____ _____ ___ ________ _______ _____ _______ _______ ____ _____
\ |/ // |/ \\_ // __//_ //_ // |/ /
_ _/ _/ / |_ / / \_ /____/ _/ / _/ /__
_\\\____\_____\______/___/\____/____\_______________\_____\_____\_____\\//_
cDr|m's
.:: a klangwerk release ..................................................::.
artist :: audio active
release :: spaced dolls
year :: 2000
genre :: lo-fi
label :: dream machine
website :: www.audioactive.org
ripper :: vishuddha
date :: 13-sep-2001
quality :: 192kbps/44,100hz
source :: compact disc
.::.......................................................................::.
01 cosmos chaos 10:22
02 you're no good 4:23
03 elements of rhyme (feat. boss the mc) 7:31
04 basspace 6:06
05 as the wind blows 10:38
06 back from the black hole 5:09
07 puppets parade 6:36
08 neverlasting seconds 4:57
playtime :: 00h 55m 42s
.::.......................................................................::.
audio active are:
masa : vocals keyboards, programming
nanao : drums, programming
2dd : keyboards, programming
kasai : guitars
akama : bass
japanese space punks, sun ra, jimi hendrix and lee perry always
their masters, audio active released their first eponymous titled album,
"audio active", produced by adrian sherwood in japan in november
1993. adrian`s u.k. based on-u sound followed with a single, the
reworked version of "free the marijuana" now including the addition
of an exquisite vocal from reggae legend, bim sherman which
achievedsignificant club and alternative radio play, managing to top a
numberof uk indie charts and lead to a reworking of the rest of the album
released in u.k. and europe as "tokyo space cowboys - we are audio
active". the release was followed by their first foreign tour which
included a number of festival appearances - glastonbury, the
brighton independent festival and opening slot on a uk / european dub
syndicate tour.
shortly after the japanese release their japanese label alfa folded
so the band and their management established a new label and
distribution structure, beat records and the next few albums were
released through this. first up were a couple of 12" singles, the
reworked "free the marijuana", immediately followed by "wanna-na"
and then a mini-album "we are experienced" made up of the reworked
tracks from the on-u debut as well as "wanna-na" and a few new dubs. "we
are experienced" was also released in australia and new zealand where
free the marijuana received significant play on national radio and
went on to become something of an australian dope anthem.
'95 was a year of endless recording and touring resulting in the
second album, "happy happer" as well as a bizarre collaboration
with one time brian eno protege, laraaji. "happy happer", another adrian
sherwood production, was recorded in london and tokyo and included
guests appearances by members of tack>head, little axe and the
first single "happy shopper" was co-written with mark stewart. the album
was very well received, included 2 other singles - "electric
bombardment" and "24 hour explorations" and created enough demand
for another hefty slab of touring in japan, u.k. europe, australia and
new zealand.
the other '95 release, "the way out is the way in" is a series of
trippy, psychedelic sketches combining laraaji`s joyously mystical
incantations cut in over the top of shimmering electric zithers and
layer upon layer of distinctive audio active keyboards and
percussion creating a landmark ambient dub dreamscape. the project was
initiated when audio active were approached by laraaji`s label all saints
records with the idea of remixing one track however the response
was so strong that the idea quickly developed into a full blown
collaboration with both laraaji and audio active recording new
material for the album which was released on all saints records in
the us, uk and europe and beat in other territories. the material
was embraced by techno, ambient and audio active fans alike, broadened
their audience considerably and provided a strong hint as to the
more diverse direction of subsequent material.
touring continued throughout '96 with another long summer break in
europe including appearances at a number of festivals such as
roskilde (denmark) the groove festival (ireland), dour (belgium) as
well as a number of headline dates. an ep, start rec was released,
introducing a more diverse sound and included versions of "paint
your face red" and "open the gate" both to be reworked on "apollo
choco". recording for, "apollo choco" commenced in london during the summer
tour and was completed in tokyo towards the end of the year.
released in japan in april 97 and european between november '97 and april
'98, the album was the band`s most diverse to date and contained 3
singles, "robot wars", "weed specialist" and "coolness in my
foolishness". in japan it outsold the combined sales of all preceding
releases, reaching no 1 in a number of japanese independent charts.
