Test

That was the year already?

It's the last day of November, but already I have been tasked with sending in my Top 20 albums and singles to Hot Press magazine, who have a tight deadline. Still, it feels quite weird to be looking back on a year that isn't over yet. I had no problem choosing my favourite albums: as you can see, it's a mixture of the dream/pop slant on techno from Dial, Mule and Komapkt, some veterans like Vogel, U-ziq, Landstrumm and Weatherall back with some stunning, challenging work, classic electro styles reinterpreted (Gosub, Black Devil), some abstract whatever you want to call it electronic music - hello, Boxcutter, D'Arcangelo, Kettel - as well as fresh spins on techno - MIA, Ozer, Cobblestone J and Kalabrese. The singles however, are still a work in progress. I'm meant to whittle it down to 20 and although I've already been ruthless, there are still 32 records I can't reduce down to 20. It goes to show that this year has been all about singles rather than albums (there were only a few mix albums that impressed me, but I wanted to focus on artist albums: still the mix CD format looks in far poorer health than vinyl as 07 closes) - anyone remember this post from January? I certainly could never have predicted that labels as different as Dial and Planet Mu would have three albums each (!) in my end of year top 20. So what do people think of these lists? Have I made any glaring ommissions, what should never have made it in, and is the album format's days numbered? Any comments or feedback are welcome...

edit: I forgot to put Matthew Dear's 'Asa Breed' into my albums list, so MIA got the elbow. Sorry!
Albums

Neil Landstrumm: Restaurant of Assassins (Planet Mu)
Cristian Vogel: The Never Machine (Tresor)
Gosub: Watchers From The Black Universe (Citinite)
Two Lone Swordsmen: Wrong Meeting 1&2 (Rotters’ Golf Club)
Black Devil Disco Club: In Dub (Lo)
Kettel: Whisper Me Wishes (DUB)
Pantha Du Prince: This Bliss (Dial)
Efdemin: Untitled (Dial)
Cobblestone Jazz: 23 Seconds (Wagon Repair)
Deepchord presents Echospace: The Coldest Season (Modern Love)
U-ziq: Duntisbourne Abbots Soulmate Devastation Technique (Planet Mu)
Boxcutter: Glyphic (Planet Mu)
Kalabrese: Rumpelzirkus (Statt)
International Pony: Mit Dir Sind Wir Vier (Mule)
The Field: From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt)
Lawrence: Lowlights From The Past and Future (Dial)
D’Arcangelo: Eksel (Rephlex)
Matthew Dear: 'Asa Breed' (Ghostly)
Apparat: Walls (Shitkatapult)
Onur Ozer: Kasmir (Vakant)

Singles

Serafin: Mountain People 4 (Mountain People)
Prosumer & Murat Tepelli featuring Elif Bicer: ‘Turn Around’ (Ostgut Ton)
Redshape: Unfinished Symmetry (Present)
Radio Slave: Bell Clap Dance (Rekids)
Unknown: Ugandan Speed Trials (Downwards)
Bodycode: A Document of an African Past (Yore)
Dave Aju and the Invisible Art Trio: ‘Be Like The Sun’ (Circus Company)
Daniel Mehlhart: Kamasutra (Karmarouge)
Kissogram: My Friend Is A Seahorse (James Priestley and Dan Berkson remix)(Def Drive)
Mark Archer: ‘Song For Einna’ (DS:93)
Pigon: ‘Promises’ (Dial)
John Tejada & Arian Leviste: ‘Lost In Thought’ (Palette)
Rework: ‘Love Love Love’ (Chloe Remix) Playhouse
Legowelt: Dx Days (Clone)
Fingers Inc: ‘I’m Strong’ (Clone Classics)
Sascha Funke: ‘The Acrobat’ (Bpitch Control)
Richard Davis: ‘Cold Hard Facts’ (Was Not Was)
Peter Grummich: ‘Fresh Air For Fresh People’ (Karloff)
2000 & ONE: ‘Work’ (Podium)
Alejandro Vivanco: Madre Tierra (Cadenza)
Marlow & Claudia Nehls: ‘Water’ (Daniel Stefanik remix) (Moon Harbour)
Innersphere: ‘Phunk (Villalobos remix) (Intacto)
Pendle Coven: Habitual Stress EP (Modern Love)
Ame: Balandine EP (Innervisions)
Cassy Some Light Unto The Night (Beatstreet)
Solomun & Stimming: Feuer & Eis EP (Diynamic)
JTC: Take Em Off (Crème Jak)
Chymera: Arabesque (Tishomingo)
Jacek Sienkiewicz: Mirrors (Recognition)
Will Saul & Tam Cooper: Sequential Circus (Simple)
Lee Jones: There Comes A Time (Aus)
Plasmik: 8 To 9 (Conaisseur)

