(Liverpool) Alcatraz 1st Bday /Fri 20th Jan/Ruskin+Regis 3hr
------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.outlar.com/event.php?event=1758&name=Alcatraz1stBirthday!
ALCATRAZ 1ST BIRTHDAY!
FRIDAY 20TH JAN
@ THE CAVERN CLUB
MATHEW STREET
LIVERPOOL
10pm till 3am
James Ruskin and Regis aka O/V/R
3 HOUR SET !!
support from:
Bill Heckle
Mike Holmes
Binny
John Demonic
James Ruskin:
Growing up in London, James Ruskin comes from a background that first put him in touch with hip hop and electro and later with the emerging Detroit techno scenes. This inspired him to become a dj. in ’91 and venture into production with studio-partner Richard Polson by ’94. It wasn’t until ’96 though that he developed his own sound by building his own studio and starting Blueprint Records the home of his first true record -First Contact- under the name of Outline.
In the meantime James Ruskin was also travelling the world as a dj. From New York to Singapore and from Barcelona to a bi-monthly residency at Tresor in Berlin, he gathered a lot of information about music in different cultures and used them to further develop the sounds of his own imprint Blueprint. He also found a powerful connection with Oliver Ho with whom he made the second track on the label and still continues to work. As the reputation of Blueprint grew stronger, he delivered his first solo releases and appeared also elsewhere as remixer and co-producer.
It was his debut-album -Further Design- that propelled his status as one of the Uk techno scene leading lights. His records are played by the biggest names as Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke, Surgeon, Claude Young and many others. With his follow up in 2000 he ventures away from the Blueprint familiarity and creates a new project with it’s own identity. -Point2- serves its role on both the dancefloor and at home as a design for living: listenable blueprints for biography.
Regis:
Karl O'Connor AKA Regis is England's reigning heir to the throne of electronic incognito. Influences for his strictly regional tastes lie scattered mostly among the early UK pioneers Throbbing Gristle, Robert Rental, Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget and Wire with possibly even closer developmental ties to Germany's sonic movements via Einstürzende Neubauten, D.A.F. and Liason Dangereuses (feat. Chrislo Haas)
Working solely within Britain's arm of Industrial might and decay in the Birmingham borough of Halesowen, O'Connor and Peter Sutton (Female) launched Downwards Records in late 1993 with the debut Hostage (O'Connor/Sutton) and Surgeon releases to manic acclaim. Magnetic electronic thunder cut dark swathes through the big parties for the first time with O'Connor’s instantaneously recognizable black envelope of deep atmosphere and suffocating basslines. Skillfully keeping looped Industrial elements well within musical realms became O'Connor’s forté and reputation with the early "Montreal", "Application of Language" and "We Said No" twelve-inches. The worldwide reactions to his backcatalog triggered a renewed focus on serious UK Techno heralded by the Downwards imprint. Without being market-led, it was a fresh new statement and from raw talent, but most important for the sound was the unmistakable imprint of O'Connor’s hand in the art. In 1996, O'Connor’s progress reached crowning maturity with the Regis "Gymnastics" album/double-twelve-inch; the penultimate signature of his raw and dynamic edge. The sound was the uniqueness that he had been searching for which encapsulated and forged the cornerstone of both his and the label's identity. A deep-seated and vital root in the Birmingham Techno scene and sound, O'Connor’s hard minimal Techno is rife with subtle layers of complex textures, tones and loops. Although closely linked to the fiercely independent core of Downwards producers (Surgeon, Female, Portion Reform and Regis), Karl O'Connor's own sound and never-give-up DIY success has kept Downwards well-respected while in the limelight and more importantly, without getting burned by it.
In his characteristically unfailing dedication to music, O'Connor set up the Integrale Muzique distribution company in 1996 with partners Antonio Soares-vieira (Raoul Delgardo) and Peter Sutton. O'Connor captained the label with further album releases by Surgeon, Female, and Portion Reform while continuing to play live throughout Europe and America. A relatively"quiet" 1997 further stabilized Integrale and led up to the second Regis double-pack "Delivered Into the Hands of Indifference" (1998) and his first recordings for Tresor ("The Theme From Streetwalker" and "Guiltless") all of which displayed more subtle tone and texture usages within his still uncomprimising and equally unique, multi-layered production style.
"The myth is greater than what I've actually put out." - Regis (Magic Feet)
In addition to authoring a book about a Birmingham asylum ward, a new and progressively darker face of O'Connor's sound was reflected in his "Divine Ritual" and "Blood Into Gold" EP's (1999), both playing out ritualistic last rites in the final temple with tribal magic and chanting. Lifting the veil of mystique for 2000, O'Connor and Peter Sutton have recorded "Againstnature" in their first-ever album/double-pack outside of Downwards. Demarcating the return to their Industrial roots, the forge and the welding torch play much more significantly than traditional electronics as they are now known. Chaos with underlying structure more than "tracks".
The Downwards and O'Connor stronghouses continue to remain unmoved among the many fashions and backlashes. Those with the Understanding remain an almost secret society of devotees in the UK and abroad. Shirking conforming compromise and defying media darling status never sounded
