Surreal House Tracks

In trying to learn more about the history of electronic music, I've been doing something that, as a listener, I'm usually not comfortable doing--going through large quantities of music (relatively) quickly. I'm not a fan of this approach in general because it can seemingly lead to superficial engagement and understanding. But I've tried to avoid this problem by honing in on two (really one?) genres: Chicago house and Detroit techno from the mid-to-late 80s. Obviously, these scenes tend to get venerated a lot (mainly by European white guys) as being "where it all started"; the producers are "originators" and "pioneers", etc. And generally, it's true that some of the interest in listening to this music comes from identifying elements that would become important later on: "Acid Tracks" starting a never-ending stream of acid tracks, Derrick May's otherworldly string pads and contorting beats paving the way for ambient techno and IDM, etc.

But for the most part, when listening to old music, I think it makes more sense to focus on the musical elements and approaches that didn't start familiar trends or "make the jump" into the following eras, that still genuinely surprise you when you hear them. Otherwise, why would you actually listen to this stuff? (You might as well just read about Phuture in a Red Bull Music Academy article and listen to some more polished modern redux that got a 3.8 on Resident Advisor.) Anyways, one really compelling approach from this era that seems to have been lost to time is what in the title I call "surreal house"*. (Not the most creative name, I know...) The house tracks I have in mind can't be neatly summed up as either "warm/soulful" or "cold/futuristic" in their aesthetics, although they usually have elements of both. (I mention that distinction mainly because Reynolds uses it in the chapter of Energy Flash that inspired this post.) They tend to jutxapose off-putting / unsettling / "unmusical" sonic and compositional choices alongside brighter / more traditionally emotive / catchier / more pop-friendly choices. Usually these tracks don't feel overtly dystopian or "bad trip"-y, as might be said of many comparable 90s UK efforts. They just follow some internal logic, or lack thereof, that's suggestive of states of dreaming, sleep deprivation, etc. The point, though, is that these tracks evoke associated feelings (e.g. delirium, giddiness, acceptance of incongruity and oddness) when you listen to them. (Maybe I should call it "hypnagogic house", but I'm sure there are already some very talented musicians in Brooklyn or something using that as a descriptor for their work.)

*Not another reference to Derrick May though. His music tends to be too overtly sci-fi/futuristic to qualify. 

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Here are a few examples:

Reese - You're Mine

 

Kreem - Triangle of Love

X-Ray - Let's Go (A Mix)

The above tracks represent the apex of this feel, but it's not like I have any strict standards in mind. A big part of why I find this concept interesting is that there's a lot of gradation. Below are a few more that are a bit lower on the "sliding scale" (with notes, since it might not be as obvious why I think they qualify).

Motor City Techno Mob - Ready to Roll It

- the motif that comes in at 0:18 is pretty weird, especially the eerie higher frequency resonance(?)
- the vocals are strange (sonically and content-wise) but especially the dissonance building up really briefly after 4:03, and then whatever the hell is happening even more briefly around 4:26 (reminds me of Oneohtrix Point Never's Replica)

Kaos - Definition of Love (Master Reese Mix)

- the sound first appearing at 1:35 is somewhere between metal scrapping and a dinosaur call. wtf?

Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes -  Time To Express

- this generally has a sort of deranged quality right? hard to single out a specific moment though. maybe the garbled vocals at 3:06 are a good example

Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes - Goodbye Kiss

- the ridiculous manipulations of an emotive sample; the bass, flute, and stabs sound like they were recorded from an 80s sitcom. clearly the funniest track I've included

A few addenda:
- These are all really good

- Apparently all the examples I had in mind are from Detroit (and mostly from Kevin Saunderson, which is why he's the best). But I still feel like I've heard Chicago house tracks that would fit as well.

- My definition of this phenomenon is intentionally kind of vague, and could possibly seem more confusing after the examples (but hopefully not). If I had--at risk of being reductive--to pick out a defining formal quality of surreal house, I would probably say it's the use of weird samples in otherwise pop-influenced house / techno tracks. 

- That might raise the question of whether or not """"surreal house"""" is even a thing--or if I'm just noticing a byproduct of sampling / DJ culture in general. Obviously if you have tons of recorded sounds at your disposal it's going to lead to some whimsical choices. And to some extent, it probably is just that. But what I have in mind is definitely not, for example, some guy overdubbing his DJ name into 50s horror movie dialogue as a "hilarious" intro to his track, or sampling an anti-drug PSA in a rave track. It's very much an overarching compositional choice in that it affects how the whole track feels (for me at least), and is more enigmatic and artistic in nature that either of those examples--which are more goofy and superfluous add-ons to the actual music. Again, the important part is the feelings induced.

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While my knowledge of modern house / techno is pretty limited, it does seem to me like most modern producers seldom, if ever, operate on this wavelength. I don't mean to suggest that they are entirely unadventurous--but when they do throw in unusual sounds or compositional choices, they tend to do so in a more tempered, almost apologetic way. For example, Terrance Dixon's "The Switch" (released on a 2017 Tresor compilation, and labeled "the record's strangest and best track" by Resident Advisor) is built around a sample that's weirder than anything in many of the tracks above. But rather than use it as one element in a more varied whole, Dixon just loops and filters it for eight minutes, almost as if to say "look, I know you probably think this sound is ugly and weird, but if you just listen to it for a while it's actually pretty interesting". And for the record, I don't think that's an invalid approach; obviously more minimal, meditative tracks also have a deep history in techno and house.

Still though, I wish I could find some kind of modern equivalent to "surreal house". Until then, I'll have to agree with Ishkur (circa 200[?] ) that these kinds of tracks could be considered "proto" versions of more modern styles "in much the same way that dinosaurs are proto-birds. In other words, extinct long ago, and still much more interesting that anything current."