We Are Here. (And So Are You.)

Sunday, October 21, 2007

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!!

Friday, October 19, 2007

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.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

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.

Monday, October 15, 2007

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.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

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