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1-Speed Bike

The Real Offical 1-Speed Fukn' Bike Myspace

About Me

STOP SENDING ME FUCKING MESSAGES

At this moment Im playing with Exhaust (also playing Wavelength) and Cayenne (heavy duty one-note band that I play synth in), plus Ive got a bunch of new projects in the development stage, but I dont have anything that would impress an Aunt nor anyone Im sick of everyones judgments anyway, like Im supposed to lie and say that everything is great and that Im super successful, when really all Im doing is my best to make the most fucked-up music I can with the right people, and that I continue to try and challenge the structures that leave everyone lying about their successes, or at least ashamed All I can do is do the best with the tools Ive got, and if I can keep it up my whole life then that will be something I will be able to be proud of
Bottleskup has surrendered to Broklyn pressure and reverted to his old name, 1-Speed Bike. We anxiously awaited the arrival of his last Broklyn installment, a 12" titled "El Gallito" which came out in September 2003. The title may be a little misleading to those who know him, because Mr. Girt is anything but a cock, but as we all know the world is filled with them. If you haven't heard the record yet you can expect some more of his fine live drumming samples processed and dubbed out to the hilt with his signature boomy, wavering bass lines. Many critics have pointed out that his Broklyn releases are tame compared to most others we put out, and even my sister likes his last cd "Looks Like Velvet, Smells Like Pee." So if you are someone who likes to keep their music on the tamer side of things (mind you, tame is used here in the context of Broklyn, not some notoriously mellow electronics label) maybe our good friend Bottleskup would be a good place in Broklyn to start. There's a little of everything for everyone. We do encourage you to understand that art is not always relaxing, beautiful, ethereal, and that the world is full of rage. Bottleskup fully understands this and makes music that is a healthy balance of beauty, rage, and humor.
Alternating between humour and homage, Droopy Butt Begone! opens with a medley of 80's techno/hip-hop references (shameless filtered synth swells, BPM doubling, scratch samples and a shout-out dedication of sorts), giving way to delicate glockenspiel underpinned by head-bobbing beats. Aidan Girt (GY!BE, Exhaust) is the merry studio prankster here, and this is the first full-length record under his 1-Speed Bike moniker, which operates in Montreal and region as a mobile activist soundsystem. The album includes a kinetic remix of Fly Pan Am, who were simultaneously at work on their new EP (cst011) at the Hotel2Tango while Aidan was mashing things up in the back room. The heart of the record finds slow loping beats ebbing and flowing around a beautiful palette of melodic figures and harmonic whirrs on "Just Another Jive-Assed White Colonial Theft"; a sustained hip-hop groove anchoring the playful sample stew of "Why Are All The Dogs Dying Of Cancer" and the house-inflected beat workouts of "My Kitchen Is Tiananmen Square". It all culminates in the exuberant closing piece "Any Movement That Forgets About Class Is A Bowel Movement" -- an instant classic that features an anarcho-poetic-cum-toliet-humour rant by the man himself. Dark atmospherics and shimmering melodies bind these tracks throughout, set against various whimsical touches sure to please those with an appreciation of the inherent disposability and trash-can aesthetics of sample-mad musics. Jazzercise for the revolution
Code: CST014
Band: 1-SPEED BIKE
Title: Droopy Butt Begone!
Formats: LP / CD
Release Date: 23 October 2000
Duration: 36:43
Tracklist
1.The Day That Mauro Ran Over Elwy Yost 2. Seattle/Washington/Prague 00/68 Chicago/Nixon/Reagan Circle-Fighting Machine
3.Seattle....Washington....Prague 00....68 Chicago....Nixon....Reagan Circle-Fighting Machine 4. Yuppie Restaurant-Goers Beware Because This Song Is For The Dishwasher
