Tonight's The Night

Now that the holidays are over with family QT and overdone meals, citizens of Basstown have been filing back to their home city to get back on the dance floor. After a wonderful Make It New with resident Alan Manzi on Thursday night, and Red Foxx DJing hip-hop last night at Middlesex Lounge, we're warmed up and ready for MICHELLE.



Aside from the big Patriot's game tonight (which will be viewable at Great Scott) where the New England team attempts to break an all-time record, many of our friends from Paper, Happy Endings, Hearthrob, and Todo Mundo will join us alongside residents Etan and DJ Die Young to present Brooklyn's Kingdom (DJ/producer) and Michelle, whose bio goes as...

God brought us together. It's true. Best friends met (mostly on the dance floor) got wild and Oh My God Michelle was born. The friends had a concept for a sound they felt was missing. Eventually we sweat one of Helen's favorite local DJ/Producers, Kingdom and GRRRLLLL BOOM, You Don't Know Michelle. Alisa aka Christmas: A tall glass of gay, consisitng of magic, mania, and miso. This Girl/boy wonder has been representin OG tripple OG M'chelly in upstate since '89. Chaydha aka lil' man: So little and sweet, she'll creep a freak. Raised in North Carolina, this country girl be keepin' it crunk. Helen: Is from the Midwest and is fixated with all things Southern; fashion, church, Grannies, and music. Melanie aka Cocoa Slim: Part purple layer cake part cyborg, all gay all the time. Solid gold son. Tami: Born in Georgetown, raised in Queens, NY. All I have to say is "black girls rule...especially queer ones...son". Everyone sings, rhymes and writes.

All we can tell you is that we CAN. NOT. WAIT.

Not only have we brought you one of the most exciting headliners in the last few months, but we'll be joined by our friends from all around the city's scenes.


RSVP Here: Going.com



MySpace: Kingdom
MySpace: Michelle
Audible: Michelle - "You Don't Know Michelle" (zShare)
Audible: Kingdom - "Dance It Off (feat. Melissa Burns + Telfar)" (zShare)
Audible: Kingdom - "Jump Up Step Back" (zShare)

cities that begin with B

i love boston, i think everything in the music scene here is on the up and up, soon the kids will realize that too and became more a part of it (when they are given the chance...cough..f21+...cough). but another city i love is baltimore and i was lucky enough to make it back to my home state to catch a christmas eve's eve show at the talking head in downtown baltimore. the bill had gone through several lineup changes but ended up being fantastic with Devlin and Darko making everyone get down to the dance floor thenNinja Sonik tearing it up from Brooklyn on the Bmore Club tip, then the Death Set completely murdered the crowd with its Wham City influenced punk rock with two drum sets,
and to completely kill it came Spank Rock doing their thing as everyone knows by now.

i've never been to a show like that, the talking head is somewhere on the same size level as a frat house but a little more run down and there is a lot more Natty Bo and Jack. On the first level was the stage and no breathing room, just instant sweat and Mosh Lite, you know the kind where everyone just sways to the point of domino effect, only one or two fights but everyone was pretty much on the "have a good time its the holidays" pill, personally my preferred type of crowd dynamic. the second floor was like a lounge with the music still loud enough to dance but you could still meet people, almost everyone was completely approachable, and the third floor was the green room where there was an opening to a roof where chris devlin was kind enough to let my brother and i relieve ourselves off of.

the interesting part is the shows connections to boston, the current touring drummer of the death set, Joey Skullcowski (sp? haha) was once an asset to the boston scene when he lived here for a few years playing drums for several different songwriters and bands and probably fixed your bike if you ever swung by Cambridge Bikes. He still frequents boston to visit with friends and is one of the nicest people i've ever had the chance to meet. The other major connection is Chris Devlin of Spankrock fame who now lives in Jamaica Plain throwing down at the monthly Shake 'Em Down party at the Milky Way Lounge and sharing his talent with the rest of the city when he isnt playing all over the world with Ronnie Darko and the Spankrock Crew. Chris is also another uncommonly nice person, lets hope he sticks around for awhile.
<---here you find joey of death set being held up by adam levinsky of Passion Pit (another boston phenom)...metaphoric???
special thanks to Savvy for the pictures!!!





heres some (unreleased) stuff for you:
mp3: the death set - zombie (ninja tune records)
mp3: the death set - impossible (etan's optimistic outlook)SORRY STILL WORKIN ON IT
this ninja sonik track had everyone singing along in the club:

Bitch, You Don't Know Michelle

But you will soon. Oh yes, you will...




