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Drexciya

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For other uses, see Drexciya (disambiguation).

Drexciya
OriginDetroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres
Years active1992–2002
Labels
Past membersJames Stinson
Gerald Donald

Drexciya was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson (1969–2002[1][2]) and Gerald Donald.[3]

Career

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The majority of Drexciya's releases were in the style of dance-floor oriented electro, punctuated with elements of retro and 1980s Detroit techno, with occasional excursions into the ambient and industrial genres. They had 3 releases on the highly influential Underground Resistance Detroit record label. Tracks were mostly centered around the Roland TR-808 drum machine, Casio CZ 5000 synthesizer, Korg Mono/Poly synthesizer, Roland D20 synthesizer, Kawai K1 synthesizer, and sometimes a Roland TR-909 drum machine.[4]

In 1997, Drexciya released a compilation album, titled The Quest.[5] The duo released three studio albums: Neptune's Lair (1999), Harnessed the Storm (2002), and Grava 4 (2002).[6]

Drexciya, which eschewed media attention and its attendant focus on personality,[7] developed around a nautical afrofuturist myth.[8] The group revealed in the sleeve notes to their 1997 album The Quest that "Drexciya" was an underwater country populated by the unborn children of pregnant African women who were thrown off of slave ships; the babies had adapted to breathe underwater in their mothers' wombs.[9] The myth was built partly on Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (1993), according to Kodwo Eshun.[10]

Stinson died suddenly on 3 September 2002 of a heart condition.[11] Gerald Donald continues to produce music under other names such as Dopplereffekt with To Nhan Le Thi and Japanese Telecom.[1]

Legacy

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In 2019, with support from Gerald Donald and Helen Stinson, the mother of James Stinson, visual artist Abu Qadim Haqq created The Book of Drexciya, Volume I (and later The Book of Drexciya, Volume II in 2021), which was inspired by the mythos of Drexciya’s work.[12] The books chronicle the origins of Drexciya and the rise of their first ruler, Drexaha.[13]

In 2023, "From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya", a multimedia exhibition by American photographer and contemporary artist Ayana V. Jackson opened at the National Museum of African Art. The exhibit took inspiration from the founding myth of Drexciya and directly featured music by the group.[14][15]

Discography

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Studio albums

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Compilation albums

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  • The Quest (1997), Submerge
  • Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller I (2011), Clone
  • Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller II (2012), Clone
  • Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller III (2013), Clone
  • Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller IV (2013), Clone

EPs

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  • Deep Sea Dweller (1992), Shockwave Records
  • Drexciya 2: Bubble Metropolis (1993), Underground Resistance
  • Drexciya 3: Molecular Enhancement (1994), Rephlex, Submerge
  • Drexciya 4: The Unknown Aquazone (1994), Submerge
  • Aquatic Invasion (1994), Underground Resistance
  • The Journey Home (1995), Warp Records
  • The Return of Drexciya (1996), Underground Resistance
  • Uncharted (1997), Somewhere in Detroit
  • Hydro Doorways (2000), Tresor

Singles

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  • "Fusion Flats" (2000), Tresor
  • "Digital Tsunami" (2001), Tresor
  • "Drexciyan R.E.S.T. Principle" (2002), Clone

References

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  1. ^ a b "James Marcel Stinson - Biography". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "James Stinson 1969-2002 - An Appreciation".
  3. ^ Rubin, Mike (October 1998). "A Tale of Two Cities". Spin. pp. 104–109. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  4. ^ Gaskins, Nettrice (2016). "Deep Sea Dwellers: Drexciya and the Sonic Third Space" (PDF). Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures. 10 (2). doi:10.21463/shima.10.2.08.
  5. ^ Beta, Andy (22 June 2012). "Drexciya's Imaginary Soundtrack for Science Fiction". MTV. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  6. ^ Beta, Andy (16 October 2014). "Drexciya / Transllusion: Neptune's Lair / The Opening of the Cerebral Gate". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  7. ^ Samuels, A. J. (30 May 2013). "Master Organism: A.J. Samuels interviews Gerald Donald". Electronic Beats. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  8. ^ Womack, Ytasha (2013). Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture. Chicago Review Press. p. 70. ISBN 9781613747995.
  9. ^ "Interview with Kodwo Eshun of the Otolith Group". Art Practical. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  10. ^ Eshun, Kodwo (2003). "Further Considerations of Afrofuturism". CR: The New Centennial Review. 3 (2): 287–302. doi:10.1353/ncr.2003.0021. S2CID 13646543. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  11. ^ "DREXCIYA MEMBER DIES". NME. 9 September 2002. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  12. ^ "The Book Of Drexciya Vol 1 published this week". The Wire. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  13. ^ Brown Jr., DeForrest (2022). Assembling a Black Counter Culture. Primary Information. ISBN 9781734489736.
  14. ^ Milbourne, Karen E. "From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson". africa.si.edu. Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  15. ^ Jenkins, Mark. "A watery mythological realm is given flesh at the Smithsonian". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 June 2024.

Further reading

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