. 0 r. N0 j 0 0M The Michigan Daily - Weekend, 48 - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine -Thursday, January 27, 2000 Mysterious maestro Gillen succeeds on own turf, terms By Jason Birchmeier Daily Arts Writer As a close neighbor to Detroit, Ann Arbor has played a role in the evolution of the growing global techno music scene. In fact, one of the most important players in artisti- cally motivated electronic music resides here in our quiet college town. You may have heard his radio show, bought his records, seen his performances or even passed him on the street, probably never even real- izing the significance. If the name Brendan Gillen does- n't ring a bell, don't be surprised. In the faceless world of techno, it's the exception for names or faces to get much recognition. Instead, musical connoisseurs such as Gillen hide behind mythical aliases and commu- nicate to their audiences with circu- lar black vinyl records rather than with words or images. Speaking of communicating non- verbal concepts with vinyl records, Gillen specializes in this form of communication. From his home here in Ann Arbor, he ships many of these circular objects across the world through own personal record label, Interdimensional Transmissions. The name Gillen chose for his label should provide you with an idea about what plane of artistic thought he works on. If you want more examples of his knack for other- worldly audio compositions, consid- er some of the aliases he records as: Ectomorph, Flexitone and Audiohypnose. The man takes his work seriously and devotes a good portion of his every waking moment to electronic music. In addition to composing electronic music under multiple guises, the former University stu- dent releases other artists' music on Interdimensional Transmis-sions, distributes other independent elec tronic music labels such as *67 dis- tibution, hosts a Thursday night radio show on 88.3 FM WCBN, per- forms live in places as far away as Germany and remains a central fig- ure in the ever-evolving Detroit techno scene. Since its birth in the late '90s, Interdimensional Transmissions - which Gillen downplays as "a bou- tique label" - achieved immediate acclaim from the techno community and even mainstream publications such as Spin magazine. Catapulted into the spotlight by the internation- al success of I-F's "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass," Gillen first released a series of records before eventually releasing "From Beyond," which compiled many of the label's best tracks and artists on a CD. "I had no concept of how you make money in this business," Gillen confessed. "It wasn't some sort of major planned-out business thing. I was like 'Well, I'll release a record, and if it goes alright then I'll release another.' It was just like a test." This test came after Gillen took some of his music to Carl Craig - an iconic Detroit techno artist and CEO of Planet E Records - who liked "a lot of it, but didn't like all of it." It was after this experience that the man who calls himself Flexitone decided that "there was no better person to release the music" than himself. At the time Gillen was taking a break from the University and work- ing as a music buyer for Detroit's largest electronic music retailer. Record Time. "I didn't have a lot of capital at the time so I just did it myself," Gillen continued. "It hap- pened at this time that was weird in my life. I really didn't know what I wanted to do ... I felt like I was hearing the voices of the dead in my head, like voices of my ancestors trying to keep me on the right path to whatever your own personal bliss is - or whatever makes you really happy and fulfilled. These were the Interdimensional Transmissions." Gillen's early recordings as Flexitone and Ectomorph were influenced less by the legendary Detroit techno sounds of Richie Hawtin or Derrick May than the sound of the early '80s electro that he had heard as a young teenager. To this day, Gillen and his roster of artists ' on Interdimensional Transmissions have meshed old- school breakdancing-style electro sounds of Juan Atkins and Afrika Bambaataa with a slick, modern and intellectual aesthetic. ."Our approach to electro isn't what everyone else's corny ass approach is," Gillen proclaimed with little modesty. "The impetus for our music isn't like 'oh geez, what trendy thing could I do?' It was just music that I loved. The really cool parts of the genre never really fully developed because all these other things came along. Electro - when it was super interesting - was a cross between techno and hip-hop." Though Gillen feels a musical attraction to the city he grew up with, he chooses to live in Ann Arbor rather than Detroit. Some of the reasons he listed include "smart people," "trees," "new energy," the ability to "walk around on the streets," personal space and his involvement with WCBN, which he lists as "a really crucial reason." A former music director, Gillen (along with local DJ Carlos Souffront) currently hosts a Thursday night show from 10 P.M. until midnight. There the duo attempts to educate their listeners about the past, present and future of tc. Retro Recordings Mob's :Wrong' is so right By Jason Birchmoior IDAil Arts Writer Now that increasing numbers of listeners have discovered the syner- gistic genius of Moby's "Play" album, many may begin to search for the artist's previous albums. Originally released in 1995, Moby's "Everything Is Wrong" has proven Coutesy of lrterd'rnens-onal Transmissions Brendan Gilen, last of the independents, goes straight to work in this rare photo. electronic music. "It's got to be weird - for you because you're just now seeing shad- ows of what really happened," Gillen said in reference to his first-hand perspective on the genre's mysteri- ous evolution. "When you get inside things and see behind the myths, it's pretty funny. The story that's been told about techno is pretty far from what the story really is." Moby Everything is Wrong Elektra Released: 1995 to be a major turning point in the electronic music genre. 