Pablo Gad – Hard Times Dub Achterbahn D’Amour – Königsstr. (SW. Remix) Willis Anne – Untitled Lena Willikens – Mari Ori Reckonwrong – Hansie C.C. Not – Untitled Lohhof – Midway Moodswings (Terekke Remix) X – Untitled The Maghreban – Green Apple Florian Kupfer – Discotags Kai Alcé – Rockin K-Tel Orson + Skratch – Untitled Leigh Dickson – Praise (Baby Ford Mix) Perbec – Chaser Translate – City Slicker Marquis Hawkes – The Way Isanlar – Kime Ne (Ricardo Villalobos Version 1) Hashman Deejay – Samba DJ Sprinkles & Mark Fell – Insights Ken Gill – Love Moon DJ Sotofett – Nimbus Mix Simone White – Flowers In May (Kassem Mosse Version) Stump Valley – Caruso Plaza – Night Lines (Moon B Extra Nocturnal Mix) Aphex Twin – diskhat1 Patrick Cowley & Jorge Socarras – She Had Her Nerve
I picked this because of the extraordinary lyrics, which reappeared eventually in the house scene. Kerri Chandler did a version of it. And there are some rhythm patterns that you use as well. It was also a hit in the gay house scene. There are many house tracks based on this tune.
Personally, I really like Nina Simone a lot. I think there have been a lot of really bad remixes done of this track. For example, the Masters of Work remake added a really cheesy synth pad over her, so it’s really been bastardized a lot. But I think that’s part of the whole schmaltz of the gay house scene as well. That it has this way of reducing things to a cheap standard.
I think there’s a way in which it’s complicated to play music that verges more on gospel than soul in the club environment. And I think that’s something that Nina herself would like in a weird way. She identified herself less as a jazz musician, and more as a folk musician. And felt that she was channeled in the jazz corner by the industry. In her biography, she talks about being—if anything—a folk musician. That kind of cross-categorization is really interesting to me. And there’s also this idea of “How could her music get worked into a DJ set?”
Especially with this contrast between the euphoria of her live performances that is associated with her work, and her audience’s reactions to her work. She’ll play something like “Mississippi Goddamn,” this sad, tragic song. And the audience is like, “I love this song!” They’re cheering like idiots.
I think the same goes for this song. The way that she sings this song is not cheerful at all. That contrast struck me in that gay house context as well. It’s not the same sort of material that you ordinarily associate with it.
For sure, that’s something that I identify with in my own music. I often produce it from a perspective that people don’t sympathize with particularly. Or they approach it from an angle that is different from where I produce it from. They want to turn it into something, despite the complaints, that is energizing for a party. For me, I’m totally not concerned with this type of energy.
I really have a respect for her. I can empathize with this idea of immigration, of leaving the United States. It was under different circumstances, of course, but as an American who emigrated to Japan I feel a kind of simpatico with her.
Would you basically say that this streak in your work, where you reference things like this, is that you try to remain faithful to the original vibe of the material?
No. I don’t believe there is an original, or that there is something to be faithful to. I don’t believe in faith at all, in any form. I think this is important to clarify. That doesn’t mean just being kind of aloof or naïve about the connotations either. It’s about thinking about them in a way that allows for complications or recontextualizations as opposed to simply doing an homage or a tribute. Nina Simone has had enough tributes, you know? It’s OK if we don’t tribute always.
Gary Numan – Cry, The Clock Said (Beggars Banquet) 1981
Your Rubato series where you do piano renditions of Kraftwerk, Devo and Gary Numan. It struck me that all three of these acts have this weird relationship between technology and humanity. Was that your purpose with it?
Yes, of course. The purpose of the series was to investigate the techno pop icons that were the seminal acts of my childhood. And to think about how it polluted or influenced or channeled my own productions, as well as my own politics. And, of course, techno pop is very phallo-centric, Mensch Machine, so I wanted to also complicate the homo eroticism of this musical world that almost exclusively prevents the entry of women. Which makes it either a misogynistic or gay space. Or both. Or neither.
So all of the piano was composed on the computer, which I felt kept the technological association with these original artists and what I feel their vision was for using technology, but also to have the result be this neo-romantic piano solo that wasn’t a Muzak version, but going towards an avant-garde piano that—unless you were a big fan—you might not be able to pick out the melodies.
Sexuality this genre seems really warped in a way. As you said, like with Kraftwerk. The only time that they explicitly dealt with sexuality was on Electric Café on “Sex Object,” which is a really weird track.
Yeah. They had it in Computer World , they also had “Computer Love,” though. But it’s always about either the machine or the woman is the object. Always objectified. “Sex Object” has a very weird elementary school approach to gender.
