Le Royale, NYC, welcomed Esser this past Monday on the first stop of his U.S. tour. Esser will be making appearances in a few cities, including a stop in Chicago, this coming Friday, 19th June! And Trash Menagerie is giving away 4 FREE last minute TICKETS to the show!!
Chocolate Industries, Crossfader King and UR Chicago have teamed up to bring you a night chok-full of good music, with recent Chocolate Industries signee, Esser. Already a star in his native United Kingdom, Esser has headed stateside to celebrate with his band, playing live shows and co-headlining the bill with Maluca. Her recent track “El Tigeraso“, produced by Diplo, is sure to get the crowd in an uproar! Mad Decent’s, Paul Devro, is also on hand to wind the party up and it’s the CD release for World & Bass enthusiasts, Quetzal DJ. Don’t let the night end without getting your pose on for ATL’s The Midnight Socialite.
First 4 people that email us at TrashMenagerie AT gmail DOT com, WIN!!!!!
Subject headline: Esser Chicago WIN!
All emails must be received before 3pm Friday 19 June
Friday 19, June, 2009
Sonotheque, 1444 W Chicago Ave. Chicago
Maluca, Esser, Paul Devro, Quetzal DJ, and The Midnight Socialite
RSVP for FREE admission before 10PM or reduced cover of $5 after 10PM to:
rsvp@crossfaderking.com (otherwise it’s $10 on the the door!)
Summer is almost here and there are some great things in store for all of us!
June 16th marks when Downtown Records is going to release Switch and Diplo’s Major Lazor album. Get ready for a melange of dancehall, reggae, soca, dub, calypso and ska as these two tour North America. Diplo refers to it as a “digital reggae and dancehall from Mars in the future, pop culture run through a Jamaican filter.” Try saying that five times fast.
Either way, this should be a great album and I’m sure by the end of the summer we’ll be getting flooded with remixes of this or that track from it. Check out the Lazer Boom mix below for a preview of coming attractions!
Tour Dates:
6/13/09 NEW YORK, NY – SOBs
6/18/09 BOSTON, MA – HOUSE OF BLUES
6/19/09 PHILADELPHIA, PA – ELECTRIC FACTORY
6/20/09 WASHINGTON, DC – ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL
6/24/09 VANCOUVER, BC – COMMODORE BALLROOM
6/25/09 SEATTLE, WA – NEUMOS
6/26/09 SAN FRANCISCO, CA – THE GRAND BALLROOM @ REGENCY
6/27/09 LOS ANGELES, CA – LA MEMORIAL COLISEUM & EXPO
7/10/09 AUSTIN, TX – STUBB’S
7/11/09 DALLAS, TX – HOUSE OF BLUES
Zizek, the most happening party and record label in Buenos Aires, crosses the equator to share their blend of South American, Caribbean and all things electronic to the North American masses–including the audience at Coachella. Representing the ZZK crew, Fauna, Douster and El G will be promoting their newest album, ZZK Sound Vol. 2–recently signed on Nacional Records.
Villa Diamante and El G
On a slightly unrelated note: I had the chance to link up with El G aka Grant C. Dull, one of the men behind Zizek, in Buenos Aires. Aside from playing host and resident to Zizek Urban Beats Club and working as label manager of ZZK records he also runs What’s Up Buenos Aires, a venerable to-do list for anyone who likes staying ahead of the cultural curve.
Pizza at El Cuartito
The US-born expat was happy to play ambassador and introduced me to El Cuartito, home to some of the tastiest pizza I’ve ever had, and offered to take me to a Cumbia party in the slums of Buenos Aires (as he did with Diplo a while back)–provided I could stick around for his return from a vacation in the wine country. Unfortunately, I had to be back in NYC by then. Bad timing, but you can’t blame a man who enjoys the finer things just as much as the grittier things.
