Christoph De Babalon – If You're Into It, I'm Out Of It

Picked this one up when seeing ATR live in Hamburg, then listened to it during the night, and I rarely slept so well.
A friend told me "very unusual release for DHR, very introvertive", and it's true, there is none of the riotous screaming, gabber guitars, and hardcore drums that DHR was known for on this record.
It's not exactly soft or calm either, though.
It's more like a reserved, introverted aggression, a dark and hidden brooding.
Snapping at ya from the subconsciousness.
Signified by the famous cover art, too:
Showing Christoph de Babalon in his plain living room, in a quite calm and intellectual pose, while in the background a poster informs us that he intends to "go out like a m***er f***er".

Stand-out tracks include:

"What you call a life" with its drones and peculiar melodies. The haunting vocals state "...all my life I have been used", underlining the theme of subdued anger.

"My Confession" an epic early breakcore track, running over 9 minutes, and including the sound of church bells(!).

And there's three beatless ambient tracks, and these are most remarkable, as they constitute a kind of "digital ambient" micro-genre of its own - sample based ambient music done on an amiga 500, sounding *very* different from all other ambient producers that I know.

this needs a reissue on cd!! so expensive now :( . amazing album

This is an album with something of a cult following, 'If You're Into It, I'm Out Of It' made a mark on artists outside of the world of Electronica with some of the most brutal breakcore ever produced all the way back in 1997.

one of those albums that gets me excited about music again, super good dark ambient dnb amiga shit

2023 repress still available from Boomkat as of writing this.

https://boomkat.com/products/if-you-re-into-it-i-m-out-of-it-2018-remaster

Where most of DHR's fold stylized the labels ethic with brutalized the amen break over distorted punk guitar samples and snappy slogans, De Babalon's album stood as the black sheep of the label but also one of the best. Unlike his peers, his music is incredibly bleak, devoid of any vocals and relying more on dark ambient textures and sparse snatches of drum n bass influence which he called "Dirge Funk" when interviewed in the DHR newspaper many years ago.

To steady this notion the opening track "Opium" if on vinyl has a side to its own and clocks in at 15 minutes long and after that, the real adventure begins and in some cases, Heavily recommended for midnight listenings as previously stated this album unlike most of the DHR roster this album commands you to sit calmly and appreciate the art, instead of smashing things to pieces.

What's the chances of a repress as the prices are obscene?

If you're still out of it but want to be into it hit up Boomkat: https://boomkat.com/products/if-you-re-into-it-i-m-out-of-it-2018-remaster

Two other reviewers = 100% Agree, one of my all-time favorite records, and a big influence on my own work. Listened to the previews of the new album. Sounds like a cheap RDJ knockoff, If You're Into It, I'm Out Of It certainly doesn't!

This record is intense! It's the reason why I love and respect Christoph de Babalon. This is nothing like the rest of DHR catalog. This is dark, brooding, sinister and intense!! When I bought this record I heard the first five seconds of Opium and thought, "I'm going to love this record!", and I do, from start to finish. Opium and High Life are two epic tracks filled with deep drones and harrowing ambience. The rest of the album is filled with the same spine tingling ambience and heavy breakbeat arrangements. They aren't any in-your-face style DHR breakbeats, but it's not a light D n' B track either. Give this record a listen, you will not be disappointed.