Hangars Liquides

It seems like ages since I actually wrote a normal post, featuring a new (or new to me) sim in Second Life. I've been somewhat preoccupied with other topics. Tonight though, following a suggestion from my chum and top sim-spotter, Lem Skall, I found time to visit a potentially interesting sim that goes by the slightly enigmatic name of Hangars Liquides.

The sim is under construction, although at quite an advanced stage, and there is little, if anything, to tell you who or what owns the place. However, as usual Google came up trumps. Hangars Liquides is a French electronica record label that has been around since 1998 - so is rapidly approaching its first decade. For a fuller picture, I think the somewhat mind-boggling wikipedia entry is worth quoting pretty much in full:

Initially Hangars Liquides was Speedcore-oriented but was quickly categorized as experimental music within the hardcore techno scene. HL quickly gained a very good reputation and has been played around the world in many different music scenes: industrial, noise, techno, acousmatic, hardcore, electronica, ambient and post rock.

Releasing artists such as I:gor and Neurocore from Poland, Senical (aka DJ choose) from Denmark, Bombardier from the USA, Noize Creator from Germany, Venetian Snares from Canada, Atomhead (aka Undacova) from Belgium, and French artists such as Al Zheimer, XKV8, Helius Zhamiq, Fist of Fury, Attila, EPC, La Peste and more, the label became a reference in itself: a lot of electronic music tracks from other labels have been described as having a "Hangars Liquides sound" or "Hangars Liquides style".

Since 2000, the label has released many different genres from acousmatic music to power electronics and flashcore. Flashcore identifies a style that some of those experimental artists share and a manifesto explains the aim of HL's vision of experimental music.

Phew! And I thought some of the stuff I like to listen to is a tad obscure.

Given their cutting edge, experimental approach to music it was perhaps inevitable that they would arrive in that mecca of experimental art: Second Life. With HL described using terms like "noise", "industrial" and "flashcore" (whatever that may be) you should not be expecting a sim simply swimming with pastoral delights. And you will not be disappointed. We are much more in a cyberpunk/Akira/BladeRunner world of inner city glitz and meltdown. At ground level there's grungey walkways, dingy corner shops and burning garbage; while higher up, in the tall towers, you find the bright lights of the well-to-do. I found setting the environment to midnight (or thereabouts) gave the most atmospheric images - as shown here:

It's a nice sim, even in its current state - worth an explore, and I think worth a more extended explore once it is actually finished. Oh.. and why Hangars Liquides? I have absolutely no idea.