So while I was absent from planet trashmenagerie the past few weeks I managed to interview a few lovely artists at Creamfields Festival - yes it was ages ago (lazy ass I know). The most trashy chat I had all day had to be with Graham from Glasgow two-piece Dolby Anol.
If you haven’t heard of these guys they are a crazy duo residing in Glasgow who on their myspace name-check “the tranny” as their influence. If that’s not enough they have worked together to produce some of the sleeziest and most addictive remixes of late, seriously check out the one below this interview. They seriously make me drool…..anyway on to the interview!
KMD: Have you done any other festivals besides this one?
Graham: Oh Yeah, we did Glastonbury. I don’t ever want to do any other festivals after being to that one I tell ya! Have you ever been?
Yes, and It’s very unpleasant [word changes to protect readers!].
Last year was just purely disgusting. I couldn’t believe it, it’s not mud it’s s%^t & p**s, people I can smell you! I went to see Bjork there and we had travelled for twelve hours to get there from Glasgow and I hadn’t ate but I had two litres of gin in a volvic bottle! I had consumed all the gin by the time she came on stage and I actually fainted when she finally appeared on stage. It wasn’t because I was overwhelmed or anything, I was just like ‘it’s Bjork’ and then fainted!
I woke up half way through ‘Earth Intruders’ and I thought ‘why am I dancing’, but it was in fact two people carrying me! I apparently had a massive lump on my head and which John pointed out then tried to force me to see a medic. They then carted me out of the crowd and left me on my own to go and see a medic while they went back to watch the rest of Bjork!
This festival actually seems a lot better…..
KMD: In what way?
G: Well it seems more civilised for starters. One thing I have noticed is – I have just come up form London and I feel quite ugly there but here I feel remotely good looking, as there seem to be a lot of ugly men around!
KMD: So, any other interesting gigs you can tell us about?
G: Me and John played a gig in Prague once and you know how you have like single, double, king & queen size duvets? [Yes] Is there actually a size bigger than that?
KMD: Erm not sure, why?
G: John and I had this massive duvet and we figured it must be Sultan size! It sounds correct doesn’t it? Well I suppose it could be Emperor size?
KMD: So what’s in the name?
G: People often pronounce it Dolby ANOL, But its actually more Dolby Anal in pronunciation. This is because we wanted something that could sound like double anol but you could play it on radio. We decided over an msn chat that if we were going to be a dance act the name would have to be a little bit technical and a little bit slutty. Dolby is dolby surround whilst anol is well….I think you can work it out!
G: What did you expect – they used homing pigeons to contact us? (ha-ha) No seriously we played with Tronik Youth for our first gig and they liked it so they came to dot-to-dot and they were like yeah we like you.
KMD: What other remixes do you have in the pipeline?
G: Well we actually doing vocal tracks now, we have just done one with Amandah from Operator Please. When I go to London again this week I’m doing some stuff with the girlie from Chrome Hoof, she looks a little like Patti La Belle. It’s going to be a bit Grace Jonesesque, with over the top lyrics and its quite a melodramatic disco track.
KMD: Any album plans?
G: Well it all depends if the public like us!!
KMD: Other plans?
G: Well as you probably know John drums in the band DANANAKORYD. Well he spends half his time with them and half his time with Dolby so I have decided to start a band so I don’t have to sit here twiddling my thumbs. The band is going to be called Get Pregnant. I’m thinking that the music should be like sassy, cocktail hour – kind of ladies night! I have seven synthesizers so it seems only right I should form another band.
KMD: Do you want to spill any gossip about John while he’s not around?
G: He has like three knees! Seriously he has like an extra knee in his left knee, he can bend it in an almost sort of rectangle!
KMD: After those obscene answers I thought I would leave it at that…!
Farley Jackmaster Funk - Love Cant Turn Around - Dolby Anol Remix
Photo by James Mountford, Logo design by Eskimopush
It’s our great pleasure to introduce to the Trash readers the lovely and amazingly talented Hannah Holland from London. Operating as a resident at Trailer Trash first and now at the helm of the infamous Bastard Batty Bass party, Hannah has played Room One at Fabric, has toured all over Europe, and just returned from a tour through Australia.
Featured only one other time here on Trash for her work on V V Brown’s “Crying Blood,” Hannah’s production work is poised to flood your iTunes and club speakers through out 2009. So we thought we would chat with her about it and see what she is feeling right now, what has inspired her, and what exactly Bass means to Hannah Holland. With a record label and a single on its way in November. It’s no doubt that Hannah is one of the most hard working and visionary DJs and producers in the game! Get your All-American welcome wagons ready…Oh, and she did an exclusive mix for us because we’re special. It’s bass, all over your face.
