You can attempt to sell pearls of wisdom, but if the surfaces are cracked, nobody's going to buy it. And like a natural brunette dyed blonde, eventually the streaks of sensibility can shine through, beyond the eyebrows. Lifting spirits and retinas in equal measure, this Thursday, are Big Night Out promotions. Presenting a three-artist medley, there is no fee on the door, everybody gets to say their piece in comfort of 30 minute spots, filled by DJ Natty Dread, and all donations to the raffle or palm are going to Children In Need. Kevin Jenkins, commencing the night, understands the dictum of forcibly altering one's consciousness with "Fucked Up Fairytale", articulating voice with mellifluous fluidity, and strums while rattling off metaphors like a bird cage on the move.
He's by trade a sound engineer, running SelectaSound Studio in Oxford, is Oxjam Oxford co-ordinator, and has been playing around the Oxford music scene for many years, in various bands and music projects, including Beta Spider (with Tim Goldsworthy) Blood Orange (solo experimental) Hot Flares (Party band) and newer project Cyberscribes. Renowned for his cover sets (the day from this he'll be in a pub somewhere in Oxfordshire), the set covets original material, his throaty tones crooning in obelisks between Bing Crosby and a more leftfield (think "Eternity") Robbie Williams, the direct attenuation of "I Want You" and "Burn For You" letting you know just where he's going for, touching the heart in a kaleidoscopic free-for-all.
"When a computer is on stage, all manner of strange things can happen" declares Big Night Out's forerunner. A rasping tractor-engine midrange would be one of those. Asked to do a mix, Sikorski get the juices flowing in fine style with their heavyweight electro noise. Sat behind computer screens, the show takes a fanciful turn when the group's vocalist steps into the limelight a la Landscape's "Einstein-A-Go-Go" to chat over an old-skool-rave-in-Ibiza atmosphere. It's never grating, there's no catch, and their and the crowd's boogieing ends all too soon.
Last, but by the standards of the ballads she brings, not least in any circumstance, is Jessie Grace. Her showing spans lullabies to lost souls on "Missing", calls to abort reprimanding for "Restore", a beguilingly beautiful delivery on "My Universe", and Portishead-in-a-beehive masquerading on "Spring Time". A great finish to a very impressive evening, despite the low numbers that yearned to be increased.
Kevin Jenkins: MySpace
Sikorski: MySpace
Jessie Grace: MySpace
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
MK Stop 20: Fanu interview
I spoke to Janne Hatula (Fanu) across a period of two weeks online, seeing where he's putting pedal to the metal, and finding out more on his role as Lightless label owner.
We are influenced by many collectives, both groups with which we affiliate and those with which we are not members. Whether the collectives surrounding us are academic, spiritual, financial, work-world, familial, or otherwise, they enact powerful rewards (and punishments) to their members and non-members alike. They work to influence and control all manner of things, from our thoughts to our choice of lovers, to our life's work. They may also demean or discourage efforts that are not concomitant with their preferences. Did you take all of this into account when guaranteeing Lightless Recordings a Subvert Central affiliation?
Wow, what a monster of a question as a starter here, heh!
I'll say I'm definitely a subvert junglist for life and that's how it's going to be. Me and Lightless are definitely 100% down with the subversive movement. It totally helped me in terms of exposure as well as inspiration when it started.
Personally I was enamoured by the articulacy of events like "Is It Just Me, or...". There were passionate individuals with varying ideals coming together to discuss the nitty gritty, the serious to the downright silly, all in the same cache. The "behave yourself"; "don't make waves"; "don't think too hard"; "don't get big ideas"; "just keep a low profile"; "be a carbon copy"; "be nice"; "say 'yes' even though you don't like it"; it doesn't fit, it's not the right size and it hurts... To follow such a lifeless value system causes loss of soul-linkage in the extreme. On the contrary, do you feel empowered as being part of the Subvert Central community?
Well, I think I had all the drive, creativity, grumpiness (heh) etc needed even before I joined SC, but SC definitely connected me with so many like-minded producers and DJs. It also exposed a lot of people to my stuff as well as others', and it continues to do so.
I can recall you posting your tracks in the Beat Ranch. Back then, in 2002-2004, Paradox had coined phraseology for what he produced - 'drumfunk'. If the categorisation of your music as 'drumfunk' is antiperspirant, how and where would you like it sprayed?
Uhhh...these Qs are too clever for me, I just woke up!
So, if an antiperspirant prevents you from sweating, would a drumfunk (I hate that word – for the record!) spray prevent you from making and/or liking bad beats?
You could say that, yes.
I'd have it sprayed at all the big drum and bass events at primetime.
Homing is the instinct to return, to go to the place we remember. It is the ability to find, whether in dark or in daylight, one's home place. Did your relationship with your parents spread fruitful seeds with this in mind?
Yes, definitely. And I still go see my mom a few times a year. She lives where I grew up.
I love that little town, as life has a different pace there. They hardly have 8,000 (eight thousand) people there. It's a good place to go to if you want to distance yourself from your everyday life in the city.
Where are you from, and where are you currently?
The town I just mentioned is called Haapavesi. It's 500-600km north of Helsinki, roughly. I've been living in Helsinki since January 2000.
I always got the impression that you're a friendly guy, very approachable and warm-hearted. Photographs in your gallery and selected party out-takes (ICHiOne, The Cavern, Exeter and the US) confirm this. Has your temperament calmed with age?
I'm hardly temperamental. I've always been a nice, mellow dude.
In the interim of your travels around Helsinki, have you found the drum and bass mainstream to be lacking the breakbeat-heavy styles you engender?
I would have to say so, yes.
I remember you saying that some of the well-known DJs in that scene, liked your beats, but wouldn't drop them in clubs. Can you understand why?
Well, yeah, I can. That style of drum and bass doesn't really get played here.
However, my flatmate, who goes by the artist name of Trisector, is doing a monthly event in a bar called Loop, and they're exploring the deeper, breakbeat-oriented sounds there every month, and that shit kicks ass.
What is the scene like over in Helsinki, and how has it developed in recent years?
The scene is small, yet pretty lively. There's events all the time, and international DJs are being brought here on the regular. I started going to events here in 2000, and I think it's got livelier since. I have a lot of respect for the guys who do all the events here.
Lately you're planning to tour the US.
I've done three US tours already! The first one was short, the second one had around twelve gigs, and the last one – which I finished on June 19 – had ten. They were all organized and put together by mister Chad Simer aka Olcyrus from Mukilteo, to whom I'm immeasurably indebted for making it all happen. A good person with a huge heart and lots of musical passion. Gotta love him.
On that note, the drum and bass scene becomes a puddle of mud. What do we do to clean it up?
Wow. I don't know. Drum and bass as a whole is quite disintegrated in a way, so if it became a puddle of mud where everything mixed together pretty seamlessly, it might be a good thing. Heh.
A soulless world means some people are ruthless in getting what they want, without compromise. However in a lot of cases, things take time - time that they won't put up with. Do you subscribe to the ideal of the ruthless human, or are you more sensitive in the relationships you partake in?
Can't say I promote any ruthlessness in my actions. Even if you do something in your own terms, you shouldn't be selfish in your actions. This world would be so much better if we all were just a little less selfish. A little good goes a long way.
Then, if you could command the attention of millions of people for five minutes, what would you say?
Be a little less selfish. Care about the people around you. Try to do something nice to them, as it goes a long way. Love others like you love yourself (I'm not religious or anything, even though some of that may sound religious...).
In fairy-tale interpretation, the drummer becomes the heart of the centre of whatever new life and new feeling needs to rise and reverberate. In drum and bass' golden era (subjectively 1995-1997) this would explain the overflowing talent that married the breakbeat to atmosphere, the deep to the detrimental, and operations that condensed material as such. Do you miss those years?
I do miss those years in a way. Material similar to that of those years still is being made, no doubt – it's just that that material isn't in the spotlight anymore. That music was the dnb mainstream back then, but now it's in the very marginal, and the mainstream dnb of today is motherfucking awful. It's simply crap music.
I miss the adventurousness of the 95-97 dnb and how open people were about it; breaky or not, it was simply good music.
The drummer is also able to frighten things away, as well as evoke them. When Ed Rush And Optical begun the overwhelming techstep takeover, with "Wormhole" sticking out as a pivotal piece, breakbeats on subsequent efforts maintained regimented ideals instead of syncopation, perplexing rhythmic passages shunned over inherent power that comes with flattening the dynamics, and cranking up the mids and highs. I recall you started a petition to get Danny Breaks back into d&b. He, for me was someone who straddled the range of these contrasting styles very well. Do you wish more heads today were exposed to such productions, and were you influenced by the intersection?
