In any genre of music there is always a fine line between what is considered
underground and commercial. Audiophonik, a compilation from Imphobia Records,
dances on this line and seems to trip over it a couple times too. The first
four tracks stand strong on the underground side, as they are different and
not the generic techno that seems to be coming from all angels lately. Track
four, "giving tree: is where the CD starts to loose its grip. The track is a
generic club hit, the kind of dull cookie-cutter stuff that is being stamped 
out and not thought out. Tracks like this are the mainstream's favorite for a
month, only to disappear into the music netherworld. The CD showcases some great
talent like Sweden's Erik "Zodiak" Stridell, which keeps the CD afloat. Some
labels guarantee success with their artists and show consistency with them as
well, not the case with Imphobia, the label behind Audiophonik. Though this
CD is a great sample plate of what the label has to offer, second tastes of
each dish are not always welcome. 

----=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=--
In Tune
"audiophonik"  -- A Complete CD Review
By:  Coplan
----=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=--

-=- Introduction -=-

Let  me say this is not my typical review.  It isn't often that
I'm  asked to review a whole album. Fortunately, this isn't the
first  time  either, and I think I can make sense  of  it  all.
Darkness (Jeff) of Imphobia (aka Van Audenhove FJ), asked me to
review  this  album, and I am glad that he  thought  of  Static
Line.   Coordinated  by  Jeff and Dan Wright  (Pallbearer/Toxic
Zombies), the audiophonik album provides us with quite  a  nice
sampling of scene music.  Because of the nature of this review,
I  regret that Setec was not able to join us this month for  In
Tune (He's out skiing somewhere in Europe anyhow).

This isn't your typical Scene Album.

I  was quite surprised when I got my copy of the CD.  It  is  a
professionally mastered CD complete with cover art and  a  full
16  page  cover  booklet.   There are twelve  songs  by  twelve
different artists (all fairly well known I might add).  I won't
get  into too much details about statistics -- A press  release
appears  at  the  end  of this issue that will  give  you  more
information.

-=- The Disk -=-

When  I  review  albums, music disks and the like,  I  like  to
review the whole product.  That isn't very easy to do, however,
as I can very easily bore you with my words.  I also don't like
to  make general statements.  With that in mind, please realize
that  I  can  only go into so much detail with this  subjective
review.   If you're at all curious about the album, it's  worth
it to drop a few extra bucks to get this album.  If you want to
hear  some (brief) samples of the songs appearing on this disk,
you can jump on over to http://www.imphobia.org to listen.

Now, onto the good stuff -- 'cause this is what you care about.

-=- The Music -=-

Now,  without getting into the technicalities of what  kind  of
song  each  song is, I'm simply going to say that most  of  the
songs  on  this album have serious electronic influences.   The
first   track,  'Flow'  by  Moby  is  almost  ambient  in   its
presentation.   'Spectral Vision' by Rez is also  a  relatively
ambient/trance tune.  But those of you who have been  around  a
while  will definately notice that Rez hasn't escaped his chip-
tune  days.  Kudos  to the chip-tune style.  Looking  for  some
other  styles?   Don't worry, they exist  on  the  album.   For
example, 'Third Millenium' by Lluvia is a cross between  dance,
trance and breakbeat (actually, i'm listening to it now, and  I
am  trying  hard  not  to  dance).  'Space  Deliria'  seems  to
resemble  an  alternative rock song.  I will confess  that  the
only  song  on  the  album  that doesn't  strike  me  as  truly
electronic is 'Overture' by Jogeir (though some of the  samples
must be computer generated).

So,  for all you orchestral fanatics, I guess there might  only
be  one  song on the album that you'll like.  But,  for  anyone
else, this album has quite a bit to offer.  I like to think  of
this  album more of an unbiased view on the scene.   There's  a
little   bit   of  everything  on  here,  at  least  everything
representative of the scene.

[TRACK LISTING REMOVED]

-=- My Favorites -=-

Okay,  since I obviously can't review every single song on  the
album,  I'm   going to share with you my three  favourites  and
write  a  little  bit  about  each.  Since  this  is  almost  a
commercial album (the artists will receive  royalties), I don't
feel  guilty  ranking the songs.  This  is  a  first  in   this
column.

Third Favorite:  "Flow" - Fredric 'Moby' Motte.

