The most sublime electronic dance music I have ever heard is thumped, squeaked, rattled, squawked and blipped out by HYPNOBLOB. Hypnoblob is Ian Andrews, who is also a member of Subvertigo and one-time member of the Non Bossy Posse, as well as being a Clan Analogue member.
Those of you with a long background in the underground electronic music scene may also remember Ian's work from such fantastic acts and cassette recordings as 'The Horse He's Sick', 'Cut With Kitchen Knife', and LYMPH VIDEO product.
I have witnessed Hypnoblob weave an incredible range of sounds and styles into a pulsating throbbing funky mass of cut up, mangled, manipulated and electronic sonics that was truly the most advanced work in dance music anywhere on the planet. Make no mistake, Hypnoblob can easily be classified as 'difficult' listening, I am not talking kiddie-core or any commercial genre here. Hypnoblob have truly transcended most narrow notions of dance music genre. It’s ambient meets techno meets musique concrete meets rock meets cut-up meets hip-hop and dub reggae for an all in brawl!
Synthetic textures bounce off thumping rhythmic elements with crunchy bits. Add a dash of middle eastern pop music to some breakbeat and you've got the kernel of but *one* track. Some tracks are definitely very ambient, with a more of a dance floor bent, but with truly bent sounds layered in. One composition I had the privilege of hearing in Ian’s studio, is a brilliant mixture of a deep 808-ambient feel, with growling synth and very demented gated synth breakbeat. One cut reminded me of Portishead or Massive Attack, but with the added feeling that what we were actually witnessing was a soundtrack for a UFO anomaly. Another piece starts with an synthetic arpeggio, reminding me of say a System 7 ambient track, mutates with the introduction of a heavy dub rhythm section, but then quickly becomes a *virulent strain* by the time the rest of the rhythm section kicks in.
I have had a period when I despaired that electronic music had gone as far as it could with the dance quagmire. But Hypnoblob have shown there is at least one path on from this mess. Despite the lack of popular acclaim, Ian Andrews has been in the forefront of global electronic music for over a decade. Hypnoblob shows he is still the Master of Sonics. Hypnoblob have provided the most entertaining dance / dub / electronic / ambient set I have seen for long long while. If you get the chance to catch Hypnoblob in action, don't hesitate! Pure genius is always highly recommended!
Article by Scot Art
hypnoblob can be reached on iana@ebom.com.au