It really bothers me when musicians are coy about naming their influences. Maybe they believe that by not saying the names of artists they admire, their audience will just assume that they're the most brilliant people on earth, and that their brilliant music just "appeared" out of nowhere. Or, another excuse I've heard, is that they're just afraid of categorization.

In my philosophy: a) all newly created music is an amalgamation of an artists current tastes, and b) those who fear categorization are those who are most easily categorized, mere derivative photostats, declining in quality with each version.

Still, I have been witness to an even greater violation: keeping dark the lesser-known musical reference points, as that robs underground artists from a shared audience, and some deserved promotion. To ignore these innovators just because of vanity is crushing. Dangerous, I say!

Music is not created in a vacuum. Conversely, originality does not necessarily equal artistry. A sound the human ear enjoys is, more likely, the familiar, coupled with a stretch towards the future-boundary exploration, with a nod back to history. All of my records sprouted from the world around me, and my experiences, and a big part of all that daily living is the music in my stereo. Every musician has this sponge quality; some just don't want to tell you about the water. They feel that it's cheating to say, "Oh, that's the same chord I heard in the verse of 'Kiss On My List', except I played it really fast… Believe me, Daryl Hall probably got that chord from some Motown song. That's the great thing about music-infinite combinations of the framework. Songs may be familiar, but they are almost never exactly the same. Elements are always fresh-whether it's the tempo, the bridge, or even the microphone that was used to record it.

I've always been quite vocal about who's playing in my head when I go into a recording session. I have even been known to thank bands in my liner notes. Usually, by the time I roll tape, I've spun their records endlessly, and, if available, read articles on their musical process. So, when I've created music that's a reflection of this experience, I fucking tell someone about it!

This ethic is even applied to the album title of this, the second TEENAGE BLACKOUT release, "Berlin Record." Ever since I was a pup, I've loved the late 1970's instrumental work of Brian Eno, David Bowie, and others, who had moved for a period of time to Berlin. In that city, they created ambient, moody records, containing musical pieces which could only vaguely be described as "songs." This album is in that tradition (um…except I didn't move to Berlin…) In the last 3 years, electronic music has had a great new wave of analog-based electronica acts, cut in that same style, which I will now name for you (see above rant):

MU-ZIQ
BOARDS OF CANADA
AIX EM KLEMM
CHARLES ATLAS
CLIFF MARTINEZ
TALVIN SINGH
AIR
FAKE
GILT TRIP
AUTECHRE
LUKE VIBERT
AUTOUR DE LUCIE
KID SPATULA
STRANGE CARGO
…even, well, RADIOHEAD
and many others…

These guys are from about every fractured sub-genre of the electronica pie-chart. They're not strictly ambient, but, well… they all rule, and they were all influences on "Berlin Record." I'm especially thankful to BOARDS OF CANADA and AUTECHRE. And I gotta mention the amazing two-some CHARLES ATLAS. I've kinda burned out on AIR recently, having turned into the BECK show, but they were key in 1999. And MU-ZIQ is completely cool. These guys are more than rave DJs (quite boring, I think), and are comparable to classic synth composers like Wendy Carlos. I enjoy a good thumpa-thumpa trance beat, but you still have to have a point, baby. These guys all have a point.

I don't want to ruin all the charm of "Berlin Record" by detailing my process, except to say it was similar to TRAVEL on "This Is Our ~Music," not in terms of sound, but in its improvisational style. All the basic tracks were recorded quickly in a 4-day session, where I started from scratch with zero music, creating loops or sequences that overlapped and ran on infinitely. Then, using mixing techniques and effects, I would constantly shape the music as it looped live into a two-track digital tape machine. So, even though the themes were very simple, they took on new colors every few seconds by the continually shifting arrangements.

Make no mistake, this is an ambient record. There are almost no drums. There are no vocals, except some sampled ones and a brief TRICKY-like turn by DJ Powda. Oh, and Kelly Morelock also makes an appearance in the form of a great loop from a TRAVEL throwaway. Those around me know that I've always loved electronic music. (I play synthesizers first and foremost, the guitar being a fun diversion.) I get chills when I see the word "MOOG" or the name "Gary Numan" (who is now sadly mediocre.) I own books about analog circuitry just so I can look at pictures of old Prophet 5s. This is a synthesizer record. There isn't a single guitar on it (except for a brief sampled one.) This album is about synthesizers. Just. Synthesizers. Van Halen fans, consider yourselves warned. The songs just gently coast along, setting little melancholy moods. Some of you may be familiar with my past forays into ambient ("Rocket To Heaven" or "Goldrush," for example), but this is still quite different. It's a great album for sleep. I totally dig it. Sounds great, too. It plays well in the background-you can wear headphones, or you can cook dinner as it plays and not burn yourself on the oven. It paints the room in swatches. Again, it's not like anything I've made before. I think anyone-old, young, boy, girl-would enjoy this record. TRAVEL was kind of a boy's band-and, well, honestly only really for noisy boys. But this one will make you happy, requiring little concentration. It's not a math test.

Ah, but I'm no fool. This was created standing on the shoulders of some people more talented than little ol' me. I was not the first to dabble in this genre. I can only claim to be a student who, hopefully, wrote a good paper. Feel free to tell me I'm lame. Or, better still, that you love Molly Hatchet, but have never said it aloud until my argument won you over…Stand tall, brother!