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Digital Stimulation (Special 40th Anniversary Remixed Edition)

by UNITS - Scott Ryser

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    The original version of the UNITS 'Digital Stimulation' is once again available on vinyl at Futurismo Records. It includes a CD of the remixed version. Available at:
    https://www.futurismoinc.com/product/h4-units-h4-h5-digital-stimulation-lp-cd-h5-h6-circuit-meltdown-vinyl-h6

    The remixed album includes previously unreleased instrumental tracks of all songs plus 'live' versions of "I Night" and "Cannibals" recorded by Terry Hammer in 1980 at the Mabuhay in S.F.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

1.
Saw Johnny tonight But we didn't say hello to each other We're all moving pretty fast these days Bumping around like bumper cars Slippery kelp in the tide It's awful hard to hang on to each other Flying around hot H2O molecules Balls that come in contact often alter their direction High pressure days, high pressure High pressure days, high pressure High pressure days, bumping round bumper cars High pressure days, high pressure! Our paths still cross in these high pressure days A crowd pattern will emerge Exchange phone numbers, wither away Our paths still cross in these high pressure days A crowd pattern will emerge Exchange phone numbers, wither away High pressure days, finding that our motions High pressure nights, fit into a pattern High pressure days, finding that our motions High pressure nights, fit into a pattern Saw Johnny tonight But we didn't say hello to each other We're all moving pretty fast these days Bumping around like bumper cars Slippery kelp in the tide It's awful hard to hang on to each other Flying around hot H2O molecules Balls that come in contact often alter their direction High pressure days, high pressure High pressure days, high pressure High pressure days, bumping round bumper cars High pressure days, high pressure!
2.
Roger liked to watch her with a telescope And follow her around with a tape recorder He put the information in the firm's computer Comparative analysis, he thought he knew her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her He pulled out his digital calculator And figured out a formula on how he could make her Bill Wyman's T.V. course for data technicians Planned his future around a woman and children I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her Roger finally met her on an elevator And put his plan to work for a movie and dinner But afterwards he realized there's no gratification Without digital stimulation I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her
3.
Out of six million sperm cells I came in first and won a warm moving body A warm moving body, a warm moving body I came in first and won a warm moving body We are the ones The ones that got the bodies We are the ones The ones that got the bodies The warm...moving...bodies I get to see hear touch taste smell my partner Attracted by the odor I respond to the stimulus A gene machine surrounded by a cell wall Protective shell of similar units We are the ones The ones that got the bodies We are the ones The ones that got the bodies The warm...moving...bodies Skyscraper cells Full of water A portion of matter, structure and substance Scientifically different than the monkey Turn back the hand of time with a youthful chin line Turn back the hand of time with a youthful chin line On our warm...moving...bodies Look sharp feel sharp be sharp see sharp Head to foot and cellar to attic Lovely hair deserves fine care There's a five o'clock shadow Beneath skin level We are the ones The ones that got the bodies We are the ones The ones that got the bodies The warm...moving...bodies An anonymous sperm bank donation Stepping in a roll of propagation Versatile hands and a well-developed larynx A nose that blows Tongue that licks Now let's Turn off the sentences And turn on the senses On our warm...moving...bodies
4.
My dad yells, I gotta leave Get into my car, I drive hard Outside, it's a real nice blur But inside, I'm just sitting here I want to be a blur, I wanna be GO I wanna be go, I want to be a blur I wanna be GO! Like the blood in my veins I drive around the same old lanes With windows up at a hundred & ten I feel my sigh upon my head I've never held a girl As long as this wheel One two oh It seems so still I punch it to the floor I hit the tape machine I open up the windows And listen to the scream Now no more time, no more space just energy...until I stop some place I WANNA BE A BLUR, I WANNA BE GO Let's GO! GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO....GO
5.
