preoccupied with ‘humanizing’ electronic sounds.Switched-On Bach (1968), featuring arrangements ofBach performed on the Moog by Walter (now Wendy)Carlos, prompts ‘switched-on’ craze and becomes thehighest-selling classical album until recently. Meanwhile,Japanese arranger Isao Tomita brings out the sensualqualities of Debussy and Ravel (among others)by creating his own, densely layered electronicarrangements.

Electronic arrangements of bubblegum pop music (somebrilliant, some forgettable) also become ever-present;see work of Jean Jacques Perrey, GershonKingsley, Walter Sear, Bruce Haack.

Krautrock/Space Rock(ca. 1968–1978)Rough category of mostly European (and mostlyGerman) music influenced by Terry Riley’s In C anddesire to break from rampant U.S. pop music;encompassing everything from the repetitive rock jamsof Can, Faust, and Amon Düül II; the electronicnoodlings of Tangerine Dream, early Kraftwerk,Neu! and Cluster; the psychedelic immersions of PinkFloyd; and the synth-heavy planetarium music of JeanMichel Jarre and Vangelis; all of whom heavilyinfluence artists all over the globe, from David Bowieand the New Wave music of the 70s, to Stereolab andthe ‘post-rock’ of the 90s.

KraftwerkThe singular influence on New Wave, techno-pop, andnearly every form of electronic dance music. Based inDüsseldorf, Germany, Kraftwerk attempted nothing lessthan to create an international electronic ‘volksmuzik,’beginning with experimental albums in the early 70sand continuing with their epic highway lullaby, Autobahn(1974), and increasingly fetishistic concept albums suchas Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine(1978), and Computer World (1981). They are later toreemerge in the 90s as the undisputed godfathers ofthe techno/electronica scene.

Robert Moogca. 1970s

KraftwerkThe Machine Men, quoting Rodchenko, Düsseldorf, 1978

Democratization& Proliferation

Music To Moog ByCharming electronic ditties by Gershon Kinsley

CanSpace jammers, early 1970s

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Minimalist Classical MusicFollowing template provided by Cage and MortonFeldman in the 50s, early 60s composers such as LaMonte Young, Tony Conrad, John Cale, and TerryRiley begin to experiment with simple compositions ofextremely long duration; concurrent with rise ofminimalist sculpture, Fluxus, and ‘happenings.’ Betterknown names such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass,and John Adams also become associated with theminimalist movement, as well as singer-composer-choreographer Meredith Monk, whose unique workcombines elements of dance, theater, music, andinstallation art. Reich also pioneers use of ‘phasing’—playing two recordings at the same time, at slightlydifferent speeds—inspiring later experiments inelectronic music.

Environmental/Meditation MusicImprovements in field recording techniques result inrelease of sound environment records meant formeditation and relaxation. Thus the first ‘ambient music’is born, working hand-in-hand with popular interest inEastern spirituality, yoga, and other somatic andtherapeutic techniques.

Brian EnoThe former experimental keyboardist for glam-rocksupergroup Roxy Music, also dabbles in environ-mental music, popularizing notion of ‘ambient music’with series of beautifully low-key releases such asDiscreet Music (1975) and Ambient 1: Music for Airports(1978). After launching this movement, Eno goes on toproduce seminal albums for David Bowie, TalkingHeads, U2, and many others; ut i l iz ing manyexperimental and chance approaches to compositionand sound construction.

New AgeWhile the 70s sees rise of Krautrock, progressive rock,and space rock (among others); most of these losemomentum with advent of disco, punk, heavy metal,and New Wave. By late 70s, ‘new age’ carries the torchfor the concept of ‘music as therapy.’ StephenHalpern releases series of records with healingspecifically in mind, while the prolific label WindhamHill releases moody instrumental music by such artistsas William Ackerman and George Winston.

Ambient house, ‘Intelligent Dance Music’By late 80s, Eno-inspired work begins to infiltrate dancemusic, spurring the short-lived genre ‘ambient house,’exemplified by the cynical sample-thievery of The KLFand the tripped-out soundscapes of The Orb. By theearly 90s, like-minded acts such as Aphex Twin, TheBlack Dog, Autechre, Global Communications,and Kirk Degiorgio begin to incorporate more obviousreferences to Detroit techno and New York electro, whileadding their own quirky touches of musicality. This new‘armchair’ techno is christened ‘Intelligent Dance Music’to distance it from the burgeoning rave scene.