Everybody likes to think of Kraftwerk as being very much in control of their image, but if you look at their catalogue, it’s a total mess. You have this Krautrock stuff. The Ralf und Florian album, that was cut from the catalogue for a long time because it didn’t fit in. They are much more eclectic than they want people to think.
I think their concept is also much more open than many people think. They left some leeway.
I think a lot of it is due to the record company. I’m coming at Kraftwerk as an American, and which records were distributed to us there may have been different than what was sold in Europe. So things like the first ones with the pylons were never seen until I was in New York. And they were, like, a million dollars. It was Autobahn , Trans Europe Express , Radioactivity , Computer World , Mensch Machine and that was it. If you could track down the Tour de France EP, it was a miracle.
How would you place Gary Numan in this? He also played with these ideas, but it always had a bit of a tragic note to it.
I think that the Dance album… Remember when you interviewed me about the Dazzle Ships album, and I talked about it being a kind of crisis moment when an artist is trying to figure out their own artistic direction, and they’re faced with the pressures of the major labels that they’re signed in and locked into. Dance was right around the same time, and I think it was Gary Numan’s crisis with the industry. When you look at it in relation to the kind of progress of the sound of his work—and at that time he did have a very linear channeling of what he was doing—this was the album that was the peak of this weird electronic Latin percussion thing. He had people from Japan working with him. His next album, Bezerker, was this more industrial thing. It was samplers and all this sort of stuff. For me, though, Dance was the height of this certain kind of sound that he had control over, but also dealing at the same time with pressure from the label.
Image-wise, what he did up to Dance certainly served him better than what he did after. I remember this sleeve of Warriors … Maybe the image that he portrayed earlier wasn’t exactly original, but it served his voice quite well. And his persona.
For me, the conflict of something like the Warriors cover, where he’s standing in this S&M gear, all leathered up with a baseball bat as though he’s some kind of bad ass road warrior guy, is that he has this posture that is totally faggy and limp. And the bleached hair. And then he’s not queer-identified. He’s straight-identified. He plays with gender in his lyrics, but he makes it clear in his interviews that he’s not. For me, it’s this contradiction between the kind of costume play that you could find in a gay club, but for me it was also a mismatch…like the leather bottom.
It also has to do with being a nerd that is really into science fiction. He also has this nerd component. His lyrics are all about Philip K. Dick and Blade Runner . He was totally into that stuff. And I think that’s also what drew me to him. And it also made me repress the impact that he had on me. By the time you reach 18 or so, it’s too tragic to say that you’re a Gary Numan fan. People react in this horrible way. But he, more than Devo or Kraftwerk, was really influencing me.
I used to plagiarize his lyrics and enter them into the school district contest and get ribbons for it. And when my father was upset with me about music and things, it was my Gary Numan records that he would lock away in the closet so that I couldn’t get at them. There was a lot of battle around Gary Numan in my adolescent life.
I think that’s why the “Cry, The Clock Said” has such a special connection for Comatonse. Because the first EP was basically a dub remix of this song. Read the rest of this entry »
Promomixes was a website conceived by Todd L. Burns. The concept was that DJs do an application tape for a club they would have loved to play at. My choice was Front club in Hamburg, of course. The site had a number of incredible mixes, but is sadly defunct.
