february 15 2011 – can you wait?

that ghosts of venice lad has been busy. he’s hooked up with mix chopin to rework burns and fred falke‘s yslm (you stopped loving me), with homework-era drum patterns and a nice walking bassline. that release has some, erm, interesting artwork – see here. stream here, download at the bottom.

he’s also started dabbling in hip-hop, peep la all day, with its lush strings and perfect claps. it’s just begging for a some life-affirming shit like shine blockas on top. hopefully he’ll keep it up – i mean i love the nu-disco/house steez as you well know, but keep it all going lee. ghosts of venice beach.

Burns & Fred Falke – You Stopped Loving Me (Mix Chopin & Ghosts Of Venice Remix) (320kpbs)

From the Cradle to the Rave is a near perfect album, and “Take Em Up” is one reason why: The interplay between Marcus “Shit Robot” Lambkin’s loping synthesizer disco funk and Nancy Whang’s unflappable vocals is, simply, great. Now, that track yields added dividends through its pairing with a collection of remixes from an eclectic group of estimable artists. Birmingham, England’s Mark E contributes his Black Country Dub, a reworking that adds a robot-precise, thudding beat to minimal arrangements, and then overlays the whole structure with room-filling synths. Marcus Marr takes things slowly, opening with brooding synths and solitary vocals that burst into blissful electronic pop at the chorus. The digital release adds two tracks: A John Talabot remix that feels like a laidback house party that really gets going when it relocates to a disco floor. And Germany’s Michael Mayer’s epically inventive take on “Tuff Enuff” – another From the Cradle to the Rave standout – is an otherworldly listening experience that literally builds toward take off.
- Kali Holloway

dfa webstore : itunes

i featured ghostdad’s acid yazz last week (which is still super awesome and features xxxchange tracks such as his remix of charlotte gainsbourg) and now i wanna draw your attention to a new project from xxxchange, ghostdad and devlin. they’ve done a new track under the name win win, which is a pretty appropriate moniker. the track is called releaserpm (no i’ve no idea either), and it features vocals from lizzi bougatsos, who if you don’t know is a member of gang gang dance. remember what i said? win win. the track is hosted on the fader, and got a mention on p4k, but it needs our attention because…..

never think that dudes, NEVER…

this is fun.

new cut copy single – there’s a european tour coming up, with more dates to follow, so expect to see them in tripod some time next year.

Originally from Alabama and now based in Brooklyn, ModyWorks signing Aman Ellis makes electronic music that varies from extra-terrestrial-minded techno (All The Things) to down-south trip-hop (The Cacti). I spoke to him about his recent releases, his ongoing efforts in crossing musical boundaries, and how he’s inspired by BBQ.

First of all, what was the starting point for your recent Cacti EP?

Well, I’ve always been interested in the beat culture, specially the West Coast stuff. So I’ve always wanted to do a record that way. It’s a totally different style of production. One day I stumbled upon this hidden record store in Brooklyn with all the pristine records for $1. There were all these great old school records; jazz, classical, Hawaiian. Stuff like Exotic Strings, ya know! Now it’s my secret spot where I can go and I’m guaranteed to find something crazy.

I bought a bunch of vinyls in the hopes of doing the kind of record I’d always admired. I wanted a very melodic record with a melancholic, almost antique vibe to it. I wanted the dirt from the records. The scratches and pops play a big part in the way this EP sounds. For me, it’s the scratchy sounds and off-beat rhythms juxtaposed against the very pleasant melodies that makes it cool.

It was quite a world apart from the All The Things EP, how deliberate was this drastic shift in mood and tempo?

The change was very deliberate. My first EP had a laid-back house/techno vibe to it. It’s what I was into in 2008 and 2009. It has a very clean production vibe to it. I’m still very much into that stuff, I just wanted to try something else, get sloppy with it, a little dirty, just relax and make it fun.

You seem to flirt with a variety of different styles, is this a case of challenging yourself with different sounds, or is it more that you’re trying to pin down every idea?

Yea, challenging myself. That and I grew up listening to a wide variety of music so I guess it’s just going to come through. For instance, I’m currently working on the follow-up to The Cacti EP and a lot of the songs are just a collage of sounds, different styles coming through to make a weird psychedelic amalgamation.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with the idea of releasing different genres of music under the same name. It seems like it could confuse some folks. But, oh well! I don’t really make music necessarily for the dance floor, although the dance floor has a huge influence on it. One day I’m going to make some straight club tracks.

What’s your inspiration?

Archibald’s BBQ in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

And what’s your method in the studio? How do you kick start and then develop your projects?

Sometimes I have an idea of how I want a track to sound, other times it just happens. I have to be inspired to make something. If I’m not, I go do something else and come back to it later. Lately, I’ve been designing my own synth sounds, It’s a great way to get inspired.

Your musical history seems quite varied, do you ever look from project to project and see a pattern, or do you thrive on the difference in your back catalogue?

There’s always a pattern, however subtle it may be. I’d like to think that my musical style comes through with whatever project I’m working on. But, yes I’m really glad that I can do different types of music and get away with it. I’d be too bored if I didn’t. I guess the main goal is to eventually mesh all the styles together to form something uniquely my own.

How much does your DJing influence the work you make in the studio?

I recently came to the conclusion that I’ll probably stop DJing in the near future, or at least put it on hiatus until I can dedicate more time to it. I’m a producer at heart, DJing just came out of necessity of wanting to play out. I’m performing live PAs now. But to answer your question, I make electronic music first and foremost, not dance music. Yes, some of it turns out to be dance music, but that’s just a coincidence.