This  is  the longest song on the album, by almost a  full  two
minutes.  The only reason I feel a need to point  that  out  is
because  it is the only drawback to the song:  I don't feel  it
needs  to  drag on quite so long.  Otherwise, it's an  original
tune that has definately earned a ranking on my list.  The song
has  a  definate ambient feel, but it has an incredible use  of
some common (and some not-so-common) breakbeats.  The strengths
of  this song lie mostly in the high pitched instruments.  Many
trackers use a lot of base -- which is fine, but many times  it
sounds   unbalanced.   Perhaps  this  is  a   result   of   the
professional mixing, but the song is incredibly well balanced.

Second   Favourite:   "Spectral  Vision"  -  Christophe   'Rez'
Resigne.

As  I  said earlier, this song has definate roots in the  chip-
tune era. Having entered the scene while the popularity of chip-
tunes  started to fade, I have always been drawn to  the  chip-
tune  songs.   There is a definate characteristic  about  them.
The  punchy base lines, the sine leads and of course the mellow
feel  to the entire song.  This is no exception.  Now,  how  do
you  make  the  feel of chip tunes better?   Simple,  add  real
drums, and atmospheric instruments in the background. Chip-tune
purists  will  disagree, but I feel this is an  incredible  mix
between  the chip-tunes of old and the modern requirements  for
quality samples.

Most Favourite:  "Overture" - Jogeir 'Jogeir' Liljedahl.

I'll admit it, I have a biased towards orchestral compositions.
The  instruments  might  not be entirely  orchestral,  but  the
structure  is  complete.   That's  not  to  say  I  don't  have
appreciation for the rest, but give me a flute and you can melt
my  outer  shell.  This is orchestral, this is  rock,  this  is
digital.  I think many people will agree - this is one  of  the
best songs on the album.

-=- Summary -=-

I think that Imphobia could be taking the scene in a favourable
direction  with this album.  That's a good thing.  I  would  be
telling an untruth if  I would tell you that I wasn't happy  to
be  asked  to review this album.   This album, in some  way  or
another, has allowed me to believe that the  scene is  still  a
happening  place.  Thank you Darkness, Imphobia  and   everyone
affiliated with this album.

Album Information:
Title:  audiophonik (CD)
Source:  http://www.imphobia.org

Review by Volker Tripp (aka Jester/Sanity aka Oddjob) published in "Back To The Roots", Germany. March 2000.

Audiophonik - Music For The Scene Generation

Audiophonik   -   Music   For  The  Scene   Generation   is   a
professionally   produced  CD,  holding  compositions   by   12
respected, well-known and skilled musicians from the (Amiga/PC)
demo- and game-scene. The participants include household-names,
such  as Moby, Bjorn Lynne, Scorpik, Lizardking and Jogeir.  My
first  impression  of  the  CD was its  outer  appearance:  the
artwork  contains high-quality computer-graphics and tastefully
chosen  colours.  It  looks  very homogenic.  Also,  there  are
profiles,  comments  and  pictures of  each  of  the  musicians
involved which I think is a nice idea for a compilation.

How  about  the  music? Well, all of the pieces  are  carefully
crafted,  they're differentiated and clean in sound.  No  doubt
all  of  the  people who donated music for Audiophonik  know  a
thing or two about using instruments to a striking effect. Most
of  the  composers have decided on a rather electronic sound  -
something  you'd  expect from computer  musicians,  no?  To  my
surprise,  some of the tunes were done with trackers like  Buzz
which  I  would not have guessed when listening to  the  music.
Others  are based on proper MIDI gear. The compositions are  as
diverse as the ones who created them. To my mind (and let's not
forget  that's  down to personal taste), the  most  outstanding
contributions are those by Moby, Vic, Zodiak and Scorpik.

Moby's  "Flow" is kind of remarkable because it's a break  from
his  classic  rock  tunes  - totally electronic  with  elements
building  up,  disappearing, recombining  and,  well,  flowing.
Vic's  "nr24"  would fit in well on any given Future  Sound  of
London or a more harmonious Aphex Twin album. The flanged drums
and  the  modulated  melody manage  to  create  a  mood-mix  of
euphoria and mystique which I'd classify as rather psychedelic.
Zodiak introduces some mellow guitar bits, combined with a laid-
back  beat.  The mood reminds me of stuff done by  the  English
electronica-act   Plaid  without  their  typical   breaks   and
distortions  - very relaxed, positive, dreamy and  chilled-out.
Finally, there's my fave tune of them all: "Cocoon" by Scorpik.
Very  ambient stuff that starts off with odd and mystic  sounds
floating  around,  slowly  building up  to  an  organic  whole.
Moodwise  it's  like  stepping through a strange  but  not  too
intimidating  dream. Sound and composition  work  together  for
mutual benefit.

