Drop The Lime : What's Your Percent?!

photo taken with Vicki's crappy iPhone

Thanks to everyone who made this Saturday a success. Considering it was Memorial Day weekend (i.e. the holiday where everyone splits their respective cities for some beachfront action) and we had no opening acts for the event, we had a packed room. With resident DJ Etan currently out of the hemisphere, Volvox and Die Young paired up to give us three hours of incredible mixing, which grew and pulsated into dance-heavy tracks that brought everyone away from the bar and onto the floor. We always knew they were excellent DJs, but seeing them as a tag team for so long was a great experience as well.

As for Drop The Lime, his set was fantastic - so much, in fact, that we recorded the entire thing, and will be posting the MP3 sometime within the next week or so as we did with Lauren Flax's set from The Revolution Will Be Feminized. He played out the bass-heavy mix of Moby's "Alice," as well as a song from his forthcoming LP. "Need2Feel" is a track that you can preview on his MySpace, and the photo above is of Luca in pure bliss, singing his heart out to a crowded room. A peak was when tracks from his second LP, We Never Sleep, made an appearance, and after yelling "Please! Play 'Bella'!" our prayers were answered and the whole room went insane. Below is the song from that album, which is always a climax in his sets. No longer just a DJ, he's a performer on all levels, and we highly encourage you to get your ass to NY for an upcoming Trouble & Bass event.

Audible: Drop The Lime - "Bella"
MySpace: Drop The Lime

Wax & Wade

Back in our sister city, Providence, there are three particular DJs who represent the scene in the country's smallest state. Morgan Louis is one of the leading men of the Hearthrob trio, which is widely popular within the city limits of Boston, but lately the Peppermint Twinz have been gaining exposure. Comprised of Initales A.A. (Alvin Aronson) and Christopher Wade (Chris Sherron), they've teamed up with Morgan to invigorate their new party, Lovelife.

In the past, we've written about Initiales when he came through Boston several times and took us by storm with his exclusive Basstown mix, but we have yet to tell you more about Christopher Wade. Originally from Cleveland, he's just finishing up his junior year at RISD ("riz-dee" for the locals, Rhode Island School of Design for everyone else) as a graphic design major. He often samples his guitars when making tracks, which is something he's been doing since the age of 14. While he's a big fan of shoegaze, his tastes and DJ habits are heavily influenced by 90s UK electronica, which includes Underworld and a variety of releases from Warp Records.

"I have a whole load of songs nobody has heard - less DJ-friendly material," says Wade. "It's more of what I've been doing the past few years besides the remixes and edits. It's more influenced by Cleveland, as a place, which I miss a lot. Things are a bit slower to catch on there than on the East coast. I'm kind of attracted to the out-of-touchness that goes on over there, and it's nice to just go and
not be tainted by trends or fads all the time."

One of these that has just seen the light of day is "Predictions," which is all original sampling and re-sampling of Christopher on guitar. The shoegaze fandom definitely comes out, but the knack for assembling a subtle ambient track with a steady build that gently delivers makes his style stand apart from others. He's also made a video to accompany the song. "You definitely have to be in a certain mood to watch it because it is extremely subtle and meditative," he says, "which is very much how I feel when I made the song and was listening to it over and over again."

Video: "Predictions" by Christopher Wade


Lovelife happens bi-monthly on Fridays at the Local 121, and is a 21+ event. The drink prices will make you smile, and the cover is often less than $5.

Audible: Christopher Wade - "Predictions"
MySpace: Christopher Wade
MySpace: Lovelife Providence

Hawks, Hacks!, and H...

The special guest of our January Basstown residency was none other than Choyce Hacks! who relocated from Atlanta to Guam, Connecticut. His explosion at Great Scott back when was a breath of fresh air, and while he almost came back to support Drop The Lime in our upcoming stint, he was unable to make it since he has to go to Brooklyn.

Fortunately, he threw together an exclusive minimix for us, which - in his uncertainty - was aptly titled the
Fuck I dunno, its a mini mix! mix

Tracklisting:
01) The Presets - This Boy's in Love (Damage Instrumental Retake)
02) Janedge - Suprise(!) (Plimsouls remix)
03) The Outrunners - Cool Feelings (Anoraak remix)
04) Robert M - I Love House (Original dub)
05) Futurecop! - Transformers
06) The Frail - Count On This (DoBERMAN Remix)
07) Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Russ Chimes Remix)

"Its a synthed out mini mix meant to be all summer luvin' had me a GTFO of the house and run around fun-in-the-sun blast." - CH!

