a few things from... Marc Piñol

If Marc died tomorrow, he may well be my forgotten hero. He's totally fine though. I played with him in Barcelona last night at Nitsa. So I'll put it this way: he is the best resident I know and one of my favorite DJs. Of course, one should have many 'favorite DJs'. For all hours, moods and genres. But playing with him is like playing with a version of myself that could still surprise me: from the acquired taste for borderline trance records to warped up disco pop... etc... etc

And guess what, he also does his own (great) edits like this one, kindly offered to us all:

BAD VEAL TOOK MY BOBBY (MARC PINOL EDIT)

This closeness goes for music, for books, movies, politics, sense of humor and general philosophy of life as well. It can even get spooky sometimes (do you know any Catalan Dennis Potter fans? I do...). The fact that most of you have never heard Marc play is a blatant injustice but he will never do anything to attract fame (his original Dj name was DJ de Mierda). It sometimes pisses me off, but this humility is also what makes him as cool as it gets. I will never miss an opportunity to try to get him out of his grotto. A hidden treasure then... But pointing you in the right direction is the least I can do.


So Marc...

Who is your forgotten hero?
Harry Smith

What motto is painted on your fighter plane?
when it is dark enough, you can see the stars.

What makes you really angry?
My dad's disease and greedy people

Your final words?
I hope to be extremely inspired for my final words.


'Some records / songs I've been listening a lot last week, in no particular order' by Marc Piñol

Lucifer – Black Mass
This one is from Mort Garson, the Moog musician/producer that I love the most. He made lots of nice recordings during all his career, but this is the one the I would save from flames. Sounds a little bit like Jean-Jacques Perrey, Wendy Carlos or Oneohtrix Point Never, really twisted and spacey. Broadcast copied a couple of Garson's tracks some years ago. They were right to do so.

CTI – Elemental 7
This is one of that Chris & Cosey albums that don't get old-fashioned. Drones, proto-acid and lots of insane ambient. If someone out there have the VHS tape included and read this, please be kind and send me a DivX-rip!

Jonna Gault & Her Symphonopop Scene – Wonder Why, I Guess
She was only 21 at the time of recording her album. I've been looking for info about her (I don't know if she's alive or not), but I didn't found anything. I just can't understand how she didn't made any more records. The production, arrangements and lyrics are dope.

The Scientists – Heading For a Trauma
Mental, raw, psychedelic australian punk. I had not listened to this album from some time, maybe ten years. I did it two days ago and it worked fine for me, even if I prefer their first lp. But there's “Swampland”, and I like that song so much that I didn't care about the rest .

The Poppy Family – Shadows On My Wall
Been listening some of their 60s records a lot these days. They still sound shiny and slightly eery at the same time. I love their abuse of reverberation.

Daily Fauli – Fauli Til Dauli
My girlfriend is from Denmark, so I'm always trying to find some rare danish stuff to impress her. Whatever, this is so weird that I decided not to mention it to her. Kind of postpunk à la C86 with disturbingly funny lyrics. Take a listen to “Out Of Sync” or “Speed” and you tell me. Sounds really crispy and fresh.

Soit-P.P. - n.IASP
This Richard D. James song was on a hard to find CD from Rephlex, “Philosophy Of Sound and Machine”. I've been looking for it for ages, but usually the price was over 100£, so I forgot about it. I'm not that rich. Finally I found it on a blog, ripped at 320 kbps. So God bless you internet.

Hugh Tracey field recordings
I could listen to them forever and never get bored.I always find something truly inspiring there.

The new Hivern digital compilation
Hivern is my favorite spanish label, by far. We are close friends, ok, but I really love the things they're doing so I'm not forced to talk nice about them. In this release you have Pional (this guy's a genius) and Aster making some kraut beats, Kresy sampling 50 Cent in a very moodymanesque way, newcomer Pettre following the Omar S path and D.A.R.Y.L. going wild in a 14 minutes long, hypnotic odissey. Love the music & the people behind it.

orient express

this one had been lingering on in the pile for ages... thought as a sample for a long time, the idea of turning an epic Lebanese disco anthem into some kind of hard fast (almost Northern Soul? am not a specialist) funk shortie was definitely more attractive. Kind of works I think...You'll let me know...
thanks to Mr Nathan Gregory Wilkins for the original.