yet another onslaught of touring followed - their own japanese
cosmical parade; an appearance in hong kong at unity - the great hong
hong handover party; their first foray into north america with 6
dates in us / canada; an appearance at the notorious "zouk" in
singapore and concluding in may / june '98 with 42 dates throughout
europe including their fist 18 date headline german tour, appearances
at festivals in france and spain and the guest slot on the french and
spanish section of the asian dub foundation tour.
reaction to "the way out is the way in" and the resulting focus on
their talent as producers of other artists' material lead to a long
string of remix and collaborative projects that can be heard on their
various remix albums as well as an album of their mixes of other
artists, it's a stony. they have remixed tracks for some of the most
successful acts from japan's left field - friction, mad capsule
markets, surf coasters, geodezik, yoshinori sunahara as well as a
number of their foreign counterparts including dub syndicate, two bad
card, asian dub foundation and the universe crew. one such
collaboration with a japanese artist, air, resulted in a double epcd
which was released in conjunction with todd mcfarlen's spawn and
contained tracks performed and composed by air and audio active plus
a number of remixes from mantronik, meat beat manifesto, adrian
sherwood and audio active. for contractual reasons these tracks were
only released in japan where the double cd sold in excess of 70,000
copies, peaking on japan's "billboard" equivalent, "oricon's" top 100
at # 15.
the end of 98 brought in a change of label with the latest album
"return of the red i" being released from a new warner japan
subsidiary - dream machine in japan and affiliated warner divisions
throughout the world. the album once again finds audio active
submerged in a dense smoke induced haze as they continue to fuse and
confuse the genres delving further into the ground broken on happy
happer and apollo choco. as with previous efforts guests are many and
varied - deedar from asian dub foundation's psychorap on psycho buds,
legendary roots rebel, i-roy toasting away over masa on idle dragon,
bubblers from 2badcard and the enigmatic japanese mystic, osamu oyama
adding to the sartorial elegence of kick the bong around. violin,
harmonica, melodica and even a banjo are thrown in at one point or
another in the ever eclectic mix although as always audio active's
now familiar dead heavy rhythms and twisted spacewreck keyboards
continue to define the overall sound. so far the album has been
released in japan, australia and most of the western european
territories, with usa / canada scheduled for april 2000.
'99 also saw the band continuing with their brutal touring schedule
including their second trip to us / canada as special guests with
asian dub foundation, two extensive european tours split up by
appearances at the tibeten freedon concert and fuji rock festival in
japan and their second australia tour as special guests with
regurgitator in august. the year ended with a series of concerts in
japan including their year end round-up, happers allstars featuring
dry & heavy and a number of other special guests.
aside from return of the red i there is also an album of remixes,
altered i including killer remixes by the likes of adrian sherwood,
asian dub foundation, the mighty scream team as well as their own
versions and tracks by dry & heavy, rom=pari and geodezik. the set
ranges from heavy, bass driven dubs and bizarre electro funk through
to the scream team's velvet underground meets jonathon richmond in a
safe house "smoking crack with brother ray" mix of kick the bong
around.
late october saw the japanese release of a cdep featuring new tracks,
bag filled with emptiness and 3.2.8. in a police state. bag filled
with emptiness is received very solid airplay and was chosen as theme
music for two japanese television programmes. another track 3.2.8.
in a police state pays homage to one of the many tokyo nightclubs
that are presently being relentlessly harassed by the local police.
there is a ridiculous law in japan that in theory prevents more than
2 people from dancing after midnight in a lot of the clubs which some
fool has recently decided to take seriously.
aside from this psycho buds was included on the soundtrack to a new
sony playstation computer game, urban chaos, (released worldwide
march 2000) and the band have recently completed remixes for acts as
diverse as yellow magic orchestra, asian dub foundation and a
godzilla tribute compilation.
.::.......................................................................::.
greetings :: sb, qdp, sour, dps, rac, dh, sfe, hbz, tr, igr and mgc
.::.......................................................................::.