house techno drum and bass
Test Press
Recently recovered, this b-side is a collection of 3 tracks that were made specifically for a live PA set at the Press Club of Windsor, in Ontario Canada put on by Logixhouse. While Clop is largely unmastered, Height and the Copa Cabana remix are well rounded, with Copa incorporating all kinds of warm vintage synths.
Milk Chocolate
A later album, the sound was an experiment with more organic sounds. Smooth and funky was more the goal. A lot of Rhodes and vintage analog synths, plus horns and slap ass bass.
Up
Up is a later release by Tao Groove. This period of intense attention to bass and beat came after the Unification event at Motor Lounge in Detroit. The event was just prior to the closing of Motor, so they atmosphere was relaxed and destructive. After cranking his booth monitor hotter than normal, the right booth monitor caught fire, and shortly thereafter, the whole right sub stack went out.
Live Performances (Detroit Techno)
Tao Groove live performances were rare. Mainly because he disliked public appearances, but also because of the extensive setup time an event required, as all live music was made uniquely for the event.
Warehouses Of Our Fathers
Warehouses of Our Fathers is an EP centered around hard driving techno. No bullshit, no pulled punches. It’s heavy and dirty and designed to be heard from the parking lot of an abandoned factory.
5 Miles Outside of Detroit
The 5th Tao Groove album. More of an EP. Departs somewhat from the previous release and explores more aggressive sounds. Goes into a more Detroit mode of heavy technology, but still keeps an organic feel that is absent from most Detroit techno sounds. The mood is less somber, but more unrelenting.
The Sully Rosenstein Experience
There is no description for this record. Totally unconnected. Fully Bizarro. Take it for what it is. We’re still at a loss for genre catagories for some of these tracks… Nutmonkeys On Racing Finish is an especially loved track.
The Babylon Experiment
The Babylon Experiment was a major evolution from the debut Tobey’s New Toy album. Harmonically there’s a lot of range change and overall the tracks start to get more meat on them. The spectrum spreads stylistically as well, with parts of the record tasting like bubblegum and parts like dog shit.
Pagoda
Another early Tao Groove record, released after NeoTribe. This maintains a pretty consistent and upbeat anthem vibe pretty much throughout. During it’s creation, Tao moved between San Francisco and South Miami Beach, both influences are obvious in the tracks.
Holy
The tracks from Holy are alot more ambient than other Tao tracks. There’s a haunted mystery to these selections. Melodies are left hanging in between wet sheets. Nothing is too direct, faint sadness pervades and few right angles to the drumwork make Holy distinctive.
Skematik For The Peoples
This EP is really a B-side collection that was scavenged from older tape clips and a work-in-progress archive. All of the tracks are relatively old, sparse and definitely quirky. It marked a step in Tao’s drum programming before many of the loose knocky beats were being made.
uxin
Loosely connected at the hilt. This entire record is a little discombobulated. The rhythms are chopped and the synth work is dirty and broken apart. There are only 3 tracks in this release, and they’re definitely speaker workouts.
Joe Normal
This release is more tangential into some drum experiments. Some of it is barebones and ugly, like Bump Original while other tracks are laid back and rubby.
Tobey’s New Toy
Tobey’s New Toy was Tao Groove’s debut release. This started out as a cassette tape so there’s not as much headroom, but it still sounds good for the garage sale equipment it was mixed down with… all four tracks of it.
When it was first burned to CD it was renamed The Little Fireman EP but we decided to keep it true to its mixtape name.
When it was first burned to CD it was renamed The Little Fireman EP but we decided to keep it true to its mixtape name.
