he 22nd flavour of Beatz By The Pound has arrived, and this week we’ve got reviews of Lawrence, Loco Dice, Unai, and Trentemøller, plus new releases from Systematic, Cadenza, Wagon Repair, and Compost. Starting things off is Todd Hutlock’s interview with Bon Harris, original member of newly reunited Industrial/Dance pioneers Nitzer Ebb.


Nitzer Ebb’s Bon Harris
From 1984 to 1995, U.K. duo Nitzer Ebb pioneered a unique sound that fused elements of techno, punk, and industrial into a ferocious string of singles and LPs. Through tracks like “Murderous,” “Join in the Chant,” “Let Your Body Learn,” “Lightning Man,” “Getting Closer,” and many others, Douglas McCarthy (vocals) and Bon Harris (drums, programming) spread relentless minimal menace to dancefloors worldwide, influencing the likes of Richie Hawtin, Darren Emerson, Sven Väth, DJ Hell, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, and countless others along the way. Now, a decade after calling it quits, Nitzer Ebb are back with a two-disc compilation (Body of Work), a new remix collection (Body Rework: Remixes), and a worldwide tour. Stylus editor Todd Hutlock caught up with Bon Harris recently to discuss the band’s comeback, legacy, and future.

Stylus: So what happened to bring Nitzer Ebb back into the limelight? Last I had heard a few years back, you and [vocalist] Douglas [McCarthy] weren’t even speaking to each other.

Bon Harris: I think Douglas and I decided to stop doing work as Nitzer Ebb more than a decade ago because we’d been together a long time and it was certainly an intense sort of band anyway. We wanted to go off and do our own things and taste life as individuals rather than as part of a band. We did very well over that decade, actually—I went into production and worked with the likes of Marilyn Manson and Billy Corgan and so on, and Doug went off and became quite a successful commercial director and worked in film a bit. So we’ve had a long time apart from each other, but both of us really enjoy performing live, and we both had a sense that the time would perhaps come around when we would feel like working together again and that it would feel right. And basically that is what happened. People were always asking us, “Will the Ebb ever get back together?” and we just got asked so often that we finally talked about it and it went from there. It just felt like the right time and the right thing to do.

So the two of you have essentially patched things up now?

I would say that working together again on this tour has probably been some of the most fun we’ve had in the band since it first began. There was a period when we didn’t talk to each other at all and did our own things, but we’ve been friends since school and I think it was just one of those things where we needed to cool off. Granted it was a long cooling-off period, but it was intense and that amount of time was necessary to offset the intensity of the work we had done. It seems to have worked, and we’re getting along really well.

One of the things that struck me when I was listening to Body of Work was how so many different acts took little things from the Nitzer Ebb sound and have cited you as an influence. Do you look back now and feel that you have a legacy?

We are aware that we have been influential in a lot of ways, but all that really stems from the fact that when we first created the tracks, we were really trying to do something special. We really did care about it and wanted to uphold a high standard of work and we were constantly searching to break barriers. There was always that thirst for uncovering more, pushing ourselves, and that meant that we did come up with some groundbreaking things. So I think we are aware of it and we are quite proud of it.

The other thing that struck me was how much of an evolution in sound there was from the early tracks to the later days. There are strings on tracks, you worked with George Clinton—you were all over the musical map more than people might realize.

Yes, and we were also always trying to do things that were more on the subtle side. I think there are little things going on during many of the tracks that people don’t really appreciate even now. It’s interesting that for all the amount of acceptance we’ve had and being cited as influential, I do think that in a lot of ways we are still quite misunderstood, even by people that really like us. There was always this whole thing where we were lumped in with what they call “industrial” music. When I listen to tracks like “Lightning Man,” I think to myself, “Well, there’s a synthesizer in there...” but other than that, you tell me what else is industrial about that song? So as much as people did get it, there’s still a lot that perhaps people don’t get.

Even on the new remix album, Body Rework, it’s really something to see Derrick May on an album alongside The Hacker and Robag Wruhme, and that speaks to the diversity present in your sounds. Do you see a connection between Nitzer Ebb and the minimal dance music that is so in vogue today?