When the sun goes down And leaves this unit all alone I stand up to face him Because i'm tired of this lie life When no one hears my shoes And no one sees my face I feel just like a fast fog That goes dancing past the street light When the sun goes down And leaves this unit all alone I stand up to face him Because i'm tired of his lie life Surrounded by smells Surrounded by sounds I feel life on my skin Like a fog that's on a street light So quietly i yell It's my time now Invisible man What i want to be The crest of a wave Escaping the sea A dot of the fog Evaporating The part of the wind That lives in the night
6.
I see a lot of people lined up in formation Waiting for lively moments to come to them like victims Rows and rows and rows of vampire eyes This is a generation of cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals This is our generation Lines & lines & lines & lines of people Rows & rows of people feasting on a rare man's life Lines and lines of people, waiting for a victim This is a generation of cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals This is our generation People out there lying, waiting to be discovered People out there lying, hoping to be discovered Rows & rows of graves waiting to be uncovered This is a generation of cannibals Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life This is a generation of cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals Cannibals, Cannibals, Cannibals This is our generation
7.
His father was a lawyer Mother a psychologist He was just a boy who liked to torture bugs When they'd go out to work He'd go out to play With pockets full of weapons Bugs you'd better stay out of my way He'd say There's no love, no understanding I just torture the bugs It's survival of the fittest And torture for the winner He liked to get in garbage cans And capture little bugs And burn them with a magnifying glass After he pulled off their wings His father did not think it right To pick upon helpless things And his mother did not understand How he could be so unfeeling He'd say There's no love, no understanding I just torture the bugs It's survival of the fittest And torture for the winner
8.
9.
Not new, old hat Good times, low rent Known love, same language Good bargain, same brand Minutes matter and the hearts beats weaker Hair grows thinner and the fat gets thicker Is it passion, or patterns you're after? When you worry so much about your image You only look good in front of a mirror When you worry so much about your image You only look good in front of a mirror Minutes matter and the hearts beats weaker Hair grows thinner and the fat gets thicker Is it passion, or patterns you're after? You calculate the things that worked in the past And think that will guarantee your future success Your formula provokes no exhaustion or esteem You end up in the dough boy's skin. Minutes matter and the hearts beats weaker Hair grows thinner and the fat gets thicker Is it passion, or patterns you're after? Is it really passion, or patterns you're after? Is it really passion, or patterns you're after?
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
When the sun goes down And leaves this unit all alone I stand up to face him Because i'm tired of this lie life When no one hears my shoes And no one sees my face I feel just like a fast fog That goes dancing past the street light When the sun goes down And leaves this unit all alone I stand up to face him Because i'm tired of his lie life Surrounded by smells Surrounded by sounds I feel life on my skin Like a fog that's on a street light So quietly i yell It's my time now Invisible man What i want to be The crest of a wave Escaping the sea A dot of the fog Evaporating The part of the wind That lives in the night
20.
1,2,3,4! I see a lot of people lined up in formation Waiting for lively moments to come to them like victims Rows and rows and rows of vampire eyes This is a generation of cannibals (Chorus) Lines & lines & lines & lines of people Rows & rows of people feasting on a rare man's life Lines and line of people, waiting for a victim This is a generation of cannibals (Chorus) People out there lying, waiting to be discovered People out there lying, hoping to be discovered Rows & rows of graves waiting to be uncovered This is a generation of cannibals, Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life Hoping some rare man's blood is going to give them life This is a generation of cannibals
21.
Roger liked to watch her with a telescope And follow her around with a tape recorder He put the information in the firm's computer Comparative analysis, he thought he knew her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her He pulled out his digital calculator And figured out a formula on how he could make her Bill Wyman's T.V. course for data technicians Planned his future around a woman and children I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her Roger finally met her on an elevator And put his plan to work for a movie and dinner But afterwards he realized there's no gratification Without digital stimulation I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her I need to know her, I need to know her, I need to know her