More to come. For now, be sure to come to Thunderdome tonight.
We celebrate its one year anniversary with special guest DJ Assault



Audible: DJ Die Young - "Bootydome Mix" (exclusively made for Thunderdome IX)
MySpace: Michelle

Making The Noise with Monome 40h

New England-born Adam Ribaudo recently departed the Northeast for warmer territory, but will soon be relocating to Delaware. All the better, too, as this project manager for a software/consulting company by day spends his evenings programming the Monome 40h, which I've had the opportunity to play around with when he was still working on the coding through Jeskola Buzz. Being neither a DJ nor a programmer, it was a bit difficult for me to adjust, but I eventually go the hang of it and didn't want to stop.



By far one of the most interesting pieces in MiDi control technology development, these boards can go way beyond 64 buttons. Going under the moniker Making The Noise, Adam titled the track "YGBM" after what he describes as a geeky sci-fi reference:

Because of this some people believe that humanity will not survive the 21st century without intervention - absolute mind control technology called YGBM (You Gotta' Believe Me). The struggle of some (or one) to implement YGBM against those who would prefer the risk of freedom is the major conflict in this novel. [read more...]

Looking forward to what more Making The Noise - a devoted IDM fan with a wide variety of secular music tastes - has to come, the MP3 is available for download exclusively here on Basstown. Remix away!


Audible: Making The Noise - "YGBM"
MySpace: Making The Noise
Website: Monome 40h
Wiki: Jeskola Buzz

Thunderdome Turns 1 (How Much Is That In DJ Years?)

Ooof, last week was a rough one. With the holidays coming close (let's face it, they're here, so start your shopping), this translates to parties parties parties. Nothing put a dent, though, in Hearthrob, which turns the 125-capacity room at Middlesex Lounge into a New Year's Eve party every other Tuesday. You can check out the photos from December 4th, taken by David Day, by clicking on either the above picture, or here

There's quite a lot on the horizon for Basstown in the next 6 months. Our next event will be the one year anniversary of Thunderdome, this coming Friday. After 12 months of throwing one of the most epic parties in this city, Morgan Louis (Hearthrob), DJ Die Young (SOLID!), and Thunderdome founder Mistaker will be joined by the legendary DJ Assault.


For Facebook event, go H E R E
Please click the above photo and RSVP on Going.com
DJ Assault MySpace

This is going to be a blast! Our last Thunderdome was Halloween weekend and it was our first at the Greek American Political Club in Central Square. Now that everyone knows where it is (spitting distance from both the T and Falafel Palace, mmm!), we hope to see all of you there this Friday.

Cheers,
Basstown

Link: The Field remixes on Crackers United

We're Future Sailors

We here at the Basstown Headquarters love The Mighty Boosh, a popular British series that's just begun it's 3rd season overseas. The legend of Old Gregg infiltrated viral online YouTube-ing, and quickly became an inside joke amongst all that know and love Greg a.k.a Sensitive Hand a.k.a. the CEO of Hearthrob.

One problem with all of the old 'Boosh eps are those horrid funk musical numbers. Cringe-worthy.

The NEW season, however, has techno up the whazoo.

A personal favorite is from episode 3 - The Crimp - where Vince and Tom are both being bitten off by some not-so-quites. While practicing for a rematch to regain their reputation, they're barged in on while wearing ponchos and and playing:




Also, well, if your humor (or should I say humour?) is not sick and twisted enough, this may disturb you to great lengths. Either way, give it a go...from the kick-off of season 3 of the Mighty Boosh:



Totally ridiculous.

Alex Smoke @ Make It New

Alex Smoke. Do you know this name?

No?

Oh jeez.



