Datacide 18 Record Reviews by Christoph Fringeli

Record reviews by Christoph Fringeli from Datacide Eighteen, first published online December 2019, in print January 2020. Feat. releases by No Name, The Mover, FFF, Max Durante, Toysfornoise and more.

No Name
[Rouge de Colere Live 02]

Rouge de Colere Live is a sub-series of the Toolbox sublabel Rouge de Colere which has over many years produced a (small) number of (mostly) interesting cross-over records somewhere between hardtek, hardcore, breakcore and speedcore, some of which have been reviewed in datacide before (most recently the HFK record in datacide seventeen). The live series somewhat runs parallel to the Acid Night Live series (see elsewhere in this issue), but even so this particular release is a special one. Spread over the double vinyl format in a way so the original live set could be re-created by a DJ – the beginning is on side A, the continuation is on side C, then mix in side B, then finish with side D.

No Name of course first drew attention with releases starting in 1996 on labels such as Anticore and Fischkopf. In the article ‘Bonjour Vitesse’ in datacide one the music she and her sister (who usually releases under the name Mouse) make, was described as “some of the most out-there experimental and visionary records ever made in the context of super-fast hardcore”.

Over the more than 20 years the music itself has retained its specific qualities and intensity and this live set spread over four sides is quite a trip, and while not strictly speaking innovative now, is still very unique and the double red vinyl with picture sleeve is a nice collectible item.

The Mover
Selected Classics (Remastered 2017)
[BOIDAE 002]

KillEKill sublabel BOIDAE surprised some heads with a timely Mover retrospective in 2017; timely in so far that the year 2017 always featured as a mysterious reference to a dark phuture emanating from the early catalogue of the Frankfurt based label group Planet Core Productions, also known as PCP.
PCP were versed in the “art of the record label”, setting up a myriad of conceptual sublabels and while there were a few other musicians involved, Marc Trauner, aka The Mover was the one who contributed the vast bulk under a dizzying number of pseudonyms.

PCP was also central to some international hook-ups. Industrial Strength, the label run by Lenny Dee and Jennifer Williams in the early 1990s, even started their catalogue with a double AA-side 12” featuring The Mover and his alias Mescalinum United, and both tracks are featured on the BOIDAE double album.
Furthermore there are two tracks from the very first Mover 12”s Frontal Sickness Volumes each. From 1991 (PCP 005) and 1992 (PCP 008), Nightflight (Nonstop 2 Kaos) and Into Wasteland, and Astral Demons and Invite the Fear respectively. There’s Final Sickness from Frankfrut Trax Vol.4, there’s Waves of Life from the split EP with Alien Christ, also a Mover pseudonym (PCP 934). Only one of the tracks is from album Final Sickness (The Emperor Takes Place).

The track order of the digital release – which features two extra tracks – is different than the order on vinyl, most notably in so far that the ferocious We Have Arrived is the opening piece of the digital, while it has been relegated to D1 on vinyl.

Also what seems to be a major omission of the vinyl version is that Over Land & Sea from the momentous Signs of ‘96 12” is only on the digital version. The other digital-only track is a second track, Spirit Slasher, from the much later Tresor album (Frontal Frustration, 2002).

It almost goes without saying that you should pick up this compilation unless you already have a few of the original releases, although by the time this issue of datacide hits the street the vinyl may already be deleted.

FFF: Dubcore Volume 12
FFF: The Superpowers
[PRSPCT RVLT 019]/ 24/7 Soundkiller [PRSPCT RVLT024]

FFF has been as productive as ever, with records regularly coming out on different labels. Starting in 2013 with Bloodclat Mentality he has released several 12”s on PRSPCT RVLT, of which The Superpowers and 24/7 Soundkiller are the latest ones. All of them display his very own brand of an amalgam of rave, jungle and breakcore, and The Superpowers is providing exactly that without any particular surprises.

Dubcore Volume 12 is adding to the Dubcore series from Sozialistischer Plattenbau which had started as a series of 7”s early on in the label’s history, but switched to the 12” format with number 11. FFF had already contributed the ravetastic Volume 7 in 2009. From Volume 11 onwards the label switched from the 7” to the 12” format, and musically to more standard jungle and rave. In that format FFF is one of the best, but don’t expect innovation, but consistency, maybe even ecstasy!

Max Durante:
Insurrection of Inequity
[Sonic Groove SG1674]

Already released in 2016 this is a tough industrial techno record by long standing Italian producer Max Durante. He first caught my attention in the mid 90s in the context of the “Sound of Rome”. This was quite an exciting scene with musicians like Lory D, the d’Arcangelo twins, ADC, Marco Passarani and others. In 1992 and 1993 a few records under the moniker A.utomatic S.ound U.nlimited appeared, which was a collaboration of the D’Arcangelos and Durante. In particular the final double pack was a groundbreaking work of strange noises and broken beats. Perhaps not quite as legendary as Lory D.’s Antisystem LP (which partly owed its near-mythical reputation to its unavailability outside of Italy), but definitely up there on the brief wave of extraordinary releases coming from Rome.

Unfortunately most of the “Sound of Rome” scene reverted to much more traditional electro formats soon, but most of the producers have been active since then at least intermittently. Durante himself resurfaced on Kynant and Sonic Groove in 2015 after a hiatus (at least in terms of releases) of a few years – after moving to Berlin the year before. The new location also seems to have influenced not only his sound, infecting it with pounding industrial techno, but also the references in the titles.

