Sheen

It's been some time since I posted some music from KK Records, so here's a classic compilation - full of techno, harsh industrial beats and dark atmos.

Highlights include legendary Test Dept.'s excursions in electronics, plus classic stuff from artists already presented in this blog, like Uwe Schmidt's Lassigue Bendthaus project, PWOG, Riou, etc. The first CD focuses on technoid beats, the second one is more abstract and experimental in its sound.

VA - 1995 Sheen. Kk Records Compilation
CD1 - CD2
Info here.

Inner Light

It's been a while since I posted anything PWOG-related, so here's an album by Exquisite Corpse, Heynen's side-project (that soon turned out to be 'main'). This one went out just after he left PWOG, in collaboration with his future partner-in-crime Debbie Jones.

The music here is very similar to the early PWOG material, lots of tribal rhythms and ethno samples built on a minimalistic techno basis, yet without the overtly psychedelic dubby treatments we're so used to (that was Freeman's work, possibly); it still retains its meditative nature and function, anyway.

This is the Restless re-release, contains an extra remix (I've also included the original KK version covers).

Exquisite Corpse - 1993 Inner Light
Info here.

PWOG live 1995

Courtesy of Tim Freeman himself, a live set of PWOG from 1995, the Record Of Breaks era.

More than a rarity or an iffy bootleg, it's also a proof of their power in concerts, sadly a gift I never had the chance to witness in person. A lot of analog sound in there, fat and heavy, and lots of real-time FX knob twists, while samples are used in moderation and for aesthetic purposes. The mix is breathing, monotone percussion sounding clear and in your face while the more subtle atmo elements are drifting in the background, appearing in crucial moments for drama. I noticed as well their tendency to preserve the equilibrium between the ritualistic atmospheres and sheer drive, choosing their tracks well, shifting between moods. Most of the above characterize their sound at the time anyway.
Concerning structure, my favorite part is the flawless transformation of the funky take on 'A Kind of Prayer' into a 'Kraak' variation.

I guess the link comes from Tim Freeman's archive, so I hope he'll leak some more of the good stuff eventually. He released some 12"s and CDrs in the obscure I-S-I-S / Hidden (a PWOG-related den I discovered only a few months ago) as HIMOG and one half of Dogon, plus collaborations with equally respected Being - apparently all of them in good terms with the Black Dog guys (see here). Which btw did an awful lot of good to post that mix, giving them publicity and all. Because, while I truly respect the no-ego underground attitude, it strikes me as weird that even a fan like me didn't know shit about those labels - stick your heads up just a bit guys, it's a pity for you not to be recognized as you should be (and for us not to listen to your stuff).

PWOG - 1995 Live @ VPRO's Villa 65 radio show

More posts here.
I also noticed there are a few more PWOG posts by TheeBradMiller here.

Stored in zshare till I find the time to switch it to RS.

P.S. Moggieboy also got a link and already posted this set.

The Maenad and the Mix

The other day I came across a mix of PWOG (*) tracks in the Black Dog site, as the third part in a series where the Black Dog guys pay tribute to artists like Robert Hood and UR (so far). They mix the original stuff with some of their own re-edits, a treasure for the fans. Check the page out:

The Black Dog:
One Hour With The Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia

You know I'm a PWOG sicko. And I consider myself to be a fan of the Black Dog - not a collector per se, but 'Spanners' might be the 'IDM' album I've listened to the most (I still do, after all these years). As Robert Hood is also the Detroit guy I respect the most and UR are undoubtedly leaders in their field, seeing all these together there it felt like a serotonin-party. Then I came upon a post by Moggieboy (the Ripped In Glascow guy), where the 'Maenad' 12" was posted. It was too good to be just a coincidence, so here it is:

PWOG - Maenad 12" by Moggieboy

I'll borrow the eXquisite CORpsE 1994 Kupuri 12" later on.

P.S. Actually, he's posted a lot of PWOG stuff so go there and get them.

Kraak

This is 'Kraak', from the 'Record Of Breaks'. Two EPs containing three versions-jams by PWOG, two remixes by Plastikman , an epic paean by Mark Broom and a weird as usual reconstruction by Coil.