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Minimum age is 18 hoped for, the monolithic album laid the foundation for electronic music's ascent from the under- ground. Blending the underground sounds of techno, house and ambient with distort- ed guitars, verse-chorus-verse song structures and moral consciousness; Moby's major label debut was savagely loathed by electronic music purists at the time of its release. Yet even though Mobv became the scapegoat for the electronic music underground, "Evervthing Is Wrong" effectively func- tioned as an accessible, comprehensible and democratic introduction to electron- ic music for many listeners who didn't have the advantage of growing up in the pretentious underground scenes of Detroit or Chicago. Alienated from the artistic elitism of Detroit and the ecstasy-fueled rave scene of England, Moby's synergistic approach to "Everything Is Wrong" radiates with character. Songs such as "God Moving Over the Face of the Water" added ele- giac tranquility to Brian Eno's most cin- ematic ambient work. Juxtaposing these spiritual hymns were songs such as "Feeling So Real" that took the intensified tempo of England's rave anthems and funneled this ecstatic tone into an accessible verse-chorus-verse template. There were even a few ultra-polished cyberpunk rock songs to make rock listeners feel at home. Now that time has passed, "Everything Is Wrong" remains as bril- liant as ever, leaving America's new gen- cration of Fatboy Slim-bred electronic music listeners to eventually uncover the first crossover masterpiece of the genre. a Sir Anthony Hopkins lost much of his London home in a fire on Sunday, but not his Oscar. The resi- dence, which of late had been used mostly by Hopkins' estranged wife, caught ablaze when nobody was home. In fact, according to the Detroit Free Press, the London fire department only ascertained the townhouse was Hopkins' when the actor's Oscar statuette for "The Silence of the Lambs" was recov- ered. The whereabouts of Hopkins, who lives mostly in California, were not known at press time. Neither was the cause of the fire. 4 Arnold Schwarzenegger surprised approximately no one by selling his stake in the struggling Planet Hollywood restaurant and merchandis- ing chain. TVGuide.com reported the operation ceased to be under bankrupt- cy protection earlier in the week, and Schwarzenegger's announcement rapidly followed, indicating he wants to devote more energy to "various global and U.S. business interests." Music e Apparently booking the halftime show for the Super Bowl is harder than it used to be. The problem arose this year when Madonna pulled out of her scheduled headlining spot three weeks before the game. Organizers apparently struggled to replace the Material Girl, but ESPN.com reports they have done so. The replacement, to be broadcast to hundreds of millions worldwide, are none other than the Doobie Brothers. This week's underwhelming an- nouncement underlines the difficulty in lining up such a high-profile gig on short notice and came not a moment too soon for the game, which is this Sunday evening on ABC. Toni Braxton, Christina Aguilera, Tina Turner and Enrique Iglesias are still scheduled to perform as well. It is unclear which of these artists will be the new headliner, since presumably it Television 4 An era has ended at the Fox televi- sion network. Executives confirmed this week the mounting rumors and disclosed the upcoming cancellation of "Beverly Hills, 90210." The show's creators will be able to prepare for their narrative to wrap up, presumably with a two-hour- long special for the May sweeps. The network's first major dramatic hit, "90210" symbolized Fox's self-iden- tification as the "youth network." The youthful marketing and casting skew of Fox's prime-time lineup gave it a reason to exist in its infancy, when the idea of a fourth major network seemed ludicrous. No longer the teen craze it once was, "90210's" ratings had gradually eroded for years, despite (if not because of) repeated cast shakeups. Fox also announced the cancellation of "Party of Five" at the end of the year. Once considered the successor to "90210's" mantle at Fox, the parentless family drama dropped off the radar when Jennifer Love Hewitt departed for her own spinoff show. The decision was crit- icized, since Hewitt had already become the most recognized member of the cast. + David Letterman continues to recu- perate from quintuple bypass heart surgery, but the fate of his "Late Show" in the meantime is in question. USA Today reports Regis Philbin, Ray Romano and Howard Stern have all sub- mitted themselves as candidates to replace Letterman during his convales- cence, but Letterman's contract gives him final say over the use of guest hosts. This clause makes CBS anxious, because they want to resolve the situa- tion with "Late Show" for the February sweeps. But there has no word from Letterman regarding any potential guest host and CBS continues to air reruns for the time being. Meanwhile, Letterman is aiming to return to work Feb. 14, weeks before he was originally projected to have recovered. -Compiled byJef Druchniak Top 10 Pop, (The nations best-selling 1. Carlos Santana, 2. Celine Dion, "All 3. DMX, "And Then 4. Various Artists, 5. Christina Aguiler 6. Jay-Z, "Vol. 3 ... 7. Dr. Dre, "2001" 8. Eiffel 65, "Euro 9. Backstreet Boys 10. Kid Rock, "De Top 10 Bool (The week's best-selling 1. "The Lion's Gar 2. "False Memory,. 3. "Timeline," Mid 4. "Atlantis Found, 5. "A Walk to Rem 6. 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