TAPEd conversation: Heidi (Get Physical / Phonica)

So anyway, you probably heard/went nuts for that recent Get Physical track by Heidi (pictured above) & Riton. I mean, a lot of people have been unduly hating on Booka Shade's label in 2006 and at times I've been chief among 'em. OK, so I'm not Piers Martin, who seems to've always taken the label's success as a personal, not just musical, affront (for reasons slightly beyond me), but you can't dispute the fact that, to some extent, Get Physical has been a victim of its own success, with decent cashflow (a genuine rarity amongst independents) leading to a few too many unnecessary comps along the lines of DJ T presents GET YOU PHYSICAL FULL BODY LINGUISTIC PARTY MEGAMIX VOL. 43. But, equally, I can't argue with 'Learning From Making Mistakes', 'In White Rooms', 'Stalker' etc - all sophisticated production, melody and dancefloor-smashing appeal. And while those three tune hardly deviate from the GP sound that was so revelatory back in 05' (and now seems slightly tired), Hell's mix of Chelonis and the Fuckpony LP demonstrate to me a more than adequate engagement with the present on the Phiz's part.

Anyway.

Hailing from Canada, home of maple syrup, that dude out of Due South and, er, some other people, Heidi Van Den Amstel moved to London a few years ago and duly started up Phonica with Simon Rigg and pals. Since then, Phonica's emerged as the pre-eminent source of underground electronic tuneage in London, and their website is daily bread for 4x4 jocks around the word. As you already know.

Heidi's been building a sturdy name for herself as a DJ in recent times, recently spinning at the Get Physical beach party off-Sonar and deservedly bagging herself a residency at Monza in Ibiza, and you probably know that her debut 12", put together with Riton, recently came out on Physical. A bumpin' electro-houser with a mournful cello bridge and irresitible piano riff (what in god's name was that RA reviewer on about when he said the tune has no hook?), 'Vejer' has done the business in the clubs and, to my mind, been one of the best releases of the year. If you haven't got yourself a copy, do it; there's some nicely workable Jesse Rose mixes on the flip too.

Just out this week is Heidi's Monza Club Ibiza Compilation Vol. 1 (I know, the title sounds a lot like what I just ribbing). I would describe it to y'all, but why bother when le Sherbunator's nailed it already:

These days, the very idea of an "Ibiza compilation" is a risky proposition — after exactly 3,436 CD covers adorned with sunsets and too-small bikinis, the genre long ago jumped its own Balearic shark. Heidi, however, of the highly regarded Phonica record shop, wrests the trope from irrelevance's jaws with that rarest of mixes — a session that manages to put scenester sectarianism on hold in favor of proper, pumping floor-fillers, thanks to a toothy track selection and one of the meatiest mixing styles around. Modern minimal is represented via John Tejada and Marc Houle; Kerri Chandler and Dennis Ferrer represent the old school without making it feel like detention, and artists as diverse as Fuckpony and Tobias (Freund, aka Pink Elln) prove that "funky house," that dreaded two-word phrase, isn't a genre, but simply a state of mind.


So, yeah, I asked Heidi a few questions....

‘Vejer’ has that bumping Chicago sound, and the classic Phonica electro-house vibe, anchored by the Physical minimal-not-minimal percussion track. Did you set out to make the record with a fairly exact idea of what you wanted to produce, or did you go in with a completely blank slate and feel your way through the process?

I knew exactly what i wanted to do...I wanted to make something that had the old school vibe with a fresh new sound. I also knew I wanted to put some string in it......The result was 'Vejer'.


What’s it like serving all those Barleys and know-it-alls over the counter?

They tend to stay in there own neighbourhood but a few do filter out into the real world and come into Phonica. For me it's comic relief. You just have to laugh because if I really took them seriously then I'd be just as bad.


You made ‘Vejer’ with Riton. What was it like working on a track with your nearest and dearest? I’m sure if I did the same with any girlfriend I’ve had, one of us, or both of us, would be dead.

I have to be honest and say it was great...We had a laugh and I enjoy working with him. He's a very talented person and a hard worker and I admire that. He understands me and my ideas which makes it easy for us to do things together…


What’s the most irritating thing a Phonica customer can do/has done?

Well it drives me mentally insane when a customer comes into the shop and asks me a question and I give them an answer and then 2 minutes later they go over to one of the guys that work in the shop and ask the exact same question…Like my answer isn't credible enough because I'm a woman...It happens at least twice a day...can you feel my pain??


How does it feel to see ‘Vejer’ getting a good reaction when you (or someone else) plays it out? Obviously it doesn’t feel bad. But you can elaborate.

It feels fantastic...It's great to see people freak out to what you've done. Adrenaline rush to the head...


How did you go about selecting the tracks for the Monza mix?
I wanted to showcase the different stuff I'm into. I only had a month to choose the tracks and usually you get 3 months so I had to go with my impulses and there are tracks on the CD which I always play and I thought that it would be true to a condensed set...I wanted it to be accessible. Car, home, club. I made the CD before the Ibiza season started and some of the tracks I put on there became big Ibiza tunes this summer which is great.


What’s your favourite Bowie album?

Heroes.

Favourite TV show ever?
In England it has to be French and Saunders and Ab Fab...I love those chicks.......There frickin’ hilarious [what? – Soft]

What, if anything, do you love about living/working/partying in London?

I love the buzz of London...I'm quite hyper and I love being in a city that accommodates my personality. It's diverse as well....always something new and exciting happening. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be able to live here and then I always have a little moment whenever I go over one of the bridges that crosses the Thames. I just look at the history around me and it makes me smile...I love old stuff. Canada is a fairly new country and it's history is pretty boring but the UK blows me away. The first time I ever saw a castle I tripped out. I only saw things like this in the movies and seeing it in real life was really special. Bodiam castle was the first one I saw...If you haven't been to see it you should - it's beautiful.

Do you plan to make some more tunes any time soon? Have you caught the production bug? Any scheduled releases in the pipeline?

I certainly do...But I'm just concentrating on DJing at the moment...The next one is going to be a filthy bass monster and hopefully I can convince DJ Rush or DJ Funk to do some vocals on it…

What’s the ultimate wedding disco song as far as your concerned? I’m all about the Proclaimers’ ‘100 Miles’…
Anything by one of my idols......PRINCE.

Who, be it in the real world or the dream world, would you like to collaborate with production-wise?
Carl Craig or Andrew Weatherall...Love those dudes.

What’s special about playing in Ibiza, particularly Monza?

Ibiza is soooo wonderful. Every time I've been there I've just had a truly amazing experience...Everyone is there for different reasons...You can chill out, eat amazing food, go to beautiful beaches…And you can combine it with the pure insanity of the clubs...I always thought that it was really cheesy but i was proved wrong. Yes, there are horrible parts of that island but you can avoid them easily. Monza is special as well...The vibe is electric. When I played last year at Penelope's I've never been able to top the feeling I had when I played my last record…It was a moment that I will always remember. I was so grateful for that opportunity.

Have you been ‘innocently’ pushing your 12” on unsuspecting customers and their listening racks?

Actually I haven't...It's up to them to decide if they like it or not...I wouldn't be upset if they didn't. It's not for everyone.

When did you have your 4x4 moment? Who was spinning or what was playing when you first thought ‘Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. I fucking love house music…’

There have been a few...Derrick Carter was the first.......Filthy jackin’ Chicago shit.....love it.......he still makes me shake my booty.....Andrew Weatherall made me dance the longest and hardest at Haywire about 4 years ago when it was in that shithole in Shoreditch........Nice and dark and dirty and more bass then you can imagine...I'd never heard anything like it before and I freaked out. I left looking like I took a shower on the dancefloor...Totally soaked with sweat and sporting the biggest smile.

How/where did you first meet the Get Physical crew?
I met them almost 3 years ago at The Key when M.A.N.D.Y. were playing and we just connected...We've been mates ever since.

There’s been talk of a Phonica record label for some time now. Any firm plans?

Not yet......were still to busy to take time out to sort out a label.

What does the dream Van Den Amstel rider consist of?

I'm living the dream right now...

What’s the worst/funniest raving injury you’ve suffered?

I was in Berlin 2 years ago for Antony Hill’s birthday and I was bitten by the Panorama bar bug along with Konrad Black and Ewan Pearson (I secretly blame them) and the next day after not having any sleep I was at the Get Physical offices and I don't know how I did this but I managed to smash my head off of this piece of steel crane sticking out of the wall and it split my forehead wide open and blood was everywhere. They had to rush me to the hospital where I had stitches put in. I then had to go straight to the airport to fly back to London with a massive head and 2 black eyes that later appeared. I have a great scar to remind me of that weekend for the rest of my life.

