I am a relative newbie in New York's underground electronic scene. I received my introduction in the summer of 1995. The first electronic show I ever attended was an Orb show at Roseland Ballroom. Before that I had been listening to the works of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, the KLF, the Orb, Orbital and a few other more experimental artists.

When I moved into the city in the fall of of 95 I started attending more experimental and ambient shows. I frequented the Kitchen for their monthly electronic events, and a few small clubs and bars that had DJs spinning electronic music. As my CD collection expanded rapidly, I also discovered some of the more underground parties; those being thrown by Sound Lab, and RV Parks 12, 24 and 48 hour events as well as calm.com, an ambient event that was held monthly at alt.coffee.

Briefly, in the spring of 96 I started going to larger clubs, but quickly realized that I would not find the music, nor the atmosphere I was looking for there. I made a few trips down to Baltimore for the Cloud Watch parties. If you have never been to one, I will briefly describe it: 10 hours of amazing electronic music covering the entire spectrum from ambient/experimental such as Terre Thamelitz, the illbient music of DJ Spooky (both veterans of the NY scene) and a number of Baltimore DJs such as Love Grove, spinning everything from jungle to house.

The crown jewel of New York's summer of 96 scene must have been the Sound Lab, Anchorage of 96 party held in the anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge. The sheer size of the party and the amazing space really made this one an instant whiz, except for the fact that it reached capacity by midnight and even ticket holder were left waiting in the rain (literally). Once in side, the highlight, for me, was the ambient and experimental section. The soundscape was enhance by the vaulted brick ceilings. The same feature that enhanced the ambient music detracted from the break beats (uncontrollable echoes). The visual installations were also amazing. My one complaint is that about 80% of the people there (in my estimation) attended because of the Village Voice article that exposed Sound Lab and the underground to the mainstream ("alternative") crowd. These people really had no idea what to expect and made the vibe a little weird (not to mention the physical space they took up).

As far as underground goes, the scene stagnated last fall, just a bunch of bar parties, Space Dust, Amoeba, Abstrakt, Sound(e)scape (happened to be my party) and a number of others. Certainly nothing to blow your mind. There were a few amazing one shots, as well as flops (COMA at Roseland). I am in no position to tell you all about the good ones because I wasn't there. I do know that my friends Tom Stir, Masa, Neil Sonar and a few others were involved in a few great one-shots. Blakkat Sound threw a few interesting underground hard-core and electronic bashes in some Lower East Side squats. They were certainly...interesting.

A few weeks ago it looked like the spring was going to hold some amazing possibilities for electronic outlaw parties on the LES. However, inclement weather has been responsible for the postponement of Sky HI, an outdoor rooftop party with Blakkat sound, Space Dust and Amoeba crews as well as a number of other LES staples, we will see what the final lineup is for the party, now scheduled for May 24. The illegal demolition of the Fifth Street Squat also shattered hopes for some great Blakkat outlaws. Thank you Mayor Giuliani. I would like to thank his police force for shutting down a 24 hour RV PARK a few weeks ago that was to feature Kahn, Dr. Decent, Jamesan, WE and a few others. If you couldn't tell, I am being facetious. I have to give some definite props to Strange? and Mug a Yuppie, Devastating Soundworks and the Krypt for a great outlaw that happened on April 12 on the LES. The party featured Collin and Empath, both from Strange? NYC, who performed live hard-core and spun Goa trance. respectively. The line up also features DJ MC Think and DJ Bob from Chicago. Think spun some great hard-core-jungle while MC'ing over it live. This was the first time I had heard anything like it, and I must say it was amazing. Bob spun a Chicago House set that I missed, but heard it was good.

Amoeba pulled of another Eye to Eye party. This one employed ten turntables, five DJs spinning at any given time, and lasted over 6 hours. The line up hailed about 25 DJs from Amoeba, RV PARK, Soundscape Information Network, Temple Records, Strange?, Audio Damage Labs (Blakkat), Throb and Sound Lab. This is a recurring experiment in collaborative spinning that adds another set up (two more turntables) every time it happens (about once every 6 or 8 weeks.)

On April 27, Amoeba featured a four turntable event, the first two hours were very ambient (for real, no beats). This spacey experiment was conducted by Gorgoil (that's me) and Tom Stir (an Amoeba resident). We were then joined by Sheldon Drake who brought in some beats and then Masa (another Amoeba resident) who brought the sound to chillout/experimental/techno/jungle. This was a very enjoyable evening, to say the least.

Collin (Strange?) performed live in Tompkins Square Park at about 3:30pm for the annual squatter May Day festival. All I have to say is live hard-core techno outdoors, lots of squatters and intermittent thunder and rain.

The Spiral Tribe, the wandering European electronic festival, touched down and spread the vibe on May 3rd. The venue was an old bank in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Two floors of hard-core with some live PA including Collin from Strange?, who once again, did a fantastic job. If you couldn't tell, I really like his work. There were a few NY DJs: Satamile, JZ and Garthvader (the latter two of Blakkat) as well as Nickadeamus. Although the hard-core was good, there was no escape from the outrageous 25,000 watt (if they had it all going) sound system. The potential for visual art was poorly exploited (there were tons of white walls and vaulted ceilings but only one projector.) The crowd was as diverse as I have ever scene. Candy Ravers, Up Town Underground hard-core, Brooklyn Hard-core, LES Hard-core and electronic, NY squatters and the European contingent of Spiral Tribe were all representing. However, something just didn't click for me and a few others I spoke to. Oh well, you can't have it all. We'll see how the Tribe does next weekend.

Gregory Gorgoil

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