Well, someone like Richie Hawtin has been a champion of our music over the years, but he’s also been a pretty groundbreaking chap himself. Those are the sort of people that you are proud to have been an influence on—they’ve picked up the baton and taken things in all sorts of new directions. So I see that connection, in that there are inquiring minds and people that aren’t afraid of a challenge, especially in dance music because it can be a confined sort of thing to do.

Beyond the tour, will there be new recordings?

Yeah, that was something we discussed as soon as we got together and agreed to do the tour, so we threw the door open on that way back. We said that if we enjoyed working together and it’s fun and everything then we’ll do it. Doug and I have been getting along together really great and we’ve been working together on some new ideas. Hopefully we’ll have some time near the end of this year to put something together. We’re hoping to have something ready for the spring of 2007, perhaps. The whole thing has been like a stone rolling down a hill and gone so much better than anyone even thought it was going to be. And if the ball is rolling, you might as well roll with it.

What should audiences expect from the Nitzer Ebb live show in 2006?

It’s a really stripped down, back-to-basics approach to doing things. When Doug and I discussed it, we decided to concentrate on our earlier era, with the mainly electronic tracks, and with the whole basic, minimal militaristic image that people seem to like. People have been telling us that it is everything it used to be but somehow even better with maturity or experience or whatever it is. People have told us that we haven’t lost any of the energy, and in fact it looks like we found more from somewhere. So you can expect it to be pretty loud and feisty, because that’s the way we like it.

Body of Work and Body Rework: Remixes are out now in Europe on Mute; Body of Work is released in the United States on October 17. For more information and remaining tour dates, visit www.mute.com and www.nitzer-ebb.com.

[Todd Hutlock]


Sneak Thief
Body Militia
Voltage Musique / VMR 010
June 2006

Not very long after his last appearance in Beatz, Michel Morin returns under the Sneak Thief alias for another outstanding release. And quite a different one at that—the Turkish Delight exotica of The Hollow Land EP gives way to the heady, heavy-buckled black-boot affair that is "Body Militia." Drawing more explicitly on EBM and acid touches and a deftly-woven, very slight female vocal, it's a fist-thumping trip that still displays a certain refinement in its balance of disparate elements. Electro single of the year? If not, it's mighty damn close. The "Maru & Comix 8 MM Remix" is a bit stripped-down for my liking, but it channels the gothic force and bounceosity of the original into more modernistic, minimal trappings, so house/techno DJ’s are likely to find it on the more useful/functional side.

[Mallory O’Donnell]


Lawrence
Deep Summer Hole
Dial / dial 31
August 2006

“Deep Summer Hole” might sound like subject title of some kind of glum Hanseatic porn spam, or the latest in a long series of gloom gags from Lawrence. This is the man, after all, who called his second album The Absence of Blight. Working with the sound-palette off his most recent album, with its bright chimes, gloomy pads and warm, rich basslines, this EP is also inflected with the trackier tricks on his releases under the name Sten. The compositions here aren’t as rhythmically or thematically intricate as his album works, but what they lose in sighs they make up for in push and even threaten to jiggle some exposed flesh, despite the chilly air. “Off the Line” and the title track both manage that marvellous, precarious balance between the conflicting needs and emotions of its elements: the basslines wanna dance, the pads wanna cry, the synths wanna sing. In anyone else’s hands this could be a complete hash, but Lawrence manages to re-create his unique atmosphere that’s always delicately poised between “deep,” “summer” and “hole.” The other track here is “Neither”, and so it is—this one’s harder than deep, cooler than summer and would probably fill floors, not dig holes in them. It’s a floorkiller for the formerly self-harming, and it rounds off a fine EP with a sharp edge.