Well, listen, he's a bloke from Glasgow who accomplishes the great feat of blending his genres of minimal and electro to where their origins are completely indistinguishable. I've always wanted to believe Smoke was actually his last name, but aside from the general unlikelihood of it all, there's also the fact that would be the most befitting surname moniker to go with his music. Lauded on facets around the Electronic Music Interweb, Alex Smoke is a name for those in the know...not the pretentious, coffee table, hipster in the know, but the true in the know. People who love minimal. People who love making something out of almost nothing. People who love the sound of producers that spend hours upon hours toiling over their knobs (the ones on the soundboards, you dirty ape) perfecting their tracks.

Down below is a personal favorite from last year, and perhaps his most well known remix of the moment - that of Junior Boys' gorgeous "In The Morning."

Do not miss him this Thursday at Make It New, hands down the greatest place to go for minimal shit and anything else your non bangers/bass-heavy heart desires. (Consider this the sort of night you can walk around with drinks in martini glasses and not worry about getting anything on your shoes...)

Make It New
Thursdays @ Middlesex Lounge
$5 cover (c'mon, he's from Europe)
315 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA


Audible: Junior Boys - "In The Morning (Alex Smoke Remix)"
MySpace: Make It New
MySpace: Alex Smoke

SERIOUSLY?!?!

Heres something I think more people should know about:

This past Tuesday,Bus Driver (Regan Farquhar, pictured above) was scheduled to perform with Daedelus at Allston's own Harper's Ferry. What would have been a refreshing dose of hip hop was turned sour by a racist comment from Harper's sound guy that eventually caused the cancellation of the entire performance.

I just got off the phone with Regan and his DJ, Antimc (Matt Alsberg), to get the full story. Regan left the venue after load-in to have dinner with a boston friend over at Grasshopper, leaving Matt to deal with the sound guy and setting up on stage. After answering a few questions to the sound guy about their setup, "we need two DI-boxes, two mics, etc.", the sound guy
commented, "that's why you need a white guy in your crew." Matt, baffled at the absurdity of the comment, asked the sound guy to repeat himself, to which he replied by not only repeating the comment, but going on to say, "you know, we hired 6 [mumbled racist slur] in the past few months and they're all outta here!" Matt immediately ran to Harper's green room and talked to Regan on the phone, who after hearing the story called his booking agent who in turn called the manager of the club.

Regan came back and talked to the manager himself, who told Regan that they would tell the sound guy to "go home" and "thats not us". After a few minutes of awkwardly waiting around the club, the tour decided to pack up the van. This prompted the manager to come running out declaring, "the sound guy will never work at the club again! We'll have some one new come in!" and had to mention, "there were 50 presale tickets, it would be terrible to have to refund them...". The tour had a quick meeting and decided to cancel the show and leave.

Regan added, "It's something that catches you off gaurd, and you have to decide how to deal with it [...] and you don't know if you're being oversensitive or if it's just bullshit [...] you have to pick your battle. We could have gone on stage and said something like 'this club is racist' but we just decided to leave." Regan and Matt also expressed concern that the management was just telling the sound guy to go home and was not really fired.

Harper's Ferry has yet to return my calls to comment, but the truth is Harper's handled this situation too lightly! That sound guy should have been fired immediately! The fact that he was able to make that comment so comfortably in the club says A LOT about the club and its management. With the closing of Avalon and Axis, groups with larger draws that wont fit in places like Bill's bar, or Great Scott, or the Paradise are forced to play Harper's if they don't wanna deal with The Roxy or the Orpheum's high ticket prices. They have some growing up to do if they are to fill the shoes of a quality mid-sized rock club in Boston.

LOCAL VOICES: LA ZEN BEE

hailing from the mighty might basstown,
the up and coming producers LA ZEN BEE are smellin like pure local gold.
they arent just regulars in the boston scene, they are pushing the new sound of
the electro beat generation, not just posting "edits" on blogs. this is talent.
comprised of the friendly Andy & Mike, they started Djin together almost 7 years ago,
inspired by the Daft Punk revolution, from the mouth of mike himself:
"we basically lived on a diet of Crydamoure and Roule until we both went to college (Andy
went to George Washington, I went to Providence College). Andy held
down a residency in DC and we started a rock band called Lazenbys. We
decided we hated working in a group format and we were really feeling
dance music again,... so we disassembled the band got into producing again."

judge for yourself you wont be disappointed:
La Zen Bee - L, C, A (320k)

be sure to catch them at a basstown event soon

Choyce Hacks . Live @ The Mobius

Atlanta-based DJ and blogger, Choyce Hacks, is one of the most up-and-coming DJs from the Southeast region. With a hefty set of years DJing vinyl, moving into the digital realm, and keeping up Resonator Magazine, it's amazing that he has time to be such a dedicated programmer by day.