Meredith MonkIn Education of the Girlchild, 1974

Aphex TwinIntelligent music for cash

Minimalism and theAmbient Connection

Donald JuddUntitled work, 1960s

Brian EnoIn the studio, late 1970s

Windham Hill RecordsBastion of New Age music. 1980s

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Dub(ca. 1968–1978)Jamaican phenomenon that emerges from 50s ‘soundsystem’ parties (where opposing DJ setups try to blareeach other out). By the late 60s, innovative producerKing Tubby (aka Osbourne Ruddock) beginsremoving vocals from popular tunes in order to letaudience chant lyrics themselves; quickly turning these‘dubs’ into wildly popular genre of its own, laced withheavy reverb, delay, and other studio effects. Dub islater promulgated by the likes of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry,Augustus Pablo, and Scientist.

The influence of dub is felt second-hand in the NYChip-hop scene of mid 70s, but has a more direct effecton large West Indian population of the UK, whiletriggering post-punk experiments by the likes of PublicImage Ltd. (fronted by ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon),techno-tribalists 23 Skidoo, and industrial-dubproducer Adrian Sherwood (with his On-U label).

Dub is also later revived through the 90s work ofMassive Attack, and is rightly cited as an essentialinfluence on drum’n’bass. At the same time, it providesthe impetus for rise of ‘trip-hop’; and is reinterpretedheavily by the axis surrounding Germany’s techno artistsBasic Channel (including Pole).

Disco(ca. 1974–1980)Begins in Euro dance clubs as well as US undergroundscene. In Europe, it takes on more electronic influencesright away (thanks thanks to role of German ‘eurodisco’producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte);while in the US the music incorporates elements ofblack, latino, and gay culture. Both strains inspire adance and DJ craze throughout the world (esp. in NYC,where the notorious Studio 54 becomes one of the mostcelebrated clubs in history); and trigger the creation ofthe 12-inch vinyl record (ca. 1975) to extend a single-length song to epic proportions.

By the later 70s, disco is seen by many (especially inrock, funk, and emerging hip-hop communities) aswatered down, disposable music; by 1980, the bubblebursts. Disco, however, soon becomes house music.

Hip-Hop (The Unrecorded Years)(ca. 1974–1980)Begins with block parties in the South Bronx (NYC) inthe early 1970s, including ‘soundclashes’ promoted bythe Jamaican-born Kool Herc; soon an entire cultureof DJing, MCing, breakdancing, and graffiti emerges,lead by DJs such as Grandmaster Flash, AfrikaBambaataa, and Grand Wizard Theodore.

During this time, the term ‘breakbeat’ arises; describingthe process of playing only the short, instrumentalbreakdowns of obscure soul, funk, and miscellaneousother records (especially those of James Brown). Later,these snippets form backbone of recorded hip-hop, aswell as drum’n’bass and trip-hop in the 90s.

King TubbyThe ultimate studio noodler, ca. 1970s

Public Image Ltd.Dub-infused post-punk death-disco, First Issue, 1978

The Dance MusicContinuum Pt.1

Grandmaster Flashca. early 80s

Giorgio MoroderThe Munich Machine Man, 1977

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SuicideConfrontational techno-punks, late 70s

The Punk/ElectronicConnection

New Wave/Post-Punk/Technopop/Darkwave(ca. 1978–1983)New Wave provides a more radio-friendly alternative tothe brevity and abrasiveness of punk music. DavidBowie again provides impetus (as he did with punk),this time with the ‘Berlin trilogy’ of Low, “Heroes,” andLodger. But it is Gary Numan who runs with the idea,pushing his ‘synthetic funk’ to the masses. Meanwhile,other UK acts such as Public Image Ltd., Siouxsieand the Banshees, NYC’s Suicide, and SanFrancisco’s Chrome take a different perspective on‘post-punk,’ offering a far more dissonant kind of musicthan punk itself ever was.

Another derivation comes from the camp of post-punkers Wire, whose members Bruce Gilbert andColin Newman begin experiments in ambientelectronics. By the 90s, Gilbert is heavily involved in theUK’s techno scene himself. Meanwhile, techno-popgroups such as Yellow Magic Orchestra,Orchestral Manoevers in the Dark, HumanLeague, New Order, Fad Gadget, and DepecheMode pick up where Kraftwerk left off, even as the‘new romantic’ movement (Japan, Duran Duran,Talk Talk, Ultravox, Visage) starts to swing.

A fringe of harsher disco/punk/funk bands hover on theperiphery as well, including UK groups A CertainRatio, Section 25, Clock DVA, and 23 Skidoo,along with NYC groups like Liquid Liquid and ESG;while even darker, moodier bands such as Sisters ofMercy, Clan of Xymox, Cindytalk, Swans, andDeath in June offer sinister possibilities.

