skip to main |
skip to sidebar
ah, almost forgot this one... it's recent and european but fits so well the NY block party imagery. in a good way though: chicas, extra chilled Pacifico clara, hip hop and house dancers... Dropped on saturday in Brooklyn (where else?)to maximum effect, this edit (or rather tool) also shows that, sometimes, you just need a tiny alteration to make a brilliant original into a dancefloor shaker.
This one goes out to Max Pask in the Big Apple...
CALIENTE CALIENTE (ISE8 DJ TOOL)
(to the original producer and label: just hit me back if you want me to take the edit off this page)
Just back from a few days in America... The sound system at Stereo in Montreal was just sick, the Soul Clap guys in Boston so genuine it hurts and NYC seems to be on the rise again (great 'Mr Saturday Night gig)... or it was just me may be... Not much time for posting but I finally met up with Tim Sweeney and did his legendary 'Beats in Space' show . As we say, the guy is both a gentleman and a scholar... you can have a listen to the show(a few unreleased IAFL/Kill the DJ things in there) aired last night here...
I may not keep my 'one-a-day' diet as I'm leaving for America tomorrow: Boston (with the Soul Clap boys), Montreal (at Stereo for the Turbo gang) and NYC (for the last Mister Saturday Night). But you never know, flights being long and boring.In the meantime, a rough (very hard to find a better source than the one I have) and charming song:IT'S THE BONOBO SEASON (ISE8 RETOUCH)
Digging through old records, I mostly go through 'phases'... Like little (but quite intense) genre obsessions that fade in and out. Recently, there has been 'Dimitri from Amsterdam classics', 'proto-electroclash', 'rockabilly and electronics' etc... For the past few days, I got sucked into my C86 roots.
As ever, no add-ons, just extended. if you do not like the beat ending, there is a version ending with the preceding chaos. SUAVE SQUAD-ISE8 EXTENDED
AN OFFICIAL MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS (I.E. MYSELF)'Hello all, IT'S A FINE LINE, Tim Paris and myself, are looking for a music studio space, preferably in East or North East London (but all offers considered). We would consider all types. We'd rather rent a studio as such (soundproofed etc...) and would love to have access to a booth (possibly shared). That said, we could consider "blank space" if making it into a recording space is possible. We work most week days so sharing a single space would not be realistically feasible (with musicians or others). Price ? obviously it really really depends on the space so if you have something to propose, do not hesitate, we will consider any serious offer. This is a serious demand and are actually in an expanding frame of mind. We have at the moment a upper scale electronic music studio but are looking to extend it towards live recording.Note that we have our own in-house engineer.
Please forward this email freely to anyone you think could be of help in our search.You can preferably reach myself on this email or Tim at info@mkgmusic.com many many thanks to you all Ivan Smagghe & Tim Paris'
... but a firm old fave of mine nonetheless. It has been slightly retouched, not that it makes the madness easier to play. Its essence is 'to be all over the place, so I suppose one needs a bit of an acquired taste (or an amazing turntable technique). I may be wrong though, let me know...two-eyed cyclops (ISE8 retouch)
06. Garsaaidi "Frank Zaffa" (Orange Egg)Trip-hop-affiliated labels sometimes satisfied Belgian dj's like me, in need of some uptempo, fucked-up leftfield tunes. This 1996-97record was the 6am sound of my then newly begun (and very open-minded) residency at the Food club in Leuven, in between deep house and techno of all sorts.07. Psychotropic "Psychosis" (02)Psychotropic was probably associated with the hardcore scene in the UK but in Belgium, this was a very sought-after track and the proof you were at the right party with the right people. A big hit from Poltergeist again.08. Florence "The Vineyard" ((Peter Ford rmx) (EEvolute)Stefan Robbers is one of the true european techno don and is still active today. The Peter Ford mix is frankly one of the best piece of truly haunted 4/4 music i know and is cellotaped in my box since its 1996 release. This was the Ifach era and big in Fuse with its resident Pierre too. Great 12' !!!09.Optimus "Deadly Dub"/"Dirty Harry" (Hi-Phen)A more recent 2004 outing on my now defunct Hi-Phen label, "Deadly dub" is a rework of an Optimus (Pete Herbert's older alias with Mat Anthony) remix from Minimal Compact 's "Deadly Weapons". The dub had not been used by the label (Crammed Discs/SSR) so i suggested they extended and rework it and it was frankly really worth it. killer record.10. White House White "Disdain" (?)Killer New-Beat/ EBM workout from Antwerp with a bassline very reminiscent of Nitzer Ebb.Koenie recently found a batch in a warehouse and you can still get it at his Wally's Groove World shop and site. This really is a Belgian lost classic.Geoffroy, your final say in a few words?'Has the wave trully rolled back'You can find most of Mugwump original music on Kompakt, or the just released excellent 'the congregation of discalced clerks' on Throne of Blood. And their remixes? just about everywhere... best is to check here.