I do wish more people got exposed to such productions for sure. The styles I push are in the marginal, and I don't think the main reason is that it's drastically less accessible to the junglists of today: it's mainly because people simply don't get exposed to those styles unless they go digging quite deep – which a lot of people fail to do, and I can't blame them.
In the last few years, I've heard a few people who dropped out of dnb and then tried coming back say "I haven't been following jungle for some years but I wanted to check out some and I did, and dear god, what has happened? I checked out some clips and it's all awful shit”.
It's those people who can't find their way back to the kind of stuff that they loved: it may have been way more mainstream many years ago, but these days, it's very underground, and they can't find it very easily by going to the "major” dnb sites or events.
I remember reading how DJ Fracture tried to strike up a conversation with a bored Photek at Technicality. How was your meeting with Bill Laswell in comparison?
Those meetings can't be compared.
I first did some beats for me and Laswell's collabo album, ”Lodge”, after which I made some beats for him that he used in his "Vessel” remixes for Nine Inch Nails that came out on the "Year Zero Remixed” LP (I'm not credited on the album so I'll just mention it here, so you know, hehe!).
I went to NYC for a few days after a US tour I did and he paid for my hotel in Manhattan, paid for my drinks, showed me some nice food joints in NYC etc and we just hung out and talked about music. A real good guy, super down-to-earth, funny as hell, and all.
Also, for the record, Photek's beats today are lame as heck, while Bill Laswell is into the wild breaks, man.
If by looking in a mirror you turn into a superhero, what is his name and what does he do?
William Breakspeare.
Haha!
He finds, samples and mangles all the wickedest breaks in the world, making them speak his language.
Did you ever get into producing to earn money, or was it just a motivation for you to prolong your studies?
Money was never in my mind...making music has always been – and still is! – a hobby I do for fun.
I've ALWAYS done it for myself, and myself only, and I'm being dead honest here. I've never done one single compromise in my music with the market/fans in mind. If all my recordings stopped selling completely today, I'd still do it for myself and enjoy it as much as I always did.
From adolescence, what tools have you used to carve a life for yourself?
Doing the things I love – to nourish the soul and maintain the zest.
Where did the Fanu name originate? Some names stick like fridge magnets; I'm intrigued to know where this stemmed.
An old friend of mine used to give people the silliest nicknames when he was young, and when we were kids, he noticed I had a sticker of an elephant with the word "HappyFant” on it. In his twisted nickname-making mind, he made "Fanu” out of that. So there you have it! :D
Cool. Now, a lot of people will know you for "Siren Song", which sold over 500 copies on Subtitles. However, it was one of Subtitles lowest selling releases, and took plenty of gumption to be repressed. Do you feel proud of that accomplishment, do you look back and wish you'd released it yourself, and what was the emotional input like in comparison to your Lightless highlights?
Geez, this stuff is old! :D
I doubt it's the lowest-selling one: it was pressed twice and it sold out both times. I do feel proud of getting a release on Subtitles and I'm grateful to Teebee for putting it out for sure.
I wouldn't go back and change anything: getting a release on Subtitles, one of the biggest dnb labels out there, makes people check it out, and if I had released it, I don't think that many people would've heard it.
Emotional input? You mean rewarding, or...?
I was thinking more along the lines of how much you put into a track, but sure, why not.
I'd say it's more rewarding now: things are more in my own hands, and I've matured in terms of being an artist (and see, I'm still not making clownstep!!), whatever that means.
Despite this achievement, I recall you having a fracas with Teebee, who once said "You ain't doing anything new. Man I see like 50 of you come and go in every year." Has such critique hardened you to hatred or malignation, or do you take it with tongue firmly in cheek?
Believe it or not, I don't care about any criticism, be it from anybody. It's easy, because I've never done one thing to impress others or to appeal to anybody...I only do it for myself.
If I can manage to impress myself in my own studio space, I've reached my aim for a short while, and what comes after that, it's OK, whether it be positive or negative or from fans or the big heads who think their opinions count more than those of others'.
That's the STS soft synth on "End Of An Era", am I right?
Highly likely it is...I've sampled the synth back when I had a PC.
I remember sending it to you and you consequently selling your Virus. How has the transition from hardware to software been for you, are you in the middle of major changes, and how settled are you with your setup?
I'm still using my Akai s5000 every now and then, as well as my Soundcraft desk...they will never go away.
Logic 8 is the sequencer I use.
Just trying to mix them all...it works nicely. Sometimes I make all-software tracks, but they are more or less mixed on my Soundcraft.
You once told me you don't get inspired to write music in the summer. Do you think there's a direct correlation to wistfulness inside you, and the surroundings you produce in?
Yes, it's true I can't really make music in the summer. First, it doesn't inspire me at all for some reason. I grew up in the dark, cold parts, and that did shape my musical unconsciousness.
Second, I started skateboarding again two years ago, and that's kept me out for most of the summer so far: I haven't stayed much inside. Come autumn, the beats will start rolling in!
What do you do to revive the senses - sleep, caffeine, sport, sauna?
I skate – and I work out daily now. The latter is part of me dramatically changing the way I live, which I started last December. I've lost a lot of weight and I feel so much better now and my health has improved so much.
I O.D. on coffee every day, though, heh.
In the grey mists of morning, are you usually busy honing music production, or tucked up in bed?
These days, I try to get up at decent times – between 8 and 10 – and just drink mad loads of coffee and work out while doing it, or just go skate right after the first cup of coffee.
Some people's daily practice is prayer. Do you have your own recurrent cycles you respect and partake in?
Exercising a bit in the morning and/or in the evening. Having my coffee as soon as I open my eyes, haha.
As a one-man operation with Lightless, I imagine you must be a very busy man. What do you do to help yourself unwind?
I'm not nearly as busy with music as many people think. I've been lucky to have it all pretty easy: doing gigs and getting paid for other music stuff, too.
However, skateboarding is what makes me forget the everyday mundanity.
Well, skateboarding: Ollie or kickflip?
Damn! My ollies go definitely higher than any of my flips, but kickflip has been in my repertoire for almost as long as the ollie.
If I have to let one go, I'd keep the ollie for sure as it's the foundation of so many other tricks.
If I was a budding producer looking for a Lightless signing, what would your criteria be?
Original music. Period.
Please, no tracks with 1) pretentious über-chopped breaks executed with no real sense of rhythm, 2) bleeps and minimal sounds run through delay, or 3) forced movie samples before the drop...I'm getting sick of those demos.
What were your primary inspirations for starting the Lightless label - was it a case of being let down too much by external delays, or do you think of it as a natural extension of your name and agenda?
Mainly the former. I just wanted to have it all in my hands...it's worked like a charm, and I'm super thankful to S.T. Holdings for letting me do it.
It feels good having a personal outlet for my productions so I don't have to shop around anymore.
So you've launched a rawrip page with over half of your catalogue available as Mp3s. What are your thoughts on the digital revolution?
Simply, I think music should be available to people who are willing to pay for it. Not everyone wants to buy vinyl, so it's good that they can get their music in digital form. I still want to support vinyl, but you want to be realistic, too: let everyone willing to buy your stuff do it. I'm not into the "vinyl-only” way of thinking of releasing music at all.
It's good to acknowledge you've kept your eyes open. A baby gets newly born into the world, alive with a background of classical music his mother plays him. What track from the Lightless catalogue would you present as a gift?
"Poltergeist", of course, to fuck the baby up.
Haha, well, maybe something from the "Daylightless" CD2...something mellow and beautiful, I think.
Can you take us through how you produced a chosen track on "Homefree" - how you start, whether you lead with your emotions, how you got things to a level you're happy with?
It starts with picking a sound that suits how I'm feeling. Everything gets built around that. It can be a bass sound, for example, but most often it's a pad sound or a simple melodic thing. It's never a break, however, that I build a track around. That's how it goes, in a nutshell.
What musical ventures would you still like to embark on - singular, or in collaboration?
Well, Polar has been saying we should do a collabo, so I think that has to be made reality sooner or later...
If you were granted a day with any producer, who would it be and why?
Amon Tobin. It's his samples and atmospheres and the rich sound textures I'd like to see get made.
If you could keep just one record in the world, what would it be?
