www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uOpk8NwFL8

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uk_viH4Unw

I am thrilled to announce that my Consumer vs. User album is out now and available on CD on California’s Phthalo:

http://www.phthalo.com/cat.php?cat=phth40

Phthalo has always been one of my favorite electronic music labels, and it is a priviledge to be on an imprint with faves of mine including Phthalocyanine, OST, Kit Clayton, Vladislav Delay, Massaccesi, Mimi + Boyd (ie Vapourspace and Punisher), Eight Frozen Modules (ie [a]pendics shuffle), Blectum From Blechdom, and many many more.

Consumer vs. User is rugged and rhythmic and raw, yet detailed and open and spacious, sort of like a distant cousin of my Sprung album–which was released on Bip-Hop and went on to be nominated for Album of the Year (Electronica) at the Canadian Independent Music Awards. There’s even DJ-friendly material on here, too (some straightforward, some more adventurous).

This album is mastered by Mark “Vapourspace” Gage, one of my early techno heroes, and features two collaborations with the USA’s Massaccesi and a remix of a track from the UK’s Tristan “Phonopsia” Watkins (a long-time 313-Detroit mailing-list member).

In part, the album is titled in a nod to I-F’s wonderful and inspirational Fucking Consumer album released in 1998 on Disko B. The album is dedicated to the memory of three whose artistry touched me
deeply: Aaliyah Haughton, Jose “Chep” Nunez, and James Stinson.

Here is what Phthalo’s Phthalocyanine writes about this album:
“Consumer vs. User is Andrew’s first appearance on Phthalo. It is a focused study, filling out unlikely accent schemes with abstract DSP techniques. The aesthetic is semi-derived from something reminiscent of classic Detroit minimal techno (I think of Terrence Dixon, Kevin Saunderson, and early Plus 8 stuff like the stark, controlled acid bass stabs of Heinrich Tillack AKA Sysex). I also however hear our label, Phthalo, embedded in this work, particularly references to the extensive exploration of heavily processed, raw, beaten-up drum machines given to us by O.S.T. (Chris Douglas) (e.g. Phthalo#09: O.S.T. Live @ Static) and Phthalocyanine (e.g. Phthalo#05: Phthalocyanine: Zacks e.p.) in the late 90′s. These ideas work here as the point of departure for a music that is meticulously arranged and much richer in variation than vernacular minimal techno, though much more ‘moderate’ than O.S.T.’s work. ”

Stay tuned for details on a remix contest that will involve remixing one of the tracks from Consumer vs. User. The best remixes will be released and there may even be some prizes.

You can hear one of the tracks from this album–an electro/idm-ish song–in the player on http://myspace.com/andrewduke