Bitstream

Bitstream are truly humble mastermind audio technicians who have quietly produced some of my favourite electronic records over the past 8 years. Their first release "Monolith" really stood out against the myriad of other electro artists at the time and luckily, they have kept up a consistant level of quality without succoming to the "lets release one record a week on a different label under a different alias" mentality. Fans of solid underground electronic music take note - Bitstream are a duo worthy of a place in your record collection.

I became hooked on the Bitstream sound the first time I heard their amazing "Spatial Lobe" track on a DJ mix. It took some time to identify the artist and then track down all of their records as some of the early releases are very difficult to find these days. It's worth it though. Some of their scarcer material on Signal and Pylon made it onto the "One Third Standard Lux" retrospective CD on Modern Love.

I think that one of the reasons that Bitstream have such a unique sound to their tracks is they rarely if ever use any of the "traditional" sounds that permeate the electro genre. Outside of their very early material (the first two releases on Signal) you seldom hear any tracks dominated by TR-808 sounds, for example. Synthesised bleeps and blurps take the place of hi-hats, snares and bass drums. Where other artists roll out the same stereotypical analogue electro riffs, synth patches and structures, Bitstream obviously take time and care to produce something intricate and different, that stands out from the crowd.

There's no element of haste in Bitstream's release schedule. While I'd love them to release a record every month, these guys are accomplished proponents of the "quality, not quantity" philosophy.