Questions like this are evil...if I *really* took that question seriously, all the pondering might take five pages, so I'll just be a partypooper and say I couldn't c
hoose just one.
You've sent me this picture of you with the book "The Golden Ass". What does it touch on - philosophy, science, or a hybridisation?
I don't have a clue what it is about! It's a total joke...I was just hanging out in New York (with awesome Mr. Cordani from Subvert Central forum), and I spotted that book and wanted to make a photo of myself with it.
Great! Re-investigating your past, you were born with a twin brother. Has there been any sibling rivalry between you, are you worlds apart in interests, and do you foresee any collaborations on projects in the future?
There's never been any rivalry between us. We're both pretty creative (he's an extremely talented tattoo artist) but I can't say our works could be combined – unless we're going to use a tattoo as a record cover...now that's an idea!
What are you afraid of?
My biggest fear would be realizing I've lost my creativity, dreams, and passion. My soul is made of those things.
Do you have dreams which have affected your reality, and do you think there is more to life than our climate change driven, self-fulfilled prophecy? (the world's ending)
If dreams here mean dreams you have when you're asleep, no, but as in a dream that keeps you going, yes.
The whole music thing – being a somewhat successful producer and a DJ in my own terms – was a dream, but it slowly started becoming reality, and I've already achieved so much more I ever dreamed of.
Dreams are what keep your soul alive. As long as you have dreams, you'll be able to take the daily grind and see further.
Ambient pioneer Brian Eno has developed a new interactive application for Apple Iphone. 'Bloom' allows users to create their own ambient compositions via the Iphone's touch screen. What are your views on technology - is it more of a hindrance than a help to us?
Can't be a bad thing, really. Whatever helps people to get creative, make more good, original music, and enjoy music in general, is a good thing in my book.
Heh, I'm just getting the new iPhone – for the music apps...
Could you name three recordings that have had pivotal influence on your life so far?
I have to mention ”Logical Progression 1” at least. It was spectacular in terms of being good MUSIC, let alone being good jungle or having good breaks.
FSOL's ”Lifeforms” taught me all I ever needed to know about electronic ambient music, and I still think that record was light-years ahead of its time.
It's hard to name the third!
If there was a possibility for paradise, what would make paradise for you, and would you take it?
I think part of every man's paradise is getting to do what he likes to do. I guess I can say doing the music thing, which has made it possible for me to live a life of not having to take a 9-5 job, has let me taste some of that paradise. I'm planning to start ”a real job” of being a teacher maybe next year, so I can't feast on my paradise forever, heh.
You graduated to teach English in 2007, completing an MA thesis. Are you passionate about English, or have the nuances of Finnish eclipsed your interest in literature?
I wrote my MA thesis on the use of African American Vernacular English (sometimes referred to as "Ebonics”) in the rap lyrics of some Finnish rappers. I am passionate about English for sure. It was the only thing that interested me in school, and I was always pretty good at it. And, for the record, I am the least literature-minded person ever...I hate literature, I guess. Heh.
I still haven't graduated fully, to be honest, but I'm literally one essay away from finishing my studies for good...I need to write 10+ pages about the history of Finnish schooling system, how it's changed and how the way it's been perceived by students has changed over time...see why it's the last thing I gotta do?
I remember reading your interview with Knowledge Magazine, where you said the culture of samurais had influenced your conscious decisions. Can you elaborate on that?
It's about never feeling you're good enough at what you do...about practising constantly, trying to get better at your craft.
I think that's testament to your high quality control.
As for being a samurai...I'm more of a "ronin”, as I don't work for anyone, really.
Your track on "Daylightless", "Hagakure" contains the vocal "when the samurai's head is cut off, he will still be able to perform one action with certainty". If you were the samurai, what would that action be?
Do a nollie frontside 360 shove-it on my skateboard. If the day ever comes that I can't do that trick, I'll be dead.
Something you served in 2000 was six compulsory months in the Finnish army. Have you taken any influence from the discriminatory factors of this work?
Hell no. That shit was useless as heck. The most useless six months of my life for sure. Army blows.
Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Some sweets every now and then. No matter how healthy you wanna live, you gotta have some chocolate every now and then!
I concur. So, are you a regular contributor to the SC 'Snax Creux'?
Haha, no, but I guess I should be! Banana + peanut butter milkshake with added protein...killer!
Contrasting, if you were out and caught a fish, would you leave the hook in, or let it go?
Well, I do eat meat and I like fish, so depends on the purpose.
If I was out fishing for nourishment, I'd keep it, but if it was for the sport of it (never done either, actually), I suppose it could go.
Do you have any childhood crushes you've held onto?
No, but I've turned one childhood aversion into love: mustard. Used to hate it, now I love it.
All this talk of food is making me hungry. Let's change the subject. If you had to disappear without a trace, where would you go and why?
Helsinki, Finland, is a remote enough place, I guess. But, I'd go to where I grew up: the Finnish countryside.
Twin Peaks: favourite episode?
Too hard a question! From my childhood I can remember Bob crawling over the sofa and Mike (the guy with one arm) getting interrogated...that's some unforgettable shit right there!
Finally, what are your aspirations for the year to come?
Improve my skating. I've been so hooked on it all year. Calling it an addiction is very true. I simply have to do it every day. I'm not even good, honestly, but it's the most fun I've done. I'm so glad I started doing it again in 2007 after a six-year break.
I also plan to start making loads of new music when the summer turns into fall...as that's when the inspiration kicks in. Expect some darkness and deepness.
Big thanks for talking to Muttley's Kennel Janne. All the best with your 2009.
We are influenced by many collectives, both groups with which we affiliate and those with which we are not members. Whether the collectives surrounding us are academic, spiritual, financial, work-world, familial, or otherwise, they enact powerful rewards (and punishments) to their members and non-members alike. They work to influence and control all manner of things, from our thoughts to our choice of lovers, to our life's work. They may also demean or discourage efforts that are not concomitant with their preferences. Did you take all of this into account when guaranteeing Lightless Recordings a Subvert Central affiliation?
Wow, what a monster of a question as a starter here, heh!
I'll say I'm definitely a subvert junglist for life and that's how it's going to be. Me and Lightless are definitely 100% down with the subversive movement. It totally helped me in terms of exposure as well as inspiration when it started.
Personally I was enamoured by the articulacy of events like "Is It Just Me, or...". There were passionate individuals with varying ideals coming together to discuss the nitty gritty, the serious to the downright silly, all in the same cache. The "behave yourself"; "don't make waves"; "don't think too hard"; "don't get big ideas"; "just keep a low profile"; "be a carbon copy"; "be nice"; "say 'yes' even though you don't like it"; it doesn't fit, it's not the right size and it hurts... To follow such a lifeless value system causes loss of soul-linkage in the extreme. On the contrary, do you feel empowered as being part of the Subvert Central community?
Well, I think I had all the drive, creativity, grumpiness (heh) etc needed even before I joined SC, but SC definitely connected me with so many like-minded producers and DJs. It also exposed a lot of people to my stuff as well as others', and it continues to do so.
I can recall you posting your tracks in the Beat Ranch. Back then, in 2002-2004, Paradox had coined phraseology for what he produced - 'drumfunk'. If the categorisation of your music as 'drumfunk' is antiperspirant, how and where would you like it sprayed?
Uhhh...these Qs are too clever for me, I just woke up!
So, if an antiperspirant prevents you from sweating, would a drumfunk (I hate that word – for the record!) spray prevent you from making and/or liking bad beats?
You could say that, yes.
I'd have it sprayed at all the big drum and bass events at primetime.
Homing is the instinct to return, to go to the place we remember. It is the ability to find, whether in dark or in daylight, one's home place. Did your relationship with your parents spread fruitful seeds with this in mind?
Yes, definitely. And I still go see my mom a few times a year. She lives where I grew up.
I love that little town, as life has a different pace there. They hardly have 8,000 (eight thousand) people there. It's a good place to go to if you want to distance yourself from your everyday life in the city.
Where are you from, and where are you currently?
The town I just mentioned is called Haapavesi. It's 500-600km north of Helsinki, roughly. I've been living in Helsinki since January 2000.
I always got the impression that you're a friendly guy, very approachable and warm-hearted. Photographs in your gallery and selected party out-takes (ICHiOne, The Cavern, Exeter and the US) confirm this. Has your temperament calmed with age?
I'm hardly temperamental. I've always been a nice, mellow dude.