Whose work are you feeling right now? Both in terms of club music and just music for headphones.

I’ll be honest, I’m not the best at keeping up with the latest and greatest, and I don’t really listen to music much anymore. I’m a pretty busy person. I’ll listen to music on the train or in the car. I really love the new James Holden’s DJ-KiCKS album, it’s amazing stuff.

What’s your favorite song ever, right now?

Aeroplane’s version of I Crave Paris is my favorite song of the past couple years. It never gets old.

Any views on the present state of music?

Electronic music is everywhere in modern music these days. It’s very acceptable now. It used to be kind of a dirty word, kind of kept in the background, but now the biggest pop stars in the world have heavy electronic/dance influences. Think M.I.A., Kanye West, Lady Gaga, it’s all electronica. With the state of technology now it’s very easy for anybody to make music. People used to have to buy tons of sequencers and samplers to make an album. Everything is digital now. It’s good in the sense that everyone can express themselves artistically through music, but it also means there’s a lot of shit out there.

Where do you see yourself in a year, musically speaking?

Hopefully making some really weird tunes.

What have you got planned for the next 12 months?

My first LP will be out, It’s more electronic in the sense that it has more techno and house stuff, as well as some electro pop/rock stuff, for a lack of a better term. Also, the follow up to The Cacti EP, which I hope to turn into a full length, will be out. I’m also producing a record for Almamy, it’s about halfway done but I can’t really talk about it. I’ll be gigging a lot more too, and I hope to put together a live band eventually.

How would you sum up 2010?

2010 was a great year, but 2011 is my year.

Facebook : Twitter : Soundcloud

so last night i ended up getting some last-minute tickets to lcd soundsystem in tripod. i’ve never seen the place so full. i had a spot directly behind the sound desk and couldn’t move from start to finish. i hate to be that guy but the lines “people don’t dance no more, they just stand there like this, they cross their arms and stare you down and drink and moan and diss” could kind of have been written about me. i won’t moan about or diss the band. not one bit. the show was awesome. i bopped a little bit. but i don’t get this whole hurling drinks and glo-sticks in the air business. last night’s crowd was wild. i guess maybe it was the positive expression of the pain felt by a disenfranchised and angry youth, given the fraught situation the nation is in. but then again, at €40+ a pop for tickets, and three sold-out shows, i doubt this youth was the most disenfranchised. but that’s moot i suppose. everyone is angry. and this isn’t that kind of blog.

last night’s show was magnificent – inspiring musicianship, unflappable focus, genuine humility in the face of overwhelming adulation, and a true sense of unparallelled joy in performance. and off stage, i really feel i have to mention how great the lights were. with a show like that you could just have spotlights and the odd strobe, but the variety, innovation and, dare i say it, humour of the lighting was definitely a highlight. the people at tonight’s show (hopefully) got to miss the bullshit bailout conference earlier, for a night of fall-of-the-empire abandon. so this is a volte face, forget what i said at the start. dance yrself clean.

what else are you going to do at the weekend other than sit in from the cold and the rain listening to good mixes? the first comes from one of the greats, grandmaster flash, live at the metamorphose festival in japan last september.

Much like the mythological Trojan War, the beginnings of hip hop music are shrouded in fable and legend. We do know this much however – Grandmaster Flash was there. He not only pioneered the hip hop style of DJing, but he invented many of the foundational techniques of the trade. Back-cueing, beat juggling, and record scratching just to name a few. Combined with his rap group, The Furious Five, Flash went on to massive early 80s chart success on the Sugarhill label. Singles like The Message and Scorpio broke new musical ground, not only in the hip hop world, but also in the burgeoning electronic scene. Flash kept active throughout the 80s, releasing records both as solo artist and with the Furious Five. Since then, Flash has gone on to DJ across the globe, playing his infamous blend of party classics – all delivered with his signature cut-and-paste style. Listen here as he rocks the main stage at Metamorphose in Japan.

while i was checking that out i came across another equally awesome but slightly less well known act, the seminal new york band liquid liquid, this time live from the main stage at primavera in barcelona. they were undoubtedly the highlight of this year’s electric picnic, and hearing them perform bellhead live will forever be one of my most treasured musical experiences. many thanks to red bull music academy for both sets.

The year is 1979, and five young guys are free-flow jamming, in a Hispanic neighbourhood in downtown Manhattan, N.Y.C. The vocalist of this group is Salvatore Principato. By day, he works in a toy store (with Kim Gordon). By night, he’s dropping his vocal inflections onto the rhythms of his group, who go by the name Liquid Liquid. Their own brand of ‘body music’ began to be heard not only alongside bands such as Suicide and ESG, but also in the pioneering sets of DJs like Afrika Bambaataa and Larry Levan, most famously being sampled by Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious 5 on White Lines forever putting their name in hip hop’s history books. And without changing track for new audiences, the band played on. Less than twenty five songs later, Liquid Liquid faded from the scene again, only to be rediscovered centuries later when their sense of all out rhythm once again fit the mood of New York city and folks from The Rapture to practically the whole DFA Records crew. This live set from Primavera Sound 2010 shows them vital as ever.

Grandmaster Flash – Main Stage – Live at Metamorphose 2010, Japan
Liquid Liquid – Main Stage – Live at Primavera Sound 2010

shit robot is in town to support lcd soundsystem every night this weekend at tripod, and then back next week with underworld in the rds.