So first off, thank you so much for participating in an interview for Trash Menagerie. It’s been super exciting to watch different readers pop up all over the globe and we’re honored to have a world renown dj/producer to tell everyone what’s up! I know you’re crazy busy and you even just got back from Aussie-land! How was your trip?
Hello! Its my pleasure, Aus was pretty immense. Traveling across to the other side of the world and meeting people who have been to your club and listen to your music , its a real honour. The Aussies have been very supportive and i cant wait to go back.
Now tell those of us who don’t know how long your Bastard Batty Bass party has been running and how long you’ve been in the game?
I’ve been djing in clubs for about 6 years now and started playing with decks about 8 years ago. BBB has been running for two years now, as one off parties, but as a monthly night for 8 months, its a haven for people who r fed up with the same old shit, we like to PARTY and aim to make u shake yourself stupid, to the sickest tunes and almighty vocal dynamics of Mama and MC Chickaboo.
What were some of your earlier influences to inspire you into electronic music?
The first electronic music that i heard were things like On A Ragga Tip by Sl2 and tracks from Shut Up And Dance, rave tunes that had crossed over into the mainstream and were heard by 10 year old ears like mine! Next came jungle when i was 13 and i was just hooked, locked onto pirate radio stations in my area and going to underage raves.
In particular it’s interesting to watch this “genre” Bass and Heavy Bass start to take form. From Trouble & Bass in NYC to the work Starkey and Dev79 are doing with Street Bass in Philadelphia and the Tomb Crew in London and then obviously you, there seems to be this musical obsession with whatever Bass means to each of you. I’ve heard even that Bastard Bass is becoming a somewhat of a genre in your town!Therefore, what does Bass do for you? And why do you think it’s important to emphasize the bass heaviness? What genres does this term cover?
People started referring to my sets as Batty Bass , as the type of music i play is hard to describe as a whole genre, even through it sounds as if its part of the same genre, whether its a house, breaks or dubstep tune, there’s an element in it that i pick out that makes it flow. Obviously the name comes from the night. For me, bass makes the warmth/aggression and the sex appeal of a record, when u hear a great bassline it makes u feel dirty on the dancefloor , as it taps into your soul! If a track makes me screw my face up like ive smelt something bad , ill play it! Bass is the meat of a record for me, but it doesnt have to dominate and be obvious, artists from Martin Landsky and Jamie Jones, who’s bass has roots in detroit techno to Mark Romboy and Oliver Hunnetmann who sounds are electro/tech through to house from Oliver $, Afrojack, Bart B More, Bass Kleph, breaks from peeps like Bassbin twins and Diverted, who’s bass is the dirtiest you ever heard, to some dubstep artists like from Caspa and Woogie, and lil jungle from peeps such as Omni Trio. I guess for me it steams from what i grew up with , its deep inside my soul! At Batty BAss I play a 5 hr set, and go across the spektrum from new york garage, to tech house, to a lil bmore, balie funk, to house , techno , garage, dubstep and jungle and blend it so it flows as its own sound.
Also this brings to mind the influence of UK dance music on American dance music. Most everything I play or hear in the club these days is from across the pond! Now of course Baltimore Club and Chicago House has been crucial in this exchange between the States and the UK, but do you think there is something special in the water over there?
The UK has a huge legacy of dance music and no matter what it will continue, people are so passionate about it. From, grime, to fidget , to dubstep, it all comes out of need to express through the dancefloor and a deep love of raving.
Pic by Alex Noble
I just mentioned some different artists working in this ambiguous “Bass” genre. Who are some artists you’re looking forward to in 2009? Anybody specific to the States? (Canada is obviously doing some big things too).
The artists i am keeping my eyes on are : Solo(UK), who is my studio engineer, he has some BIG tunes coming that will blow you away. From Canada i am loving the huge talent of Woogie, who will be releasing one of his genre crunching tunes on Batty Bass Records next year. I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg from people like Oliver $ , Duke Dumont , Jamie Jones and Worthy and whatever Dirtybird release!
How about new sound developments? Are you feeling anything up and coming from different parts of the world or even within the UK? I know I see Ragga continuing to play a more and more important role in bass music, especially with Machines Don’t Care and the work Toddla T is doing. Are hoping anything new will catch on soon?