Check out what such a tapped-in Renaissance man has to offer behind the decks at one of these following locations:
(more to be announced)
4/2 Miami, Florida – Trans Atlantic Festival
4/3 Brooklyn, New York – Union Pool
4/4 NYC, New York – Santos Party House
4/5 Montreal, Quebec – Boombox @ Zoobizarre
4/7 Toronto, Ontario – The Social
4/8 Chicago, Illinois – Sonotheque
4/10 Denver, Colorado – The Marquis Theater
4/11 Salt Lake City, Utah – Kilby Court
4/13 Seattle, Washington – Nectar Lounge
4/14 Portland, Oregon – Holocene
4/16 San Francisco, California – The Rickshaw Stop
4/18 Indio, California – Coachella
4/21 – 4/26 Mexico
Ever since I saw Kingdom at The Bodega, deep in the heart of Bushwick Brooklyn, I’ve been trying to reconnect with that night musically and spiritually. That particular night the DJ/Producer Kingdom was supporting a project called OMG Michelle, an all-girl rap group named URB’s “Next” 1000 in April of 2008. Their song “You Don’t Know Michelle”, was featured on Annie Mac’s BBC show “Mashup” earlier in the year. But before laying down his productions for OMG Michelle, Kingdom took us through a picture-perfect tour of 90’s R&B and Hip-Hop. Profiled earlier in the year, The Bodega is known for its debauchery and lunacy, so when Kingdom brought a highly diverse group of scenesters to their booty- wobbling knees with Ol’ Dirty Bastard classics, the path was made crystal clear for the New York-Crunk of OMG Michelle.
Despite a short set of material, their energy was focused and fun, but the beats were truly dizzying. What followed the set, and the confirmation of my further monetary and intellectual investment, was when Kingdom dropped back into some R&B favorites just before he led us perfectly into Dexplicit’s remix of Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss”, a punch-drunk bass bouncer that launches the original into fist-pumping, dance floor oblivion. And I thought to myself, well, obviously! From then on my shouts for more Bassline were dutifully answered.
After the show I made sure to start Googling. As I figured, Kingdom’s mosaic of influences and sounds are unlike much of what is going on in American dance music. Also, his ability to pull from the successes of the world’s Urban music landscape is not unlike a certain Baltimore disc jockey named Diplo. So it should come as no surprise that Kingdom’s most recent work was for Noise-Pop duo Telepathe’s song “Chromes On It.” Telepathe have recently been seen touring with Diplo for their Mad Decent Tour this Fall. Along with a host of other unofficial remixes of Rap and R&B familiars, Kingdom’s mixtape’s listen like a true artist’s vision, familiar but wholly original.
Thus the following interview is inspired by Jace Clayton’s (DJ/Rupture) own interview on his radio show Mudd Up! with Kingdom, and a series of previews he did of Kingdom’s upcoming tracks. Not only was I enraptured with the man’s music, but his words were equally well executed and poignant. I’ve since listened to the show numerous times. So when the show was sadly unarchived, I got my own interview, and my own snippets, and now I’m sharing them with you. Attached also is a mix Kingdom put out in May, as well as high-quality tracks of his Telepathe remix, as well as something (unofficially) for Weezy F. Baby. Enjoy!
For those readers who don’t know as much about the work you do, could you share a brief “coming-of-age” about your life as a DJ? How did you come to New York, and what has your work involved up until now?
I moved to NYC when I was 18 to study at Parsons School of Design, and I’ve also remained very connected to Massachusetts, where I grew up. I wasn’t DJing while I was in school, but I was in a rave performance troupe / band with my friends from MA called Memoreis Forever. We did summer tours in 2003 and 2004. I made the beats and did production for the group, and we had a song called Kingdom actually, thats how I got the name when I started working solo. Then around 2006 I did my first party which was a Hip Hop party called Not Straigh Outta Compton. My friends and I threw it in this tiny club behind a liquor store on Graham Ave. in Williamsburg. That technically wasn’t a DJ gig though because we all wanted to be on the floor the whole night, so we would make mix CDs and just let them play. It was the funnest party I’ve ever been to. It’s amazing how much fun it is to be at a party with no DJ to focus on, just dancing. My first real DJ gig was in 2007 when Telfar invited me to play at his party Something Tight (first Thursdays at Happy Ending), that’s where I learned to DJ and I still do that party with him now.
