Wax Trax!: A Split - Second.

Wax Trax! Week (but is it really a week? Let's not cage it to a specific time period, shall we?) continues, and it's back to Belgium as we check in on A Split - Second, who recorded two albums with our favorite Chicago-based (and extinct) dance label: 1988's A Split - Second (WAX 50) and ... From The Inside (WAX 062), and 1989's The Colosseum Crash. 


Marc Ickx and Peter Bonne (who recorded under the nom de stage Chrismar Chayell) bring back some fond memories of clubland in the late 80's and early 90's with their aggressive yet still glossy form of electronic body music (which the Belgians are certainly quite good at - in fact, I think they invented that particular genre of music, truth be told). I remember way back in 1989, when I'd sneak out of my house (even under grounding!) and be picked up a block away by my friend and his old beat-up Volkswagen Bug to be taken to a roaming club known as Club X. Needless to say, a good sized chunk of the Wax Trax! collective were played on those freewheeling evenings (even having the occasional beer, feeling quite rebellious!), and A Split - Second was no exception.


Such precision with their heavy beats and practically pushy synths! Very polished, but still sporting an aggro attitude that got sweaty flesh out on that dirty wooden dancefloor and fucking moving. Hell, I feel like dancing right now! Anyway, here's a remix of "Flesh" that I found (from A Split - Second's 1991 Flesh Remixes EP) - the official video seems to have been cut quite short ... like, only two and a half minutes long!

a split - second

"flesh"

a split - second ep

 

And, I'd also like to play for you today their remix of "The Colosseum Crash," which was the last single released by them on the venerable Wax Trax! Label. In 1991, Peter Bonne began a side-project called Wasteland and, finding it to be more artistically pleasurable than A Split Second, called it quits on Mr Ickx - who now helms A Split - Second as a solo project. But for those halcyon days of 1988-1991, when A Split - Second was under the Wax Trax! banner; oh, how brightly they shone! Here's "The Colosseum Crash." Enjoy, my good friends, and keep dancing!

a split - second

"the colosseum crash"

the colosseum crash ep

Wax Trax!: Front 242.

Taking their name from a United Nations resolution asking (not very successfully, I must say) Israel to withdraw from the Palestine territories, Aschott, Belgium-based industrial juggernaut Front 242 pushed the boundaries of the electronic scene of the early 80's with a phenomenal output of such luminous LPs such as Geography (1982), No Comment (1984), Official Version (1987), and what was to be their biggest seller of all, Front By Front (1988). They were also amongst the first bands to have been signed to Wax Trax! Records, an independent label based out of Chicago, IL. 

Wax Trax!, which began its life as a small record shop in Denver, Colorado before moving to its location at 2449 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614, began to make the transition from shop to label with the release of Ministry's Cold Play 12" (WAX 003) and the licensing of Front 242's Endless Riddance EP (WAX 004) - becoming, in short order, the United States' leading source of intriguing and innovative industrial and electronic music. Bands such as My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Revolting Cocks, 1000 Homo DJ's, PIG, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, and Laibach joined the party, and a good time was had by all.

Sadly, Wax Trax! had to file for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and was subsequently purchased by New York-based label TVT Records. The two founders of Wax Trax!, Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, are both deceased now, as well - Nash from AIDS-related causes in 1995, and Flesher from pneumonia in January of this year, 2010.

So for the next few days, I will be devoting this blog to musicians, acts, singles, and concert performances from that venerable purveyor of delectable music, the one and only Wax Trax! Records! Enjoy.

I will begin with Front 242. I raise a glass of the finest Belgian beer in your general directions, Jean-Luc De Meyer, Daniel Bressanutti, Patrick Codenys, and Richard 23. Thank you for your contributions to the world of electronic music!

front 242

"masterhit parts 1 + 2"

official version

Video Disturbeo: Vive La Fête.

picture: last.fm

Vive La Fête. Long live the party! Who wants to party? We all want to party!

I love a cute couple. Who doesn't? And I especially adore cute couples who make music together, and make it well. Arising on a wave of 80's nostalgia, pretty legs, and clever songs about parties, lovemaking, and general bacchanalia, Ghent, Belgium-based Vive La Fête (the lovely Els Pynoo on vocals, and her handsome paramour Danny Mommens (bassist for Belgian band dEUS) on guitar) sprouted like a lovely confetti-strewn flower from that odd little country and, within a few short years, conquered the fashion world.

Let me tell you - their shit is wild. Fun, humorous, and unpredictable, you'll never really be able to figure out where they're going next. Is the music going to be rocking out with its cock out? Is it going to be smooth and aching, like the best fucking groove-heavy dubby shit you've heard? Is it going to be balls-to-the-walls techno?

Shit, you never know. The one constant, I believe, is that Els and Danny are in love - not only with each other, but with taking the best of what each has to offer and flying off it, creating a quasi-universe of great sounding confectionary aurism (yes that's not a word, thank you very much, but I just made it up. Get used to it).

So it almost pains me a little bit to debut Vive La Fête for a new little feature I'm going to be doing from time to time on this blog: "Video Disturbeo." In these snippets, I'll be showcasing videos that are just a little bit shocking; a little disturbing, even. There may be violence. There might be blood. There might even be - gasp! - sex. But I guaran-fucking-tee you: It will always be interesting!

So let's get cooking! From their 2003 album Nuit Blanche, here is the track "Noir Désir." In this clip, we get to see the slow, horrible descent of a beautiful girl into the world of drugs, thievery, and despair. It doesn't end well, needless to say. Still - the music! Such a great mixture of great synths with powerful rock-n-roll guitars provide a fitting soundtrack to such a depressing video. Els has some serious pipes on her as well - great screaming! Enjoy, my friendly readers. I adore you all.