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.