5. Just Another Jive-Assed White Colonial Theft 6. Why Are All The Dogs Dying Of Cancer?
7. My Kitchen Is Tiananmen Square 8. Any Movement That Forgets About Class Is A Bowel Movement
PersonnelAidan Girt: various instruments
GuestsFly Pan Am: source material on TRACK 3
RecordingRecorded and mixed at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal by Aidan, winter-spring 2000. Mastered by Harris Newman.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/26/2005
Band Website: broklynbeats.net/artist_1_speedbike
Band Members: DJ CD Burgerler Aka Bottleskup Flenkenkenmike Aka Roughriders vs Rough Riders aka DJ Anal Bunny Rabbit
Influences: Reviews

Almostcool
Aidan Girt is one wacky fellow. Not only has he contributed drumming and computer cut and paste skills to the Exhaust release, but he plays percussion in Godspeed You Black Emperor. 1-Speed Bike is his official moniker under which he creates his chopped-up beats and now he's releasing even more music upon the world with his debut Droopy Butt Begone! As the title may or may not suggest, this is one album that sort of rides the fence in terms of what it's trying to say. It's a cross between toilet humor and socio-political ranting over deconstructed hip-hop beats, rave anthem odes, and haunting soundscapes with thump.
And perhaps nothing less than this should be expected from a guy who has his hand in so many different projects. I hate to make the association, but I'll compare it to the television show of South Park. Maybe he's just throwing everything out on the table, from fart jokes to serious critiques of capitalism, and it's up to the individual listener to decide what they take from all that. You can laugh as he starts talking about farting up a storm after a steady diet of cabbage and beans or you can do a bit of reading and find out why he's calling capitalism a 'worldwide cancer system' (although you may or may not have the same feelings yourself already).
Since you already know a bit about bipolar message of the album, I feel that I should go a bit more into depth on the music, because there's some really cool stuff going on within the disc that again shows that the Constellation label is branching out into new areas and succeeding. The nice thing is that even if you've heard some of the other beatwork done by Girt is that this release is still different. The first track "The Day That Mauro Ran Over Elwy Yost" starts out with some light little keyboard progressions but starts slamming along soon after that with a galloping beat and some rumbling low end. About halfway through, it changes gears almost completely (after a bpm doubling rave sendup) and drops off into a dark hip hop beat. The end of the track ends with Girt sending out a shout-out before things lock into the extra-deep rumble and live-drumming sounds of the second track (one of several with super-long titles).
The third track recalls bits of work by DJ Shadow, while on the fourth track, things are slowed down and thickened so much that your subs will get yet another lively workout. It recalls some of the slower tracks on a Ninja Tune release, but with a bit more abrasion. He even taps a bit of a dub vein on "My Kitchen Is Tiananmen Square" and although it doesn't quite fill the lofty shoes of the title, it's a slick track. Just in case you weren't confused enough by things, the album closes out with the sound of a toilet flushing and then it's all done. At just over 36 minutes on 8 tracks, it's a pretty short release, but it's not a throwaway album at all. If you like the dark chunky beats served up with a side of humour, it's a pretty good bet. Whether you think they're also allowing too much artist indulgence is your call. Personally, I'm all for it if this is the sort of music that's going to be created.
Aaron Coleman Almostcool June 2001--------------------------
Scene
Droopy Butt Begone! is a solo project by 1-Speed Bike, the techno alter-ego of Aidan from Godspeed you Black Emperor! As you might expect from a percussionist, there is lots of clattering and banging. But Aidan wisely cuts up and samples his real-time drumming and mixes in assorted electronica bleeps and glissandos. Traces of Public Image Ltd circa Second Edition can be felt, as well as the work of Mick Harrisí dub-hop project, Scorn. This is particularly true of the crawling, spare hip-hop workouts. Then again, Harris never titled one of his pieces "seattle/washington/prague00/68, chicago,nixon/reagan circle-fighting machine".
Richard Moule Scene 11 January 2001
After a long line of Godspeed You Black Emperor! related releases, some better than others, I'm still interested in every one. This particular side project falls, fortunately, on the better side.
