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Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are an American musical collective from
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. Producing primarily
Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mil ...
since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant political and anti-corporate ethos.


History

First formed in 1989 by "Mad" Mike Banks,
Jeff Mills Jeff Mills (born June 18, 1963, in Detroit, Michigan) 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 ...
, and
Robert Hood Robert Hood (born 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often conside ...
. UR related the
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
of early
Detroit Techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mil ...
to the social, political, and economic circumstances which followed on from
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
-era inner-city economic recession, producing uncompromising music geared toward promoting awareness and facilitating political change. In contrast to techno that preceded UR, UR tried to appeal to lower class African Americans in Detroit. UR's tracks created a sense of self-exploration, experimentation and the ability to change yourself and circumstances. Additionally, UR wanted to establish a means of identification beyond traditional lines of race and ethnicity. By targeting lower class African Americans, UR intended to inspire black men to get out of the poverty cycle in the city. It was about providing new ways for lower class African Americans to form their identities. The Underground Resistance's politics extended to providing alternative identities to inner city African American youth, other than the hyper-masculine, hard and violent identities existing within the city. This was a gendered group, however, and the UR focused their attention on young black men. Another form of UR's rebellion concerns the rejection of the commercialization of techno. This is evident in the messages scratched in UR vinyl, lyrics and sounds expressing economic independence from major record labels. As with
Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe p ...
, there have been intimations that UR's subversively 'militant' approach to music was related to the activities of the
Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...
in the 1970s. Mills in a 2006 interview responds to that claim: "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". Mills continues: "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." Many of UR's earliest output would be the product of various experiments by Banks, Mills, and Hood - both solo and in collaboration. "The Theory" and "Eye Of The Storm" (Sonic EP) were among the two earliest UR tracks to be released in 1990, followed by a stream of EPs and singles including "Riot", "Acid Rain", and "Jupiter Jazz". The trio also recorded under the aliases ''X-101'' and ''X-102'', releasing both EPs such a "Sonic Destroyer" and "Groundzero (The Planet)" and the albums "X-101" and "X-102 Discovers The Rings of Saturn". When Mills and Hood moved on from the collective in 1992 to achieve international success as solo artists and DJs, Banks continued to lead UR releasing EPs during the mid-1990s such as "Return of Acid Rain", "Message to the Majors", and excursions into
Nu Jazz Nu jazz (also known as jazztronica, or future jazz) is a genre of jazz and electronic music. The music blends jazz elements with other musical styles, such as funk, electronic music, and free improvisation.Definition from Sergey Chernov, June 7, ...
on "Hi-Tech Jazz" as
Galaxy 2 Galaxy Galaxy 2 Galaxy is a live electronic and jazz music collective featuring members of Underground Resistance. The name comes from an EP created by Mike Banks in 1993. Fame in the techno community rose from the release of ''A High Tech Jazz Compilat ...
. Increasingly acclaimed artists such as
DJ Rolando DJ Rolando (born Rolando Rocha) a.k.a. The Aztec Mystic is an American techno DJ and producer from Detroit, Michigan, United States. A former member of Detroit’s famed Underground Resistance from 1994 to 2004, he is best known for his song "Kn ...
, Suburban Knight, and
Drexciya Drexciya was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson (1969–2002) and Gerald Donald. Career The majority of Drexciya's releases were in the style of dance-floor oriented electro, punctuated with e ...
also joined the collective. 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 Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
and down-tempo Hip-Hop. In 2014, UR took part in a lecture and discussion at
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
's
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
.


Conflict with Sony BMG

In 1999, DJ Rolando released UR's most commercially successful EP, "The Knights of The Jaguar". Legal and conceptual ownership of the track became the subject of a battle between UR and
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
, the details of which are contested. Sony claimed in subsequent statements that they first tried to contact UR to license the EP for release in Germany, recognizing the potential for a crossover hit. Receiving no response, they instead commissioned and released a
trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the original, "tone-for-tone", which was released as a promo. For their part, UR denies that they ever received a request from Sony to license the track. Founding member "Mad" Mike denounced the release, arguing that it did not constitute a legitimate cover as it was intended to profit from rather than offer tribute to the group. When confronted, Sony justified its actions by stating they intended to credit Rolando as the composer of the work and grant him royalties on its sale. Although the group initially suggested they might pursue legal action, they instead conducted a
direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
campaign against the label. "Mad" Mike described the strategy as a conceptual rejection of the justice system and its legitimacy. Fans were encouraged to boycott the release and contact record stores and the labels themselves with messages of protest. Some fans reported vandalizing or destroying copies in record stores. Due to the negative attention directed against the label, Sony voluntarily withdrew the release, citing a desire to avoid further damaging their relationship with the musical underground. The dispute ultimately contributed to the international popularity of the original UR release, which became seen as symbolic of the group's independence and anti-corporate stance. Rolando departed the collective in 2004.


Discography


Albums

* X-101 (1991 - as X-101) * X-102 - Discovers The Rings Of Saturn (1992 - as X-102) * Interstellar Fugitives (1998)


Compilations

* Revolution For Change (1991) * A Hi-tech Jazz Compilation (2005 - as Galaxy 2 Galaxy)


Singles/EPs

* The Theory (1990 - appeared on the Equinox Chapter One EP) * Sonic EP (1990) * Your Time Is Up (1990 - With Yolanda) * Punisher (1991) * Riot EP (1991) * Waveform E.P. (1991) * The Final Frontier (1991) * Living For The Nite (1991 - With Yolanda) * Elimination/Gamma-Ray (1991) * Nation 2 Nation (1991) * Fuel For The Fire - Attend The Riot (1991) * Sonic Destroyer (1991 - as X-101) * Groundzero / The Rings Of Saturn (1991 - as X-102) * The Seawolf (1992) * Fury (1992) * World 2 World (1992) * Message To The Majors (1992) * Belgian Resistance (1992) * Acid Rain EP (1992) * Panic EP (1992) * Piranha (1992) * Kamikaze (1992) * The Return Of Acid Rain - The Storm Continues (1993) * Acid Rain III - Meteor Shower (1993) * Dark Energy (1994) * Electronic Warfare (1995) * Soundpictures EP (1995) * Electronic Warfare - Designs For Sonic Revolutions (1996) * Ambush (1997) * The Turning Point (1997) * The Infiltraitor (1997) * Codebreaker (1997) * Radioactive Rhythms (1997) * Knights Of The Jaguar EP (1998) * Hardlife (2001) * Millennium To Millennium (2001) * Illuminator (2002) * The Analog Assassin (2002) * Inspiration/Transition (2002) * Actuator (2003) * Transition/Windchime (2003) * Ma Ya Ya (2004) * Interstellar Fugitives 2 - The Destruction Of Order (2006) * Footwars (2007) * Electronic Warfare 2.0 (2007) * Electronic Warfare 2.1 (2007) * This Is What Happens (2009) * Somewhere In Japan EP (2010)


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 Maurizio – "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 Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
– "Expo 2000" * 2002 Model 600 – "Update" * 2006
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...
– "People Are People"


See also

*
Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mil ...
*
List of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ...


References


External links

* – official site * * {{Authority control American techno music groups Electronic music groups from Michigan American record labels Techno record labels Record labels established in 1989 Musical groups from Detroit Musical collectives Rhythm King artists