Ragga has ALWAYS been a huge role in bass music. Ragga , dub, reggae is the reason bass music exists, every so often producers go back to using those style of vocals. Dubstep is a genre which i can feel being mutated and forming new styles. the dubstep community are pretty purist, but i think the music’s influence will spark some interesting new ideas, I am always looking to it when im in the studio. In terms of new sounds, im hearing a lot of african and gypsey sounds in new house music, very percussive and moving away from huge bass. We’ve had things like fidget and dubstep break the mould, I feel we are having the quiet before the storm, its bubbling, its coming, something brand new….
What are some of your hopes with Bastard Batty Bass? Trouble & Bass seems to be creating a great relationship with the Nightslugs party. Do you have any similar desires to bring your party to the States in a bigger way?
You people better watch out over there, the BAtty Bass Bitches are coming for you next year. We are planning to tour the soundsystem, myself , Mama and MC Chickaboo, we will burn any house down with our furious show!
What projects can we look forward to from you in 2009?
We are just getting Batty Bass Records off the ground, so watch out for the infiltration of batty next year! 2008 is the first year i have had tunes released, so expect a whole lot more productions.
Do you have any greater production aspirations? Your work with Mama Shamone has been really interesting and great. I know I’d love to see the return of the diva in the club scene.
Thanks, i hope to do an album with her sometime in the future, as far as diva’s go, she’s the bastard love child of Ol Dirty Bastard and Grace Jones! I will be working on more solo stuff like my release on Playtime, which have a deeper techier edge for late night skankin.
Lastly, do you have any wise words for those of us out there starting parties in our cities, pushing labels, production or a new sound?
Work you ass off!!!! This game aint for slackers, you got to push all the time but in the right way, dont overload people with stuff. You have to make your art stand out from the rest, whether its a party, label, tune or sound, make it yours , unique and true to your heart, then people will feel its the real deal.
And out of curiosity, how do you perceive the battyness of our current political climate!? And do you have couches prepared for your American friends when John McCain dies from a plastic surgery misshap and Sarah Palin becomes President of the United States?
We are all praying for you, brothers and sisters ;) x
Hannah Holland forthcoming releases “Shake It UP” ft. Mama (Batty Bass Records) out Novemeber. “Banshee” (PLaytime Records) out November. “Crying Blood” - V V Brown Hannah Holland remix out now.
1. Kaskazi - Jamie Jones and Simon Baker
2. Easy Legs - Oliver $ rmx
3. The Big Stef - Solo
4. Shake It Up (The Reshake) - Hannah Holland
5. Punks - Juju
6. Depth Charge - Woogie
7. Diesel Not Petrol - Sukh knight
Brooklyn-based disco stalwarts Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani - otherwise known as Metro Area - are the latest in the line of artists to step up to the plate with London’s Fabric mix series.
Fabric 43,which is due for release in November, showcases the duo’s love of obscure disco, soul, house, and electronic music, spanning from the late 70s to the mid 80s, and reflects the substantial body of music they’ve produced to date. (See the end of the post for the tracklisting - they’re all quality choices.)
Morgan and Darshan’s first joint entry into the music scene was in 1999 with their self-entitled 12″ (featuring “Atmospherique”), and the duo moved swiftly on to the release of debut album Metro Area (Environ Records) in 2002. Although Morgan and Darshan have produced a number of singles since, they have not embarked on a major MA project like this until now.
I had a chance to talk to Darshan earlier this afternoon - unfortunately I talked a load of rubbish but he quite kindly discussed the Fabric mix, their next album, the global economic meltdown, New York nightlife, remixes, re-edits, and um, how to mix original disco records without making a complete mess of it - which neatly came back full circle to the Fabric mix again.
AN INTERVIEW WITH DARSHAN JESRANI, ONE HALF OF METRO AREA (15th October 08)
A: Can you tell me about the mix that you put together for Fabric? Obviously I listened to it and it was really cool. How did they approach you? What was it like - did you scream when you got off the phone? (laughs) I’m just joking! If I get this recording back, I’m just going to go ‘oh why did I say that?’
D: (laughs) We wanted to do a mix CD and Fabric had offered us a chance to do one a while back and we didn’t take it. We were kind of sitting on our hands a little bit - we didn’t know if we wanted to do one and we’d never done one before so we decided to do one with Fabric because they’re great. And because they’d take care of all of the licensing, which was save us a hell of a lot of time. We knew they’d treat the mix right and give it proper press.