Although I'm sure that Aidan is tired of Godspeed comparisons after his other project (Exhaust), 1-Speed Bike does retain some of the apocalyptic doom of Godspeed You Black Emperor! (although translated into a drum and bass context), however, it is also balanced with a good measure of humor (which is probably apparent from the title).
Most of the album is in a style in roughly the same vein as DJ Shadow, with organic, live drum samples interspersed with othersamples, often including Godspeed-like rants, only these rants are often ended capped with humor like Droopy Butt Begone! which sort of undermines - or at least acknowledges - the (sometimes overwrought) intensity of the rants. Probably my favorite part of the album, though, is the title of the last track which is: "Any Movement That Forgets About Class Is A Bowel Movement."
1-Speed Bike translates the aesthetic of Godspeed You Black Emperor! into a different format--balanced with some humoróbut does so quite effectively. I would consider this certainly one of the more successful side projects.
Pete Baumann Fakejazz 20 December 2000----------------------------------
Offbeat
In 1-Speed Bike's struggles against the world, bet on 1-Speed Bike. Droopy Butt Begone! is Aidan Girt's (from godspeed you black emperor!) second side project following in the same vein as his previous activist-themed Exhaust. This release is chock-a-block full to the brim of what every musically choosy protester needs: strong Canadian experimental rhythms with a flowing drum beat and decidedly cut'n paste/anarchistic mindset. This CD (the actual disc itself has a picture of Curious George high on ether) would make any PC-governmental-conservative shiver with fear and crap in his pants, (nothing is more depraved than a monkey on a serious ether binge) before he even got it into his discman. As the spoken poem/toilet-rant that finishes the album reminds us - "any movement that forgets about class is a bowel movement". Add a steaming dollop of toilet flushing, scatological in-jokes and little bits of anarchistic poetic manifestos interspersed with Aidan's speedy drums and… what have you got? You have yourself something fine to listen to as you ponder Manufacturing Dissent while stuck on the porcelain throne.
Saul Lothe Offbeat November 2000-----------------------------
The Wire
Asked what message he wanted people to get from a Godspeed You Black Emperor! performance, drummer Aidan Girt deadpanned, "See bank -- smash window". His blunt satirical tone carries over into the packaging of Droopy Butt Begone!, the debut release by his solo drums and electronics alter-ego, 1-Speed Bike. Its sleeve caricatures a fat cop falling on his ass in hot pursuit. Thereafter, unfortunately, titles like "Any Movement That forgets About Class Is A Bowel Movement", are about as ribtickling as it gets. Anyone familiar with Girt's earlier Constellation project Exhaust will recognise the drill: clattery, real-time drumming is cut and spliced with cheap, bleepy electronics and narcoleptic HipHop beats. Somehwat distressingly, it's exactly what you'd expect a drummer's solo record to sound like - if you still think they're the hod carriers of rock. Its one gasp of air comes from his buddies Fly Pan Am, who toss him a leftover from their Sedatifs En Frequences Et Sillons EP, which he strips back to a pleasant clank.
David Keenan The Wire November 2000------------------------------
Eye
"I'm just going to flush the toilet, OK?" intones Aidan, drummer for Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Exhaust, at the beginning of Droopy Butt Begone!, the debut from his electronic alter ego, 1-Speed Bike. Whether he considers it a bowel movement or a ceramic altar, this is a delightfully shapeshifting album of interlaced rhythms and tones, containing some of the most compelling dark and lo-fi electronic noodling since the Third Eye Foundation's You Guys Kill Me. Most of the drum beats here are sampled from Aidan's live sound and slapped with overdubbed bass rumbles, high-end tweaks and other sundry implements tasty enough to make any experimental connoisseur beg for more. All this plus two poetic, politically fuelled monologues, a cover shot of a fallen and abused cop and sentences for song titles!