Heidi's Current Top 10

1. Martin Buttrich - Full Clip // Planet E
2. Sleeper Thief - Chasing You // Mobilee
3. Audion - Mouth to Mouth // Spectral Sound
4. Shane Berry - Fillertet 2 (Gabriel Ananda Remix) // Trapez Ltd
5. Locodice - Flight LB7475 // Ovum
6. Andre Crom/Tigerskin - Notaufnahme // Liebe Detail
7. Stefan Goldmann - Sleepy Hollow (Ame Remix) // Innervisions
8. Cobblestone Jazz - India in Me // Wagon Repair
9. Elon - Moving In (Riton Remix) // Made to Play
10. Ferrer and Sydenham - The Back Door - Ibadan

Whooping Bosh

First things first, hats off the the under_score lot for putting on one of the best nights that Bristol's seen all year with Saturday's Sleeparchive show. Every DJ that graced the decks played excellent sets, and the Sleeparchive laptop performance just took the biscuit. As Puffin's already mentioned, his sound palette was expectedly small, but things never got boring as he expertly manoeuvered the crowd down the techno tunnel that we've been loving on his 12"s for the last couple of years. I can't remember seeing a moodier looking DJ since Carl Craig's set earlier in the year at Native, and even then Puffin managed to get a wink out of him! Enquiring later on in the night about his reluctance to look like he was enjoying himself, Mr Archive (a.k.a. Roger Semsroth) replied with a wry retort of, 'I guess it's the German style'. When the music sounds this good, it doesn't really matter. Here's the first track from the release that kicked things off for Roger under his Sleeparchive moniker (he's previously released under the guises of Television Set and Skanfrom). In the beginning, there was rhythm...

Download:
Sleeparchive - Elephant Island // Sleeparchive

I wondered in expecting a 'more minimal than thou' set from our Puffin, and was pleasantly surprised to see him warming up the assembled techno lovers with the best dubstep set that I've ever heard him play out. Pinch's Qawwali rubbed up against the Punisher VIP with perfect synergy, and Toastyboy's breaksteppin' beats nestled nicely with Skream's new cut on Tempa (which is fucking fantastic by the way). It's a soft, uplifting, reggae-tinged heartwarmer with a much more subdued snare sound that we're used to from the boy wonder, and will be sure to feature in the more discerning dubstep DJ's sets in the coming months.

Download:
Skream - Dutch Flowers (clip) // Tempa

On Sunday I really should have pulled my finger out and gone to Normalise down at Hush Hush, but alas, I spent the day being incredibly lazy round at October's gaff whilst watching Columbo (a feature length episode directed by Senor Spielbergo, no less) and listening to the Rolling Stones. Whilst listening to Gimme Shelter, probably my favourite Stones track, I was reminded of this little gem hidden deep in the Kompakt back catalogue from Tape favourite Justus Kohncke. The b-side to his first Kompakt release, 'Shelter' samples Keef's sublime guitar intro, adds some moody keys, and turns the boompty knob right up to 11. You're never really going to beat the near-perfect original, but Justus' cheeky take on it will definitely put some smiles on people's faces when aired at the right early morning rave up.

Download:
Justus Kohncke - Shelter // Kompakt

Speaking of Mr October, he played a cracking multi-faceted techno set down at Cosies on Friday. The soundsystem wasn't realy up to scratch with the musical selection, but Jules soldiered on and got the too-stoned-to-stand crowd pumped up good and proper. There were too many highlights to mention, but he kicked off really nicely with the Luciano remix of Isolee into Carl Craig's Rhythm & Sound reworking, and outed both sides of the wonderous Sleeper Thief release on Mobilee. You can find one of the tracks, 'Chasing Rainbow', at the start of my mix on Viva Radio at the moment. Muchos thanks go out to Arveene for playing it on his radio show last Friday - it was certainly surreal to hear him talking over the top of it! Here's the full tracklisting for the latest Viva show:

Viva Radio - Show #3: 'After Hours'
Richard Carnage in the mix:
Sleeper Thief - Chasing Rainbow // Mobilee
Lazyfatpeople - Shinjuku // Wagon Repair
Exercise One - 12 Years // LAN Music
Guy J & Sahar Z - Hazui (Gui Boratto Remix) // Electribe
Steve Bug - Loverboy (Guido Schneider Remix) // Poker Flat
Crowdpleaser & St Plomb - 18 Years // Mental Groove
Heidi vs Riton - Vejer // Get Physical
Akabu - Phuture Bound (Ame Remix) // Z
Martin Buttrich - Full Clip // Planet E
Marcus Worgull - Dragon Loop // Innervisions
Minilogue - The Girl From Botany Bay // Wir Im Rhythmus
Locodice - Orchidee // M_nus
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Jet (Paul Kalkbrenner Remix) // Bpitch Control
Mike Monday - Tooting Warrior // Playtime
End of mix
Morane - Let Me Out (No, There's Nobody In The Cellar Mix) // Perlon
October - There's A Glitch In My Soup (Demo) // CD-R
Alex Under - Fortuito // Plus 8
SLG - Anymore // Level
Patrick Chardronnet - Eve By Day // Connaisseur

Listeners who get to the end of the mix get an exclusive hearing of October's new bomb that sounds like Pharrell jamming with Booka Shade down at the Panoramabar... Seriously! One track that he played on Friday that I hadn't heard before was the new Rice Twins' (pictured above) effort on K2. If you've heard any of their tracks before then you know what to expect - lush brooding techno that'll move your heart as much as your body.

Download:
The Rice Twins - For Dan // K2

Following this, Jules laid down the Ame/Schwarz/Dixon collaboration, and with the way he brought it in it seriously seemed like a bomb had gone off in the club. A dancefloor bomb of course - it was a proper mood explosion with the perfect amount of whoop factor. Speaking of DJs with a whoop factor...

I never really got the chance to talk properly about the last Mutant Pop party, which as you regular readers only know too well, hosted minimal wizards Italoboyz. Warming up the swelling crowd with fairly skeletal sounds for the first half of their set, they swiftly flipped into a 'right then, let's get this crowd going mental' mood, and drove everyone wild with their simply righteous DJing skills. Here's the moment where it all really kicked off (apologies for the darkness, but it is a dark, cavernous club after all!):

Just listen to the crowd! Now this is the atmosphere that I was talking about when I was making the comparison to the lacklustre crowd in the main room at the recent Phonica party. Why they weren't going absolutely apeshit to Simon Rigg and Konrad Black I just don't know. Anyway, the track in question is Smith N Hack's delightful remix of Matthew Herbert's recent single, 'Moving Like A Train'. If those parping horns and stomping percussion don't get your feet going, then the breakdown two thirds of the way through definitely will. I never thought that I'd ever catch myself pumping my fist along to beatless brass, but I was obviously very wrong indeed. Altogether now... 'WHOOOOP!'

Download:
Herbert - Moving Like A Train (Smith N Hack Remix) // !K7

Thanks again to Marco and Federico for coming down to play and being such charming characters. Here they are pictured above with our Mutant Pop collaborators, Mike and Gaz. Just check that 'tache on Federico! Mike was pretty spot on in the taxi when he blurted out, ' I've just realised who that Federico looks like... it's only the bloody 118-118 bloke!'. But seriously, they really did prove themselves to be cracking DJs, and we even recorded their after hours set in Puffin's gentlemen's lounge. I'll get it up on here as soon I've lugged his archaic minidisc deck over to my place. Hang on - didn't I say that a few weeks back? Better late than never I suppose.

I know that there’s been a fair old mp3 drought of late, so I’ll stop with the narrative witterings and get straight to the additional audio. First up we’ve got a remix of Radio Slave’s ‘My Bleep’ that didn’t make it to the 12” release. Distributed as an mp3 only release (download the high quality version from Beatport here), Luke Solomon’s version strips things back and injects a fair amount of bounce to proceedings, and it’ll definitely go down well on the more minimal-hungry dancefloors about town. The original ‘My Bleep’ was a bit of a love/hate thing (I quite liked it, but I know many people who didn’t), but this is definitely the version for all those who didn’t particularly enjoy the brash forcefulness of Matt Edwards' original.

Download:
Radio Slave - My Bleep (Luke Solomon Remix) // Rekids
(Buy the high quality version from Beatport)

So Johnny boy does it again. Just when you think that he’s going to have to stem the flow of great tracks that he’s been putting out over the last couple of years (check his releases on Palette and Poker Flat if you haven’t already), he goes and puts a totally fresh twist on his ever reliable sound on this remix for Ben Watt's Buzzin' Fly label. Based around a cracking phased synth riff and so-micro-they're-almost-not-there clicks, it swells into its groovin' three note bassline and keeps on building without ever going too over the top. Full marks yet again to that man.

