Quote from: Zeno Marx on April 14, 2024, 09:52:14 PMLove when people talk Winterkalte, Hands, Ant-Zen. I would imagine most of us in the US caught wind of Hands via Mr.Mantis/Malignant/Audio Drudge. The closest I ever got to that world on my own was maybe...maybe...reading Industrial Nation, but I know Malignant was my introduction.
Being into the electro-industrial club scene at the time (by that I mean labels like Metropolis/Off Beat/Zoth Ommog, not the more pure form of industrial), I first caught wind of it through Noisex's involvement with Wumpscut's label. It hit at the right time for me, as I was getting starting to get restless with the former sound and looking for something more out there. Its funny though, looking back, because nowadays Noisex just seems "meh" to me, but credit where its due, he opened the door to that world. There was a shop in Philadelphia where I lived at the time called Digital Underground that actually stocked a lot of imports, so I was able to find some Ant-Zen stuff there (albeit at exorbitant prices), so I was lucky to have easier access than most. There were a few people talking about the "power noise" sound on the old rec.music.industrial USENET group at the time as well. Converter was getting a lot of buzz due to Scott's previous involvement in the well regarded Pain Station project. I distinctly remember someone on there saying to go get the sheet metal packaging edition of "Shock Front" from some distro in Maryland called Malignant. And that's how I started ordering from Jason.
Incidentally, that first edition of "Shock Front" (
https://www.discogs.com/release/17769-Converter-Shock-Front) was such a revelation to me at the time, having only seen typical CD packaging and the occasional box set. Of course, I'd experience far more elaborate packaging and presentation as time went by, but that particular CD is still one of my favorites, just for how it takes the mundane jewel case and does so much more with it. Its the perfect encapsulation of what you get with that CD, and of S.alt's aesthetics with a typical Ant-Zen release in general, really. Simple and powerful.
Quote from: Zeno Marx on April 14, 2024, 09:52:14 PMBack then, Ant-Zen was one of the powerhouse labels, but does the noise/power-electronics community of today recognize that? The older folk know, but has it fractured away from noise enough, or for long enough now, that they're considered "over there" and not of interest?
I do think A-Z maybe fell out of the "noise zeitgeist" a bit, if only because the most well-known time for the label was when they got away from that and towards more rhythmic, beat-oriented material. Still, they were pretty damn important in their early years. Releases from Aube, Con-Dom, Law...they certainly should be mentioned.
A-Z's has sort of returned to those roots as of late. He put out all those Control CDs, and more recently material from Am Not and Grim among others, so they're (re)recognition should continue to grow.
