So the man who booked the first ever Godflesh show after hearing the EP has released a new LP under his Bug moniker today and it’s stupidly good. The man has been living in Berlin lately so there’s a Basic Channel spirit flowing throughout this monster. What is it about Berlin that gives us such great music?
Always good to see KMart making music…I still listen to God,Ice,Bug and Techno Animal frequently…the guy always brings the goods…
Yeah this one is massive. If you haven’t got it…get it. I must admit I would’ve preferred the whole album to be Angels…but I guess folk expect the fire from Kevin.
Yeah,its got some thunder…there are a couple that I wish had just been instrumentals but overall I really like it…Kmart always brings heat…
Fat Mac for the win haha
So the man who booked the first ever Godflesh show after hearing the EP has released a new LP under his Bug moniker today and it’s stupidly good. The man has been living in Berlin lately so there’s a Basic Channel spirit flowing throughout this monster. What is it about Berlin that gives us such great music?
I’ll hazard a guess here and say that, much like New York at the end of the 1970s, one could still get CHEAP RENT in Berlin when the post-punk and techno waves of music really took flight. This allowed for a generation of artists who provided the allure and prestige for the next generations, even while housing now is astronomically more expensive.
Seriously - an associate of John Zorn’s once told me that he paid all of a DOLLAR for two derelict storefronts that must now be worth, well…just keep adding zeroes to that original asking price. In the same way, the city of (West) Berlin had a surplus of uninhabited spaces and encouraged “artists” to come and claim them to revitalize the city. That’s to say nothing of the wide variety of “unofficial” living spaces that could be had as well.
There’s a very good book which I’m working on translating, called “Subculture Westberlin 1979-1989,” it also gives some pointers as to what made that city tick.
One thing I got from that book was that, while other German cities in the 70s and 80s courted “professional” artists, Berlin was the magnet for so-called ‘genial dilettantes’ whose work fell between the cracks and had no clear classification at the time. People involved with the ‘scene’ were often involved in many different creative roles and, in the long-term, this made the city a far easier place for the experimentally minded to gain a foothold than some other European capitals.
I am on the promo list for like a dozen different techno and EDM labels from Berlin; I swear I could just limit myself to hearing music from that city alone and I still wouldn’t have time to listen to all of what comes my way!
Oh, also on the Berlin side of things, the Techno Animal / Porter Ricks teamup (‘Biokinetics’) is one of my favorite releases to involve “K-Mart” in some capacity…the man had his finger on the pulse of the cerebral techno scene just as he beat the dubstep kids to the punch by some years.
Oh, also on the Berlin side of things, the Techno Animal / Porter Ricks teamup (‘Biokinetics’) is one of my favorite releases to involve “K-Mart” in some capacity…the man had his finger on the pulse of the cerebral techno scene just as he beat the dubstep kids to the punch by some years.
Once again you give praise to an (obscure) album I worship most highly.
I smell something a-brewin’ here, Longshanks…
[:|]
Once again you give praise to an (obscure) album I worship most highly.
I smell something a-brewin’ here, Longshanks…
[:|]
I AM YOU (((0_0)))
Peligro, Tomasz, Satan…the Oneness…
tis a MASSIVE
album…
Does it still sound like industrial reggae that would make hipsters and dubstep fans jizz in their pants?
Does it still sound like industrial reggae that would make hipsters and dubstep fans jizz in their pants?
Yep. But with a dash of Basic Channel.
Never listened to Basic Channel, but I saw KMart (feat. Warrior Queen) open for NIN if you can believe that. What is it with Trent and picking oddball openers for the last several tours?
Pretty ballsy having Bug open. Nice little pay cheque for Bug too.
Basic Channel were the bomb. Their Rhythm & Sound stuff was where it was at for me…but man Basic Channel is a German treasure.