Download:
Jimpster - Square Up (John Tejada Remix) // Buzzin' Fly

Just a little footnote to say that I've changed the Tape website so that it forwards you straight to here (seeing as it hasn't actually been worked on for a year now), so instead of typing out the lengthy blogspot address you can use www.tape-club.com. Also, you may have noticed that I've re-encoded all the mp3s at a lower bitrate to try and encourage you all to go out and buy the high quality versions over at the usual digital retailers. Failing that, just go out and get yourself the record and help keep vinyl alive! They're still at really listenable quality (generally 160kbps, 128 for the pre and new releases), so don't worry about it obscuring your home listening pleasure. Anyway, peace out, and we hope to see some of you at Mutant Pop in a couple of weeks where we'll be hosting Tiny Sticks bossman Mock.

Caravan rolls into town

Well that was a really good weekend - Sleeparchive properly rocked the Tube on Saturday night, playing a masterful set of his own tunes and managing to not smile once! I think he only used about three sounds on his laptop, those ruthlessly efficent kickdrums, a hint of acid bleepiness and that hissing noise you find all over his records. It sounded great. There was lots of talk about the purity of his techno and much appreciation of the lack of breakdowns and in Luke Malcher's case the absence of his detested hi-hats! Everyone else played a blinder too, I was especially likng Jimmy P's set in which he managed to seemingly fit the entire Smith N Hack back catalogue into! Nuff respect Mr Petherwick. I played for about an hour rocking the dubstep to a few bewildered faces and slighty more bass hungry headz. It being freshers week I had some spotty little oik asked me for "Something with a beat, do you have any Pendulum?" and then when that didn't work he sent his mate up to ask for Shy FX 'Shake Your Body'. I explained that this was a specialist music night with the disdainful air of a snob who has spent to long behind the counter of record shops havingto service orribe junglists. Anyway they soon left and Rich overheard him demanding his money back and exclaiming I was the worst Dj he had ever seen. Result. Later in the evening I spent some time demanding that Mr Sleeparchive make some dubstep after he expressed a love of the form, so hopefully we'll get some reductionist dubstep with lots of hissing noises on it! Last night was great too, we had a little techno social which is mentioned in the post below. It went so well we're going fortnightly. I played what I thought was my best set in ages. I went from Theo Parrish into TAPE favourite Strategy into Candido and then some minimal, a bit of Pepe Braddock, you get the idea... So all those peeps in Bristol, the night is called 'Normalise', come down have a few pints and lets talk techno!

Anyway, the real reason for this post is to infrom y'all about a new night that October and I are running as of this Saturday. The night is called 'Caravan' and is dedicated to a deeper, dubbier and to some extent jazzier electronic sound than we normally play. For the first night we are keeping it local with a couple of choise Bristol-centric guests. Warming things up will be Tim Spencer from 'Moshi Moshi', a long running night of quiet, understated bar cool. Tim's got super eclectic taste and always plays a great set from across the board. Whenever i've seen him spin he always brings a soulfulness and leftfield charm to proceedings. Should be perfect. Next up is Bristol's master of riddims, the mighty Dub Boy of Ruffnek Diskotek. Known for his incredible selction of Jamaican tuneage, new and old, Dub boy can be found playing around Bristol pretty much every weekend, smashing it up wherever he goes. We've encouraged him to go as deep as he likes on Saturday, so plenty of dub methinks. When I saw him the other day he hinted there might be an element of sublow in his set, so i'll be enjoying that! Next up is me playing a mashed up set of dubstep, bruk and minimal (in theory) and then finally the master minimal mixer, DJ October who needs no introduction to readers of this blog. Join us from 10pm onwards, door tax is £3. Should be a good 'un....

Chin Strokers United

Hello all, its been ages since I last wrote blah blah blah... Suffice to say, much has been changing in my little world of Bristol. I recently lost my job at one of the few remaining record shops in town following its closure. We were no longer able to compete with anything, either in Bristol (Fopp = Scum) or the net. So no more of the legendary Replay, no more weird 2nd hand bargains, obscuro Lightning Bolt releases, slighty shady looking Rolling Stones bootlegs and of course my own little techno corner! Thanks to anyone who ever came in and gave us your custom. I would like to say at this point, anyone who lives in this city, please please please support Rooted Records, we can't let another one go. Maybe rather foolishly plans are already afoot to set up some kind of music retail thingy with my boy October, so watch this space for further details...

Aside from all that just wanted to give anyone in Bristol a quick heads up on a few things. Tonight Bristol gets a techno exclusive from the mighty master of reductionism, Sleeparchive. I've been looking forward to this for ages. You'll find yours truly on the bill along with the under_score residents and Jay Curnock and Pat Bolton. Its all happening at the tube, Massive Attack's fine 100-150 capacity venue. Things are kicking off at 9pm and rollin all the way through to 6am. Door tax is a few quid and i'd get there early, avoid disapointment and all that. If that isn't enough for you tomorrow sees the launch of the newest and most self conciously chin stroking techno night in Bristol. The night is called Normalise and is being run by the lovely Luke Melcher, he of under_score fame. Its at a relatively new bar called Hush Hush, which is just by the arches on Gloucester Road. Things kick off at 6pm, meaning enough time to have a disco nap after Sleeparchive, and go on til 11pm, how very civil! Joing myself and him on the night will be Joe and Harry from the esteemed West Country Shakedown, specialists in all things electro and italo and that type of thing. Expect deep disco, Chicago house and Detroit experiments all delivered in a suitably snobbish manner! oh, and its free...

Also just better say, check out the Carnage mix below as it looks really good. I honestly don't know where he gets the time, he's been working like a dog recently so fair play to that man. May I also recommend Mr Soft's interview with the mainman of Bristol Dubstep, DJ Pinch - scroll down to check it out. I'm getting a computer soon so hopefully i'll be able to blurb on here in a more frequent manner, bad grammar and all!

Radio... Live Transmission

Tuesday evening saw me trek over to Frenchay to see Arveene (pictured above) play at some freshers fair shindig over at the lesser of Bristol's two universities, UWE. It was quite a weird one really, with the event being some extreme sports (if BMXing and skateboarding still count as that) exhibition. Apparently, 1400 tickets had been sold but it seemed like less than half of those had actually turned up. After a brief spell of mildly enjoyable jungle (it's never really going to beat a Puffin Jack jungle set in his gentlemen's lounge), I popped over to the other room to check out Erol's new protege. Arveene started up at about midnight, commencing with all sorts of edits including a wicked rapped up version of Primal Scream's 'Loaded', and housing things up with the fantastic Simian Mobile Disco mix of Peaches. The dancefloor went from empty to packed (which may have had something to do with them closing off the other room) and going for it, and Arv really made the most of the burgeoning crowd with his tastefully mashed up indie/electro/hip hop selection. That boy certainly loves a rap-appella!

I happened to thrust a copy of my latest mix his way, and somehow it's found it's way onto Arveene and Johnny Moy's radio show this Saturday night. Their show, Transmit, broadcasts on Ireland's Spin radio station, and can be found by tuning your analogue dials to 103.8FM on Saturday from 7:45 to 10:45. You can also listen live through their online stream here, or browse the show's page here.

The mix will also feature on our latest Viva Radio slot, and I'll keep you posted about when it can be accessed. Here's the tracklisting:

Richard Carnage - 'After Hours' mix
1) Sleeper Thief - Chasing Rainbow // Mobilee
2) Lazyfatpeople - Shinjuku // Wagon Repair
3) Exercise One - 12 Years // LAN Music
4) Guy J & Sahar Z - Hazui (Gui Boratto Remix) // Electribe
5) Steve Bug - Loverboy (Guido Schneider Remix) // Poker Flat
6) Crowdpleaser & St Plomb - 18 Years // Mental Groove
7) Heidi vs Riton - Vejer // Get Physical
8) Akabu - Phuture Bound (Ame Remix) // Z
9) Martin Buttrich - Full Clip // Planet E
10) Marcus Worgull - Dragon Loop // Innervisions
11) Minilogue - The Girl From Botany Bay // Wir Im Rhythmus
12) Locodice - Orchidee // M_nus
13) Ellen Allien & Apparat - Jet (Paul Kalkbrenner Remix) // Bpitch Control
14) Mike Monday - Tooting Warrior // Playtime

Also, a quick reminder to all you people in the South West - Sleeparchive are playing Underscore at The Tube this Saturday so get your minimal head on and pop down for bleeps and beats that will make you freak! Take care, and have a good weekend - now I can leave to go see our boy October spin some tuneage down at Bristol's beloved skunk den that is Cosies!