Though it sold mostly through the (rather weak) Plastikman remixes and thus got assorted with the Plus8 type of minimalism, it reminds me more some of the first and harder Basic Channel tracks.
This is also the point where people stopped referring to PWOG music as 'trance'.


PWOG - 1995 Kraak EP
Info here.


PWOG - 1996 Kraak Remixes EP
Info here.

Ov Biospheres And Sacred Grooves

The first album of PWOG, out in 1992. I had promised ages ago to post it but found it only now, so..
Tracks are merged in suites, as the LP in a way is; there are no deeper grooves between the faintly blended intros / outros - the album is obviously intended to be heard as a whole, not as a compilation of tracks. CD extras like 'Anathema ov Jean-Jack Derrillard' and 'New Edge Mantra', two darkish ambient themes, make a contrast with the rest of the material (more uptempo) that reinforces the atmosphere of the album and accents its mystical side. Finally, this 1993 (US) CD version also contains 'Exit 23' in a remix I don't recall from the 12'' I briefly had in the early '90s.
If you're into oldschool techno, proto-trance, tribal, deep electronics or just curious ('magickal') stuff, don't miss it.

Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia - 1993,
Ov Biospheres And Sacred Grooves:
A Document Ov New Edge Folk Classics
Part 1 - Part 2
Info here.

Durations per suite:

1. [23.25]
00.01 -> the challenge (part one)
07.57 -> linkage
16.39 -> the tides (they turn)

2. [06.50] obsidian

3. [24.41]
00.01 -> anathema ov jean jacques derrillard
07.16 -> the challenge (part two)
14.17 -> the key (version)
20.35 -> new edge mantra

4. [10.47] exit 23 (remix)

Record Of Breaks

I promised on an earlier post I'll upload this. Check the 18 min. long 'Some Kind Of Prayer' which is exactly what it says to be, the techno classic 'Kraak' and the occasional weirdness of the 'Revelations' (the sound of their computer breaking down, if I remember correctly). 'True' and 'Sheap?' are for those moody Sunday afternoon hours.

PWOG - 1995 Record Of Breaks
Part 1 - Part 2
Info here

The Key

Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia has always been one of my favorite electronic acts. Exit 23 was a blast. People always associated them with the Temple Ov Psychick Youth whose symbols, spelling and beliefs they shared. The connection is indisputable. although at some point they seemingly felt trapped by this and after some internal turmoil and member departures they buried the double cross and re-invented themselves as PWOG.

I think it's best to see them as a crossover act, a trance band gone weird. As some musicians with a different mindset concerning ways of communicating through art. Their low profile, no-ego, sometimes introvert sometimes fun approach to life and the holy and the ritualistic was an immense relief for me compared to the dark blood dripping death electronics of the '80s or the space cake mysticism of Goa trance of the time.

Most of their tracks are dronish loop-based landscapes, sounding like improvisations (although very well structured to be such, in my opinion) borrowing from the industrial school. Their dance tracks range from deep and jazzy house songs to trancey epics to mono-minimal clicky dub, 1995 style. They lived and moved in relative obscurity, you won't find many interviews or photos. They covered a huge range of emotions, they influenced a lot of people nowdays well-known and they disappeared in silence.

This 2CD collection is a compilation of rarities (all but two are unreleased mixes) but it's also a good introduction to the clubbier side of PWOG. It was released at 2002 on Terminal Antwerp, a sublabel of the mighty KK Records which hosted most of the PWOG releases and was accompanied by a 12'' with a Michael Mayer remix to 'A Kind Of Prayer' (you can hear it on 'Friends' mixed by Triple R [Kompakt CD 21] ). That temporarily draw some fresh attention to the name of PWOG, as the 'Maenad' remix by Alter Ego would do later and the Plastikman and Drum Club remixes had done in the '90s.

Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia - 2002, The Key, 2CD
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3








Here's also a PWOG remix of the 'Lush' track by Orbital.
Orbital - Lush 3-4 (Warriors Drift remix)

I admit it, I hate to see labels and bands like these only in reference articles or in oldschool DJs' playlists, when all the new European 'minimal' techno sound was more or less envisioned and developed by them. Although I can't rip vinyl yet, I'll upload some more stuff like this soon.