Songs about a little something...
A lot has been made of the new Audion album, Suckfish, out now on Ann Arbour's Spectral Sound (the techno-specific sister label of Ghostly International), partly because it is Matthew Dear's hard, filthy, techno-insanity alter-ego. The other reason a lot of folks are up in arms is because a handful of the tracks have the kind of dirty names you can't say on the radio ("Titty F*ck", "Just F*cking"), that you'd expect out of someone like DJ Assault or 2 Live Crew, not the sweet-natured Dear.
But really, this kind of polar shift makes a lot of sense out of a techno producer like Dear - the tracks he produces under his own name are pretty, delicate, often with his sweet vocals floating over the top (see his 2003 album, Leave Luck To Heaven). It is really versatile, great music that you can dance to, walk around the city listening to, or sit on your couch and bob your head to. On the other hand his work as Audion is much harder and darker ("Kisses"), with a fierce attack to the beats ("Just F*cking") and synths - it suggests a sense of danger ("The Pong"), like a train about to ride off its rails. Plus, with the dirty-names, he also hints straight-out lays claim to a furious man-machine sexuality - with the tempo of most of the tracks fast (well over 120-130bpm), this is some hard-core porno sex we're talking about. Well, I guess you don't have to have sex to this music, dancing like crazy would also be perfectly acceptable I'm sure.
Um... anyway, Dear's Audion project has been hailed by many critics as a great new chapter in Detroit's techno saga - already adding to the Ghostly/Spectral canon that has really made a name for itself in the last few years - and that seems totally reasonable too, because Suckfish (and the EPs released late last year and earlier this year) sits pretty comfortably beside Dear's contemporaries, and, like so much of the best techno music, can draw a line back through its history: founding fathers Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson; Underground Resistance, Richie Hawtin and Plus-8, etc. etc. I personally love the fact that there is actually so much variation - just try comparing Audion to Michael Mayer or Ellen Allien or (insert other current "techno" producer's name) - in a genre of music that many people think is just one thing, when really "techno" means so much more.
Buy Suckfish direct from Ghostly/Spectral here or download from iTunes.
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Plus, a gentle reminder for those of you up in Boston, I'll be rocking the decks at Enormous Room tomorrow (Saturday) night, so come by and hang out, dance, say hi, etc. Its not likely that I'll be playing anything as hard as Audion, but there will be a least some techno involved, some electro-pop, rock weirdness and other MFR favorites.
Shazam!