DBJ friend & sonic wizard Peter Dragontail's premier release on Young Robots drops today! It's a slab of peak hour goodness, complete with infectious vocals and HUGE piano breaks. I've been testing this out for the past few months around Philadelphia & the response is great every time. Somehow it always turns into a sing-along with crowds who've never heard it before. So grab a copy and file it under "Anthem." You can pick up the single at Turntable Lab or wherever fine digital music is sold. Plus there's a free download from RCRD LBL below.
Midnight Kids For Japan is a compilation album brought to you by KC.93 Records & Radio, the music label of Midnight Kids Academy. The album consists of new and unreleased music by KC.93’s roster of over 46 musicians from different corners of the world such as the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and various regions of the United States. All proceeds from the album will go towards GlobalGiving’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. Purchase of album includes bonus cover artwork by various MDNK artists.
This is a live mix I made for Disco Bits - a tribute to the great Larry Levan they asked me to put together for his birthday. LL had a unique way of DJing, and I'm not trying to emulate him here or trying to play the "Best Of" the Garage. Just some rad Garage Classics in tribute to a rad dude. Enjoy.
1. Minnie Ripperton – Adventures In Paradise 2. Carly Simon – Why (12″ Mix) 3. Aleem with Leroy Burgess – Confusion (12″ Mix) 4. Gayle Adams – Love Fever (12″ Mix) 5. Mona Rae – Do Me 6. Ashford and Simpson – Stay Free 7. Voyage – I Love You Dancer 8. Central Line – Walking Into Sunshine 9. Rockers Revenge with Donnie Calvin – Rocking On Sunshine 10. Tony Lee – Reach Up (Mastermix) 11. The System – You Are In My System (12″ mix) 12. Level 42 – Starchild 13. The Limit – She So Divine (Mastermix) 14. Dan Hartman – Vergito / Relight My Fire 15. Diana Ross – Love Hangover (DJ Apt One Edit)
Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!
This week we head back to The Chi and our boy Tim Zawada, who has made a nice following for himself of late with his stellar edit work. He approached us about giving one of the cuts from Tugboat Edits 003 an exclusive release on the YOTE project and we were more than happy to oblige. It's especially apropos because this jam is a flip of one Mr. Abstract who has a little film in the works right about now. Maybe you've heard.
Miracles Club is a new Portland dance band featuring singer Honey Owens (Valet, Jackie-O Motherfucker), knob-tweaker Rafael Fauria, and dancer Ryan Boyle. Combining elements of Chicago and acid house, experimental pop, and contemporary dance music, Miracles Club has added a vibrant, creative energy to the West Coast club scene over the past year. Tracks from their latest EP, Light of Love, were recently remixed by Cut Copy and release on their fittingly-titled Cutters imprint in April. In advance of their performance this Friday at KFN, our friend and co-conspirator, Andrew Clapper did a little Q&A with them.
To start, could you talk about how the Miracles Club came together in the context of the Portland scene?
Portland has always had a small dance scene. In the 80's, there was a RnB boogie/funk scene; in the 90's, the rave/techno and electronica scene started; and then in the 2000's, there was an underground disco/punk scene that sprung up. More recently, in the last 3 years or so, lots of underground house parties started happening. Promoters started bringing international DJs and live acts to town. Around that time, we started writing our first tracks and playing out. It was harmonious with what was going on.
Musically, how did you arrived back at an early house sound? And what inspired cover versions of classics like "Can You Feel It" and "Jack Your Body"?
Since we've started, we've always focused on being a live band. We wanted to pay homage to the classics in a similar fashion as, say, a punk band would play "Louie Louie" at a house party. So, we would play "Jack Your Body" at a house party, or "Can You Feel It," etc. It was also a way for us to understand how house music was written and experienced.
The video for Church Song is, in a sense, a "cover" of dance shows like Detroit's "The Scene." What was the aim behind recreating that aesthetic?