There was no way this was gonna be all about me. Believe it or not, I do have friends. People I musically respect of course, but it goes a bit deeper than that. To keep it simple, I'd say we share common ethics and attitude towards this whole thing. To all these friends, I'll ask the same three questions. They will also kindly offer us a (freely) themed playlist and, by all means, have the final word. First of these 'guests' (I don't like the word, the door is open to those who know the way to get here) is Geoffroy Mugwump. Tough, to me, he's simply Geoffroy, I think we've known each other long enough. We met when Brussels was the best night spot in Europe, and Food, where Geoffroy was resident, was my favorite club. Belgium always had its own electronic culture (see the playlist below) and Geoffroy, alongside a few others, still represent what I love about it: extensive musical culture doubled with complete originality. He is one of the DJs that always played, and still does, records that not only I don't know, but would and will rush to get for myself. When this seminal Belgian scene (born of the ashes of the Boccaccio, where Geoffroy got, I think, a lot of his education) fizzled, Geoffroy stuck to his guns, got deeper into production. The singular sound of Mugwump can now be heard from Kompakt to International Feel, From Gigolo to Coccoon.Who is your forgotten hero?'Dance music-wise, a bionic man obviously composed of Dimitri from the Roxy, Koenie from Antwerp and Poltergeist from Brussels. My roots.'What motto is painted on your fighter plane?'I'm sarcastic but i love you, i really do.'What makes you really angry?'you mentioned "underground conformism" once, i think what makes me really angry is the total lack of open-mindness in most of the dance music scene. you either have to be this or that. moi ce qui m'intéresse c'est les nuances.'--------------------------------xxx-------------------GEOFFROY'S 'BELGIUM THROUGH THE AGES' LOST CLASSICS01. GATE CRASH "Bassoon" (UPCULT)Lost gem (produced by a dutch dj called Nathanel together with Babies from Gong aka Dylan Hermelijn of 2000 & One fame) that i cant recall anyone playin. It harks back to the days when Dimitri from the Roxy in A'dam was unbeatable. I was really pleased to hear In Sync's 'Storm' (a track Dimitri really broke BIG TIME before anyone else) getting played by the likes of Ricardo & Sascha Funke a couple of years back. Far from being such a classic, this simple yet weird techno track could really get plays from some of the most adventurous dj's now; i know its a dying breed these days02. PIL "Death Disco" (VIRGIN)The 12' version of this early and well-known PIL song from the end of the 70's was one of the biggest anthem in the pre-New-Beat Belgium (soundtracked with industrial, EBM and dark pop) and became an anthem of New-Beat later as well when it was covered by Arbeid Adelt as "Disco Death". They were usually played one after the other (often followed by James Brown's "Ain't it funky now" at - 8, fan facts). Reminds me of a title from an Eskimo comp too. ; )03. ELECTROGROUND "Electrolove" (MASQUE)Not a very exciting title indeed but a useful and very simple piece of e'd up deep house produced in Italy in 1992.. also a recurrent tool from Antwerp legend dj Koenie (Wally's Groove World/Wonka/Mayaku) for years.04.SCOTT SELLARS "Let's dance shall we" (BIG SOUND MUSIC)Scott Sellars and Kirk Smith at the controls. This label was sometimes swimming in the same seas than Transmat but never left the same footprints on the techno sands. This deep-house track was big with Poltergeist, a great unsung hero from underground Belgium and a dj who pioneered all sorts of interesting AND fucked up house music in Belgium (together with others early international dj's playing in our country, such as Ricky Montanari, Eddy Declercq or Jon Dasilva)05. Stevie V "Jealousy" Red Zone dub (MERCURY)Yes its David Morales in its Redzone period and the piano was just massive. Absolutely huge in the Roxy where we religiously traveled nearly every Thursday.... the rest, and Geoffroy's final say, follows tomorrow...