D: We just wanted to represent all of the different angles of what we were into musically, which is something we try to do with our productions. They’ll be a little bit of soulful organic disco and then there’ll be some new wave angular synthesizer side to it. And then also there’ll be some contemporary weird tracky stuff going on. It’s what we do, from all different angles. It’s all about contrast. For every soulful element, we try to have something off to counter that. We try not to make anything totally homogeneous.
A: Yeah, I can really feel it. It just forces your brain into something else. I don’t know if people want that continuous three-hour club mix….(laughs), but if you want to listen to music, well….
D: That was another consideration - people taking it into their homes. There’s also a party mix tape feel to it. You’re right - a lot of mix CDs are continuous, which is just like one sound. Which is cool, but we didn’t want to do that.
A: There was loads of stuff I liked. There was this one section where you put a few tracks that had really great bass riffs – “I Can Feel It” and cloud something…. “Cloud Nine” ?
A: Yeah, and it was interesting, right at the end, the tempo sped up - it was like edging up to the diving board - it really builds you up to something else….
D: You mean it ramps up?
A: Yeah.
D: It speeds up because we wanted to include that Devo song “Freedom of Choice” and the tempo is pretty high. We didn’t want to stretch it - we wanted to play it as close to the original tempo so we had to work up to it and gradually increase the tempo. But that would be really cool if we did a sequel but start at the tempo that we left off and then gradually work back down.
A: I just wanted to ask, because I know it’s a question that’s on a lot of people’s mind - when is your next album going to come out?
D: We’re looking at the second half of next year (2009). We’re going to be finishing new material at the beginning of the new year. So we’re hoping to have it all done by the end of the year.
A: Yeah, it can take a while to gestate.
D: There’ve been a lot of factors since our first album. I relocated to Brooklyn and built a studio from scratch. Morgan had to move also. So it’s logistics and also there’s also the art stuff - gestation, letting all the material (more…)
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 . . .
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.
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.
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”.
This Sunday marked the first ever Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, hosted by Street Attack, Famous Friends, andImpose Magazine. Covering local Brooklyn artists for some time now, Impose Magazine has come to be an important fixture in the Brooklyn community, and a trustworthy source for pithy coverage of the musical oasis that can be the Brooklyn neighborhood. Street Attack and Famous Friends, the primary hosts for this year’s BEMF, are an innovative and resourceful duo that pull all stops. So when the poster went up for BEMF recently, it should be no surprise that the list of sponsors ranged from Miller Lite to the Izze Beverage Co. Even less of a surprise though was the quality of electronic artists and DJs they culled to headline their very first electronic music festival.
Arriving in the late afternoon, just as the sun was letting up on a crowd of Sparks ignited Brooklynites, I felt what was a strong community of music supporters, friends artists, and the usual blog-league members making sure Ableton mixtapes sounded just as good live. Luckily for those drunk enough by the time Cobra Krames went on, it didn’t matter, as his blend of Blatimore Club and party mash-ups were perfectly crowd pleasing and genre-bending. Stringing together Top 40 Rap and Pop hits with his flavor of B-more stomp, I was surprised not to hear a Journey mash-up amongst his arsenal.
Following Cobra was The Glass, one of the live acts present that day. With their blend of slightly sweet electro-pop, they sung the kind of late-night drunken ballads you might associate with a group of Daft Punk loyalists, suffering from a night of blissed out synths. Unfortunately for The Glass, they spent too much time at the Sparks tent and not enough time at the Izze tent, and relied too heavily on their friends to hype their boozed-down set. Luckily Finger on the Pulse, DJ and producer of The Glass supplied a quick-set of Armand Van Helden remixes to give us a good taste in our mouths beforehand.
For BEMF attendees that day, Purple Crush was clearly a significant draw, and I too was excited to see fellow Islander (Bainbridge Island, Washington) Isla Cheadle and her beatman Jared Selter get freaky on stage in Neon and Nikes. Definitely a highlight of the evening, Isla brought the party, bar none, and got little girls to shake their money makers in feminine glory. Pairing slightly maligned synth-pop and chugging Madonna-disco, Isla rapped, sang, and hyped with a natural frontman femininity that won over the headier skeptics like myself. With tunes like “Fuck the DJ” and “Marry Me,” Purple Crush’s first album “Blog Party” is a must-grab in a sea of uninspired Justice-fallout.
