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Fans of the Detroit electro sound are having a ball this year. Not only was there a new Drexciya album recently — Harnessed The Storm, on Tresor — the last twelve months have seen a steady flow of Drexciya-related projects: Transllusion (Supremat), Japanese Telecom (Intl. DeeJay Gigolos), The Other People Place (Warp). And now Arpanet surfaces.
The release of the Arpanet album officially has nothing to do with Drexciya nor Dopplereffekt (founded by a former Drexciya member — at least that's how the story goes). Virgin Records, the distributor for the Wireless Internet album, put a lot of effort into keeping the identity of the producer secret. Interviews were allowed, but only by email; and no questions about who produced the album and what he had been up to until now. But the fine print on the cover of the CD mentions Dataphysix HQ, the official Dopplereffekt music laboratory in Berlin.
Anyway, let's stick to the facts here. And one thing's for sure: If you dig the Dopplereffekt sound, you will certainly dig Arpanet. Illuminated Displays is a nice example of how Dopplereffekt took the original Kraftwerk sound a few steps further. The trademark Doppler sound effect is all over the track, and it all sounds like vintage Detroit electro from back in the old 808 days. Same goes for Wireframe Images, which is a bit reminiscent of the early Ectomorph output: wicked and evil electro.
But the Arpanet album is not only about music; it's also about wireless communication. Arpanet uses a vocoder voice to praise the I-mode phones, created by Japanese Telecom giant NTT DoCoCom. Thirty million Japanese already use these next-generation cell phones to connect themselves to the net. Arpanet believes Europeans and Americans will be wireless too in the near future, thus forming the ultimate means of communication: wireless Internet.
Why did you choose the name 'Arpanet'?
"It was the predecessor of the Internet. Most of the methods and technology
that we experience on the present day Internet was derived from this
research."
How would you describe the sound of Arpanet?
"Electronic."
Is Arpanet a one-album project, or is Arpanet here to stay?
"Depends on many factors. It would be inappropriate to speak on this
now."
Is anonimity important to you; and if so, why?
"Anonymity is not nearly as important as conceptual integrity. If you loose
this integrity, anonymous behaviour is irrelevant."
Electro, and especially so-called electropop, has become very fashionable
these days. Is that a blessing or a curse?
"People do what makes them satisfied and we should leave it at that."
The album is called Wireless Internet. What is, for you, the importance of
wireless communication?
"Man, by his very nature, desires mobility. This technology synchronizes
with his instinctual nature to be free."
Are modern (or wireless) communication technologies, like the Internet,
useful for you when making music?
"Well, in this case, it is primarily utilized for information:
human-to-human interfacing and research purposes. Laboratory work is a separate
issue."
I-F once said about the Internet that it's specifically important for
underground electro music, because its followers are pretty scarce and
geographically spread all over the world. Do you agree?
"It does not matter if it is agreed or disagreed upon. In principle, you
must fully support musical work to make it fullfill its task. Record executives,
in most cases, do not possess the necessary integrity to focus in on products of
substance, but only profitable items such as pop stars. If twenty million euro
were strategically placed in the promotional budget, you could make any music
work. You must remember the boy bands and girl groups are forced down your
throat by the media giants, fueled by record company donations."
What do you think of the following statement? "It's not the technology that
matters; It's the way people use it."
"All technology has limitations; that's why it has to be constantly
upgraded and eventually replaced when more efficient and flexible options
surface. This also applies to its human operators."
http://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/arpanet/arpanet/1730/
Meer Arpanet op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/arpanet
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