devil in the details

05182008429

2009-12-11T09:58:00.001-05:00

05182008429, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2009-11-29T11:08:00.001-05:00

I've moved here for the time being.

At least until the next trendy blogging platform comes along.

2009-05-21T22:33:00.001-04:00

2009-04-18T17:37:00.002-04:00

My pal Justin Carter (pictured on the right) with a nice mix. Dude has taste.

01. Boris - Legato - Careless Records
02. Tokyo Black Star - Game Over - Innervisions
03. Kerrier District - Yesco - Rephlex
04. Luke Solomun - Monsters - Cajual
05. Lavish Habits - Dance Wit You - Select Recordings
06. John Roberts - Hesitate - Dial
07. Murat Tepeli feat. Prosumer - Work It - Playhouse
08. Theo Parrish - Synthetic Flemm - Sound Signature
09. Matias Aguayo - Drums and Feathers - Kompakt
10. Sascha Dive - Deepest America (Moodymann Mix) - Ornaments
11. House of House - Rushing To Paradise (Walkin' These Streets) - Whatever We Want Records

Download it here.

HK

2009-04-12T19:48:00.001-04:00

DSCN0239, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2009-04-07T15:44:00.005-04:00

It has been quite a while. Apologies.

Me on the new Circlesquare record @ Prefix, here.

Thanks to Rex for the shout out.

Elsewhere, stay tuned for video from last weeks PSFK conference. I had a nice chat with the guys from Hello Health and Help. Interesting insights on the future of healthcare.

See you around.

05182008443

2009-01-05T22:18:00.003-05:00

05182008443, originally uploaded by cjn208.

DSCN0009

2009-01-05T22:18:00.001-05:00

DSCN0009, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2008-11-23T20:29:00.000-05:00

The Smiths- There is a Light That Never Goes Out
Schneider TM- The Light 3000 (Smiths cover)

2008-10-19T21:02:00.001-04:00

Greetings from a cold, crisp Montreal. It's been quite an hectic October so far, hence the lack of updates.

In late September, I checked out Austin City Limits, one of the best large festivals I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Spiritualized was my personal highlight, though it was odd to catch them outside in daylight. But as I haven't seen the fully electrified performance since the days of Amazing Grace, it was nice to see the bombast and atmospherics compared to the more stripped-down Electric Mainlines tour.

Then, it was off to Singapore in early October for the PSFK conference Asia. I moderated a panel with Mark Dytham of Klein/Dytham and Pecha Kucha as well as Andrew Hoppin of NASA. I'm pleased to say the session, and the entire conference, was incredibly inspiring. It was a painfully short trip to Singapore but I made up for it with excessive amounts of amazing food, from Malaysian curries to black pepper crab and incredible street food.

Switching gears to music, this mix from Dixon has been on constant repeat. After listening to excessive amounts of super cerebral techno, this is refreshing for both the sheer quality of the track selection and overarching emphasis on melody. Dixon plays New York on November 13 on Cielo's amazing sound system. (Too bad about their location/door policy)

Dixon- Innercity Mix

I'm also quite excited for Greg Wilson's forthcoming NYC appearance (Oct 25) at Primetime. My pal Eamon Harkin did a fantastic interview with him over here. I found this excerpt to be quite interesting:

Who in contemporary dance culture do you see as doing interesting things right now?

What I find most interesting and exciting about contemporary dance culture is the way that the internet has connected us all more closely together. All of a sudden a younger generation can go online and explore a wealth of dance music, dating right back to the 60’s, doing this from their own perspective. This has created a fresh dynamic that’s allowed an old timer like me to come back into things after a 20 year absence, without being viewed in purely nostalgic terms, which isn’t something that’d appeal to me. On top of this many contemporary artists are drawing from this dance heritage, to put their own spin on things, whilst the whole re-edit thing has also put a new twist on older tracks.

It’s part of a necessary process as far as I’m concerned, going back in order to move things forward. As the saying goes, to know the future first you must know the past, and this is what I feel is happening, as people look for more than just a surface understanding, needing to truly explore what came before in some depth. What they eventually do with this knowledge is going to be the really interesting part.

A few other things that are worth your time and attention:

The Hotel Gault in Montreal
Anything from Stafrænn Hákon
Jackson C. Frank- Blues Run the Game
The open bars of Anja Schneider's "Safari" as your ring tone.
Commix- Be True
Young Marble Giants- Colossal Youth
The Economist- The World Next Week Podcast
NYT Front Page Podcast
Fareed Zakaria's CNN show, GPS
The Forever War by Dexter Filkins

2008-09-23T10:34:00.000-04:00

Creative Destruction

I recently stumbled across this NASA shot from the aftermath of Katrina. Oddly beautiful.

2008-09-23T10:10:00.000-04:00

In a fit of sleeplessness last night, I caught up with a few podcasts. Fareed Zakaria's excellent GPS show on CNN was a must-watch this week. I particularly liked the Q&A with Singapore's founding father, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Check out the videos here or download via iTunes podcasts.

Speaking of Singapore, I'll be moderating a panel at the PSFK conference Asia on October 10th. Full details are here. Come say hello if you find yourself in the area.

Elsewhere, I gave a talk a few weeks at the Interesting Conference entitled, "A Brief History of Techno." The conference was a great success overall and I thank David Nottoli and the Open Intelligence Agency for coordinating everything. Really inspiring topics and speakers, and I can't wait for the next installment.

2008-09-14T18:38:00.001-04:00

Richie Hawtin 2008 DJ Setup from Dean Koch on Vimeo.

2008-09-10T23:33:00.000-04:00

"He's been a governor for three years. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America...It is not a big town...it would be an intensely political choice where you said, you know what, I'm really not first and foremost concerned with if this person is capable of being president."

-Karl Rove, speaking about Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, when he was still under consideration for the VP slot.