What  these  four songs have plenty of, some of the others  are
lacking, though. Sometimes I'm not really sure what the mood of
the  tunes  actually is. It sounds like the  composers  weren't
aware  of  what they wanted to get across to the  listener.  As
well  as  all of the tunes are done technically, some  of  them
have too little atmosphere.

All  in  all,  this  CD is a must-have for anybody  considering
himself  a  "scener".  It's a good example  of  the  amount  of
creativity  and  diversity that there is in  the  scene.  Also,
there's  no major record-company behind it but people who  have
raised their own money and put forward an effort to show others
what  they  are  so  enthusiastic about. It has  been  done  by
sceners  for sceners. And what's more, Audiophonik demonstrates
really  well that the scene is an underground-culture with  its
own  styles  and  ideas, that has managed to  evolve  somewhere
beyond  the  lure  of  money  and mainstream.  Personally,  I'm
looking forward to hearing Audiophonik 2.

Volker Tripp (aka Jester aka Oddjob).

Imphobia group has returned to those golden years by luring some of the most famous scene musicians to a recording studio. Each has composed one of his best songs again in a professional environment. The Result is a CD filled with beautiful electronic music. The rhythms fly from aggressive techno to melodic ambient. Twelve artists are responsible for the 70 minute long fantastic journey. The CD is most likely the product from demoscene which a larger audiences can easily step into and enjoy. It's attraction is not limited only to computer users.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Electronic music is exceptionally popular among computer users.
Perhaps partly thanks to the fact that MODs, songs that are created
on the computer with a so called tracker program, that have recently 
become known to the general public in addition to the demoscene.

MODs became an important part of the history of home computing,
because countless people now had a chance to create music with their
own computers. The early 90's were a real golden age; back then, more
and more talented home musicians tapped out melodies for everyone's 
enjoyment.

The Imbhobia group has gone back to these golden years by inviting
a number of known scene musicians to a record studio. Each of them
has remade one of their most classic MODs in a pro environment. The
result is an album full of "ear-caressing" (A Finnish way of saying
something sounds nice) electronic music. The rhythms glide from
aggressive techno to melodic ambient atmospheres.

You can find out more about the CD at www.imphobia.org. MP3 
samples of the songs are downloadable. There is also an info pack
about the album on MBNet under the filename audhp_cd.zip.

 1. Omar Santana - Raver's Damnation - Moonshine - Big Beat/Breakbeat
 2. Blank & Jones - Cream (Paul van Dyk remix) - Kontor/Moonshine - Epic
Trance/Progressive House
 3. Bedrock - Heaven Scent - Bedrock - Epic Trance/Progressive House
 4. Breakbeat Era - Ultra Obscene - XL/1500 Records - Drum'n'Bass
 5. Richie Hawtin - Orange/Minus 1 & 2 - Minus/Mute - Techno
 6. DJ Rap - Good To Be Alive (Ganja Kru Remix) - Columbia - Drum'n'Bass
 7. WestBam - Sonic Empire - Mute - Elektro
 8. Deepsky - Stargazer (Retroactive Mix) - Fragrant - Epic
Trance/Progressive House
 9. Grantby - Grimble - Cup Of Tea - Trip Hop
 10. Gus Gus - Purple (Sasha v. The Light) - 4AD - Epic Trance/Progressive
House
 11. Pete Moss - You're On The Way - Earthtones - House
 12. DJ Dan presents Needle Damage - That Zipper Track (Needle Dubbage Mix)
- Moonshine - House/Breakz
 13. Aphrodite - Summer Breeze - V2/Gee Street - Drum'n'Bass
 14. El Mobo - Flow - Imphobia/Fusecon - IDM/Experimental        
 15. Ascention - Stasis - UG - Epic Trance
 17. X-Cabs - Neuro '99 (Electro Mix) - Hook - Epic Trance/Elektro
 18. Boards Of Canada - Happy Cycling - Warp - IDM/Trip Hop
 19. Ondar - Tuva Groove (Hani Remix) - F-111 - Deep House
 20. Agent Babylon - Liquid Loops - Astralwerks/Terraform - Breakbeat

Audiophonik is a great CD, no kidding. Despite the fact that most of the tunes in
there were produced using trackers only, you simply can't hear the difference.
The selection of artists as well as selection of their tunes perfectly fits into
its ambient mood. Listening this CD for one time only is like scratching the
surface. To get the most of it, you have to listen to this CD several times and
every time you will find something new there - guaranteed. Thumbs up - great job
Imphobia.