Relocating soon to New York City, Choyce did a live set two days ago for The Mobius - a radio show on WREK (Georgia Tech's radio station), and its one of his best to date. Sometimes leaning on a more rock side (mixing Boys Noize into, say, Rage Against The Machine train of thought). Onward Charles, V.i.c.k.i.'s little blog pet, wrote about him in late January when she briefly entertained the idea of getting into mixing and wanted equipment advice. (Note: She has sinced realized business is her specialty, and would rather spend her money on shoes for the dancefloor, kthnxbai.) Give it a read, but don't forget to give Resonator and this excellent mix a listen!

Choyce Hacks! on The Mobius: 11-14-2007
MySpace: Choyce Hacks!

Live Mix by Michael Savant

In addition to tonight's BASS CADETS (see, all caps. no doubt) event at Shine, host Michael Savant has recorded a live mix that was done at the neon bar about a month ago. With his specialty being his live mixes, Haterz With Lazers is a great intro to his sick and twisted world. We've called him the perfect end-of-the-night DJ because he's so hard hitting there is no way that you can stay seated.

Download: Michael Savant - Haterz With Lazers (Live Mix)
MySpace: Michael Savant

Tonight. Shine (Kendall Square).
BASS CADETS
w/ special guest David Day + Knowlton Walsh
19+ / NO COVER

BASS CADETS . Weds @ Shine (free)

It simply has to be in all caps. For the last few weeks, Michael Savant - of the Basstown family - has been queuing up some of the best DJs in the scene to bring you BASS CADETS.

It's loud.
It's FREE.
AND it's 19+.

Beat that.
(go ahead...just try it)

didn't think so!



Did anyone come to the first one? Well, no.
The second? Mhmm...
From thereon in?

...Growing by the week! The biggest wrench is simply that the word hasn't gotten out yet. Solid dance floors, glowing neon walls, and nice bartenders. Shine is going through a crowd transition itself, but it was definitely a fertile ground for many of the early bonds that came to form Basstown. Black Magic, Electro-lyte, and Stereo premiered there in the spring, and we're looking to bring everyone together on a Wednesday night to forget that the weekend may be a bit far...but oh so close.

Be sure to catch Basstown don David Day on the decks, along with Michael and brother Matthew Savant. Other residents will be spinning as well.


RSVP Here:

Soul Clap : First track available now @ Beatport

Local heroes Soul Clap, which consists of Elyte + Cnyc, are a DJ crew that are often found at Phoenix Landing, but with Boston being such a small city, everyone knows everyone. And every DJ spins just about anywhere. The circuit is growing larger, but in the middle is a nucleus of real talent paired with unique personality. Soul Clap is definitely not to be excluded from that description. Creative, smart, and inventive (different from creative, dammit), they've just released their first track on Beatport, and you can purchase or stream it on the site. It's fucking awesome, start to finish. Let's hear it on the dance floor!

Purchase/Stream: Soul Clap - "Pool Night"
Website: Soul Clap

WWWHHHAAATTT

NOO COVER??
NINETEEN PLUS???
WHAT IS WRONG WITH SHINE LOUNGE AND THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS???
if you dont take advantage of this,
there are only two acceptable excuses:
1.a member of your IMMEDIATE family is near death (if theyre gone, theyre gone, come cope with us!)
2.you are embarrassed your moves cant match this young gun-->

see
you
wednesday.

