2001, the first year of the 21st century, but especially for many born in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, the year that was surrounded with an aura of “the Future” and that became symbol of the new and unknown things that life has in store, the starting year of a new transgression period in both scientific, cultural and spiritual evolution. In that year Transllusion recorded music in the Dimensional Waves Productions studio of which till date two known productions saw a release: “The opening of the Cerebral Gate” and shortly after that the mysterious “L.I.F.E.” album on Rephlex.
More than 15 years later, an unknown wave resurfaced, washing up an incomparable emotional state of electronic depth. Music from the Future rooted in an underwater Afro-futurist realm and the grandiose cosmological truths. This time rushing over us in a much more personal, reflective and more introspective way, yet leaving behind sonic confusion.
We now know who was responsible for all these futuristic recordings perfectly reflecting what the year 2001 stood for, James Stinson can be seen as one of the last few techno musicians from his generation that lived up to the high expectations of moving forward, finding the unknown and embracing the future without reliving the past.
Transllusion – A Moment Of Insanity DAT tapeThis recently discovered DAT-tape, using his Transllusion alias, is the 3rd outing of the project and, surrounded with an even brighter aureole than the previous recordings, confirms the status of its producers mastermind. No further details are known, except for the project name written on the tape, but these intimate moments in the studio tell us what the future sounds like according to James Stinson!
Yamaha DX100For insiders it’s no secret that the Yamaha DX synths played an important role in the history of techno and house. With the, at the time, new FM synthesis technology it was the gritty sounding budget version DX100 that made it into the bedroom studios of early techno producers. From one of the biggest techno hits; Rhythim is Rhythim’s Nude Photo to almost all of Lil Louis’ early catalog and lot of early 90’s UK techno such as Autechre, b12, Orbital and many, many others. And although that little black keyboard seems limited on the surface it’s still a favourite among producers for the vast array of sounds you can coax from it.
Gerd, who is no stranger to the history of house and techno, as both record collector and producer (Gerd was after Speedy J the second european techno producer to release on a Detroit techno label in the early 90’s), wanted to express his love for the magic Yamaha DX synth with a little tribute release… Planet F.M.D.X. part 1 and part 2.
Two versatile ep with tracks ranging from the beautiful melancholic Black Moon Voyage to fierce grooving Slam Jam. Where Part 1 rapidly sold out last year we’re happy to present you Planet FMDX part 2 on Clone Royal Oak.
Clone store 1997, in true ‘men you’ll never see’ style located in the upstairs backroom of the Urban Unit.Rotterdam, 1997… a regular wednesday in the small Clone Record store. Our imports shipment from the USA arrived… the highlight of the week!!! New releases that have been ordered from a fax list from the American distributors. In these days it was just phone calls and infosheets rolling from the faxmachine! New records from Detroit, New York, Chicago that I ordered but never heard before. Labels and artists that were unknown… just trusting your gut feeling while reading the description on the fax list and seeing the artist name and track titles. It felt like gambling with scratchcards… hit or miss! This shipment had a bunch of records that looked kinda obscure inbetween the many NY house records and harder acid and techno listed. The names looked cool so I ordered some copies… “Cybonix – Cybonix in Effect”, “DJ Assault – Tec De France” on D-bass Records, “D.I.E. – The Men You’ll Never See” were listed with restocks of old Incognito titles such as Tronikhouse… could be something nice!?
About 5 copies of each title arrived… I broke the seal on my baggy Stussy pants, put the needle on… and there it goes Boom Pack, Boom Boom Pack, Boom Pack, Boom Boom Pack… That’s the shit… That’s some energy going on right here…wait… what’s that?? A guy with a mic?? Bang, that quirky sharp bassline drops…. wooowww!!! “To all the people in the house, I’ve got two things to say and that’s… Get Up!” Crazy stuff… I like it! Flipping over to the other side… Cosmic Cars vibes… killer! These guys knew their classics, it sounded like a cover version of Cybotron’s Cosmic Cars???! I could tell from the music… I like these guys!. Ok… Last tune… Deep Space Detroit Techno Electro… I got all exited. This is the shit!!! This whole record is gold! “Driving in my car… Making techno tracks… People try to stop me… But I keep on going because I’m the man you’ll never see!” Goose bumps!!! That’s us… The Men You’ll Never See… just a bunch of freaks making techno tracks, playing them in the car with friends, at small parties hosted by ourselves or even imaginary parties in our bedroom. Not looking for fame or trying to make shitloads of money. We preferred music from DIY labels and anonymous producers… let the music do the talking… as pure as it could be! “We’re The Men You’ll Never see” that’s our vibe and D.I.E. made the perfect theme to that vibe!
The regulars came in for their thursday and friday round of record shopping looking for the latest techno and house imports, the latest bangers for their regular dj gigs at the local clubs. Sure, no worries… I got their back! No shortage of good records from all over the place in my little recordstore! Axis, Kanzleramt, Prescription, 7th city, Strictly Rhythm, Soul City, UR etc. etc.
I did put a small stack aside with these electro 12’s for the saturday morning when the out of town regulars from Alkmaar and The Hague plus the local guys with a day job came in; Pim Pametex, Electronome, Edo8, Cosmic Force, I-f, Duplex etc.
Everything sold out after a couple days… I had work to do. I needed restocks so I started faxing to the number on the records. Long story short… a longtime friendship was started and we did a remix ep on Clone Records with killer remixes by Adult. I-f and Electronome all going against the stream showing their love for Wave and Electro and delivering superb tracks.
Now it’s 2018… The world did change… Nobody is a man or woman you’ll never see… everyone’s got a camera in their hand and is a voyeur looking at other peoples lives. It’s all about seeing and being seen these days… Facebook and Instagram and their algorithms are setting the rules and often it seems that music is of secondary importance. But the music is still here… We are still here and we’re still making techno tracks. At the end the music is the only truth!
Needless to say it’s a proud moment to be able to offer 20 years after the initial release.., the official re-release of “The Men You’ll Never See – Part 1 and Part 2”