2008-09-09T17:39:00.000-04:00

2008-09-08T22:59:00.000-04:00

Hi there:

A quick update for those of you who find yourselves in NYC.

I'm speaking at the Interesting New York Conference this coming Saturday.

If you feel so inclined, you can buy a ticket here.

My topic: "A Brief History of Techno"

2008-08-21T22:09:00.002-04:00

05162008387, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2008-08-21T22:06:00.002-04:00

DSCN0023, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2008-08-13T09:24:00.001-04:00

For those of you in New York, a few handpicked recommendations for the weekend:

Friday:

Craig Richards doesn't travel stateside as much as we'd like. It's understandable, though, because as a weekly resident at London's Fabric, he gets to play music on one of the world's best sound systems. So when he does make it to these shores, it is a special occasion — one that brings out even the most jaded electronic-music aficionados. Richards doesn't follow the file-sharing, right-clicking herd when it comes to sounds and styles. Rather, he has a nose for under-the-radar cuts and producers, does the record bin due diligence the old-fashioned way, and has a masterful touch when it comes to arranging what he finds.

Sunday:

Barriers to DJing are getting lower (read: iPods, blog house). As such, it's important to remember that playing records can be an art form. Nicky Siano, who's recently re-emerged in NYC via a successful residency at Santos, was one of the most influential figures in New York's early dance scene. Through his curation of the Gallery and early DJ sets at Studio 54 and Mancuso's Loft, Siano honed and refined a sound rooted in house and disco with soulful emotional resonance. Today, he hits the Yard for one of the summer's best parties, the appropriately titled Sunday Best.

2008-08-10T00:08:00.001-04:00

Two very Gursky-esque images from the mindblowingly good opening ceremony:

2008-08-09T13:29:00.002-04:00

Some bits and bobs:

-The most mammy CNN headline ever: "Russian tanks and troops on way to troubled region."

-A good Fader article by Jace Clayton aka DJ/Rupture on the new cumbia scene. For a taste, check the Bersa Discos site, co-run by my old friend Gavin Burnett (DJ Oro11). Tropical, latin and psychedelic is right.

-Been digging out from a promo backlog lately and I'm surprised to see a lot of familiar old names: The Orb, Bomb the Bass, Red Snapper and Nightmares on Wax. Need to digest properly these but the Bomb the Bass record already sounds quite promising.

-My friends Anna and Todd randomly stumbled into a moving sale in Williamsburg the other day. The vendor? None other than William Basinski, creator of one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, The Disintegration Loops.

From Hauntedink:

William Basinski's four-disk epic, The Disintegration Loops, was created out of tape loops Basinski made back in the early 1980s. These loops held some personal significance to Basinski, a significance he only touches on in the liner notes and we can only guess at. Originally, he just wanted to transfer the loops from analog reel-to-reel tape to digital hard disk. However, once he started the transfer, he discovered something: the tapes were old and they were disintegrating as they played and as he recorded. As he notes in the liner notes, "The music was dying." But he kept recording, documenting the death of these loops.

Here are some photos from their adventure, taken by Laura Heyenga.

This is my favorite loop, the first track in the fourth series. Music for swaying kelp beds.

William Basinski- Dlp6

2008-07-30T15:44:00.001-04:00

I tend to focus on a certain kind of music on this blog, but I've been in the mood to get a bit out of my strike zone this week.

As such, I got a nice email from my pal Nick Barat (aka Catchdubs). He tipped me off on a few new mixes and an interview. Check one of 'em here. Also, if you haven't heard what he's up to with Fool's Gold, get on it.

2008-07-29T17:59:00.002-04:00

DSCN0090, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2008-07-23T23:11:00.002-04:00

PSFK Conference San Francisco, originally uploaded by Piers Fawkes, PSFK.

2008-07-23T10:25:00.000-04:00

2008-07-21T13:51:00.001-04:00

Just discovered Yura Yura Teikoku via the Invisble Conga People chart on Earplug. Have a listen.

2008-07-20T11:32:00.000-04:00

Circlesquare are one of my favorite bands, hands down. Led by Vancouver-raised and Berlin-based Jeremy Shaw, the band first released the beautiful Distance After EP on the now-defunct Output label. There's a new album in the hopper, due for release on K7 in the coming months.

This track is a good example of the sound. Pitch-bent guitar tones, swollen sub-bass and beautifully detached, Klonapin glazed vocals:

Circlesquare- Sub Reminisce (Deeper)

Also, check the video:

Circlesquare - Sub-Reminisce from Bienvenido Cruz on Vimeo.

2008-07-19T23:46:00.001-04:00

The recent Monocle Q&A with Alain de Botton is one of the most insightful interviews I've seen in some time.

To watch it, go to the iTunes store, select Podcasts and search for "Monocle." It will be one of the more recent installments.

Enjoy.

Update: Here is a direct link, kindly provided by Naveen.

2008-07-19T19:36:00.000-04:00

It's been another busy month. I've been in Chicago, Tokyo, Hong Kong, San Francisco and just got back to homebase in New York. If you feel so inclined, check the photos here.

Tokyo

Tokyo has leapfrogged over Copenhagen and Buenos Aires as my favorite global city. After a few recent visits, I'm starting to get a better feel for everything and can't help but be amazed at how efficiently things run. The Japanese have an incredible eye for detail -- ranging from how your coffee is presented, to general infrastructure, to the incredible new mixed-use Marunouchi development under construction around Tokyo station. Also, as anyone who's spent any time in Japan has undoubtedly seen, the city is full of incredibly innovative retail at a density I've never seen. I can't help but wonder why some of my favorites (Beams, Tomorrowland, United Arrows) haven't been exported to other markets. If you have NRT on your itinerary in the coming weeks or months, shoot me an and I'll be happy to give you some tips and insights. Also, I'd love any other ideas for my next trip.

