Underground Resistance

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Underground Resistance


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Origin = Detroit, Michigan, United States
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Years_active = 1989–present
Label = Underground Resistance, Somewhere In Detroit (SID)
Associated_acts = Drexciya, Marc Floyd, DJ Rolando, James Pennington, Blake Baxter, Chuck Gibson (Perception/Hi-techfunk) and Gerald Mitchell, DJ 3000, DJ Skurge, DJ Dex, DJ S2, The Vision, Buzz Goree, Suburban Knight, The Unknown Soldier, DJ Di'jital and Claude Young, Galaxy 2 Galaxy
URL = [http://www.undergroundresistance.com www.undergroundresistance.com]
Current_members = Mike Banks, DJ 3000, DJ Dex, DJ S2, The Vision, Buzz Goree, Suburban Knight, The Unknown Soldier, DJ Skurge
Past_members = Jeff Mills, Claude Young, Robert Hood, DJ Rolando

Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) is a musical collective from Detroit, Michigan, in the United States of America. They are the most militantly political example of modern Detroit Techno, with a grungy, four-track musical aesthetic and a strictly anti-mainstream business strategy. They have exerted their portion of Detroit Techno's cultural influence towards promoting political activism.

Begun in the late 1980s by Jeff Mills and "Mad" Mike Banks, UR related the aesthetics of early Detroit Techno to the complex social, political, and economic circumstances which followed on from Reagan-era inner-city economic recession, producing uncompromising music geared toward promoting awareness and facilitating political change. Later Robert "Noise" Hood joined the collective.

As with Public Enemy, there have been intimations that UR's subversively 'militant' approach to music was related to the activities of the Black Panthers in the 1970s, something Mills confirmed in an interview. ["All the black men you see in America today are the direct result of those actions: all the freedoms we have, as well as the restrictions, refer back to the government and the Black Panthers in the '70s," he said in that interview. "So we make music. We make music about who we are and where we’re from. Of course there are going to be links – that's why we had songs with titles like "Riot". Because that's indicative of the era we were born in, and the things we remember. As time goes on, naturally I think the messages will get further away from that. It's not a coincidence. There is a reason behind UR and Public Enemy and these people.” - "Jeff Mills Does Solo Flight", Andrez Bergen. "Daily Yomiuri", September 2006.]

Many of Underground Resistance's labelmate's early releases were the product of various experiments by Banks, Mills, and Hood, both solo and in collaboration, before Mills and Hood left the collective in 1992 to achieve international success as solo artists and DJs. Mike Banks continued to lead UR in the wake of the split, releasing EPs during the mid-1990s such as "Return of Acid Rain," "Message to the Majors," and "Galaxy to Galaxy" under the UR name, as well as 12-inches by increasingly renowned artists such as Drexciya.

UR tracks have occasionally been released on other labels (usually in what UR metaphorically describe as "reconnaissance" or "infiltration").

1998's "Interstellar Fugitives", the first full album credited to Underground Resistance, saw Mike Banks redefining the collective's sound as "High-Tech Funk", reflecting a shift in emphasis from hard, minimal club Techno to breakbeats, Electro and even occasionally Drum and Bass and down-tempo Hip-Hop. In 1999, newcomer DJ Rolando released UR's most commercially successful EP, "The Knights of The Jaguar".

In 2000, Kraftwerk released a remix single of their theme composed for the Expo 2000 in Hanover, featuring contributions from Rolando and Banks, making them two of only a handful of producers ever to be given the privilege of remixing Kraftwerk. From 2002 onwards, Kraftwerk's live shows featured the group performing UR's remixes compiled in the song now called "Planet of Visions".

Discography

* "Your Time Is Up"
* "Sonic"
* "The Final Frontier"
* "Waveform"
* "Nation 2 Nation"
* "The Prince Of Techno"
* "Living For The Night"
* "Gyroscopic"
* "Elimination"
* "Riot EP"
* "Nocturbulous Behavior"
* "Fuel For The Fire / Attend The Riot"
* "Sonic Destroyer"
* "G-Force "
* "UR015 Mad Mike / Octave One - Aztlan / DayStar Rising"
* "Living For The Night"
* "The Punisher"
* "The Fury"
* "M.I.A"
* "BX-A"
* "UR019.5 X-102 - Groundzero"
* "World 2 World"
* "Pirahna"
* "Crime Report"
* "Death Star"
* "Message To The Majors"
* "The Return of Acid Rain - The Storm Continues"
* "Galaxy 2 Galaxy"
* "Bubble Metropolis"
* "Black Moon Rising"
* "Acid Rain III"
* "Dark Energy"
* "Aquatic Attack"
* "Undetectable"
* "City Of Fear"
* "Electronic Warfare"
* "UR034 UR - Electronic Warfare the mixes"
* "The Aztec Mystic"
* "By Night"
* "The Return Of Drexciya"
* "Code Breaker"
* "I'm In"
* "Ambush"
* "Turning Point"
* "Condition Red EP"
* "Hardlife"
* "Interstellar Fugitives"
* "Antimatter Premium Unleaded / Frequency Snowstorm"
* "Speeding Like the Killer Bees"
* "Knights Of The Jaguar"
* "The Aztec Mystic Mix"
* "Hidden In Plainsight"

* "Don't You Want It"
* "UR 27R Venomous - The Toxin / The Charmer / Snake Talk"
* "Hi-Tech Jazz"
* "UR 31R Dark Paradise - Aurora / Black Strategy"
* "UR 040R UR - Analog Assassin / Subsonic Shadow"

* "Revenge Of The Jaguar"
* "Millennium To Millennium"
* "Inspiration / Transition"
* "URCD 3000-2 various mixed by DJ Rolando - Vibrations"

Remixes

* 1991 Digital Boy - "This Is Mutha F**ker!"
* 1991 The Reese Project - "Direct Me"
* 1992 Bass Probe - "Mind Experiments"
* 1992 Chez Damier - "Can You Feel It"
* 1992 Ingator II - "Skyscratch (Mano Mano)"
* 1992 Måuriziö - "Ploy"
* 1992 The Reese Project - "The Colour of Love"
* 1993 Seven Grand Housing Authority - "The Question"
* 1997 Rashid Salaam - "'D' Old Skool Dances"
* 2000 Kraftwerk - "Expo 2000"
* 2002 Model 600 - "Update"
* 2006 Depeche Mode - "People Are People"

References

* [http://www.discogs.com/label/Underground+Resistance Discogs entry.] . Retrieved September 8, 2006. (Searchable database of discographies.)

Footnotes

ee also

* List of record labels

External links

* [http://www.undergroundresistance.com/ The official "Underground Resistance" website]
* [http://www.thethingis.co.uk/index.php/2007/10/20/tti-speaks-to-underground-resistance/ Interview with "the thing is..." magazine]
* [http://www.hitechfunk.com/ Hitechfunk]