[Peter Chambers]

Andomat 3000 and Jan & Pikaya
Grüne Raufaser / Entr’acte Music
Cadenza / CADENZA 12
September 2006

Cadenza’s catalogue thus far has shown a common interest in functional forms—in keeping with Luciano’s mixing styles, they’re all tracks that blend and layer well and carry maximum floor impact with effortless fuss and (almost) endless repetition. More so than almost any other label, these long, open records with their monochrome floral designs contain a deep consistency that’s at once the repeated testing of a proven formula and an aesthetic statement in itself. If “Pikaya” and “Andomat Jan & 3000” seem unwilling or unable to rock the boat, it’s not for want of shaking it all about. More overtly “clubby” than some of the deeper releases from Luciano and Thomas Melchior and not as quirky as the vastly under-rated NSI release or Villalobos’ goo-ed over “Achso” mini-album, both these tracks quietly and pleasingly re-state the prescription. “Entr’acte Music” has got a grinding, slightly big-room and (dare I say) “tribal” feel to it. It’s a little staid, but very effective. Pikaya’s great big “Grüne Raufaser” starts off hard but then breaks into smiles and vibes that slowly explore the floor over the underwhelming but good-natured minutes that follow.

[Peter Chambers]

Loco Dice
Flight LB 7475/El Gallo Negro
Ovum / OVM 176
September 2006

Wherein our boy Loco from Dusseldorf continues his winning streak of singles that started with his last single on Josh Wink’s Ovum imprint, 2005’s brilliant “Menina Brasiliera” and on through excursions on Cocoon and M_nus. Partnered with cowriter/producer Martin Buttrich (whose “Full Clip” on Planet E is one of the best straight techno singles in recent memory), Loco’s “Flight LB 7475” heads through a tight, propulsive rhythm track, slightly schwerved chords, and a simple, repeated three-note bass riff and slowly tweaks things from there, peppering in some spaced-out sound effects and making for a subtle track that treads the line between late-night deep and peak-time mixing tool quite nicely, thank you. Flipside “El Gallo Negro” slinks along with a bit more funk and a nice shuffling/snapping beat, but with the same minimized notes and motifs. A handy thing to have in the crate, but I’m not sure how often you’d want to play this at home. In other words, look for this on everyone’s latest mix CDs in a few.

[Todd Hutlock]

Trentemøller
Always Something Better
Poker Flat Recordings / PFR 076
September 2006

Released as a teaser for his Last Resort full-length, “Always Something Better” is significantly different here on 12-inch than it appears on the LP, but two of the four versions here do appear on the double-CD version of the release. That all said, the four versions here are also better. Richard Davis’ dark, brooding vocals flesh out the proceedings nicely, as things move from minimal grooves to dense ambient techno, to a stormy breakdown and back again on Trentemøller’s remix. The Vocal Version is a mid-tempo nodder with breakbeats and lots of textured sounds but the same light/dense dynamics, while the dub version is probably the most likely to see club action. Matthew Herbert’s “Bubble Remix” applies the same popping cut-n-paste technique that he seems to use on most of his remixes of late, but it does provide a nice alternative and is a lot of fun on headphones. A little something of quality for everyone then.

[Todd Hutlock]

Various Artists
Elaste EP, Vol. One: Slow Motion Disco
Compost / Compost 230-1
2006

Loft-inspired Italo "Cosmic" Disco from the late 70's gets a new lease on life thanks to the Compost label. I suppose it's enormously cheeky of me, but I'm going ahead and calling this stuff proto-Balearic house. At tempos slightly languorous, a dance of Afro-Cuban disco and De Falla glamour progresses across a ballroom built by acid-plied German architects attempting to recreate the Paradise Garage before it actually existed. Absurd group names, Arabesque fantasy, emotionalism-warring-with-futurism and science-fiction pretensions are all optional but highly appreciated. Sense of humor not optional.

[Mallory O’Donnell]

Dexter Vs. Cosmic Force
Noordhollandsche Ghetto Tracks
Marguerita Recordings / Marguerita 0033
July 2006

If the Clone family doesn't stop releasing such consistent, almost puritanically-correct electro, I may be forced to make my way to the Netherlands and plead my case in person. Either that or slowly become bankrupt. This cleverly-titled EP (you do the math) carries the manifesto almost to a fault—but stops short of self-parody, thanks to the swimmingly murky waveforms of "Baslijn In Opstand" and the refreshingly crisp percussives of "Drum Techniek." Sure, there are moments when one cries out for something unexpected to happen, but I've learned to silence such voices with the proper combination of methamphetamines, leather restraints, and the judicious use of a riding crop. This is solid stuff.

