Wednesday, February 22, 2006

The Quest

Drexciya's double CD and record compilation 'The Quest' came out in 1997 on Submerge. The collection takes its pick from the UR, Submerge and S.I.D. 12"'s of the previous five years. The only record not considered for inclusion here was 'The Journey Home' which came out on Warp and was probably not available to licence to them at this time. There are also a number of unreleased tracks.

For some reason this release has always been a difficult one to track down in record shops. I myself can only ever remember seeing it for sale twice, a second-hand CD copy and a new vinyl set. Why this should ever have been the case I don’t know, I guess it would have had to be imported but so what, everything else seemed to turn up all the time. Did anyone else notice this? Today it’s long deleted and needless to say fetches big sums on Ebay. If anything by them should be reissued this album is surely crying out to be.
By this stage Drexciya were taking a break from production and as far as I can tell only got involved to the extent of providing Submerge with the seven unreleased tracks and coming up with the album title. I was surprised at this realisation myself but when you study the artefact itself the evidence of this is there for all to see.

First I’d like to tackle the unreleased music itself, although it really doesn’t expand on the concept. The ‘Intro’ on CD1 comes from the beginning of ‘Aquatacizem’ which one year later would be their contribution to UR’s ‘Interstellar Fugitives’ compilation. It’s worth mentioning that Drexciya would be listed on this album as still being MIA and their identifying image there would be what can only be described as a drawing of a biological limpet mine. Obviously that makes ‘Aquatacizem’ itself an outtake. I’m hoping to clean up some of the loose Drexciyan ends like this track in an article in the future so won’t go into any further detail here save to say the track itself doesn’t go on to explain what an ‘Aquatacizem’ is. Nevertheless I think we can figure it out for ourselves. A weird ancient alien type voice tells us what I think is “The people of Earth listen closely. We are attempting to avoid the Aquatacizem”. If you have been following the progress of their 12" releases to date they have given us warnings before but still this is an ambiguous beginning indeed which hinges on a mis-spelt word, business as usual! The next unreleased track on CD1 is track 3, ‘Dehydration’, which is a slow paced instrumental that sounds a lot like an Elektoids outtake to me. The next previously unheard track on this CD does not appear till the very end and is the pretty weird and hard to place in any period ‘The Mutant Gillmen’(An Experiment Gone Wrong)’. There is a vocal but its just a repeated sample that goes back and forth unintelligibly, some nice unexpected sounds going on here, but nothing amazing. CD2 offers up an instrumental version of ‘Living on the Edge’ and a choppy DJ style remix of ’Aquabahn’ as its first batch of unreleased fare but things get a lot more interesting when ‘Doctor Blowfins Water Cruiser’ turns out to be ‘Danger Bay’ from ‘Bubble Metropolis’. Quite what this means is open to debate, maybe the danger comes from Doctor Blowfin? This character is ever present and extremely ambiguous. ‘Dead Mans Reef’ is built around a repeating keyboard riff and ends literally stuck on a reef of bass. I guess the title is just one more of the many locations in Drexciya. I‘m also guessing that the ‘Reef Rhythms’(Bonus Beat) track on the vinyl is another version of this track. There is also a Bonus Beats version of ‘Depressurisation‘ on the vinyl set also. ‘Vampire Island’ boasts a really nice organ melody and again the title could be read as another location to flesh out the Drexciyan world. And no that is not your imagination, there is what sounds to me like a film sample saying “I am Count Dracula” I’ve always been struck by the similarity of the words Drexciya and Dracula, sharing as they do the same amount of syllables and similar spelling. Maybe this is a fun acknowledgement of that on their part, I think most people would on an initial listen imagine the sample says ‘Count Drexciya’ and maybe that’s what they want us to think, but listen closely and that is not the case.

From ‘Dead Mans Reef’ on, the last four tracks are unreleased, the penultimate of which is the mysteriously titled ‘Neon Falls’. Sounding very grand, it’s a nice smooth instrumental number. The very suitably title ‘The Last Transmission’ finished out this CD and the album itself, an ok track, it does its thing and doesn’t outstay its welcome. With only a question mark to tell us of this tracks origins we are neatly being asked whether we have heard the last from Drexciya or not. Taking the album as a whole it’s an incredible body of work, the unreleased tracks take nothing away from it but don’t really add much either. The important thing is these tracks are collected in another format for people to now and in the future hear and wonder about.
The text which covers the ‘Drexciyan Hand’ drawing which reaches out towards us from the depths explains the origins of Drexciya. But it’s important to note that it comes not from the hand of Drexciya but UR’s Unknown Writer. The four maps and their accompanying text which detail the history of African Americans from the slave trade through to techno spreading worldwide on the other hand is also more UR than Drexciya. The question is why exactly would they do this now when concept had previously been so important to them? It’s obvious by now that James Stinson was the main Drexciyan conceptualist and in the Brophy interview he revealed about this period, “I had health problems, and, to be honest I became seriously ill. It meant we had to shut things down for a while.” I guess this means he just took a back seat on the artwork etc and simply practised what he preached about letting other people interpret their music for themselves. I myself after-all am taking that stance as my own licence.

