We got our hands on an infectious dance floor party starting tune – “Girlsbug“, the first track from the EP – “New Crack Swing“, produced by Dances With White Girls, being released on the new and improved Throne of Blood Records.
We’re happy to see NYC based, TOB alive and kicking after going through distributor drama along with well over 300 indie label worldwide, late last year. Unfortunately, we lost a few good one’s along the way. However, as they say, the strong survive, perseverance pays off, and good music reigns supreme, Throne of Blood is proof of just that.
The new New York based label is owned and operated by The Rapture. Originally created as a vehicle to release 12″s singles from the bands 2007 album – “Pieces of the People We Love.” The New Crack Swing EP is the first of many non-Rapture releases to come.
Dances With White Girls - GirlsBug
ALSO THIS HALLOWEEN, NOT TO BE MISSED!
10.31 GHOSTLY + THRONE OF BLOOD
SECOND ANNUAL HALLOWEEN BASH
With Live Performance & DJ Sets By:
Audion (Live)
The Rapture DJ’s
Daniel Wang
James F*cking Friedman
And More!
@ Studio B, presented by Ghostly + Justine D. BUY LIMITED ADVANCE TICKETS
One of my favorite electronic duo’s, The Presets, continue to deservedly SLAY and solidify their standing as a musical force to be reckoned with. Yesterday, they cleaned up at the Australian Aria Awards. Recently out with Cut Copy, The Presets will be touring North America again this March. If you’ve not had the pleasure of seeing them perform live yet, (and you live in NA), catching the show is a must. They are not to be missed, as they deliver an infectious performance that has the entire crowd on their feet and dancing. You’ll have a hard time denying The Presets, and you’re destined to become an instant fan, if not one already!
Aria official release:
Electronic duo THE PRESETS has also had a cracking year with the release of their widely acclaimed second album Apocalypso. They fought off stiff competition in the prestigious categories of ALBUM OF THE YEAR and BEST GROUP to take out both for the hugely popular Apocalypso. The album has also seen THE PRESETS receive the pointy trophy in the category of BEST DANCE RELEASE taking their tally to three ARIA Awards, plus 2 ARIA Artisan Awards, including PRODUCER OF THE YEAR for Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes. The self-produced Apocalypso, which spawned the gritty hit single “My People”, has sealed THE PRESETS as Australia’s premiere electronic act.
Dorothy’s Gallery located in Paris’ Bastille neighborhood has put together a collection of Obama inspired art with 30 French and American artists, viewable from the 3rd of October through the 17th of November.
Take a look at the Global Electoral College, What if the whole world could vote, featured on the The Economist, and the support Obama has around the globe. Viewing the world map really shows just how much the rest of the world is in favor for Obama. If this election were to happen in Europe, he most definitely would win by a landslide!!!! Hopefully for the U.S. we’ll do the right thing.
Dorothy’s Gallery
27, rue Keller, 75011, Paris
tel: 01.43.57.08.51
Open Tues-Sat, 1-8pm, Sun 4-8pm.
“…I guess music is more about making decisions than having skills. We are not great musicians. We are not great producers. We are not great songwriters. We are just nothing, but we have clear ideas of what we want to do, and even more what we don’t want to do.” – JUSTICE
Extraordinary things always happen when unexpected. French duo Justice spent 18 months touring following the release of their debut LP “CROSS“, and for the last 3 weeks of the tour, a film crew traveled with them 24-7, capturing those moments no one will believe or get the essence of, if you told them about it, unless they were there.
As Justice were about to embark on their second tour of the US, they enlisted multi-award winning directors and intimate friends, Romain Gavras (”Stress” director) and So Me (”D.A.N.C.E.”, “DVNO”) and taped every second of the 3 week tour. The documentary is about life on the road, the real deal, and about the extraordinary and unexpected things that can happen along the way.