about

UNITS - DIGITAL STIMULATION - SAN FRANCISCO – 1980

Welcome to the new, 2020 “Special Edition 40th Anniversary Remix” of the UNITS classic first album DIGITAL STIMULATION. As stated on its own Wikipedia page: “AllMusic wrote that the album "remains a fiery, exciting document of an innovative group who redefined the potential of synthesizers in a rock band format."

Luckily, I’ve held on to the original 1 inch, reel to reel, 16 track master tapes that the UNITS recorded the original DIGITAL STIMULATION album on for all these years. 40 years after we first recorded it, I converted the old tapes to digital, and Kit Watson and I painstakingly went through the process of remixing them. Our goal was to bring out the clarity and potential of the original album, without the inevitable snap, crackle and pops of an out of print, 40 year old vinyl record! As a bonus to go along with the original songs, we’ve taken out the vocals on the songs that had them, and included them as never before released instrumental versions. In addition, we've added a live recording by Terry Hammer of the song “I Night, Live at the Mabuhay, 1980”.
Special thanks to Kit Watson for mastering this new album along with collaborating with me on remixing it.


The timing of the original release of DIGITAL STIMULATION couldn’t have been more perfect. It was 1980 in pre-AIDS, low rent San Francisco. The club scene was huge, wild and steaming. Punk was challenging “popular” commercial music and fashion. Performance Art was challenging preconceived notions of art. Corporate advertising was being challenged by guerrilla art attacks. Institutions were crumbling. All kinds of boundaries were breaking. Anything was possible … and it was all happening in San Francisco.

I felt like in order to make a new musical statement of dissent, our band would have to accompany it with a non-conventional instrument that didn’t come pre-tagged as a symbol of commercial entertainment. I wanted to break out of the mold. So I figured, fuck the guitars. I wanted an all synthesizer band, so we wouldn’t be pigeonholed and processed into the same old music industry commodity. I wanted a synthesizer band that wasn’t a polite, socially acceptable, electronic experiment in academia. I didn’t want a doctorate in electronic doodling.
No … I wanted a synthesizer band that kicked ass!

Within the first two weeks that Rachel Webber and I met each other we were living and working together on performance art, video, film and music. The imagery we were creating on film and our slide projectors became as much a part of the music as the music itself, and we incorporated it into our live shows. Our live shows broke down preconceived notions of the "audience/performer relationship". Our projected films and images took the spotlight off ourselves and became the “front man”. The films were satirical, instructional films critical of conformity and consumerism. We “re-purposed” the film, that was compiled from found footage, educational and industrial training films, home movies, obsolete instructional shorts, with a dose of soft porn. We usually ran two 16mm movie projectors and a couple slide projectors. Not an easy task in many of the crazy little smoky clubs we played in at the time.

One of my favorite shows was when we played with the Dead Kennedys in 1979 at the Mabuhay. We projected images of hated politicians, products from obnoxious advertising photos and irritating authority figures onto an old Cadillac car hood that we set up on the stage. We set our synthesizers to auto-play a factory drone sound and proceeded to beat the hell out of the images we were projecting on the car hood with plywood guitars. We had stacks of them, constructed so that they would shatter on impact. Pieces of the guitars were flying into the audience and they were throwing them back up on stage.

A “synth band” being on the same bill with the Dead Kennedys was indicative of the times when the terms “new wave” or “synthpunk” hadn’t been invented yet and punk had not been rigidly defined. Punk wasn’t relegated to a guitar, black leather jacket, tight pants and safety pin uniform or a 3 chord guitar pattern. Punk meant being creative, anti-establishment, funny, daring, provocative, innovative and most importantly, original. People in the scene liked bands that didn’t copy any other band’s music, stagecraft or dress code

The UNITS played over 60 shows in 22 different clubs in SF alone in the year between 1979 and 1980.
Just 16 months after our first gig in SF, Rachel and I somehow scraped together enough money from our day jobs, me as a tile setter and Rachel as a retail store salesperson … to go into a "professional" recording studio where we self-produced and recorded our first album, Digital Stimulation in 1980.

40 years later in 2020, the songs on this album have been covered or remixed by over 60 international DJs, producers and bands from 15 different countries.

I hope you enjoy this “Special Edition 40th Anniversary Remix”.

Scott Ryser ~ 2020

credits

released October 2, 2020

Scott Ryser - Synthesizer, vocals
Rachel Webber - Synthesizer, vocals
Brad Saunders - Drums

Vibes on 'Tight Fit' - James Reynolds
Mixed by Kit Watson and Scott Ryser
Mastered by Kit Watson
Original Jacket Design - Rachel Webber
Updated Jacket Design - Rachel Webber, Kit Watson, Scott Ryser

© Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber
℗ LET S GO MUSIC (Scott Ryser)

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about

UNITS - Scott Ryser Brooklyn, New York

Scott Ryser and his partner & wife, Rachel Webber, were the principal, songwriters, synth players, singers and filmmakers for the UNITS. The UNITS were one of America’s first electronic new wave bands and have been cited along with The Screamers and Suicide as pioneers of the music genre “synthpunk”. Scott & Rachel moved from SF to NYC in 1984 where Scott continues to make music & film ... more

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