Kevin Hainey Eye 19 October 2000-------------------------
Splendid
You need this CD because: It comes in a really cool-looking black cardboard slipcover with white silk screening. It has song titles like "Yuppie restaurant-goers beware because this song is for the dishwasher." It has goofy left-wing rants about world-wide cancer conspiracies and My Little Pony. Beats, beats, beats.
"The day that Mauro ran over Elwy Yost" leads the way with lots of dirty beats, noisy samples and resonant filter abuse. I quote: "First this is a declaration of love for my family, both blood and organic, human and non-human." Okay! Continuing in the live-sounding drum beat/fuzzy samples vein is "Seattle/Washington/Prague 00/68 Chicago/Nixon/Reagan circle-fighting machine", only this time the beats are punctuated by moments of delicate bleep-bloop tones and ambient chords. Apparently a remix of a Fly Pan Am tune, "Yuppie restaurant-goers beware because this song is for the dishwasher" chugs along with yet more drumming, again interrupted here and there by quiet, echoing synth passages. Track four, "Just another jive-assed white colonial theft" slows the beats way down to sub-funky speeds, then lays some buzzy synth lines and warbly organ tones on top. "Why are all the dogs dying of cancer" picks up the pace again, with yet more beats, interruptions, clicks, buzzes and fuzzed-out samples. By this point my ears start going a little fuzzy, having heard the same drum beat about 112,358 times. Hey, guess what? More beats in track six, "My kitchen is Tiananmen Square." Back is the resonant filter from track one. Welcome, filter. Six may be afraid of seven, but it still manages a nice crossfade into "Any movement that forgets about class is a bowel movement". More beats, more interruptions, more organ tones, more fuzz, the end. I've haven't done such a close listen to this CD before, and gosh, was it exhausting! Up close, there's an awful lot of repetition and repetition here, and not very much sonic variety. And the damn drum beat is really driving me nuts at this point. Nonetheless, I still like this one quite a bit, if only as good background music to put on while you're hot-gluing fake fur to an old round table. Although there are seven tracks, each one flows into the next, so it's really just one long mumbling, beating, buzzing mass. Which is not so surprising, given that 1-Speed Bike is the 1-man band of Exhaust and Godspeed You Black Emperor! drummer Aidan Girt. "Rock on rebel warriors, droopy butt begone."
Irving Bellemead Splendid 16 October 2000-------------------------------
Barefacts
Techno and hip-hop are the order of the day here. Aidan Girt, drummer with Godspeed You Black Emperor and Exhaust has created a debut album with a decidedly unrefined sound. As you would imagine, drumming features very strongly on this album. Big beats provide the substance of each track while techno, hip-hop, punk and house genres are all visited in sample form. It's clear from track one that Aidan Girt doesn't care what people think about either his political views or the music he is creating. This is reflected most obviously on "The day that mauro ran over elwy yost" finishing as it does with a political rant recorded on an answer phone. This really is very specialised music, quite unlike anything I've heard before. Drummers may derive enjoyment but I'm not sure anyone else will.
A.R. Barefacts October 10, 2000---------------------------------
Babysue
Don't be fooled by the band name or disc title here…this is a cool exploratory trip into electronica and varied experimentation. As we are quickly discovering, if any CD release is on Canada's Constellation label…you can expect something unique and different. 1-Speed Bike is a side project of Aidan Girt, who is also the drummer in the bands Exhaust and Godspeed You Black Emperor! The seven lengthy tunes on Droopy Butt Begone! are collage pieces in which Mr. Girt combines sounds from all sorts of sources. Our favorite sections are the really spacey ambient parts where the rhythms drop out. This disc is available on vinyl LP as well as CD…and as is the usual case with Constellation releases…the packaging is extraordinary.
D.W. Seven Babysue October 2000
Record Label: Cstrecords, Broklyn Beats, Bully
Type of Label: Indie