Hong Kong

Despite an unfortunate bout of food poisoning, Hong Kong was an inspiring experience as well. I divided my time between the chaos of Causeway Bay and the spiraling, Blade Runner-styled architecture of Central. I found it to be a city of really interesting contrasts. You could buy a pair of Tod's loafers two blocks away from open air markets where fish hearts were still beating on the table. Yet, despite this, the city runs incredibly well: a slick transport hub brings you from HKG into the Central station in around 20 minutes, and the subway system (cheap at less than a dollar a ride) is clean and reliable.

San Francisco

After two days turnaround in New York, I was off again to San Francisco to moderate a panel at the PSFK conference. The topic was San Francisco culture as it pertained to business, culture, and technology. I'm pleased to say it went incredibly well. Core77 had some nice things to say here.

A few things I enjoyed over the past month-- some old, some new:
Music:
Recloose- Cardiology
Sven Weisemann- Floating Dub
Shuttle358- Calty
Mono Junk- Channel B
The Staple Singers- Uncloudy Day
Marz- Wir Sind Hier
Benga- Diary of An Afro Warrior

Reading:
The Post-American World- Fareed Zakaria
Falling Man- Don DeLillo
The Blair Years- The Alastair Campbell Diaries
Buying In- Rob Walker

Places, things or people that are great in general:
Peninsula Tokyo
Sushi-Dai at Tsukiji fish market
IFC building in HK
Thomas and the incredible staff at the Landmark Mandarin in HK for helping coordinate a 3:30 am hospital visit for my brother. (He's now A-OK).
The view of SF from A. Rietz's balcony
Jin Ju Korean Restaurant in Chicago

2008-07-16T10:23:00.002-04:00

DSCN0040, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2008-07-05T03:09:00.001-04:00

Feast and Famine

From the ages of 16 to about 24, I spent every cent of disposable income on an addiction.

Black and tactile, with reassuring heaviness and warmth, everything about vinyl fascinated me. Like many obsessives, I dug through record bins and yard sales; I would scour e-Bay for old Scott Walker records, check bulletin boards for rare Mo’ Wax “Headz” compilations and order countless drum and bass 12’s from shops in London -- exorbitant shipping fees and all.

Many others still share this addiction. Vinyl sales – spurred by DJ culture, audiophiles, and perhaps for the reasons I’m about to outline – are actually up in the UK today.

Thinking about this act of collecting and experiencing vinyl as a physical manifestation of sound, I started considering the current climate of digital media, and how, when records are reduced to easily distributed files -- intangible 1’s and 0’s -- content can be devalued.

It’s almost too easy to overdose, flailing softly amid notifications and options, losing precious moments in the white noise of constant information.

We live in a time of tremendous access. Obscure film and television clips previously relegated to memory and subconscious are now on YouTube. Music comes from peer-to-peer networks, connected friends and, often as a last resort, through legitimate download sites.

In many ways, this is great. Palates are becoming more and more refined and the barrier to hearing new sounds and genres is lower than it's ever been. As a result, people have developed more of an open mind. Self-described fans of indie rock, who might have never listened to anything urban and/or electronic ten years ago, are now checking out Dubstep nights. Shoegazers are discovering freak folk, dub-techno and countless other genres with ease – and in ways they inform one and other. This is all incredibly positive.

But, in the wake of this digital feast, there is a famine. Infinite accessibility and portability means many people aren’t experiencing music as deeply as they once did. I suffer from chronic iTunes attention deficit syndrome, clicking through the best bits of several songs and mixes throughout the course of an hour. It’s a forgotten luxury to let an album play through and listen with undivided attention.

I think back to the time when I ordered Sigur Ros’ Agaetis Byrun from Fatcat’s mailorder site and spent much of a year drinking it in, learning every little nuance and texture of the album. Later I played Radiohead’s Kid A over and over so many times on my headphones that I still recall every seamless segue between songs.

Skip forward to today. I recently declared promo bankruptcy. I’m fortunate enough to receive piles of free music in my mailbox, digital zip files of new singles, and enthusiastic recommendations beamed from friends over instant messenger. Inspired in part by the late John Peel, for several years I tried to give everything a listen -- however cursory -- to make sure I wasn’t missing out on something truly special. But in this effort, combined with personal music buying, mix-making and live shows, I suffered a figurative death from a thousand cuts.

For a fleeting moment, I lost all perspective. I didn’t know what was good or bad anymore. The constant onslaught of new music turned into a pink haze of static—as overwhelming as the first time I heard Loveless, but nowhere near as sublime. The consumption of music had lost its pleasure.

To remedy this, I had to force myself to remember everything that goes into creating a single piece of music: the nuances of writing and recording, the creative tension, frustration, aspiration, and the seemingly simple goal of making tones sit nicely together in a mix. The mastering, re-touching, editing and hiss of the tape reel. The magic when things congeal into something special. All of the things that happen behind the new barrier to entry, that little icon you click on your desktop, the bubble mailer with a promo CD in the mailbox.

Things are better now. The panic has subsided. But I learned a valuable lesson that’s starting to seep into other areas of my life: Take your time. Respect the craft and remember the process. Put a record on the turntable and listen all the way through. Enjoy the permanence of physical things and what goes into their creation.

2008-07-03T22:16:00.000-04:00

Greetings from a hazy and sweltering Tokyo.

Few things:

I spent a couple days last week in Chicago with my old friend Karl (of Speck Mountain fame).

Their latest LP will be out next Spring on Carrottop in the US and Peacefrog in the UK. Will have some tempting bits and bobs to tide you over in the meantime. Stay tuned.

Also, here's a beautiful track from Honey Owens' Valet project. This is easily my favorite track of the moment. She's incredibly talented so be sure to pick up her latest LP, Blood is Clean.

