For Domu / Umod / Sonar Circle / Bakura (etc), This really is The End ...

filthy light thief — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:46:43 -0800

The story starts in 1992 or so, when the 14 year old Brit, Dominic Stanton, bought turntables and started spinning early drum'n'bass. He transitioned from DJ to producer, made demo tracks, and got signed by age 17. He went on to produce broken beat* and jazzy downtempo*, even into the realm of disco edits. Then about two weeks ago, the 31 year old musician called it quits.

The point is that I am no longer Domu. He is a character, always has been, and as of Friday 13th November 2009, he no longer exists. Neither does Umod, Sonar Circle, Bakura, Yotoko, Rima, Zoltar, Blue Monkeys, Realside or any of the other names I put out music under. I am cancelling all my gigs and not taking any more. My hotmail is closed, my Twitter is closed and my Facebook is closed.

Furthermore, his website is closed and the original post of his farewell message is lost, though you can still view the cached version or find it copied elsewhere. Domu's website now simply states This really is The End . . . Step inside for an abbreviated journey. Dominic Stanton's musical interests were first hip-hop and acid house and techno. From there, he followed the early days of jungle and drum'n'bass as a DJ, later producing some tracks and sending demos around, eventually signing with Dennis 'Dego' McFarlane and Mark 'Marc Mac' Clair on their label, Reinforced Records. For the first recording on Reinforced, Stanton joined two other guys and formed Static Imprints for one single, released in 1996. Then the trio became a duo, known as Sonar Circle, and they released their first three singles in 1997, including Devient Concept / Keep My Sanity. The duo released another single in 1998, and the only Sonar Circle album, Radius, came out in 1999. The duo became a solo artist, with Stanton becoming the only person behind the name. He released two more singles and two EPs by 2003, but had largely moved onto other projects. Dominic Stanton's most prolific profile started in 1999, when the Domu single Dressed to Ill was released on the 2000 Black label, a broken beat/ future jazz/ deep house imprint of the drum'n'bass focused Reinforced Records label. In 2000, Domu released his first single on the Italian Archive label, where he later released two albums (2001, 2005). In 2007, Domu produced an album for Pete Simpson on the Papa Records label. And this past summer, Tru Throughts released a compilation of what Stanton considered the most important works of his from the last 10 years. Stanton's two other solo projects were Umod and Zoltar. The former was more sample-based than his other work, and as Umod he released an album and a single in 2004, another single in 2006, plus some odd tracks. Zoltar was more of a one-off personality, and is credited for a 2004 single and a remix of a Umod track. The rest of his musical creations were collaborations. There were at least 10 profiles for these joint efforts, ranging from the one offs as Kudu (one single in 2000) and Blue Monkeys (one single in 2001), to the longer lasting Bakura, which produced an album in 2005 and a few singles. Another group was Legends of the Underground, a multimedia performance group based on music created by Stanton, Mark De Clive-Lowe and Paul "Seiji" Dolby (the trio had earlier collaborated as Kudu). The soundtrack was released on Kindred Spirits in Amsterdam in 2005. Live shows merged music, dance, and an animated 3D world (3D glasses supplied). Along with production and DJing, Dominic Stanton started the online label TrembleO, focusing on digital distribution of new and old tracks of his own creation, as well as other artists and a few releases on CD and vinyl. The official site was taken down, but the MySpace page is still public. In the wake of the announcement, there was much discussion on blogs and forums, and much use of the twitter tag 'weloveyouDomu'. Tribute mixes a-plenty were posted, highlighting the history of Dominic Stanton. People pulled out past mixes from Domu, letting the man speak for himself. He might return, or maybe find something else to fill his life. Until then, there is a vibrant past to re-live. Audio/Video clips 1997- Sonar Circle - Devient Concept (6:04), from Devient Concept/Keep My Sanity 2001- Sonar Circle - Havoc (5:59), from the Havoc EP 2001- Aardvarck - ReSpoken (Domu's Broken Dialect Mix) (6:21), from the Re Spoken 12" 2003- Bakura - Thinking About (Domu Mix) (5:34), from the Veya Veya / Thinking About 12" 2005- Domu - Quarantine (6:20), from The Electric Institute compilation 2007- Domu presents Pete Simpson - Coming Back Around video (4:29) and Play This Song (4:41), from the album Look a Little Further 2007- Domu presents Pete Simpson - Look A Little Further (The Muthafunkaz 12" Vocal Mix) (7:00), from the Look a Little Further single 2007- Making of Swell Session video (3:02), from Swell Communications featuring Domu and Elsa Esmeralda 2008- Broke'n'£nglish - Take It Low (Domu Remix) (5:09), from the Take It Low 12" 2008- Replife - Put It Down (Domu Remix) (4:41), from Put It Down / R U Ready 7" 2009- Domu & Yannah Valdevit - City Madness (A&D's 4 The Summer Mix) (2:25), sample from the City Madness / Info People single 2009- Tortured Soul - Home To You (Domu Remix) (5:17), from the Home To You remixes 2009- Interview in Paris (3:23), posted after his announcement to retire but recorded in the months prior Mixes by Domu 2004- Interview and mixset for Red Bull Music Academy Feb 22, 2005- Live from CSUF (scroll down for the link to the mix, read more on his profile) October 2007- Exclusive Domu guest mix for Urban Landscapes [dates unknown]- TrembelO Radio Show, showcasing Domu and a rotating cast of extras including Shifty, Marin, and Soza.

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with Drum and Bass

hermitosis — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:23:58 -0800

Baptazia! And more... and more! The Holy Spirit descends, accompanied by Drum & Bass. See also, the first runner-up in MTV Latin America's "Make Your Radiohead Video" contest.

I tend to think the album is a bit overrated, but 'Chicago' is gorgeous.

Rev. Syung Myung Me — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:54:48 -0800

Illin'-Noise! is the new remix of Sufjan Stevens' album Illinois by mc DJ; a torrent is available, as is cover art. It's not quite like Hippocamp Ruins Pet Sounds (previously on Mefi) -- it's not nearly as noisy, and not quite as good, although it's still worth checking out, particularly "Chi-Town" (from "Chicago"), "Zombies" (from "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!") and "Jacksontown" (from "Jacksonville"). [prev.]

The Politics of Dance

loquacious — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 00:22:14 -0800

Pump up the volume: Utah, 8/20/2005. A small fully permitted outdoor Drum and Bass gathering called "Versus 2" was the scene of a surreal amount of excessive force and tactics of cultural intimidation. Approximately 60 armored, helmeted and camouflaged Utah County Sheriffs officers armed with Police dogs, Tasers, MP5 submachine guns, rifles, batons and tear gas stormed the DJ booth and the dance floor. Still and video camera operators were singled out for abuse, police violence and confiscation of image recording devices. At least one video clip has made it to the net, helping spread the news globally within the Electronic Dance Music community within 24 hours. (Video Links: please use the torrents here or randomly choose one server here (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ) to help spread out the bandwidth costs.) Flashback to 6/31/2005 in the Czech Republic. Flashback to 70 years ago. More coverage: Daily Kos - Utah Indymedia - Drug Policy Alliance - Democracy Now (Audio) - more.

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For Domu / Umod / Sonar Circle / Bakura (etc), This really is The End ...

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with Drum and Bass

I tend to think the album is a bit overrated, but 'Chicago' is gorgeous.

The Politics of Dance