french touch in new jersey suburbia

so last nite i played a rock show in the middle of nowhere, new jersey,
somewhere near princeton. the fresh air was worth it alone,
but in these small towns, where there is nothing better to do,
free all ages shows at the local volunteer firehall turn out really well.
the first club/bar gigs i ever got as a dj were hardly gigs,
because i would talk my way into replacing the obligatory ipod
that plays in between bands with my djing instead.
my rationale was that the electronic music that i played would
serve more as a contrast to the rock bands my band tended to gig with,
and in turn make their live performance more of a spectacle than
a comparison to the {insert famous signed band name here}'s recording
which the entire audience was just forced to listen to by the soundguy.
for the past few years ive been gettin away with this but ususally with
the same crowd reaction as the ipod, everyone just talks over it,
goes to the bar, has a smoke. what happened last nite was amazing.

after the bands were finished, a little early at that, while the kids waited
for something to do, someone threw on justice's cross album over
the P.A. while we loaded out. and all these kids who were just headbanging
to indie rock were now freaking out on the dancefloor to french electro.
this was one of the most exciting things ive witnessed in music in awhile.
this is not a new phenomenon but now it has reached
the middle of nowhere. While Justice themselves were about to play in NYC,
in a few hours just a few hundred miles away, these kids were breakin
a sweat to a cd THEY HAD NEVER HEARD BEFORE.
i asked them, three kids out of the crowd had ever heard of Justice.
im not trying to be pretentious, i was really late to catch the Justice
bus as well.

no huge news story here, its just a very very inspiring/exciting time
for everyone involved in this music today.

be a part of it in boston
this saturday and come out to great scott!!

whitey and the man

In a press release from the london party And Did We Mention Our Disco?
for the upcoming Whitey appearence (of Kitsune Maison Compilation 4 fame)
to be N.J. Whitey's first ever "Dj Live Set" which is described as
"a stripped-down live performance of his tracks interspersed
with a dancefloor-friendly DJ mix, blurring the boundaries between
a full-on live show and a 'dex-n-fx'-style DJ set."
Although they make it sound like he's personally revolutionized
dance music performance, people have been doing this for a long time.
Dub anyone? the term 'dub' itself implies this technique.
Smart marketing for repackaging the same product.
(please see 'electronica' versus 'techno',
'mash-up' versus 'harmonic mixing witha beat match!")
and im not saying he's a reggae artist...
O and he's skipping Boston on his U.S. tour...coool.

speaking of kitsune, digitalism's new video for "zdarlight"
was directed by none other than labelmates fox n' wolf,
its a weird one.

last nite we were remided of the dangers of modern
electronic production gadgets and their
inability to transplant successfully to a live setting.
turn your speakers up for this one ,
(no really its quiet, i wasnt trying to sound like
don burns of 94.7, LA's trillest smooth jazz)

...





...


but yea heres a dude doin it right with the
old modular piece!

MOS-LAB makes some fresh Moog Clones

and if this method of performance seems too laboratorical,
you can always spice things up like the talented Tommy Seebach Band

you have to admire tommy's ability to at least look like
he is having fun while he plays his synth.
theres a cool edit to match a moog cookbook remix of air
using the same footage here
and one that goes to madonna here
and one with chemical brothers here
all are edited uniquely and work very well

nobody looks like theyre having fun playing microkorgs and flash drive samplers.

LRD Returns

For the last few years, dance music enthusiast (and many a Basstown attendee) has heard plenty from Stuart Price. The producer and artist has recorded with his most excellent pop band Zoot Woman, has remixed a bajillion acts as the Thin White Duke and Jaques Lu Cont, and even produced records for Madonna.

But it's been a good long while since our hero has produced anything under the name Les Rythmes Digitales. After releasing an album (way back in 1999) which was, by all accounts, way, way way ahead of its time, Price shelved the name for reasons unknown. The album, Darkdancer, heralded the rebirth of sounds years before they were reborn, including echoes of Missy Elliott, Madonna, Whirlpool Productions and yes, Justice.

For all the remixes of Justice on the web (and there must be, like, 15,000 of them) Price here does it right. The Price is right, I suppose (*wince*):

Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Les Rythmes Digitales Remix)

And this MP3 is only 128kpbs, so don't try to play it in the club, you'll only make ears bleed.