“A Cross the Universe” live CD + DVD drops December 9th on Atlantic Records and will include recordings of Justice’s signature headbanging live sets along with show footage and various hijinks captured as the band toured the US in March 2008.
Justice Tour Dates:
10/28/08 - MONTREAL, QC - METROPOLIS
10/29/08 - TORONTO, ON - CIRCA
10/30/08 - NEW YORK, NY - WEBSTER HALL
10/31/08 - LOS ANGELES, CA - HARD FESTIVAL
Confirmed Screenings:
10/30/08 - NEW YORK, NY - IFC CENTER @ 7PM
Additional screenings of the film will be held in each city around the DJ sets late October.
On the horizon, Justice & So Me land in Chicago for New Year’s Eve 09 . . .
This is what Trash Menagerie was throwing down during the month of September. Features, interviews, parties, and plenty’a mix and MP3 download. We’re snuggling in for the busy month of October. Have you started thinking about your Halloween costume yet? We’re looking for ideas, so please hit us up and let us know if you’ve got any. Last year we gave you a heads up on how to MAKE YOUR OWN DAFT PUNK COSTUME. Hipster Runoff offered up a bit of inspiration, “WTF SHOULD I B 4 ALL HALLOW’S EVE”, But is it “ok” to be a Justice this year, if you were a Daft last year?
A truly scary option, the United States Vice Presidential Republican
Candidate and current Governor of Alaska - Sarah Palin.
Hmm, I guess she didn’t get understand the memo regarding last year’s Halloween Party. It was a Nordic theme. Looks like she still won anyway, even though she didn’t really come close to qualifying.
Sarah Palin 7 Months Preggers “I can hide my belly in a sexy, yet sophisticated, little black business suit.”
Goodness, her belly is HUGE, she looks like she’s going to pop any day now, right?
This is what Demi Moore looked like when she was seven months preggers . . .
Photo: Vanity Fair
Sarah Palin’s Witch Doctor . . .
Other potential options - “Sarah Palin Mayor of Meth”, “Sarah Palin Miss Alaska”, “Sarah Palin Soccer Mom”. Wow, and to think, the election isn’t even over yet, we’ve still got a few weeks to go . . . goodness, i’m sure we’ll have so many more choices to choose from. Maybe i’ll pull off one of those “couple costumes,” and we can go together as “Foreign Palin Policy“. One of us will be Russia, and the other Alaska, and we’ll stand on opposite sides of the room and say “I can see ya over there, behave yourself!”
This weekend kicked off MSTRKRFT’s North American Fist of God Tour starting with Friday night in boiling LA at the Henry Fonda theater and WHAT A SHOW!
It being an all ages event, the youngins were all afresh in their scandalous attire, nymph-like dance moves, and damn did they get there early. By 10pm the place was packed and it was a sold out show!
Italy’s Congorock kicked things off with fun groovey dance beats, followed by Felix Cartal throwing down teeth gritting hard tracks that had people jumping like a mosh pit, then LA Riots, A-Track, and finally the night capped off with MSTRKRFT. Different from a normal MSTRKRFT show? Yes. In their set they included a lot of tracks that are going to be on their upcoming album!
With that many dj’s playing, I thankfully only heard one very noticeable track twice: “Bounce Low feat. NORE”.
This tour is worth the money to go to, it’s quality and the lineup is almost festival like. They’re going all over the US, so check the myspace page of MSTRKRFT for tour dates, etc. in your city.
Oh- and the follow up show on Sunday night at the El Rey was also great, the visuals looked really fantastic so kudos to the tech guys on that. The after party at LAX was a continuation of fun times with MSTRKRFT hitting the decks alongside Steve Aoki at the Banana Spilt Sunday party. Highlight of the after party: people having a big enough sense of humor to play fantastically cheesey club hits from the early 2000s.
Check MSTRKRFT’s MySpace for Fist of God tour dates!