In the interim of your travels around Helsinki, have you found the drum and bass mainstream to be lacking the breakbeat-heavy styles you engender?
I would have to say so, yes.
I remember you saying that some of the well-known DJs in that scene, liked your beats, but wouldn't drop them in clubs. Can you understand why?
Well, yeah, I can. That style of drum and bass doesn't really get played here.
However, my flatmate, who goes by the artist name of Trisector, is doing a monthly event in a bar called Loop, and they're exploring the deeper, breakbeat-oriented sounds there every month, and that shit kicks ass.
What is the scene like over in Helsinki, and how has it developed in recent years?
The scene is small, yet pretty lively. There's events all the time, and international DJs are being brought here on the regular. I started going to events here in 2000, and I think it's got livelier since. I have a lot of respect for the guys who do all the events here.
Lately you're planning to tour the US.
I've done three US tours already! The first one was short, the second one had around twelve gigs, and the last one – which I finished on June 19 – had ten. They were all organized and put together by mister Chad Simer aka Olcyrus from Mukilteo, to whom I'm immeasurably indebted for making it all happen. A good person with a huge heart and lots of musical passion. Gotta love him.
On that note, the drum and bass scene becomes a puddle of mud. What do we do to clean it up?
Wow. I don't know. Drum and bass as a whole is quite disintegrated in a way, so if it became a puddle of mud where everything mixed together pretty seamlessly, it might be a good thing. Heh.
A soulless world means some people are ruthless in getting what they want, without compromise. However in a lot of cases, things take time - time that they won't put up with. Do you subscribe to the ideal of the ruthless human, or are you more sensitive in the relationships you partake in?
Can't say I promote any ruthlessness in my actions. Even if you do something in your own terms, you shouldn't be selfish in your actions. This world would be so much better if we all were just a little less selfish. A little good goes a long way.
Then, if you could command the attention of millions of people for five minutes, what would you say?
Be a little less selfish. Care about the people around you. Try to do something nice to them, as it goes a long way. Love others like you love yourself (I'm not religious or anything, even though some of that may sound religious...).
In fairy-tale interpretation, the drummer becomes the heart of the centre of whatever new life and new feeling needs to rise and reverberate. In drum and bass' golden era (subjectively 1995-1997) this would explain the overflowing talent that married the breakbeat to atmosphere, the deep to the detrimental, and operations that condensed material as such. Do you miss those years?I do miss those years in a way. Material similar to that of those years still is being made, no doubt – it's just that that material isn't in the spotlight anymore. That music was the dnb mainstream back then, but now it's in the very marginal, and the mainstream dnb of today is motherfucking awful. It's simply crap music.
I miss the adventurousness of the 95-97 dnb and how open people were about it; breaky or not, it was simply good music.
The drummer is also able to frighten things away, as well as evoke them. When Ed Rush And Optical begun the overwhelming techstep takeover, with "Wormhole" sticking out as a pivotal piece, breakbeats on subsequent efforts maintained regimented ideals instead of syncopation, perplexing rhythmic passages shunned over inherent power that comes with flattening the dynamics, and cranking up the mids and highs. I recall you started a petition to get Danny Breaks back into d&b. He, for me was someone who straddled the range of these contrasting styles very well. Do you wish more heads today were exposed to such productions, and were you influenced by the intersection?
I do wish more people got exposed to such productions for sure. The styles I push are in the marginal, and I don't think the main reason is that it's drastically less accessible to the junglists of today: it's mainly because people simply don't get exposed to those styles unless they go digging quite deep – which a lot of people fail to do, and I can't blame them.
In the last few years, I've heard a few people who dropped out of dnb and then tried coming back say "I haven't been following jungle for some years but I wanted to check out some and I did, and dear god, what has happened? I checked out some clips and it's all awful shit”.
It's those people who can't find their way back to the kind of stuff that they loved: it may have been way more mainstream many years ago, but these days, it's very underground, and they can't find it very easily by going to the "major” dnb sites or events.
I remember reading how DJ Fracture tried to strike up a conversation with a bored Photek at Technicality. How was your meeting with Bill Laswell in comparison?
Those meetings can't be compared.
I first did some beats for me and Laswell's collabo album, ”Lodge”, after which I made some beats for him that he used in his "Vessel” remixes for Nine Inch Nails that came out on the "Year Zero Remixed” LP (I'm not credited on the album so I'll just mention it here, so you know, hehe!).
I went to NYC for a few days after a US tour I did and he paid for my hotel in Manhattan, paid for my drinks, showed me some nice food joints in NYC etc and we just hung out and talked about music. A real good guy, super down-to-earth, funny as hell, and all.
Also, for the record, Photek's beats today are lame as heck, while Bill Laswell is into the wild breaks, man.
If by looking in a mirror you turn into a superhero, what is his name and what does he do?
William Breakspeare.
Haha!
He finds, samples and mangles all the wickedest breaks in the world, making them speak his language.
Did you ever get into producing to earn money, or was it just a motivation for you to prolong your studies?
Money was never in my mind...making music has always been – and still is! – a hobby I do for fun.
I've ALWAYS done it for myself, and myself only, and I'm being dead honest here. I've never done one single compromise in my music with the market/fans in mind. If all my recordings stopped selling completely today, I'd still do it for myself and enjoy it as much as I always did.
From adolescence, what tools have you used to carve a life for yourself?
Doing the things I love – to nourish the soul and maintain the zest.
Where did the Fanu name originate? Some names stick like fridge magnets; I'm intrigued to know where this stemmed.
An old friend of mine used to give people the silliest nicknames when he was young, and when we were kids, he noticed I had a sticker of an elephant with the word "HappyFant” on it. In his twisted nickname-making mind, he made "Fanu” out of that. So there you have it! :D
Cool. Now, a lot of people will know you for "Siren Song", which sold over 500 copies on Subtitles. However, it was one of Subtitles lowest selling releases, and took plenty of gumption to be repressed. Do you feel proud of that accomplishment, do you look back and wish you'd released it yourself, and what was the emotional input like in comparison to your Lightless highlights?
Geez, this stuff is old! :D
I doubt it's the lowest-selling one: it was pressed twice and it sold out both times. I do feel proud of getting a release on Subtitles and I'm grateful to Teebee for putting it out for sure.
I wouldn't go back and change anything: getting a release on Subtitles, one of the biggest dnb labels out there, makes people check it out, and if I had released it, I don't think that many people would've heard it.
Emotional input? You mean rewarding, or...?
I was thinking more along the lines of how much you put into a track, but sure, why not.
I'd say it's more rewarding now: things are more in my own hands, and I've matured in terms of being an artist (and see, I'm still not making clownstep!!), whatever that means.
Despite this achievement, I recall you having a fracas with Teebee, who once said "You ain't doing anything new. Man I see like 50 of you come and go in every year." Has such critique hardened you to hatred or malignation, or do you take it with tongue firmly in cheek?
Believe it or not, I don't care about any criticism, be it from anybody. It's easy, because I've never done one thing to impress others or to appeal to anybody...I only do it for myself.
If I can manage to impress myself in my own studio space, I've reached my aim for a short while, and what comes after that, it's OK, whether it be positive or negative or from fans or the big heads who think their opinions count more than those of others'.
That's the STS soft synth on "End Of An Era", am I right?
Highly likely it is...I've sampled the synth back when I had a PC.
I remember sending it to you and you consequently selling your Virus. How has the transition from hardware to software been for you, are you in the middle of major changes, and how settled are you with your setup?
I'm still using my Akai s5000 every now and then, as well as my Soundcraft desk...they will never go away.
Logic 8 is the sequencer I use.
Just trying to mix them all...it works nicely. Sometimes I make all-software tracks, but they are more or less mixed on my Soundcraft.
You once told me you don't get inspired to write music in the summer. Do you think there's a direct correlation to wistfulness inside you, and the surroundings you produce in?
Yes, it's true I can't really make music in the summer. First, it doesn't inspire me at all for some reason. I grew up in the dark, cold parts, and that did shape my musical unconsciousness.
Second, I started skateboarding again two years ago, and that's kept me out for most of the summer so far: I haven't stayed much inside. Come autumn, the beats will start rolling in!
What do you do to revive the senses - sleep, caffeine, sport, sauna?
I skate – and I work out daily now. The latter is part of me dramatically changing the way I live, which I started last December. I've lost a lot of weight and I feel so much better now and my health has improved so much.
I O.D. on coffee every day, though, heh.
