Robert "Noise" Hood makes minimal Detroit techno with an emphasis on soul and experimentation over flash and popularity.
He has recorded for Juan Atkins' Metroplex and Jeff Mills' Axis, as well as the revered Tresor and Peacefrog, among others. Hood also owns and operates the M-Plant imprint, through which he has released a fair portion of his voluminous output. The producer was an early member, along with Mills and Mike Banks, of the Underground Resistance label, whose influential releases throughout the first half of the '90s helped change the face of modern Detroit techno and sparked a creative renaissance. Infusing elements of acid and industrial into a potent blend of Chicago house and Detroit techno, UR's aesthetic project and militant business philosophy were (and remain) singular commitments in underground techno. Mills, a giant in his own right, regards Hood as the creator of minimal techno.
In 1992, Hood left Detroit (and UR) with Jeff Mills, setting up shop in New York and recording a series of 12" EPs with Mills. Through the mid-'90s, Hood focused on his solo work, setting up M-Plant in 1994 and releasing singles such as "Internal Empire," "Music Data," and "Moveable Parts." Although his desire to remain underground was replaced by an urge to reach a wider audience, Hood remained fiercely critical of artistic and economic movements destructive to inner-city communities and combined his musical enterprises with outreach and social activist ends. Over the course of two decades, Hood built and sustained a reputation for being one of techno's most reliable album artists, beginning with a pair of crucial 1994 releases: Internal Empire (Tresor) and Minimal Nation (Axis). Cheap released Nighttime World the following year, and it was followed by M-Plant's release of Nighttime World, Vol. 2 in 2000. An association with Peacefrog yielded 2002's Point Blank and 2003's Wire to Wire. After the 2010 and 2011 M-Plant releases Omega and Omega: Alive, Hood linked with Music Man for 2012's Motor: Nighttime World, Vol. 3. Also a well-regarded DJ, his official mixes include Rare Species (Logistic) and Fabric 39 (Fabric). ~ Sean Cooper, Rovi