Industrial(ca. 1983–present)The proper term ‘industrial’ is the province of the UK’sThrobbing Gristle, whose previous incarnation asshock artists COUM Transmissions helps earn themthe title of ‘the wreckers of civilization’ in the mid 70s.Their releases combine gruesome images with extremeelectronic sounds. Along these lines, Sheffield’sCabaret Voltaire (whose name is taken from the Zürichcafé that spawned dada) also explore extreme electronicdissonances with a penchant for bass-driven rhythms.Berlin’s blistering Einstürzende Neubauten and theUK’s equivalent, Test Dept, use their own home-madeinstruments and power tools to destroy stages acrossEurope.

By the mid 80s, few groups are willing to go to suchextremes. One exception, Vancouver-based SkinnyPuppy, finds itself constantly harassed for its portrayalsof animal vivisections and other miscellaneous gore. Bythe late 80s, the term ‘industrial’ in the US mistakenlyapplies to what is known in Europe as ‘electronic bodymusic’ (exemplified by D.A.F., Front 242, and NitzerEbb). Soon, electronics-laden rock groups like Ministryand Nine Inch Nails are considered ‘industrial,’ despitetheir lack of destructive accoutrements. By the late 90s,some trance-influenced groups (such as Norway’sprolific Apoptygma Berzerk) also fall under the‘industrial’ moniker.

Einstürzende Neubauten‘Collapsing New Buildings’

Skinny PuppyCanadian disturbances, mid 80s

Clock DVAAvant funk punk, early 80s

Siouxsie SiouxUnsafe New Wave, early 80s

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Afrika BambaataaEarly 1980s

Juan AtkinsDetroit, late 1990s

The Dance MusicContinuum (Pt.2)

Electro(ca. 1981–1986)Emerges in New York City out of a cross-fertilizationbetween hip-hop culture with Kraftwerk, video gamemusic, ‘electric funk’ (such as Parliament), and‘eurodisco’ (such as Belgian exports Klein & MBO,and Telex). Thanks to the huge success of 1983’s“Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa and ArthurBaker, the genre is soon characterized by its ‘synthetic’feel and staccato, syncopated rhythms, making it idealfor breakdancing.

Electro undergoes a massive revival in mid 90s withDetroit’s Underground Resistance, Drexciya, Aux88, DJ Assault, and Ectomorph; as well as Europeanartists (drawing from their own Kraftwerkian heritage)such as Germany’s DJ Hell, Anthony Rother, andEllen Allien; Austria’s I-F; and the UK label Warp,with artists LFO, Autechre, and Andrea Parker.

Techno(ca. 1983–present)Although techno arguably begins with European‘electronic body music’ of early 80s artists such asGermany’s D.A.F. and Belgium’s Front 242, alongwith New Wave and ‘euro disco,’ it is only truly broughtto light by the brilliant futuristic releases of Detroit’sJuan Atkins (aka Model 500) and later, DetroitersDerrick May, Kevin Saunderson, Eddie Fowlkes,Jeff Mills, and Carl Craig; along with New YorkersFrankie Bones, Tommy Musto, and Lenny Dee.

By the late 80s, techno (along with Chicago/NY house)crosses the ocean to the UK and Europe, hybridizingwith local influences (including Manchester’s infamousFactory club, The Haçienda, subject of the recent film,24 Hour Party People) to produce new splinter genresthat quickly become difficult to differentiate (such as’collage house,’ ‘acid house,’ ‘ambient house,’ ‘IntelligentDance Music,’ ‘trance,’ ‘tribal,’ ‘hardcore,’ and manyothers).

Detroit techno itself undergoes a kind of split in the early90s, between the Windsor, Canada-based labelPlus 8 (home of Plastikman), and hometown labeland political collective Underground Resistance.Both have lasting impacts on the European technoscene, notably Berlin’s Tresor label.

House(ca. 1983–present)By the early 80s, disco goes underground, becomingmore electronic. Frankie Knuckles, a New York DJtransplanted to Chicago, becomes resident at TheWarehouse, giving ‘house music’ its name. Meanwhile,NYC DJs such as Larry Levan and labels such asSalsoul, West End, and Prelude develop their ownstyle of house, as labels Trax and DJ Internationalconsolidate a gospel and soul-inspired Chicago sound.Trax also pushes the squelchy ‘acid’ sound discoveredaccidentally by a group named Phuture; soon ‘acid’takes off to the UK, where it almost single-handedlyspawns the massive European rave scene.

