So Liverpool Music Week is back, and this time it’s bigger than ever. With 66 events, 16 venues and over 250 live bands showcased between 30th October & 6th November 2008!
Sponsored by Esprit, Liverpool Music Week is a collaboration between the week’s founder Mike Deane and Cream CEO James Barton. Showcasing a number of merging acts such as Black Kids and Kissy SellOut alongside established names like The Fall, the week will also be running a series of panels and seminars featuring some of the UK’s music industry movers & shakers who will come together to discuss issues and opportunities within the sector and to offer advice and support to a range of related music businesses, artists and individuals with a desire to enter the music industry.
Please find below a handy list of some of the gigs you should get your ass too:
Thursday 30th October – Opening Night
The Fall – Nation, Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool, L1 4JJ.
Thursday 30th October – Opening Night Martha Wainwright + Angus & Julius Stone – Liverpool Philarmonic Hall
Thursday 30th October *** SOLD OUT *** Opening Night
Vampire Weekend – Liverpool Carling Academy
Thursday 30th October Wolfgang Flur (ex Kraftwerk - wow) - The Tate Gallery
Friday 31st October
Goldfrapp – Liverpool University, Mountford Hall
Friday 31st October
MTV LMW & Evol present Bestival Reunion Tour @ Nation, Wolstenholme Square
Live acts: Mystery Jets, Kissy Sell Out, Cuban Brothers / DJ’s: Rob Da Bank, Sombrero Soundsystem, Plus special live guests: The Presets
Saturday 1st November
Black Kids + Ladyhawke + Magistrates – Nation, Wolstenholme Square
Sunday 2nd November
Dizzee Rascal + Newham Generals + Smurfie Syco + Chromeo Liverpool University, Mountford Hall d
Tickets for all events are available here. Go Go Gooooooooooooo!
Visit here for more detailed on Liverpool Music Week.
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!”
Check out episode 1 of PLAYBACK, Andy Butler - Hercules and Love Affair, from our friend Nicky Digital. (Congrats on the new project, looking forward to more of the same.) Andy inspired me to build a diorama this weekend. I hope my characters turn out as interesting as his did . . .
Digging through the archives, posted here are some pages from the publication and collective CHA = Chicago Hardcore Authority. “The State of Hardcore” by Jason Berry aka JJ Jellybean, laying down his thoughts on Hardcore/Jungle/Drum n Bass scene & music, dating back to 1991.
“Tings-a-Gawn”, another page taken from CHA - it’s an interesting look into the tunes and parties popping off in 1994 in the Hardcore/Jungle/Drum N Bass scenes via Chicago, London, & Toronto.
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.
I was never into Baltimore Club. I am sick of hearing shitty remixes of stupid songs and I feel that once you hear one song you have heard them all. I never really understood it. However……these dudes somehow manage to get around the parts of it that I dislike. And I can listen to them all night without getting bored. Brick. Bandits. Kill. It. I have seen these guys go at it several times and I have never been disappointed. They are a serious party. All of them. Also for the record they do not just play baltimore club. I have heard Tameil kill it on the house music tip. So good.
Thursday 8/21 it’s SO on. I know this is last minute but the Brick Bandits have decided to pay Brooklyn a visit. I don’t know if you have happened to catch any of these DJs yet but you have no excuse. They have been all over the place lately and if you have missed them you need to switch your party schedule up a little. Time for some action. I am SO excited about this.
For you New York people, Galapagos is no more. They are under new ownership and the venue is called Public Assembly. They have exchanged their old sound system for some serious BOOM and Thursday is definitely the night to test it out.
I am 100% confident that DJ Tim Dolla, DJ Tameil and DJ Sega are going to rock a serious dance party so let’s do this. I will be there Djing as well. Most likely tag teaming with my favorite Philly kid Nick the V. Here is a little preview of what the night is going to be like. Get Wild.
Also the first time I heard the Digital Cable song I lost it. Brooklyn you know what I am talkin’ about!