Oh, and also, looks like Mr. Hacks! will be moving to Brooklyn after all...Clinton Hill. Address, for stalking purposes, to come in the near future. Hang tight, ladies.

Audible: Choyce Hacks! - "Fuck I dunno, its a mini mix!"
Alternate Photo: pricelessss
MySpace: Choyce Hacks!

This Saturday .::. Trouble & Basstown

Saturday, May 24th
Basstown Presents
Drop The Lime (Trouble & Bass)

with resident Basstown DJs
Volvox (Black Magic, Make It New)
Die Young (Dopamine Records)

Great Scott
1222 Commonwealth Avenue
Allston, MA
9pm – 2am / 21+
$5 before 10pm
$7 after 10pm
www.basstown.net
www.myspace.com/dropthelime

Party photos provided by Nicky Digital
Flyer by RJ Foley (rjcandesign@gmail.com)

Brooklyn, NY - In early 2006, Drop The Lime – a.k.a. Luca Venizia – put out an LP on Kid 606’s Tigerbeat6 label called “We Never Sleep,” and since has continued to live up to the declaration. September of 2006 was the launch of Trouble & Bass, a monthly party in Brooklyn that has since grown to be one of the biggest and most respected events in the national DJ community. Bringing in some of the bigger, rarer names, the collective is comprised of several personalities that are a roster of full talent. Drop The Lime, who also performs his darker vintage-tinged material under the alter-alter ego Curses!, is one of the Trouble & Bass power players, as well as a combustible personality.

That said, there’s also his DJ sets, which are the stuff of constant rotation. If MP3s could wear like cassette tapes, then our recordings of the first several Trouble & Bass mixes would have been dead and gone for months already. One of the most viral of all was the Trouble Mix #4, which solidified his presence around the time that Discobelle and other tastemakers around the world caught on.

This May, Basstown presents to you a lengthy live set from Drop The Lime. Both Die Young and Volvox are fans and familiar of his work, and this’ll be one of those memorable occassions where the music is at its fullest harmony. Don’t miss out on the 5 hours of dancefloor disorder this Saturday at Great Scott.


Audible: Moby - “Alice (Drop The Lime Heavy Bass Remix)”
MySpace: Drop The Lime

Dusted Magazine: This Means Forever album review
Prefix Magazine: We Never Sleep album review
Pop Matters: We Never Sleep album review
Exclusive Mix: XLR8R
Chain D.L.K.: interview

Facebook: event page
Going: event page

Artist To Watch: Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary
Tanz Mit Mir
(Toys For Boys Records)
June 2008
distribution by: Neuton


After nearly four years of releases and other activities, Toys For Boys Records is proud to present its second compilation.
After Marcus Vector on the first one, they decided to give the decks to Berlin-based Bloody Mary, one of the leading artists
of the genre. Mary has been touring the world with her impressive DJ skills, setting the crowds on fire from New York to
Mexico to Paris. Mary chose her favorite tracks from the label by Jona, Grinser, Quenum, Sierra_Sam, Marcus Vector, Gerome Sportelli, Jeik, and mixed them with selections from friends' labels. These include Einmaleins, Sender, Contexterrior, Tunningspork, Mobilee, Leena, Upon You, Lessizmore, and others. The result is an escalation of techy, groovy flux of music: the perfect companion for your summer pre- or afterparties. Stay tuned for the release of Tanz Mit Mir. Down below is a recent live mix from Club Treibhaus in Glöwen (between Hamburg + Berlin).

