053. Hysteric Ego - Want Love [EGO 001]

Comparing this iconic house record, straight from the halcyon days of mid 90s Ibiza, to contemporary house music and the difference seems insurmountable. On the one hand you have real synthesizers short loops and samples, on the other huge risers, endless monolithic grooves, and increasingly complex automation channels all woven together on a DAW.

If all these divergent sounds and influences are to both be considered house music, we need a common denominator. Chords and melodies won't do, nor will production techniques; both of these get caught in the tidal shifts of technology, societal trends and the interests of capital. Intrinsically, the only single essential element to house music is the 4/4 electronic kick drum with a ride cymbal on the off beat. Even then, these rules are broken on numerous occasions.

Once these rules get broken consistently, the variations spawn into their own unique genre. In some cases, the differences become so profound and sounds so established they themselves develop into a parent genre such as Techno or Trance. As a genre they come with with their own rules; rules which become broken, and so evolution progresses.

This continues to the point where the end products seem so far removed from the point of origin there seems to be no semblance of continuity between them. Yet, without house, there is no Acid. Without house (and synthpop), there is no Techno. Without Techno, there is no Trance.

Indeed, with so many variations on the theme, and so little consistency between themes, we could easily head down the social constructionist route. House is nothing more than an unwritten agreement between DJs, dance floors and record producers; it is a temporally and socially specific sound.

House music is nothing more than what we are told house music should sound like at any given time. Perhaps this is true. Either way, Hysteric Ego – Want Love is a classic house record, one which should be selectively reintroduced to contemporary house dance floors.

Hysteric Ego - Want Love [EGO 001] by dcp84

Hysteric Ego – Want Love

[Ego : EGO 00]

(1996)

Discogs: £2.74

035. The Merry Thoughts - Psychocult

You really know when you’ve fallen for a genre when you start buying outside the cannon. Musos will generally be able to recognise the big hitters in any given popular style, but it’s only when you begin to fly under the radar that you start getting to the exciting stuff.

Enter The Merry Thoughts. Unmistakably, they are heavily modelled on the tried, tested and thoroughly approved Eldrichian industrial groove machine template. Arkham, the band’s front man even does a passable imitation of Von E’s vocals. This leaves us with the obvious problem; are the Merry Thoughts not just a blatant Sisters of Mercy clone?

I’ll let you decide, but keep in mind the following. Vision Thing, the most contemporary to Psychocult, is by far the worst of the three albums. The energy and vibrancy found in much of the Sisters’ back catalogue was only tapped to small degrees in comparison to its lineage. This lack of desire is certainly not a charge that can be levelled at The Merry Thoughts. In any case, we haven’t had a Sisters offering since 1993, is it really such a crime to head elsewhere when we can find something which is so sonically pleasing? Perhaps I’m being generous, but I’m inclined to say that here, imitation is the sincerest flattery.

Psychocult was the final album of a two album back catalogue, and had an all together darker, more cohesive sound than the first offering, yet still maintaining a pleasing balance between synth, guitar and esoteric lyricism. We Love To is by far and away the standout track; an up-tempo, dancefloor friendly bum shaker of a track.

The moral of this story? Never judge a book by its cover. Just because they wear black in excessive quantities doesn’t mean they can’t provide a monstrously danceable tune when they want to.

The Merry Thoughts - We Love To by dcp84

The Merry Thoughts – Psychocult
[Oblivion: SPV 085-61392]
(1996)

Discogs: €10.50