View source for Dälek

{{short description|American hip hop group}}
{{About|the experimental hip hop group|other uses|dalek (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = dälek
| image           = dälek @ Leoncavallo.jpg
| caption         = MC dälek (front) and Oktopus (back) performing at the Leoncavallo cultural center in [[Milan]] in 2008
| image_size      =
| landscape       = yes
| alias           =
| origin          = [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]], [[New Jersey]], U.S.
| genre           = [[Experimental hip hop]],
[[industrial hip hop]]
| years_active    = 1998–2011, 2015–present
| label           = [[Ipecac Recordings|Ipecac]], [[Profound Lore Records|Profound Lore]]
| associated_acts = Iconaclass, Fill Jackson Heights, Destructo Swarmbots
| website         = {{url|deadverse.com}}
| current_members = MC dälek<br />Mike Manteca (aka Mike Mare)
| past_members    = Still<br />[[Alap Momin|Oktopus]]<br />rEK<br />Joshua Booth
}}
'''Dälek''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|aɪ|ə|ˌ|l|ɛ|k}}) (stylized in [[Letter case|all lowercase]]) is an American [[experimental hip hop]] group formed in [[Newark, New Jersey]] in 1998. The group's current lineup consists of MC dälek (vocals and producer) and Mike Manteca  (aka Mike Mare) (electronics and producer).
==History==
The group originated in the New Jersey DIY scene of the mid-1990s, based around a studio lineup of Dälek (Will Brooks), Oktopus (Alap Momin), and Joshua Booth. Brooks had won a scholarship at college, used it to buy an [[Akai MPC|MPC3000]] and dropped out to become a full-time musician and formed Dälek with Momin, who encouraged him to name the group after his stage name "like Van Halen".<ref name="St Vitus">{{cite web |last1=Castillo |first1=David |title=Saint Vitus Presents: Age of Quarantine #88 w/ Will Brooks of Dälek |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25dHitpjEZU |website=YouTube |publisher=Christopher Enriquez |access-date=28 April 2022}}</ref>
The group recorded and played live with several DJs, including DJ rEk on from 1998 to 2002, from 2002 and 2005 with Still (Hsi-Chang Lin), and from 2006 to 2009 with Motiv. With this core, the group released four full-length LPs on [[Ipecac Recordings]], and a string of EPs, singles and remixes on various [[independent label]]s.
Booth left the group to complete his doctorate in 2009, and Oktopus had relocated to Berlin by 2010.<ref name=vice>{{cite web | url=http://noisey.vice.com/blog/dalek-video-interview | first=Anthony | last=Bartkewicz | title=The Return of Pioneering Noise-Rap Outliers Dälek: "I Missed the Noise" | date=April 4, 2015 | access-date=March 3, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122115825/http://noisey.vice.com/blog/dalek-video-interview | archive-date=November 22, 2015 | url-status=live }}</ref> Dälek released a single LP, ''Untitled'', with Brooks and Momin as the sole members, in 2011. From 2011 to 2015, the group was on permanent hiatus.
In 2015, Brooks reunited with DJ rEk and Dälek collaborator Mike Manteca (Destructo Swarmbots). In 2016, the group released a full-length LP ''[[Asphalt for Eden]]'' on Profound Lore Records.<ref name=ATTN>{{cite web | url=http://www.attnmagazine.co.uk/features/9750 | first=Jack | last=Chuter | title=Interview: Dälek | date=April 1, 2016 | access-date=April 11, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425210155/http://www.attnmagazine.co.uk/features/9750 | archive-date=April 25, 2016 | url-status=live }}</ref>
In December 2016, Ipecac Recordings announced that they had re-signed Dälek.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dälek Announces 2017 Album on Ipecac Recordings|url=https://deadverse.com/2016/12/dalek-announces-2017-album-ipecac-recordings/|website=Deadverse Recordings|date=20 December 2016 |access-date=28 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928193346/https://deadverse.com/2016/12/dalek-announces-2017-album-ipecac-recordings/|archive-date=28 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The group released ''Endangered Philosophies'' in August 2017. Spyros Stasis of [[PopMatters]] described it as an 'enticing and alluring' mix of 'hip-hop, krautrock, noise and shoegaze'.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Stasis|first1=Spyros|title=Dalek: Endangered Philosophies|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/dalek-endangered-philosophies/|website=Popmatters|access-date=28 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150654/http://www.popmatters.com/review/dalek-endangered-philosophies/|archive-date=28 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Paul Simpson of [[AllMusic]] found it 'equally abrasive and hypnotic' and 'bracing yet beautiful'.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Simpson|first1=Paul|title=Endangered Philosophies|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/endangered-philosophies-mw0003057818|website=AllMusic|access-date=28 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150629/http://www.allmusic.com/album/endangered-philosophies-mw0003057818|archive-date=28 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2019 the group release ''Respect To The Authors'', a six-track EP released on vinyl through Exile on Mainstream. The EP was re-released digitally in 2020.