After Purple Crush and after a French-house heavy set from Treasure Fingers, who by virtue of market forces or purely bass-blown ear drums, has been invited to join the ranks of the Fools Gold family, a tour de force in dance music’s finest. One third of Evol Intent, perhaps the State’s best and last contribution to Drum n’ Bass, Treasure Fingers had the presence of your classic UK DJ/producer: techy, cerebral, and an invisible hand on the feet of the crowd. And Treasure Fingers could have just pressed play and returned to the beer garden because his flawless set of ethereal electro had some long-time fans and a drunk-happy crowd brought to their knees that Summer evening at The Yard.
Best and last for me was Todosantos, the Venezuelan trio of young hearts, making the only progressive music that was played that day. Drawing on their love for the music of their hometown (Cumbia, Soca, Reggaeton), as well as the reverberations from abroad (Speed Garage, Baile Funk, Miami Bass, Bassline), Todosantos represents what M.I.A. could only start, and what people like Pharaoh (Todosantos producer), Mariana (Todosantos video editor), and their lead singer (?) are calling “Tukky Bass.” On the wave of their hit song and EP “Acid Girlzzz,” Todosantos brought on the warm-darkness of the night with a rip roaring set of colorful video editing from Mariana and a fiery collection of bass heaviness from Pharaoh. A part from their sing-along set of quick one-liners and hollers, they actually seemed in love with what they were doing.
With a diverse collection of musicians and extremely-well hosted party in a beautiful space, Impose’s first Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival has no doubt set the tone for an upcoming year of exciting music from the electronic sounds of the world. More than ever we’re seeing the synthesis of all things musical, and Impose, much like other music-forward artists and critics, see this synthesis as the great calling to unite under Summer sun, fueled by warm, thick beats and the nutrients of corporate money, an increasingly smart trick to support the arts. And stay posted with Impose Magazine as they post pictures of buckwild hipsters gettin’ down in the sun.
If NYC has Machine Drum and norm REX (I’d tie in the rave up of Trouble & Bass too), LA has Fly Lo, edIT and The Glitch Mob, Glasgow & Edinburgh have LuckyMe and London has Patchwork Pirates and Thugs & Hugs, then Montreal has Turbo Crunk. The laser bass destroyers / sweat shop party / soundsystem / collective of Mofomatronix, Lunice, Blingmod and Megasoid (alias of murder beats stalwart Sixtoo aka Speakerbruiser and Hadji Bakara of Wolf Parade aka Robert Downey DJ). It’s swangin’ electronic-sonic alchemy, low end twisted bassbin beats and rap music. The future of hip hop? It’s definitely the now. Got the city on lock.
Mofos: We are two dudes with a one-track mind. Obsessed with all the same filthy rap, disgusting electronic music and sweaty clubs, we try to synthesize all of that into a hybrid live PA/DJ set using laptops, midi controllers and sometimes hardware. A serious and honest love for crunk, hyphy, pop, grime, dubstep, and techno keeps us interested and inspired by a multitude of genres and scenes.
Terence: How about the Turbo Crunk crew… how did you all hook up?
Mofos: Turbo Crunk is Megasoid, Blingmod, Lunice and ourselves. We had been fans of Sixtoo since our early high school days, and started attending the Megasoid nights as soon as they started up, in a tiny 150 person capacity cave-like venue called the Zoobizarre, at which we had our own monthly (Bass Culture). We crossed paths when their man Blingmod played our night and completely murdered it, and we found out about Lunice, this dude attending the same college as us, through Rustie’s top friends, which still boggles my mind to this day. As we were clicking away at profiles on MySpace trying to find some new heat, we came across Lunice’s page, then noticing he was actually from Montreal. A few days later a saw the dude walking down the hallway of my school. Completely nuts.
Terence: What’s up in Montreal right now? How’s the summer doing for the bass heads and gal dem?
Mofos: Montreal is a very vibrant city and the nightlife is out of control. After-hour burners and loft parties are the summer steelo. So are 700-person boat parties and renegade outdoor soundsystems (Megasoid have firmly established themselves as the ultimate party-rockers).
Terence: What do you think about quality control vs. availability of music within online communities?
Mofos: We are definitely saturated with music nowadays, although it’s great that it’s all available and that so many people can find an output. This is the ultimate democratization of music, as anyone with a guitar, synth or software can materialize their ideas and have people listen to them. It also gives a chance to the most obscure regional rap movements to surface. No one would have