THE BEIRUT-WIGAN EXPRESS (ISE8 7" VERSION)

For Glasgow and its people

Just played HUNG UP!, the new venture of the Optimo boys. Glasgow has the best crowd in the world, a crowd who can take anything from Joe Dassin's 'L'Ete Indien' , rave on BDI's 'City and Industry' and truly appreciate 'Blister in the sun' by the Violent Femmes as a last record.
Their kindness and total lack of attitude was confirmed when Keith and his lovely Iona took us to a 'flat/part/squat' that sent me back to my early twenties. Youth still is youth. Good. and i got a new nickname 'Smagghie Tatcher'. What more could you ask for...

Betty Botox did her own edit of this ultimate OPTIMO classic, I took it the other way round. Short and long version included in the pack. This one definitely goes...

FOR GLASGOW (ISE8 LONG & SHORT VERSIONS)

sunrise

'balearic' is probably one of the most over and misused in Dance Music. Probably because if you do not hold to its strict definition (see http://www.djhistory.com/features/search-balearic), you can stick whatever you want under the label. Point being that it was 'music without label'... Anyway, everybody has his own lost balearic classic, here's one of mine... On the techno side of things and absolutely not played by Jean-Claude Maury in the early days...

JUST OWN THE BOY ED-ISE8 DISCOMIX

an honor and a privilege

Since the early Kill the DJ days, Optimo has been the closest thing to home, Jonnie and Keith being not only faves but also close friends. I Played Optimo back in... and it was one of the scariest gig of my 'career'... Once again, Jonnie and Keith are leaving me alone behind the wheel this sunday at HUNG UP!, their new night. I must admit that I am nervous but pretty much excited.
so... what do you play there ? that's the thing, anything you want, knowing that you're facing the best but most knowing crowd in the world. I'll go to from weird to rave then... but the first part of the night is the very special one, the moment that separates boys from Boys... I could drop things like this one. or not...

STEEL PANTIES (ISE8 EXT)

if you can, see you there...xxx

a few things from... Tim Paris

I suppose it is a bit awkward to introduce the person you work with almost every day. In a way, he probably needs no introduction to you who follow what happens here.
Studio partners relationship are strange beasts though. Luckily, this one has no ego to feed on.
No flattering then. But I'll still say a few things about the humble guy. Tim also does stuff on his own and under the Challenge moniker with Pete Herbert; Tim takes piano lessons and gets up at 6am to swim 5 miles; Tim is at the top of his djing game and you should be able to hear him more often; Tim is a France Culture fanatic: Tim is a good reader and has not got bad taste in movies either; Tim has a lovely little one year old girl called Lee; Tim has always been there for me since we both ended-up in East London. So, for all this and more, and in its own peculiar way, I suppose Tim is one of my best friends. And, believe me, the people you work with not always are.

here are his few words and selection:

'Who is your forgotten hero?'
Alfred Cortot

'What motto is painted on your fighter plane?'
Blessed are the hearts that can bend

'what makes you really angry?"
The world seen through the prism of mass media

Not an easy task to link cleverly Electronic and Classical. Especially in my case as i got hooked into Classical as a reaction against the hopeless lack of meanings in Dance music. 'Entertaining' and 'Serious' music couldn't be more opposite: one may love both but how to connect them ?

Steve Reich 'Different Trains'(after the war)
Here's The piece i would dream of hearing in a club at 5am, i'm actually working on an edit. (To be followed on this page ? )

Arvo Part 'Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten'
This one affected me the same way 'Kaotic Harmony' (Transmat) did the first time i heard it. Arvo Part is certainly the most uncompromising musician alive, music is a matter of life and death to him.

Edgar Varese 'Poeme Electronique'
Written for the 1958 World's fair, it says it all in the title. One of the very first sample bank to be created ! More seriously this was a fantastic visionary project which gathered Varese, Lecorbusier and Xenakis.

Luciano Berio 'Sinfonia' 3rd movement
Composed in 1968, it's actually the principle of sampling which is invented here. Berio adapted and transposed excerpts from dozens of different plays and pieces to form just one. You'll find here some bits from Debussy, Ravel, Malher, Shoenberg, Stravinsky and others.

'Spectral' music
Terrible word which results inevitably in a sequence of yawns. But if you accept to listen to sounds for some reasons other than pleasure, it could work for you just as it did for me. The French are currently on the forefront in that field, here is a couple of work you may try:

Tristan Murail 'Ethers'
18 minutes of shaker melted with evolving woodwinds' sounds.. Challenging !

Gerard Grisey 'Le Noir de l'etoile'
If someone who studied music composition for over 50 years at the highest possible level was commissioned to compose an album for Richie Hawtin's Minus, it could be something of this kind

more and more...

Just back from 10 days in Asia, more about this later...

For after-hours fiends who thought Berlin was hard, I think they should make the trip to Tokyo.

xxxx