Dusted Down: Regis / Female – Againstnature

Brummie techno album landmark reissued by Tresor

Againstnature might be the perfect way to describe the musical philosophy of Carl O’Connor, better known as Regis. Scour the net for any insight into his personality, and the uninitiated might think him a cyborg. In 2008, when asked about the Bush-Obama presidential race, he said “politics is for people who can’t run their own lives”. Later, in an interview with FACT, he decried the term ‘underground’ as “complete nonsense… commerce alone decrees whether something is mainstream or relegated to the underground.”

At first glance, these statements might be thought robotic, ones that display an overt sense of self-reliance and reductionism. But a few years after the interview in which the claim against “politics” was made, Regis and his quieter partner in crime Female seemed to condense this philosophy into musical form, succeeding in demonstrating the good creative byproducts of such a staunch approach. 

‘Againstnature’ was first released in 2000, via the German label Tresor, who championed it as the quintessence of Birmingham’s techno scene. The ‘Birmingham sound’ didn’t share Detroit’s melodic snappiness, and rather crossed this American pummel with what Regis described as a “fractured pop sensibility”, influenced by the industrial scene that emerged from the North in the 1970s. It made sense; Birmingham’s economic roots really were ingrained in heavy industry, and while techno was taking off, local music journalist Kevin Rushton had been lauded as the UK’s main pusher of Detroit techno in the country, later founding the seminal techno label Network Records – one of the UK’s first. 

Despite all the praise, Regis and Female weren’t happy with the album. Already over a decade into their careers, they’d grown happily (and rightfully) used to complete creative control over their releases on their own label Downwards, and were surprised and angry to hear that Tresor had tinkered with the track order before release. The pair simmered for a decade, then upped their leverage – in 2010, they re-released ‘Againstnature’ as ‘Againstnature: 11 Reclaimed Fragments’ in their own Downwards turf, dashing the former track titles and replacing them with 11 untitled pieces. This was an act of subtle war against the Berlin institution. Some of the tracks remained untouched and in the same order as on the Tresor release. Others, found more towards the B-side, were completely new additions – including abstract post-punk field recordings and bursts of goosebump raising noise – after a subversive track re-ordering on the album’s latter half.

Now, the original ‘Againstnature’ is set for a ressue on Tresor, subtly reverting attention back to the first iteration of the album. Oddly, it’s been another decade. Perhaps even more oddly, Tresor have again reshuffled the tracklist – neither keeping the 2000 edition’s order intact, nor adhering to the purist wishes of the 2010 version. Instead, they’ve changed the album’s back end around again, and added an unreleased track, ‘Under Skin’, to the collection. Are Tresor clapping back? Could this be slow war? Our skeptical intuitions tell us this isn’t likely, but it’s fun to entertain the thought. While the label are quick to call attention to a “sonic changing of the guard”, they’re referencing the Birmingham sound, not any kind of attempt at usurping the original artists’ wishes. 

And to our ears, as ever with this enigmatic pair, the music still sounds relentless and murderous, but still clean and well-remastered (contrast to the grit caked over tracks by their Brummy techno-sibling, Surgeon). Sampled throughout – as on the eerie, kickless soundscape ‘Paralyzing’, or the womping, gusty pulses of ‘Meat’ – are the sounds of various industrial staples: arc welders, bubbling boilers, buzzing saws. All are glued together by what Female (Sutton) described as “exotic hypnotics”; repeating melodies and ambiences that sometimes crop up. Our favourite example of an “exotic hypnotic” has to be on ‘Guiltless’, which lets up into a subdued drone towards its end, revealing the industrial textures that would have otherwise belied the track unnoticeably. The very existence of ambient parts in such motorized music seems to beg the question… despite technology’s unstoppable march on, might I still find the time to meditate?

The scrape and hum of an implied factoryscape prevails across all 3 versions of the LP. But we must note that on this edition – continuing the industrial theme – you do get more clang for your forklift truck, as the formerly unreleased ‘Theme From Streetwalker’ has been added as the second to last piece. In our opinion, this neatly provides an ‘alternative prelude’ to a horrifying end, ‘Under Skin’ – which was preceded by ‘Guiltless’ on both other versions. A beautiful contrast to the rest of the album’s relentless pump, ‘Under Skin’ is like a dour movie soundtrack, replacing its intensity with a mournful, legato string montage. 

Matching the unstoppable personalities of those at the helm of the Birmingham scene, this version of Againstnature is similarly cantankerous. It’s made all the better by its awkward history of years-long revisions to the tracklist, and its lore of resultant, simmering feuds. And now, whether or not tensions have simmered, our first thought on hearing it is a pair of warring mechanical death-machines, fighting on behalf of Regis and Female in the blue corner, and Tresor in the red. And, whether you agree with Regis regarding politics or ‘the underground’, such comments do help to build a picture of such a bleak, aggressive brand of Birmingham techno. 

Jude Iago James