Drexciya: Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller. Part 1: 1992-1998
Ten years ago, on 3 September 2002, James Stinson died. He was the man behind the mysterious electro/techno project from Detroit. Three programmes are dedicated to Drexciya and several other projects of Stinson to commemorate him.
Although Drexciya is considered to be part of the wave of ‘Detroit Techno’ of the nineties the music has more depth because of the strong science fiction and underwater themes which return in lyrics, sounds, track titles and artwork. This way they express a complex personal mythology of a ‘Drexciyan’ race of underwater inhabitants who descend from pregnant African slaves who were thrown overboard during their transatlantic deportation.
Next to Stinson Gerald Donald also had an important part in Drexciya. According to rumours also Underground Resistance frontman ‘Mad’ Mike Banks and members of the band Ultradyne were involved in the project.
Stinson chose to be out of the spotlights as much as possible. He never performed live, photos of him are scarce and little is known about his private life except that he had a job as a truck driver. The rare interviews he gave delivered just as many questions as were answered.
With the dead of Stinson Drexciya ended. Gerald Donald continued with his other projects like Dopplereffekt and Arpanet.
Part 1 of these series of programmes concentrates on the early years from 1992 till 1998. In this period the music which was released was raw, analog, dark and sometimes nostalgic. It was released on vinyl EPs on labels like Undergound Resistance, Submerge, Warp and Rephlex. Presently they can only be found at high collectors rates.
The Dutch Clone is currently working on releasing the remastered recordings on CD and vinyl under the name of "Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller". The first two parts (or four) have been released. Also some previously never released recordings can be found on these parts.
01. Bubble Metropolis (intro)
02. Davey Jones Locker
03. Dehydration
04. Aquatacizem
05. Danger Bay
06. Wavejumper
07. Lardossen Funk
08. Take Your Mind
09. Aqua Jujidsu
10. Hydro Theory
11. Positron Island
12. Anti Vapour Waves
13. Hi-Tide
14. Aquarazorda
15. Living on The Edge
mix & edits: DJ Zero One
from:
Drexciya – Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller I (Clone Classic Cuts C#CC022, 2011) [1,3,6,7,8,10,14]
Drexciya – Journey Of The Deep Sea Dweller II (Clone Classic Cuts C#CC023, 2012) [2,5,9,11,12,13]
UR – Interstellar Fugitives (Underground Resistance – URCD-045, 1998) [4]
Drexciya – The Unknown Aquazone (Submerge SVE-3, 1994) [15]
Part two of this series with music from the period 1999-2002 will be broadcasted on Wednesday 19 September. The third part will follow on 10 October.
