Welcome to the old skool section, I’m George and I’ll be your ‘guide’ through the early ages of the underground. In my opinion, the ‘80s and ‘90s were some of the best years for electronica, they changed the face of audio technology and brought in the ideas that have lead to the techno, drum n bass, even dubstep we have today. And most of all, the sound back then was completely different, as well as massively underrated! As a teen that’s why it grew on me, it was like nothing else I’d ever heard and went on to inspire me to become a producer, one way or another. So this section will cover classics, or hidden gems, whether they’re from the early ‘80s industrial scene, late ‘80s house and techno scene or the early ‘90s old skool hardcore and jungle scenes, and hopefully show a few new kids what’s out there and out to change your minds… maybe even collect the vinyl like me. That’s right, people still buy vinyl.
So if I’m writing about music which came out twenty years ago, how can I write about what’s going on in the scene today, you ask? That’s the thing, I’m not. Each month I’ll be discussing the background behind producers I’ve come across, the scenes behind the music and, most of all, the tunes themselves. It’s basically all about what I find, when I find it. And that brings me onto this year in digging out classics… to be honest, it’s been amazing, but today let’s focus on the highlight of what I found this month.
What’s really grabbed my ear this time is the classic “Deep Sea Dweller” EP, by Drexciya. Funnily enough, I’d never actually heard of this group before, but found out they had their roots in techno around the time of the rave scene, so intrigued by the unusual name I blindly had a listen to this first release of their’s from back in 1992, and was pretty surprised. Each of the tunes sort of have an element of IDM, that’s “Intelligent Dance Music”, dance music that’s subtle for those of you kids who don’t know. They’re all really deep tracks on an aquatic theme, taking you right to the depths of the ocean with pulsating techno beats, sub-bass and bleeps that mix in what was of the time with something bold and original. On one side, there’s “Sea Quake” and “Nautilus 12”, two tunes on the mental side of early techno, and then on the other there’s this EP’s masterpiece and the one I keep coming back to, “Depressurization”. From the start this tune takes you in deeper, weird timestretched screechy noises play over an underwater soundscape, with the light beats of a 909 drum machine simmering over. Back then, using a 909 or 808 drum machine was considered the foundations of a techno tune… where do you think 808 State got their name from? Don’t say the state in Hawaii. Then, just as you think it couldn’t get any deeper, a mysterious organ riff drifts over everything else, sure it’s repetitive, but it summarizes exactly what’s so good about that element of surprise in some old skool music, that element of surprise by bringing in sounds you didn’t see coming made people realise what they could do years on! This is complemented by a more mellow example of bleepy techno, “Sea Snake”, just afterwards, really giving the two sides of the EP very different flavours.
So how easy is this record to get hold of? Not very, it seems, with copies going second hand on Discogs from £20 and up! But next time you’re on YouTube, if you want a good progressive techno classic “Depressurization” is a must listen, you’d be wasting your life if you didn’t give it a sample before you die.
That’s all for today kids, check the section every month for a new old discovery, I never pick a bad tune (unless you mean bad as in good). Respect! By the way, if you're feeling brave, send your questions through to m.u.d.oldskool@gmail.com (you can be anonymous if you're shy), and ask me any questions you have about the scene, my collection, whatever you think fits musically, and I'll answer next issue.