Dream 2 Science – My Love Turns To Liquid (Original Mix) (Power Move) Foremost Poets – Reasons To Be Dismal? (City College Mixes) (SBK) Lovechild – Sweet Ambience (Club Mix) (Strictly Rhythm) Logic – The Final Frontier (Acoustic Mix) (Strictly Rhythm) The Utopia Project – File #1 (Nu Groove) Orbital – Chime (JZJ Oh Ya Mix) (FFRR) Circuit Feat. Koffi – Shelter Me (Digital Mix) (Cooltempo) Da Posse – In The Life (Keys Mix) (Republic) Nexus 21 – Self Hypnosis (Network) Heychild – Heychild’s Theme (Network) Nicolette – Single Minded People (Shut Up And Dance) Rhythim Is Rhythim – The Beginning (Transmat) Break The Limits – Hypnotizer (Break The Limits) LFO – LFO (Remix) (Warp) N.Y. House’N Authority – Forty House (Nu Groove) BFC – It’s A Shame (Fragile) Octave One Feat. Lisa Newberry – I Believe (Vice Mix) (Transmat) Baby Ford – The World Is In Love (Dub) (Sire) The Beloved – The Sun Rising (Norty’s Spago Mix) (Atlantic) Electronic – Getting Away With It (Extended) (Factory) Sister Sledge – Thinking Of You (Atlantic)
1988, im Blütejahr von Acid House, war die Sachlage eigentlich klar. In den USA war Acid roh und funky und entschieden billig-analog, die Chicago Originators allerdings schon auf dem Sprung zum nächsten Ding (Hip House vorerst, da lässt sich die Geschichte nicht klittern), und Detroits Brüder im Geiste machten etwas ganz Anderes aus der Vorlage. In England hingegen griffen die traditionellen Mechanismen der Hype-Presse und Acid wurde zur Bewegung. Und diese war in Klang und Mode überwiegend Pop. Im Gegensatz zu den amerikanischen Ur-Tracks, die voll in ihrer Funktionalität aufgingen, kam man auf der Insel nicht ohne den stilistischen Mehrwert aus. Also wurde alles day-glo, Smileys, Acid Ted und Space Cadet, und man hielt Radlerhosen und Bandanas für ein unbedenkliches Outfit. Man brauchte erneut Gesichter, und im Rückenwind von Yazz, Baby Ford, D-Mob quietschten und blubberten Varianten in die Charts und Clubs, die mit der experimentellen Ausprägung des Ausgangsmaterials nicht mehr viel zu tun hatten. Und dann kamen 808 State aus Manchester mit ihrem Debütalbum ”Newbuild“, einer komplett anderen Interpretation all der Zufallsklänge, die sich mit einer 303 erzielen ließen. Graham Massey, vormalig Mitglied der Post Punk-Veteranen Biting Tongues, Martin Price, Besitzer des legendären Plattenladens Eastern Bloc und Gerald Simpson, das Voodoo Ray-Wunderkind, hatten offensichtlich weder Interesse daran, den Sound aus Chicago zu kopieren, noch ihn mit käsigen Samples zu Top of the Pops-Material umzubiegen. Ihr Entwurf war kalt und irre, ein einziges manisches Flirren, das bereits von den komplexen Rhythmen vorangehetzt wurde, die Markenzeichen der Band blieben. Wo die Boulevardpresse sich mit Drogenvorwürfen gegen die vergleichsweise charmanten aber eher harmlosen Hits der Szene warm schoss, war eigentlich hier der wahre Feind. Musik, die gleichermaßen klang wie ein weitäugiger Rausch im Strobonebel der Clubs, sowie eben auch ein weitäugiger Rausch inmitten der grauen Fiesheit mancher Gegenden nordenglischer Städte, dessen Stumpfheit die Kids im Strobonebel der Clubs bekämpfen wollten. Der komplexe Irrsinn von ”Flow Coma“ oder ”Sync/Swim“ hat nichts von seinem Schockpotential eingebüßt, und ebnete den Weg derer, für die die Clubmusik der folgenden Jahre nicht mit Behaglichkeit einherzugehen hatte, also in etwa das Bindeglied der Hinterhältigkeit und Radikalität von Cabaret Voltaire und Konsorten und Aphex Twin und Konsorten, und dann wieder zurück nach Chicago zu Traxx und Jamal Moss. Wie so oft ließ sich der Intensitätslevel des Erstlings nicht halten, wie so oft probierte man sich danach mit anderen Ideen aus, man überwarf sich, man ging getrennte Wege, und man produzierte das nächste Meisterwerk, in anders aber mindestens ebenso bedeutend, ”Automanikk“ hier, und ”Ninety“ da. Der Stoff, aus dem die Träume sind.
We’re sorted out for E’s and Wizz, the stereo of the overcrowded Jensen Interceptor heading up the M25 is blasting out The Spinmasters, while the Druffalos either make guestlist calls, read the latest Morley or WSC, sort out which trainers to wear or look nervously on the fuel display. We await 20000 hardcore members in longsleeves in a disused hangar in the middle of a field. We saw the lasers a while ago but we already missed the exit three times, ran out of water and beer, got police on our back, and it’s getting pitch dark.
This is the sound of the Druffalo Hit Squad’s UK edition of the international Rave Chronicles. Now hear this!