Clubbbed to death?

This post about Berlin's nightlife compared to that of Dublin's spawned a long list of replies (see the comments section if you have time). While I'll forego an attempt to quantify the unquantifiable and determine which city has a better atmosphere, something that is dependent on your own mood as well as that of others, the location, time of the evening, music being played, what type of food you ate for dinner etc, there is one statement of fact in all of this: Ireland has the most restrictive licensing laws in Europe, which are killing our small, potentially healthy electronic scene. There are no specific laws per se governing nightclubs as the last piece of legislation pertaining to licensing is archaic, brought in over 100 years ago -  say what you want about the Victorians, but they never got freaky to techno - which means that there are no defined opening and closing times for late night venues. Instead of putting clubs in an advantageous situation -  eg, if there are no hard and fast rules, then they can stay open until whenever they want to - these premises are in reality forced to operate under a piecemeal, bewildering set of exemptions and special late licences (which only allow them to open until 3am at the latest), which must be applied for each time before the courts. In other words, when most of the rest of Europe is getting ready to go out, we are being told to go home. Maybe the great atmosphere in Irish clubs is because we know that we only have a few short hours to have our fun and binge drink accordingly, but the aftermath isn't that pretty. Try getting a taxi or avoid the fights as you wade through the piss and vomit-soaked streets come closing time in Dublin or anywhere else in the country and you'll soon lose your appetite for the great atmosphere here. However, what annoys me most is the apathy toward change among those that this prohibitive situation affects most. I'm part of a small voluntary group, Give Us The Night, which is campaigning and lobbying for a change in the licensing laws. We practically had to beg people to sign our mandate which we presented to the government. In most cases, people forgot to sign the mandate, but even when they were reminded to do so, most didn't bother. Without sounding too cynical, people can complain about Ireland's stunted club scene as much as they want, but unless they make the effort to sign a petition calling for change, they've only got themselves to blame...

Banking on Mike

I'm a bit late to respond, but I feel that Pipecock has made an accurate observation on the huge differences between Mad Mike Banks and Richie Hawtin, who, like it or not, are two of techno's most well-known names. Pipecock's point, that they inhabit two unrelated universes and have diametrically opposed agendas, is spot on. I posted recently on the similarities between a speaker system that cancelled out any noise leaking to outside its confines - that one of Villalobos' friends was designing - and the anarchistic notion of the 'TAZ'. In as much as what this speaker concept promises could be viewed as a political statement, Mad Mike's contribution to the wider community he lives in is much more meaningful and inclusive. The example he sets shows that those involved in music can use their status/money/reputation to help those in need of guidance or direction. It proves that techno does not have to be all about the self or following the fleeting hedonistic trail, no matter how much fun that may be in the short term. Banks' work with the disdadvantged in his area is also proof that techno has the potential to be a powerful political weapon - especially if you accept as I do that all politics is local. It certainly seems to have stoked up a healthy discussion on Infinitestatemachine - the comments section is also worth reading if you have the time.

The vinyl frontier

News that Amato, a UK-based vinyl distributor, had gone out of business, was greeted at the start of this week with the usual, simplistic ‘vinyl is dead’ catcall. Rather than argue the toss about which format is superior or which will sink or swim in what is becoming a tiresome, techno twist on social Darwinist debate, it is perhaps more constructive to look at the reasons for Amato’s collapse and consider the implications that it will have on this area of the music industry and, crucially, what lessons can be learnt for the future.

