Jaymie Silk just dropped volume 2 of Reclaim the Music, his spontaneous summer all-hardware bangers. It’s hard-hitting oldschool techno, it’s got that 90s sound (especially thanks to a vintage compressor), and it also has explosions of percussion that are true to African roots. “909, 808, percussions, groove.” You should check his calls to activism, too.
The Paris-based artist has been an outspoken voice for independent music and putting soul back in techno and house. He’s also known from the Montréal scene — see Piknic Électronik — plus releases on Shall Not Fade, Boukan, He.She.They, Sous, !K7, and so on.
The anti-AI thing isn’t just an ideological stance. As numerous friends have been pointing out, AI-generated and AI-assisted music are taking over slots on places like Beatport — not just the library, but even the tops of the charts in some genres. (Full respect to editorial staff holding their own, but they don’t control the charts.)
This problem didn’t start with AI, either. We had the phenomenon of template-based techno in software before that — a combination of that and too-rigorously following YouTube tutorials was already generating music that sounded soulless and the same. And this has been driven by commercial demands: everything from social media profiles to gigs that demanded people look and sound safe, not weird or raw. It’s called “sell your soul” for a reason.
I don’t want to sell these two EPs short. Yes, they’re an antidote in production — first-gen AIRA TR-8 jackin’ away, MPC, live musicianship, vintage compressor making everything deliciously smashed. (Didn’t catch which compressor. I’m a fan of “Mackie mixer bus” or BOSS if you’re really lucky, but can check. Also, the one piece of hardware I always use – coffee.)
But crank these up, and they’re an antidote to our entire nightmare reality. “Transform Ur Mind,” indeed. Techno for resistance.
Speaking of which, while many people will know Jaymie Silk from his articulate, deserved rants on Instagram, if you go to his exquisitely well-organized Linktree page, there’s a full section of resources for anti-racist work. That has to involve real-world action and reading and finding other people. So this is a great place to start:
DONATE – for those with resources, or for even a few bucks for those who don’t
EDUCATE – covering injustice from Asian Americans to trans folks to tackling the history of slavery and “non-optical allyship” and a lot more.
SHOW UP – as with the other sections, covering multiple localities, USA and lots of other places.
Oh, also Jaymie/Calvin peeing on AI should be merch.
The house music release this month was also perfect. See, when I say I don’t like house music, it’s because you’re playing crap; I love this kind of house music.