TAPEd conversation: Pinch (Tectonic / Planet Mu)

Another week has flown by and, I know, I know, we still haven't given you a great deal in the way of upfront of mpfrees. That will change soon, as I keep assuring you, but for now you ought to be contented with the spanking mixes from Sean Johnston, Heartbeat and our very own Ricky C in this week's earlier posts - Carnage's in particular has some bran new/as yet unreleased nuggets in its tracklisting, so have a listen 'em and spunk your money on some vinyl if you like what you here.

But to business...

Bristolians among you will, I hope, need no introduction to Pinch, aka Rob Ellis (picture above, taken quite a while ago, from Gutterbreakz...). Puffin Jack, who prizes a friendly manner as much as he does a heavy tune, habitually supplies the epithet "the nicest man in dubstep" whenever he mentions Rob's name, but frankly that's irrelevant, 'cos even if Pinch was a gun-toting nazi (which, I stress, he is not) we would still be forced to acknowledge what a shit-hot producer, DJ and label-owner her is. 'Qawaali', which came out on Planet Mu earlier in the year, is a solid-gold anthem round the smokier floors of TAPE Towers, and the man's speaker-melting DJ sets are the stuff of local, and increasingly international, legend (check out his Dubloaded night if you haven't already). He also runs the Tectonic label ("If your chest ain't rattlin', it ain't happenin'..."), which put out the totally off-the-scale double-header ('Bahl Fwd'/'Temptation') from Skream and Distance at the beginning of the summer, and is frankly one of the most important and interesting labels to emerge from the UK underground in recent years.

Anyway, I asked Pinch a few question about his influences, activities and aspirations....Here's what he said.


Dubstep, in particular the dancefloor-orientated tracks, has its roots and references in the dark garage sounds of producers like Horsepower; yetlistening to 'Qawaali', or tracks by Shackleton, Mystikz etc, in many waysit's dub in the purest sense, albeit beefed up and modernized. How important (if at all) are original dub and roots sounds to you?

Dub was always more important to me than roots originally – it’s where, andwhen, sound and space boundaries were first broken - the rules rewritten. My older brother used to listen to a lot of dub - especially the On-U Sound label andrelated stuff, he used to make me tapes - and a couple of them were the onlythings that received a regular airing from the age of about 10/11 the whole time through till, well now. In more recent years I've also come toappreciate the roots side too - and its conscious messages. I do think, though, that the 'dub' in dubstep has come a lot more recently, I think it was used originally to mean 'instrumental' rather than 'reggae'. Still there'sdefinitely a strong affinity between the genres, even if it’s more apparent in some productions than others.



You're based in Bristol, spiritual home of highgrade and, for want of a better word, trip hop. Have you been at all influenced by Massive Attack, Geoff Barrow,Smith & Mighty etc – what the rest of the world tends to think of as the Bristol sound? Do you ever feel like you're making music in that tradition? Or were those kinds of producers/artists never really on your radar?

Its funny I always liked the term trip hop - thought it was a good way of putting it. But yes - these producers were at the forefront of my 'radar'. I have been hugely influenced by the Bristol sound as it’s known - Portishead,Massive Attack, Tricky, Smith & Mighty, More Rockers, Roni, Die, Krust,Suv...It’s why I moved here 8 years ago (I grew up in Newport, was born originally in Scotland). It's been an incredible honour to meet and hang outwith Peter D (from More Rockers) and Rob Smith (from Smith & Mighty), through them finding out about dubstep and getting into it. Even Roni Size has called round to my house recently to fish out some beats off the hard drive!

I don't feel that I've set out to make 'Bristol' music, I'm just doing whatcomes naturally…I'm influenced by it so that will obviously shine through in some capacity, but my real drive came from London - dubstep is a London sound much in the way jungle was. I guess though (to go full circle), I've gone to London, taken it back to Bristol and I'm twisting my own variation on it. Thing is, my tracks have a very different sound to, say, the HENCH crew- they're all Bristolian so I guess their sound is more of a Bristol dubstep sound - even if, ironically, mine is probably closer to what used to be known as a Bristol sound...Complicated!



A lot of dubstep is intensely minimal. And techno production seems toreally influence (perhaps indirectly) the texture and construction of dubstep, even though the beat patterns are usually derived from jungle and 2step. Have you ever been into techno yourself?

Yes, I especially enjoy deep minimal techno, I'm (predictably) a big fan ofBasic Channel, Chain Reaction and - of course - their current incarnation, Rhythm & Sound. I also like anything that has a bit of a 'wonky funk' factor to it, not a fan of anything too rigid and industrial – it’s got to have an organic arrangement so it sounds like it’s been made by a human rather than beeb robotically organised. If that makes any sense...



How important is living in Bristol to you and your music? Do you ever feel tempted to move to London?

I like London - it is growing on me and I currently spend a lot of time there but I don't think I'm ready to live there. I find it a bit overwhelming whereas Bristol is laid back and predictable - which isn'talways a good thing but it’s quite comforting. There's a good, healthy music scene here considering the size of the city, always a lot going on.



Apart from the obvious - Loefah, Mystikz, Skream, Plastician, Kode9, et al - who do you think are the most exciting producers right now?

I'm big into what Random Trio are doing. Both Cyrus and Omen have a very different but distinctive sound to their productions but both make beats that - even if they don't grab you at first - stand the test of time, grow on you as you listen carefully. That’s important to me. I also think D1 is a little underrated for what he's achieved in terms of his own sound and Hijak is coming through with some quality sounds. Distance and Vex'd should have been on your list too by the way!


I saw you play in a backroom at a jungle night two years ago, and had never heard anything like it. Looking back on it, it was a pure dubstep set,even though people are really only switching on to it now... How long have you been playing records that you'd describe as dubstep?

I started with a few bits and I would mix it with minimal techno and other tempo-related things (grime, garage, electro) maybe 3 1/2 years ago. There really weren’t a lot of releases out then. As I started going to FWD>>, meeting people and getting tracks from them I started cutting more dubplates and bulding up enough material to play just dubstep - maybe a few grime bits too.



What was the first dubstep tune and made you think 'Fuck - this is something new and exciting…'

To be honest, it was more of an experience…Kode 9 at FWD>> (the first timeI went) took me somewhere that made me realise - this is it, it all makes sense now. Within a couple months I was playing strikkly dubstep and lost interest in most other styles of music...



Do you have any desire to work with MCs/vocalists on record?

Yes - it's in the works...



You've just done a wee tour of the US...How was that experience? Is there any kind of scene there?

It was a great experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went with Distance and I think our styles complimented each other well, plus we had a good laugh. The scene is young but picking up speed very quickly now. In LA we played to an 'electronica' crowd, San Fran - a breaks/electro crowd. LA, took them a little while to really get it, but they went from head swaying zombie mode to full on bouncing around the room bawling for rewinds in about 10-15mins! Similarly, in San Fran the crowd was pretty icey when I went on the decks and I did think to myself, ‘Oh no, this is gonna be dry,’ but straightaway they reacted and it was pure vibes, throughout mine and Distance's sets. I was actually quite surprised by how well we were received.



What were the really influential/inspirational records/producers whenyou were growing up?

Too many! Jimi Hendrix was the first I really 'heard' and that’s where my own journey began, I suppose.



How important has the internet been in sorting out your productions, networking, raves, label etc?

The internet has definitely helped the scene move a lot quicker than itcould have without it - no two ways about it. It’s been instrumental in exchanging dubs (through MSN/AIM), remix parts - all sorts. A very important line of communication. Also, sites like barefiles.com have made the music available to people internationally who would have had no other way of hearing it - again, this has been very important to the scene's development.



Do you have any plans for a full-length album, or are dubs and 12"s the format you intend to stick with?

Album in the works…Should be on the shelves around March '07 hopefully.



Any collaborations in the pipeline?

Just finished a sick track with Distance, and hopefully will get round to finishing something I started with Loefah a while back.



What's your favourite biscuit?

This can be debated for hours on end. Depends if you want dunkability, a one-off biscuit hit or a biscuit with a good repeatability factor that you can hit several in a row without feeling nauseous. For all round balance I'mgonna go for... Milk Chocolate Hob Nobs.



This interview will appear (in abridged form) on FACT Magazine's website later this month.

Check: www.myspace.com/tectonicrecordings

Also of interest: K-Punk's profile on Kode9 at www.factmagazine.com

Guest MixTAPE: Sean Johnston (Sabres of Paradise / Flashcomm)

You wait ages for a bus, then....

