seven

noise, its what all the kids want these days. the obvious conduits for this sound are ant-zen and hands, which do have the best talent in my opinion, unfortunately, like anything when it gains momentum, there are literally tons of crappy groups springing up that could just as well title their albums "excercises in drum machine programming and distortion pedal manipulation", which is cute, but hardly necessary.

so where does one search for new talent or existing talent that can match the quality of groups like imminent and winterkalte? well, i for one would suggest taking a peak over at the so-called "techno" genre (which is about as relevant of a term as "industrial", both being vague and very limiting).

this year an album was released that rivals and mostly surpasses almost all of the powernoise releases I've heard in the past 5 years (which is a lot more than i would have liked to hear).

speedy j has been producing music since the early 80's, crafting some of the more beautiful moments that 90's electronic music has seen. then in 1997 he turned heads when he released "public energy no.1", an album of digital crunch and cold machine-driven ambience that gave even classic idm acts like locust and reload a run for there money. well-timed in a genre that saw every artist and their dog trying to incorporate jungle into their music, speedy j stood out as something unique.

now with "a shocking hobby" jocham paap has refined his art and made a sound truly all his own. his beats are even crunchier, bombarding you out of the speakers with force and conviction, sounding a bit rawer and less digital than on the previous album. crunching percussion collages break into bombastic chaos of bastard beats with pulses of bizarre twisted analog electronics and pure bliss of random piano touches and sparse synths. the melodic content is more pronounced and orchestral, creating an overall experience akin to ones most claustrophobic nightmares.

speedy j remains a cut above the rest because you can sense the urgency, logic, and most of all, EMOTION behind his chaos. if you enjoy the noisiest side of electronic music, you are sorely missing out if you've not given speedy j a spin.

speedy j's music is closer to the idm realm, offering yet another look at the art of noise manipulation. cut-up percussion and crunchiness might remind you of autechre on steroids; atonal soft bleeps and noises with a touch of occasional funkiness will bring back boards of canada memories; all of the above fused with heavy percussion and unique orchestration makes this album one of the most impressive recent offerings from the idm scene.