Dicepeople
About Dicepeople
Dicepeople is a musical project created by Matt Brock. Dicepeople was originally set up in London, UK in the mid-90s as an electronic side project when Brock was more heavily involved with industrial acts Noise Union and Replikator. In 2008, however, Brock transformed Dicepeople into his primary musical project and, with it, aimed to go beyond pure electronic music.
The tagline for Dicepeople is 'dark electronica for the body and mind' because Brock's aim is to create music that combines driving beats with evocative and emotionally engaging harmonies and melodies. The music has an electronic foundation with industrial and EBM components, and it mixes real instruments and voices with synthesisers to add cinematic depth and intensity.
The name 'Dicepeople' is taken from the book The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart, and the comparison to diceliving is reflected in the wide range of influences and schizophrenic moments found in the music. Dicepeople tracks incorporate a large variety of styles and genres; but the mood, intensity and dark atmosphere provide the necessary coherence and consistency to bind them together.ElectroVisit websiteFind on twitter: @dicepeople
The tagline for Dicepeople is 'dark electronica for the body and mind' because Brock's aim is to create music that combines driving beats with evocative and emotionally engaging harmonies and melodies. The music has an electronic foundation with industrial and EBM components, and it mixes real instruments and voices with synthesisers to add cinematic depth and intensity.
The name 'Dicepeople' is taken from the book The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart, and the comparison to diceliving is reflected in the wide range of influences and schizophrenic moments found in the music. Dicepeople tracks incorporate a large variety of styles and genres; but the mood, intensity and dark atmosphere provide the necessary coherence and consistency to bind them together.ElectroVisit websiteFind on twitter: @dicepeople
Members of Dicepeople
Matt Brock
Core member
Core member
Reviews of group
"Twilight Zone to dance to"
The debut album from Londoner Matt Brock's project 'Dicepeople' is an epic and ambitious affair that seemingly strives to draw from as many musical genres as possible but still manages to emerge as a coherent listen from start to finish. Relying as much on atmosphere as it does on heavy rhythmic hooks, the album is quite hard to place in terms of other musical references. Perhaps the best place to start would be the dark but still danceable music of vintage Warp such as early Plaid, or the direct but still ambitious stylings of 'Rhythm and Stealth'-era Leftfield, but this is only one part of the multi-faceted construct that is 'Time to Play'.
The main feature of the album seems to be the contrasts between all the different ingredients that have gone into it, and frequently defies expectation. The title track opens with a scattering of melodic percussion - sounding like some Tibetan ritual - before a skipping riff reminiscent of early Prodigy breaks through the drone. But just as you're expecting the expected frantic rhythms to kick the track of into 'another dimension', a surprising beat-down emerges instead - taking the track off into a far more pleasingly surprising direction. In fact, Dicepeople often seem to not go for the obvious beat - a track like 'Wormsign' threatens to spill over at any moment but instead stays remarkably restrained - and is all the better for it. Instead, the constricted rhythms serve to heighten the feeling of unease that permeates through the cracks - kind of like a Twilight Zone tribute night at Fabric. Which actually sounds fairly terrifying come to think of it. Speaking of which - 'The Fear', which takes us back to that unpredicatability thing again as it's probably the most upbeat and danceable track you're ever likely to hear that references a general state of neuroses in the title.
One of the album's main strengths is the extremely high level of production throughout, but none of this would matter a bit if the tracks weren't equal to it. Thankfully, the 9 slices of dark electronica on offer provide ample amounts of engagement for both mind and body, combining a completely-realised soundworld with some relentlessly danceable beats. The sprawling pool of references - from dark ambience to vintage sci-fi to eighties action films and much more - serve to give the album a depth which compliment the arrangements of rhythm and dreamy vocal snippets that run throughout the album's duration. Though probably best appreciated best in a dark club, with huge speakers, and lasers (lots of lasers) rather than the tiny in-ear headphones on offer in this instance, the debut from Dicepeople still does easily enough to engage the listener from start to finish, with more than enough surprises along the way.view less
The main feature of the album seems to be the contrasts between all the different ingredients that have gone into it, and frequently defies expectation. The title track opens with a scattering of melodic percussion - sounding like some Tibetan ritual - before a skipping riff reminiscent of early Prodigy breaks through the drone. But just as you're expecting the expected frantic rhythms to kick the track of into 'another dimension', a surprising beat-down emerges instead - taking the track off into a far more pleasingly surprising direction. In fact, Dicepeople often seem to not go for the obvious beat - a track like 'Wormsign' threatens to spill over at any moment but instead stays remarkably restrained - and is all the better for it. Instead, the constricted rhythms serve to heighten the feeling of unease that permeates through the cracks - kind of like a Twilight Zone tribute night at Fabric. Which actually sounds fairly terrifying come to think of it. Speaking of which - 'The Fear', which takes us back to that unpredicatability thing again as it's probably the most upbeat and danceable track you're ever likely to hear that references a general state of neuroses in the title.
One of the album's main strengths is the extremely high level of production throughout, but none of this would matter a bit if the tracks weren't equal to it. Thankfully, the 9 slices of dark electronica on offer provide ample amounts of engagement for both mind and body, combining a completely-realised soundworld with some relentlessly danceable beats. The sprawling pool of references - from dark ambience to vintage sci-fi to eighties action films and much more - serve to give the album a depth which compliment the arrangements of rhythm and dreamy vocal snippets that run throughout the album's duration. Though probably best appreciated best in a dark club, with huge speakers, and lasers (lots of lasers) rather than the tiny in-ear headphones on offer in this instance, the debut from Dicepeople still does easily enough to engage the listener from start to finish, with more than enough surprises along the way.view less
The debut album from Londoner Matt Brock's project 'Dicepeople' is an epic and ambitious affair that seemingly strives to draw from as many musical genres as possible but still manages to emerge as a coherent listen from start to finish. Relying as much on atmosphere as it does on heavy rhythmic ... view more