Fresh from posting Heartbeat's mix yesterday, I got an e-mail from one Sean Johnston. Sean, like myself, grew up in Hull, and cut his teeth spinning at the Welly club (I cut my drinking teeth there some years later) before moving to London in the 80s and playing on the Balearic scene with the likes of Justin Robertson and Darren Emerson. Then, as Flash Faction, Sean recorded for Weatherall's Sabres of Paradise imprint and Third Mind records, and founded the short-lived but much-loved techno label Flashcomm in the 90s.

Sadly, Sean has long since hung up his headphones, but he thought me and y'all might like to hear a wee mix he's concocted - no trawl through vintage techno, but rather an up-to-the-minute selection of grubby beauts from Daniel Wang, Cobblestone Jazz, Paul Kalkbrenner and Spirit Catcher, to name a few. Check it out. And cheers, Sean - you may not play out these days, but you clearly haven't lost your taste....

Download:
Sean Johnston - Autumn Machine Music Mix


Tracklisting:

1. Lazyboy - Police Dogs Bonfire (Reverso 68 Remix) // Sunday Best
2. Daniel Wang - Berlin Sunrise (Die Nacht) // Ghostly International
3. Sugardaddy - State of Play (Greg Wilson Mix) // Tirk
4. Nick Chacona - Through The Door // 20:20 Vision
5. Spirit Catcher - Galaktic Flies // Winding Road Records
6. Markus Enochson feat. Masaya - For You To See (Tiger Stripes Remix Dub) // Sonar Kollektiv
7. Spirit Catcher - Spacialized // Winding Road Records
8. Nick Chacona - Leo // Moodmusic
9. Gaz Nevada - Oil Tubes (Kiki Re-Edit) // Mantra Vibes
10. Daniel Wang - Das Ist Kein Techno! // Ghostly International
11. Cobblestone Jazz - Dump Truck // Wagon Repair
12. Paul Kalkbrenner - Atzepeng // BPitch Control
13. Taho - Hybrids // Unknown

Cobblers

Yo. I'm going to be interviewing Mathew Jonson/Cobblestone Jazz next week for TAPE, so if any of you lost have any questions you'd like me to put to him, please leave a comment in the usual way.

Thank you...

Guest MixTAPE: Hearbeat (Dement3d, Paris)

Oi oi ladies and gentlemen, I do hope you're well.

Now, you should know by now that we encourage you to send us any music that you make, promote or have put together in a mix (see the sidebar for postal/e-mail details), and that we'll post it or talk about it if we like what we hear. Well, I'm going to do both in the present case, 'cos Heartbeat, who is based in Paris and runs a night there called Dement3d, has put together a fantastic mix for us which not only sounds suitably fat, deep and dancefloor-primed, but journeys (tastefully) through different styles, eras and genres in what we like to think of as a quintessentially TAPEish manner...

So, A Tribe Called Quest (the timeless, immaculately-produced 'Electric Relaxation') rub shoulders with The Mole (his last Wagon Repair joint), Seu Jorge makes nice with Moodymann, and Rinder & Lewis pass the baton to Derrick May (who dutifully performs techno surgery on its disco DNA). Sporting a whole host of our favourite producers - Mat Jonson, Todd Terje, Carl Craig and Franck Roger - on a whole host of labels we love, this mix is really nicely put together and worth burning as a house party lifesaver par excellence.

Download:
DJ Heartbeat - September Mixtape // CD-R


Tracklisting:

1. Escape from NY - Fire in My Heart (Instrumental Dub Version) // Rollerball Records
2. A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation // Decadance Recordings
3. Indeep - Slow Down // Sound of New York
4. Seu Jorge - Tive Razao // Nova Records
5. Jaslopski - Beatzepz // Sonar Kollektiv
6. Sideshow - Slide (Mathew Jonson Remix) // Simple Records
7. Franck Roger - Back and Forth // Sonar Kollektiv Innervisions
8. Rhythm & Sound - Free For All (Soundstream Version) // Burial Mix
9. Carl Craig - Darkness (Max Mix) // Planet E Communications
10. Moodymann - Lake Shore Drive (Todd Terje Re-Kutt) // Supreme
11. The Nova Dream Sequence - Dream 10 // Compost Records
12. The Mole - Acadian // Wagon Repair
13. Rinder & Lewis - Envy (Animal Fire) // Pye Records
14. Evelyn Champagne King - Shame // RCA
15. Rhythim is Rhythim - It Is What It Is // Transmat

Guest TAPEr's Chart: Axel Bartsch (Sportclub / Kompakt)

You'll know Axel Bartsch (pictured above) for his dancefloor-melting, dark-as-hell 'Galaxy' which came out on Speicher last year, backed up by Mathew Jonson & The Mole's seminal 'Dirt Road and A Boat From Soundwave'. Since then, he's released on Kompakt proper, set up his Sportclub label (check out 'Raubertochter' if you haven't already), and generally made a rather fine name for himself. This month sees another offering from Axel on Kompakt Extra, Speicher 41; and a new EP, Distance, from Brian Cares on Sportclub. Both absolutely spiffing, of course. Here, for now, is Axel's list of his current favourite tunes.


Axel Bartsch: Current Top 10

1. BRIAN CARES - REACH YOUR HANDS OUT // SPORTCLUB
2. RUEDE HAGELSTEIN - DOG VS DOG II // LEBENSFREUDE
3. AXEL BARTSCH - SPEICHER 41 // KOMPAKT EXTRA
4. FRANCO ZEIGER - FACETTEN // SPORTCLUB
5. SLEEPERTHIEF - FULL OF YOU // MOBILEE
6. MATHIAS KADEN - PENTATON (ONUR OZER REMIX) // VAKANT
7. GUI BORATTO - CHROMOPHOBIA // KOMPAKT
8. GUY J & SAHAR Z - HAZUI // ELECTRIBE
9. DASO - DOTT // CONNAISSEUR RECORDINGS
10. SWEET N CANDY - DIRTY GOTCHES // DUMB UNIT


p.s. We're sooo close to getting the internet installed at home; and when we do, you'll know about it - in the form of many, many mp3s.

Mix: After Hours

To end this mp3 drought, I thought I'd post up my new mix for your delectation. The start is very minimalicious with new cuts from Sleeper Thief, Exercise One, and Lazyfatpeople on Wagon Repair before it journeys through darker techno terrain, before ending on quite a monged out yet rousing note. Perfect for when you're feeling strung out on the return from your local clubbing establishment. To quote the permanently grinning Federico Italoboyz, 'Where is the after party?!'

1) Sleeper Thief - Chasing Rainbow // Mobilee
2) Lazyfatpeople - Shinjuku // Wagon Repair
3) Exercise One - 12 Years // LAN Music
4) Guy J & Sahar Z - Hazui (Gui Boratto Remix) // Electribe
5) Steve Bug - Loverboy (Guido Schneider Remix) // Poker Flat
6) Crowdpleaser & St Plomb - 18 Years // Mental Groove
7) Heidi vs Riton - Vejer // Get Physical
8) Akabu - Phuture Bound (Ame Remix) // Z
9) Martin Buttrich - Full Clip // Planet E
10) Marcus Worgull - Dragon Loop // Innervisions
11) Minilogue - The Girl From Botany Bay // Wir Im Rhythmus
12) Locodice - Orchidee // M_nus
13) Ellen Allien & Apparat - Jet (Paul Kalkbrenner Remix) // Bpitch Control
14) Mike Monday - Tooting Warrior // Playtime

Download:
Richard Carnage - 'After Hours' mix

Run the road

I'm out of town this weekend, heading to Dorset for the End of the Road festival - a little break from things techy and electro-ey, though I can imagine after the second day of relentless singer-songwriter types I'll be itching to smoke some crack and listen to Plastikman. Still, I need a holiday, and that means a holiday even from the music I love; my walkman, which I filled w/ mp3s this morning for the weekend ahead, has NO 4x4 on it but rather fifty indie classics from my not-so-distant youth - for relaxation, you see.

The My My album is so sick you're not going to believe it; I promise I'll preview one or two of the tracks in the coming week. Truth is, I've got a backlog of mp3s I want to share with you, but until I get the internet installed at home, i have to write these posts on the sly at work, where audio isn't really an option. For all those of you thirsting for tracks, I'm sorry, normal service will be resumed eventually.

Anyway, coming in the next fortnight, all being well, we have guest TAPEr's charts from Philip Sherburne and Tim Sweeney, interviews with Mathew Jonson, My My and Heidi, a mix from Matthew Styles and, yes, some bloody mp3s. Have a good weekend.

Output Recordings: 1996-2006

I've just heard the rather tragic news that Trevor 'Whatever' Jackson has decided to call it a day on his legend-in-its-own-lifetime label, Output Recordings.