Bassheads – Non Verbal Communication (Deconstruction) Shades Of Rhythm – Musical Freedom (Aquatic) Yin Yang – Oh One (Rumour) Dr. Baker – Kaos (Desire) Orbital – Fahrenheit 3D3 (FFRR) The Garden Of Eden – The Serpent In The Garden (Pepper) Mark Rutherford – Get Real (Fourth & Broadway) Nemesis – After The Storm (Intrigue) Break The Limits – Fire Away (Break The Limits) Hardcore – Get A Little Stupid (XL) Nicolette – Single Minded People (Shut Up And Dance) Paradox – Jailbreak (Ronin) For This II – Trak 1 (Ozone) Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (RCA) Midi Rain – Always (Vinyl Solution) N Joi – Malfunction (Deconstruction) Bizarre Inc – Technological (Blue Chip) Baby Ford – Fordtrax (Rhythm King) Altern 8 – Objective (Network) C & M Connection – Bio Rhythms (Network) The Black Dog – Erb (General Productions) Nightmares On Wax- Aftermath (Warp) Unique 3 – The Theme (Ten) Cyclone – A Place Called Bliss (Network) Fila Brazillia – Mermaids (Pork) A Guy Called Gerald – Untitled (CBS) 808 State – Pacific State (ZTT) Fine Young Cannibals – I’m Not The Man I Used To Be
Es schien schon bei seinem Debüt „Fordtrax“ so, als hätte Peter Ford etwas anderes für Acid House im Sinn als die räudigen Vorläufer aus Chicago, womit er den Hang der englischen Auslegung zu mehr Pop- und Glamversprechungen im 303-Regime anführte. Sein zweites Album war dennoch ein unerwartetes Erlebnis. Der dünnste Elektroniker aller Zeiten legte sich kühn zwischen Wigan Casino, T-Rex, Shoom, Garage, Disco und Strand- und Wiesenidyll quer und wollte beherzt mit diesem Entwurf in Richtung Top Of The Pops davonpreschen. Ich hätte ihm das Leben des Superstars aus vollem Herzen gegönnt, doch es sollte nicht sein. Stattdessen konvertierte er das Konzept auf seinem dritten Album in einen letzten krachig-düsteren Post-Aids-Trauma-Latex-Konfrontationskurs und verabschiedete sich anschließend bis heute in die Reduktion.
Der ebenfalls von TFSM/MFOC präsentierte Auftritt von Bradley Strider im Januar ist in Kiel wohl in guter Erinnerung geblieben, denn die Tanzdiele war am Samstag gut besucht, als Super Defekt, Elektropasha und DJ Subtropic im Rahmen der Plattenbau-Tour die Plattenspieler bedienten. Die rege Neugier der Kieler wurde dann auch reichhaltig belohnt, denn die drei DJs lieferten einen facettenreichen Abend in Sachen anspruchsvoller elektronischer Musik. Super Defekt und Elektropasha starteten eine Aufwärmphase auf hohem Niveau, die stilistisch von englischen Produktionen der 90er Ära geprägt war, als Labels wie Rephlex oder Warp das etwas unglückliche Genre „Intelligent Techno“ begründeten. Gut zusammengemixt gab es Musik in der Art von Richard D. James, B12, Kirk Degiorgio oder Autechre, also den musikalischen Gegenentwurf zu gleichförmigen Technosets, die sich eher über Härte und Geschwindigkeit als über Ideenvielfalt und Mut zum Risiko definieren. Am Anfang des Abends schien das Publikum damit etwas überfordert zu sein und nur zögerlich traute man sich zu, sich zu bewegen. Die DJs zogen daraus die Konsequenz und schwenkten flexibel von den ungeraden und zerhackten Beats britischer „Artificial Intelligence“ zu aktuellem Electro und tiefem Technohouse a la Planet E und Baby Ford. Infolgedessen regte sich nun die Partylaune und so entstand der notwendige Nährboden für Jake Smith alias DJ Subtropic aus Brighton, dessen Plattenauswahl aber zuerst kaum an subtropische Gefilde denken ließ. Düstere Science-Fiction Filme lagen als Assoziation schon etwas näher, da er seinen Set mit ziemlich hartem Darkstep begann und konsequent knackigen Drum and Bass mit Boller-Baß und sägenden Synthies auflegte. Da wurde einem ordentlich der Kopf gewaschen und es kam Bewegung in die Anwesenden. Dankenswerterweise verzichtete Subtropic auf übermäßige Tempomachererei, so daß auch Drum and Bass-Unkundige zu dem dunklen Soundgewitter tanzen konnten. Als sich dann schon jeder auf eine wuchtige Breakbeat-Party eingestellt hatte, wechselte Subtropic gekonnt das Register und schwenkte zu einem kompetenten Freestyle-Set über, welches in punkto Mixfertigkeit und Zusammenstellung einiges zu bieten hatte. Er überrumpelte die aufnahmebereiten Zuhörer mit Sprüngen zwischen Hip Hop, Electro, Filter Disco, House und Downtempo Breakbeats und immer wieder zurück zu Drum and Bass. Glücklicherweise war an diesem Abend jeder in der Laune für Abwechslung und Experimentierfreude, denn der Bereich um den DJ war durchgehend prall gefüllt. Nach DJ Subtropic sorgte dann Labelmacher Ralf Köster selbst mit ausgesuchten House- und Technoperlen für den runden Abschluß einer gelungenen Nacht. Es bleibt nur zu hoffen, daß die Tanzdiele auch weiterhin mit ihm zusammenarbeiten kann, denn Veranstaltungen von diesem Kaliber kann das Kieler Nachtleben wahrlich gut gebrauchen.
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