In the grey mists of morning, are you usually busy honing music production, or tucked up in bed?
These days, I try to get up at decent times – between 8 and 10 – and just drink mad loads of coffee and work out while doing it, or just go skate right after the first cup of coffee.
Some people's daily practice is prayer. Do you have your own recurrent cycles you respect and partake in?
Exercising a bit in the morning and/or in the evening. Having my coffee as soon as I open my eyes, haha.
As a one-man operation with Lightless, I imagine you must be a very busy man. What do you do to help yourself unwind?
I'm not nearly as busy with music as many people think. I've been lucky to have it all pretty easy: doing gigs and getting paid for other music stuff, too.
However, skateboarding is what makes me forget the everyday mundanity.
Well, skateboarding: Ollie or kickflip?
Damn! My ollies go definitely higher than any of my flips, but kickflip has been in my repertoire for almost as long as the ollie.
If I have to let one go, I'd keep the ollie for sure as it's the foundation of so many other tricks.
If I was a budding producer looking for a Lightless signing, what would your criteria be?
Original music. Period.
Please, no tracks with 1) pretentious über-chopped breaks executed with no real sense of rhythm, 2) bleeps and minimal sounds run through delay, or 3) forced movie samples before the drop...I'm getting sick of those demos.
What were your primary inspirations for starting the Lightless label - was it a case of being let down too much by external delays, or do you think of it as a natural extension of your name and agenda?
Mainly the former. I just wanted to have it all in my hands...it's worked like a charm, and I'm super thankful to S.T. Holdings for letting me do it.
It feels good having a personal outlet for my productions so I don't have to shop around anymore.
So you've launched a rawrip page with over half of your catalogue available as Mp3s. What are your thoughts on the digital revolution?
Simply, I think music should be available to people who are willing to pay for it. Not everyone wants to buy vinyl, so it's good that they can get their music in digital form. I still want to support vinyl, but you want to be realistic, too: let everyone willing to buy your stuff do it. I'm not into the "vinyl-only” way of thinking of releasing music at all.
It's good to acknowledge you've kept your eyes open. A baby gets newly born into the world, alive with a background of classical music his mother plays him. What track from the Lightless catalogue would you present as a gift?
"Poltergeist", of course, to fuck the baby up.
Haha, well, maybe something from the "Daylightless" CD2...something mellow and beautiful, I think.
Can you take us through how you produced a chosen track on "Homefree" - how you start, whether you lead with your emotions, how you got things to a level you're happy with?
It starts with picking a sound that suits how I'm feeling. Everything gets built around that. It can be a bass sound, for example, but most often it's a pad sound or a simple melodic thing. It's never a break, however, that I build a track around. That's how it goes, in a nutshell.
What musical ventures would you still like to embark on - singular, or in collaboration?
Well, Polar has been saying we should do a collabo, so I think that has to be made reality sooner or later...
If you were granted a day with any producer, who would it be and why?
Amon Tobin. It's his samples and atmospheres and the rich sound textures I'd like to see get made.
If you could keep just one record in the world, what would it be?
Questions like this are evil...if I *really* took that question seriously, all the pondering might take five pages, so I'll just be a partypooper and say I couldn't c
hoose just one.You've sent me this picture of you with the book "The Golden Ass". What does it touch on - philosophy, science, or a hybridisation?
I don't have a clue what it is about! It's a total joke...I was just hanging out in New York (with awesome Mr. Cordani from Subvert Central forum), and I spotted that book and wanted to make a photo of myself with it.
Great! Re-investigating your past, you were born with a twin brother. Has there been any sibling rivalry between you, are you worlds apart in interests, and do you foresee any collaborations on projects in the future?
There's never been any rivalry between us. We're both pretty creative (he's an extremely talented tattoo artist) but I can't say our works could be combined – unless we're going to use a tattoo as a record cover...now that's an idea!
What are you afraid of?
My biggest fear would be realizing I've lost my creativity, dreams, and passion. My soul is made of those things.
Do you have dreams which have affected your reality, and do you think there is more to life than our climate change driven, self-fulfilled prophecy? (the world's ending)
If dreams here mean dreams you have when you're asleep, no, but as in a dream that keeps you going, yes.
The whole music thing – being a somewhat successful producer and a DJ in my own terms – was a dream, but it slowly started becoming reality, and I've already achieved so much more I ever dreamed of.
Dreams are what keep your soul alive. As long as you have dreams, you'll be able to take the daily grind and see further.
Ambient pioneer Brian Eno has developed a new interactive application for Apple Iphone. 'Bloom' allows users to create their own ambient compositions via the Iphone's touch screen. What are your views on technology - is it more of a hindrance than a help to us?
Can't be a bad thing, really. Whatever helps people to get creative, make more good, original music, and enjoy music in general, is a good thing in my book.
Heh, I'm just getting the new iPhone – for the music apps...
Could you name three recordings that have had pivotal influence on your life so far?
I have to mention ”Logical Progression 1” at least. It was spectacular in terms of being good MUSIC, let alone being good jungle or having good breaks.
FSOL's ”Lifeforms” taught me all I ever needed to know about electronic ambient music, and I still think that record was light-years ahead of its time.
It's hard to name the third!
If there was a possibility for paradise, what would make paradise for you, and would you take it?
I think part of every man's paradise is getting to do what he likes to do. I guess I can say doing the music thing, which has made it possible for me to live a life of not having to take a 9-5 job, has let me taste some of that paradise. I'm planning to start ”a real job” of being a teacher maybe next year, so I can't feast on my paradise forever, heh.
You graduated to teach English in 2007, completing an MA thesis. Are you passionate about English, or have the nuances of Finnish eclipsed your interest in literature?
I wrote my MA thesis on the use of African American Vernacular English (sometimes referred to as "Ebonics”) in the rap lyrics of some Finnish rappers. I am passionate about English for sure. It was the only thing that interested me in school, and I was always pretty good at it. And, for the record, I am the least literature-minded person ever...I hate literature, I guess. Heh.
I still haven't graduated fully, to be honest, but I'm literally one essay away from finishing my studies for good...I need to write 10+ pages about the history of Finnish schooling system, how it's changed and how the way it's been perceived by students has changed over time...see why it's the last thing I gotta do?
I remember reading your interview with Knowledge Magazine, where you said the culture of samurais had influenced your conscious decisions. Can you elaborate on that?
It's about never feeling you're good enough at what you do...about practising constantly, trying to get better at your craft.
I think that's testament to your high quality control.
As for being a samurai...I'm more of a "ronin”, as I don't work for anyone, really.
Your track on "Daylightless", "Hagakure" contains the vocal "when the samurai's head is cut off, he will still be able to perform one action with certainty". If you were the samurai, what would that action be?
Do a nollie frontside 360 shove-it on my skateboard. If the day ever comes that I can't do that trick, I'll be dead.
Something you served in 2000 was six compulsory months in the Finnish army. Have you taken any influence from the discriminatory factors of this work?
Hell no. That shit was useless as heck. The most useless six months of my life for sure. Army blows.
Do you have any guilty pleasures?
Some sweets every now and then. No matter how healthy you wanna live, you gotta have some chocolate every now and then!
I concur. So, are you a regular contributor to the SC 'Snax Creux'?
Haha, no, but I guess I should be! Banana + peanut butter milkshake with added protein...killer!
Contrasting, if you were out and caught a fish, would you leave the hook in, or let it go?
Well, I do eat meat and I like fish, so depends on the purpose.
If I was out fishing for nourishment, I'd keep it, but if it was for the sport of it (never done either, actually), I suppose it could go.
Do you have any childhood crushes you've held onto?
No, but I've turned one childhood aversion into love: mustard. Used to hate it, now I love it.
All this talk of food is making me hungry. Let's change the subject. If you had to disappear without a trace, where would you go and why?
Helsinki, Finland, is a remote enough place, I guess. But, I'd go to where I grew up: the Finnish countryside.
Twin Peaks: favourite episode?
Too hard a question! From my childhood I can remember Bob crawling over the sofa and Mike (the guy with one arm) getting interrogated...that's some unforgettable shit right there!
Finally, what are your aspirations for the year to come?
Improve my skating. I've been so hooked on it all year. Calling it an addiction is very true. I simply have to do it every day. I'm not even good, honestly, but it's the most fun I've done. I'm so glad I started doing it again in 2007 after a six-year break.