I might as well reprint The Unknown Writer origins of Drexciya piece first. “Could it be possible for humans to breath underwater? A foetus in its mothers womb is certainly alive in an aquatic environment. During the greatest holocaust the world has ever known, pregnant America-bound African slaves were thrown overboard by the thousands during labour for being sick and disruptive cargo. Is it possible that they could have given birth at sea to babies that never needed air? Recent experiments have shown mice able to breathe liquid oxygen. Even more shocking and conclusive was a recent instance of a premature infant saved from certain death by breathing liquid oxygen through its undeveloped lungs. These facts combined with reported sightings of Gillmen and swamp monsters in the coastal swamps of the South- Eastern United States make the slave trade theory startlingly feasible. Are Drexciyans water breathing, aquatically mutated descendants of those unfortunate victims of human greed? have they been spared by God to teach us or terrorise us? Did they migrate from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi river basin and on to the great lakes of Michigan? Do they walk among us? Are they more advanced than us and why do they make their strange music? What is their Quest? These are many of the questions that you don’t know and never will. The end of one thing...and the beginning of another. Out - The Unknown Writer”
The 4 maps and their texts follow on from this so here’s that in full too. Map 1.Atlantic Ocean, ‘The Slave Trade’ (1655 - 1867), Map 2. America, ‘Migration routes of rural blacks to Northern Cities’ (1930’s - 1940’s), Map 3. America, ‘Techno leaves Detroit and spreads Worldwide’ (1988), Map 4. Atlantic Ocean, ‘The Journey Home’, (Future).
I would be very surprised if none of this had been passed by Drexciya themselves, no matter how 'shut down' things had become, so we can assume that to some extent they were ok with it. In the case of the origins at least they might have not only concurred but it may have come out of discussions they would have had with UR's Unknown Writer in a way similar to when he did his text for ‘Aquatic Invasion’. In fact in that text he mentions Drexciya taking a ‘return journey home’, this could certainly be read as a return to Africa, even ‘The Return of Drexciya’ in this context could also stand for a return to Africa. This is the great thing about the non-specifics of Drexciya, you can take it where you want to.

As far as the whole slavery concept goes, the only quote I can source in which James Stinson said anything on this subject publicly was to John Osselaer when he said, "Some of the things of slavery will tell more when the time comes. Stay tuned! I can only tell you a little bit now. After the storm is over I will tell the story. What I can tell you is that in Africa we have a dimensional jump hole. Tell you more later." Sadly later never came, but this was him speaking in 2001 and refers to future concepts post ‘Grava 4’. So who knows what his own feelings were on this subject. I like the Unknown Writers take on it myself but it appears to be just that, his take on it.
The maps take this slavery concept further into an area that I know Stinson would not have approved of when they talk of Detroit and techno. There are at least three Stinson quotes I could give to show how he did not see Drexciya as connected to Detroit and techno. This lengthy but completed argument from the Beere interview will suffice, “Technically, I never based Drexciya off of Detroit. I just happen to live here. What if I lived in Alaska for the past 5 or 10 years? My music would still be produced the same way that I am doing here. People would still be thinking it’s a Detroit sound, but if I’ve been living in Alaska for 10 years how can one say that? I’m sad to say, but I haven’t based the foundation and concept of Drexciya around Detroit and the things that go on in Detroit. I shelter myself away from the stuff that goes on in Detroit. Like I said earlier, I shut myself down and stay away from everybody because I don t want any outside elements creeping itself into the music. Back in the day when I did some of those records with some of the guys, yeah, that was done for a specific reason. But that was then. But the overall beginning and the whole nine-yards of what we’re all about has nothing to do with Detroit, it has to do with Drexciya. Drexciya is a whole different plane of reality and I don’t like to inter-tangle it, because within the next month or so we re relocating offices down to Atlanta. Are people going to still be calling it Detroit techno? I’m not going to tell anybody I’m in Atlanta, but are they still going to be calling it that? Probably nine times out of ten, yes. If that’s the stigma that’s on it, I m not going to change it. I was born and raised here in Detroit. Whatever people want to think, I let them think that. I believe in a free thought, a free mind. If you want to call it electro, techno or space music, that’s up to you.”
This also casts doubt on the final map which seems to answer the question ‘what is their quest?’, the future journey home to Africa. Again, fair enough if that’s how The Unknown Writer wants to read it that is his right. It’s just that what I have found and expounded on here in the eight releases leading up to ‘The Quest’ is not about anything as specific as a physical return journey to Africa but something far more universal, a journey which leads us to discover ourselves, no matter where we happen to live. It’s probably best if at this juncture restate my own interpretation.

