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Khan Oral, the man behind alter egos Bizz OD, 4E and Gizz TV

Author: Andrez
Sunday, January 1, 1995
Moonlighting under the innovative aliases of Bizz OD, 4E and Gizz TV and working with fellow German underground techno producers Jammin`` Unit, Walker, Biochip C and Kerosene - not to mention eclectic Finnish composer Jimi Tenor - you should know who Khan Oral is and what he``s all about. But as with others of his ilk you``ve more than likely never heard of him, and it``s an intentional state of affairs that belies this expatriate German``s obvious talent.

While you probably won``t recognise the name of Khan Oral or his latest production incarnation called El Turco Loco, he``s no doubt come out of your speakers at one time or another over the past few years. As Bizz OD and Gizz TV he``s explored the underground acid tip and has tracks released through respected German labels like Force Inc, Ozon and DJ Ungle Fever, not to mention Sm:)e Communications in New York; as 4E he``s pursued a soundtrack verging upon futuristic hip hop beats, heavy basslines and an undercurrent of acid and dub fused together, again pumping out material on Force Inc, Pharma, and Freddie Fresh``s new Socket imprint. On top of this Khan also runs his own label in New York City called Temple Records and yet another claim to fame is that he``s Jammin`` Unit``s brother.

Khan proves to be an interesting one to interview. Talking down the phone-line from New York, he``s exceptionally laid-back and bares a warm sense of humour throughout; when I mention that it``s 40oC down here at the moment and that he``ll more than likely arrive during a heatwave, he mutters "Cool!" in a totally optimistic tone. "I don``t mind, that``s fine!"

While it has a low profile, Khan``s El Turco Loco project best captures the spirit of what he``s all about. The first El Turco Loco record has a fold-out newspaper article which has two hands printed on it and emblazoned across the top are the words ``Touch My Hands & Be Healed!`` - basically the entire article that follows is a mischievous dig at faith healers and mass naivete, and would possibly collect an ardent following along America``s Bible Belt. "The whole idea behind El Turco Loco is to put out music nobody wants anyway," Khan explains as if this is a commonplace ideal to pursue. "That was the original concept and there were only 500 copies pressed. I originally made that track for ``Robot Wars`` in San Francisco, where I played and did the live soundtrack for the event - that was the theme for the robots to enter."

To those of us ignorant of the growing enigma that are the Robot Wars, they``re a series of competitions where people are invited to make their own robots and compete them against one another in an arena, in a survival of the fittest machination. "It``s becoming an international thing", says Khan. "They compete and in the end the two winners, like, kill each other with the crowd cheering of course - the more blood and the more noise they make, the better!"

The artistic differences between Khan``s other projects boils down to mood swings. "It just pretty much happens because I get bored really easily," he confesses. "Say I``ll be working with Bizz OD, where I focus on a particular sound or vocal sample and it can be as simple as the word ``Stomp`` or the line ``I``m Coming Out Of Your Speakers`` played over and over, and it``s all about fun in a club. But then I get bored after about making five or so Bizz OD tracks, so then I``ll start with the 4E stuff."

A lot of the 4E sounds are darker and more complex than is the case with Bizz OD or Gizz TV, especially the more recent material, and the German expatriate behind each incarnation agrees: "Yeah, yeah - but actually when I released the first 4E record ``Temple Tracks`` on Force Inc about three years ago there was nothing called trip hop around - so back then the term I used for it was ``miami bass acid``, full of really heavy bass and an acid flavour in there. Then all these trip hop records started coming out and I always saw my records f

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