Valet- Kehaar

Grab the Speck Mountain Valet cover at their RCRD LBL page.

2008-06-26T18:17:00.000-04:00

Spiritualized- Sitting on Fire (live)

2008-06-22T20:25:00.002-04:00

05182008467, originally uploaded by cjn208.

2008-06-19T22:30:00.001-04:00

From this week's Earplug:

For years, Montreal's MUTEK festival felt like an upstart — an isolated outpost for experimental electronic music and the kind of more populist (but hardly popular) club fare that's perpetually struggled to convince North Americans of its relevance. But, after eight annual installments and numerous satellite projects (in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, India, China, Berlin, and elsewhere), this year's event reached a sort of critical mass, boasting both the smoothest delivery and most diverse offerings in the history of the event.

A case in point, Underground Resistance supergroup Interstellar Fugitives are far from the MUTEK norm: their opening-night performance integrated smoke machines, angry political sloganeering, dystopian sci-fi projections, masks, and five men clothed in all black. For nearly 90 minutes, the group kept a small throng stage-front at the warehouse-like SAT space, covering material from 2006 UR label compilation Interstellar Fugitives 2, a stylistic hodgepodge that runs from brooding downtempo to kicked-up Detroit techno. Special mention goes to MIA, on drum pads, and hypeman Atlantis (we think — they were masked with blindfolds for much of the time). We were definitely feeling the rejection of personality and injection of politics into dance music that UR represents. Put against something as flashy and indulgent as Modeselektor's set two nights later, it gave the five-night MUTEK party some gravity.

More so than in recent years, dub, breaks, and digi-crunk were also on prominent display. Friday's Nocturne offered a reprieve from the 4/4 techno onslaught with performances from hometown turntablist-done-well Kid Koala as well as Megasoid and Knifehandchop. Fresh from the success of Happy Birthday! and seemingly nonstop global touring, Modeselektor grabbed the headline spot. While the act may have lacked the playful, on-the-fly spontaneity and jump-up/ragga stylings of earlier incarnations, the duo made up for it by the sheer size and impact of the performance, packing extra punch courtesy of larger-than-life visuals from Bpitch's in-house design team, Pfadfinderei.

Elsewhere, Flying Lotus made up for a rained-out Piknic Électronik with a stunningly powerful indoor set, focusing largely on improvised selections from his Reset EP and recently released Los Angeles LP. The set blurred the line between live performance and DJ set at times, as Lotus cut up and dropped in familiar breaks and bass lines from other artists' releases (he earned a significant crowd reaction to the razor-sharp hi-hats and familiar wood-block percussion of Burial).

Representing the full-on dubstep side of the equation, Kode9 and Spaceape played after a sleepy-yet-psychedelic run through the new Quiet Village record on !K7. Their performance had power, messianic incantations, and more than enough raw bass intensity to convert a completely new audience to the sound (it was apparent from the steady stream of people entering the room that word-of-mouth raves were working their way around).

Sometimes relegated to the daytime periphery of the festival (read: slept through by exhausted ravers), this year's experimental and ambient installments — which went under the rubric of "audio/visual" fusions — were particularly strong. On Thursday, Freida Abtan warped and melted artfully captured videos of classic and modern dance, while Thrill Jockey's Németh and Hess constructed a cinematic dialogue between analogue synthesizer and live jazz kit. The following evening, two boldfaced names in experimental electronic music catapulted MUTEK's audio/visual daytime sessions into a must-attend event. The sold-out performances emphasized so-called "post-guitar," with Canadian Tim Hecker playing the warm, radiant sounds of his latest LP, Harmony in Ultraviolet, while later, Christian Fennesz dropped processed, crystalline guitar textures in front of a cinema-sized backdrop of beautifully moody visuals.

Of course, there was plenty of "proper" dance music as well, ranging from the techno onslaught of Danton Eeprom and Radio Slave — the latter pulled off a two-hour set on borrowed CDs after the airline lost his record bags — to more intimate post-minimal from Half Hawaii (Bruno Pronsato and Perlon's Sammy Dee) and Dave Aju. For a laptop performer, Aju is a treat to watch, grinning, bopping, and chanting along to oddball minimal tracks heavy on jazz sax samples, off-kilter, organic beats, and big, pillowy synth lines. Aju's forte is rubbery, funky songs that recall Kit Clayton when he's being floaty. The Savoy, a small, carpeted side room adjacent to Metropolis' bi-level space, was immediately thrumming with bodies and, soon enough, sprouted a queue that wouldn't abate all weekend.

Sunday dawned grey, but it wasn't enough to deter several hundred celebrants from flocking to a riverside park, umbrellas and all, to dance beneath an enormous Calder stabile during sets from Nôze, Ernesto Ferreyra, Onur Özer, and Mathias Kaden. No matter that the lineup had been programmed with sun in mind; Ózer and Kaden's three-hour tag-team set closed out the festival like a rain dance in reverse, with congas and African chants raised like invocations for the precipitation to abate. By nightfall, it mostly had.

-Michael Byrne, Colin J. Nagy, and Philip Sherburne

2008-06-16T21:05:00.000-04:00

Kode9 and Spaceape- Konfusion (vox)

2008-06-12T18:20:00.002-04:00

Instead of cluttering this site with half-formed thoughts and random items of interest, I've been posting a lot of interesting bits and bobs to Facebook on a near-daily basis. I find the most useful thing on there to be the feeds feature-- I love reading what friends post (articles, music, etc). It's a nice little personalized content filter in a world of too much shrapnel and white noise.

If you're so inclined, feel free to say hello here. Or share your Google reader shared items. Or just email me and say hello.

Also, I publish the Facebook feed to: cjn.tumblr.com if that is easier.

As always, thank you for reading this humble blog. I will start posting here more regularly, promise.