Roland TB 303,The 1983 gadget that birthed the squelch of ‘acid’

Ellen AllienMistress behind the B-Pitch Control

Underground ResistanceSonic revolutionaries

Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft‘German-American Friendship,’ early 1980s

Frankie KnucklesKick-starting a musical movement, Chicago

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Hardcore(ca. 1991–present)Takes rawest side of ‘acid’ and techno sound (includingBelgian ‘new beat’ and some of UR’s harder material)and pushes it to the furthest extremes of noise andspeed. Frankfurt’s Planet Core Productions labeland The Netherlands’ Rotterdam Records promotethe sound in Europe, while Lenny Dee’s IndustrialStrength label in NYC does it stateside (triggering thegrowth of the hardcore scene in Chicago, featuring DJDelta 9, and the entire Milwaukee scene, representedby Drop Bass Network).

The mid 90s free festival scene represents the culmina-tion of underground techno events in Europe, birthingsuch notable hardcore techno collectives as SpiralTribe and Network 23. But as each country slowlylatches down on party-goers, the scene is forced toretreat, and only just survives in France, where thehardcore scene delivers hard-hitting political critiquesof the status quo through its devastating music.

Drum’n’Bass(ca. 1991–present)Begins as extension of sample-based ‘collage house’but quickly specializes in the creative use of break-beats, inspired by dub music as well as UK artists suchas Meat Beat Manifesto and US hip-hop artistsPublic Enemy.

By early 90s, UK labels Shut Up and Dance andReinforced innovate new ways to cut up breakbeats.Later joined by Suburban Base, Formation, and VRecordings labels, the genre evolves and speeds upat a manic pace, going through no less than sixpermutations in three years (including ‘darkside,’ ‘ragga,’‘jazzy,’ ‘intelligent,’ ‘jump-up,’ and ‘tech-step’).

Darker aspects of drum’n’bass eventually coalesce intomicro-detailed ‘tech-step’ (see Ed Rush, Optical) andraucous, hardcore-inspired ‘breakcore’; lighter sideseventually lead to a divergence from drum’n’bassaltogether, back towards dance-friendly forms such as‘speed garage,’ ‘two step’ (see Armand Van Helden),and even ‘big beat’ (see Fatboy Slim, ChemicalBrothers).

90s Ambient(1990–present)Ambient music continues to be explored by a numberof artists in various modes, from the ‘dark ambient’ ofthe Projekt label; to the ‘illbient’ of DJ Spooky; to theCD-skips of Germany’s Oval; and a whole host ofelectro-experimentalists on the Mille Plateaux label.Various ‘post-rock’ outfits explore a territory beyondrock and closer to jazz or soundtrack music; such asChicago pioneers Tortoise and Gastr del Sol,Michigan’s hazy Labradford, Scotland’s brashMogwai, Montreal’s enigmatic godspeed you blackemperor!, and Iceland’s dirge masters Sigur Rós.Even longtime acts such as Radiohead and SonicYouth become more understandable in this context.

Meat Beat ManifestoMasters of syncopation, late 80s

The Dance MusicContinuum (Cont.)

Roni SizeReprazenting the highest side of jazzy d’n’b

Ed RushTech-step technician

godspeed you black emperorImages from Montreal’s poetic music collective

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A Few Recent Trends:Noise & Extreme Beats

Noise‘Noise music’ is spurred by industrial groups such asNeubauten; spawning ear-blistering experiments bythe likes of Non, Whitehouse, Merzbow, TheBoredoms, and Emil Beaulieau throughout the 80s.By the late 90s, laptop computers make ‘digital noise’music possible, with new software allowing for moreextreme (and ‘real-time’) tweaking. Pita and ChristianFennesz, both from the Vienna-based label Mego,are among the first recognized laptop noise artists. Otherdirections include the absolute mathematical precisionof Japan’s Ryoji Ikeda and Spain’s Francisco López,the ultra-political field recordings of LA’s Ultra-Red,and the rock-based noises of Japan’s Melt Bananaand Detroit’s Wolf Eyes.

BreakcoreEmerging from remnants of hardcore techno scene inFrance, Germany, UK (and later the US), artists such asChristoph Fringeli (Praxis), Hecate, and DJ Scud(Ambush) begin to apply the hardcore approach todrum’n’bass, cutting up and obliterating breakbeatsbeyond recognition. Austria’s Eiterherd (Widerstand),France’s Rotator (Peace-Off), Winnipeg’s VenetianSnares, and Minneapolis’ Bombardier are also amongthose instrumental in the development of the sound.San Francisco’s Kid 606 and his Tigerbeat 6 label,though closely related, cover slightly quirkier ground,while Berlin-based Atari Teenage Riot (DigitalHardcore) is seen as the commercial equivalent, albeitsomewhat removed from the underground DJ culture.

