Sweet Headache

Sweet Headache 040: “Dystopia”

Halloween has just passed, and the northern hemisphere is entering the dark part of the year now. Because of this, and because I have always had a taste for the darker flavors of electronic music, I wanted to do a truly dark, melancholic mix this week. My Goth friends will probably like this. >:-)

Music nerdism: What you hear in this mix might sound somewhat unusual. I used a couple of tracks from the darker side of electronic music. This particular style is often referred to as EBM or Futurepop, and it is usually not played on “normal” Techno parties. However, it is quite popular in the Gothic scene.

I was never really a part of that scene, but this sound has fascinated me for quite a while. Many tracks appear to be similar to Techno productions, but still remain a distinct edge.

A good example for this is Black Strobe, a duo that is clearly influenced by EBM, but manages to stay close enough to “normal” Techno to fit into both scenes. Arnaud Rebotini is one half of that duo, and his solo productions are similar in style. What is interesting about his work is that he only works with analog equipment – even analog sequencers!

VNV Nation is one of the most popular Futurepop acts right now. In contrast to many EBM productions, their sound is more melodic and not as rough. If you listen to the original version of the track “Hellraiser” instead of the remix that I used, you will unterstand what I mean.

I also wanted to include “Sonne” by XPQ-21, because I had the chance to meet XPQ-21′s Jeyênne and got to learn quite a bit from him. He has been active both in EBM as well as in Techno under different pseudonyms, and we both share the opinion that those styles are really not that far apart.

Tracklist:

1. Celldweller – Louder Than Words
2. Rotersand – Waiting To Be Born (Rework)
3. Sweet Light – Abusator (Black Strobe Remix)
4. Suicide Commando – Hellraiser (VNV Nation Remix)
5. David Carretta – Disco Dance
6. VNV Nation – Chrome (27.2 Mhz Remix by Modcom)
7. XPQ-21 – Sonne
8. Mind.In.A.Box – Beyond The World
9. NamNamBulu – Memories
10. Rebotini – The Swamp Waltz

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/3729926926/ // CC-by-nc

marvis

Marvis is the founder of Sweet Headache. He is a music nerd from Cologne (Germany) and likes many flavors of urban electronic music. He has been active as a DJ and event organizer for more than 7 years.

More Posts