I also plan to start making loads of new music when the summer turns into fall...as that's when the inspiration kicks in. Expect some darkness and deepness.
Big thanks for talking to Muttley's Kennel Janne. All the best with your 2009.
MK Stop 19: Fanu - Homefree LP (Lightless Recordings)
Thanks to khal at dogsonacid.com for publishing this review, and allowing me to cross-post it. To leave feedback, see this article link.
When you have nothing to fear, you are truly free. So illustrates Lonekink's fire-laden bridge edging off to a distant land in the artwork to Fanu's new Homefree LP. Building on the brickwork of Daylightless, Fanu channels the hypnotic poignancy and quiet confidence of Calibre and D-Bridge towards heavier breakbeats and wholesome bass astringency.
It's hard to hide stolen pleasures even when they are not nourishing ones. Fanu's bread and butter is Twin Peaks sampling and on Homefree he walks with this notion, raising the jawbone to taut bricolages of real and unreal, analysis and (beautiful) paranoia, seeing things that aren't there, muttered morass into broken chorus. "Amok", track one, sets shipwrecked vocals to string-led cinematics. Segued prior to "Cry 4 U" (feat. Swervez and BBA), where the ululating "I gave you all the love I've got / You took my love, you took my life" takes centre stage, the progression has chronological significance, as the musical connector to personal hardships. It can be difficult putting past scars behind you and the subsequent "Burning The Bridge", is the conduit, the sludgy bass and wispy aria an effusion of angst and passion. As are those on "You May Fall But Don't Hide Your Face", upping the pretentiousness stakes in the titles, only to cough up bigger rewards for those who push past the superficial.
In the days when "back to back" meant rubbing shoulders to test one's size, polite etiquette wasn't mandatory. Comparatively, Fanu's collaboration with The New Law on "Showdown" is a creative venture with respect of rhythm and restraint, whereas on "And I Find Her There", prominent shark-tailed rasps meld with urgent percussive showers and sit-at-the-back vox. They're a step forward from the downtempo excursions of Daylightless, concentrating on absorbtion (melodic continuity, brazen personality) rather than fascination (samurai influences, Twin Peaks). "End Of An Era" is a patchwork of down-pitched amens and angelic harmonic quandary, as if Source Direct drove past the Finn's window and passed the dark, uncompromising baton.
Sometimes the things we are searching for are right under our noses, but it may take an arms' width to access them. It's therefore suitable then that Homefree contains long veins of integrity, diversity and change. On his remix of Vector Burn's "1000 Thrones", Fanu demonstrates the rough-hewn grit that is a staple of his DJ sets. Trading roles, Vector Burn's take on "For Those Who Can Dream" mutates the original into a grizzly bear of inflated cheeks and consequential sudden, winding, sucker-punch low end. "Yesterday we were home, today we're homefree, so uh, lets make a nice time of it," says the title track, as a spider spinning a web of mandolin flourishes around an accelerated dubstep backdrop.
For a supermodel with no face, weighing up elegance and adorableness requires careful consideration. So at 14 tracks deep, patience is a virtue in uncovering the album's true worth. But you will have more than a nice time with Homefree. This is Drum & Bass with its head screwed on, and a label with plenty of multigenre goodies left in the offing.
Purchase: Vinyl / Digital
Fanu: Official website
Lightless Recordings: MySpace
When you have nothing to fear, you are truly free. So illustrates Lonekink's fire-laden bridge edging off to a distant land in the artwork to Fanu's new Homefree LP. Building on the brickwork of Daylightless, Fanu channels the hypnotic poignancy and quiet confidence of Calibre and D-Bridge towards heavier breakbeats and wholesome bass astringency.
It's hard to hide stolen pleasures even when they are not nourishing ones. Fanu's bread and butter is Twin Peaks sampling and on Homefree he walks with this notion, raising the jawbone to taut bricolages of real and unreal, analysis and (beautiful) paranoia, seeing things that aren't there, muttered morass into broken chorus. "Amok", track one, sets shipwrecked vocals to string-led cinematics. Segued prior to "Cry 4 U" (feat. Swervez and BBA), where the ululating "I gave you all the love I've got / You took my love, you took my life" takes centre stage, the progression has chronological significance, as the musical connector to personal hardships. It can be difficult putting past scars behind you and the subsequent "Burning The Bridge", is the conduit, the sludgy bass and wispy aria an effusion of angst and passion. As are those on "You May Fall But Don't Hide Your Face", upping the pretentiousness stakes in the titles, only to cough up bigger rewards for those who push past the superficial.
In the days when "back to back" meant rubbing shoulders to test one's size, polite etiquette wasn't mandatory. Comparatively, Fanu's collaboration with The New Law on "Showdown" is a creative venture with respect of rhythm and restraint, whereas on "And I Find Her There", prominent shark-tailed rasps meld with urgent percussive showers and sit-at-the-back vox. They're a step forward from the downtempo excursions of Daylightless, concentrating on absorbtion (melodic continuity, brazen personality) rather than fascination (samurai influences, Twin Peaks). "End Of An Era" is a patchwork of down-pitched amens and angelic harmonic quandary, as if Source Direct drove past the Finn's window and passed the dark, uncompromising baton.
Sometimes the things we are searching for are right under our noses, but it may take an arms' width to access them. It's therefore suitable then that Homefree contains long veins of integrity, diversity and change. On his remix of Vector Burn's "1000 Thrones", Fanu demonstrates the rough-hewn grit that is a staple of his DJ sets. Trading roles, Vector Burn's take on "For Those Who Can Dream" mutates the original into a grizzly bear of inflated cheeks and consequential sudden, winding, sucker-punch low end. "Yesterday we were home, today we're homefree, so uh, lets make a nice time of it," says the title track, as a spider spinning a web of mandolin flourishes around an accelerated dubstep backdrop.
For a supermodel with no face, weighing up elegance and adorableness requires careful consideration. So at 14 tracks deep, patience is a virtue in uncovering the album's true worth. But you will have more than a nice time with Homefree. This is Drum & Bass with its head screwed on, and a label with plenty of multigenre goodies left in the offing.
Purchase: Vinyl / Digital
Fanu: Official website
Lightless Recordings: MySpace
Saturday, 8 August 2009
MK Stop 18: Natalie Imbruglia + Murray James @ 02 Academy, Oxford (6 August 2009)
A row of umbrellas pitch like sandcastles outside the 02 Academy's four walls. A mixture of middle-aged, twenty-somethings and teeny boppers congregate. We're in thick, pouring rain, everyone's soaked, so what's initially appreciated is medication for the system, and if we're lucky, a torch of real promise musically.
Murray James is not carrying it. A mongrel version of Sting swallowing a handful of sleeping pills, dragged onto the stage half-cut, then subjected to ten shots of snakebite before cobbling together the faintest traces of melody, pulse and harmony, cackling like a sub-par Amy Winehouse, into a puke-making assemblage of office-worker-dull tunes, and all that springs to mind here is David Walliams Little Britain character re-enacting "Computer says no." No. Never again. Please, I'm begging you.
Now many times when ideas aren't unfolding or operating smoothly, or we aren't working them well, we lose focus. It is part of a natural cycle and it occurs because the idea has got stale or we have lost the ability to see it in a fresh way. Strapping on your guitar like you're ready to fly a plane couldn't be worse when the proceeding forty minutes summons up a nosedive of proportions akin to slipping on a dog turd while forced into reading a copy of the Daily Mail in a prosaic state of imagining.
After an abysmal start, who could lead-in with such a restorative, rejuvenating hour-and-a-half than Natalie Imbruglia. I swear my heart skipped a beat when she entered the vicinity; she looks stunning. Singing aloft a hefty four-to-the-floor kick, this outing is noticeably weightier than her works on 97's "Left Of The Middle". Announcing her collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin to receptive cheers, the newly rendered pieces exhibited are meaty, not fragile, unlike old Murray James, who had more holes in his performance than a game of Crazy Golf.
She entices uproarious applause by number three with "Torn", her biggest hit, which sat at number one on the UK charts in 1997 for fourteen weeks. "You don't know where my head is at" she sings between vocoders, wearing a top hat and trading blinks with her fans.
If she pulled out a bunny, the whole shebang could have been otherworldly rather than annoyingly pedestrian. "Shiver" and "Wishing I Was There" top off the highlights of this captivating evening, from two different corners of the critical spectrum.