Here’s a great video from Chicago’s, Hey Champ a hot new trio in the scene making some fresh tunes. The video is for the band’s new single “Cold Dust Girl“. This is one of those sneaky songs that you hear at night and wake up in the morning with its melodies still infecting your thoughts. Then you immediately want to hear it again. It’s just that fresh.
The first exposure to the world for the trio was when a blog accidentally posted their remix of Scenario Rock’s “Perfect Love Antidote” as Ed Banger’s distorto super producer Sebastian. When the remix was discovered that it was really Hey Champ, the trio’s take on the song was strong enough to gain plenty of acclaim. It is even available on itunes (Europe only) and was put out by a major label Sony.
Their sound can easily be compared to the likes of Van She, Cut Copy, Fred Falke and Les Rhythmes Digitales. Mixing rock with elements of house all based over an abudant amount of synth action. Sometimes playing out as a full band and sometimes doing dj sets, Hey Champ is paying their dues quickly. Already featured in UR Magazine with an upbeat, good times mix. Gaining bookings more and more and even getting rapper Lupe Fiasco attention enough for him to write about them on his blog. It is also entirely possible that the group will be scooped up at anytime by a record label.
Enjoy the video and the mp3 and check the groups myspace to keep updated.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good Bordeaux, especially when it comes to music? Boxon Records is Julien Minet’s dirty sexy record label out of Bordeaux, France that features prominent music artists (Tom Deluxx, Eclier, Toxic Avenger, Philipe de Boyer, Pro7, etc), and the incredible graphic designer Anem.
If you like teeth grinding, head banging, body shaking electro-trash music then this next one is for you. Coming out in late September, I had a sneak peak at the new Boxon album and it is fanfreakintastic. There are two separate and distinctive mixes of Tom Deluxx’s “Mushion Heroes” on here and they are both pure goodness. Who are the faces behind them?
First is Philipe de Boyar, the Suisse DJ/Producer who does a mixture of House/Electro/Breaks. He’s not a newbie to the scene, having already had tracks popping up in MIXMAG and is set to have releases on Erase Records, Hammarskjoeld Records or his own digital imprint Rockville Music as well as other labels. His version of “Mushion Hereos” is slap-in-your-face hard and reminiscent of the same energy you get with the Toxic Avenger.
The other version is by Pro7, an international party player who has already tricked with the likes of Sebastian, Teenage Bad Girl, TTC, and more. His version is very slightly lighter than the de Boyar one, with a little funky feel. Caution: these two tracks are not at all to be confused with each other, even if they stem from the same original! They are completely different takes and both quite enjoyable. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear them both pounding in clubs in the next 2-3 months.
Also from Boxon as of late, the latest video from Paris production company Born To Film of the Toxic Avenger’s “Bad Girls Need Love, Too”. It captures perfectly the style of Toxic — edgy electro with a rock feel. Tattooed ladies and Lolita like nymphs are in the video rocking out in this beautifully shot video clip with amazing color saturation. C’esttellement sexy et j’adore!
In other news, Boxon veteran Tom Deluxx has a new EP coming out this October, and I’m on the edge of my seat to hear it, especially if it sounds anything like the remix he sent us, “Fake” by GRS Club, who also have an EP arriving this October!
Putain c’est la classe! Anem is doing the artwork for the album. Including the fresh preview up top Boxon sent us!
The LA electro/blog house/hipster music scene is a very strange place. I don’t think there’s anywhere in the world (that I’ve seen, at least) where the stereotypical bloghouse lifestyle has been more heavily adopted by youth culture. A vast number of our readers hail from LA, I’ve played for more kids on a tuesday there than when I play anywhere else on a weekend, and we get more “music” submissions from the absurd amount of young LA DJs who are the star of their tiny faction of the scene and feel that their MIA/Young Jeezy/Daft Punk mashup is going to rocket them to international stardom. Don’t get me wrong, LA is one of my favorite places on earth. Almost all of my favorite American producers/DJs/friends live and thrive there (Guns N Bombs, Acid Girls, Harvard Bass, LA Riots, Dirty Dave, Paparazzi etc.), the fans are the most fist-pumpingly excited fans I’ve encountered in this country and I’m out there pretty consistently soaking up the sun.
