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Detroit disc-jockey Jeff Mills is a guru of techno's second generation,
founder of the Underground Resistance collective (with Robert Hood and
Mike Banks), who moved to New York in 1992.
The collaborations with Hood, such as
The Rings Of Saturn (1992), Atlantis (1993),
and Tranquilizer (Network, 1992), slowly defined the idea of
a stripped-down techno beat, led to
his lo-fi productions (The Punisher, Seawolf),
that peaked with Cycle 30 (Axis, 1994).
Mills' aesthetics coalesced in the experimental works titled
Waveform Transmission Vol 1 (1992), which contains the massive
Phase 4 and bends instrumental sounds to beats, and
Waveform Transmission Vol 3 (1994), which contains what are arguably
avantgarde compositions, The Extremist and Basic Human Design
(waveform transmission vol 2 was assigned to Robert Hood).
The EPs would be collected on Waveform Transmissions (Tresor, 1998).
X-103 Atlantis (Pow Wow, 1994) is a cycle of ambient-techno pieces dedicated to ancient myths.
Live At The Liquid Room Tokyo (React, 1996) documents his performances,
while The Other Day (React, 1997) collects rarities and
Purpose Maker (React, 1998) collects his singles permeated by
tribal beats (yet another direction).
Every Dog Has Its Day (Music Man, 2001) collects two namesake 2000 EPs
of "waveform transmissions".
Mills' career as a composer of soundtracks began with the one for
Fritz Lang's masterpiece Metropolis (Tresor, 2000), and continued
with the imaginary film Actual (Axis, 2002) and
Three Ages (2005)
From the 21st (Sony, 1999),
The Art Of Connecting (Nextera, 2000) and
Lifelike (Music Man, 2000) collect singles and unreleased tracks.
Time Machine (Tomorrow, 2001) is a multi-part symphony.
The Exhibitionist (React, 2004) is a (terrible) dj mix.
Blue Potential (Self, 2006) is a live album with a symphony orchestra.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Gianfranco Federico)
Il disc-jockey di Detroit Jeff Mills è un
guru della seconda generazione della techno, fondatore del collettivo
Underground Resistance (con Robert Hood e Mike Banks), che si trasferì a New
York nel 1992. Le collaborazioni con Hood, come The Rings Of Saturn (1992), Atlantis (1993) e Tranquilizer
(Network, 1992) definirono pian piano l’idea di un beat techno essenziale,
portato avanti dalle sue produzioni lo-fi (The Punisher, Seawolf), che
culminarono con Cycle 30 (Axis,
1994).
L’estetica di Mills confluì nei lavori
sperimentali intitolati Waveform Transmission Vol 1 (1992), che
contiene l’imponente Phase 4 e
lega insieme suoni strumentali e beat, e Waveform Transmission Vol 3 (1994),
che contiene quelle che sono probabilmente composizioni d’avanguardia, The
Extremist e Basic Human Design (Waveform Transmission Vol
2 fu accreditato a Robert Hood). Gli EP sarebbero stati raccolti su Waveform
Transmissions (Tresor, 1998).
X-103 Atlantis (Pow Wow, 1994) è un ciclo di brani ambient-techno dedicati ai miti
antichi.
Live At The Liquid Room Tokyo (React, 1996) documenta le sue performance,
mentre The Other Day (React, 1997) raccoglie rarità e Purpose
Maker (React, 1998) raccoglie i suoi singoli permeati da beat tribali
(un’ulteriore direzione). Every Dog Has Its Day (Music Man, 2001)
raccoglie due EP omonimi del 2000 di “trasmissioni in forma di onde”.
La carriera di Mills come compositore di
colonne sonore cominciò con quella per il capolavoro di Fritz Lang Metropolis (Tresor,
2000) e proseguì con il film immaginario Actual (Axis, 2002) e con Three
Ages (2005).
From the 21st (Sony, 1999), The Art Of
Connecting (Nextera, 2000) e Lifelike (Music Man, 2000)
raccolgono singoli e tracce inedite.
Time Machine (Tomorrow, 2001) è una sinfonia in più parti.
The Exhibitionist (React, 2004) è un (terribile) mix da dj.
Blue Potential (Self, 2006) è un
album dal vivo con un’orchestra sinfonica.
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