Natalie Imbruglia: MySpace
Murray James: MySpace
Natalie Imbruglia: Website
Murray James is not carrying it. A mongrel version of Sting swallowing a handful of sleeping pills, dragged onto the stage half-cut, then subjected to ten shots of snakebite before cobbling together the faintest traces of melody, pulse and harmony, cackling like a sub-par Amy Winehouse, into a puke-making assemblage of office-worker-dull tunes, and all that springs to mind here is David Walliams Little Britain character re-enacting "Computer says no." No. Never again. Please, I'm begging you.
Now many times when ideas aren't unfolding or operating smoothly, or we aren't working them well, we lose focus. It is part of a natural cycle and it occurs because the idea has got stale or we have lost the ability to see it in a fresh way. Strapping on your guitar like you're ready to fly a plane couldn't be worse when the proceeding forty minutes summons up a nosedive of proportions akin to slipping on a dog turd while forced into reading a copy of the Daily Mail in a prosaic state of imagining.
After an abysmal start, who could lead-in with such a restorative, rejuvenating hour-and-a-half than Natalie Imbruglia. I swear my heart skipped a beat when she entered the vicinity; she looks stunning. Singing aloft a hefty four-to-the-floor kick, this outing is noticeably weightier than her works on 97's "Left Of The Middle". Announcing her collaboration with Coldplay's Chris Martin to receptive cheers, the newly rendered pieces exhibited are meaty, not fragile, unlike old Murray James, who had more holes in his performance than a game of Crazy Golf.
She entices uproarious applause by number three with "Torn", her biggest hit, which sat at number one on the UK charts in 1997 for fourteen weeks. "You don't know where my head is at" she sings between vocoders, wearing a top hat and trading blinks with her fans.
If she pulled out a bunny, the whole shebang could have been otherworldly rather than annoyingly pedestrian. "Shiver" and "Wishing I Was There" top off the highlights of this captivating evening, from two different corners of the critical spectrum.
Natalie Imbruglia: MySpace
Murray James: MySpace
Natalie Imbruglia: Website
MK Stop 17: Reservoir Cats + Adam Bomb Band @ The Bullingdon, Oxford (August 3 2009)
Entering to Top Cat's theme, three guitarists, one drummer, and "a frog in my throat", Reservoir Cats aren't going to dethrone tyrannical laws, but they could robustly obstruct the barricades, and, like a rubber band on a slingshot, break off and fly to regions uncharted on the collective radar. Sarcasm rears its head early, where the lead singer jokingly remarks "it was a life changing performance for you wasn't it", as the venue slowly lifts to cruise control. Striking his strings like he's throwing down chips on a poker table, his gravelly voice supplants grit to the amplified diatribe of "I Put A Spell On You", a quieter number benefitting from fine inkjet solos, painting a blotted pattern of rollicking, riveting and reliable blues solutions.Wearing a silver and gold suit, my, but what a lot of hair have the Adam Bomb Band. If hair was converted to oil, Adam Bomb Band would be one of the richest bands in the US. Perhaps their identity would be advanced by renaming Adam Edam. Not that cheese is a bad thing, but that's what's dominant on the menu tonight, as a bastard child of Judas Priest and Motorhead twists the Famous Monday Blues around its backbone, disturbs the flow like a speed bump, then drapes multilayered microphone lighting, cymbal-intrusive flickering flames and an amicable drummer's arms as if he's powering a rowing machine in a heavy-duty gym, around a glam-metal, sweaty anorak setting.
Covering Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" and The Kinks' "You Really Got Me", the crowd begin to bust obtuse moves with gusto, as the house is brought down like a Duracell bunny-implanted hybrid of the tempo, fortifications, and style of the traditional Famous Monday Blues. Roving far from self-absorbed show-off parameters, and jangling in the subterfuge, they're certainly a force to be reckoned with, but are likeably seductive, too.
Reservoir Cats: MySpace
Adam Bomb Band: MySpace
Famous Monday Blues: MySpace
MK Stop 16: Alamo Leal + Lightnin' Willie And The Poorboys @ The Bullingdon, Oxford
Most people don't like Mondays. Who can blame them? Like a hoody, it entraps heat, but is contaminated by the cultural outlook. Cloaked with the belief of misfortune, Monday is the turnaround back to the daily grind, taking the kids to school, making plans you'll perhaps never follow through with. However, it's also where life in renewed, sorrows can be drowned and hard work can pay off. So arrives the Famous Monday Blues to channel your woes...Philip Guy Davis brings a call to arms every week, and tonight it's the turn of special guest troubadour, Alamo Leal to entertain passing punters. A slow and steady, solo acoustic guitar opening lays the groundwork. With almost thirty years of international career behind him, this practiced musician shows his lust for the female sex on "The Same Thing" - "Why a man go crazy when a woman wear a dress so tight?"; implementing stomping feet to the tapestry, giving off good vibes, and the air that he is simply enjoying his life. Plucking an evergreen thrust on each number, he's an everyman storyteller par excellence, winging in metaphors that get this writer's chin stroking with considerable kick - particularly "Sometimes you fly so high, you can't find a place to land". Bringing rockabilly pressure, all closely condensed chord shuffles and pinging keys that slide like projectiles from left to right, these are well-shaped, powerful pieces, peppered with Alamo's fine-grained lyrical script. "Why do I feel so good when a woman wears a night gown?" Your guess is as good as mine.
Carrying on their crusade as headliners are Lightnin' Willie And The Poorboys. Three months on from their last visit to the club, they're on fire tonight. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink, not least when thunder is afoot. This doesn't stop the audience standing like kids in a sweet shop, eager for more openings to the rock-and-roll boogie. How lightning initially forms is still a matter of debate. If you were to ask Lightnin' Willie, he'd probably tell you it arises from positive charges of the audience. Sassy, electrifying grooves abound like tetris blocks over a puzzle of blues craftsmanship, as Willie insists "This is our living room, and you are your friends". Kicking off with a rags-to-riches citation, they peak at quarter to midnight with "Eyes In The Back Of My Head", harnessing stamina and top-heavy hammering from the drummer as if he's tenderizing a steak; not battering the sticks, but the impetus is there. And with that, this is a splendid showing from a big favourite of the UK blues circuit, and reason, if anything that the Famous Monday Blues should be high of your shopping list.
Lightnin' Willie: Website
Lightnin' Willie And The Poorboys: MySpace
The Famous Monday Blues: Website
MK Stop 15: Polar - In The End LP (Warm Communications)
Artwork credits: khoma @ khomatech.comTheir initial LP project, Warm Communications and experimentation go together ala TV and video: one broadcasts forward-thinking ideals, the other embeds itself in the recordings of the past catalogue. His first in six years, the Scandinavian's co-produced, recovered-from-tinnitus comeback album - what's enthralling is how good it turned out.
Syncopated powerhouse "Almost And Beyond" opens with a bold statement, nodding melodically to "37 Degrees And Falling" Polar on Certificate 18. "End Of The Story" ties delicate vocal samples to a sly, heavy-suction drum section, and chirping, whirling atmospherics, coming off like the ghost of Ed Rush & Optical (when they were good) slipping through a contemporaneous wormhole, filtered through a cheesegrater and displaying the subtle, sinister funk that won over so many fans originally. "Another Time" prolongs this theme, with a bassline that wriggles like a wild snake through a maze of long grass. Busy on the percussion, big on quirkiness, it escapes triteness by a level of attentiveness that is signature to Polar productions.
"Nothing Personal" conjures imagery of Boards Of Canada and Autechre sharing seats on a gut-churning rollercoaster, only to be strapped in by Luke Vibert, handed chocolate milkshake and honest synth squiggles. The result is a sublime mix of off-kilter harmonics and dribbling digital synthesis.
"I Don't Remember" collides its intricate details akin to dodgem cars in an egg whisker, the drums accentuating the glitch-punctuated compartments of sound throughout. "Rendition", all space-age synth ditties, is the pick of the collection - if your agenda is to have drums incorporated as a major part of the cut. This and "High Voltage" are vintage Polar, employing intermingling textures with some superbly chopped, "tighten up" tenacity.
"In The Middle Of Somewhere" is "Out Of The Blue"-esque Polar fattened up and simplified, but here still maintaining your interest by its quality of ingredients - it's music beyond just a DJ tool; also thanks to its shorter-than-five-minutes length. "3 Liter" is a near continuation of once-album-of-the-week-at-boomkat producer Naphta's "Are You Ready", if it was dipped in a lagoon of syrup - this concoction oozes vitality and poise above the sub cushion. "Static", one of three downtempo cuts on this digital release, offers an inexorable hiphop bounce. "Stepping Out" is, not surprisingly, a militant stepper tune, but collates just as much subtlety as its peers, rinsing out the two-step break but never sounding too regimented or contrived.