Imagine my surprise, though, when I receive an email from a young LA producer, Dskotek, and it contains two tracks that are not just passable as blog fodder, but are extremely original, well produced, clever and totally playable! I was so surprised, in fact, that I had to verify with a LA friend that this kid was real and it wasn’t some hoax. And sure enough he’s a staple at many of the club and warehouse parties scattered across SoCal. He keeps a local schedule that rivals many of the worlds biggest DJs (a feat only possible in LA).
As for the tunes, I’m providing you with two. The first is a remix of a tune by Mockin’ Bird (who doesn’t seem to exist anymore) called Hissi. The original’s a bouncy little electro-tech track and Dskotek maximalized it adding subtle trancey stabs, well placed edits and filters and looping the thing to death. In the end, it reminds me of something DJ Dan might do. The second is an original work called Sinfonia which proves that Dskotek knows what he’s doing in the studio. The layering and instrumentation is really complex and excellent and the whole tune a very dense, non-linear feel to it packing surprises at every turn. The quality of production is surprisingly good making this tune so much larger and more playable than the rest of the bloghouse rabble.
Be sure to keep an eye out for this kid and my guess is he’s hard to miss considering that if you walk into an LA warehouse on any given day you’re likely to see him DJing there.
Summer is coming to and end, its been a good one, kept me busy, got to do some traveling, made my way across the country and back a few times, ran into old friends, made some new ones, found myself at more day events and festivals than clubs, which was really great. Soon enough its going to be cold here in New York, and ill be taking shelter in a club and paying $8 for cocktails. Since i’ve been slacking in the post department, i’m going to try and make up for lost time with a “summery” of my 2008.
Santogold @ sound check for Radio 1 - Annie Mac show, WMC March 2008
Saw Santogold perform a few times, although unfortunately, I missed her dates with Coldplay. I did however see her just about everywhere else I went, on the side of buses, in the subway, in magazines, TV, on the wall of Terminal 5 when I went to see Brian Jonestown Massacre (Joel performed, it was great, nobody got in a fight, bummer.) Anyway, you get the idea, Santi is everywhere, repping in style for Converse Connectivity. I have to say, the campaign is pretty tight, they did good, no one is trying to shove blatant adverts your way, the micro site is crafty, there’s a lot going on, you can even design your own kicks, and sonically, the artists on board, I genuinely like and listen to. Someone in the marketing department did their homework.
Brian Jonestown Massacre, Terminal 5, New York July 25 08
Crowd gathering for Radiohead - Lollapalooza Chicago, Aug 1 08
Lollapalooza in Chicago was definitely one of the highlight’s of my summer, I traveled from NY with Spank Rock and crew - Amanda Blank, Devlin & Darko, and Natalie. Their schedule was as full as it could for the weekend, press, after parties, and of course, their Saturday performance on the Citi Stage. Everyone rolled in Friday night, and headed over to the festival site for Radiohead.
I ran into the Foals, which was a super unexpected and pleasant surprise. I grabbed a piece of lawn and had a few drinks with Yannis and Jack, caught up, talked about the past year, how things have changed since we had last had seen each other in New York, when they were recording their album. They’ve got the typical touring band schedule, traveling constantly, playing tons of great festivals, waking up and not knowing where they are. Yannis and I tried to recall what it was that we were debating a few months back in regard to minimal techno (we are both fans - Minitek!!! ), never did figure it out. Soon more Foals came to graze, a grass fight ensued, and it was truly an “Electric Bloom” moment when they started shoving chunks of earth down each others shirts, it was my “Warning Call” to make an exit, so I galloped away to wait in the mile long line for a Vodka and Vitamin water.
