Biography
UK electronic outfit Freedom Of Speech—formed by Luke Losey, Mickey Mann and Stika—championed the abrasive “darkside” strain of techno that dominated mid-nineties club floors, deploying horror-novel imagery, twisted nursery rhymes and Kafka-like sonic textures to unsettle both conscious and subliminal perception. The three first crossed paths during the Shamen’s Synergy tour in 1987; each had already helped steer the broader course of dance music. Losey handled lighting design for live presentations by the KLF and Curve, while Mann collaborated on an Orbital album and kept promoting warehouse events, frequently alongside the Mutoid Waste Company. The trio formally united during the Midi Circus tour and unveiled their first recording, “Surveillance,” on Planet Dog’s Feed Your Head compilation; the track’s big-brother motif was constructed from samples of surveillance operatives. Ahead of their debut album they also issued “X-Beats.” “We’re into the kind of paranoia and bleakness of emotions which Joy Division used to put across,” the group observed, noting that their pessimistic outlook on the world’s trajectory had been sharpened by a Russian visit undertaken while backing the Shamen.
Albums
Singles
