well. . .
Neglected Beats From Belgium By NEIL STRAUSS If you were asked to name your favorite musical style of the last quarter-century, you probably wouldn't mention Belgian new beat. The name itself smacks of trend marketing, as does that of the Belgian genre it grew out of, electronic body music. And, truth be told, new beat slipped through America faster than a broke student jumping a subway turnstile. The music was concocted in the days just before techno was exported from Detroit to Britain in the late 80's, when the electronic music white teenagers were dancing to was a mix of industrial, house, Eurodisco and new wave. New beat took all those pieces, smoothed out the edges and slowed it all down into cold yet sultry sequenced dance-floor anthems. advance this cause is DJ Hell's "Electronicbody-Housemusic" (React), a two-CD mix set. Years before the word electroclash ever came into use, DJ Hell (Helmut Geier), one of Munich's leading disc jockeys, formed a record company, International Deejay Gigolos. It has become one of the leading labels of its kind, releasing an array of retro-minded electro singles that walk the line between quality and kitsch (best represented on the compilation "American Gigolo Mix"). Taste and depth of knowledge are DJ Hell's fortes, amply shown on this mix set. The first CD focuses on house and electro, with pioneers like Derrick L. Carter and Bobby Konders mingling with acts who have newly arrived at dance via rock, like Mount Sims and The Juan MacLean. The second disc is the more interesting, looking back to the electronic body music of the 80's, which has dated remarkably well. Included are the lock-and-load rhythms of "Headhunter" and "Masterhit" from the Belgian industrial band Front 242 and the hammer-on-metal beat of "The Bog" by their fellow Belgians, Bigod 20. The early-80's minimal electro-soul of the German act Liaisons Dangereuses is also a nice surprise, along with the industrial dance music of Nitzer Ebb and Chris & Cosey. Finally, just to ensure that no 80's white club subculture goes neglected, DJ Hell caters to the Goth set with a remake of the Bauhaus song "Bela Lugosi's Dead."