The first mix of yours that I listened to was by complete accident. I was shopping at Opening Ceremony in SoHo and noticed two volumes of mixtapes. After looking at the tracklist and seeing your combination of Hip-Hop, R&B and dance music, I was thoroughly intrigued. How do these genres cross over for you?
I think dance music has always had a Soul element to it, especially early on. Disco, Chicago House, UK Garage, and even the short lived genre of Hip-House, and on and on. It’s a natural connection. Hip-Hop was originally created as a form of dance music and is intrinsically a form of electronic music. R&B is such a broad genre but it certainly birthed disco and House. In the past few years, mainstream Hip Hop and R&B artists have been embracing dance music again, and Ghettotech, B’more, and Juke music have become more and more popular, so they feel more connected than ever before.
Some what off-topic, but as someone who is interested in fashion, I’d love to know why Opening Ceremony was a place you felt best to promote yourself?
I have friends that sell their clothing lines there, and friends that work there, and so many music people shop there. Recently Kid Sister hit me up and told me she heard my mixtape there and was into it so… its nice to hear that people are reacting to it in that environment. I’ve actually gotten a quite positive response to my music in the fashion world, and done soundtracks for a few fashion shows. I’m not sure exactly what it is, because there are some pretty questionable people in that world, but there are also some very innovative, future-minded people mixed in there, and those ones are really enthusiastic about new sounds. I also sell my mixes at an amazing store in L.A. called New High Mart.
Why is this synthesis of sound seem to be so important to the 21st century realm of “dance music,” or even just pop music in general?
It feels a bit cliche but, I think its a certain kind of globalization. Kids in South Africa are making music thats is connected to the music that kids are making in the Netherlands, and in London, and in Angola, and all of it is making its way onto the internet for the world to hear, and that changes everything. In terms of dance music crossing over into the sound of U.S. “urban” and “pop” music, I think that people want to dance right now, they need a way to release the tension and pain of the world.
As for your own sound as a producer and remixer, there are a lot of clear UK Garage and Bassline influences. What appeals to you about those genres?
I’ve always been a fan of UK music, especially when my friend DJ Lone Wolf first played me Grime in 2003. I was fully blown away. From early 2-step Garage all the way up through the current UK Funky sound, there is always a push to innovate the beat, to challenge clubgoers to dance to something quicker and more complex, and the inclusion of R&B and Dancehall influences also makes it such an incredible group of genres.
CD Vinyl, A Kingdom Original
Along the same lines, the UK scene has since Rave/Hardcore/Jungle in the 90’s, been at the forefront of electronic music. They clearly take dance music very seriously, but what do the States have to offer right now, especially since you seem to be interested in bridging some of those gaps.
No matter how much Hip Hop and R&B influence there is in UK music, they may never really understand Hip Hop. When I’ve DJed in London people wanna hear 140bpm all night and bob up and down. It’s so fun because I finally get to play so many tunes that are too hard or fast for the U.S. audience. But it always feels good to be back home where if you decide to drop a Swizz Beats track at 3 AM, people actually know how to dance to it. Hip Hop is fully mainstream in the U.S.A. and I think we have some of the best dancers too. My friend Manara said it and I think it’s true, that dancing in the UK is all upper body. She was surprised to discover that every girl (even the white girls) here in the U.S. know how to wine their battys. lol. We also have such a diverse range of dance musics being made in the U.S., we definitely have something special to offer.
This of course brings us to your own work as a producer. What are you working on right now? Some of your recent tracks were previewed on DJ/Rupture’s weekly show “Mudd Up” on WFMU, and I couldn’t help but notice what a dynamic sound your pushing. What excites you most about the sounds/genres your working with?
The sounds and genres mixing together creating something danceable but challenging is what excites me. Mixing club genres together and adding some extra heavy bass, that’s what gets me going.
Who are some artists you’re looking to in 2009? I see Dubstep playing a huge role in this cross-section of genres you’re interested in, what’s your perspective or predictions do you have for that genre?
To be honest I know close to nothing about Dubstep. Maybe I need someone who knows the good shit to school me? Sometimes I feel like its very male-oriented and a bit ponderous. I’m really into female-oriented genres. Though there’s so few quality tracks coming out of the genre now, I got so excited when Bassline first started to emerge, because there was a female vocal on almost every track.