2008-06-12T16:21:00.001-04:00

It's been a busy month of May: LA, DC for Radiohead (lawn seats in a downpour), Tokyo, Montreal for Mutek, and a quick breather in North Carolina.

Stay tuned for some photos when I get them downloaded from my loaner N95, as well as a Mutek writeup I contributed to in Earplug. There's also an interview with The Mole in the works.

In the meantime, Mr. Sherburne has a good writeup of the festival, which was incredibly good this year.

My personal highlights were Kode9/Spaceape, Chic Miniature, Flying Lotus, Fennesz and Tim Hecker. Unfortunately the Radio Slave set wasn't what I had hoped it would be, but was still great nonetheless.

Here are some things I've enjoyed over the past month:

Klimek- Dedications (wow)
Spiritualized- Songs in A&E
Nicola Ratti- From the Desert Came Saltwater
Nemeth- Film
The Mole- As High as the Sky
Muting the Noise (Innervisions Comp)
John Tejada- Where

I've also been revisiting the Cinematic Orchestra's back catalog as well as Root 70's Heaps Dub.

2008-05-12T11:32:00.000-04:00

Back by popular demand: the live Minilogue set from Panoramabar in a higher bitrate. Don't miss them drop Massive Attack's "Teardrop" about 37 minutes in. Wow.

Minilogue- Live in Berlin

2008-05-09T10:48:00.000-04:00

I've been hibernating from this blog a bit.

Here are some things I've been into recently:

Osborne- Osborne
Dixon's DJing
High Places
Ryan Elliot Presents "The R Factor" (download the zip here)
Olafir Eliasson
The Ruby Suns- There Are Birds
Bruno Pronsato- Why cant they be like us
The new Speck Mountain LP (!)
Lykke Li
DJ Koze- Let's help me (an oldie but goodie)
Daso- Det
Resident Advisor
Elbee Bad- Show Me (another oldie)
Carl Craig- A Wonderful Life (classic)
Anything by Ame lately
Németh - Film
Traum 100 compilation
Laurent Garnier- Back to My Roots (both sides are killer)
Daso & Pawas- Det EP

Also: Gamall's blog and Talkwasadream. Don't miss This Month in Techno, either.

Next up: Tokyo and Montreal in May. Dispatches forthcoming.

2008-05-08T15:20:00.000-04:00

Sunday Best!

For those of you in NYC, Justin Carter just sent this lineup through. Looks amazing.

Sunday Best! takes over The Yard, a leafy waterside lot on the Gowanus Canal for a nice, mid-afternoon barbecue. It’s no ordinary weenie roast, though. The bar-b’s organic and resident DJs Justin Carter, Eamon Harkin and Doug Singer play alongside some of the finest DJs to ever take on a back yard…

May 25
Roy Davis Jr – Chicago house legend playing his first New York set in years

June 01
King Britt – This party with the former Digable Planets member is FREE!

June 08
Trusme – A Manchester man walking in the very large shoes of Moodymann

June 15
Stefan Goldmann - Innervisions artist who makes jangling, melodic dance music

June 22
Afrika Bambaataa – The hip-hop progenitor and legend who still keeps it eclectic

June 29
Rick Wilhite and Jerome Derradji – Three Chairs member with Still Music founder

July 6
Riton – UK re-rubber on Berlin’s Get Physical imprint

July 13
Kevin Saunderson – The Detroit legend plays a special house set

July 20
Move D – Former Warp Records ambient artist now making super deep house

July 27
The Wurst BBQ – My Cousin Roy and Doug Lee serving up sausages!

August 3
Danny Wang – The prodigal progenitor of disco house returns to New York!

August 10
John Tejada – Maker of the lushest and bumpiest techno of the past decade

August 17
Pilooski – Paris’ edit-maker of the moment

August 24
Joakim – The Tigersushi and !K7 artist brings weird, organic dance jams

August 31
Metro Area – Hometown disco heroes close out the series nice and easy

2008-04-17T11:54:00.000-04:00

From SV4:
good Osborne "wreckage" pic

Speaking of which- the new Osborne record is stellar (and drops May 5th). Check Ghostly HQ to read about it and listen to samples.

2008-03-26T12:30:00.000-04:00

Triosk- Tomorrowtoday

2008-03-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

I'm really feeling the new Robert Hood Fabric 39 mix. But, I must admit, I was surprised by the pace. So many mixes and productions plod along at 125 to 130 BPM, and I've become more or less accustomed to that tempo. This mix kicks off at a barnstorming, mid-nineties techno pace, hovering around 135-138 or so. Perfect for a brisk run.

Here's the tracklist:

01 Monobox - Silicone Fingers – Logistic
02 Element 9
03 Robert Hood – Who Taught You Math – Peacefrog
04 Pacou – X-Factor – Cache
05 Robert Hood – Strobe Light – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
06 Marco Lenzi – Taboo – Molecular
07 Joris Voorn – Fever [Rephrased] – Keynote
08 Fab G – Bust The Vibes [Real Disco Mix] – Grand Prix
09 Dan March – Sandune – Meta
10 Element 3
11 Diego – Mind Detergent [Robert Hood Remix] – Kanzleramt
12 Jeff Mills – Skin Deep – Axis
13 Robert Hood – School – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
14 Element 23
15 John Thomas – Mr. Funk – Logistic
16 DJ Skull – Informant – Hypnotic Tones
17 Scorp – One Side – Music Man/N.E.W.S
18 Pacou – All It Takes – Cache
19 Phase – Mass – N.E.W.S.
20 UK Gold – Agent Wood - [Adam Beyer Remix] – New Records
21 Solid Decay – Legalize! - Lessismore
22 Element 7
23 Robert Hood – Side Effect – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
24 Mion- Drop The Filter – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
25 Scorp – New Energy – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
26 UK Gold – Agent Wood [Original Mix] – New Records
27 Robert Hood – Still Here [Los Hermanos Remix] – Music Man/N.E.W.S
28 John Thomas – Pulp Funktion 2 – Logistic
29 Robert Hood – The Greatest Dancer – M-Plant
30 Low Life – Exclamation - Mosaic
31 Robert Hood – And Then We Planned Our Escape – Music Man/N.E.W.S.
32 Element 12