While I was waiting in line, Radiohead took to the stage, all day everyone I ran into was gushing in anticipation of their performance, I was no different. It had been almost 2 years to the day that I had seen them last, also in Chicago, but in a theater setting, this time, it was outside to a sold out crowd of well over 70k, I love festivals. When Radiohead went on, the masses were well into it as expected, I had a side view, so I wasn’t able to see much of the production, that being the massive LCD’s and light show, or even much of the band for that matter, but hearing was good enough. What I was able to see was the woman at the front of the stage signing Radiohead’s lyrics, dancing, and clearly having the time of her life. (Note to self - learn sign language, what a great gig to have.) During their performance I was filled in on the fact that Thom Yorke is in fact a big fan of Spank Rock, and listed the album, Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo, as one of his top 10 albums of 2007, my eyes bugged out of my head a bit. Really?
Spank Rock is also a big fan of Radiohead and Thom Yorke. For a slight second I wondered if there was anyway for the two of them to meet, considering they had this mutual artist respect thing going on. But I also realized it was probably next to impossible, i’m sure everyone and their mother was probably trying to have a chat with the band that night, plus, it was a massive show. I put to rest the idea trying to make the introduction, got back to reality. The band did a few encore’s everyone was blissed out, it was a very memorable evening. We took off right as they were doing their last song to avoid getting caught up in the mass exodus. 70k people all leaving at once is a bit much. After parties were popping off all over the city, Foals were DJ’ing, Bloc Party, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, all kinds of madness, but I was exhausted, and Saturday was going to be crazy so I called it a night.
Saturday, well, I ended up not hitting after parties, but went to a local bar and tied one on with some old friends. We made a late night run to Rockstar Dog’s, ordered a couple of “Los Lobos”, and “tots” and yeah, we felt like what we ingested. When we woke up the next day we asked ourselves what the hell were we thinking? Oh! We were not thinking, we were drunk.
No time to be hungover, there was stuff to do, no rest for the wicked. I headed over to the Hard Rock Hotel, to meet up with the Spank Rock crew for Spin & Metromix’s gifting suite. They threw down, excellent grub, fancy juices, energy drinks, spa services, and sweet schwag. This was good, I was starting to feel better. Then it was interview time, Ms. Amanda Blank was losing her voice, and was under Dr.’s orders not make a peep until the Lolla performance later that afternoon. She made a clever name tag and attached it to her shirt letting everyone know, hey, I can’t talk, and worked some sign language of her own. The girl is amazing, she still managed to convey what she wanted to say, and charmed everyone.
Spank Rock & Amanda Blank Interview for Metromix @ Lollapalooza, Aug 2 08
Interviews were over, the crew split up, Spank Rock (Naeem, solo) and I jetted off (actually crawled through major traffic) as he was DJ’ing at the Diesel store. It was his first gig outside of Philly, he’s been dj’ing regularly every Monday night at a party he started called The Jang House, it all goes down at the Barbary. I’ve been told by many this night is hot, and hella fun, so it’s on my “to do” in the very near future list. I’ve never heard Naeem DJ before, he plays an eclectic mix of retro, disco, mash-up’s, heard some Prince, said ‘oh yes, I love this too!”, when he threw on a remix of MGMT’s, “Electric Feel”, we both agreed the video was sexy as hell and wish we could have been in it.
It was nearing Spank Rock’s 5:00pm stage time, we high tailed it outta the Diesel store, jumped in a car, and headed to the Lolla site. The first thing that reached our ears when we got on site, MGMT, of course, go figure. We sighed, got over the fact we were missing their performance, and jumped on a golf cart that delivered us to the Citi Stage. Booka Shade was just wrapping up their set. For me, seeing them provided some solace for the MGMT loss, hey were amazing as always. Spank Rock took to the stage and performed to a charged up crowd, Amanda’s voice was in top form, the crew brought the party, Plastic Little jumped on stage and did a guest spot, everyone was caught up in their energy, the stage and the audience may have well been one.