The whole thing is a journey, a quest, right from the opener ‘Deep Sea Dweller’ which signals our location, ‘Bubble Metropolis’ is the beginning of the detailing of this place we learn is Drexciya, we adapt to this new environment with ‘Molecular Enhancement’, we continue to explore in the ‘Unknown Aquazone’ but reach a point where to go any further we need to make a decision which is whether or not we wish to take ‘The Journey Home’, the nature of which we learn is spiritual. In ‘Aquatic Invasion’ we accept the challenge of becoming ‘Wave Jumpers’ before we can go any further down this path. In ‘The Return of Drexciya’ they reappear as the guides we must place our trust in as we lead our new ‘Uncharted’ lives. In my opinion their quest is the oldest one of all, to truly find ourselves, it is the same message no matter what our colour, creed or nation. I can’t help now but be reminded of The Unknown Writers ascending phrase of unity, ‘Nation 2 Nation, World 2 World, Galaxy 2 Galaxy’.

The cover which depicts the globe of Earth comes from the map detail already mentioned, the back cover features a Drexciyan commando image last seen on the label of ‘Aquatic Invasion’. It’s a strange coincidence how the cover image for the Arpanet album ‘Wireless Internet’ is also a globe of the Earth, wonder if its designer was aware of its similarity?

A promotional poster for The Quest was also printed with some additional text not featured on the album. It reads as follows, 'A liquid product of years of toxic waste dumping in Detroit's Rouge River? An aquatic cousin of the cell from hell? Or an amoeba of society?' These and many other type of questions that 'You Don't Know' may become apparent in the forthcoming 28 track double CD 'The Quest'. This is Drexciya Final Transmission.’
I know all this because a signed copy of the poster can now be found framed and hanging proudly in the office of Dublin’s D1 Recordings. Recently I saw it for myself and asked label head Eamonn Doyle about it. He explained that it was given to him while at the UR offices in 1997 and that James Stinson himself had been there and signed ‘Drexciya’ in large silver letters right in front of him. The 3 luminous green paint spots which look like thumbprints pressed into the bottom left hand corner , the mark of a Drexciyan, had already been there. D1 have had a relationship with UR dating from this initial contact, they are listed as allies on the UR website and have brought over many of the UR luminaries and also figures from the wider Detroit community to play, culminating to date in Galaxy 2 Galaxy headlining the D1 organised DEAF festival. There has even been an offshoot label, D1aspera, which was marketed, manufactured and distributed by UR themselves.

Thankfully for us this was not the end and when Drexciya would finally return for real with ‘Neptune’s Lair’ in 1999 James Stinson(in 2001) looked back on this time with these words, “We take breaks to get away from everything and come back fresh. Basically, during that time where we took a break, inspiration, with the way things were going around here, it just wasn't right, you know. But it just came to a point where it was like 'we can't give it up'. We couldn't do that because it's in our blood, it's in our veins, we can't just get out of it, we can't stop doing what we do. So we decided 'Hey, we've got to go for it, we've got to do it, we've got to pick up the pace and come back and do what we do best."

The long awaited ‘Neptune’s Lair’ is on its way, maybe not next. Hopefully it won’t take me 2 years to figure out!

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Uncharted

"For believe me the secret to realizing the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment of existence is: to live dangerously. Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius! Send your ships out into uncharted seas! Live in conflict with your equals and with yourselves! Be robbers and ravagers as long as you cannot be rulers and owners, you men of knowledge!"

The above is one of the most widely known quotes from Neitzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the bulk of which he finished by the end of 1883. The book itself is also the culmination of his philosophy work and therefore his most definitive statement. I picked it to illustrate what stage of the journey we, as listeners, occupy at this juncture on Uncharted. Stinson himself when asked if we can learn from ancient mystics himself said, "Yes! Work together, love each other and slow down. Look at your life deeper. You might not like what you see so change it. We move too fast and cannot see warning signs. We do not mind paying the heavy prices of consequences of our actions until we can't pay no more. Take chances." Certainly the latter part of this quote is telling us to live dangerously and to 'roll with the punches of life' and the 'consequences', (both titles from L.I.F.E. by the way) so I think he would be in accordance with how I'm interpreting this.