‘Power Noise’Also parallels closely to hardcore techno scene, with astronger emphasis on techno/electro styled sounds.German label Hymen leads the way, with artists suchas the Welsh duo Somatic Responses, Seattle-basedConverter, and France’s Celluloïd Mata all on theroster. Other representatives of this genre include TexansProem and L’Usine, and the Finnish noise merchantsPan Sonic, whose stripped-down music of the mid90s triggers much of what has come.

‘Glitch Electro’ / ‘Glitch-Hop’While closely related to ‘power noise,’ ‘glitch electro’owes more to IDM and dance music than its industrialantecedents. Having absorbed the lessons of pioneerssuch as Autechre and Aphex Twin, other artists andlabels have taken up where their early work left off. Addto this the element of hip-hop and the result is a strangefragmentation of the hip-hop and electro aesthetic.

Among the most prominent US representatives of thehybrid are Atlanta-bred Richard Devine and ScottHerren (aka Prefuse 73), Michigan-based labelGhostly International, and Miami labels Schematicand Beta Bodega Coalition. Meanwhile, UK labelssuch as Warp (and sublabel Lex), Skam, and artistssuch as Plaid, LFO, Jega, and Bola, as well asGerman artists Arovane and Funkstörung, are alsovery much in the mix.

Christian FenneszLeading the charge of the laptop brigade

Venetian SnaresWinnipegian wünderkind

Pan SonicClean electronic sounds from Finland

Richard DevineAtlanta’s glitch king

HecateDark Zhark beats from Rachael Kozak

Beta Bodega,Guerilla chic with guts

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A Few Recent Trends:Groove Music

‘Glitch House’/‘Glitch Techno’/‘Micro House’A broad, technical approach to house and techno music,connected to laptop and IDM culture, as well as moredance-friendly styles. Encompasses everything fromthe hiccuping grooves of San Francisco artists KitClayton, Sutekh, Safety Scissors, and sample-pranksters Matmos; the bleep-house of Columbus,Ohio-bred artists Geoff White, Todd Sines, andtribalist Archetype; the pop music clips of Montreal’sAkufen; and the lumbering, on-the-fly samplingtechniques of the UK’s Matthew Herbert.

Closely paralleled by movements in German minimaltechno, particularly Cologne’s Thomas Brinkmann,Wolfgang Voigt (aka Mike Ink) and the Kompaktlabel, as well as Frankfurt’s own labels Perlon,Playhouse, Mille Plateaux, and Force Inc.

‘Dub Techno’Describes a sound influenced by 70s dub from Jamaicaas well as 80s techno from Detroit, filtered through theearly 90s by the enigmatic Berlin duo known as BasicChannel. The two also oversee the burgeoning technoscene represented by the Chain Reaction label andeminent dub-techno artists such as Porter Ricks,Monolake, and Pole. While many artists eventuallystep out from under the Basic Channel umbrella, theinfluence of their wet, dubby sound (and the masteringplant they establish, called D&M) still permeates thework of techno artists across the board.

‘Broken Beat’/‘West London’ BreakbeatNew movement combining the complex beatsyncopations of electro and house with the textures of70s funk-jazz (see Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, SunRa, plus Fela Kuti and other afro-funk artists). Centeredprimarily in the former drum’n’bass scene of West (andNorth) London, it also includes numerous producers ofjazz, hip-hop, and house. In London, the most prominentartists are 4 Hero’s Dego McFarlane and MarkClair, former Reinforced stalwart Seiji, as well asBugz In The Attic, Domu, and IG Culture. Thesound is not defined by geography, however—asPhiladelphia’s King Britt, Germany’s Jazzanova,Toronto’s Moonstarr, and Columbus’ TitontonDuvanté are also among the worldwide purveyors ofthis open-ended sound.

Revivals and New InnovationsMunich’s DJ Hell (overseeing the labels Disko B andInternational Deejay Gigolos) heralds the electro-pop and synth-disco revivals of the early 2000s,dubiously dubbed ‘electroclash,’ with artists such asAdult., DJ Assault, Le Tigre, Peaches, Ladytron,Felix da Housecat, Gold Chains, Chicks onSpeed, and Fischerspooner bringing back the fun,spectacle, and fashion—1980s style. At the same time,others such as Telefon Tel Aviv, Four Tet, BurntFriedman, Midwest Product, and Andrew Peklerdelve into as-yet-uncategorized hybrids between liveand electronic music.

MatmosWill sample anything for food

PoleDirty sctratchy hissy dub techno

Dego McFarlane4 Hero’s foremost mid-fielder

Adult.Detroit’s answer to New Wave nausea

Safety ScissorsTrying hard not to run

DJ HellThe Munich Machine rides again!

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