‘Tension in Rigaer Strasse’ and ‘Riot R94’ are direct references to the indeed tense situation around the house project Rigaer Strasse 94 in Berlin-Friedrichshain a couple of years ago. Then-Interior Senator Frank Henkel (CDU) tried to further his career by attempting an eviction of the squatted part of the building – perceived as an important centre of the radical left in Berlin – but the eviction turned out to be illegal; despite an intense campaign of the right wing media, a court decision allowed the squatters to move back in. Upon return they found some of the location already renovated, with new windows and electricity. We don’t know if they celebrated by playing Max Durante’s record, but it would have been a fitting opportunity.

Spin Dynamics 10 and 11

The label Spin Dynamics arrived in 2012 and released a fair number of records in the following two years, creating a nicely curated catalogue of compilations. Musical territory covered was and is somewhere between experimental breaks and acid techno. Number 10 is in the latter mold with contributions by Collision, FM Machinist, Asphalt-Pirates, and Dr. Strange.

Number 11 kicks off with a rare vinyl appearance by C. Mantle providing a clangy experimental techno track, followed by Somatic Responses who effortlessly mutate a broken stepper into an acid track, thus presenting two sides of their work. On the other side is an excellent epic track by Defect Data, a dark trip of twisted sinister tweaks and breaks. Great!

Toysfornoise:
Nomadic Fairytales
[Acid Night Live 05]
Coexsystems:
Pressure vs. The Womb
[Acid Night Live 06]

Some of the Acid Night output has been reviewed or mentioned in previous Datacides (14,17). In the meantime the label’s catalogue has been extended by a sub-series called Acid Night Live, which is featuring LP-length (toysfornise is clocking in at over 23 minutes on each side) live mixes, usually non-stop. Most are veering in the direction of an acid-tribe style, but numbers 05 and 06 are something for the hard heads. The inspiration here is more the rough 90s acid of early Woody McBride or even Skullblower. To press this kind of material on vinyl might be somewhat contradictory, having the feeling of an “official bootleg”. But if you are after new material in the described mould, you should try to track those down, which might be not so easy, as all Acid Night Live records are limited to just 100 numbered copies.

DJ Producer:
Nitemare on B-Kore Street [Storm Breaks SBREAKS961]

One of his earliest releases – from 1996 – already shows Luke McMillan mixing up driving hard bass drums with breaks, a path he has followed until the present. This particular release was surrounded by a certain mystique, perhaps because it was hard to obtain for quite some time; Underground Music recently changed this with a repress. If you expect a ‘breakcore’ release, then you have to readjust your definition, as it’s mostly an early example of the hardcore-with-breaks style that Producer (and others, such as Hellfish or The Teknoist) have indulged in for a couple of decades now. Worth getting for the excellent ‘Urban Decay’, where elements of breakcore, techstep and hardcore collide creating a great hybrid.

Somatic Responses/
Caustic Visions
Malignant Earth
[Network 23, NTW23-29 [1996)/CVHS01(2017)]

Originally released in 1996 on Network 23 simply as Malignant Earth, this is an absolute classic in the history of industrial hardcore. The four tracks were a collaboration between the Healy brothers and Caustic Visions – an open secret then, but not credited on the record itself – and thus combined the forces of two of the most powerful hardcore production units at the time based on the British Isles. It was released on one of the most exciting label- and distribution concepts spearheded by Spiral Tribe members in the mid-90s.

Network 23 became well known (or some would say notorious) for championing the “tribe” sound and spawning a thousand spin-offs and imitators. But there were those records – and Malignant Earth was one of them – that opened up other possibilities and that could have led into an alternative future. This didn’t happen, but even at the time the records that were sitting less easily in the stream of the general NTW23 output, were in many ways the more interesting ones, and indeed the sound of this particular release is still haunting two decades later.

Nasenbuten:
Concrete Compressor (Live Mix)/My Stines Make Gas
[Old Rope, ROPEBF700]
Memetic: Als Picture Systa/Rancid Envolution (Netas Revolution Remix)
[Old Rope, ROPEBF701]
Syndicate: Impact (7” Edit)/Trapped [Old Rope, ROPEBF702]
Xylocaine: Graceland / Fiftyfive / Hat Felt
[Old Rope, ROPEBF703]
Disassembler: Cold Hate / Struck With An Ax [Old Rope, ROPEBF704]

When Mark N. buried his Amiga computer in the sand and Bloody Fist terminated their mission with FIST35 in 2004, it was inconceivable for some that this would be the end, and indeed there is an afterlife, not only in terms of fame and notoriety, but also in its latest incarnation in the form of a new series of 7” singles. The starting shot was a couple of Nasenbluten outtakes, to be followed by Memetic, and number 702 by Syndicate. This one consists in two tracks previously released on CD (rather than new-old material) which might be a sign that the source could be drying up soon, but the Xylocaine and Disassembler releases seem to suggest otherwise. If you’re starved for Bloody Fist material it’s a good idea to grab these while they’re hot – or rather STILL COLD – directly from the Bloody Fist morgue!!!

Christoph Fringeli

• Other articles and reviews by Christoph Fringeli on datacide-magazine.com
• Other record reviews (all authors) on datacide-magazine.com
• praxis-records.net

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