Dälek (pronounced "dialect") (stylized in
all lowercase) is an American
experimental hip hop group formed in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
in 1998. The group's current lineup consists of MC dälek (vocals and producer) and Mike Manteca (aka Mike Mare) (electronics and producer).
History
The group originated in the New Jersey DIY scene of the mid-1990s, based around a studio lineup of Dälek (Will Brooks), Oktopus (Alap Momin), and Joshua Booth. Brooks had won a scholarship at college, used it to buy an
MPC3000 and dropped out to become a full-time musician and formed Dälek with Momin, who encouraged him to name the group after his stage name "like Van Halen".
The group recorded and played live with several DJs, including DJ rEk on from 1998 to 2002, from 2002 and 2005 with Still (Hsi-Chang Lin), and from 2006 to 2009 with Motiv. With this core, the group released four full-length LPs on
Ipecac Recordings, and a string of EPs, singles and remixes on various
independent labels.
Booth left the group to complete his doctorate in 2009, and Oktopus had relocated to Berlin by 2010.
Dälek released a single LP, ''Untitled'', with Brooks and Momin as the sole members, in 2011. From 2011 to 2015, the group was on permanent hiatus.
In 2015, Brooks reunited with DJ rEk and Dälek collaborator Mike Manteca (Destructo Swarmbots). In 2016, the group released a full-length LP ''
Asphalt for Eden'' on Profound Lore Records.
In December 2016, Ipecac Recordings announced that they had re-signed Dälek. The group released ''Endangered Philosophies'' in August 2017. Spyros Stasis of
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
described it as an 'enticing and alluring' mix of 'hip-hop, krautrock, noise and shoegaze'. Paul Simpson of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
found it 'equally abrasive and hypnotic' and 'bracing yet beautiful'.
In 2019 the group release ''Respect To The Authors'', a six-track EP released on vinyl through Exile on Mainstream. The EP was re-released digitally in 2020.
In 2020, during the
Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the group were unable to access their
Union City studio and ultimately scrapped the album they had under production. As an outlet, MC Dälek produced the ''Meditations'' series of seven download-only albums from his home.
The group reconvened with Booth in 2021 and began work on ''Precipice'', a ten track album, which was released digitally and on vinyl in April 2022. The album includes a collaboration with
Adam Jones, guitarist with
Tool
A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...
.
Dälek have often shared the stage with artists covering a wide range of genres, such as
Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the original title O.P.D. (later Fall of Because) but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals, programmi ...
,
Isis
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
,
Prince Paul,
Melvins
Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...
,
Tool
A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...
,
[ De La Soul, ]RJD2
Ramble Jon Krohn (born May 27, 1976), better known by his stage name RJD2, is an American musician and record producer based in Columbus, Ohio. He is the owner of record label RJ's Electrical Connections. He has been a member of groups such as S ...
, The Young Gods, Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened as Meat Beat, Manifesto or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by Dangers (the only ...
, Jesu, The Pharcyde
The Pharcyde is an American hip hop group, formed in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles in 1989. The original four members of the group are Imani (rapper), Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson ...
, Grandmaster Flash
Joseph Robert Saddler (born January 1, 1958), known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is a Barbadian-American musician and DJ. He created a DJ technique called the Quick Mix Theory. This technique serviced the break-dancer and the rapper by el ...
, KRS-One
Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...
, Dub Trio, Charles Hayward, Cult of Luna, Zu, Blackie, The Gaslamp Killer, Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
, The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...
, The Bug, Mastodon
A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...
, and Lovage. Oktopus and MC Dälek collaborated with experimental metal/hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...
band Starkweather on their 2010 album '' This Sheltering Night''.
Style and influence
Dälek's music is dark, noisy and atmospheric, equally inspired by industrial music like Einstürzende Neubauten
(, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...
, the layered noise of My Bloody Valentine and the dense sound collages of Public Enemy
Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...
. Their sound is often constructed through sampling and a musical base atypical of most hip hop, making it difficult for people to classify their sound. They have been described as trip hop
Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...
, glitch hop, metal
A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
, shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...
, and hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
, as well as being criticized for their broad range of sound.
MC dälek described the duo's music to the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'':
Members
;Current
* Will "dälek" Brooks – vocals, lyrics, occasional turntables, production
* Mike "Mike Mare" Manteca – instrumentation, production
;Former
* Oktopus – instrumentation, production
* Joshua Booth – guitars, keyboards, production
* Rudy "DJ rEk" Chicata – turntables
* Hsi-Chang "Still" Lin – turntables
* Motiv – turntables
Discography
Albums
*'' Negro Necro Nekros'' (1998)
*'' From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots'' (2002)
*'' Absence'' (2005)
*'' Abandoned Language'' (2007)
*'' Gutter Tactics'' (2009)
*''Untitled'' (2010)
*'' Asphalt for Eden'' (2016)
*''Endangered Philosophies'' (2017)
*''Precipice'' (2022)
Extended plays and singles
*"Dälek vs. Dälek" (2002, single)
*''Streets All Amped'' (2006, EP)
*''Deadverse Massive Vol. 1 Rarities 1999–2006'' (2007, compilation)
*"Molten" (2016, digital single)
*''Respect To The Authors'' (2019, EP)
*"Decimation (Dis Nation)" (2022, single)
Collaborations
*''Megaton/Classic Homicide'' (2000) split collaboration with Techno Animal
*''Insound Tour Support Vol. 7'' (2000), collaboration with Chris Leo/ The Lapse, credited as the OctaLapse
*''Ruin It'' (2002) in collaboration with Kid606
Miguel Trost De Pedro (born July 27, 1979), better known by his stage name Kid606, is an electronic musician who was raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco. He is most closely associated with the Glitch (music), glitch, Intelligent ...
*''Dälek vs. Velma'' (2003) split collaboration with Velma
*'' Derbe Respect, Alder'' (2004) in collaboration with Faust
*''Dälek vs. Zu'' (2005) - two track remix single with Zu
*''Deadverse Massive'' (2007) - four track 12" in collaboration with Destructo Swarmbots and Oddateee
*''My Education vs. dälek'' (2007) in collaboration with My Education
*''Dälek vs. Ifwhen – Hear Less / No Good Trying'' (2008) - four song 12" with Ifwhen.
*''DJ Baku vs. Dälek'' (2009) - two exclusive Dälek tracks and a remix of a Dälek song by DJ Baku, and vice versa.
*''Griots And Gods – Les Eurockeennes Festival Belfort 2010'' (2010) Live collaboration with The Young Gods.
*''Anguish'' - self-titled LP and CD (2019) - 9 track album in collaboration with Hans Joachim Irmler of Faust and saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and drummer Andreas Werliin of Fire! Orchestra
References
External links
Dälek
at Ipecac Recordings
Pizza joint recording session with 'They Shoot Music – Don't They' (04/09)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalek
American hip-hop duos
Musical duos from New Jersey
Musical groups from Newark, New Jersey
Alternative hip-hop groups
American shoegaze musical groups
American noise musical groups
American ambient music groups
Musical groups established in 1998
American experimental musical groups
American industrial music groups
Ipecac Recordings artists
Profound Lore Records artists
Gern Blandsten Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2011
Musical groups reestablished in 2015