One of the shows I saw you do this Summer was with OMG Michelle. Tell us a little about OMG Michelle and your work with those ladies?
Those are some amazing people right there… love them. They love Crunk music and Freestyle and club music and have really good energy. We met through mutual friends and they said they wanted to do a track together. I sent them a beat I made with my friend Dennis and “You Don’t Know Michelle” was born. People responded really well to the track, it ended up on Fluokids and then Annie Mac played it on her BBC radio show and shouted out all of our names, that was pretty fun. They understand what I’m all about so working with them is a pleasure, people will definitely be seeing tons more of them in 2009.
You’ve recently released a remix or the Noise/Experimental duo Telepathe who is rolling with the Mad Decent crew right now. How were you approached to do that remix and what were some challenges in approaching a sound so different from yours?
When I was in school I was listening to a lot of the stuff that was coming out of Providence like Forcefield / Mindflayer / Mystery Brinkman, etc, so those other sounds are not so foreign to me. And the sweet vocals remind me of some of the stuff Memories Forever did. Really it was that cascading snare roll that got me, I was really excited to work with that.
Last but certainly not least, we’d love to hear a little about your new night at Mr. Black?
Myself, DJ Magnan, and DJ Telfar do the front room every Saturday at Mr. Black (251 w.30th St.), and our party is called CASTLE. It’s one of the few consistently fun dance parties in the city so I encourage your readers to come check it out. I also have my own monthly I’m doing called Club Vortex where I’ve had guest DJs from all over, but we’re currently looking for a new venue for that one.
Any closing statements?
I’m putting the finishing touches on some brand new tracks (as you mentioned) so I encourage everyone to keep their ears peeled, big things will be popping off soon. Also if people like the tracks and want high quality versions they should head over to my website and cop the mixtapes (kkingdomm.com), and you can always see where I’m DJing next on my myspace (myspace.com/kkingdomm).
The Mad Pizza and Hot Dog have been getting down across U.S. cities whilst on the Mad Decent tour with Diplo, Abe Vigoda, Boy 8-Bit, Telepathe, and some special guests!! Check the entire gang on the rest of their tour dates, listed below!!!!!!
10/30/2008 Richards On Richards, Vancouver
10/31/2008 Nectar Lounge, Seattle
11/01/2008 Hawthorne Theater, Portland
11/03/2008 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
11/04/2008 Echoplex, Los Angeles
11/05/2008 Club Red, Tucson
11/07/2008 Emos, Austin
11/08/2008 Palladium Ballroom, Dallas
11/10/2008 Masquerade, Atlanta
11/11/2008 Cats Cradle, Carrboro
11/12/2008 Black Cat, Washington DC
11/13/2008 Sonar, Baltimore
11/14/2008 Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia
11/29/2008 The Warehouse Project, Manchester
12/05/2008 Paradiso, Amsterdam
12/06/2008 Transmusicales Rennes (FR)
12/20/2008 Foreign Cinema Restaurant, San Francisco
Let’s get MADDDDD! The Mad Decent Fall Tour has finally arrived, kicking off tomorrow October 16 at Webster Hall in New York City!! DIPLO, Boy 8-Bit, Abe Vigoda, Telepathe, and special guests will be on hand playing a smashing array of tunes fit for all!
There is a lot about Mad Decent that we love and because we want to share that with everyone, Trash Menagerie is giving away 2 FREE GUEST LIST SPOTS (each spot gets a +1 for your best mate!) for the CHICAGO show on Thursday, October 23 at The Abbey!!!!
For a chance to win, all you have to do is answer the following questions, which has to do with one of the reasons why we’re so keen on the Mad Decent movement! The first two people to send in the correct answer to: partypeople@trashmenagerie.com, will win! In the subject line, write MAD DECENT TOUR – CHICAGO. We will notify the winners via email.
Our questions to you – What is Diplo’s non-profit side project called and what was the first single from this project?
