Speedy J, aka Jochem Paap, is a cantankerous
type. Always shifting the boundaries, forever questioning
the norm, this Rotterdam producer has for over a decade now
produced some of the most startling electronic music to be
recorded in the last ten years. He was initially lauded as
a technocrat extrordinaire courtesy of his debut album releases
"G Spot" and "Ginger", both lessons in
fluid, functional techno. However, he quickly established
a reputation as the enfant terrible of the electronic scene
thanks to two albums of astonishing originality "Public
Energy No 1" and "A Shocking Hobby". Gone were
the smooth lines and sleek rhythms of yore, to be replaced
by brutal, yet strangely human, caustic beats that defied
convention and introduced new lexicons into the techno dictionary.
Returning with his latest album, "Loudboxer", he
has utilised his decade's worth of knowledge to produce a
harsh and direct album that is on first name terms with the
rhythms of the dancefloor.
Like many of his contemporaries, Paap found a route to where
he is today via the concurrent growth of both hip-hop and
electronic music in the early 1980s. An adolescent fixation
with the stark modernity of groups such as Kraftwerk and Depeche
Mode and their, at the time, idiosyncratic approaches to music
making created a sense of intrigue in the young Speedy J.
Armed only with a rudimentary understanding of the processes
of music making, he set about creating basic cut and paste
efforts looping sound backwards and forwards on antiquated
and outdated machinery.
Undeterred by the primitive nature of his work, by his early
teens in the mid ‘80s, he had notched up his first production
credit. Equally important at this early stage was his love
of hip-hop and its attendant DJ culture and he was soon to
garner an alias, courtesy of his ferocious DJing skills, that
would hang around for the rest of his career. Yet the catalyst
that would ultimately shape the next 15 years was a Dutch
pirate radio station, ‘Night Moves’, which introduced
Paap to the acid sound. Sensing his destiny, he began in earnest
a voyage of discovery which would ultimately see him proclaimed
as one of the leading lights in European techno and beyond.
Even while DJing, Paap often seemed more concerned with the
possibilities of sound rather than its fundamental function
to get people dancing. His inquisitive, scientific mind proved
to be ideally suited to his burgeoning interest in crafting
futuristic electronic music as he quickly mastered the finer
points of the armoury of equipment he was quickly amassing.
By the early ‘90s he was up and running and within a
couple of years had found refuge under the watchful eye of
Canadian Richie Hawtin and his then fledgling Plus 8 label.
Early output such as the legendary 'Pullover' single marked
Speedy out as an original, unique and highly talented individual
not afraid to challenge expectations and explore far beyond
the edge of the map.
Inevitably, an album was soon to follow. Released in 1993
on Warp Records via a licensing deal with Plus 8, "Ginger"
was a benchmark album. Cocooned in lush orchestration and
smooth gliding rhythms, it stood apart from its clanking,
abrasive contemporaries and pointed to a brighter future where
European techno would be free of its masculine obsessions
of speed and intensity. The follow up, "G Spot"
delved deeper and refined the Paap template of beautified
electronic music. However, he had reached a logical dead-end;
unable to explore further he took his amassed knowledge and
began a process of metamorphosis that would prove revelatory.
By 1997 Speedy J began to move the goalposts. Signing to
London based novamute in the same year, he set about forging
an album that would ultimately see him rightly proclaimed
as an alchemist of sound. Both "Ginger" and "G
Spot" may have been revolutionary at the time, yet Paap
ultimately sought the freedom to explore far beyond the rigid
confines of the 4/4 beat. novamute's liberal attitudes proved
fertile ground as set about recording what would become "Public
Energy No 1", his debut album for the label.
Recorded in his Rotterdam based home studio, it somehow falls
between Ornette Coleman, Kraftwerk, Otis Redding and The Swans.
Unrestrained, untethered, yet ultimately deeply soulful, the
album sees Paap assuming the role of the insane conductor
of a bunch of unruly machines let loose for an hour. Every
glitch and every mistake is captured as cold functionalism
gives way to a humanity so often absent in much electronic
music. Brutal, forceful and extreme it may be, yet within
lies a beating heart and warm refuge; its approach and disregard
of convention and form is almost jazz-like. Critical acclaim
followed with the UK press quick to praise the unique quality
of this stunning piece of work.
The next couple of years saw Paap explore the furthest musical
galaxies possible playing around the world at many major dance
festivals including Sonar and I Love Techno. Live shows proved
incendiary and soon he began to examine the role of electronic
music far beyond the dancefloor. He began working with Michael
Shamberg on the movie soundtrack to ‘Souvenir’,
joined forces with the Dutch Wind Ensemble on a televised
event, collaborated with Japanese visual artist Diazaburo
Harada and contributed to various television commercials.
Returning to the studio in 1999, the follow up to the revolutionary
"Public Energy No 1" was a more relaxed affair.
"A Shocking Hobby" was still as non- conformist
as its predecessor, yet its gentle ambient washes and often
mogadon pace proved a less intense experience. Far from a
dumbing down exercise, its Eno-esque moments are with hindsight
the logical conclusion to an exploration that took Paap far
beyond the chartered territories of electronic music and deep
into the unknown. After all, "Public Energy No 1"
had taken him so far out even well trained translators were
useless.
By the end of the last decade, like many explorers before,
Speedy J was faced with some tricky questions. He had navigated
far beyond where others had charted, and returned with a rich
knowledge of the unknown. Making an about turn he returned
to almost where he had begun revisiting the stark functionalism
of dancefloor orientated tunes with a new found knowledge
garnered from his far reaching musical voyages.Last year's
single release, 'Krekc', marked a return to basics. Harsh,
direct and ragingly hard, it was nonetheless a universe away
from his formative outings way back in the ‘90s. Recorded
entirely in his home studio in Rotterdam "Loudboxer"
is a startling return. Cold and brutal, Speedy utilises a
decade's worth of experience to produce an album of unrelenting
ferocity. An album in two parts, the opening six tracks, beginning
with 'Reenter' unfold around a central theme with each track
melding perfectly into its successor. Dense, deep and atmospheric,
the first half is reminiscent of Berlin sound scientists Basic
Channel. 'Inter Zil' is a logical half way house with its
dreamlike snatches of speech and washes of sound before the
mayhem of the second half begins with the petrifying 'Krekc'.
The final half sounds like a full blown riot, 'Krikc Live'
in particular is the sound of civil unrest put to music.
Without doubt "Loudboxer" is a more dancefloor
friendly outing, a trend he hopes to continue this year with
his pan-global live shows and collaborations with the likes
of Gert-Jan Bijl, Chris Liebing and George Issakidis, yet
rest assured, Speedy is still as far out as a space tourist
who's taken the wrong turn.