Amato’s demise is hardly setting a precedent: at the start of this decade, Prime, another UK-based vinyl distributor, which focused mainly on vinyl, closed down. However, the reason for this was not poor sales – some releases going through Prime were selling upwards of 20,000 units, ironically at a time when insightful commentators in UK broadsheets were declaring this style to be in the final throes of an ignominious death – but mismanagement. There was considerable demand for the product (much as that term is abhorrent to me when describing music), but it seemed that the people behind Prime simply did not know how to run their business properly, had no real grasp of ordering, selling, stock inventories, and consequently could not meet that demand. Prime was the first but by no means the last casualty: it was followed by Integrale and more recently Intergroove UK, but the parallels between Prime and what has happened to Amato and the consequences for the labels they represented are most striking. In both instances, some of the most popular electronic labels were represented: in the case of the former, it included nearly all of the leading loop techno outlets and in the case of the latter, UK house/techno stalwarts like 20/20 Vision, Freerange and Crosstown Rebels. The similarities don’t end there: the story that is emerging about Amato - although it is wise at this early stage to stress that an official response/statement from the company outlining its version of events would be welcomed - is that again, poor management rather than poor sales was to blame for the company’s closure. Unfortunately, some of the labels Amato represented were locked into exclusive distribution deals and while others had the foresight to have a number of arrangements with other distributors, it will be difficult for any of the imprints affiliated with Amato to recover stock held at its warehouse.This places extra pressure on small labels that are already operating in an environment where vinyl sales are falling and where legal downloads are not making up the shortfall. It may well spell the end of some of the labels Amato represented - but it’s not all bad news. There are still distribution options for vinyl labels in the UK, Veto and Blackhole being two of the most notable, while some small labels are still doing well from vinyl sales – Will Saul’s Simple/Aus imprints are a good example of a grassroots success story. Meanwhile, Berlin shop Hardwax, now in its fifteenth year, has had its most successful 12 months to date. While Amato closing will lead to a shake-up, this is not necessarily a bad thing: there is still a shockingly high level of sub-standard music making its way onto all formats, which Amato’s demise may address, while the other players in vinyl distribution, including Word & Sound and Intergroove Germany, will do well to cherry pick up the best of Amato’s roster, further sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Most importantly, the news sends out a clear signal for a need for fundamental change in the way that independent labels do business. Like the newspaper and magazine industry, which has to face down the erosion of sales due to a rise in broadband usage, it is time to adapt. Maybe now is the time to stop relying on third-party distributors to promote and sell releases and to deal with online and real life shops directly, to sell releases from their own websites, or for a group of small labels to form collectives along the lines of Holland’s Clone or Spain’s Net28, linked to a store with an online presence. The future might be full of uncertainties for electronic music’s availability in all formats, maybe more so now that Amato has gone, but the most important lesson to learn from this episode is that it’s time for independent labels to take control.

Gage & Costello

Recently, I asked Donnacha Costello to talk about his favourite record - it have been his current favourite or his all-time favourite - and he came back with this answer. It seems like he went for the latter option - and has quite an insightful 'backstory'.

"I didn't need to think about this one for very long. It's Vapourspace: 'Gravitational Arch of 10' (Plus 8) from 1993. Mark Gage must have been so proud after making this record. 15 years later it still blows me away every time I hear it. I was always a huge Plus 8 fan and I used to send demo cassettes to Rich as far back as 1995. Sadly, my constant pestering, emailing and telephone calls didn't get me anywhere but I look back at that and smile about it now. This is possibly my favourite electronic 12" ever."

Tomorrow night

Just a quick post to remind anyone who lives in Ireland (and especially Dublin) that Jay Haze is making his Irish debut at the Pod tomorrow night. Support comes from myself and Pogo resident Barry Redsetta. The entrance fee is 16/12 euro and the horsing around starts at 11pm. If you're heading along and read this site, pop up to the booth and say hello! Here's a taste of what Jay will be playing and here's a taste of what I'll be playing (thanks as always to Philip for hosting my mix. If you're still not convinced, you can also watch Mr Haze in action at Fabric here and here. It should be a good night.

