Wax Trax!: Ministry.

Somewhere between the hardcore and aggressive metal-infused industrial music Ministry became known for -- "N.W.O.," "Just One Fix," "Stigmata," and "Reload" are some of the tracks that come immediately to mind -- and the 1983 new wave oddity With Sympathy, which featured longtime provocateur and leader Al Jourgensen singing melodic pop songs with a feigned English accent (Ministry sprouted from Chicago, IL), they released a total of four 12" singles on the Wax Trax! label. Of these four, one of them spawned what would become, arguably, Ministry's most popular and well-known songs. I'm speaking, of course, of the single for "All Day" (WAX 007) -- the B-Side was "(Everyday) Is Halloween." I'm sure you've heard of it? Whilst Jourgensen despised With Sympathy (he famously referred to it as "an abortion of an album"), "All Day" was included in Ministry's 1986 followup, Twitch, which gave listeners a hint in what direction Jourgensen (along with new partner Paul Barker) would follow with 1988's The Land Of Rape And Honey.


But let's focus on "(Everyday Is) Halloween," shall we? Who can forget the intro and its steady drumbeat and drone-y synth, with those "bop ... bopbop's" in the background as Jourgensen (still in faux-English accent mode) sings, "Well I live with snakes and lizards and other things that go bump in the night"? I can't. It's admittedly a rather simple song -- existing in a realm between the banal and the extreme -- but you gotta admit, it's pretty fucking catchy. No Halloween celebration would be complete without this track being on the playlist; and we have Wax Trax! to thank for that. Happy Halloween from your friends at Second Drawer Up -- for those about to dress up, we salute you.

ministry

"(everyday is) halloween"

all day / (everyday is) halloween 12"

Wax Trax!: Front Line Assembly.

Choo choo, the Wax Trax! reminisce machine rolls along like a well-oiled EBM locomotive, spreading aggressive beats, growled vocals, and icy synths with the furiousness of an AK-47 spitting musical bullets. Welcome! Today I thought I'd head up north to Canadian soil and extend a hearty hello to the one and only Front Line Assembly. 


Hailing from lovely Vancouver, British Columbia, FLA began in 1985 when leader Bill Leeb, then a supporting musician for Skinny Puppy, decided to strike out on his own and assume more creative control as his own man. Having already learned the tricks of the trade with SP, he managed to wrangle up like-minded musicians who also preferred the darker underbelly of electronic music and industrial metal. After the releases of The Initial Command and State of Mind, they were picked up by Wax Trax!, who distributed their third album, the sublimely deranged and ferocious Corrosion (WAX 038). By this time, FLA consisted of Leeb, his good friend Rhys Fulber, and Michael Balch. Two more releases under Wax Trax!'s banner followed: 1988's Disorder and 1989's Gashed Senses & Crossfire. I would like to take the time to showcase a phenomenal track from GS&C; the one and only "Digital Tension Dementia."


My goodness, what an epic piece of industrial triumph we have here. Sonically, I'd have to say that "DTD" rests in an interesting spectrum of EBM geology, sporting the rhythmic beats of a Front 242 album with Leeb's antagonistic lyrics waxing philosophically about brutality, powerlessness, fear, and hopelessness with the spite and venom of Nivek Ogre. There's an inherent meanness present - but my god is it danceable, or what?


Check it out by all means. And turn up that there volume to get the full effect - let the force of this shit wash over you!

front line assembly

"digital tension dementia"

gashed senses & crossfire

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