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Every once in a while artists and music lovers go back to their roots and styles that seemed to be forgotten pop up for a come-back. Techno and house music originated from the Electro and disco from the late 70's and early 80's and in the last few years these styles have become popular again.

Although Electro has always played a big part in a lot of techno since the beginning, it's really taking off (again) now. New labels like Music aus Strom and Isophlux have re-invented the styles and given a modern touch to it.

One of those people that re-invented the old style is Ed DMX and his DMX Krew. Ed DMX releases most of his albums on Aphex Twin's Rephlex label. The music they create is old styled electro with a lot of influences from the Italo and disco sounds of the early 80's. Some people may find it cheesy and old, but everybody must admit that after a song like "You can't hide your love" you forget your troubles and start tapping your feet to the reborn funky sounds of yesterday...

The albums The DMX Krew release are pretty different in their own way. Although they are all very much DMX Krew they all have their own sound. 'Sound of the street' for example is really old-style electro in the Electric Boogie tradition, while 'Ffressshh!' is more melodic and sounds more modern.

The DMX Krew - Sound of the street (Rephlex, CAT 029 LP)
The DMX Krew creates music that can best be described as retro synthpop with a dose of techno. The cheesy synth-sounds and lyrics are very pleasing to the ear and the utter funkyness of some of the songa makes the sound of the DMX Krew one of my favorite styles. This is the first full album and features lots of great electro tunes. If you like the early Kraftwerk and Africa Bambataa styled electro with funky breakbeats and analog synths with a 'poppy' sound then buy this record!

The DMX Krew - Ffressshh! (Rephlex, CAT 053 LP)
Compared to the DMX Krew's excellent first full album ("Sound of the street") this album is better in almost every aspect. It's songs are funkier, more streamlined, and more diverse. Highlights are a really amazing remix of the song "You can't hide your love" by none other than Aphex Twin, who did the impossible and made the song even funkier than the original, and a very retro C64-styled tune with some nice computersounds calles "SPACE PIRATE!". The best song in my opinion though is "Ready to roll" which features an incredibly cool and funky melody.

The DMX Krew - Nu Romantix (Rephlex, CAT 061 LP)
Why they called this an album instead of an EP beats me, it's only about 30 minutes long! But there are some things that make this album good enough for any DMX Krew fan alike. Take the first song for example: "Come to me". I can't emagine a more funky tune than this! This is one of the best songs I know from the DMX'ers. And on the B-side you will find another gem, a remix of the song "I'm all alone" by the highly talented Cylob! Although it's too short to be a real album, this is still required material for DMX Krew fans.

Singles, mini albums and EP's

In the tradition of many musicions, most of the music from The DMX Krew comes out in the form of EP's and mini-albums. Some of the best material can be found on these records. If you're not familiar with the DMX sound then I recommend you check out some of these little gems...

The DMX Krew - Cold rockin' with the Krew (Octopus recordings, OTPCD 010)
Another label, another style. These early tunes from the Krew (released in 1996) are quite different from the usual funky and uplifting records they released on Rephlex. It's all much darker, minimalistic electro in the old Detroit tradition. For a DMX Krew album it's pretty much below avarage, but as a general electro styled album it's worth a listen.

The DMX Krew - Breakin' 1 (BRK1)
This is the original first release on the DMX Krews label Breakin' Records. It's pure old style electro with goorvy basslines and breakbeats. It also features two mixes of the song 'Rock your body' with great cheesy lyrics and funky melodies. Hard to get, but well worth the trouble.

The DMX Krew - You can't hide your love EP (Rephlex, CAT 047 EP)
This is one of the best records the DMX Krew has made. The title song is a great synthipop styled song with a nice singer and very funky melodies. My favorite is "Inside out (Swing mix) [81 bpm's]". This tune is a laid-back, easy tune with a very good melody and nice cheesy lyrics ("You got me inside out. O girl you're making me so mad."). If you buy one DMX Krew record, make sure it's this one!

The DMX Krew - You can't hide your love Remixes (Rephlex, CAT 047 CDX)
Well, obviously these remixes are from the songs of 'You can't hide your love'. The remixes are made by the DMX Krew themselves. The songs are pretty good, and in my opinion they are even better than the originals. The remix of 'We've got the funk' is one of the best DMX Krew songs ever and features a very cool vocal! A must buy for the fans!

he DMX Krew - 17 ways to break my heart EP (Rephlex, CAT 017 EP)
This is another EP from the Krew. It's the same quality DMX Krew electro-pop with cool synths and some nice lyrics. Especially the two last songs ("Good Ol' Daze" and "Syztem Shokk") are very good and well worth a listen.

The DMX Krew - Showroom dummies (Gigolo 12)
This album on some abscure German record label features remixes of songs by Krafwerk. I must say that I think this is not one of the better offerings from the Krew. The songs are a bit boring and miss the funk that is in their other records. It is still a nice release and the songs are still pretty good, but for a DMX Krew record this is a bit below avarage.

The DMX Krew - Adrenalin Flow (Rephlex, CAT 072)
This is just another DMX record. This does not mean it's bad at all, it's just nothing really special. It's still great music, don't get me wrong and I like it very much, but this record doesn't stand out of the crowd so to speak. Purely for the fans this one...

Remixes

The DMX Krew haven't really done many remixes, but the ones they did are very much worth you attention. They don't usually rebuild the songs completely, but they add that typical DMX funk to them and it usually works like a charm!

The Gentle People - Soundtracks for living, the remixes (Rephlex, CAT 063 EP)
The Gentle People have a very own style. It mixes easy tune influences with ambient and a touch of techno. These remixes from the album 'Soundtracks for living' are all very different in style. The remix of 'Groovin' With You' by The Gentle People themselves is very slow and very long and has that typical Gentle People Charm. The remix of 'Journey' by The DMX Krew is very different and much more electro styled. It's not the best I've heard of the DMX Krew, but it not a bad song at all! The best tune on this EP is the remix of 'Laurie's Theme' by Global Goon in association with Spider. This tune is also the freakiest of the album with some nice and strange beats and cool melodies. This EP is not essential, but if you have 'Soundtracks for living' then you'll probably want to buy this.

Cylob - Rewind (Rephlex, CAT 074)
Cylob has always stood for experiments and freaky tunes. On this single he makes his computer sing in a very cool way. The best song in my opinion is 'Rewind (DMX Krew version)'. Ed DMX has taken the original and made it very funky and added a few classical instruments in there too! Great stuff for anyone who's into the more freaky electro style.

Links

Rephlex Records
Most of DMX Krew's music is released on this record label. It's run by Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson Claridge and it's our favorite independent music label. They release music from many great artists like Cylob, AFX, D'Arcangelo, Bochum Welt, Leila and many, many more.The site has a very good Japanese Anime graphical style and features news, a discography, info on the artists and more.

This section of the page is still being worked on, more links to follow soon...

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teccie@fredscape.com

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