Archives Fever

Here's Kieran Press-Reynolds at Pitchfork on Silence Is Loud, the debut album by Nia Archives

Love the Columbo sample!

Another highlight acc. to K P-R

The name "Archives" - her chosen artistic alias, how bizarre would it be if it was her actual birth name! - is intriguing given the historical nature of the genre she has brought back to delicious life. 

Here's what I said about her in my 'Faves of 2022'

A contemporary artist! But one whose work puts into question the whole idea of "the contemporary". My kid Kieran put me onto this. I'm slightly suspicious of my own enjoyment, given that (like PinkPantheress) this is a young woman making jungle and drum & bass -  a genre-era I’ve investments in, you've probably noticed. Beyond my own nostalgia, there’s also a lingering doubt about whether it’s a healthy development for youth today to be making music whose historical heyday was 27 years ago. Even the thing of having her own smoky vocals and songs weaving through it isn’t a totally fresh development (hello Nicolette).

But it is absolutely gorgeous stuff – my favorite is probably “Forbidden Feelings” but it’s all very enjoyable. You can hear the whole lot of it here on this YouTube playlist  I made or with better sound and in chronological sequence (although she's only been at it for a little over a year as far as I can tell) in my Tidal playlist (I don’t think you need to be a subscriber)

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O.G. G-Man cameo co-sign at the start of this tune:

 

A book almost nobody seems to have a clue what it's about (hint: it's not really about archiving, libraries, data storage etc)

Futuremanic trax (1 of ?)

non-nuum 

non-dance

It Began In Anglika

Slough, to be precise

"Gary Numan. Man he was dope. So important to us. When we heard that single, "Are Friends Electric?" it was like the aliens had landed in the Bronx. We were just throwing shapes to this tune, man. More than Kraftwerk, Numan was the inspiration. He's a hero. Without him, there'd be no electro."

— Afrika Bambaataa

I love this type of quote, to the point of collecting them when they turn up - Derrick May going on about being influenced by Cabaret Voltaire and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, that kind of thing. 

You never know when you'll need them, when you'll be confronted with some idiot claiming that Kraftwerk got all their ideas from The Isley Brothers. 

The idiot is - almost always - a white person. Usually a Brit too.

Most Black electronic musicians are happy - more than happy - to talk about the inspiration they got from weirdo Anglo-Euro electro

Bought this single when it was just outside the Top 40

"Techno Classic 80's Style" says one YouTube poster

Actually, it's a "Techno Classic late '70s style" - first released 1979 as the B-side to "Tar", Visage's first single.

A dance mix version was released a few year later 

Discogs commenter comments: 

"Both "Mind Of a Toy" and "We Move" are cool slices of Visage's trademark eccentric post-punk/new romantics pop, but the exclusive 12" track "Frequency 7" is something altogether different; a pumpin' proto-techno instrumental that sounds a bit like Drexciya (at least if Drexciya made music a decade earlier and wore outrageous make-up). Apparently a big favourite in Detroit at the time (1981), this is essential stone age techno"

No Fearon

Tuff little unit of a tune at the intersection of bleep, hardcore and UK tekno 

"To The Core" - you gotta like that title 

"Drums Of Peace" rounds out this tasty 3-tracker

Uncle 22 = Desmond Fearon - co-founder of  De Underground Records, Forest Gate hardcore label of renown. 

Any relative of Phil Fearon, one of the founders of Production House? 

Uncle 22  did an album very early on in the UK acieeed-and-after story - 1989. 

On Alex Paterson & Youth's label Wau! Mr Modo

Of course, junglists know the name Uncle 22 mostly for this 

Is this some kind of prototype version? 

With Navigator

This remix is the more famous version of "6 Million",  I guess

version galore