The Lolla performance was over, but the day was is not, one more interview with Fuse TV, then back over to the Hard Rock for an after party performance with Mark Ronson and Spank Rock. We were starting to feel like we might be hitting the wall, festivals are fun, but they are hot, and have the ability to suck the energy out of you. Besides being tired, everyone was hungry, we had dinner reservations at the China Grill, which thank god, we didn’t have to go far for, as it was adjacent to the hotel. Dinner was excellent, but now we were really tired, time to rest. We made our way out the door mumbling about various things in our food comas, then everyone got really quiet. After we walked outside the door, we looked at each other, and all at once started talking - “hey that guy looked really familiar?”,”do you know that guy?”, “who was that?”, “was that Thom Yorke?”, “That WAS Thom Yorke.” We snapped out of our comas. Damn, It’s Thom Yorke.
All things considered, Thom being a fan of Spank Rock, and vice versa, we should go over and say hello, right? It was kinda too ironic that we were having dinner in the same place at the same time. But everyone agreed, interrupting him, or anyone for that matter, during dinner, who probably already has a hard time in the “peace & quiet” department, we didn’t want to go there. So we continued on to our rooms where we twiddled our thumbs. It was definitely one of those “what would Jesus do?’ moments.
We discussed the irony at hand. I thought Thom & Naeem should meet, it was kind of a no brainer. And I admit, I had my own selfish reasons, I also really wanted to chat with Thom first hand about music industry politics. I think i’ve easily done 20 + posts about Radiohead and/or Thom. When the band released In Rainbows, it was kind of a big deal.
Everyone I know carefully watched how the band’s, name your own price, self release, limited edition box set concept was going to unfold. For weeks it was the hottest topic of conversation. So the release day came, people got online and placed their order, and continued to watch the concept unfold. In my opinion, it was a beautiful. No, Radiohead didn’t fix everything that was wrong with the industry, and what they did, most bands can’t really afford to do. (I discussed this with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, read it here). They did kick open the door of the major labels, and sent a very strong message. They gave their fans a choice, they made room for both artists and others in the industry, to do even more inspired and creative things, perhaps even take risks they might not have before. They let people know, that yes, you can release music in a non-traditional way and it can work. Not only that, you can do it on your own, they exact way YOU want to do it, real freedom of expression. And isn’t that what everyone wants? Not only in art, but in life.
If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I live for these kinds of moments, i’m all for pushing the envelope, DIY, thinking outside of the box, stick it to “the man”, all those common cliches. I feel i’ve fallen off course at this point, so let me get back to the story and how it all ends.
I lived in Chicago for 16 years, it just so happens that I know the manager of the China Grill, I figure I might as well take advantage of that, so I head back to the restaurant, tell him the story. He tells me that Thom and his friends were almost done with their meal, and adds that they are really pleasant, he offered to ask them if they would be so inclined to meet us. I agreed this would be appropriate, and so it goes, “Thom would love to meet Spank Rock”.
I made my way back up to our floor, and my heart fluttered a bit when I told Naeem, come on, we’re going to go and say hello to Thom, and so we did. I hung back as they spoke about music, production, the writing process, how it can be difficult and unnerving process. As an artist, you second guess yourself, wonder if what your writing is good enough, you feel pressure to create something and your not always sure where you’re going with it, or what it is you want to create. Thom shared that he most certainly felt like that, and felt most everyone does, its part of the process of creating, and if those moments where you question yourself didn’t happen, that would seem to be a bit odd, and that perhaps was when an artist should worry. So as it turns out, Thom’s just like the rest of us, word. We spoke about their performance the day before, I told him I really only got to see the woman signing, he said she was great, stole the show. I got my politics on, we discussed the interview he and David Byrne did with Wired Magazine, on the real value of music.
