MetaFilter posts tagged with underground and music

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.

Anti-Hit List is Alive

boost ventilator — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 13:37:27 -0800

The Anti-Hit List , by John Sakamoto, continues to unearth music from the depths of the net and through rare releases. It can be found in the pages of the Toronto Star and is now available in convenient podcast form. Note: previous death and rebirth of the site.

London Underground

Cancergiggles — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:20:13 -0800

London Underground Warning - very bad language and 750k but well crafted critique of the state of the transport system in London.

this music is meant to be played LOUD.

antimagnet — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 21:51:18 -0800

If you have heard of the bands Lightning Bolt, Arab on Radar or Forcefield, chances are you've heard of the legendary space known as Fort Thunder - an artists collective in an otherwise neglected part of Providence known as Olneyville -where roughly 100 artists and musicians lived, worked, and held underground music shows. After the demolition of Fort Thunder in 2001, a number of those artists began again in a different space known simply as Oak & Troy. One year ago this month, on one of the coldest days on record, the residents of that fertile creative space were also evicted, this time with just two weeks' notice. But where there is innovative music there are dedicated audiophiles, and last week one of the former residents of Oak & Troy released a 10-CD compilation of some of the best music to happen in those amazing spaces. See if you can pick out the extracurricular projects of members (or former members) of AoR, ff, Dropdead, thee Hydrogen Terrors and Olneyville Sound Station.

24 hour garage people

sgt.serenity — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 07:34:34 -0800

24 hour garage people HEY KIDS ! check out this happening place that plays the sonic flower grooves of the sixties 24/7 !

Iranian underground music awards

hoder — Sat, 10 Jan 2004 12:00:59 -0800

Second Iranian underground music awards participants: They can't publish their records or play in public because of the Islamic government's fear of Rock music. There are hundreds of underground Rock bands in Iran right now. Christian Science Monitor has the story of one of them.

Anti-Hit List

boost ventilator — Mon, 10 Feb 2003 18:56:26 -0800

As its old home lies dormant, John Sakamoto'sAnti-Hit List continues on in the pages of Toronto's Eye Weekly. Where else could you hear about The Flaming Lips covering Kylie, Ween singing ~~for~~ about Pizza Hut or quite possibly the best song title in ages.

Unusual (or not) Music and Art (or not)

Joey Michaels — Mon, 02 Dec 2002 00:54:22 -0800

Freenoise. "This site exists to provide information on 'unusual' music and arts; the word "unusual" being easily replaced by 'unconventional,' 'non-mainstream,' 'underground,' 'extreme' or by any one of a dozen other useless labels." This includes such projects as Cock E.S.P., Wrong and the fascinating Panelectric Living Sinema. The link page is of particular interest, as it could open up a whole world to the uninitiated. I wish they linked my favorite bug faced noise band, Winter Carousel.

boost ventilator — Wed, 31 Jul 2002 15:18:30 -0800

The End of the Anti-Hit List? "And with that, the Anti-Hit List is retiring, at least for the foreseeable future."

John Sakamoto's Alternate Top 10 (AKA The Anti-Hit List) was one of the best top ten music lists on the net. It was short and sweet and a great way to discover b-sides, covers and alternate versions of songs from a wide variety of artists. And to think, it all started back on March 12, 1996.