[Mallory O’Donnell]

Marc Romboy
Gemini (The Remixes)
Systematic / SYST 0026-6
September 2006

Systematic has had a few great releases recently, in whatever sense each of the 20 or so Stephan Bodzin-related projects released in the last two months are great, rather than interchangeable. This remix package then, is a nice breath of fresh air, with Fairmont supplying the best of the three. He re-works “Model 1601,” arguably the only really great track on the Gemini album, adding his trademark weeping synths and making things that bit more epic. Williams takes on “Impact Disco” and comes up with a quirky electro track, though you can’t escape the feeling that the Williams well has run dry as of late. John Tejada meanwhile re-works “Jigsaw,” and well, it’s not tremendously exciting. However, the great Fairmont mix is worth a purchase, whether physically or digitally.

[Ronan Fitzgerald]

Peter Van Hoesen
Increments
Lan Muzic / Lan006
July 2006

Lan Muzic, Exercise One’s label, is pretty trustworthy, and it’s not let down by this release. The elastic techno sound of the label owners is given a slightly more frenetic twist by Van Hoesen. “Increments” and “Static C” almost sound like techno in the old sense, given how much faster in BPMs they are than the usual minimal fare. Exercise One do a remix of “Increments” which has that boompty-house bassline you heard on Gabriel Ananda’s “Doppelwhipper,” and ends up being the best track on this 12”.

[Ronan Fitzgerald]

Heidi Vs. Riton
Vejer
Get Physical Music / GPM 054
August 2006

Heidi, of Phonica Records in London, teams up with the erratic Riton for her debut on Get Physical, a pre-cursor to her new mix CD. The result is quite a housey early morning track, with warm pads and even some cello. It’s quite different to the usual Get Physical sound, less electronic, but nonetheless a playable if not mindblowing record. Jesse Rose supplies the remixes on the flip. With a proper release to come on GPM and remixes for Mobilee also on the way, you feel Rose must have something good up his sleeve, but he doesn’t show it here.

[Ronan Fitzgerald]

Unai
Blissful Burden Remixes
Disco Inc / DI 010
September 2006

Unai's Erik Møller has that pretty typical wistful/whispery tech-house voice, the kind that turns the instrumental, no matter the vibe, into a big, sappy Jon Secada-like ordeal. Same thing happens to Coloma, though not to, say, Erlend Øye, who saves himself with good lyrics, or Kelley Polar, who has good support. So there's the rub—the burden, cough. The "Blissful" original had enough of a Herbert-like mid-tempo swing to it, and this garbled vocal effect that doubled Møller's clean vocals; shortened to a radio edit length, the original's quite good. Both Kris Menace remixes zero in on the grief, but from the guy who's done "Discopolis" and that Stars On 33 remix, I'm expecting more than boilerplate, buildless, trance-envious filter effects. Star You Star Me plays with key and scenery on their mix, but the song remains samer than it ever was.

[Nick Sylvester]


Lazy Fat People
Shinjuku/T.V. 20
Wagon Repair / WAG 017
September 2006


Ronan Fitzgerald: The hotly anticipated “Shinjuku” is finally here, and the rise of psych-house continues. As you expect from Ripperton and anyone who’s been on Border Community really, the melody on “Shinjuku” is vast and expansive, feeling like it could fill any space, with one note bleeding into another. One of the winter’s biggest records is surely upon us, this may lead the way for the new generation of big crossover minimal records. “T.V. 20” meanwhile is a darker club track, with less melody but never losing the eerie air of melancholy.