Trentemøller . The Chronicles Of

Many producers start off as DJs. By DJs I mean spinning house parties, spinning bars, spinning dance parties in bars, and then clubs...then maybe festivals. (This is, of course, if everything could be so nice and linear) Somewhere in the middle of this progression, the inventive type will take on the knobs late at night to make his or her own music, moving beyond the task of cultivating mixtapes and creating stylized remixes.

While Denmark-based Anders Trentemøller has released some of his own work amongst his many remixes within his various monikers, last year's release of The Last Resort - a double disc that came out via the respectable Poker Flat - is by far his most original and personal work to date. With it's opening track "Take Me Into Your Skin" the middle luster of "Evil Dub" and all the way through to the chilling close of "Miss You," it's a worthy record to be in anyone's favorite because of its ability to lure you in or tune you out, but all the while being consistently alluring from start to finish.

Next week, Audiomatique will release The Trentemøller Chronicles, which includes Anders' personal favorites of his body of work. The second disc is a collection of his best remixes of other artists, which include Klovn, Ane Trolle, Richard Davis, Mathias Schaffhäuser, The Blacksmoke Organisation, The Knife, Filur, Jokke Ilsøe, Robyn, Sharon Phillips, Tomboy, Moby and Djuma Soundsystem. The best of the lot, despite my endless love for The Knife and Robyn, is "Moan" with Ane Trolle. I sometimes find myself hitting restart after merely 10 seconds into the track, just to hear it again. Bliss. Perfection. Gorgeous. Though his Chronicles will be significant in Trentemøller's growing discography, it's necessary to own The Last Resort as well. You can find them both online at Malden-based Forced Exposure.

Anders is currently touring the US, but Basstown won't be able to bring him around to our neighborhood this time. He'll be at Rebel in NYC with his live band on October 13th (and, uhh, you know Alan Braxe is at Studio B, right?) before he heads back across the Atlantic. All tour dates are here.


Audible: Trentemoller - "Moan feat. Ane Trolle (Trentemoller Remix)"
Wiki: Trentemøller
MySpace: Trentemøller

Purple Crush : Pop Culture Lives On

Brooklyn's Purple Crush, who completely rocked Great Scott into oblivion on Saturday for the official relaunch party for Basstown recently made a video for "Ookie," which is a response video the the recent Acid Jacks track for "Mookie" - Chris Crocker lives on!

Myspace: Purple Crush

About Last Night : Basstown Relaunch @ Great Scott

Thank you, everyone. Last night completely killed any other night that Basstown has held at Great Scott. Our friends old and new showed up, and Purple Crush completely rocked the venue. DJ sets by residents Etan, Die Young and Mistaker showed the variety of talent in our family, and we're only hoping to bring you more. Come find us at Great Scott the last/4th Saturday of every month! Next month will be our Halloween bash. Good things on the horizon.



Our next event is this Monday at the Middlesex Lounge. Basstown brings in Graeme Sinden from the UK. He co-runs the label Counterfeet with Switch (you know, "the guy who produced the new M.I.A. album), and his remix credits run through big names such as: Lady Sovereign, Lethal Bizzle, Plan B, Basement Jaxx, Chromeo, Bugz In The Attic, Switch, Bonde Do Role, Mr Hudson & The Library & Mark Ronson. He's collaborated on original material with Solid Groove, Jesse Rose, Herve & Trevor Loveys.

In short, Sinden is an incredible talent who's earning the credit he deserves over in the UK. Years from now he will probably be a worldwide producer/DJ superpower, so it'll be nice to see him in the comfy setting of the Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge.

Not to mention our Hearthrob crew will be DJing...mmm, Hearthrob three weeks in a row. Our bodies will be hurting, but our souls will scream for joy!

SINDEN
Monday, October 1st
Middlesex Lounge
315 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA
617.868.6739
21+ / $10
w/ Hearthrob DJs

MySpace: Sinden
MySpace: Hearthrob

Basstown Official Relaunch .::. Saturday @ Great Scott

DJ Die Young. Photo by Ricardo DeLima

This Saturday, citizens of Basstown will come together to celebrate a thriving community at Great Scott. Resident DJ's Mistaker, Etan, and Die Young will re-introduce themselves to the city of Boston as a driving force behind the always-inspiring times in our nightlife. We have one goal, and it's to bring everyone together. More parties. More friends. More memories. More talent. More incredible music.

