During
the nineties, Chris Dooks became a respected filmmaker in the
UK, thanks to his music documentaries, including a film on Scanner
man Robin Rimbaud for the South Bank Show. In 1999, Dooks developed
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, a debilitating disease affecting
energy levels and the nervous system. Bound to his Edinburgh
flat, with his film making activities on hold, Chris’s
computer became his lifeline with the outside world, and, as
he started working on some music, he also developed friendships
with a multitude of very different artists around the world.
Collaborations took shape, although Dooks never met he’s
musical partners, all work being done via exchange of MP3s,
on which Dooks would work when his health would allow. Social
Electrics collects some of these moments.
Despite the variety of collaborators present on this record,
Social Electrics is an incredibly intense and homogene
work. As collaborations alternate with solo efforts, it rapidly
becomes difficult to discern between internal and external inputs.
With elements of hip-hop, electro, field recordings or electronica
confronting each other, this album is dense, complex and challenging.
The tracks, very often made up of multiple elements juxtaposed,
are short, rarely going over the four minutes mark, and held
tightly together. Sounds come thick and fast, positioning themselves
in the anarchic structures. Elements of voices, at times lacerated,
plain at others, cohabite with bleeps, clicks, analogue noises
and abrasive sounds. Out of this chaos, melodies sometimes emerge,
and seem to bring some cohesion to the work. Dooks and his virtual
guests, including Janeck Schaefer, Matt Elliot, of The Third
Eye Foundation and Köhn, distort each other’s universe,
challenge each component, recycle ideas, manipulate, experiment,
and ultimately, create a most poetic symphony of promiscuous
atmospheres, precarious beats and sonic interferences. Amongst
the darkest and most uncomfortable moments of Social Electrics
are found in the broken vocals of Ether Works Part 1
or the digital terrorism of Homeostasis, while Sevumpteen
or Now We Are Light demonstrate a more human approach
to the same basic concept. In between these extremes, Dooks
and friends put their compositions through an incredibly intense
process, eliminating any unnecessary element, to work at the
core of the soundscapes, applying sharp and aggressive movie-like
montage techniques to underpin the bare essentials of this record.
To complement this release, No One Sees Black, a short
film Chris Dooks shot shotly before becoming sick.
Social Electrics takes an effervescent and refreshing
look at contemporary music, ignoring rules and concepts, transcending
genres and influences, to offer a disarmingly touching poetic
vision. Nothing comes between Dooks and his work, and this record
becomes a poignant symbol of a man in fighting. Social Electric
is the truly magnificent work of a man in love with life.
5/5 |