Rico Tubbs is a name that’s been floating around many of the blogs in 2008. Tracks of his have been popping up here and there and they have been met with great accolades from some of the biggest tastemakers spanning numerous genres and subcultures. Now, a brand new album, Knuckle Sandwich, packed with Grade A bangers, has just been unleashed to further his dance music domination. It seems, though, most people haven’t a clue who Rico Tubbs actually is.
He is by no means a n00b to the scene. He’s been DJing and producing in his native Finland since ‘94 starting in UK Hardcore and Hiphop and leading into Big Beat, Breakbeat and whatever else you can call his music now. In his home country, he is an electronic music legend producing under his real name Riku Pentti and comprising one half of The Skillsters, credited with producing the first Finnish Hiphop album in history. From there, thanks to his avant garde scratching abilities, Rico joined the venerable big beat troupe, The Bombfunk MC’s as their DJ/Producer/whatever else.
Once big beat faded, Riku reinvented himself again, always retaining that funky hardcore/hiphop vibe, and reemerged in the peaking breakbeat scene as Rico Tubbs and the pseudonym Infekto. Releasing records on KissFM DJ Jay Cunning and Atomic Hooligan’s label Menu Music, he immediately became known for making some of the best peaktimers of the heyday of new school funky breaks. Gradually, his unique breaky sound began to infiltrate the blogs and that brings us to the present.
What sets Rico’s sound apart from everyone else is that he clearly embraces every type of music that he’s ever liked and uses it indiscriminately throughout his tunes. It’s not fidget, its not breakbeat, its not hardcore, its not b-more, but it’s an amalgamation of all of those and more used in an unapologetic, bold manner. Rico’s new album exemplifies that fact and was purposefully filled to the brim with club bangers.
To celebrate said album, available now on Juno, iTunes or wherever else you might find proper music, here’s a taste of what Rico’s been putting forth; a VIP mix of his squelchy bass banger, Hot Girls Dope Boys, done especially for TM. And just to further solidify his authenticity and prove that he’s been doing this since many of you were just a glimmer in your fathers eye, here’s an oldschool hardcore mix that he provided us, containing some of the real classics. So sit back, have a listen, read this short interview and then buy the album. It’s sooooooo good!
01. Altern-8 : Evaporate (1992,Network)
02. Djs Unite : Djs Unite (1992 ,XL)
03. Shut up and Dance : The green man (1992,shut up and dance)
04. A Home boy, A hippie & Funky dread : Now is the future (1992,Rising high )
05. Two Undercover : Unite (1992,De ja vu)
06. Kaotic Kemistry : Space Cakes ( 1993,Moving Shadow)
07. Q Bass : Hardcore Will Never Die /E type version (1991,Suburban Base)
08. Sonz of a loop da loop era : Far Out (1991,Suburban Base)
09. The Prodigy : Full Throttle (XL,1993)
10. Dance Conspiracy : Dub War Chapter 1(XL,1992)
11. Run tings : Fires Burning (Suburban Base 1992)
12. Krome & Time: This Sound is for the Underground (Suburban Base 1992)
13. Acen : Trip 2 the moon part 2 (Production house 1992)
14. Manix : Alright Wid Me (1993,Reinforced)
15. Manix : Hardcore Junglism (1992,Reinforced)
16.Underground Software : Different ting (1992,Reinforced)
17. Cloud 9 : You got Me Burning (1993,Moving Shadow)
18. Soundclash vs Hackney Hardcore : Hear Gunshots (1993,Strictly Underground)
19. Foul Play : Finest illusion (1993,Moving Shadow)
20. Ltj Bukem& Tayla : Bang the drums (1992,Good looking )
Local Hero: Lets kick it off with an easy one. What are you listening to right now?
Rico Tubbs: Italo disco,”Dance Mania” Chicago house stuff , some 60’s psych rock and Bengas album have been on heavy rotation.
LH: You’ve been producing and releasing records since 1995 in your native Finland. Tell us about some of the early Rico Tubbs projects.