In an official statement to Pitchfork, Trevor cited financial difficulties and "friends turning into monsters" (anyone who saw the full-page ad he took out in Vice etc last year will have a good idea of who that refers to..) as being among the reasons for his decision to throw in the towel. And while he gratefully acknowledged those who have supported the label over the years, it was this rather depressing sentence which really which stood out to me: "I never wanted to have all my passion and enthusiasm knocked out of me...But somehow it's happened."

You can read more here

Output Recordings was more than just a label. It was totally, daringly independent, in a climate where 'indie' usually denotes a stategic alliance with EMI (ahem). Output releases weren't just ambitious and distinctive, they were diverse (sometimes to a maddening degree...), beautifully packaged and lovingly conceived - the aesthetic of the label was one and the same as its sound.

Trevor also gave a leg-up to smaller artists and labels; I think in particular of DFA - whose classic early singles, including LCD Soundsystem's 'Losing My Edge/Beat Connection' and 'Yeah' and The Rapture's 'House of Jealous Lovers' were released in association with Output.

Colder, Black Strobe, Kate Wax, Four Tet and Mu were all contributors to the label; and in most cases Jackson picked up their work before anyone else had even had a sniff. I mean this is a label that released 'Losing My Edge' and 'Paris Hilton' - probably two of the greatest indie tunes EVER. That in itself is a worthy legacy, but there's so much more.

In a last, typical gesture, Jackson will be offering the final few Output releases for free download at their site, from October 1st. Check the sidebar for the link.

And, in the meantime, raise your glasses to ten years of Output Recordings - we may never see the likes of it again. Rest in peace; at least you went out without selling out. And Senor Jackson - good luck in whatever you now choose to do.

Dub Come Rave Me

Just a quick post to say that our latest weekly radio show is now available for streaming over at Viva Radio. As I mentioned before, this instalment focuses on a much more dubby, spaced out sound before moving into the tribal and deep techno near the end. Here's the tracklisting for those interested:

Viva Radio - Show #2: 'Dub Come Rave Me'
1) Mr G - ECGed (Rekid Remix) // Rekids
2) Portable - Ebb And Flow // ~scape
3) Cosmo Vitelli - Delayer (Quiet Village Remix) // I'm A Cliché
4) Loefah - Goat Stare // DMZ
5) Skream - Welcome 2 The Future // Tempa
6) Mathew Jonson - 7.19FM David // Wagon Repair
7) Sideshow - Scary Biscuits // Aus
8) Trentemoller - Nightwalker // Poker Flat
9) Burial - Distant Lights // Hyperdub
10) Shackleton - Blood On My Hands // Skull Disco
11) Pinch - Qawwali // Planet Mu
12) Rhythm & Sound - Dem Never Know (Sleeparchive Remix) // Burial Mix
13) Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell - Alsema Dub (C2 Spiritual Dub) // React
14) Agora Rhythm - My Division (Dixon Edit) // Sonar Kollektiv
15) Matias Aguayo - Drums & Feathers // Kompakt Pop
16) Lawrence - Along The Wire (Superpitcher Remix) // Ladomat 2000
17) Throbbing Gristle - Hot On The Heels Of Love (Ratcliffe Remix) // Novamute

There's some real gems in there, including dubstep classics from Loefah, Shackleton, and Bristol's Guinness swilling bad boy Pinch amongst others. Those hanging on until the end get some right treats including the oft overlooked Carl Craig remix of Jah Wobble and Bill Laswell from his 'The Workout' mix, and the genius wonky bass vibes of Matias Aguayo 's 'Drums & Feathers'. Next week's instalment should feature an exclusive mix from yours truly, and features forthcoming minimal bombs from Lazyfatpeople and Exercise One along with lots of other techno bits'n'bobs that've floating my boat of late. Until then, you'll just have to wait...

Guest TAPEr's Chart: My My

My My are one of the hottest production teams around right now. After impressive releases on Playhouse (the mighty Serpentine and Klatta 12"s), the trio have a new LP, Songs for the Gentle, due to land on the same label next month, with the disco-dub excursion of their recent 'Butterflies & Zebras' having already won them a whole new batch of fans. And let's not forget their superlative version of Djuma Soundsystem's 'Les Djinns' for Get Physical - bursting with ideas and rendered with real technical panache. Anyway, I've done an interview with the boys - Carsten Klemann, Lee Jones and Nick Hoppner - which I'll present to you in the coming weeks. For now, here's there Current Top 10, done exclusively for TAPE


My My
Current Top 10 (12/09)

1. Kock & Wilck – Für den Garten // Just
2. Pigon – November in little Albio Street // Dial
3. Mathias Meyer – Voltage // Liebe Detail
4. Cobblestone Jazz – India In Me // Wagon Repair
5. Audion – Mouth To Mouth // Spectral Sound
6. Terre Thaemlitz – A Crippled Left Wing Soars With The Right Wing (DJ Sprinkles Remix) // Mule Electronic
7. Sebo K – Moved (Prosumer Remix) // Mobilee
8. Donato Dozzy – Gol // Dozzy
9. LB Dub Corp – Rhythm Division // Mote Evolver
10. Musik Gewinnt Freunde - Music Gewinnt Freunde // Music Gewinnt Freunde


p.s. I can assure you that My My's ninth selection - 'Rhythm Division' - is perhaps the most overlooked tune of the year. It's tough, groovy as hell techno and, to my ears at least, an essential purchase. It came out earlier in the year on Luke Slater's Mote Evolver imprint, not somewhere I habitually turn to for my tuneage; but this is special, seriously, check it out.

TAPEd Conversation: My My

"My my." It's a great phrase, one of those phrases that, to me, makes the English language great, and there's no other way to enunciate it than in a smooth, slightly seedy James Bond drawl (well, ok, you could probably do some John Inman take on it, but...). Well, until recently that's all "My My" meant to me, but then a trio of Berlin-based producers put out a pair of 12"s, 'Serpentine' and 'Klatta' on Playhouse under that very moniker, and well, the rest is (techno) history. If you've not heard the organic but very noirish sounds of those two tunes carving up a dancefloor, well, I think you probably need to visit more dancefloors. You've probably enjoyed the recent single 'Butterflies & Zebras' as well, which Carnage posted up here a while back. But a far more pressing concern right now is My My's debut LP, Songs for the Gentle, also recorded for Playhouse and also - you guessed it - amazing. With wonderfully twitchy, fussy sampling, complex rhythmic arrangements but always on and around a fairly tough tech-house backbone, this album will be a treat for those of you who, like me, went bonkers for Pier Bucci's (still underrated) Familia LP of last year. Songs for the Gentle also shares that album's yearning, bucolic undertones, inspiring images of flora and fauna, and revealing a human heart pulsing beneath layer upon layer of twittering, chirruping machine noise. Which might explain why their live sets are so fucking good.

As is my way, I asked the My My fellas some not too penetrating questions...



TAPE’s buying. What are you drinking?

Lee: Bombay Saphire and Tonic
Nick: Vodka apple juice
Carsten: Jack ginger ale


The secret to a happy life is...

Carsten: Don’t be jealous!
Nick: Sweet little lies!
Lee: No regrets!


You’ve called your forthcoming album Songs for the Gentle. Was song structure, or the idea of song, something that you had particularly in mind when making the record?

Lee: Sure, great songs are the only things I keep listening to for years and years... Melody and harmony are the main things that give me an emotional response to music. The tracks on SFTG are mainly structured in a club friendly style, but the music should give people the same feeling they get from hearing a song they love...


What equipment/software do you use for your live sets?

Nick: We're using 2 laptops each running live, 1 controller, a tiny keyboard, an Electribe ER-1, a little dj-loop-player and sometimes a guitar...


I’m interested in the group nature of your project. Do you all work together in the studio, at the same time? Or do you all work on your own, then come together in the studio at a late stage in the production process?

Nick: It depends, although most of the time, Lee and me are working individually and hook up later in the process to finish our work. Every once in a while we do long, jam-like studio sessions together and have already come up with nice stuff like “Clean Break”, the opener to our album, that way.


How do you think your backgrounds in other types of music have informed your more techno-orientated tracks?

Lee: I think it all comes back to hip hop and sampling. It’s the main thing we all have in common musically, that we all loved the hip hop. The process of playing with beats and samples led us through all kinds of music and we ended up here...


How did you hook up with the Playhouse guys?

Carsten: I met Jörn Elling Wuttke of Alter Ego through work and nightlife. I was telling him about us doing music and he asked for a demo. It took us more than 6 months to finally come up with a demo containing 12 tracks, of which they signed three straight away. That became the Klatta EP.


Why did you start JUST?

