Testube is a solo electronic music project from the United States of America, founded in 1994 by Jeff Danos (Born 9 May 1976). His music spans multiple sub-genres of electronic music, including Industrial

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

, Glitch

Glitch (music)

Glitch is a term used to describe a genre of electronic music that emerged in the mid to late 1990s. The glitch aesthetic is characterized by a deliberate use of glitch based sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted disturbances reducing the overall sound quality and are thus...

, Experimental

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

, IDM

Intelligent dance music

Intelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...

, Electroclash

Electroclash

Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...

, Darkwave

Darkwave

Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...

, Ambient

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

, Synthpop

Synthpop

Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 and EBM

Electronic body music

Electronic body music or industrial dance is a music genre that combines elements of industrial music and electronic dance music...

.

History

Testube began in 1994 as a tribal-influenced experimental electronic side-project of the early 1990s Industrial

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

 music group Wrack Process. The earliest recordings occurred in 1994-1995 and featured musical contributions from Jeff Danos and Bryan Elsloo. From these early recordings, the two musicians released a self-titled Testube cassette in March 1996 on UEF Records. Following the dissolution of Wrack Process later that year, co-founder Jeff Danos briefly produced solo material under the monikers Danos and Marble I/Orchard. By April 1997, Jeff had re-assumed the Testube moniker for his solo music project. Testube originated in Englewood

Englewood, Colorado

The city of Englewood is a Home Rule Municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. As of 2007, the city is estimated to have a total population of 32,532. Englewood is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. Englewood is located in the South Platte River Valley east of the...

, Colorado and relocated to Eureka Springs

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States. Along with Berryville, it is one of the two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 2,350...

, Arkansas in 2006.

Music Charts

Reconstructive Surgery, an album of Testube songs remixed by Mr. Danos and other artists appeared on the CMJ national RPM top-20 charts for six weeks in the Autumn of 2000, peaking at the number 4 chart position that September.

Critical Response

Australian journal Blatant Propaganda praised Testube's Bioplaza album for its "gothic-medieval melodies and dreamy electronic-body-music." Chain DLK website reviewed Corporation album stating it is "not for the timid or pop oriented, yet still fully functional on the dancefloor!" Regarding Testube's Off-Purpose album, UK-based Sphere Magazine wrote "this collection has personality that cannot be turned off or even ignored." StarVox Webzine proclaimed "Testube are an anomaly. Brilliant beyond measure, and yet criminally overlooked... How does this work, people? How is it that Testube isn't spoken of with the same reverence as Skinny Puppy

Skinny Puppy

Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....

? The material is that good, let me assure you."

Remixing

Jeff Danos has remixed other electronic music groups, including Torrent Vaccine, Destroid

Destroid

Destroid is a German electronic act incorporating EBM and electro.-Members / History:Founding member and vocalist Daniel Myer of Haujobb fame released the debut album Future Prophecies together with Ribi and Sebastian Ullman on the German label Out of Line in 2004 without any announcement of his...

, Ptyl, I,Parasite, Skin Contact, Pain Station, Burikusu!!!, Thine Eyes, Left Spine Down

Left Spine Down

Based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Left Spine Down is a band that plays what they call "cyberpunk," a mixture of electronica, metal, punk, and drum & bass....

, the Unter Null

Unter null

Unter Null is an Aggrotech music project formed in 1998 by the then 17 year old Erica Dunham, in Seattle, USA. , she is based in Portland, Oregon.-Overview:...

 side-project Stray, Diverje, B! Machine

B! Machine

B! Machine was a synthpop band from San Francisco, California.The band was formed in 1996, consisting of the sole founding member, Nathaniel Lee Nicoll. The current line-up of the band varies but typically consists of Nathaniel Nicoll, Mike Hayden, and James Wong...

, Monstrum Sepsis, Paranoid Axis, Biopsy, White Trash Compactor, Leæther Strip (for the single Carry Me

Carry Me

Carry Me is a single by Leæther Strip. The song did not appear on any album, but it was re-recorded for After the Devastation.-Tracklisting:# Carry Me# Carry Me # Carry Me # Carry Me # Carry Me...

) and works by fellow Glim Records recording artist LowHero DLL. Jeff's audio post-production is often credited as a Testube "remix" or "treatment".

Live Performance

Testube rarely plays in a live context, as it is primarily a studio music project. However, there have been a handful of live performances, the first of which was in 1996 at Cafe Euphrates in Denver, CO. Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

, NM is the only other city to host live shows with Testube.

Film Composing

Jeff Danos has contributed original music to motion picture soundtracks, including the cult film Sleeping Pills

Sleeping Pills (2003 film)

Sleeping Pills is a film written and directed by Michael Lauter, which tells the story of a young man who struggles to find his place in an ephemeral landscape.- Plot :...

 and the short film Refraction.

Record Labels

Testube has been associated with UEF (United Endangered Front) Records (1996–1998), DSBP Records (1999–2007)
, and Glim Records (starting in 2008).

Discography

Below is a partial Testube discography

Release Title	Artist	Records Label	Format(s)	Release Date	Notes
Off Purpose	Testube	Glim Records	CD, digital download	May 2010
Treatments	Various Artists	Glim Records	CD	Sep 2009
Covert	Testube	Glim Records	CD	Jul 2008
Refraction	Testube	ClandestCINE Films	35mm, DVD	Oct 2007	short film
Sleeping Pills Sleeping Pills (2003 film) Sleeping Pills is a film written and directed by Michael Lauter, which tells the story of a young man who struggles to find his place in an ephemeral landscape.- Plot :...	Jeff Danos	Kinotonik Pictures	35mm, DVD	Dec 2003	feature film
Corporation	Testube	DSBP Records	CD	Sep 2003
Bioplaza Revisited	Testube	DSBP Records	CD	Nov 2000
Daisypusher EP	Marble I/Orchard	MP3.com	CD, digital download	Aug 2000
Carry Me (Testube remix)	Leæther Strip	Metropolis Records Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based record label, distributor, and mail-order store specializing in the post-industrial field such as electro-industrial, synthpop, futurepop, darkwave, and gothic musical genres....	CD Single	May 2000	remix
Carry Me (Testube remix)	Leæther Strip	Bloodline Records Bloodline Records Bloodline Records is a Hip hop record label founded by Earl "DMX" Simmons, also known as DMX. The label used to be distributed by Def Jam Recordings but is currently searching for a distributor since DMX left Def Jam Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment's Sony BMG, Sony Urban Music and Columbia...	CD Single	Mar 2000	remix
Reconstructive Surgery	Testube	DSBP Records	CD	May 2000	reached #4 on CMJ RPM chart
Bioplaza	Testube	Self Released	CD	May 1999
Circuit Noir Vol. 2	Various Artists	UEF Records	CD	Feb 1999
Vertigo Grim	Testube	UEF Records	CD-R	Sep 1998
Preyer	Testube	Promo	CD-R	Apr 1998	Promo Only
Circuit Noir Vol. 1	Various Artists	UEF Records	CD	Feb 1998
Post-Apocalypse	Testube	UEF Records	CD-R	Feb 1998
Usable Frequency Response	Testube	UEF Records	CD-R, MiniDisc, Cassette	Jul 1997
Second Soul	Testube	UEF Records	CD-R, MiniDisc, Cassette	Apr 1997
Soul	Danos	Promo	Cassette	Nov 1996	Promo Only