RT: When I got my first releases out it was the time of big beat - sample heavy fun party music. Not much different of what I do now - the hip hop samples and rave elements can be heard through all my production from day one.
LH: Not many producers from the breaks scene have been able to crossover to the electro/blog house scene as successfully as you have. Was this crossover success intended? If so what did you put into the music to garner the crossover appeal?
RT: The crossover was not calculated in any way. My production style is based more on chaos than clear vision and I think Ive done tunes in most genres of electronic music. As a producer/dj you should anyway be intrested in new things and it always amazes me how many purists there are who are stuck into their little box. Now I feel that electronic music is in its most exciting phase in many years.The trend now overlaps the most with what I love in dance music : big and quirky basslines,hip hop or rather hip house and rave.
LH: Seems like you’ve kept quite busy djing so far this year. Whats been the awesomest party you’ve played this year?
RT: I have to say Glade.That was the first festival of that magnitude Ive played. Everything was well organized and the atmosphere was great.
LH: What was the musical aim of your new album? What were you trying to accomplish with it?
RT: My aim was to get a coherent album full of club bangers. I tried to make it so tight that you’d want to get the whole thing - not just pick and choose just 1 or 2 tracks as often is the case among dance albums.
LH: You’ve always maintained an aggressive funky sound but without being cheesy. How and from what influences did you derive the Rico Tubbs style?
RT: When Rico Tubbs was born the sound was influenced by stripped down funk of JB’s and sillyness of Parliament - with some heavy fart bass. Its gone a long way from that during past 5 years but the heavy bass groove is still the core. Now you can hear more of the influence of my hardcore favourites : Altern-8, Manix and early Moving Shadow/Suburban Base. There also some speed garage/bassline there of which I’ve always been a fan of.
LH: Now that the albums done and released, what comes next?
RT: Theres been a lot of remix work of which the latest is for Tittsworth 12 Steps album. Theres also an EP coming on Herve’s label later this year and a track on Finnish b-more club label Top Billin’. There might be a remix album of “Knuckle Sandwich” as well if everything goes by the plan - first out will be Tes La Rok and Muffler remixes of “Gangsters”.
In the last 3 months New York City has felt a quiet roar coming from across the Brooklyn Bridge. Off the JMZ to Myrtle Avenue, deep in the heart of Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, is a bodega. But this bodega doesn’t sell $1 40’s, $0.50 Twinkies, or cheap cigarettes, but it does sell an affordable time of your life. The Bodega is an up and coming project from the Chief Magazine boys Andy Smith and Ed Zipco, and it’s working. A cheap, out-of-the-way venue, in which lots of people somehow find there way to and go bat-shit crazy.
Arriving at The Bodega was for me as much of a whim as any other music-related gem I discover via the internet or word-of-mouth. Luckily the night I decided to attend, it was one something of a treat for The Bodega. Playing out that night was Morsy of Nanachill.com and a bright young B-More/Bootybass talent, as well as Famous Friends (Finger on the Pulse), and Mr. Andersonic with a live MPC-set. From the moment I arrived and felt the first trickle of sweat along my forehead, there was no doubt that this was the best party I’ve been to so far (exception goes to Diplo @ T&B for obvious reasons). More than even the urgent sounds of throbbing Booty Bass, it was the crowd that was staggering.
Certainly Daft Punk at Coachella 2006 was enough to make people lose their shit, not to mention the occasional Studio B performance by M.I.A., or most often at Death By Audio. But that Thursday night (yes, Thurs.) brought one of the more diverse (skull caps and dolphin floatees) and apeshit crowds I’ve ever witnessed. At even the slightest sound of the Baltimore Club clap and shake, kids were applauding and jumping with praise. At one point in the evening, the invisible and visceral ooze of crowd pleasure has reached a peak and out came a large stuffed horse, probably won by a lucky girl at one of the many Coney Island water-gun games. The horse, in a flurry of passion and impulse was thoroughly molested by a twosome of B-Boys in the middle of the dance floor. Between furious humpings and the occasional launch into the air, there was little if anything anybody could do to justify what was going on.
