So, this genre got more or less replaced by the even more computerized dance, acid and rave craze of the 90s...
But when that madness did fade away again, towards the end of the 90s, some producers suddenly gazed back upon the 80s... and did some electro stuff again!
What followed was a looong evolution, that took several years and lasts till today. And now electro sounds are almost everywhere, and we got famous artists like Miss Kittin or Vitalic that are influenced by it... well, I guess, there are even *newer* artists around by now.
To cut a long story (or evolution) short, Pop / Dance electro type music is on one end of the spectrum... and then there is more obscure, refined, "sophisticated" stuff. And I want to talk about, and review, 5 of these releases right here. I (really) think these are essential for everyone who wants to go deeper into the... electro revival!
I-f - Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass (Viewlexx V-002)
According to their own accord, the bunker crew were some kind of nerd-squatters in the netherlands, that did those hardcore / acid parties in... well, bunkers and warehouses, with a bunch of weirdos freaks... from all walks of life.
and wouldn't you guess it, one of the DJs and producers associated with that scene, was electro-rocking it on the MTV(*) only a few years later. Because "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" was on heavy rotation on the various dance programs of TV and other channels, and I guess a lot of people who came home or came down from hardcore raving and other nastiness on a friday or saturday night, sank down on their couch and turned on the TV... will remember chilling to this track when the very video of it came up.
so, yes, it's a literal underground "hit", and i love it, too. very good electro, cool futuristic lyrics... cool concept... completely the correct thing for cool cats!
(*yeah you are right I sneaked a "sk8er boi" reference into this review, i am sorry!)
https://viewlexx.bandcamp.com/album/viewlexx-v-002-space-invaders-are-smoking-grass
Umwelt - ... & The Day Came Part 1 (New Flesh - NF01)
That's the release that really put Umwelt on the radar for me... as a very cool electro producer.
I'm all about "Future Darkness". It has a very cool sample, or sequence of samples out of a speech from the Cronenberg classic Scanners.
The way it is used, it feels more like the broadcast of military commands than the dialogue between... two chemical mutants, as in the movie.
which fits to the beats, imho, as they are more like marching beats than electro.
and yeah, the whole release gives the feel that we are marching into a dark future!
https://newfleshrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-day-came-part-1-nf01
I-f / Jungian Archetype - Test Pilot Volume 1 (Viewlexx - V12 / 2A)
Hello?
"Shadow of the clown" is on here.
You don't know it?
It's this very weird acid / electro tune that seems to have a loop of 808 percussion. And 15-16 tones that get repeated for 7 minutes straight. and it is one of the best electronic productions ever. shows how far you can get with minimalism, aight?
also has become very popular in the doomcore techno scene now.
https://viewlexx.bandcamp.com/album/viewlexx-v12-2x-test-pilot-volume-1-2025-digi-release
Univac - Radiation (Bunker Records - 3092)
Apparently an electro / bunker classic, but i ve been a bit late to the (bunker) party, as i heard it for the first time only recently.
it's deservingly a classic. the killer track is a1. i don't know much about univac, but unlike some electro contemporaries, this project does not seem to aim that much at continuing the sound of egyptian lover or planet rock, but rather seems to find inspiration in kraftwerk. and maybe they are the only electro act that can claim they *really* sound like kraftwerk. and maybe... even a bit better.
oh and going back to a1. there is this "weird" thing with the main synth melody, as that it constantly seems to slide out of "pitch"... don't know what they did here or how they did it, but this gives the whole thing a very convincing "outer space" edge!
I-f - Portrait Of A Dead Girl 1: The Cause (Viewlexx - V12/ 1)
Supercool release by I-F.
Electro, as a genre, often feels as if it's music that was done by aliens.
But this is the type of music that makes you feel as if *you*, the one in the crowd, is the alien, while the DJ is human. if that makes sense!
I Do Because I Couldn't Care Less is such a tune. and a nice ironic stab at aphex twin the same.
And there is Envy. Not envy of other producers, but a track called "Envy".
It's one of the dirtiest nastiest "minimal" dance tunes ever.
Freak Electrique - Mr. Psycho (Top Secret/Test Series - TS-009)
There was something I always liked, and even adored, about viewlexx, bunker, i-f, well, the whole the hague electro / acid thing. And that is that they got releases where you don't know if it's a parody of ironic, or intentionally silly, or if they are serious. But even when they are, they still feel sincere at the same time, through and through.
This is true for this release too, a "top secret" release going by the name of the label, by the way.
There is that strange, vocoder-ized intro "speech", and it's kinda cheesy. Telling a tale about a "mr. psycho", who seems to be some kind of interplanetary, or even interdimensional villain. It's as corny as it gets, even ending with a spoken warning of "bang bang there goes your brain". But somehow it fits right into the mood of the track and everything is alright.
There is also a cool ambient intro at the same time, the track is "oversized" with it's 7 minutes... and yeah, if I need to describe it, I would say, personally, it feels like the intro track to a forgotten 80s space TV show from a parallel dimension.
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