Gescom

by Sean CooperShrouded in conjecture and just a wee bit of good fun, Gescom is the more dancefloor-friendly identity of Sean Booth and Rob Brown, aka Autechre. The bulk of the pairs Gescom material (save for an EP a piece on future funk label Clear and David Moufangs Source label, as well as a mail-order-only 12-inch offered to members of the groups fanclub) has been issued through the Manchester-based experimental techno label Skam, owned and operated by occasional collaborator Andy Maddocks. Focusing on the more uptempo tendencies of Autechre paired with a harder, rougher, more driving rhythmic edge, Gescom material remains committed to the more adventurous side of electro/techno even as it gives DJs a bit more backbeat to work with. The group hit a bit of notoriety (apart, of course, from the thick-and-thin dedication of Ae trainspotters) when a track (Mag) from their second Skam twelve was included on South London breakbeat virtuosos Coldcuts celebrated Journeys by DJ mix session. The first Gescom full-length, MiniDisc, appeared in 1998. Silence then fell upon Gescom releases until 2003 when the Iss Sa EP came out the same day as the Autechre full length Draft 7.30 [See Also: Autechre]