[Source: Tresor Berlin] In 1992 Jeff Mills, Mike Banks and Robert Hood – still known at that time as Underground Resistance – released what was probably the most futuristic album in modern electronic music: “X-102 discovers The Rings Of Saturn” (Tresor.004/UR), as part of their X-10… series. The tracks on X-102 were reduced to minimal levels, looping with a marginal BMP rate, spacey and sometimes entirely without beats. This was revolutionary: listeners had just become accustomed to the uncompromising Detroit techno sound that the three of them had produced so far. Thus on the way to Saturn they surpassed even themselves, if not a decade jump then at least 15 years ahead of their time.

The transition phase between former recording techniques and the computer age resounded on the album, and seemed as if it had been recorded with computers that had not yet been invented. In fact, the unconventional tracks resulted from a process of cutting up the taped material and then pasting together again. The album has not been available since the end of the last century and thus it’s become difficult for the new generation to appreciate the work. One also tends to forget that very little was known at that time about the second largest planet in our solar system.

Only since the Cassini/Huygen missions have we been able to gather images and awareness about Saturn, its moons, and the consistency of its rings. Jeff Mills’ fascination for the planet remained intact but to reanimate the project he had but one requirement: only together with Mike Banks. Until now this hasn’t been possible because since the 1990’s both co-founding members of UR have gone their separate musical ways.

But finally they’ve again joined forces to activate together their second Saturn mission. Indeed this alone makes “X-102 rediscovers The Rings Of Saturn” a milestone. But the innovators wouldn’t be such if they didn’t rediscover the tracks from the first mission (which therefore again indirectly involves Robert Hood) and on that base produce new, unreleased tracks reflecting their personal development and the knowledge gained through modern space research. 20 tracks of pure techno magic, a return to the interstellar probing that brings some of the original abstraction to skillful levels of contemporary electronic music. This is not old-meets-new: this is innovation restructured with masterly polishing – timeless. [- June 2008]

Underground Resistance

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