Internal Empire | ||||
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![]() Original 1994 CD cover | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1994 | |||
Studio | M-Plant Studio, Detroit [1] | |||
Genre | Minimal techno | |||
Length | 49:20 | |||
Label |
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Producer | Robert Hood | |||
Robert Hood chronology | ||||
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Internal Empire is an album by American electronic musician Robert Hood. It was released in 1994 through Tresor, [2] as a follow-up to Minimal Nation , released in the same year. [3] The album showcases a further development on Hood's minimal sound, as well as departure from his collaborations with Underground Resistance. [4] Alongside Minimal Nation, the album is cited as one of the important works in minimal techno genre. [3] [5]
The album was reissued by Tresor in 2019, as a part of its 25th anniversary. [4] It was previously reissued by the label in 1998. [6] The label Minus takes its name from the namesake track from the record. [2]
On the album's recording, Hood stated that he was faced with the challenge of producing a follow-up to Minimal Nation; he subsequently cancelled his tour dates and recorded Internal Empire on his living studio. On the sound, he has stated: [7]
My intention was to create something distinctively different. Looking out my living room window in Detroit watching people go by gave me a new perspective. It made me look at the world within myself. And 25 years later I am still discovering. [7]
Previously, Hood also reported that he had embraced the minimal sound evidenced on the record and its companions innately, further adding that the "chordy, organistic, really stripped down minimal sound" was "natural for me [him]." [5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spectrum Culture | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic's John Bush stated that the record "defines his [Hood's] minimalist manifesto, with a conventional four-four beat underpinning series of skeletal machine effects." [6] Jake Cole of Spectrum Culture labeled the album as "perhaps the definitive moment of his [Hood's] career" and "watershed establishment of an electronic music so bare that it has ironically left enough space to explore, making it a still relevant subgenre." Cole also noted that "the sharper sonic clarity [of the record] only deepens one’s appreciation for the subtle density of Hood’s minimal sound." [3] Resident Advisor's Lee Smith described Internal Empire as "truly the first techno record that deserved to be called 'minimal'." [5]
Album credits as adapted from 1994 CD liner notes: [1]
Jeff Mills is an American DJ, record producer and composer. Thanks to his technical abilities as a DJ, Mills became known as The Wizard in the early to mid 1980s. In the late 1980s Mills founded the techno collective Underground Resistance with fellow Detroit techno producers 'Mad' Mike Banks and Robert Hood but left the group to pursue a career as a solo artist in the early 90s. Mills founded Axis Records in 1992. The label is based in Chicago, Illinois and is responsible for the release of much of his solo work.
Tresor is an underground techno nightclub in Berlin and a record label.
Richard "Richie" Hawtin is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. A three-time DJ Awards winner, he became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He became known for his recordings under the Plastikman and F.U.S.E. aliases. Under the latter, he released his debut album Dimension Intrusion (1993) as part of Warp's Artificial Intelligence series.
Basic Channel is a German music duo and record label, composed of Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin in 1993. The duo have also worked under other names, including Rhythm & Sound and Maurizio, and have founded offshoot label imprints such as Chain Reaction and Main Street. Their work in the 1990s is regarded as pioneering the minimal and dub techno subgenres.
Minimal techno is a minimalist subgenre of techno music. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition and understated development. Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detroit-based producers Robert Hood and Daniel Bell. By the early 2000s the term 'minimal' generally described a style of techno that was popularised in Germany by labels such as Kompakt, Perlon, and Richie Hawtin's M-nus, among others.
Filth is the debut studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1983 through Neutral Records, following the release of the band's self-titled debut EP in 1982. Though it did not receive much contemporary attention, Filth has since been recognized as ahead of its time and significant to heavy genres of music.
The Karl Hendricks Trio was an American rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. In the span of twelve years, they released seven albums, toured, and even played as a four-piece rock band. The band's latest album was 2012's The Adult Section. The most recent line-up included Jake Leger on drums and Corey Layman on bass. Hendricks contributed as singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Robert Hood is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister Of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often considered to be one of the founders of minimal techno. In 1994, Hood founded the minimal techno label M-Plant in Detroit.
Merciless is an EP released by industrial metal band Godflesh in 1994 through Earache and Columbia. In 1996, the EP was reissued along with the Selfless (1994) album as the compilation Selfless/Merciless.
Regis is a British techno musician and record label owner.
Zion Train are a British dub ensemble that formed in Oxford, 1988. They have consistently released music and toured from 1992 to present day. Their mix of reggae and dance music was a notable innovation in the early 1990s.
Michael Anthony Banks, better known as "Mad" Mike Banks, is an American record producer. He is the co-founder, along with Jeff Mills, of record label Underground Resistance and was a key player in the "second generation" of Detroit techno.
Stewart Walker is a US born electronic music producer who lives and works in Berlin. Walker's forté is live performance, a rarity in the world of beat-driven electronic music, and he is known for contributing to the development of minimal techno with his 1999 album Stabiles.
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music that is characterized by a repetitive beat which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set. The central rhythm is often in common time (4/4), while the tempo typically varies between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.
Waveform Transmission Vol. 2 is an album by American electronic musician and record producer Robert Hood, released under the alias The Vision. Issued in 1993 via Tresor record label, it is the second instalment of the Waveform Transmission series. Featuring a different style from Hood's future releases, the record attributes influences to his collective Underground Resistance and Jeff Mills.
Bureau B is an independent record label, music publisher and booking agency from Hamburg, Germany, founded in 2005 by Gunther Buskies as a sister label to Tapete Records. The label releases varieties of electronic, free-spirited music, with the spectrum ranging from pop to avant-garde. The label has amassed an extensive catalogue of reissues and new productions, including classics from the genre of electronic music in the 1970s and early 1980s popularly classified as Krautrock, alongside new recordings by such formative artists as Faust, Kreidler, Roedelius, Tietchens, Moebius.
Minimal Nation is an album by American electronic musician Robert Hood. Released in 1994 through Jeff Mills' Axis Records label, it is considered a landmark release in the techno genre and one of the minimal techno's key founding documents.
Terrence Dixon, also known under the alias Population One, is an American techno producer and dj based in Detroit, Michigan. He is known for his minimal techno sound. He has released on numerous record labels including Tresor and Metroplex. In 2014, Dixon announced his retirement from making music, but currently continues to release music.
The Positiva Ambient Collection is a compilation album of various artists released by British dance music label Positiva Records in 1993, documenting ambient house and ambient techno music, both of which were popular underground electronic genres in the United Kingdom at the time. The compilation, the first album released on the label, features an exclusive live recording of The Orb and is said to prove ambient house's variety and worldwide emergence. Upon its release, The Positiva Ambient Collection received critical acclaim, and has continued to receive acclaim in the ensuing years. It has also been credited for bringing Beaumont Hannant to prominence via the inclusion of his track "Awakening the Soul".
Nighttime World Volume 1 is an album by American electronic musician Robert Hood, released in 1995 on Cheap Records. Compared to his previous minimal techno work, the record features influences and elements from jazz, soul and downtempo. Its follow-up record, Nighttime World Volume 2, built upon the style of its predecessor and was released on Hood's M-Plant in 2000.