Tracklist for Tanz Mit Mir
01 Miss Fitz, drifting on, Contexterrior
02 Tolga Fidan, our fathers, Vakant
03 Quenum, the four seasons, Toys For Boys
04 Grinser, the knowledge, Toys For Boys
05 Lee Jones & Daniel Dreier, A man, Marco Resmann remix, Upon you
06 Marcus Vector & Lust Addict, drum rollin red, Toys For Boys
07 Phage & Daniel Dreier, static bubbles, highgrade
08 Sierra_Sam & Bloody Mary, Blackjack, Einmaleins
09 Sarah Goldfarb, To be frit, Toys For Boys
10 Agnes & Lee Van Dowski, Radio Graceland, Leena
11 Jona, Dehydrate, Toys For Boys
12 Tom Dazing, Motion Sickness, Toys For Boys
13 Hugo, The Sloop, Tuning Spork
14 Jeik, Liquid, Toys For Boys
15 Pompoelmoessap, 1946 in memory , Lessizmore
16 Mark Broom, You and Me Sierra_Sam remix, Toys For Boys
17 Benno Blom, Red Tuna, Sender
18 Gerome Sportelli, Outfit, Toys For Boys
19 Marcus Vector & Lust addict, We love to be yonce Michal Ho remix, Toys For Boys
20 Sierra_Sam & Bloody Mary, night time, Toys For Boys

Audible: Club Treibhaus live mix, 2008
Label: Toys For Boys
MySpace: Bloody Mary

Sine Waves & Saturated Synapses

Signal

This Thursday, Make It New will be taken over by Non-Event who are, once again, presenting a very special showcase by Raster-Noton; a German electronic music record label founded in 1996 by Olaf Bender, Carsten Nicolai and Frank Bretschneider. Based in Chemnitz, Germany, Raster-Noton merged in 1999 from separate labels Rastermusik and Noton. The collective label's aesthetic focus is rhythmic, minimal electronic music alternating between playful pop and introspection, partnered with unconventional and equally minimal packaging design.

Non-Event, Basstown, and the Goethe-Institüt Boston present
RASTER-NOTON SHOWCASE
with SIGNAL
+
solo sets by
Alva Noto
Frank Bretschneider
Byetone

Thursday, May 15th
Middlesex Lounge
315 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, Mass
doors: 9pm
show: 10pm
21+ / $10



Below is more information on the acts, but be sure to listen to the podcast, compiled by Susanna Bolle of the Boston Phoenix and Non-Event.

SIGNAL is Raster-Noton’s supergroup, featuring Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto), Olaf Bender (aka Byetone), and Frank Bretschneider. The trio performs intense, hypnotic music to a spectacular backdrop of graphical information that reveals the complex geometry of the sounds in play. Most of their sound sources are taken from a huge memory bank of music from long jamming sessions dating from the early days of Raster-Noton. These are processed and folded into a taut and energetic web of electrostatic rhythmic clicks, bristling static, and deep bass pulses that are unexpectedly sensuous and undeniably funky. Their most recent release Robotron came out in 2007. This will be SIGNAL’s Boston debut.

Musician and visual artist CARSTEN NICOLAI (aka ALVA NOTO) works in the transitional area between art and science. In his intensely dynamic work, Nicolai plays with the rules of physicality. Clicks and glitches are not used as ornamental additions, but make up the essential elements of the work, which is often structured around the rhythmic grooves of hip-hop and R&B. Nicolai has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious spaces including The Guggenheim, MOMA SF, MOMA Oxford, NTT Tokyo, Tate Modern, and Venice Biennial. This will be Nicolai’s Boston debut.

FRANK BRETSCHNEIDER is a founding member of Raster-Noton and one of the pioneering figures in ultra minimal post techno. Using the most basic sound sources (sine waves and white noise), Bretschneider creates minimal, flowing pieces with delicate textures and complex rhythmic patterns. Described as “abstract analogue pointilism,” “ambience for spaceports,” and “hypnotic echochamber pulsebeat,” Bretschneider’s subtle and detailed music is echoed by his visuals: perfect translations of the qualities found in music into visual phenomena.

OLAF BENDER (aka BYETONE) is a founding member of the Raster-Noton label, as well as its lead designer. Bender creates his music digitally, assembling sine tones into complex sound fabrics of deep sub-bass and rhythmic clicks and crackles. He creates abstract animations to support his abstract music —transforming the rhythm of the music into a graphic equivalent, which he controls in real time. His new album, D.O.A.T. (Death of a Typographer), is due out on Raster-Noton shortly.


Website: Raster-Noton
Podcast: Raster-Noton Showcase Preview