S.I. Futures – A plethora of computerised beats and noises for the still-unfolding ‘1984’

Whatever you listen to the past echoes as vibrantly as the clock ticks but it is what you do with an influence that matters. Si Begg, a man of many guises, is hooked on Krautrock but it is not simply regurgitating it, he is toying with it, twisting it, screwing it and deconstructing it to create a completely new world.

Begg is a London-based producer who’s been operating under an alarming array of aliases (Bigfoot, CabbageBoy, Buckfunk 3000) and recorded for a number of labels (Tresor, N-Tone, Language) to create a huge catalogue of material since the late-1980s. ‘The Mission Statement’ is a satirical dig at the world where Ford Mondeos are driven by human-drones on the roads where ‘Big Bro’ watches over the erring children and advertising creates auto-taste.

‘The Mission Statement’ has all the techno exuberance of a youngster with his first Apple Mac, enthusiastically using every electro tweak and bleep, fat funky synth riffs and drum effects to create an antithesis to the suburban agenda of obedient consumption. ‘Eurostar’ is the best Kraftwerk song the Germans have failed to make, ‘Vending Machine’ digs at the coffee-cup culture, ‘Assault On Pricinct 14’ reflects the increase in social violence…

This electronica-galore is packaged in a 1950s-style corporate-looking brochure about things to come and this music is a “third annual conference” about “the fourth generation digital business climate”. At the end of mainly instrumental music (with sampled voices), there is a proper track, ‘We Are Not A Rock Band’. What grace, what style, what fun!

Begg writes in the artwork’s intro “This is your way of life, this is our future…” ‘The Mission Statement’ is a future-outlook for a generation that leads technology-fed lives vicariously.

‘WE WANT MORE SIF’, I feel like chanting now.