Arriving at Bodega at 1AM and leaving at 4AM felt short-lived. But walking out the door I made sure to ask a Bodega faithful what the deal was. I was then introduced to the General Manager Steve, who being extremely accommodating agreed to meet with me in the coming week. After a casual walk around Union Square and a few riffs on the current musical scene, Steve put me in touch with the founders/owner Andy Smith and Ed Zipco. And after a few $1 PBR’s at Soundfix, I came to understand the stoppage in time that was my Thursday night.
Much like any young party-throwers, Ed and Andy liked to throw big ones. At their old loft space in Bushwick they threw dozens of police-happy ragers. These weren’t just ragers though, they were concerts. With friends in bands and as DJ’s, they became notorious for their themed parties for events like the Super Bowl and Halloween. Unfortunately some of these ended with blacked out girls peeing on neighbor’s A/C machines and providing a golden rain to those unlucky enough to be nearby. As the ease of party throwing quickly gave way to the forces in blue, they took them to bars and music venues.
But like any established venue here in New York, these events came with large cover fees and $12 drinks. Dissatisfied with the traditional annals of party throwing, it was time for a creation of their own. With Chief Magazine as their original baby, Ed and Andy had already built a DIY space. And when they caught wind of a crooked bodega space going up for lease last April, they went for broke.
Rotted, dying and possibly full of dead, the space they decided would be their new project was more of an adventure than a project. Filled to the brim with junk, rotting walls, and surgical equipment(they don’t hypothesis on this one), they invited their friends and family to camp out inside and begin renovation.
Andy On His Lunch Break
Over a month later and 12-hr days every day, they rebuilt walls, hauled innumerable amounts of trash and filth from the belly of the bodega, and stacked more debt than all of it combined. By the first week of June they had their first party, and people showed up. Despite a broken stage their first night and a few construction errors, they had, for all they knew, the biggest financial mistake of their lives sitting on 1089 Broadway in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Looking at the Myspace page for The Bodega, you’ll notice a series of dates for the month of August. Particularly though, you’ll notice that this week is booked in its entirety. Ed and Andy when I talked to them said they were willing to try anything at this point. That they haven’t had a “bad night.” (Save for a punk set ending in shattered glass and a bloody lead singer). At Santo’s Party House, Andrew WK’s mixed blessing, they require $8000 at the bar in order for outside booking to come play. Ed and Andy offered me a chance to play out before I left, ya know, just for fun. To the Chief boys, The Bodega is our space, and if you or I think we can throw a great party, they think so too.
Ed and Andy told me they didn’t have a grand vision necessarily, but just wanted to continue the success of their projects (Chief Mag, The Bodega, Chief Records) and see their musician friends garner the success they deserve. But if everything truly works out, the Chief boys have something unprecedented on their hands. With the excpetion of Fader’s rising FADERlabel, there is no other triad of business force like what they have begun.
With plans to have arts installations, a liquor license, and a fully operational basement space, The Bodega is most certainly here to stay. Perhaps next in line should be the Chief Rail, transporting the young and the restless from the Island and to the BK. But no matter, The Bodega location is almost like a filter, as only the dedicated and truly restless (passionate) come to witness what they’ve been itching for here in New York for a long time.
Friday night will mark the 2nd “Night of the Jams” since I’ve been here. DJ Tameil of the infamous Unruly Records. Unruly Records, for those who don’t know or are too lazy to click the aforementioned link, is the very first Baltimore Club label, started by Scottie B and Shawn Caesar. Other notable Bodega artists include, Chief Record’s family Ninjasonik, Japanther, Juiceboxxx, The Death Set, Danger, Spitzer, and The So So Glos.
On Friday night, the evening of Night of the Jams, take a moment in your “face-down-ass-up,” to look around the Bodega walls and around the room at those in attendance. Most likely you’ll see Ed and Andy, beers in fist, smiling and laughing at what they created, still in disbelief, but having the time of their lives for the 4th time that week.