On the dire sea of conformism, we are never sailing on our own. As often as possible, I will signal other worthy buccaneers.
Krikor has never compromised. You will find righteous morale and great edits on his new site, including one of my old fave, Nini Raviolette's 'Suis-je Normale'.
There are loads more places of interest but two that jump to my mind right now. First is the ever growing Get The Curse (The French young crew), where you can also find my 'Back of the Box' playlists. The other being Feel My Bicep (you may find othere edits of mine there)...
This place is still being built, there will be on the right side of the page a list of close allies very soon but I could not leave without pointing towards home.
if you're not a DJ, do not even check this. If you are, you might as well do (I was one of the lucky testers, they're pretty pretty good).
Are we allowed to retouch (or destroy then rebuild) the 'classics'? Of course we are. What is a 'classic anyway'?rich oil for shit motors (ISE8 edit)For those who catch us up here, I do not give the title of the original track though, especially for this one, it should not be too hard for you people.
Also been playing a lot of oldies recently, either on vinyl or that have been professionally digitilized by a friend of mine (get in touch here for contact). Here are ten from the grave:
Furious-Furious-Elektro Music Dept
Gino Zavoli- Nott in Time (Lele Pasini)-Uomo
Zombie Nation-The Cut-Dekathlon
Databrain-Elektrofrogs (JD Twitch edit)-Mule
Dan Physics-Cannot Find Words-Creme
Mr Velcro Fastener-Electric Appliances-Air
Tomorrow People-Tv's On Brain is off-Tomorrow
Hawkeye-Unfunk-Headinghome
Rene et Gaston-Merluche Ideale- Artless
Joe Zas-Untitled-Volfoni
Good hunting. if you have playlist of oldies you'd like to send me, please do.
just back from Fabric. hope it will not be the last time
. Here are the ten (recent) tracks that made my night:Aux 88-Voice Modulation (Anthony Rother mix)-Echoism
Hot Natured-Wintertime-Culprit
Whim-ee-Smile Darling-Zauberlich
Funk d'Void & Sian-The Puppet who could see his own strings-Variance
Abe Duque -Hipocrisy (Digweed & Muir rx)-Process
Franck Roger-Love Call (Dyed Soundorom late call rx)-Real Tone
Superpitcher-Rabbits in a Hurry (It's a Fine Line rx)-Kompakt
Cormac-Merlin-B.Pitch
Oliver Ho & Tommy Gillard present Atlas-Rails-Wires
Chloe-Diva (Alex Smoke rx)-Kill the DJ
xxx
Where would we without sharing music ? In good spirit , I'll post here some simple edits (nothing too fancy)of tracks I consider underrated. Like with my back of the box playlists on french uber site Get the Curse this is not about genres, just about sheer quality. As a principle, I will not give the exact references of the original track, but it should not be too hard to find for people of acquired taste as you are... I just do not understand why this band did not explode. Too often, magic stays in the shadow and tricks in the light. And I don't think it's too soon to call this a cult favorite: 'not on the list' (ISE8 edit)More soon... Starting tomorrow with the tracks that rocked my graveyard Fabric shift...
...But I've decided to communicate with the outside world. No Myspace, No Facebook, No Twitter... Only here (and a few other chosen places)... Hopefully I'll have things to say and stuff to pass on.
More very very soon. xxxx. Ivan.Ps: And yes, this is really me, not a fake.
ah, almost forgot this one... it's recent and european but fits so well the NY block party imagery. in a good way though: chicas, extra chilled Pacifico clara, hip hop and house dancers... Dropped on saturday in Brooklyn (where else?)to maximum effect, this edit (or rather tool) also shows that, sometimes, you just need a tiny alteration to make a brilliant original into a dancefloor shaker.