Thom said it was an interesting interview, rather quiet, not as much talking between the two of them as one might think. Which kind of surprised me, I would assume they would carry on for hours. However, I’ve seen a few live interviews with Byrne, he’s incredibly intelligent, insightful, (I closely follow his industry politics as well), but I could see why a bit of silence between the two, might be the case. There is a particular interview Byrne did that stands out, with Daniel Levitin (author of This Is Your Brain On Music), you can check it out at Seed Mag online. We also discussed the In Rainbows release, Thom was very humble, when I expressed how I felt about the release, he said the release was just a minor start toward rebuilding an ailing music industry, and that there is still a lot of work to be done, particularly when it comes to radio. We had been carrying on for some time now, espressos were to be had, they were off to a show the next day, and exhausted from a day of boating on Lake Michigan, we had our own show, call time was just an hour away, we said our goodbye’s and floated away.
Spank Rock hit the stage for the Spin & Metromix after party, the room was packed, but the crowd was a bit lethargic, however, when these guys hit the stage, it doesn’t take long to get a room going. Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson were in attendance with their posse, so in honor of the occasion, Spank Rock finished the set with Lindsay Lohan’s Revenge. I think the posse was caught off guard, as they exited the room before the song was over. Funny stuff.
Amanda Blank & Natalie - Hard Rock After Party, Aug 2
Naeem - Hard Rock After Party, Aug 2
I also hit a few Rock The Bells shows - saw Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde, Mos Def, Nas, even a stellar, surprise performance in Denver from Black Star. Nas - Rock The Bells, Columbia, MD July 27 08
Black Star - Rock The Bells, Denver, Co Aug 23
All in all, great summer, and as this post is quickly becoming a novella, I shall end it here, and leave you with this entertaining video of what I can only assume are cheerleaders learning new dance routines at summer camp to “Bump”. The dude the runs out to lead them rocks.
Remember back in June when everyone in blog world was up in arms over a tune called “Black Chrome”, from the mysterious LA-based, Circuit Freq?? Have you figured them out yet? Chock-full of intensity, the original stood well on its own. As promised, they’ve been kind enough to deliver their latest remix of “Black Chrome” from England’s Charlie Fanclub and YES, it’s armed with the hard hitting power I thought it would.
If I were gearing up for war, Charlie Fanclub’s remix of “Black Chrome” is the tune I’d be listening to before crossing enemy lines, and a perfect play if ‘Call Of Duty‘ had a soundtrack. Charlie’s remix is a solid, pounding effort that takes the original track up a level and will certainly shatter the dancefloor!
Listen to the other remixes of Circuit Freq’s “Black Chrome” from Vandal, Electrixx, Metalzone, plus a bonus Charlie Fanclub version. You’ll find that they’re all superb, thus leaving you to make a purchase via Beatport!
French artist extraordinaire Franck Rivoire, producing under the moniker Danger, has become notorious amongst many and recognized for his exceptional synth heavy production, that he describes as ‘French Touch new electro’. His music evokes complexity and a sense of darkness, stirring the emotions of his devotees, causing an insatiable desire for more. I’ve often envisioned Danger’s music playing in the background to an Osamu Tezuka anime, which seems quite fitting given his childhood influences.
Just five years back, Danger was a self-proclaimed chiptune geek, creating game music. His direction changed and his music has flourished since the days of past and in recent months, Danger has remixed tracks for Midnight Juggernauts, ‘Into the Galaxy‘ and Sébastien Tellier, ‘Divine‘. But it was his first few brilliant productions, ‘11h30‘, ‘14H54‘, ‘19H11‘, that paved the way for what was to come. Signed to the Parisian label Ekler’o’shock, Danger continues to push the limits of his craft, taking us into the future. As a long time favorite of mine, I wanted to know what is behind the mind of Danger, so a few months back, I exchanged a bit of Q&A with him. After a long delay and the responses properly translated, here you have his answers in French and English.
