Daniel Bell (musician)
Encyclopedia
Daniel Bell is an American minimal techno
DJ. He was born in Sacramento, California, but grew up outside of Toronto, Canada, and later moved to Detroit where he collaborated with Richie Hawtin
as Cybersonik for three years on Plus 8
records. In 1991, he started his own label, Accelerate, where he released a string of influential releases as DBX
.
Bell was influenced primarily by Chicago House
as well as the works of the minimialist composers Steve Reich
and Philip Glass
. His productions are characterized by minimalist house grooves accented by blips and bleeps. Some tracks feature bizarre voice effects and eerie atmospherics such as 1994's delay
driven "Losing Control".
Bell moved behind the scenes to set up 7th City Distribution in November 1994. Smaller U.S.-based techno and house labels required distribution overseas and domestically and 7th City moved in to fill this void. However by 1998, the number of active, independent techno labels in the U.S. dropped significantly and Bell closed the distribution company. In 2000, he relocated to Berlin
, Germany, and released his first mix CD, The Button-Down Mind of Daniel Bell, on Tresor
Records. 2003 brought a follow-up release on Logistic records, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back and soon after a retrospective was released: Blip, Blurp, Bleep: The Music of Daniel Bell'.
Minimal techno
Minimal techno is a minimalist sub-genre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition, and understated development. This style of dance music production generally adheres to the motto less is more; a principle that has been previously utilized, to...
DJ. He was born in Sacramento, California, but grew up outside of Toronto, Canada, and later moved to Detroit where he collaborated with Richie Hawtin
Richie Hawtin
Richard Hawtin is an English-Canadian electronic musician and DJ who was an influential part of Detroit techno's second wave of artists in the early 1990s and a leading exponent of Minimal techno since the mid 1990s...
as Cybersonik for three years on Plus 8
Plus 8
Plus 8 is a Canadian techno record label, based in Windsor, Ontario and founded in 1990 by DJs Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva. Initial releases were by the pair themselves and their friends using aliases such as States of Mind and Cybersonik, along with other Detroit-based musicians such as...
records. In 1991, he started his own label, Accelerate, where he released a string of influential releases as DBX
Dbx
dbx or DBX may refer to:* dbx , a Unix source-level debugger* dbx, Inc., a professional audio recording equipment company** dbx , a noise reduction system invented by dbx, Inc....
.
Bell was influenced primarily by Chicago House
Chicago house
Chicago house is a style of house music, a genre of electronic dance music which emerged in Chicago in the mid-1980s. Stylistically, Chicago house has no widely accepted definition, but generally includes the first house music productions by Chicago-based artists throughout the 1980s, and any later...
as well as the works of the minimialist composers Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
and Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
. His productions are characterized by minimalist house grooves accented by blips and bleeps. Some tracks feature bizarre voice effects and eerie atmospherics such as 1994's delay
Delay (audio effect)
Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time. The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.-Early delay...
driven "Losing Control".
Bell moved behind the scenes to set up 7th City Distribution in November 1994. Smaller U.S.-based techno and house labels required distribution overseas and domestically and 7th City moved in to fill this void. However by 1998, the number of active, independent techno labels in the U.S. dropped significantly and Bell closed the distribution company. In 2000, he relocated to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany, and released his first mix CD, The Button-Down Mind of Daniel Bell, on Tresor
Tresor
Tresor is an underground techno nightclub and record label. The club was founded in March 1991 in the vaults of the former old Wertheim department store in Mitte, the central part of the former East Berlin, next to the famous Potsdamer Platz, however the history of the club goes back to 1988 when...
Records. 2003 brought a follow-up release on Logistic records, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back and soon after a retrospective was released: Blip, Blurp, Bleep: The Music of Daniel Bell'.