Remastered & Reissued.

Before we were (separately) A Taut Line and one third of Hong Kong In The 60s, and (together) Greeen Linez – even before Matt started running club nights under the Diskotopia name - we recorded for a while as Sugoi Knight. After years of playing in bands together at school, and faltering attempts at producing electronic music on tape players in our bedrooms, in 2001 we went off to separate universities. Music was a way of dealing with our depression and disillusionment with student life – excited to strike out on our own, but surrounded by people we couldn't relate to at all.

Particular musical obsessions of the time were: synth-pop, mainly in its minimal early form (eg Suicide and DAF) and slightly later atmospheric incarnation (Depeche Mode and early Ministry); Andrew Weatherall's 2000 "9 O'Clock Drop" compilation and the universe of post-punk and industrial music this opened up to us; the American electro-rock band Trans Am, who Chris witnessed performing a mind-blowing live set in 2001; darkly homoerotic house music such as Frankie Knuckles and Adonis, that had fascinated us for years, but we were only now starting to "get"; the wave of weird, spooky techno and electro (best exemplified by Gerald Donald's various projects) that was brewing at the time.

Matt had also recently made his first visit to Japan - the start of an interest in the country and its culture that would eventually see him moving there permanently - and for the first time, we had access to a computer and software capable of recording and producing music. Ideas were formulated during late nights of listening and drinking in grotty student accommodation, and the tracks that resulted were mostly recorded during university holidays, using whatever semi-functioning bits of equipment we could get our hands on. The sound we produced was a strange hybrid of creepy atmospherics and warped tunefulness that, much like the music we’ve produced since, didn’t quite fit in anywhere. We even played a handful of live gigs - probably most notably supporting seminal psychedelic band The Telescopes in Cambridge – mainly because there didn’t seem to be many other ways to get our music out there at the time.

This was a while before the wide spread of high speed broadband and various other things that destroyed the music industry, and given how much Electroclash was blowing up at the time, we still entertained dreams of a full-time career in music. In this pre-Myspace era, independently sharing your music was a lot harder, so beyond friends and the few who saw us play live, not many people have heard these tracks. Revisiting them more than a decade later, they are obviously tied up with a lot of memories and emotions, but we think they still stand up on their own terms. The dream of earning a living solely from music didn't quite work out, but, of course, we're still at it, and it's great finally to be able to share our first "adult" musical project with the world.

リマスター＆リイシュー

A Taut Line と Hong Kong In The 60s のメンバーの１人としてそれぞれ、また Greeen Linez として一緒に活動する前、また Matt が Diskotopia としてイベントを始める前に Sugoi Knight 名義で録音された音源です。

2人は学校ではバンドを一緒に組み、ベッドルームで電子音楽をテーププレイヤーで作製。その後 2001年には別々の大学へ。音楽はいつも憂鬱で失望的な学生生活の中必要不可欠なものだった。独自の道へ踏み出し、まったく関わりがもてない人達に囲まれていた。

当時はまっていた音楽といえば、シンセポップ、 Suicide や DAF などの初期のミニマルの形、Depeche Mode や Ministry の始めの頃が持つ空気感、2000年にリリースされた Andrew Weatherall の 9 O'Clock Drop コンピレーション、ポストパンクの世界やインダストリアル音楽が僕たちを突き動かした。
また Chris が2001年アメリカのエレクトロロックバンド Trans Am の刺激的なライブセットを目の当たりにした事も一大事件だった。ちょっとダークなハウスミュージック、例えば Frankie Knuckles や Adonis は長年魅力的なものだったけれども、僕らが始めた物は"捉えたもの”、奇妙な波、不気味なテクノでもありエレクトロだった。この意味をわかりやすく例えると、Gerald Donald の様々なプロジェクトかな。

Matt はこの頃初めて日本へ訪れている。英国とはまったく異なる独特な国や文化に関心を持ち始めのちに日本へ住む事となるが、またコンピューターも発達し始め音楽を作製できたり、録音も可能なソフトウェアを駆使し始める。汚い学生寮で夜な夜な音楽を聞いたり、飲み明かしたりしてアイディアを練り、大学の長期休暇内で自分達が持っている機材を用いてレコーディングしていた。出来上がった音源は、薄気味悪い雰囲気で歪んだ旋律の美しさとの妙な掛け合わせなものだった。音楽を作り始めたその時からどこのシーンにも当てはまらない。少しライブをした事もあり、ケンブリッジの最も影響力のあるサイケデリックなバンド The Telescopes のサポートをした事もあった。

高速回線の普及、その他の要因が音楽業界に亀裂を入れる前の話であり、またエレクロトクラッシュ、例えば Gigolo Records がブームに渦巻く中僕らは音楽業界に希望を持って進む事が夢だった。Myspace が開始される前であったので、僕らの音楽を聞いた友人やライブを見てくれたお客さんのみ知る中、音源を広く知ってもらう事がなかなか難しかった。
今10年という時を超え再びこの音源を聞いて、当時の記憶や感情が込み上げてきた。僕らの夢はまだ完全に叶ってはいないけれども、だがまったく僕らの過去に持つ記憶や感情を知らない人にも十分楽しんでもらえると願う。