We were just really loving the old dance shows and the positive energy of the people putting them on. With "Church Song," we were just sort of wanting to perpetuate that vibe, get people into the playfulness of house music and dancing family-style. We have a lot of dancer friends (and a goat) in Portland that we collaborate and just hang at the clubs with. It was funny to see them dance in this particular video because they were so toned down (due to it being Sunday morning), civilian style. [Laughs] The whole video was totally improvised. The only thing we brought aesthetically was some foil fringe and balloons. It was shot at the local cable access TV center, where we had literally two takes, and it ended up pretty much capturing the energy and aesthetic of our small scene.
How do you mediate performance in a club setting? Traditionally, the club mentality is that music is played, not performed. The DJ is not (necessarily) the focus, it's the music and the dancers. What does the spectacle of performance bring back to the dance floor?
One of the members of the group, Ryan, is a dancer/performance artist who, I guess, you could say does the mediating. We don't necessarily want to be the focus of the show, that is why it was important for us to have someone interact with the audience on a physical level. We are pretty much there to guide the trip, like a DJ. Our hope is that there is a deeper connection with the music, being able to see how it is created. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.
Do you think live performance is something that has been, perhaps, overlooked in club culture until recently?
House music hasn't had a strong tradition of being played with live instruments, though it was not unheard of. We got the chance to meet Larry Heard recently, and I asked him about playing live. He said that he used to play keys over a DAT tape in the late 80's/early 90's with Robert Owens. Also, some of the first house trax were live drum machine sequences with tiny loops or MCing over top. So, there are roots. I think it is easier now, and you are starting to see live productions more and more because the technology is there and more accessible. When we first started, we were using older technology like drum machine triggers, CV, and Din Sync, along with live looping and playing. It was fun, but chaotic. Since then, we have been using an MPC to manage the old equipment that, in our opinion, is essential to the sound.
In your experience, what sets a great performance apart from a good performance?
It's really all about a connection between the music and the audience. If we give it everything we have, and the audience is open and the environment is there, that's pretty much the combo. Honestly, it's hard to pinpoint because energy is so ambiguous, yet so crucial. When it happens, it's almost like magic. And when it doesn't… tragic. [Laughs]
Listen to Cut Copy's remix of their recent single, Light of Love...
The recording of my early set at Hurrah this month came out well, so I thought I'd pass it along to my fellow jammers. It's a blend of recent acquisitions and tried & true trax, mixed to warm up the room for a night of crazy rhythms. Now for the drums to do the talking...
01. Christian Prommer’s Drumlesson - Trans Europa Express 02. Thorsten Graeber - African Beauty (Neuroxyde Remix) 03. Benoit & Sergio - Walk And Talk 04. Daniel Dexter - Tom Tom 05. Joey Negro Presents Sessomatto - Moody (Joey Negro Club Mix) 06. Charlie Clemons And The Mighty Power Band - The Devil Has Made This Land His Playground (Tom Noble Remix) 07. Cajmere - A Love Song 08. Bibio - Lovers’ Carvings (Catz N’ Dogz Re-Edit) 09. DJ Cole Medina - I’ll House You (OG Mellow Remix) 10. Nebraska - This Is The Way 11. Dead Rose Music Company - Am I Still The One (Rob Mello No Ears Remix) 12. The Popular People’s Front - I’ll Make Your Day
Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!
We've had Allen Craig and Sergio with us before on Year of the Edit, (and several times on DBJ), and they just hit us with another one for the project - a bouncy, slapbass experience!
Each week in 2011, the "Year of the Edit," Dollar Bin Jams and Young Robots Records will be debuting one exclusive edit for your enjoyment!
This week's edit comes from my homie DJ Trew in Chicago. Many years ago, I stayed at Trew's crib for a few days, it was above a weird clock store and I think his roommate was Maker. Skinny and I had hopped in the car and driven all over the East Coast and the Midwest and hollered at anybody and everybody like "can we come play in your town." We played a few shows with Trew, traded some tunes and he introduced us to many of the folks that we still work with in the Chi to this day.
Trew is always on top of what's funky, and this edit he sent along is no exception. It's part of his "After Disco Chicago" project, which is a series of events, edits and mixes exploring the post-disco era. Right in the Dollar Bin Jams wheelhouse amirite?
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