We hope to see you there. Brooklyn's Purple Crush, whom I'd had a b0ner for in one of the last blog entries, will be joining us, and those two put on a hell of a good show. Tickets are only $5, so bring your friends and come party with us. There will be a raffle for two tickets to Sinden at the Middlesex Lounge on Monday, October 1st with the Hearthrob DJs.

Love,
V.i.c.k.i.

Audible: Etan - "Basstown Official Relaunch Mixtape"
Legible: Drums And Wires by David Day

From tonight's Basstown photo shoot

HOLLURRRRR


left to right: Mistaker, Ricardo DeLima

Three words: Too. Much. Wine.

Friends Of Basstown: Happy Endings

click for big flier!

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give a shout out to AaronBBC @ Happy Endings Boston for providing me with this sweet Scottie B. + Purple Crush track, "Pay Me"



Purple Crush just came around to Happy Endings last month, and I'm a bit sad I missed it because PC's video for "Vacation" - though simple and cheap - became addictive both visually and in the song itself.



Audible: Scottie B. + Purple Crush - "Pay Me"
MySpace: Happy Endings Boston

Friday. THUNDERDOME. Friday. THUNDERDOME. Friday.

This Friday, Thunderdome returns with its 7th installment:

BALTIMORE VS. BOSTON



And in addition to that, Spank Rock DJ XXXChange has been added to the roster.


And because we love you so, we've got a Kid Sister remix for your pleasure, down below.


Other than that, it's the same venue where Boston-based 12 Inches Of Pleasure housed the memorable Juan Atkins event on September 7th. The drinks are cheapy-cheap, and the spot is right on the water. Parking is not a problem, but getting there without a car is going to take some actual thought. Cabs should be "wicked cheap," as we say in Bahhston. Come check out our new spot right next to Harvard Square.


Audible: Kid Sister - "Let Me Bang (XXXChange Remix)"
MySpace: Thunderdome

Bleep + Warp Records = Mega Sale

What a weekend. Let's get into it some other time. Basstown is busy as all hell, but while you're drinking your Monday coffee, peruse the Warp catalogue and remember how nice it was before OiNK and a multitude of torrent sites, when artists actually accrued some of our money for their hard efforts and developed carpel tunnel.

Bleep is having a huge Warp album sale on for all of September, with everything at £4.99 (double albums £5.99). Don't miss this opportunity to explore Warp's legendary and peerless back catalogue! Everything is in high-quality drm-free MP3 format, compatible with iPods/Macs/PC's and phones, with album artwork embedded into every track. You can preview everything there.

Some favorites:

+ Satanstornade - Do you like noise? How about white noise? How about the trippiest shit you'll ever hear this side of the Acid Snake Rainbow? Satanstornade is the result of a collaboration between multidisciplinary artist Russell Haswell and Masami Akita / Merzbow. "The more you're immersed in the chaos tearing around your cranium, the more you submit to it with an almost Zen like calm" (BBC) [go go go]

+ Polygon Window - Surfing On Sine Waves is one of V.i.c.k.i.'s absolute favoritest-est records of all time, particularly of the variety of Richard D. James monikers. Too bad Morgan of Blood Sugar fucking stepped on her CD and broke it in half. So what if it was 9am and we were just leaving the spot to get our asses to bed? An oft-overlooked pinnacle of Aphex Twin's work. A eulogy to the North Cornwall coast - elemental and primal, with jackhammer beats, cavernous echo, and plaintive haunting songs. [go go go]

+ Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi is one of the greatest IDM records (or, well, just "records") of all time. Hands down. Read the Pitchfork review. IF YOU DO NOT OWN THIS THEN I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND! >:-O [go go go] ...no pressure or anything ;)

That's good enough for now. Apparently Bleep will be letting out some more favorites as the month goes on so keep your nuts peeled.

And, sure, your eyes too. Whatever you surf the cyberwaves with.

Happy shopping!