In 2020, during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|Covid-19 Pandemic]], the group were unable to access their [[Union City, New Jersey|Union City]] studio and ultimately scrapped the album they had under production. As an outlet, MC Dälek produced the ''Meditations'' series of seven download-only albums from his home.<ref>{{cite web |title=Check-In with Will Brooks (aka MC Dälek) |url=https://www.ruinousmedia.com/tourstories/episode/7e37c012/check-in-with-will-brooks-aka-mc-dalek |website=Ruinous Media |access-date=28 April 2022}}</ref>
The group reconvened with Booth in 2021 and began work on ''Precipice'', a ten track album, which was released digitally and on vinyl in April 2022. The album includes a collaboration with [[Adam Jones (musician)|Adam Jones]], guitarist with [[Tool (band)|Tool]].
Dälek have often shared the stage with artists covering a wide range of genres, such as [[Godflesh]], [[Isis (band)|Isis]], [[Prince Paul (producer)|Prince Paul]], [[Melvins]], [[Tool (band)|Tool]],<ref name=vice/> [[De La Soul]], [[RJD2]], [[The Young Gods]], [[Meat Beat Manifesto]], [[Jesu (band)|Jesu]], [[The Pharcyde]], [[Grandmaster Flash]], [[KRS-One]], [[Dub Trio]], [[Charles Hayward (musician)|Charles Hayward]], [[Cult of Luna]], [[Zu (band)|Zu]], [[Blackie (musician)|Blackie]], [[The Gaslamp Killer]], [[Earth (American band)|Earth]], [[The Dillinger Escape Plan]], [[Kevin Martin (British musician)|The Bug]], [[Mastodon (band)|Mastodon]], and [[Lovage (band)|Lovage]]. Oktopus and MC Dälek collaborated with [[Avant-garde metal|experimental metal]]/[[hardcore punk]] band [[Starkweather (band)|Starkweather]] on their 2010 album ''[[This Sheltering Night]]''.<ref name="HW-interview">{{cite web| last = Gergesha| first = Nick| title = Transmissions: The Starkweather Interview| work = Hearwax| date = July 5, 2010| url = http://hearwaxmedia.com/4297/transmissions-starkweather-interview| access-date = August 28, 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100813142001/http://hearwaxmedia.com/4297/transmissions-starkweather-interview| archive-date = August 13, 2010| url-status = usurped}}</ref>
==Style and influence==
Dälek's music is dark, noisy and atmospheric, equally inspired by industrial music like [[Einstürzende Neubauten]], the layered noise of [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]] and the dense sound collages of [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]]. Their sound is often constructed through sampling and a musical base atypical of most hip hop, making it difficult for people to classify their sound. They have been described as [[trip hop]], [[glitch hop]], [[metal (music)|metal]], [[shoegaze]], and [[hip hop]], as well as being criticized for their broad range of sound.<ref name="Chicago Sun-Times Review">{{Cite news
| last=Jakubiak
| first=David
| title=Dalek makes hip-hop without sound barriers
| newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]
| date=March 2, 2007
}}</ref>
MC dälek described the duo's music to the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'':<ref name="Chicago Sun-Times Review" />
{{Cquote|"It's purely hip-hop, in the purest sense. If you listen to what hip-hop has historically been, it was all about digging in different crates and finding different sounds, and finding different influences to create. If [[Afrika Bambaataa]] wasn't influenced by [[Kraftwerk]], we wouldn't have '[[Planet Rock (song)|Planet Rock]].' So, in that sense, what we do is strictly hip-hop.}}
{{Cquote|If there is a difference. It's that the palette of sounds we work with is more varied than what has been called hip-hop in the last 10 years. Somehow, as hip-hop grew, it's been put into this box. I think it's funny when people are like, 'That's not hip-hop. It's this and this and this.' You can try to rationalize it as whatever you want to rationalize it as."}}
==Members==
;Current
* Will "dälek" Brooks – vocals, lyrics, occasional turntables, production {{small|(1998–2011, 2015–present)}}
* Mike "Mike Mare" Manteca – instrumentation, production {{small|(2015–present)}}
;Former
* [[Alap Momin|Oktopus]] – instrumentation, production {{small|(1998–2011)}}
