Carl Finlow

Carl A. Finlow is a British-born electronic musician responsible for well over 100 releases, spanning electro, techno, house, and all points in between. Active since the early '90s, he's frequently collaborated with Ralph Lawson on various house projects, and produced experimental electro with Daz Quayle under the names Scarletron and IL.EK.TRO. On his own, he's used the name Random Factor for work that explores deep, Detroit-style techno, occasionally merging with John Foxx-esque synth pop, as on 2004's Convergence. His work as Voice Stealer, under his own name, and especially his extensive output as Silicon Scally has established Finlow as one of the most creative figures in the electro scene. 2018's Introspective collected over two hours of his best-known material, and he's continued pushing forward with releases like 2020's Apparatus and 2022's Field Lines (as Silicon Scally). Finlow was born in Liverpool in 1970. Inspired by vintage electronic artists like Tomita, he started making computer-based music as a teenager, and began releasing records in the early '90s, after moving to Leeds. One of his earliest productions was Circle City's "Moments of Inertia," a progressive house single released by Warp in 1993. He formed a long-lasting partnership with Leeds-based DJ Ralph Lawson, founder of the 20:20 Vision label and resident at Back to Basics, and the two have produced music together as Urban Farmers, Wolf n' Flow, and several other projects. Additionally, Finlow worked with Daz Quayle as Black Labs during the mid-'90s, and the two later produced more IDM-leaning work as Scarletron and IL.EK.TRO. Finlow's first major solo project was Random Factor, which debuted in 1994 with the ambient/downtempo full-length Purist Images from Conceptual Reality. Finlow debuted his Voice Stealer alias with 1997's All-Electric House, an acclaimed album that influenced numerous modern electro producers. He followed it with the 1998 EP Electromotive Force, then dropped the moniker in favor of Silicon Scally, which first surfaced with 1998's Electrocide. Random Factor remained active, releasing its second album, Too Fast into the Future, on 20:20 Vision. Finlow moved to France in 2002, and he released the Electrilogy EPs (compiled on a 2003 CD) under his own name, featuring his own vocoder-laced singing. He collaborated with Swayzak on the song "I Dance Alone" (from 2002's Dirty Dancing), which also featured Detroit duo ADULT. Silicon Scally remained productive, with albums on SCSI-AV and New York's Satamile Records, and Random Factor fused house with new wave on 2004's Convergence, then moved in more of an abstract electro-funk direction with 2010's Outlaw. Silicon Scally, Voice Stealer, and Random Factor all issued digital compilations of unreleased material during the 2010s, and two digital albums appeared under Finlow's name, The Lure of Perfection (2016) and Klystron (2017). In 2018, the digital compilation Introspective and the two-volume vinyl release A Selection of Works collected material from Finlow's vast, multi-alias discography. Vinyl box set Midi Archeology, consisting of four EPs of original material and three additional discs of remixes, was released by Fundamental Records in 2019, which then issued the records individually. Finlow's Apparatus full-length was released by 20:20 Vision in 2020, and his EP Engines of Creation appeared on Avoidant in 2021. Crack It, the first Random Factor record in six years, was released by Gamine. Silicon Scally remained one of Finlow's most productive aliases, with 2022's Field Lines appearing on Central Processing Unit, following several EPs for the label.
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