@ Retreat

@ Retreat

@ Disco On The Run

Quarion / Session Victim – Treats Vol. 1 (Retreat)

Session Victim und Quarion legen für ihr neues, gemeinsames Vinyl-Label mit dieser Split-EP einen Start nach Maß hin. Quarions „A Night At Zukunft“ ist eine liebevolle Hommage an den gleichnamigen Züricher Club und schon etwas länger die Geheimwaffe seiner Live-Auftritte. Eine Funkbombe mit einem beeindruckend dicken und originären Groove und hypnotischen Soundwirbeln am zeitgemäßen Ende von Detroit, die sich kathartisch in einem First Choice-Breakdown entladen. In einer guten und gerechten Welt sollte das flächendeckend die Tanzböden maßregeln. Extra löblich: das Ganze gibt es auch noch als Bonus Beats für DJs, die so etwas noch zu schätzen wissen. Und das sollten wahrlich wieder mehr werden. Auf der anderen Seite demonstrieren Session Victim auf der Grundlage von Billy Fraziers „Billy Who?“, wie man das leidige Thema Edits gewinnbringend angeht. Anstatt Arrangements vage historisch verpflichtet beizubehalten und Grooves mixkompatibel einzuzwängen und somit letztendlich bei einem für alle Lager unglücklichen und wackeligen Endresultat vermeintlicher Authentizität zu enden, stellen sie einfach alles auf den Kopf und setzen es anschließend zu einem beherzten House-Schwinger mit Disco-Erbe zusammen, der nichts weiter sein will als eben genau das. Spitzenplatte.

De:Bug 04/09

Playing Favourites: Quarion

> Sound Dimension – Granny Scratch Scratch (Soul Jazz)

This is a 70’s reggae track by Jackie Mittoo. It’s almost Minimal, very basic.

True. It’s got some Techno appeal, it’s just rhythm. That’s what I like about this Dub stuff, there are so many things you can recognize that were used later on in electronic music like House and Techno. Dub was so important for that.

So these ancient production techniques are still valid? There seems to be a direct line from Jamaica to today’s productions.

Yeah, I listen to Dub. I don’t listen to a lot, but I like some of it. But I like to use the state of mind of Dub in my music. It’s more a musician thing. I like to use the techniques of it. I’m getting more into the music, too. It’s amazing, the way they were mixing the bass and the drums in the 70’s. Really crazy.

They also put some emphasis on just doing tracks, not songs.

It really is the basis of what came afterwards, from Hip Hop to House to Techno. Drum and Bass also, of course. They all took elements from Dub, that’s really interesting.

> Yukihiro Takahashi – Walking To The Beat (Pick Up Records)

The next one is by Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Yukihiro Takahashi. A Synthpop track.

It is interesting. It has this kind of proto-House feeling. What I really liked was this crazy soprano sax solo at the end. It is almost like Free Jazz, for 30 or 40 seconds, and then it stops. That was quite bold.

I think he actually wanted to do some kind of pop hit though. The singer on this record is the one from the 80’s pop group Icehouse for example. But for a pop hit it is probably too weird.

I think the harmonies are built up quite traditionally, but this solo part really surprised me. It is almost like New York ‘s Post Punk era. Trying some new crazy stuff.

Maybe you should use some sax solo in a House track.

Well, I used to play sax in the past.

Really?

Yeah, for a long time. But I kind of really got tired of the sound and I don’t think I’m going to use it. But you never know. I started playing Alto Saxophone when I was 13 years old. I had tried piano a few years ago, but I wasn’t so much into it. I don’t remember why I chose saxophone, but I remember I wanted to do a wind instrument. With the saxophone, I learned to play jazz and I absolutely loved it! I began rehearsing with a few bands, mostly Jazz or Funk groups. When I discovered DJing, I was instantly hooked and I started playing less and less saxophone, until I quit around 2001. DJing, collecting and discovering music became more important for me. I dabbled into production around 1996, but got a home studio setup two years later. I remember that my main reason for producing was that I found that certain records were lacking something or were arranged in a way that I thought was not so effective. I was thinking “Hmm, the producer should have put this part first” or “the chord there doesn’t sound nice although the beat is dope”. After a while I just thought I should make my own tracks.

I remember that a lot of the early Deep House tracks used the same sax sound. Really flat and synthetic. They seldom used a real saxophone, always this cheap sound effect.

Yeah, terrible. Read the rest of this entry »