“To be honest, my memory is a but fuzzy about this release. I know Chip [Curtis] had originally wanted to record something in Windsor with Rich [Hawtin] but the two got into some kind of argument. He told me what it was about, but I don’t really remember the details, something about sawtooth versus pulse waveforms or something like that. Anyway, he contacted the studio and wanted to book some time. This was back then the studio was on Washtenaw, by the way. My assistant, Andrew [Smith] oversaw most of the session. According to him, Chip was, as usual, completely out of control and doing his “just three pieces of gear and one take, motherfucker” schtick.

And yet, when I heard the tapes, I was struck by the elegant simplicity and melodic beauty of what they actually laid down in the studio. This was all around 1996 and Dan [Bell]’s DBX material was really gaining traction in the rave scene and we felt this was the right sound for the time. Andrew suggested we have it pressed up in Detroit, like Dan and those guys did, but we were short on cash and asked Larry [Sherman] if he could knock out a promotional run of 100 copies for us on credit. We handed over the master tapes and Larry sent us a few test pressings, but they sounded like shit. Andrew went down to the plant and confronted Larry about the lazy mastering and pressing job. Larry denied having any knowledge of the project or the pressings and even denied having possession of the master tapes we had sent over. You’d have to ask him, but I think Larry had Andrew escorted out by security. Shortly after this, I got quite ill and had to lay low for a while. Chip simply disappeared and I was certain we had lost our opportunity to release the record.

Fast forward a few years and Andrew gets an email from a Japanese record collector from Tokyo asking for details on the release. Andrew informs the collector, who was looking for the record on GEMM or something, that the record was never officially released the the test pressings that were made have been lost. The collector then informed Andrew that the record did in fact exist, but only as a short run bootleg from the Czech Republic called “Přímý Rytmus” or something like that. Andrew tried for weeks to track the plant down but to no avail.

So, I suppose this is a long way of saying I’m very excited that we were able to relocate the master tapes and release one of Chip’s masterpieces to the world. We miss you, Chip, you crazy fuck. I hope this will make you proud, wherever you are.”

-J. Loveland, 2017