jeudi 31 janvier 2008

More Gemini = more genius.



As I said here in french a few weeks ago, Relief-era Gemini is definitely one of American dance music's unsung heroes. Between 1994 and 1997, Spencer Kincy (his real name) was developing a risky, slippy, druggy sound than most of his Chicago contemporaries never even got close to. A dysfunctional and freaky way of making things groove, perhaps due to poor technical means and skills, but which sounds completely astonishing today, among this very controlled and mastered environment that electronic music became.

A few more examples of Gemini's genius :

Gemini - Festival (1994)

Hectic and dangerously dumb grooves here. Punishing drum programmation. Machinic psychedelia at its best, focused on data overload and absurdist construction. Yet, this works so well I can't actually believe it.

Gemini – Blast Me (1995)


This must be one of those proto-minimal techno tracks! Very cold and abstract stuff overall, more a of a DJ tool than a real banger, but it still has this typical Gemini fucked up vibe.

Gemini – Floating (1994)

This tracks is like Relief Gemini in a nutshell : disturbed and disturbing, fed by multiples voices and energies, pounding yet kind of lost. Fascinating stuff.

Gemini – A Moment of Insanity (1995)



This track is mental, simultaneously reminiscent of Thomas Bangalter's Roulé Boulé and What To Do (from everyone's favorite house music record ever Trax On Da Rocks Vol 1). Percussive craziness! And a little too monstrous for just comfortably fitting in the "tool" category. Released on Carl Craig's Planet E label.


And finally here's a double bonus : a very nice two-part Gemini mix in Bonn, ex-Western Germany's capital, back in may '95. Classics, soulful tracks, jazzy tracks, tracky tracks, that's what you could call a tour de force. I remember seeing him spin in Paris in the late 90s : his selection was mostly British dubby bouncy house (like he did himself at that time, when he worked with Classic), but he also played a few garage tunes every now and then, singing the melody to himself, eyes closed, sporting this almost frightening beard. Great memory.

Gemini - Live in Bonn part 1
Gemini - Live in Bonn part 2

6 commentaires:

Anonyme a dit…

hé pourquoi c'est en anglais maintenant?
avant c'etait mieux et du coup c'était le seul blog ou je lisais les posts, maintenant ben nan.

EtienneMenu a dit…

c'est pour communiquer à l'international. mais comme tu n'es pas le premier à me faire la remarque, je vais alterner. merci en tous cas.

☁‿☁ a dit…

Hallo ! Ich bin Frank von Lübeck. Ist es möglich auch in Deutsch zu schreiben ?

Ich mag diese blog sehr viel, by the way :)

Anonyme a dit…

très très bon post!

Anonyme a dit…

sacré Telefuss !
sache que la prochaine langue du net c'est pas l'anglais mais le chinois ...
et là ça va être sacrément plus rude ...

Communicator a dit…

Thank you for posting about Chicago's Spencer Kincy. As a DJ he is one of my biggest inspirations, being from Chicago myself. I missed him during the prime of his creative output so finding his past sets are like treasures. Thanks so much for helping keep his contributions relevant. :)