2008-03-13T17:43:00.000-04:00

From this week's Earplug:

Surfacing alongside contemporaries like Massive Attack, Portishead helped invent the so-called "Bristol sound" of the mid-'90s. The trio — comprised of vocalist Beth Gibbons, producer Geoff Barrow, and guitarist Adrian Utley — also played a pivotal role in the popularization of "trip-hop," using somber, slowed-down breaks, crackling vinyl scratching, and haunting vocals to catapult themselves from pirate radio to dorm-room stereos around the world.

Fresh off an 11-year hiatus, the group is finally making good on sporadic announcements and MySpace bulletins, staging its long-awaited return with the release of Third in late April. For the album, the band embraces faster tempos hammered on analogue drum machines, enlists the help of a men's choir, and constructs its own samples instead of cribbing bits from its record collection. The result is, in the words of Utley in an interview with Billboard, "the older brother of its predecessors... the same mindset we've always had, only further down the road." (CJN)

2008-03-07T10:49:00.001-05:00

Aphex Twin- Delphium

I've been listening to Selected Ambient Works pretty much non-stop lately. This track and Xtal are the two highlights for me.

2008-03-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

2008-02-21T14:27:00.002-05:00

This is allegedly a new Thomas Bangalter cut, left as a V-day prezzie in the comments of a music blog. Not sure if it's true, but sure sounds real. Give it a spin and decide for yourself.

Thomas Bangalter [?] - Love

UPDATE: This guy is responsible for the track.

2008-02-02T22:28:00.000-05:00

After an extended absence, some bits and bobs for you:

My interview with Will Saul over at Earplug.

Ryan Elliot's Colorseries Mix (Direct DL)

Twitch's new Resident Advisor Mix

Tracklisting:
Popol Vuh - Engel Der Luft [Metronome]
Woolfy - The Growler [Mindless Boogie]
Cage and Avairy - Television Train [Dissident]
Invincible Scum - Shake it Up [Dissident]
unknown artist - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy
Gamma Ray - Birth Control (edit) [CBS Schallplatten GmbH]
Guillaume and the Coutu Dumonts - Mederico [Oslo]
Juzu presents Lugar Precioso - Drum De Fuego (Joaquin Joe Clausell mix) [Sacred Rhythm Music]
Kalabrese - MakeLoveDisco
Petre Inspirescu - Sakadat [Vinylclub]
Silicon Soul (Germany) - Who Needs Sleep Tonight (2004 Insanity remix) [Disko B]
Jape - Floating (Prins Thomas Diskomiks) [Marine Parade]
unknown artist - Zimbra Drums [Di Sisco Recordings]
Blast Head - Soft Step [Lastrum Corporation]
Lindstrom - The Contemporary Fix (EYE mix) [Feedelity]
Hercules and Love Affair - Blind (Club mix) [DFA Records]
Lou Reed - Satellite of Love [NuLife]

2008-01-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

2008-01-05T17:28:00.000-05:00

I didn't make a year-end list.

But, one of my favorite moments in music from 2007 comes at around 1:30 on the album version of Radiohead's "Reckoner."

Here's their performance, entitled Scotch Mist, from NYE on Current TV.

2008-01-04T17:18:00.000-05:00

Kathy Diamond- I Need You

2008-01-03T10:50:00.000-05:00

Here's an interview I conducted with Veronica Vasicka, founder of Minimal Wave. An edited version appears in this month's Pop Manifesto.

First off, what is the purpose of Minimal Wave?

Minimal Wave is a NYC based record label and web project, founded in 2005. The type of music we focus on is previously unreleased 80s electronic, minimal, synth, and wave from all over the world. The purpose of the label is bring the old material back to life via limited edition vinyl pressings (300-1000) and artful packaging.

What motivated you to set it up?

I launched the label during the summer of 2005, after coming to the realization that there is an entire world of music out there that is yet to be discovered. Since I had been doing the "Minimal-Electronik +" radio show on East Village Radio, I was constantly on the look out for 'new' old material. I made contact with artists, and as a result received loads of great material, much of which had never been released. Immediately, I thought "this needs to get out there".

Describe the sounds and subgenres you’re focused on.

The sounds include synthesizer and drum machine sounds from the machines which were manufactured in the 1970s and early 80's such as: the legendary Roland Tr-808 drum machine, the Roland Cr-78 the Korg MS-20, the Juno 60, the Arp 2600, and the Korg Mono/Poly. Often referred to as "the sounds of the future", these sounds were used in Sci Fi and Futuristic films of the 60's and 70's. The first 'wave' of Minimal Wave was recorded between 1979 to 1985, and includes obscure new wave, old electro, synthpunk, technopop, minimal synth (which is a more stripped down new wave), minimal electronic, and coldwave (which was the post-punk scene which emerged in France in the early 80s). I would say that the best material was recorded around 1981.

Who influenced these artists?

These artists were influenced by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Henry, Robert Moog, Can, Faust, Tangerine Dream, Bowie, Kraftwerk, Jean Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze, and later on Daniel Miller, the Human League, OMD, John Foxx and Depeche Mode. In regards to the 1960's, Delia Darbyshire was a pioneer in paving the way for these musicians. In 1963, she wrote the theme for "Dr Who" along with Ron Grainer, and created synthesizer sounds by splicing magnetic tape together, without even using a synthesizer.

What are your most prized releases and why?

