electronica
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Back in 1992,when Nirvana and Pearl Jam were introducing mainstream consumers to the concept of Seattle grunge, the next "next big thing" was already sparking over the wires of the burgeoning electronic frontier. Techno, a style of dance music previously associated with German synthesizer bands like Kraftwerk or sweaty Manchester rave kids, was finding a home in mailing lists and newsgroups.
In the past year, the pop-rock torch has been passed from alternative to what is now being called electronica (the umbrella term for techno's multiple permutations). For many media and music biz hounds, half a decade of Pearl Jam rip-off bands have turned even rock's most rebellious image, a smashed guitar, into a cliché. A search has commenced in earnest for something new; and electronica, which is sample-based and essentially a decade old, is delivering the necessary antidote.
Electronica has already been almost scientifically spliced and diced, yielding a plethora of sub-genres. There's the drum'n'bass groove of L.T.J Bukem and Photek, and the mega-amphetamined dancehall reggae of jungle artist Goldie. Tricky and Portishead get filed under trip-hop; their brooding, bluesy breakbeats are less about dancing than swaying in place. Then there's the hyper-accelerated postmodern experimentation of critical darlings Underworld and the Chemical Brothers, and the ethereal, chill-out pulse of illbient, as exemplified by DJ Spooky's work. Even big-time arena rockers are coming along for the ride; David Bowie's and U2's most recent albums proselytize the joys of electronica to their suburban mini-mall fans.
Now that other bands and labels have made the first move (a necessary step for major label culture, where the first move is always a risky proposition) the avalanche is starting to rumble. No less a cultural icon than Madonna signed the electropunk quartet the Prodigy to a multimillion deal on her Maverick label. MTV put the Prodigy's harrowing and infectious "Firestarter" video in the coveted Buzz Bin, along with the Chemical Brothers' "Setting Sun," a genre-busting collaboration with Oasis' Noel Gallagher. Ravey outdoor events like Perry Farrell's ENIT and Organic are positioned to overtake fist-pumper rock happenings like Lollapalooza. Even video games, like Sony PlayStation's hovercraft racing game Wipeout XL, are being packaged with techno soundtracks. If electronica breeds like grunge, a fashion display at Macy's could be next.
Though grunge and electronica share punk's rule-breaking aesthetic, they couldn't be more different in their relationships with technology. While grunge eschewed any kind of mechanization, electronica is all about diving into the netherworld of wires and bits. Sounds, loops, and samples are swirled together like paint on a palette. Although the Chemical Brothers' debut album Exit Planet Dust might sound like it's filled with offline instruments, it's completely woven from binary codes. What better place to create and discuss electronica than on a world-wide network of computers, where variance of opinion is as wide as the bandwidth?
One site long devoted to this discussion is Hyperreal, a Web site that started as a rave mailing list in 1992 and has become the mothership of all electronica sites. Hyperreal, like such sites as Thousand Words and those devoted to individual electronica bands, artists, and DJs, is essentially a place for fans to stay plugged in and informed. Hyperreal hosts countless links to everything from techno record labels to raver lifestyle sites to just about every electronica band who is online.
"It used to be that people would find out about new music and make their purchasing decisions based on what got promoted most heavily or who remixed who," says Hyperreal's founder, Brian Behlendorf, via e-mail. "Now folks are sharing with each other reviews of new music, which means that new artists and new sounds can get exposure in this medium very quickly — and when Web sites have sound samples to back it up, it's great."
As Web sites like Hyperreal and newsgroups like alt.music.techno accelerate the growth of electronica, record labels such as Astralwerks, home to the Chemical Brothers and the Future Sound of London, reap the benefit. Long before Madonna signed the Prodigy, Astralwerks was supporting the fledgling techno scene, releasing records by bands who had a devoted and international fan base but hadn't yet found mainstream recognition.
Peter Wohelski, one of Astralwerks directors, sees an indispensable bond between the 'Net and his musical niche. "This is music made by technology," he says, "and the Net utilizes technology to facilitate moving information around the globe and getting it to people." As a matter of fact, the Future Sound of London, who don't perform live, have played several audio/visual "concerts" over ISDN lines; access to these in-studio performances was only available through the Internet.
"There's a symbiotic relationship between techno and the people who use the Net," Wohelski continues. "The people who are using the computer to surf the Web and are the same ones using it to make music as well." The Internet, in other words, allows artists and their audiences to communicate with one another directly; if electronica continues to develop in this fashion, it will truly be a revolution in music and technology — a revolution you can dance to, no less.
David Kushner is a contributing editor for Spin magazine and has written for the Village Voice, Details, Mademoiselle, HotWired, and Mondo 2000.
© 1997, 1998 Tripod, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This column originally appeared, in slightly different form, in Tripod's Tools for Life magazine.
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