Never lost their hardcore

I just received two CDs from New York label Industrial Strength, and it brought back memories of the mid-90s. For those who aren't aware of the imprint (I know that it used to be Lenny Dee's outfit but I'm not sure if he is still involved: please correct me if I'm wrong), it has been one of the main outlets for gabba/hardcore music in the past decade and a half. Gabba was one of those 90s cultural quirks that never turned into the society-changing phenomenon that the media believed it would back then. When I lived in Germany during that decade, there were frequent television reports about fascist skinhead gangs - and their soundtrack of choice was the 180bpm-plus distorted beats of gabba. No one can deny that Germany still has a problem with neo-Nazism - it was and still is a greater problem - but were and are gabba producers tailoring their sound to suit the neanderthal beliefs of these listeners? It's hard to say, but the music's tempo and sound is aggressive, and doesn't exactly leave any room for lyrics about flower arranging. The term gabba comes from the Dutch slang 'gabber', which means 'mate' and the music was as popular in Holland during the 90s with skinheads who liked to get tanked on cheap amphetamines. So what has happened in the past 10 years? Have the skinheads grown up and got real jobs or does gabba, like techno, have an ageing listenership (as well as teenage and twentysomething listeners)? Are there still thirty - and fortysomethings with shaved heads and flight jackets dancing around to DJ Fistfuck or Dark Raver (who ironically, given the music's alleged political connections, was a black former porn star who wore a cape when he DJed)? Do gabba events still take place in Europe or the US - there are none that I am aware of in Ireland. One thing is for sure: listening to Delta 9's new release, 'No Regrets' on Industrial Strength, it seems like the sound hasn't moved on much. The brutal, primitive-sounding tracks are still as fast as ever, sometimes sped up to cartoonish tempos, and the aggressive themes are unchanged, with track titles like 'Welcome To Hell', 'Son of a Bitch' and 'Watch Yer Back'. At times it sounds more like the venting of teenage frustration than a soundtrack to a sinister political sub-group, but just to be on the safe side, I'd rather not meet anyone who listens to this music in a dark alley.

Four by Four by Four

Four records that I love at the moment for various reasons and which don't seem to have that much in common apart from the fact that they are loosely connected to house/techno are (takes deep breath) Bodycode: A Document of an African Past (Yore). I'm not sure why last year's Bodycode album was so overlooked, because Alan Abrahams is one of the most distinctive techno producers around. Anyway, ‘Body to Body’ sees him teaming up with vocalist Lerato, whose soulful vocals complement Alan's trademark spooky organ sound and make his distinctive sound even more palatable. Things get weirder on the title track though, which opens with abstract noises before a pitched down groove, led by a heavy electronic bass and featuring rambling vocals, appears. It doesn't really go anywhere but its tripped out rhythm sounds both alien and decidedly organic.
This month sees a lot of Donnacha Costello activity, mainly because he's putting out the 'Colorseries' album, but 'Black Bag Job', also on Minimise, shows that he isn't resting on his laurels. This time, the tracks are more Detroit-focused than before, but still contain the same wide-eyed sense of wonder and ability to create a creeping sense of euphoria. ‘Black Bag Job’ itself boasts a warm, soaring bass and compatible, if slightly detuned, chords over rumbling beats. As usual, Costello enhances the core elements with an enviable attention to detail, and his intricate percussion, heavy claps and neat edits makes this yet another an exceptional release.
If Costello's music is all about gradually reaching highs, then S-Max's 'Lovebombing' for Karloff is all about instantaneous thrills. With Karloff's recent form threatening to overshadow its parent label, Sub-Static, this four-track EP applies a cut-up, techno noisenik 90s attitude and the swing of Chicago to minimal’s hollow drums and glitchy percussion. It's a formula that's sure to be copied ad nauseam in the coming months, but until that happens, the wooden bass drums and delayed percussion meets the good-time Landstrumm-esque bass wobbles that prevail on 'Lovebombing' sound fresh and more importantly, like a lot of fun.
Finally, there is some connection between S-Max and Daypak Solo, because they come from a minimal background, but that's where the similarities end. I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of Daypak's other work - it focuses too much on trying to effect smart percussive and rhythmic subtleties and loses sight of the groove - but 'Bis an die Szene Bewaffnet' (a play on the German phrase for 'armed to the teeth': Daypak's smart variation here is 'armed to the scene') on Orac is a different proposition. It marks a change of tact; the busy percussion is thankfully absent and the title track is slowed down to a sparse, broken beat shuffle, accompanied by a bowel-shuddering, lopsided bass, which gives the track a sense of foreboding - a sentiment that’s echoed on the submerged horns of ‘Saaa’. Misery house anyone?

