Date: Fri, 26 May 95 01:00:19 WET DST From: djwd@knoware.nl (DJ White Delight (U-TRAX)) Subject: SPASMS Press info PRESSRELEASE INFO Sp@sms - Fuzzy Logic DJAX-UP-CD10 SPASMS is 26-year old Arno Peeters, who discovered back in 1983 that his inability to play an instrument and his lack of musical training didn't necessarily mean he had to become an accountant. He gathered together tape-recorders, cassette-players, TV-sets, toys and basically everything else he could get his hands on and got to work. Influenced by people and bands such as Lauri Anderson, Brian Eno, Psychic TV, Coil and Kraftwerk, he used all kinds of sound to produce his first work. His 'tape music' soon received recognition from fellow fanatics at the Centre for Electronic Music (CEM) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Here his music was labeled 'avant garde'. He released two EP's and one CD on the Belgium Antler Subway-label under the name Voltage Control. These works contained a rare mixture of Acid, Body and New Beat. But soon afterwards, Arno discovered that these styles didn't reinvent themselves or kept evolving as he had hoped. So he turned away from this until then biggest love and started experimenting with Techno. He was delighted to discover an underground techno-scene which focused around the recordlabel Djax-Up-Beats. Peeters new work generated interest from Djax' leading lady Saskia Slegers. Together with Sander Friedeman, working as Random XS, he released two EP's on Djax from which the first became an instant classic, as was the first solo SPASMS record (Djax-Up-141). He went on to pursue this solo-career and released a second SPASMS album called 'RE Creation EP' (Djax-Up-185). The press labeled it an 'Ambient Techno'- project and it was far more experimental than the first and got a lot of favourable reviews. Undoubtedly the recently released double 'RE Volt EP' (Djax-Up-220) will also receive a lot of praise. His own succes and that of acts such as Aphex Twin made it clear to Arno that Ambient can be much more than background music only; it doesn't have to be politically correct, non-threatening Neo-Hippie stuff only, to be used for relaxation purposes. With that in mind he created FUZZY LOGIC: the first CD worthy of the term: Sociopathic Ambient. SP@SMS creates strange and incredible Soundscapes from which there is no escape; weird stuff is happening in Peeters' universe: conversations between stewardesses and long gone moviestars are just one of the many disorientating things the listener will encounter on FUZZY LOGIC. FUZZY LOGIC is a term derived from real life. Some washing-machines and copiers are equipped with it. It is also used in space travel technology and robotics. A fuzzy logic processor makes, more or less, its own decisions and is able to adapt to all kinds of circumstances. It is based on coincidence and seems to operate independant, randomly. The exact way it works remains -even today- unclear to modern science. Arno Peeters is the human equivalent of this strange phenomenon. He creates music by combining different sounds he picks up before and during the recording process. When this work is in progress, it doesn't seem to be making a lot of sense, but every little detail miraculously falls into place. In hindsight however, it becomes clear that each piece of music on the record was created in a logical manner. There is a pattern to be discovered in every single structure. But because Arno is unaware of this most of the time, he avoids predictability on this CD. FUZZY LOGIC does not sound 'conveniently depressed'. It's a personal statement against the media's hyped-up and over extensive coverage of Virtual Reality, Ambient, Internet, Computing etc. etc. First and foremost however, it is a CD that takes ambient music to a new level. A level where there is plenty of room for fear and desorientation. Enjoy Your Ride! O U T N O W: Sp@sms 'FUZZY LOGIC' CD 71:36 minutes Non Stop Label: Djax-Up-Beats CD10 Artist: Arno Peeters Discography: Tape TV - Historical Trilogy 3 x 60m. (LOR Tapes / Contact T.B.D. 1992) Voltage Control - Force D'inquisition EP (Antler Subway 1989) AS5015 EP Voltage Control - Antithesis EP (Antler Subway 1991) AS5044 EP Voltage Control - To an undefined public CD (Antler Subway 1991) AS5072 CD Random XS - Give Your Body EP (Djax-Up-Beats 1992) Djax-up 136 Random XS - Y.A.M. EP (Djax-Up-Beats 1993) Djax-up 176 Spasms - EP (Djax-Up-Beats 1992) Djax-up 141 Spasms - RE Creation EP (Djax-Up-Beats 1993) Djax-up 185 Spasms - RE Volt 2EP (Djax-Up-Beats 1995) Djax-up 220 Sp@sms - Fuzzy Logic CD (Djax-Up-Beats 1995) Djax-up CD10 Remixes/Production: Robert Armani - 'Invasion Remix' (Djax-Up-Beats 1993) Djax-up 177 Modulate - 'Modul8 EP' (SSR 1992) SSR 125 Rude 66 - CD/EP (Bunker 1993) Bunker 13/20 Paul Bishop - The Last Rung Of The Ladder EP (U-Trax 1994) 12 UTR BISH 1 No Remorse - CD [Hip Hop] (Djax 1996 - TO BE RELEASED) Other: Drome Tapes, AWAX, Tape TV, NPS/VPRO, CEM-Studio Inspirations: Coil, Lauri Anderson, Chris & Cosey, James Brown, Tackhead, Eliane Radigue, Carl Craig, Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, SPK, Kraftwerk, Model 500, Jon Hassel, Einsturzende Neubauten, Underground Resistance, Arvo Part, Psychic TV. Keywords to the CD: Science Fictional landscapes: lots of sounds/FX, sometimes in an industrial setting or hallucinative ambiance, but sometimes also sarcastic or even annoying. WARNING: please don't yoga, use drugs or even chill out on this one!! Techniques used: Brainmachines, Fractal Generators, Trigger-to-Sample, MIDI-to-CV/Gate,Harddisk Cut-Ups, Digital Multiplexing, Tape-scratching, Psycho Dynamics... Equipment: - Atari 1040STf with Cubase - Macintosh IIci 8/80/1GB SoundDesigner II and DECK 2.1 (Audiomedia) - Yamaha TX16W 12bit sampler - Yamaha DS55 4op FM synthesizer - Kawai 100F 1osc analogue synth - Crumar Bit One 2osc analogue synth - Korg MS20 2osc analogue synth - Roland SH101 1osc analogue synth - Korg MonoPoly 4osc analogue synth - TV-cuts, animal sounds, digital errors, kids-toys, chairs, intercoms and other decaying machines, - Yamaha EMP100 fx processor - Yamaha REV 7 fx processor - Yamaha REX 50 fx processor - Roland DEP-5 fx processor - Roland SBF-325 flanger - Ibanez HD1000 harmoniser/delay - Behringer EX3100 psycho-accoustic enhancer - Behringer SNR2000 dynamic noise-reducer - D&R compressor/limiters - Mixed on a D&R1500 series 16ch.-console, NAD 7220PE amplifier with Elipson 1402 monitoring and Anitech ZX3031N as nearfield and finally digitally mastered on a Sony DTC-1000ES. That's it, now try to score that CD, it's certainly worth the try (and keep the prozac within reach)! DJ WD.