Rating: 9.0/10

AUDIOPHONIK music for the scene generation
a review by fred / calodox

Opening my mailbox, I find a package with some Belgian
stamps on it. Great! Audiophonik finally arrived. After the
scene collection CD-ROM's Dreams I and II, Imphobia strikes
back with a completely different project, an audio CD.

An audio CD ? In the MP3 generation, the adventure is big.
Darkness/Imphobia (Jeff Van Audenhove) and Pallbearer (Dan
Wright) decided to gather on one professional looking audio
CD some of the best scene musicians. The result is rather
impressive, 12 tracks, a really nice package (designed by
pl/Imphobia) and rather cheap... Don't hesitate to read the
Audiophonik advertisement by Darkness in this very issue !

The Audiophonik musical adventure is starting with a long
tune by Moby. Flow, that's the title of the track, is a
really nice electronic music. The samples sound distorted,
goaish, well.. how should I describe that, I'm not really
good at describing music, as it's finally something you
should feel by yourself. To sum up, I must say that I really
enjoy Flow, the rhythmic is great, sounds nice to hear. This
tune is also the one that mostly comes back in my head,
while thinking of Audiophonik.

Vic is taking the CD over after Moby with another rather
electronical music. This tune, being a bit more ambient than
the first one, is really well placed in the whole
arrangement. It's Vic's style, and you can only love it.

The third track is done by Rez. The track called Spectral
Vision sounds a bit more "trackerstyle" than the two first
ones. Some rather high pads are doing a nice flying melody,
the whole thing accompanied by some deeper leads, doing a
really pleasant to hear music.

Siren is doing the 4th track of Audiophonik, the style
doesn't really change compared to Rez' one. And there we
must say that the whole arrangement of the CD has been done
very professionally. The given tree is bit more rhythmic
than the previous tune, with some vocal samples adding some
colours to the whole composition.

Arriving at the 5th track, Jogeir is at once taking us in a
more ambient/new age music. At once, we find the classic
sounds of this pleasant to hear music style. Overture is a
really melodic music, with easy to recognize instruments,
the whole thing bringing nice emotions to the CD.

After one music legend, it's the turn of another one, with a
completely different rhythm, Lizardking is making you fly
around. Little monkey is a fast music, with a good rhythm,
making the listener jump from a branch to another like a
little monkey.

Zodiak calms you down with a slower tune, with lot of
acoustic samples. gate 99 is rather melodic, different from
the other tunes. Another musician, another style. The kind
of melting pot that makes the whole CD really interesting
and pleasant to listen to.

The 8th track is again a more electronic music done by
Necros. The listener is again pulled into the atmosphere of
the beginning of the CD. But suddenly, in the middle of the
track, the rhythm/sound is changing, making you again flying
in some of different ambiance.. Nothing to add there, the
whole CD arrangement is really well done. The electronic
atmosphere is increasing, there again.. it goes on. Pulse is
a very interesting track.

Entering into third millenium, we are first taken in a kind
of new age sounding seashore ambiance and quickly, you start
going up in the sky, with a fast and driving rhythmic. The
whole track has some "flying" parts. I can't describe them
differently. Parts where you seem to be there, alone,
without anything around you... it gives you an impression of
space, and the whole thing is rather emotional. Lluvia is
really playing well with the different sounds and rhythms to
make you feel her music... you are changing to another
millennium for 5 minutes.

C.C.Catch is taking you back into a more classic demostyle
tune. A mix of techno and new age tune. More melodic, with
nice samples. Ephemeral wanderer is a pleasant track, like
most of the track of Audiophonik.

After this melodic track, back to space deliria with
Dr.Awesome. Audiophonik really gathered legends. The tune is
like its title. Different from the others, electronic, space
opera.. well, difficult to name the style. The whole music
is rather powerful, bringing some emotional feelings in your
nerves. Well done.