My most prized releases are probably MW001 Oppenheimer Analysis, and MW003 V/A The Lost Tapes. Oppenheimer because the release inspired them to re-form, and even play live again. They have been recording new material, and are releasing on various German labels. They have been doing really well, and make a great live act. The Oppenheimer Analysis release also reached the European DJ culture, which was never expected.

Have you managed to connect with a lot of the original artists through what you’re doing?

Yes of course! I even traveled to some of the artist’s homes in Europe and got to know them very well. The response has been excellent. Many artists are surprised by the renewed interest in their music. I think they get quite inspired when they hear that someone in NYC knows about their band from 1982! It's also great to play some of these songs out, and see people dance. It's proof that the spirit of the music lives on.

2007-12-18T23:19:00.000-05:00

2007-12-17T18:05:00.000-05:00

Just back from Copenhagen, one of my favorite cities in the world. However, the weak dollar is really, really making things painful across the Atlantic. In any case, some photos and recommendations forthcoming.

In the meantime, check this:

Moodymann- Lake Shore Drive (Todd Terje Rekutt)

2007-12-12T12:02:00.000-05:00

Beach House- Gila

From their forthcoming LP, Devotion, out in late February on Carpark Records.

More info here.

2007-12-05T12:31:00.000-05:00

Dettinger- Untitled 01

2007-11-22T16:57:00.000-05:00

Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor- Radiation Ruling The Nation (Protection)

2007-11-18T19:18:00.000-05:00

Spiritualized at the Apollo Theatre, November 16, 2007.

The setlist:

Sitting On Fire
Lord Let It Rain On Me
True Love Will Find You
Cool Waves
Amen
Going Down Slow
Feel So Sad
Soul On Fire
Walking With Jesus
Stop Your Crying
All Of My Tears
Baby, I’m Just A Fool
Anything More
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Broken Heart
I Think I’m In Love
Encore: Lord Can You Hear Me
Oh Happy Day

Photo Credit

2007-11-15T17:25:00.000-05:00

A few things I've been enjoying lately:

Burial- Untrue
Will Saul- Simple Sounds
Pan Pot- Panorama
Pole- Steingarten Remixes
Elektrons- Get Up (Greg Wilson's Special Mix)
Klimek- Dedications
Sigur Ros- Hvarf-Heim
Valet- Blood is Clean
Valet- Fire
Sun- I'll be the same
Sally Shapiro- Disco Romance
V/A- Pop Ambient 2008
Goldmund- Two Point Discrimination
Wooden Shjips- Wooden Shjips
Chloe- The Waiting Room
Holy Ghost!- Hold On
Still Going- Still Going Theme
Tracey Thorn- Grand Canyon EP
Donnacha Costello- Colorseries

2007-11-13T15:04:00.000-05:00

Seefeel- Charlotte's Mouth

2007-11-10T19:37:00.000-05:00

I'm in Chicago at the moment with Speck Mountain, who are in the studio recording a new single, including "Blood is Clean," a cover of the Portland-based band Valet.

In Karl's words:

"We recorded this last month at Soma Studios with Tim Iseler... A lot of people do covers, but not many do covers of their contemporaries... It was the easiest song we've recorded so far; a day in the studio and about 2 hours to mix...The entire process was effortless-- we didn't think too much."

"Blood is Clean" is the UK bonus track on the band's album, Summer Above, to be released on Peacefrog in March. The track will be released in the US as a single. Formats, etc, TBD.

Speck Mountain- Blood is Clean

2007-11-02T15:17:00.000-04:00

I'm working on a feature on UK producer, remixer and A&R, Will Saul.

Some bits and bobs from my notebook:

"It's very easy to make a dancefloor record that has power without any melody-- Drums, drops, big bass lines, eq's.

It doesn’t take a lot of musical background or pedigree to do just that.

The thing that really gets me going is a really interesting melody, as I think it's really hard to make a great melody into a strong dancefloor record -- a listenable record yes, but whenever you can channel the two things together it can be very powerful."

Stay tuned for the whole thing.

2007-11-01T15:08:00.000-04:00

Mouse on Mars- Subsequence

2007-10-26T16:09:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I hate my inbox:

hello, in the event that you are putting the
justice record on any year end lists we wanted to
make sure you had the proper information because
over the year a lot of reviews incorrectly listed
the album title as "cross".

it should read:

Justice Ý (Downtown/ Vice / Ed Banger)

note: to get the cross-like symbol just hit your
computer's option key and the letter t

thanks
[initial redacted]

2007-10-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Caribou- Niobe

2007-10-18T15:10:00.000-04:00

From the archives:

This is an old(ish) Fabric radio mix initially used to promote Mayer's superb full-length mix for the series. It's a really enjoyable selection of tracks including some Soylent Green, Richard Davis, Superpitcher, etc. A few years on, all have aged very well, a true testament to his taste as a selector. It should be also noted that Fabric is launching a new podcast series October 24th, which promises mixes from Andy Weatherall, Craig Richards, and an assortment of other notable artists. Instead of playing the new stuff, the idea is to piece together a curated look at all the artists that formed their current musical tastes. Should be interesting indeed.

Michael Mayer- Fabric radio promo mix

2007-10-17T13:50:00.000-04:00

Zoot Woman- Taken it All

2007-10-12T15:34:00.000-04:00

Magik Markers- Taste

2007-10-09T17:22:00.000-04:00

SAVE THE DATE

I've been asked by the Knitting Factory to help curate a night for their ongoing Blogger's Delight series. Come stop by on Monday the 15th starting at 9PM. If you haven't seen Speck Mountain play, you're in for a treat. Also, Ava Luna opens, alongside Stephen Christian (DJ smc) of Warp Records dropping unreleased Warp jams and other assorted quality.

Come say hello if you're in the neighborhood.

The full Flavorpill listing has complete details.