* Joshua Booth – guitars, keyboards, production {{small|(1998–2009, session 2015–present)}}
* Rudy "DJ rEk" Chicata – turntables {{small|(1998–2002, 2015–2019)}}
* Hsi-Chang "Still" Lin – turntables {{small|(2002–2005)}}
* Motiv – turntables {{small|(2006–2009)}}
==Discography==
[[File:Dälek E5111777.jpg|thumb|Dälek, Moers Festival 2008]]
===Albums===
*''[[Negro Necro Nekros]]'' (1998)
*''[[From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots]]'' (2002)
*''[[Absence (Dälek album)|Absence]]'' (2005)
*''[[Abandoned Language]]'' (2007)
*''[[Gutter Tactics]]'' (2009)
*''Untitled'' (2010)
*''[[Asphalt for Eden]]'' (2016)
*''Endangered Philosophies'' (2017)
*''Precipice'' (2022)
===Extended plays and singles===
*"Dälek vs. Dälek" (2002, single)
*''Streets All Amped'' (2006, EP)
*''Deadverse Massive Vol. 1 Rarities 1999–2006'' (2007, compilation)<ref name="botchdalek">{{cite web|url=http://www.punknews.org/article/24148|title=Hydrahead announces Botch, Dälek releases|date=2007-06-13|publisher=Punknews.org|access-date=2008-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511092035/http://www.punknews.org/article/24148|archive-date=2008-05-11|url-status=live}}</ref>
*"Molten" (2016, digital single)
*''Respect To The Authors'' (2019, EP)
*"Decimation (Dis Nation)" (2022, single)
===Collaborations===
*''Megaton/Classic Homicide'' (2000) split collaboration with [[Techno Animal]]
*''Ruin It'' (2002) in collaboration with [[Kid606]]
*''Dälek vs. Velma'' (2003) split collaboration with Velma
*''[[Derbe Respect, Alder]]'' (2004) in collaboration with [[Faust (band)|Faust]]
*''Dälek vs. Zu'' (2005) - two track remix single with [[Zu (band)|Zu]]
*''Deadverse Massive'' (2007) - four track 12" in collaboration with Destructo Swarmbots and Oddateee
*''My Education vs. dälek'' (2007) in collaboration with My Education <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thirtyghostsrecords.com/bands_dalek.htm |title=Thirty Ghosts Records |publisher=Thirty Ghosts Records |access-date=2012-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723125017/http://www.thirtyghostsrecords.com/bands_dalek.htm |archive-date=2008-07-23 }}</ref>
*''Dälek vs. Ifwhen – Hear Less / No Good Trying'' (2008) - four song 12" with Ifwhen.
*''DJ Baku vs. Dälek'' (2009) - two exclusive Dälek tracks and a remix of a Dälek song by DJ Baku, and vice versa.
*''Griots And Gods – Les Eurockeennes Festival Belfort 2010'' (2010) Live collaboration with [[The Young Gods]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.younggods.com/cms/front_content.php?idart=505|title=Griots And Gods – Les Eurockeennes Festival Belfort 2010|work=Everyone Knows|publisher=The Young Gods|access-date=14 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928124728/http://www.younggods.com/cms/front_content.php?idart=505|archive-date=28 September 2011}}</ref>
*''Anguish'' - self-titled LP and CD (2019) - 9 track album in collaboration with Hans Joachim Irmler of [[Faust (band)|Faust]] and saxophonist [[Mats Gustafsson]] and drummer Andreas Werliin of [[Fire! Orchestra]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Dälek}}
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.ipecac.com/artists/dalek Dälek] at [[Ipecac Recordings]]
*[http://theyshootmusic.at/posts/Dalek Pizza joint recording session with 'They Shoot Music – Don't They' (04/09)]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalek}}
[[Category:American hip hop duos]]
[[Category:Musical duos from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Newark, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Alternative hip hop groups]]
[[Category:American shoegaze musical groups]]
[[Category:Noise musical groups]]
[[Category:American ambient music groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1998]]
[[Category:American experimental musical groups]]
[[Category:American industrial music groups]]
[[Category:Ipecac Recordings artists]]
[[Category:Profound Lore Records artists]]
[[Category:Gern Blandsten Records artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2011]]
[[Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2015]]