Hazy Day

Jay Haze makes his Irish debut next week, Saturday November 17th, playing at Test/Pogo in Dublin. I caught up with him on the phone before he went on a Japanese tour to talk about his new album, the real Jay Haze and the future of techno.

How are you and what are you doing?
“I’m very well, just relaxing before I go on tour to Japan. It’s my third time there, it’s a very interesting place. The food is amazing and the culture is great, even though they are an island. I especially love Japan for the food. When you have been doing hardcore travelling for the past four years, which is what I’ve been doing, most of the cities just bleed into each other, but when I go to Japan, it’s like ‘holy fuck’! Apart from a few Russian prostitutes, you will only see Japanese people on the streets and in the subway. I have spent a good bit of time in Japan and even started to learn the language - it’s not like other Asian languages, it’s based on vowels, like German, instead of tones and it’s phonetic, so it’s not that difficult to learn.”

So how do you feel about the future of techno?
“The industry is chaging right now and it’s hard to see if it’s for the good or the bad - it’s a very subjective thing. Everyone is selling about half the amount of vinyl that they did 16 months ago, I know that we are, so everything that I do will have to be re-evaluated. 16 months ago, I was able to pay all my artists and pay for my office in Berlin without it eating into the fees I earn from Djing, but now that has started to happen. I feel that digital sales aren’t territorial enough: most people in Europe can afford to pay 3 euro for a track on Beatport, but for someone in Thailand, that’s still a load of money and they need to be aware of that. There is also not enough of a trickle down effect: if a DJ like Villalobos or one of the other big DJs, is earning say seven thousand euro for a gig, it doesn’t make much sense for whoever it is who makes the records he plays not to get paid. It doesn’t encourage people to make music or new talent to start producing.”

You mentioned a fall in the amount of vinyl you sell: has this shortfall been offset by digital sales?
“No, it hasn’t. A very commercial label like Get Physical has amazing sales with Beatport, but as soon as the term underground gets attached to what you do, which is what happened to me, even if what I do isn’t that underground, you automatically sell far less. Anyway, it doesn’t bother me: I don’t think about money so much because it’s the opposite of artistic endeavour and I try to lose myself in my work, be that music or sculpting. I try not to think about other things - it’s one of the biggest problems in the music industry.”

What do you mean?
“If I was to think about what other people think about me all day, I’d end up examining myself and what I do with my life and I’d never get anything done! I feel that artists are genuinely scared about what people will think about their work - that’s why there is so much music that sounds virtually the same. There are boundaries and some people are playful in and around these boundaries, but that’s it, there’s very little originality and people aren’t willling to experiment. Producers are compromising their sound because they are worried about what ‘the market’ or people in the industry will think. About three years ago, it was almost scary the amount of demos that the label got where all of a sudden, the quality was OK across the board, but was never amazing. We used to get demos either where the tracks were really horrible or the standard was excellent! So three years ago, I started to scratch my head and wonder ‘what is this phenomenon?’ It must have something to do with everyone using the same technology or no one wanting to push things. I wish producers would be more experimental, it’s the only way to move music forward – even if they are more poppy or less serious that would be start.”