Peter Chambers: Here’s the latest in a long line of minimal releases following the tacit maxim of what I call “Luciano’s bastards”: “as little as possible, for as long as possible.” If you like to keep your mixes wide open for as long as nine minutes, there could conceivably be a reason to buy into a musical philosophy that thinks it’s okay to write a track that goes for as long as six Little Richard tracks without ever squealing “Lucille,” if you dig. It’s either a test of your patience, or the presentation of a different timescale that presumes another way of listening to music. To these ears, this Richard’s too big and too long. After six minutes of farnarkling around, the Lazy Fat People finally menace their audience with the promise of drama. “Wow, something’s gonna happen.” But unfortunately, what’s true of “T.V.20” is true of Gertrude Stein’s famous impression of Oakland: when you get there, there isn’t any there there. “Shinjuku” is a place, and is much better, but wastes its head of trancelectro steam on a lazy, boring breakdown, after which the riff runs out of puff, failing to convert its one good idea into anything memorable. This track could easily find a second wind with a sympathetic mix-out or a remix that efficiently channelled its confused energies into something focused and finished, but as it stands this is flabby stuff indeed.


BEATZ GUEST CHARTS
Steve Bug, Poker Flat
Extraproduktionen - Subgreen (Arto Mwambe Mix) [Brontosaurus]
Ian O’Brien - Totally Alright (Martin Buttrich Mix) [Virgin]
Ben Westbeech - So Good Today (Yoruba Soul Mix) [Brownswood]
Das Bierbeben - Alles Fällt (Losoul Mix) [Shitkatapult]
Stefan Goldmann - Sleepy Hollow [Innercity Visions]
Cle & Mike Vamp - Maisonette (All Mixes) [Dessous]
Gummihz - Isolate (Sebo K Mix) [Mobile]
Dan Berkson & James What - Mescalincircus [Poker Flat]
Abe Duque - When The Fever Breaks [Abe Duque Records]
Studiogemeinschaft - Employee [Treibstoff]

BEATZ STAFF CHARTS
Todd Hutlock
Afternoon Coffee Boys - Busted Speaker Brew [Clink]
Ricardo Villalobos - Bach to Back [Playhouse]
Markus Nikolai - Bushes (Freaks In Outer Space Dub) [Perlon]
Jay Haze - Change Something (Pier Bucci Remix) [Contexterrior]
Shane Berry - Fillertet 2 (Dominik Eulberg Remix) [Trapez LTD]
Anthony Shakir - Sermon [Sublime]
Justin Martin & Sammy D - Swamp Thang (Claude VonStroke Swamp Rat Mix) [Dirtybird]
Kenny Leaven - Feeling Spicy [Traum]
Alexi Delano & Xpansul - Vegetotherapy [Plus 8]
Davidovitch - Insider [Kompakt]

Ronan Fitzgerald
Gummihz - Isolate (Sebo K Remix) [Mobilee]
Solieb - Isotropy (Lazy Fat People Remix) [Maschine]
Rekorder - 6 – [Rekorder]
Jens Bond - Rocket Queen [Highgrade]
Stefan Goldmann and Ame - Sleepy Hollow Version [Innervisions]
Argenix and Samim - Sabor EP [Tuning Spork Family Affair]
Anja Schneider - Addicted (Gummihz Mix) - [Mobilee]
Juergens - Love It [Room Recordings]
Shonky - Closer To Pluton [Resopal Red]
Kollektiv Turmstrasse - Disconnect EP [Ostwind]

Mallory O’Donnell
Lindstrom - Arp She Said [Smalltown Supersound]
Erasure - Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day) (Fingers In Crumbs) [Mute]
Peru - Oriental – [Red Bullet / Compost]
Tetine - A Historia De Garca [Soul Jazz]
Dexter Vs. Cosmic Force - Drum Techniek [Marguerita ]
Sneak Thief - Body Militia [Voltage Musique]
Underworld – Cowgirl [Junior Boy’s Own]

Michael F. Gill
Pinktronix – Booty Sez (Juho Kahilainen rmx) [Elettrica]
The It - Donnie (Ron Hardy mix) [DJ International]
Public Energy - Three 'O Three [Probe Records]
Ministry - I Wanted to Tell Her [Arista]
George Clinton - Erotic City [Fox Records]
Contemporary Household – She Said (Toktok remix) [Bomzh]
XR7 – XR7 [Quality Records]
Galaxy – Dancing Tight [Island/Ensign]
Sven Weisemann – Slices [Liebe Detail]
Ginny - Can't Be Serious [VM Records]