To recap on the preceding The Return of Drexciya, we now know we are being expected to trust them to guide us the rest of the way. But this trust will have to be blind for us and what’s more they have intimated that there are dangers ahead. Personally I think these dangers simply represent the unknown, a word we are already familiar with. In this context it’s just life, the trust is in our own future. Certainly we will all encounter difficulties in our lives, the seriousness of which depends on how we deal with them at the time. Are we the type of person who makes a mountain out of a molehill or allows a spiral of bad things to happen one after another or can we keep a clear head and systematically improve our situation or more importantly pre-empt problems as much as possible? Now if you read the above quote again I think it’s obvious that Neitzsche felt we should live dangerously but if we are smart don’t we learn from these experiences? That is the process in which I believe Drexciya are asking us to partake in. Live dangerously yes, try everything but learn in the process, become the rulers and owners on your own terms, you men of knowledge. I’m not saying that Drexciya were aware of this quote, in fact it’s highly unlikely to be the direct source for the inspiration of this release but I believe it best illustrates what they mean and shows an inspiring continuation of this primal thought which itself no doubt has precursors long before Neitzsche.

The actual record itself came out sometime in 1997 on S.I.D. or Somewhere in Detroit. This was the name of the appointment only in house record shop at the UR building. The label was an offshoot of UR which was only available to buy at the store itself. A nice idea but in practise only records 1-5, (Drexciya was 5) actually received no outside distribution. I know not one but three people that visited this store, on two separate trips, not to mention both parties getting to hang out with Mad Mike and whatever other Detroit luminaries that happened by over the course of their stays they all scored as many of the S.I.D.’s that were available at the time.

Of course you don’t have to travel all that way to get to hear these track as ‘Hi-Tide’ appears on The Quest and ‘Dr. Blowfin’s Experiment’ was helpfully included on Rolando’s ‘The Aztec Mystic Mix’ on UR (you should be also able to find them on YouTube) I guess it could be said ‘Hi-Tide’ is a bit Neptune’s Lair-ish. Here there is also a 15 second intro of ambient ocean/wave sounds which appear again throughout the track. This intro is not on the version found on 'The Quest'. It has been said that Ultradyne collaborated with Drexciya on 'Dr. Blowfins Experiment' and this may well be true, it would tie in time-wise with their first release, the 'E-Coli' EP on Warp, so maybe this was from that session. The track is by far the best and totally off the hook, it really rockets along and sounds very unlike Drexciya. It's almost 6 minutes long with a short untitled track at the end of this side as well. Well worth tracking down if you can.

Title wise ‘Hi-Tide’ seems to indicate we are at a point where we can go no further. Of course the sea goes back out at hi-tide but I don’t believe we have that option here. So maybe in this context Drexciya are saying once we reach Hi Tide, the end of our life, we will know we have reached the end point of this section of our journey. This is obvious in one way but still needs to be stated I suppose, we never stop learning till the very end, this experience is a life sentence. Which brings us in line with the possible meaning of ‘Dr. Blowfin’s Experiment’ which might be how they envision this process, as an experiment carried out by this character which I believe might turn out to be an alter ego of Drexciya themselves. Dr Blowfin will appear again at another crucial point, the beginning of the Storm series on ‘Dr. Blowfin’s Black Storm Stabilising Center’ and there it could be argued appears to be the orchestrator of what is being unleashed.

There’s not a lot more to be deciphered from this 12”, I’m sure some people are surprised I even found what I did. What we have learned is that this uncharted territory is not located in as unfamiliar a place as we expected but the events that transpire there are seas uncharted to us where the unknown lurks in the fog. In short it is our very life, our journey, our own quest.

'The Quest' is next.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Further Research

A commonality between the last three Gerald Donald solo projects was the listing of sources for further research on our part. Because the topics he is now dealing with are so large and specific and this will probably continue. So if you never got round to tapping in those addresses for yourselves or following up on those sources, here for your convenience are those links.

Arpanet - ‘Wireless Internet’ (Record Makers 2002)
While the very neat and innovative are-you-wireless.com website whose address was only listed in the accompanying 12” ‘Are You Wireless?’, is recently offline, probably for good (anyone got a cached version), the other link given at this time was for the Japanese electronic communications giant NTT DOCOMO. If you were curious about what’s new in their product line and their latest innovations go to http://www.nttdocomo.com/

Dopplereffekt - ‘Linear Accelerator’ (Gigolo 2003)
The two websites listed here in relation to sleeve images are both related to the same research company, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron. Their published work must have been a major source of information/inspiration for Donald at this time. Their websites helpfully have an English language option so you can read through their plenteous researches in particle physics, synchrotron radiation and accelerators.
http://www.desy.de/html/home/index.html
http://www-zeuthen.desy.de


Der Zyklus - ‘Quantum Transposition’ (Rephlex 2005)
Sounding more like another Donald alias, Anton Zeilinger is a professor of the Institute of Experimental Physics of the University of Vienna, Austria. Simply credited on the sleeve for providing images, there’s little doubt that Donald is not unfamiliar with his work. I tracked down his own quite populously presented webpages which contain a selection of his papers and magazine articles.
http://www.quantum.univie.ac.at/zeilinger/


A brief respite, for me, from our Drexciyan trajectory. 'Uncharted' is near.