What happened with Fuckpony – why did Samim leave?
“Fuckpony was always my project. For the record, I never meant to diss Samim and to this day, we remain very good friends, even though there were comments made in the past, purely out of anmger. I am the one with the contract for Fuckpony with Get Physical and I am the one who will keep creating the music for this project. The original line up broke up because there was a difference of opinion about ambition. Where Samim wanted to go is where he’s at now and I am not the kind of person who wants to have a pop hit. Actually, Bearback was the one project where we were both equally involved. 75% of the tracks for the Fuckpony album were written and produced when Samim wasn’t even in the room. He was living with me at the time in my spare room, so he had some kind of intangible influence on what was going on.”

You’ve just released ‘Lady Judy’, new EP for Bpitch - so it’s safe to say that Fuckpony is still going strong?
“Absolutely - the track is about Judy from Fabric. It’s nice to personalise music and not take it so seriously. Life has taught me to take life with a pinch of salt and I’m really happy if people have fun with my music. Fuckpony is all about having fun and that’s probably why it only took two weeks to make the album. The album I’m doing under my own name has taken three years so far and isn’t finished yet.”

So at the moment, there’s no sign of the 'the dark side of Jay Haze'?
“Everyone has their opinions and normally, I’m not like that. That Resident Advisor interview totally caught me off guard. My studio went on fire and I was told I couldn’t use it for a week and straight after that, I hopped on a plane to London and met the journalist directly at the hotel. He told me that his girlfriend had died of cancer a few weeks previously and he had just come from the hospital where she died and he had cried together with a nurse at the bed where his girlfriend had been, so you can probably imagine that I wasn’t in the right state of mind to do an interview at that stage! I answered those questions honestly, even though I was being asked crazy questions like ‘whose career is better - Troy or Richie’s?’ – as if I sit around and think all the time about Minus and what they’re doing. I don’t have a well thought-out plan about other people. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a total joker and not a negative guy at all, apart from when I hear music that’s a copy of a copy. Since that interview came out I don’t look at the internet at all, I don’t Google myself or reviews of my releases because nearly all of the time, the sentiment is negative.”

When duo you plan to release the Jay Haze album?
It’s called ‘Love & Beyond’: it’s out in February and it will be available in three parts. I wanted to do it differently and I think that it’s a new concept. There are so many albums that aren’t albums - they have no continuity, no flow, no common idea and I don’t just mean in dance music – these days most pop artists just release albums with 10 singles on them. It’ll be available separately with one CD containing Marvin Gaye-style soul song with me singing, while the second CD will be collection of instrumental tracks, then the double pack vinyl version will have other original tracks. There’s a track with Ricardo (Villalobos) on it and the album is really across the board, covering rock, flamenco and dub reggae. The main focus of the album is love, it’s sexy music, and I hope that it will help people to get away from the impression that they have about me.”

In the temporary zone

Here's an interesting interview that US magazine XLR8R did with Ricardo Villalobos. Apart from the fawning intro - is he really a "mystic and rationalist"? I don't think so - what makes this piece different is one of the answers that Villalobos gives. He has talked before about his concept for the 'club of the future', but so far, it had been vague. This quote, however, gives a far greater insight into what could lead to a huge cultural development: "There is a French friend of mine who is working for the American brand, Meyer Sound in South America, and he is working on developing a ring where it is a dancing ring. It is a ring–big or small–of speakers and you can be inside the ring. And inside the ring there is sound. And then outside the ring there is no sound because the little speakers in the back, which are deleting with the opposite phase, the sound coming out of the ring. So this is the club of the future."
In effect, what Villalobos is describing is a techno equivalent of ontological anarchist Hakim Bey's concept of a temporary autonomous zone (TAZ), a place that is free from the control of governments or authorities for a brief period of time. Villalobos also speaks about the police trying to shut down parties and clubs, but this is nothing new in Ireland where I am based, the country with the biggest youth population and the most restrictive licensing laws in Europe. Seen from this perspective, the work that Ricardo's French friend is doing can't reach its conclusion quickly enough. One of my ongoing frustrations with techno is the unwillingness of its main proponents to use it as a platform to campaign for socio-political change and more freedom. With the exception of Undeground Resistance, who have their own, defined agenda, no one has stepped up to the plate yet. Maybe he's not a mystic as the piece claims, but the concept Villalobos is describing could well prove to be the catalyst for social change all over the world - even if it is somewhat self-serving.