Scorpik is closing the CD with a very ambient track. Really
melodic, calming you down. And really nicely closing the
Audiophonik adventure.

You got it, this audio CD is really worth belonging to your
record library. I must admit that I had first troubles
liking it. After having listened to it the first time, I
couldn't really come back to a track, like you generally
make when you listen to a CD. But after some plays, some
tunes come back to your mind, and you can't live without
them. Audiophonik isn't a CD like the others, there's no
commercial crap in it, it's really a CD for the scene
generation.

If you still don't have it, you should send your order form
before they run out of stock !

yours,
fred / calodox

23 December 1999

Look for songs from audiophonik to appear on the 24 hour internet techno radio station RadioValve in the weeks ahead. Those interested in knowing what songs appear can SEARCH the playlist at RadioValve based on artist, title, release, label, etc.

Brian Comerford, the Music Director at RadioValve, sent us the following e-mail today:

Gentlemen

Thank you very much for your submission to RadioValve.  I think 
"Audiophonik" is a very high quality product and will be pleased to 
incorporate it into our programming.  I'm very impressed with the sound 
quality, track selection, and the overall mood of the project.  There are 
some tracks in here that I'm sure will get enough airplay on our station 
that they'll end up reported in our CMJ Top 25 listing.  Great work!

18 December 1999

audiophonik finally got some airplay this week on the Radio Free Kansas Webcast. It's a weekly webcast and each artist featured stays up for the week to allow everyone a chance to be heard. You can check out the RFK broadcast at http://www.tafcommedia.net/audio/rfkswebcast.ram.

This webcast will be available at the above URL from the 18th thru the 25th of December 1999. Victor "Vic" Van Vlaardingen's nr24 is the featured song which appears just over seven minutes into the broadcast.

18 November 1999 -- Fusecon and Imphobia a.s.b.l. are proud to announce their first jointly produced audio CD entitled audiophonik.

audiophonik is an intelligent electronica music compilation containing songs from some of the world's best-known and respected computer demo and music scene musicians. Many of the songs contained on the audiophonik compilation were composed using a PC and specialized tracking software that allows the musician to utilize sampled instruments to produce an unusual form of electronic music.

Several of the musicians appearing on audiophonik are no longer active scene members but they have gone on to produce their own audio CD's as well as create music for various well-known computer games.

audiophonik (f-imp 0001) will be available through Fusecon, Imphobia a.s.b.l., and several other distributors on November 23rd for a suggested retail price of $13US.

The complete track listing is as follows:

 1. flow - Frederic "Moby" Motte (France)
 2. nr24 - Victor "Vic" Van Vlaardingen (Holland)
 3. spectral vision - Christophe "Rez" Resigne (France)
 4. the giving tree - Alexander "Siren" Brandon (USA)
 5. overture - Jogeir "Jogeir" Liljedahl (Norway)
 6. little monkey - Gustaf "Lizardking" Grefberg (Sweden)
 7. gate 99 (last call) - Erik "Zodiak" Stridell (Sweden)
 8. pulse - Andrew "Necros" Sega (USA)
 9. third millenium - Anne "Lluvia" Haessig (France)
10. ephemeral wanderer - Kenny "C.C.Catch" Chou (USA)
11. space deliria - Bjorn "Dr. Awesome" Lynne (England)
12. cocoon - Adam "Scorpik" Skorupa (Poland)

About Fusecon
Fusecon established itself in 1996 as a record and publication production company. The record division is dedicated to promoting computer demo scene music. audiophonik is Fusecon's first release. For more information contact Dan Wright at dmw@fusecon.com or visit www.fusecon.com.

About Imphobia a.s.b.l.
Imphobia a.s.b.l. is a non-profit company established in 1996 for producing scene related products. Prior to audiophonik, two scene CD-ROMs (Dreams: The demo scene archive, released in 1996, and Dreams Volume 2: The demo scene archive, released in 1998) were produced under the Imphobia a.s.b.l. label. For more information contact FJ van Audenhove at darkness@ping.be or visit www.imphobia.scene.org.

About the computer demo scene
The computer demo scene consists of programmers, artists, musicians, and enthusiasts who enjoy creating and/or being entertained by sound and computer graphic demonstration programs. These demos, as they are called, are much like music videos for the computer and are often created by people in their late teens to early twenties. For further information visit www.oldskool.org/demos/explained, www.scene.org, or www.scene-central.com.

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