** Congrats to the 2 winners that have given us the answers to our questions. The answers are HEAPS DECENT, an artist development program for young indigenous and underprivileged musicians, started by Diplo, Andrew Levins and Nina Agzarian, to help indigenous communities. And the first single to come from Heaps Decent is “SMASH A KANGAROO“! Learn more about Heaps Decent on Throw Shapes and an earlier article on Pitchfork!
Here is a taste of what’s to come on tour from the striking Brooklyn pair known as Telepathe, who have just released their latest EP ‘Chrome’s On It‘, the 14th of October on IAMSOUND. The 7 track 12″ features remixes by Mad Decent, The Mae Shi, Frankmusik, Free Blood and Bobby Evans!
MAD DECENT TOUR DATES
10-16 New York, NY – Webster Hall
10-17 Cambridge, MA – Middle East (Downstairs)
10-18 Montreal, Quebec – Cabaret Musée Juste Pour Rire
10-20 Ottawa, Ontario – Babylon
10-21 Toronto, Ontario – Circa Nightclub
10-22 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
10-23 Chicago, IL – The Abbey
10-24 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
10-25 Lawrence, KS – The Granada Theatre
10-27 Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
10-28 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
10-30 Vancouver, British Columbia – Richard’s on Richards
10-31 Seattle, WA – Nectar Lounge
11-01 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
11-03 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
11-04 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
11-05 Phoenix, AZ – The Brickhouse
11-07 Austin, TX – Emo’s
11-08 Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom
11-10 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
11-11 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
11-12 Washington, DC – Black Cat *
11-13 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
11-14 Philadelphia, PA – Starlight Ballroom
Here at Trash we are lucky to have readers gather together from all over the world. While many of us hail from the States or across the pond in the U.K., our ears are always to the globe and never with narrow minds. So if that isn’t hard enough, imagine trying to write about all the great things we’re hearing! But luckily for us and luckily for you, DJ’s and musicians are increasingly connecting the dots with greater ingenuity and listenability. One such exciting ambassador of world dance music is Brooklyn’s Uproot Andy, pulling together the infectious beats of the world in the forms of of Cumbia, Dancehall, Bassline, Hip-Hop and Electro.
Particularly fascinated with the Latino contribution to the rhythm and bass community, Uproot Andy has taken his chaotic salad of a New York community and paid tribute to it all. Not unlike the interconnections made by Diplo and M.I.A., there still exists an astute community of DJ’s and musicians interested in pairing down this massive planet into a more tangible community of artists inspired by one another’s subcultures as well as their similarities and differences.
In an effort to stay open minded and ever-inspired, here Uproot Andy offers two of his most notable remix credits, one of ODB’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”, and a remix of Roots classic Alborosie’s “Kingston Town.” PLUS, over at our All-Star Mix page will be Mr. Andy’s Guacharaca Migration Mix, a feverish journey up and below the world’s equator, surely to make all listeners hit that Hype Machine button in search of the tracklist. Good luck. Until then, we invite you to get out of your Electro-centric chair and try a new dance move.
Summer is winding down and for some that means the end of great weather and lazy days. That doesn’t stop the enjoyment of some sun soak roller disco tunes that reminisce of the late 70’s era. Fan Death, provides these tunes in an almost eerie sense of authenticity. Perfect for the afterparty, the songs wash over you sense of warmth and romance and leave you wanting more.
Little is known about Fan Death, they are being presented to us shrouded in mystery, hopefully to entice us on their substance more than their style. They already have caught the attention and are being endorsed by superstar tastemaker djs like Diplo and Erol Alkan. With good reason too, they are great and could be easily compared to Glass Candy and The Chromatics as well as Cerrone or Gino Soccio. There great expectations to be had here because Fan Death should do some great things.
Be on the lookout for the “Veronica’s Veil” 12″ and future work, although with a group this exciting its unforeseeable that they will be able to ignore.
Please enjoy the following tracks and when the record comes out purchase it.
First tune “The Son Will Rise” is quickly reaching the top of my itunes most played tracks. It’s the infectious horn line and swagger the track has that keeps me coming back. It also is similar feel to rapper Young Jeezy’s track “Circulate“. Which for legal purposes I cannot post but seek it out for a comparrison.
