Kid606

Inspired by hardcore techno, indie punk, noise rock, and a liberal dose of heavy metal, the recordings of Kid606 have been a highlight of the growing American indie electronica scene. His lack of seriousness regarding "intelligent techno" (conspicuous in his attitude as well as his recordings) and fondness for breakbeat thrash have placed him in line with a wide variety of compatriots, including Digital Hardcore advocates Atari Teenage Riot and electronics deconstructivists such as Add N (To X).

A native of Venezuela, the Kid moved to San Diego early in life. After becoming interested in samplers, he began recording and released some material with Spacewurm and Ariel, two acts associated with the Southern California label Vinyl Communications. After the demise of both, Kid606 debuted on his own with a full-length for VC, 1998's Don't Sweat the Technics. A split CD with Lesser gained release later that year, as well as the VC EPs Unamerican Activity and Dubplatestyle. In mid-2000, Kid606 released Down with the Scene, his first album for the experimental Ipecac label associated with Faith No More's Mike Patton. A few months later, the experimental techno label Mille Plateaux issued the comparatively subdued P.S. I Love You, along with an accompanying remix album (P.S. You Love Me) the following year. Kid606 veered back into hardcore with 2002's mashup-heavy The Action Packed Mentallist Brings You the F*****g Jams and 2003's Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You.

Resilience, from 2005, and Pretty Girls Make Raves, released one year later, found Kid606 returning to the green pastures of an earlier era in electronic music; the first harked back to IDM and electronic listening music, while the second was a back-to-basics techno record. (Both appeared on Tigerbeat6.) He also worked in the side project Disc with Lesser and Matmos and, in addition to a number of other collaborative projects in the works throughout the late 2000s, Kid606 found time to issue EP number six, Die Soundboy Die. The follow-up full-length, Shout at the Döner, landed in 2009. His next record, 2010's all-analog and nearly beatless Songs About F*****g Steve Albini, appeared on Important Records, home to records by Merzbow and Zurich. Lost in the Game, a set of tunes that embraced melody more than anything previously in his evolution, was released in 2012. The following year's Happiness was similarly melodic but much more cheerful, taking inspiration from a move to Los Angeles and the smooth sounds of Christopher Cross and Toto as well as Tangerine Dream.