One of the catchiest songs you’ll hear this summer is “Cross the Dancefloor“, a really fresh track with a bit of funk and elements of filter house. It’s so infectious and feel good, that the dance floor is immediately filled whenever the song is played. The producer behind the track is Treasure Fingers, a former Atlantan that recently moved to Brooklyn.
While some may know Treasure Fingers through hard step/drum & bass act, Evol Intent, most people are completely unaware of his history. And even though there is a huge trend of drum & bass producers turned electro blog house producers, Treasure Fingers is completely different. Offering music that is more fresh and feel good and roller rink ready then pump your fist, stage dive, and wear neon.
“Cross the Dancefloor” and other productions were so ear-catching that Fools Gold scooped up Treasure Fingers for a 12″. Updating and remastering the track to be even better than before and getting superstar producers Laidback Luke, Lifelike, and Curses! to lend remixes to the release. Then they packaged it up and made it beautiful and ready to purchase through beatport, turntable lab, and itunes.
To celebrate the release, I met up with Treasure Fingers and we did an interview and he also provided us with one of the remixes of the 12″ single.
sirhan: so, you are in evol intent, why did you decide to start treasure fingers?
treasure fingers: i had always done some house/funk style production stuff on the side and just never pushed it. i played some of it for jordan (of Snowden) one day and he really pushed me to get it out there. The first treasure fingers remix I did was for Snowden’s “Anti Anti”.
sirhan: how do you feel about the way its going now?
treasure fingers: I love it, it just took off and everything started falling into place.
sirhan: you still tour with evol intent?
treasure fingers: yeah, it’s a little sparse with bookings right now because we are all working on other projects at the moment but we’ll have a couple new releases out later this year though and we just released a full length album in march.
sirhan: so you just released, “cross the dance floor” tell me a little bit about it and how did you get such awesome remixes?
treasure fingers: That track actually started out as just a funky instrumental house type tune, then one night I decided to put some vocals on it, then got the idea to have my girlfriend sing a part to play off mine. I meant to write out full verses and put into a pop song structure, but after I showed the rough draft version to Preston/Kiss Atlanta, he wanted to blog it as is, so I mixed it down and let it go as more of a club track. Fool’s Gold sorted out all of the remixes. Once I signed it to them, they hit me up one day and was like.. ‘hey what do you think about these guys to do remixes?’
I’m a fan of all those guys so I was pretty excited. Chromeo also did an amazing remix. It’s going to be featured on a Fool’s Gold CD.
sirhan: so whats the next thing you’re doing?
treasure fingers: I’ve done a bunch of remixes over the past couple months that should all be getting released soon. I’ve got 2 more that I’m wrapping up over the next week, then I’ve got an australian tour. When I get back from that, I plan on working on some original material again.
sirhan: so this is a typical question but who are some of your influences and who should kids go diggin for?
treasure fingers: lots of the 80s funk/disco era stuff. midnight star, shalamar, zapp & roger, dazz, carl carlton. I was really influenced by the 90s french house stuff as well.
sirhan: any particular records by those producers?
treasure fingers: carl carlton - swing that sexy thing / dance with you, most people just know ’she’s a bad mama jama’ by him, but he’s got so much dope stuff!
sirhan: what about new stuff?
treasure fingers: love a lot of the new lifelike stuff, symbolone, that really synthy euro sound, and miami horror also.
sirhan: so you’ve been to tons of places whats you best place so far?
treasure fingers: i think the best / craziest parties ive played have been in ATL or LA. I love traveling though, every city has it’s own charm. I think sometimes, the small towns that you don’t expect much from turn out to be amazing.
sirhan: so, any good stories from your travels?
treasure fingers: i’ve never had anything super crazy. there’s always something going wrong though. last time I was in LA, my door lock had broke after I had left for the gig and no one could fix it and I had an early flight the next morning. they ended up giving me another room, then breaking the door down at the last minute the next morning so I could get my stuff out… I’m not a heavy drinker so I don’t have any crazy club stories.
sirhan: music obiviously takes a lot of time whats your other passions?
treasure fingers: I used to paint/draw a lot. I’d like to get back to that when I get the time. that’s probably the closest thing to a passion, other stuff I do in free time is just for relaxation/fun. xbox360, movies, friends, whatever.
sirhan: so lets close off here any advice to budding producers or closing words?
treasure fingers: It’s kind of contradicting, but find a really good producer and copy them until you can get your engineering and mixdowns really tight, then switch it up and try to do something completely original and different. Most producers lack in one or the other, so I think the key is having something that sounds really fresh and original, that also sounds great sonically.