Nick: Something to do, innit? No, seriously: Lee has quite a huge output and that made us think about setting up a label, in the first place. At the same time we noticed some friends around us doing great tracks and one thing led to another…


Who are JUST’s key artists?

Nick: For the time being, it's Lee Jones. Then there's Pigon, which is the Dial artist Efdemin with his mate DJ RNDM from Vienna. Our third release comes from Kock&Wilck, two guys from Potsdam, near Berlin. We got to know Sebastian Wilck as the trainee of Watergate, a Berlin club, where we're hosting a Wednesday night once a month. Another artist is Daniel Offermann aka O., who will be doing our fourth release.


Lee, what made you move to Germany?

A German girl and a few problems with the English tax office


What’s your favourite place/venue to play together?

It has to be Panorama Bar, of course!


What does My My’s dream rider consist of?

Plenty of drink tokens and friendly people

Did you set out to record tracks especially for an album, or did you make the tracks individually and realize afterwards that they’d sound good together as an LP…?

Lee: We had a lot material we’d been collecting since the beginning of the year, but nothing seemed to gel properly into an album. I decided to try and write a few extra tracks alone, and ended up writing about 8 tracks back to back, which became the album. It worked better like that – we always talked about making an album, not a compilation of tracks. Some of the other stuff Nick and I did together has ended up coming out on other labels and on a follow up EP.


Favourite TV show ever?

Lee: M.A.S.H.
Nick: Six Feet Under
Carsten: Friends


Are there any artists/producers, old or new, who you really admire, of who have had a big influence on your sound?

Photek, A Tribe Called Quest, Pepe Bradock, Carl Craig, Luciano, Mathew Jonson, Stewart Walker, Quincy Jones


What’s your favourite Bowie album?

Lee: Hunky Dory
Carsten : Low


Who, in the real world or dream world, would you love to collaborate with?

Kate Bush



Do you spend a lot of time in the studio? Do you work in short bursts or do you sort of keep regular office hours?

Lee : I’m a workaholic. My studio is at home, so I live in my studio. I’m always trying to keep to some kind of a normal working life, but it’s so hard!
Nick: I’m also busy doing other stuff, as well as djing every weekend. I’m trying to do as much music as possible, anyway.


What are the most prized records you own?

Nick: Maybe that 9/11 12” Theo Parrish did. I’m really crap at assessing my gems, so I don’t know, really…
Lee: I don’t think I’ve got any precious records.
Carsten: A bootleg of Led Zep my father gave me.



Which of your tracks/remixes are you most proud of?

Carsten: Swiss on Rye
Nick: It’s gotta be the first EP, even if other My My tracks sound more accomplished in retrospect. It just gave me such a rush to play out our first proper 12” and to see how well it went down with the crowd.
Lee: I agree. I saw Sven Väth playing Klatta and I was very chuffed.



What’s the best thing about living/working/partying in Berlin?

Cheap, good nightlife, lots of other artists, German girls and boys. You know the score…



The concept and sleeve-art of ‘Songs for the Gentle’ seems to be quite pastoral; are you regular visitors to the countryside? Or is the natural/pastoral thing a sort of fantasy?

We love nature, but we need friends with cars!



What’s the worst/funniest gig/set you’ve ever played?

The worst was playing live at New Kids On Acid 2005, when half way through our set Richie and Ricardo arrived with their private charter jet from Glasgow. Their entire entourage assembled on stage, almost pushing us away from our laptops.
The funniest was playing an after hour in Hamburg this year when we did an impromptu laptop jam for five hours. Lee and Nick spent considerable time in front of no audience but couldn’t care less…


What was the first 12”(s) you ever bought?

Nick: Feargle Sharkey – A Good Heart
Lee: Can’t remember if it was Sade or Scritti Politti
Carsten: MC Hammer U Can’t Touch This


My My's 'Songs for the Gentle' is out on Playouse on 23rd October.

Love is in the air

I won't say anything more about the Phonica party, save to extend my own vote of thanks to Simon, Heidi et al for putting on a fucking enjoyable party. I second Carnage on all points really; from the brilliance of Konrad Black's set to the elbows-out unpleasantness of the Key dancefloor. It was a splendid night, all in all; roll on next year's offering...



While poor Richard had to leave my flat at 630am the next morning, in order that he could the bus back to Bristol to go to work, I was fortunate enough to have the day off, and after a surprisingly unropey afternoon, a film and, yep, a game of scrabble, I was feeling more than energetic enough to head down to the Social with my flatmates, so head down to the Social with my flatmates I did. It wasn't just a random excursion; Nottingham's Riotous Rockers were hosting the A.S.B.O. night. You may remember that Pete RR is also one half of Nightmoves, who we've been championing in these pages for as long as I can remember...Anyway, I really enjoyed their tunes, sensing that they were taking advantage of the open-minded crowd to play more techy bits than they normally would (I remember Ananda's 'Ihre Personliche..." coming out, much to my delight and surprise...). Their guest spinner for the evening was Mock (pictured above), of Mock & Toof/Tiny Sticks/DFA fame. He played a really measured, loveable set of druggy, poppy and occasionally, er, hippety-hoppy disco that was exactly what the doctor ordered after my minimal binge the night before. Splendid chap n'all...He'll be paying his TAPE dues with a headline set at our Mutant Pop night on the 6th October, and told me that he's looking forward to playing some harder electronic sounds for us. Can't wait. I realized yesterday, for reasons I won't get into, that I have to be in Cheltenham til 10.30pm on that night. Cheltenham is only a 45min train journey from Bristol, but I can already see myself running around like a sweaty Benny Hill in time to make the man's midnight slot...But make it I will.

Anyway. Coming your way very shortly (as in, like, now): a current top 10 from My My. And, sooner than you think, some bloody mp3s...

Enjoy Tuesday; life only feels this shit once a week....

Your name's on the door... you're not coming in

So the weekend's finally over, and believe me it's been a tiring albeit enjoyable one. Friday saw me and his royal Softness descend on Kings Cross for Phonica's 3rd birthday party at The Key. The night didn't get off to a great start with myself going from the position of being guestlisted to the bouncer making me to give him £20 to let me in (go figure - though I was luckier than one member of the Phonica staff who was turned away due to his enthusiastic protestation even after the Rigg's intervention), but once we'd made it inside the club everything was rosy from then on. We started things off upstairs with one of the Phonica DJs (any ideas?) playing super slow disco sounds (though Metro Area at -10 was a little too sloth-like for my ears), until Phonica and Music For Freaks' Jonny Rock (pictured below) stepped up to the plate with his super fun mix of boompty and hip house that was just what the doctor ordered.
I also really enjoyed the first part of Pete Herbert from Reverso 68's higher tempo dance-til-you-drop disco set, but a visit to the toilet downstairs revealed that someone was playing Mathew Jonson's epic remix of Hiem's 'She's The One' in the main room. Further inspection showed that the dancefloor destroying DJ was none other than honorary TAPEr and Phonica manager Simon Rigg, so I felt more than a little indebted to stick around for the rest of his set. The only disappointing thing about it was the fact that I missed the start, as he whipped the crowd up a right treat (or was that just mine and Soft's mandatory whooping?), finishing on Gui Boratto's recent remix of Guy J & Sahar Z on Electribe. This super slice of knarly, foreboding techno with it's accompanying plink-plonk melody line set the scene perfectly for Konrad Black's deliciously dark yet uplifting techno workout that for me, was the set of the night.
I can't say that I recognised anything that Mr Black (pictured above) played, but it really didn't matter as myself and Soft cheered and danced the night away whilst he played a coherent but always interesting mix of tracks that focused on the dark side of the dancefloor. At this point I feel that I have to mention the general vibe of The Key and the widespread lack of respect on the dancefloor that I've experienced on both of my visits to the club. Whether it's the fact that people are crowded in, their inability to balance, or just that they have as much respect for another human as the average Londoner that means that they have to shove and fall into others as much as possible I just don't know. There also didn't seem to be that feeling of release and euphoria in the air that I seem to take for granted at most of the places that I usually go out to. The crowd were very subdued, and it just shouldn't be like that in a packed main room.

After a brief chat with the ever friendly Heidi (her fantastic debut 12 with beau Riton is out now), and a rather more worrying meeting with Ben Fat Trucker (who as you probably guessed, actually does look like a fat trucker, albeit a mad drunken serial killing fat trucker) we made our way upstairs to check out Henrik Schwarz's live laptop set. The problems that I had with the vibe of the night were all but apparent during it, and I can safely say that the crowd were loving his jazzed up 4/4 stylings as much as I was. It was good to see Henrik reciprocating and giving the crowd as much movement as he could, rocking and bobbing through his constantly invigorating performance. Highlights were his remix of Coldcut's 'Walk A Mile In My Shoes' (which sounded miles better than the record) and his own 'Imagination Limitation', both of which feature on his upcoming DJ Kicks mix CD. I haven't heard the mix yet, but from the tracklisting it looks like it's going to be an absolute belter with tracks from Robert Hood, Arthur Russell, Double, and Womack & Womack sitting amongst his own productions.

