All those years back, the majority of these artists were unknown, unheard of or still incubating. Although the style they’re pursuing is not exactly new, angry acid with a maladjusted bint, it’s some of the best you’ll find; including delving into the vinyl of the past.
One of the first mags I wrote for was a shoot off of Kommando6, an electro imprint that some of you might remember. It wasn’t a sound centred piece, though it was related. It was an article about Mehdi Rouchiche and his artwork as Godspill. Many of you will probably know him as the artistic force behind Crème Organization. That was about a decade ago. I’ve bought many the Godspill t-shirt, reviewed a lot of records and lived in different countries. Likewise Mr Rouchiche has spread his talents from his home label of Crème Organization and beyond. It was the unmistakable style of this Dutchman that stared up at me from Solar One’s latest 12” that got me thinking.
When I wrote that article, a decade ago, only one of the five present on Signs of Decay was releasing music. Vincent Koreman is a veteran of The Netherlands but his Drvg Cvltvre project has only come to the fore in the last five years. “The Dead Envy The Living [UNM]” is emblematic of the entire EP. His fire and brimstone style, acid lines boiled and reduced over scorched snares and punishing percussion infiltrates every inch of the record. The Exaltics were just starting out a decade back. In the past five years Rob Witsch has soared as his range of ability has unfurled. “Do I Have To Repeat Myself” is his offering. A speeding, snarling piece of machine music with more than a mere threat of malice. Helena Hauff keeps the BPMs flying with a wretched and wrung work of techno. Distortion levels are brought to new heights for the aptly titled “Culmination Of Frustration.” Chords, drums, everything is steeped in a sickly static. Ekman maintains the ferocity. Bitterness floods speakers. A blackened and soiled track pours out in the blurred form of “Landmarks.” The only respite comes from an unlikely source. Perseus Traxx drops the soaring tempos for the soured, yet refreshing in such thumping company, “MK-Ultra.”
I’m well aware that too much retrospection is a bad thing, but it can be useful. All those years back, the majority of these artists were unknown, unheard of or still incubating. Although the style they’re pursuing is not exactly new, angry acid with a maladjusted bint, it’s some of the best you’ll find; including delving into the vinyl of the past.
God knows where I’ll be in ten years. God knows where Godspill will be. I’m sure we’ll be aging and adding our own slant on electronic music. But if there’s a God in heaven, we’ll both continue to be met and challenged by records like Signs of Decay; and the neighbors will continue to call round and tell me to turn down “that stuff.”
Signs of Decayis available on Solar One Music.
