The Wire 176. October 1998

Bites Noto Loop guru Thomas Ades X-rated operatics Chris Watson Recording angel Global Ear: Sado Island Biba Kopf hears the Kodo drummers beating up a storm on Japan's mystical island Harder! Faster! Louder! At the fringes of the global electronic network, a revolution is brewing, as the likes of V/VM, DJ Speedranch, Skam, Fat Cat and Matthew Harden launch a bloody campaign of digital disobedience. By Rob Young Toru Takemitsu Via his orchestral works, film soundtracks and experiments in musique concrete, the late Japanese composer brokered a new deal between alien music systems and technologies. Appreciation by David Toop. Tim Hodgkinson As a former member of Henry Cow, The Work and God, this multi-instrumentalist is one of the original legislators of avant rock. Now solo, his music is a rigorous celebration of sonic difference. By Julian Cowley Bernard Parmegiani it took a while for this french composer to overtake his mentor pierre Schaeffer, the inventor of musique concrete. Today his stunning electroacoustic music is reaching a whole new audience. By Rahma Khazam Ravi Coltrane What's it like being the heir to the kingdom of John Coltrane? Easy, says his saxophone playing son: it's not a burden it's a positive thing. By Howard Mandel Babylon Regained In 1960s New York, the films of jack Smith and Andy Warhol collided with the misc of Tony Conrad and The Velvet Underground, creating a fantasy world of sex 'n' drugs 'n' avant rock 'n' roll. By Ken Hollings Invisible Jukebox: Derrick May The legendary Detroit Techno pioneer tries to identify tracks by Herbie Hancock, Kraftwerk, Ice Cube, Funkadelic, A Guy Called Gerald, Depeche Mode and more