Loco Dice finished off proceedings in the main room, and I was expecting a lot from the DC10 main man. Unfortunately I was left feeling a little uninspired by the first hour of his dull but workmanlike performance, and we departed from the club shortly after 5am. There wasn't anything particularly bad about his set, but the tunes hardly set the club alight (even though quite a few people were sticking around to see what was a rare UK appearance) and his minimal mixing style of dropping the kick in odd places made me reminisce back to when we saw Luciano at the T-Bar and how he did the same thing so much better. There was enough time before we left, however, to give Konrad Black a hug and a hair rub (what was I thinking?) for his excellent set earlier in the evening, before stepping out into the cool autumn air to give our ears some respite.

Thanks to Simon and all the Phonica lot for putting on a great birthday party - let's hope that the next one's as good as this!

TAPE Is Killer Music

I must admit that we've been very lax in posting new audio over the past week, but now you'll be able to access two full hours of Tape treats on demand every week from over at Viva Radio. They've now archived the first show, so get over there and get streaming! I'm not sure what time they'll be playing our second show this week, but I'll give you the heads up as soon as I'm told. This week's forthcoming instalment will be focusing on a slower, dubbier, spaced out sound than usual, and being the lovers of bad puns that we are, I've entitled it 'Dub Come Rave Me'. I'll get the tracklisting up as soon as it's broadcast, but in the meantime here's the tracklisting for the first show again.

Viva Radio - Show #1: 'TAPE Is Killer Music'
1) Alexander Robotnick - The Dark Side Of The Spoon // Creme Organisation
2) Superpitcher - Tell Me About It // Kompakt
3) Pier Bucci - Towers // Crosstown Rebels
4) Ulysses & Nicklcat - Make You Feel Good // MBF
5) Tekel - Creteil Connexion // Initial Cuts
6) Kate Bush - King Of The Mountain (Radio Slave Remix) // White
7) Steve Bug - Lover Boy (Guido Schneider Remix) // Poker Flat
8) Dinky - Acid In My Fridge // Cocoon
9) Donnacha Costello - Ok, That's Great, Start Over // Minimise
10) Orange Juice - Rip It Up // Polydor
11) Shannon - Let The Music Play // Emergency
12) The Rapture & DFA vs. Victor - Do It Sister (Richard Carnage Edit) // CD-R
13) Lindstrom - The Contemporary Fix // Feedelity
14) Booka Shade - Panoramic // Get Physical
15) Recloose - Dust (Induceve Remix) // Peacefrog
16) Gabriel Ananda & Cio D'or - Lauschgoldengel // Treibstoff
17) Jesse Somfay - Faberge // Traum
18) Brian Eno - The Big Ship // EMI
19) Turner - My Aeroplane Mania (Lawrence Remix) // Ladomat 2000

To get to the archive go to the main page (at www.viva-radio.com), click on the 'contributors' tab in the bottom left, and then look for my good self (that'll be 'Richard Carnage' for those unaware of my writings on here) to get to the TAPE page. As always, any audio that you want to get to me for use on the show (you should also get some form of royalty payment through your PRS) or personal DJing should be sent to me at richardcarnes@hotmail.co.uk. Come Monday I'll be posting a little summary of mine and Soft's night out at the Phonica birthday bash, and I'm sure that he'll have plenty to chip in from his work desk. Take care, and have a good week!

Unknown Zone

So, anyway, I popped to DC’s launch party for their sleeve art ‘exhibition’ at Phonica. Nothing much to report, pleasant enough vibes, good tunes from Kelpe and Richard Sen…My only real complaint is that the artwork is so unprominent it (almost) may as well not be there. Still, I suppose space issues rule….

I found out later that my sometime bosses at FACT were busy "managing" an event in the huge, basement exhibition space, with “free champagne cocktails, hot chicks and ridiculous fashion people”. The poor dears. I, alas, did not find this out til later, and instead just spent 20 minutes wheeling around pissed, unable (or rather, unwilling) to make conversation with anybody. I did smile and nod attentively when Lazerboy got talking to Depth Charge, burly head honcho of DC who looks like David Baddiel and Father Christmas’s lovechild. But not in a bad way. Turns out that L’Boy actually booked Depth Charge for a gig at the Cube cinema in Bristol, a year or so back. He was supposed to be providing a live soundtrack and new subtitles for an obscure Japanese gangster film (I forget which). Anyway, turns out he his computer crashed on the train over to Bristol, and he was unable to burn the DVD successfully thus sinking the entire enterprise. Refunds and profuse apologies had to be provided by a very stressed out Lazers. Oh well…Heidi was on good form, but we didn't see much of Simon Rigg, Phonica boss, who'll be playing our TAPE is TWO party at Mutant Pop in November - as we arrived, he disappeared into the night, a crew-cutted beast of burden with a rucksack full of flyers for tonight’s Phonica party on his back...

…Still, as I say, I was plenty pissed, so I was hardly in good shape for socializing myself. Ended up heading back to Edgware Rd HQ for some unnecessary tea and sheesha at the arab café on our street corner. I feel like my lungs are bleeding today. I’ve got to stop breathing stuff that isn’t air.

Anyway, my dear Carnage joins me in London tonight for some Konrad Black/Locodice/Henrik Schwartz etc action at The Key. Should be fun, though scoring drugs in The Key is like trying to pick up girls in a mosque; alas, the only thing I can get hold of super-easy in London is that horrible stuff you snort, and God knows that burns a hole in the wallet (not to mention the soft tissue in your nose)…Well, we’ll get by, I’m sure.

Right, still no mp3s from me. I don’t want you to think I’ve stopped giving ‘em out permanently…Sure, I am becoming increasingly guilty about giving artists’ music away, and am therefore trying to exercise more sensitivity and restraint than I used to, but there’s plenty of tuneage on way nonetheless. Don’t you worry. For now, you’ll just have to accept me talking about it, rather than doing it. Can you take that? I think you can. For now.

So this morning I was listening to a promo mix done by Damian Lazarus (pictured left) and entitled Crosstown Rebels: Vol. 1. As you might have guessed, it’s a short and sharp mix of Crosstown tunes, old and new, and it serves, as if you needed the confirmation, to highlight quite how good Rebels’ roster and back catalogue are. The mix kicks off with Minilogue’s ‘City Boy’, the B-side to ‘Hitchhiker’s Choice’ (which I’ve already enthused wildly about) – and as I tore my room apart this AM to find a clean pair of socks, I couldn’t have asked for a better musical accompaniment. It’s starts off like a wipe-clean Pier Bucci track, but gets increasingly percussive and funky, in that almost Trentemollerish way, before a build that sounds like it’s going to warp in to Vitalic’s ‘La Rock 01’. If that doesn’t sound appealing, then I don’t know what does. Anyway, I’m not sure if Crosstown Rebels Vol. 1 will be getting a proper release at any point, but keep an eye out….

I’ll tell you what’s really tickling my fancy at the moment, though; it’s the new Cobblestone Jazz (pictured above) on Wagon Repair. ‘India in Me’ delivers on every level that Jonson’s new solo 12” doesn’t (see below) – and goes down that ultra-repetitive, sleek and deep prog-house route that ‘Marionette’ so absolutely nailed. And it works ravishingly well - the arpeggiated hook is so instantly effective and memorable that I find hard to believe that ‘India in Me’ will be anything less than a big, big tune. Seriously folks, listen out for this one.

I’ll sling some mp3s your way at the weekend; have a good’n yourselves

Question time

In the next few days, I'm going to be interviewing both Heidi, Phonica doyenne whose 'Vejer' 12" and Monza mix CD have just come out on Get Physical, and then My My - responsible for the seminal 'Klatta' and 'Serpentine' on Playhouse, and a forthcoming LP for the same label. Basically, I want to know if there are any questions you would like me to ask either of these artists. If you do have any suggestions, please leave a comment before tomorrow (Fri) morning.

Churrrs.


Notes:

- October appears to have landed himself a Cocoon residency at Amnesia next year. Mad!
- Mama, I've been wrong again. Sorta. The new Mathew Jonson 12" is superb, and though the awkward funkiness of 'Automatic' still troubles me slightly, I've realized that the epic 'Beach Party' is, like, totally amazing. Both are inanely, and I really mean inanely, catchy. I'm confused, which can only (?) be a good thing. More thoughts on this, er, burning issue to follow.