Local Voices: Ricardo DeLima

For what it's worth, Boston, Josh Wink's music video for "Higher State Of Consciousness" - one of the most mesmerizing and self-serving videos of mid-90s rave hedonism - is up on On Demand. Cutting Edge, methinks. Regardless, the song has reappeared through the filters of ZZT. Named after the computer game, Tiga and Zombie Nation (ALSO a game...NES circa 1990, to be specific. hollur!) have collaborated under the moniker. To my half-surprise, Pitchfork has even gotten on it, and we're happy to take a seat in the back of the bus.

A local artist, best known for his sharp humor and talent-driven photography, best described the song as an alien invasion: "The little dirty secret of anthropology is that evolution produced to successful species of hominids, and when they encountered each other one of those somehow, exterminated and generally p0wn3d the other one. Cro-magnon won, O.G. no doubt. Someday, a extraterrestrial life form will invade this planet and go shock and awe on this party. When that day comes I hope some dark sick shit like ZZT's 'Lower State of Consciousness' is playing throughout it all. Sine and Triangle waves are sequenced and pitched for maximum what-the-fuck-is-this-shit oh-my-god-do-it-again oh-fuck-this-killed-my-sisters-hamster pleasure. Techno Armageddon." - Ricardo DeLima of ISO 74

This track was dropped in the last two weeks by both Baltimoroder at Hearthrob last Tuesday, and Volvox at Black Magic in August. Diplo also uses it towards the end of his highly-praised Pitchfork Mix, which is being globally lauded and includes a track-by-track interview by none other than David Day.

Hoooooooo, how's that for some social web-weaving?

*fans self*

Even the ants are digging it. [Video]



Audible: Josh Wink - "Higher State Of Consciousness"
Audible: ZZT - "Lower State Of Concsciousness"
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/zztzzt

Basstown Presents SINDEN .::. Monday, Oct. 1 @ Middlesex w/ Hearthrob

I think the subject line says it all. Going.com will be on board soon, and it's already up on Upcoming.This will be a great event for Boston, as Sinden is one of the best DJs around right now, teaming up with Switch (who's just produced most of the spectacular new M.I.A. Kala album) nearly every chance he gets. Joined by the Hearthrob DJs, this is going to be a night to remember. More details to come, but for now:

MARK. YOUR. CALENDARS.

Audible: Chromeo - "Tenderoni (Sinden Mix)"
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/graemesinden

Friday @ Bodega : ART TERROR

An exhibition of Gordon Riker's final works will take place at Bodega in Boston. The show features prints, paintings, custom t-shirts and a 15 foot mural by Josh Falk, Kenji Nakayama and Mr. Never. This show also marks the release of new t-shirt designs by Gordon's clothing label ART TERROR.

And So It Begins...

...or continues. Some say "ends," but that's because little does the New England City That Could know that while it may be losing Basstown's founding father, he's leaving the kids in charge to steer the ship. Taking the reigns of the Basstown empire will be a few familiar (and some new) faces, but all wanting to get involved are encouraged.

Mistaker

With a successful progression from the birth of Thunderdome in November 2006, Mistaker's also been maintaining a blog and bringing sponsorships to Boston, putting it on the map as a city just as worth of attention as its book-ending neighbors, New York and Montreal.
http://www.myspace.com/mistaker

+

V.i.c.k.i.

A moniker wouldn't be a bad idea, so why not turn your own name into an acronym that's open to public suggestion? One of the few of the family that is not an active DJ, she's got the business experience and punk rock upbringing to put the bullshit back in the dustbin.
http://www.myspace.com/shewaxesmemory

+

DJ Die Young

Making a grand entrance in February's Electro-Lyte premiere, Die Young's speed of improvement has been exponential to others. Loaded with an endless supply of creative ideas and the motivation to follow through, Jamie will be a big element in bringing together the Basstown community on both the dance floor and cyberspace.
http://www.myspace.com/djdieyoung

+

DJ Etan

Our man-on-the-outside is not even 21 (Cinco De Mayo '08, watch out), but he's already got his hands in enough local bands and has been DJing since he was a wee lad. Keen to the street art and fashion of Boston's unique take on visual pop culture, he's a good guy to know for all things...well, everything.
http://www.myspace.com/etanmusic


Well, that's enough for the first round of introductions, innit?

Yours,
Basstown