Birmingham techno artist Anthony Child
has rapidly built a solid and, to a certain extent, innovative
catalog of minimal dancefloor techno since his Surgeon releases
began appearing in 1991. Compared favorably with Detroit original
Jeff Mills from his earliest Downwards singles on forward,
Child's tracks have been a mainstay in the popular Motor City
DJ's sets. Although Surgeon releases have worked an increasing
affectation for acid and trance, an economy of sound and basic
hardness combine his and Mills' sound. A noted and increasingly
popular DJ himself, Child grokked his skills from hip-hop
and electro jocks ("Tour de France" is a mainstay
of his DJ sets), filling out his style with a driving toughness
and appreciation for rapid cutting and flipping. Surgeon's
entry into production was also noteworthy; urged on by producer
Mick Harris (Child is a fan of Harris' Scorn project), the
former Napalm Death drummer locked Child in his tiny studio,
imploring him to "go mad." The result, the self-titled
debut EP, was released on Downwards, and was instantly hailed
as some of the highest quality U.K. techno of its time. Releases
for Soma, Blueprint, Ideal Trax, and the ultra-exclusive Tresor
label followed, with the debut LP, Basic Tonal Vocabulary,
appearing on Tresor in 1997. Balance followed in 1998, as
did Force & Form in 1999.
More recent additions to his repertoire include releases
on his Counterbalance imprint as well as collaborations with
Regis as British Murder Boys, resulting in tracks which take
a tone far darker, denser, and more industrial than those
from his Tresor years.
Equally influenced by early electro-pop innovators like Tomita
and YMO, experimental groups like Can, Faust, and Suicide,
and the tough grit of American electro and techno (Robert
Hood, Hashim), Surgeon's mash-up is both straightforward and
subtly experimental. Further influences from Coil, Psychic
TV, and Whitehouse in recent works and DJ appearences do not
go unnoticed.