Lovestar: Who is Danger? Please give some background history
Danger: Je suis illustrateur et graphiste, je suis très imaginatif et j’aime raconter des histoires, et communiquer des sensations. J’ai passé une certaine partie de ma jeunesse devant des écrans d’ordinateur , des livres, et des consoles de jeux, je fais des bandes dessinées, j’adore le cinéma, l’art, les jeux vidéos et les synthétiseurs.
I’m an illustrator and graphic designer, I’m very imaginative and I love to tell stories, and convey sensations. I passed part of my youth in front of computer screens, in books, and game consoles. I do comic books, I love cinema, art, video games and synthesizers.
Lovestar: Tell us about the music that you are producing
Danger: J’imagine mes musiques comme des émotions simples. Mon avenir c’est de continuer à suivre simplement ce que j’ai envie de faire ressentir. Beaucoup d’entres nous parlent à “l’enfance” en faisant ce genre de musique, je m’en rends compte et j’ai d’autant plus envie de donner une vision de l’enfance qui est la plus fidèle à ce que je suis et à ce que j’ai été.
J’essaye de ne pas penser qu’à la musique quand je compose mais aussi à des images et à des sensations, d’ailleurs le fait que je sois graphiste et illustrateur m’aide à m’écarter du seul chemin musical, qui n’est pas le mien.
Je vais faire pas mal de lives dans un futur proche dans lequels j’utiliserai la vidéo et l’animation plus d’autres surprises mystèrieuses.
I picture my music like simple emotions. My path is to continue to follow that which I have the desire to experience again. A lot of other people talk to us about “childhood” in making this kind of music. I realize this and I really want to give a vision of a childhood that is the most faithful to that which I am and that which I have been.
I try not to think about just the music when I’m composing, but also the feelings and images. Otherwise, the fact that I’m a graphic artist and illustrator helps separate me from a single musical path that’s not mine.
I’m going to do a few live shows in the near future in which I will utilize video, animation, and other mysterious suprises.
Lovestar: Your tracks are all named with numbers and letters. Are these random or do they have meaning?
Danger: Disons que je pense qu’une heure est aussi évocatrice d’un sentiment qu’un titre littéraire. Je passe ma vie à faire attention à l’heure et je trouve sincèrement qu’un 20h45 ou un 14h porte déjà en lui tout un tas de sentiments, alors imaginez 14h54, c’est un truc de fou.
Let’s say that I think that an hour is just as evocative of a feeling as the title of a piece of literature. I go through life paying attention to the hour and I really find that no other time than an 8:45 PM or a 2 pm already brings a whole barrel of feelings… so imagine 2:54 PM, it’s something crazy.
Lovestar: Are you still working as a graphic designer and do you create your own artwork?
Danger: Yes still drawing :) It’s important for me to be sure to create what I want to communicate.
Lovestar: What went into creating your latest EP, 09.14.2007?
Danger: A first step for me…:)
Lovestar: Your music has a lot of expression to it, I could see it being played in a Japanimation movie or a Speed Racer scene – Do you know of Speed Racer? Have you ever thought of scoring your music in a film?
Danger: It would be great, that’s a long time dream.
Lovestar: What was it about the label Ekler’o’shock that made you want them to represent you?
Danger: I really liked the Ekler’o’shock artists.
Lovestar: A comment left by a fan on the Ekler’o’shock My Space said that “if Daft Punk and Justice had sex, their lovechild would be Danger”. What do you make of this?
Danger: Je pense qu’on a raison de comparer les artistes entre eux et de leur trouver des ressemblances mais généralement ces ressemblances viennent plus de références communes plus anciennes mes references viennent des jeux videos de ma vie, des films que j’ai vu et je pense pouvoir raconter d’autres choses que Justice et Daft Punk, des artistes que j’aime beaucoup pourtant.
I think that we’re right to compare artists between themselves and find their resemblances but generally these similarities come more from common references that are older. My references come from the video games of my life, the films that I’ve seen, and I think the ability to relate about things other than Justice and Daft Punk, artists that nevertheless I like a lot.
