(06.28.07) Now that the electroclash wave has gone away, Darkbeat is the perfect documentary to gather information about the history, the techniques and, most importantly, the feelings of that part of the electro scene that will never go under the spotlight –a proper underground scene, a dark side of electronic music that still spreads itself like a virus from a person to another. One of the most significant sentences of this DVD is people don’t like this music because they haven’t heard it yet, meaning that once you taste a bit of seriously deep electro you won’t have the chance but to feel involved, exploring every record of any shade of the electro sound.
I became hooked myself almost five years ago with Tipper and now my record collection features a consistent number of discs, either from emerging fresh artists or oldschool classics. And this is the same aim of Darkbeat: building a time line from the origin of the genre beginning with such milestones as Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock,” Cybotron’s “Clear,” on through Egyptian Lover, Drexciya and finally approaching nowadays artists located all around the world. Everybody, from USA to UK to Spain and Finland express their sincere love for the warmth of the analogue sound, they show their enthusiasm when making music with synthethic equipment, be it vintage drum machines or modern softwares, provided the final production has the power to shake dancefloors.
Most the people interviewed in this documentary are not glamorous –these are not superstar DJ’s, and you can feel their excitement when they speak about the music they love, that made them start producing from scratch, creating a new label to distribute their own stuff or organizing secret parties getting in return only the audience’s entertainment. Emblematic is the low key attitude of relatively big names like Andrew Weatherall and Egyptian Lover, who speak with the same passion of a newcomer, demonstrating the wealth of a scene populated with motivated people. Darkbeat explorations are supported by the always reliable graphical skills of Arnold AS1, who catches all the hi-tech, sci-fi and robotic elements that permeate the electro scene, and every section is punctuated by an enthralling soundtrack ranging from the all time classics to the latest Satamile releases.
Darkbeat is an xxcellent independent DVD directed and edited like it’s a chat between long time friends, you don’t get the impression of someone superior teaching you something but instead you get the feeling that all these artists only want to bring you into this movement, just to share the fun and the music. Darkbeat is a hot recommendation for all those who only recently approached the throbbing bass and the spooky beats of hardcore electro, but it’ll be entertaining enough even for those into the scene since day one.
Darkbeat is out now on 3GZ Productions.
