eMusicAcid808

[zrath]

A while back, I had mentioned a Slickdeal having to do with eMusic and an MP3 player.
As far as I know, that deal is still good, though there are instances of the player being pulled from the shelves in some
stores, or being sold for $19.99 instead of $5, or being for $5 without any problems. Depends on your local store.
I had borked my regular eMusic account by adding the code for the 15/month-for-a-year offer.
Working with customer service, we got it all straightened out last Tuesday.
My account had to be killed then resurrected, so now my downloads refresh on the 10th instead of the 18th.
Remember! With eMusic, it's use it or lose it! Those downloads don't roll over!

Anyway, here are a few tasty bits to check out:

"Give me some acid!!!
Not to be confused with Acid Rock, Acid Techno (and also Acid House) is a form of electronic dance music built almost
entirely around an electronic gizmo called the Roland TB-303 and its ability to make buzzy squiggly addictive loops.
Some also used another Roland creation, the TR-909 drum machine, but Acid pretty much IS the 303!
Acid is kind of mindless bouncy fun stuff, and here's a bunch of it available on eMusic:

Ceephax Acid Crew has 4 releases to choose from. Here's a random one: Bainted Smile EP.

Hardfloor has been around for a long time and has produced an impressive body of work. Half of it is Acid.
Some of their early Acid oeuvres: TB Resucitation - Funalogue
Hardfloor's later releases are less Acid-y and more varied. I recommend checking out the following albums:
Respect - Home Run - All Targets Down

Luke Vibert is usually not a name associated with Acid. He's more of a funky hepcat kinda guy who puts out stuff under his
own name as well as his Wagonchrist and Plug pseudonyms. In 2005, he served up a tasty Acid album with a funky soul twist.
Do check out "Lover's Acid"! It's nifty!

Funkstörung is also a name not usually associated with Acid. They're more into Experimental and weirdness.
But for some reason, they decided to release a nostalgic Acid-tinged album that still retains some of their experimental
side. It's not exactly textbook acid, but it has its moments. Feast your peepers on Return To Acid Planet, Earthman!


And speaking of Acid brings me to one of the best electronic music act to ever exist: 808 State.
Of all the bands to come out of the late '80s/early '90s techno-rave-house scene, 808 State displayed a sheer level of
professional musicianship unmatched by most of its contemporaries, save possibly Orbital or the brothers from Detroit.
808 State's first musical steps were all in the acid style and can be found on 2 CDs released not too long ago:
"Newbuild", which was their first album and only available on vinyl until Rephlex, the Aphex Twin label, rereleased it.
"Prebuild", which is even rougher, as it contains very early tracks and prototypes of "Newbuild". Truly for the connaisseur.
eMusic sadly does not have either of these releases, because they're on Rephlex. But eMusic signed ZTT (Zang Tumb Tuum,
the revolutionary label created by Trevor Horn to handle Art Of Noise, and subsequent home to unusual acts like
Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Propaganda), so they have everything else by 808 State!

Their first commercial album, which still sounds awesome after all these years: Ninety
(which I just noticed is the UK version of the album and missing 5 or 6 tracks compared to the US release. Argh!)

Their second album, which clearly shows them transcending the rave scene and delivering good solid music: Ex:El
(this is quite possibly their best album ever! The first track is basically an evacuation drill set to music!
Track 6, "Lift", is the ultimate piece of techno-muzak, taking a page from the prototypical blueprint for all muzak
everywhere, "Theme From Summer Place". Trust me, you've heard it before. Also, "lift" is British-English for "elevator".
And as if that wasn't cool enough, Bjork pops up on TWO tracks! And the singer from New Order pops up on one track.
What more could you possibly want? How about a 9-minute remix of the old classic "Cübik" dance track? There ya go!)

Their third album saw them going for shorter tracks and maintaining their eclectic musical style: Gorgeous
(the title definitely applies, a couple of tracks are just plain gorgeous: "Plan 9" and "Black Morpheus")

Their fourth album, more eclectic, more varied, this one needs multiple listens to truly appreciate: Don Solaris
(this one showed up four years after "Gorgeous" came out. Guest vocalists include M. Doughty [Soul Coughing],
Louise Rhodes [Lamb], and James Dean Bradfield [Manic Street Preachers]. The music seems more exotic, more lush.)

There are other 808 State things on eMusic to poke at, plus all sorts of fun ZTT things.
So have fun!