Closing words: go buy “Cross the Dancefloor” & bug your local promoter until they book me.
Just to add insult to injury amongst a bursting weekend of events, Skream will be hopping across the pond for the 2nd time this Summer, playing Low End Theory at The Knitting Factory. Perhaps even an appropriate addition to Spank Rock’s Big Box Arsenal of progressive, out-of-the-box musicians, Skream has come to represent the true forging of the Dubstep sound. While Burial continues to be #1 in Dubstep searches across internet music sites, Skream is a producer’s producer while also staying honest to his roots.
Unlike Burial’s discovery of a Jack Jackson-like musical signature in bottle-popping drum patterns, the variety of musical influence in Skream’s productions are numerous. From Ragga, Jungle, and Dub, Skream has been able to synthesis the bass heavy leanings of UK’s club scene, into a tropical storm of ferocity and heat.
Playing at Dubwar earlier this Summer for their anniversary show and enjoying himself enough to make a video about it, it’s no doubt wortha trek to TriBeCa for a bass brimming Saturday. And judging by the quality of music here in NYC this weekend and the opportunities in which to see the young lad from the old country, it’s time to man-up, fill your tanks with Red Bull, and get a bellyfull of bass.
Below is Skream’s remix for recent Pitchfork “Best New Music” addition The Bug, as well as Skream’s seminal “Midnight Request Line.”
Nick Catchdubs was nice enough to give us his new mix AND an interview. He is one of my favorite New Yorkers and his label with A-Trak, Fools Gold (maybe you have possibly heard of it?) is killing it right now.
4AM: How and when did you meet A-Trak?
Nick Catchdubs:Roxy used to do Friday night parties on Bowery - I want to say the club was BLVD? Dust La Rock, who would later go on to be the Fool’s Gold graphic designer, did the flyers, it looked like the back of a dollar bill with a Debbie Deb quote about “fog machines and laser rays” on the top. One night, A-Trak and I DJed together, we got booked to do shows in San Francisco and LA soon after, and over the course of hanging out we realized we had a lot in common with music, humor, and haberdashery. From then we just stayed friends, sending mp3s back and forth and talking shit.
4AM: How did you and Trizzy eventually come up with the Fools Gold idea?
NC: He ran the Audio Research label in Montreal for almost a decade with his brother Dave, and realized it had such a strong history as an underground/indie hip-hop label that his new, more electronic-influenced stuff wouldn’t fit. He decided to do a new label and asked me to start it with him. I had already helped out with the launch of Mad Decent (I designed the logo and some of the original Bonde Do Role art, and was brainstorming a lot with Diplo in the early days) and this was an opportunity to get more deeply involved with putting out new, original music. We came up with the name and concept, and then just went from there putting out records.
4AM: Did you have any idea it would take off like it has?
NC: I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t always part of the plan!
4AM: How many hours a day would you say you listen to music?
NC: I’m going THROUGH music constantly - mostly just to check out all the new songs that came out that day, find stuff to play when DJing, or give people a once-over on MySpace. But as far as actually sitting down to fully digest albums and mixes, I only get to do that when I’m traveling or in the car. But I do try to schedule chores around the house around particular radio shows - taking a half hour to do the dishes during DJ Enuff or Mr Cee’s Old School At Noon.
4AM: Best gig ever?
NC: Hmmm - there’s been a bunch of really good ones. “End Times” with Caps N Jones a year or two ago (Switch was randomly there and introduced himself at the end of the night, I was geeked) and the recent Wale “Mixtape About No
