Tactical Museum : Exceedingly Good Sounds

February 25, 2005

Exceedingly Good Sounds - HardKiss

Hardkiss were a seminal music label out of San Francisco in the early to late 1990s. Now disbanded, but operating partly as the label Sunburn, the music of Hardkiss accompanies some of my most intense memories of dancing and raving in the UK. Listening to 'Delusions of Grandeur' (1995), their first compilation release, was something akin to a conversion experience. If one can pinpoint such a thing as a 'Hardkiss sound' it might include references to ethno-music, disco and house, bouncing hip-hop beats, the occasional melancholy of Goth, a psychedelic breeziness, a respect for live instrumentation and a knack for always finding slightly different ways (not heard before) to compose tunes. A couple of nice Hardkiss resources for more information: Hardkiss complete discography and a 1992 interview with Scott Hardkiss. Its strange that I find myself writing such a post - how the mark of time begins to solidify memories towards history....even though this music is still very much living.

Feb 25, 2005 5:12:33 PM | Other Voices, Sounds and Musics