2007-09-30T21:32:00.000-04:00

Jesse Serwer speaks to Para One over at Earplug.

2007-09-30T19:59:00.000-04:00

Cobblestone Jazz
Uploaded by Clarisseworks

2007-09-29T22:32:00.000-04:00

Warlocks- So Paranoid

2007-09-21T10:14:00.000-04:00

via Emerge

2007-09-21T10:06:00.000-04:00

I recently moderated "The Future of Content" discussion at PSFK's Los Angeles Conference. The panel included Ezra Cooperstein of Current TV, Anil Dewan of KCRW, Rafat Ali of PaidContent.org and Kenny Ochoa of Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Stay tuned for a video and transcript. Thanks to all the panelists for an engaging discussion.

2007-09-21T09:55:00.000-04:00

Telephone Jim Jesus- Birdstatic

2007-09-15T21:09:00.000-04:00

Beach House- Heart and Lungs

2007-09-08T19:50:00.000-04:00

High Places- Head Spins
Future Loop Foundation- The Sea and the Sky (Padded Cell Remix)

2007-08-30T14:03:00.000-04:00

Languis- In the Fields Of (Lonely Fences)

2007-08-23T18:35:00.000-04:00

2007-08-23T16:02:00.000-04:00

The Tuss- Alspacka

2007-08-21T19:49:00.000-04:00

A fantastic interview with my friend Sam Valenti (of Ghostly fame) over at Murketing. The author, Rob Walker, writes the ever-reliable "Consumed" column in the NYT Sunday Magazine.

2007-08-19T03:02:00.001-04:00

2007-08-19T02:46:00.000-04:00

My friend Aaron recently mentioned he thought Jackson had a huge influence on the stuttering, cut-up, Ed Banger and co. sounds. I tend to agree. Here's a story I did for XLR8R awhile back (click the image for a larger version).

An excerpt:

The record cribs from his early flirtation with glitch, 80's electro and funk, but also emphasizes his early musical background as a drummer, albeit doing so via cut-up and recontextualized breaks.

If you haven't given the album a spin lately-- go back and check it out. I think you'll see how prescient his sound was. Now, I'm curious to see what he's going to do next. My guess is that his ultra fluid, 4/4 live sets will be a good indication of the next direction. In any case, I can't wait to hear it.

2007-08-16T13:17:00.000-04:00

A great Al-Haca feature by Toby Warner (Earplug)

2007-08-14T10:22:00.000-04:00

In the latest Rolling Stone, BPitch control artists Modeselektor are featured in the "Hit or Hype" section. The verdict?

"We haven't rocked out to music this rave-marish since parachute pants were all the rage. Say it with us: Never Again."
Verdict: Hype.

The new Modeselektor is one of the most interesting records I've had the pleasure to hear this year. Also, it has little or nothing to do with "Rave," at least in the comparison the writer is trying to make. I find it also quite interesting that the magazine fawns over MIA and her creative beatmaking, global influences, fashion style, etc. a few pages before.

I'm not denying that the new MIA album is quite good, but perhaps if the Modeselektor chaps had a glossier, pop-friendly public image, complete with tinny proclaimations about "power to the people" and garish neon clothing, they could be more palatable. Instead, they just make groundbreaking dance music that is an intelligent amalgam of several disparate genres. Rave being one of them. Dancehall, Dub, Industrial and Pop being others.

However, it's no surprise that traditional media can't wrap their heads around this. My advice: stick to your strike zone, Rolling Stone. Surely there's some new Pete Wentz news, or overhyped, derivative UK garage rock band to drool over.

2007-08-10T12:12:00.000-04:00

Battle for Blogosphere Ballot Box Heats Up (Financial Times)

2007-08-10T12:05:00.000-04:00

The Tuss- Shiz Ko E

2007-08-09T15:28:00.000-04:00

A nice new mix from my friend Philip Sherburne. This installment is very minimal, but has more than enough swing to stay engaging. Very deep and hyponotic...a good one to lose yourself in. His first record, "Lumberjacking", is out on Lan Music in September.

Philip Sherburne- Chips the Light Fantastic Mix

2007-08-06T10:45:00.000-04:00

Uusitalo- Korpikansa

2007-08-06T10:37:00.000-04:00

Modeselektor- The White Flash (Feat. Thom Yorke)

2007-07-29T18:04:00.000-04:00

Boards of Canada- Eagle in Your Mind

2007-07-29T16:34:00.000-04:00

How to make a Flat White Coffee. Or, if you live in New York, just go to Ruby's.

2007-07-25T11:34:00.000-04:00

Cobblestone Jazz- Live PA in Amsterdam (Thanks SV4)

2007-07-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

Of interest:
-Ewan Pearson gives a track by track rundown of his recent Fabric 35 mix.
-An ever-expanding cache of great podcasts over at Resident Advisor.
-A brand new mix from Alex from Tokyo over at Beats in Space. Also, don't miss Dan Selzer going track by track through his recent early industrial set from the show.

2007-07-20T12:09:00.000-04:00

Burial- Shutta

2007-07-14T11:36:00.001-04:00

If you haven't yet, be sure and download Philip Sherburne's newest mix, hosted by my pal Rayna over at Modyfier.

2007-07-12T16:54:00.001-04:00

2007-07-12T14:20:00.000-04:00

Some really positive momentum for my good friends Karl and Marie-Claire. Their band, Speck Mountain, is starting to get some really nice reception in the press. Matt Perpetua featured one of my favorite cuts, "Girl out West," over at Fluxblog, and word on the street is Manchester's Piccadilly Records will be featuring "Summer Above" as their record of the week sometime very soon. Also, they'll be touring with Honey Owens' excellent solo project, Valet, this summer. Don't miss their live show.

2007-07-02T13:24:00.000-04:00

Fujiya & Miyagi- Ankle Injuries