These tracks, built like throbbing nuclei, are elementally leftfield, however never too bulky for the litmus test. So becomes "Uneven", filled with gangster electricity that's part horror movie, part Tron - like the rest of the LP, its construction is easy to follow, yet deviant, the message luxuriously translated, the sentiments easy to relate to. As an accompanying bonus to "Lo-Fi Epilogue", you'll get the seductive "Chula".
As with an empty suitcase, the constituent parts are awaiting to be taken somewhere exotic, but not to serve as hollow exoticisation; all saccharine show with no natural salt and pepper. In the end, here, Polar has created recordings that challenge the listener's expectations, but also have the audacity to appeal to the jaded junglist - or rather, armchair socialist contingent; complaining of no beats shaped for the dancefloor as well as headphones. It's like an unworn dressing gown when you're fresh out the shower: warm, inviting and stable. And as such, is highly recommended.
Purchase: Mp3 release
Dogs On Acid: support thread
Warm Communications: MySpace
MK Stop 14: Psychonavigation Records present Zaum Vol.1
Cutting the mustard comfortably as ambient compilers, Enrico Coniglio and Emanuele Errante take time out of their own careers to present, feature on and arrange Zaum Vol.1, a selection of specifically commisioned works by Italian ambient artists. Running since 2000 out of Dublin, Ireland, the Psychonavigation labels' compass ranges from electronica to electro to ambient, the latter a cornucopian mainstay of this disc, bending like a yoga student into various shapes, masses and sizes. Pictorially, the desolate artic landscape greets the viewer head-on upon unwrapping, and thematically, it's the perfect ten to be showcased. In the business of freedom, calmness is not the same as solitude, and Netherworld, the first artist represented here, conjures up a cloud of sadness through "Jostedaal", the low-fi hum emanating like a a gong hit in a lonely cave. Maintaining a solemn outlook, the pithy crackle that enshrouds, and drips carries through an Italian dialogue that resembles an extension of his feats on "Morketid", and contrasting his busy existence in the chaotic realms of inner Rome.In archetypal symbolism, the carriage is a device that carries oneself from one place to another. Veering-off-course occurs on "Daylight Fading Into Evening Silence", an altogether more soothing piece from Enrico Coniglio and Oopohoi, under the Aquadorsa pseudonym. Clicks and pops meld around a repeated wash of dreamy synth interludes. Those following Oophoi's discography from the late nineties onwards will recognise his berth with mellow atmospheres, and the third cut, "ZX-21 Part 1" is a welcome second step up the escalator of affection, from Dario Antonelli. "Thank You" by con_cetta Vs. Antartica, filters the roughage of droney silence, and silences internal demons with a genetically modified spin on ambient dub. Arlo Bigazzi & Arturo Staleri's "Stregatto", the only track with acoustic guitar, and the first with piano, stumbles around with an aura of innocence, at turns soaked in reverb and delay, consecutively to eschew the frivelties of most chillout fare. "Last Love Inside Love" by -On- stoops at a shorter length.
Understanding that part of love means to embrace, and at the same time to withstand many many endings and many many beginnings - all in the same relationship, over the duration it drifts off to a secluded spot in the sequence of tracks, whereby Massimo Liverani's "Primavera" instills an eerie aftertaste that could frighten a wolf, let alone a baby, as such sticking out like a sore thumb, but not strained for cancelling satisfaction purposes. Emanuele Errante re-introduces scuttling insect noises to his composition "Egostasy", whereas the Illachime Quartet suckle bowed strings to warm-bodied violins, producing one of the highlights that aquiesce to pressures for mindless conformity. Luca Formentini's "Avaaz" is the distillate of Deep Chord left in a freezer overnight, all slow-motion, cascading chords and soaring white noise before an entrance of duvet-snug synth enwombs the earlobes. Closer "Amalidieses" by Zoo Di Vetro wipes away the hall, smoke and mirrors with a four-to-the-floor, bulging beat and exact, spoken narrative intermissions.
If you are striving to do something you value, it is important to encircle yourself with people who unequivocally support your work. Lending a larynx to the minority artists, Zaum Vol.1 is no unobservant fabrication, and unlike a pair of baggy jeans with no belt, doesn't demand tightening up. In days where compilations can sacrifice quality for quantity, it's a breath of fresh air to purchase a CD with a cohesive, alluring arrangement that could vivify even tbe lowest spirits, and conserve the equated to be timeless in this track order. Succulent like a fish supper, it's not so-laid back you fall over, but rather perks you up, the included and the industry who produces it, to listen with fresh ears.
Purchase: CD
Psychonavigation: MySpace
Psychonavigation: Website
MK Stop 13: Barry And The Beachcombers + Freakishly Long Mirrors @ Fat Lil's, Witney
If you pleased everybody, you'd be old, raggedy and dry. Pummelling that statement into submission are Barry And The Beachcombers, as an entourage of seemingly seasoned, trendy student types fail to comply in their role as supporters, at Fat Lil's box of tricks in Witney, Oxfordshire. Setting up shop with a guitarist shimmied inside a cow suit – or a ram, depending on how the vision holds up, they brew a storm of punk seismology, never rooted to the spot, like an ostrich receiving an electric shock, and certain value for money, not like straining clothes that don't fit. Their ace of spades is closer “Green Cross Code”, but unlike the advertisement, I wasn't intending to cross the road just yet. As they plummet in waterfalls of distortion, to “keep you safe”, this beach is sun-kissed and worthwhile.Warming the cockles in aftermath are Freakishly Long Mirrors. No, it's not a giraffe's vanity project. Cooking up a hybrid of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, but with a sturdier, percussive lead underpinning, once again it's tough to establish brevity in the lyrics, and besides a crew of casually curious at the front, and the odd, die-hard rocker, the venue is on autopilot before heating up the claps quota near the end. Upping the pace a notch on their second tune, FLM lack a few killer hooks to be essential listening, but are a pleasing distraction nonetheless. Bypassing the stereotypical indie self-pity, like toppled rows of dominoes, the smaller singer's lyrics rub up on the microphone like a preacher man reciting a prayer. Having a game of etcher-sketch with his kit, the drummer outlines angular cymbal crashes in a buccaneering finisher combo of jet-ski guitar and vocals that rise above the murk just enough to be comprehensive. Bin-bag of genre skeleton or rucksack of treasure? The audience are sitting on the fence, but this onlooker is satisfied. And at £3 a ticket, love, for once, does come cheap.
Barry And The Beachcombers: MySpace
Barry And The Beachcombers: Website
Freakishly Long Mirrors: MySpace
MK Stop 12: Nissenmondai + From Light To Sound @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford (July 12 2009)
Car enthusiasts might get starstruck by the tonal similarity to Nissan (manufacturer) and (Ford) Mondeo, but if you're thinking Nissenmondai warrant such bland compartmentalising, their symbol of experimental post-punk noise will blow you away. Unfortunately I unlocked their jewellery box of MySpace audio when I got home - I had to leave before seeing them, but judging by the crammed-in-a-shoebox nature of the beast downstairs, where students, seeming regulars and dedicated gig-goers united, the murmured yet prominent drones of From Light To Sound, the band I did catch, fluidly surfing over the debris of Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, would be just the tip of the iceberg. When the time comes to settle down, who's to blame if you're not around?Guesting the Truck festival this weekend, I took disc two of a limited edition hand-made fifty set. It's a CD that presents hard-wearing, at points krautrock kismet, climaxing with the adorable riff-tastic "Compliance", which at one turn presents post-rock with an ambient punch, later flipping the script of a nondescript, woodpecker tick-tock metronome, giving you that "everything's going to be alright" adulation in bucketloads. They don't play swings and roundabouts, whereby you're not sitting through 15 minutes of tedious trolling for replies - From Light To Sound are weavers of strong heart, twisting the ventricles into fluid musical ribbons, and necessary electricity. As put on their grubby, shredded-pencil riff-beavering, "No, You Listen". There's reason for sound, now there's reason for light. Shine it over here, will you.
Nissenmondai: MySpace
From Light To Sound: MySpace
Nissenmondai: website
MK Stop 11: Sharks + Computers + Ghost Of A Thousand @ 02 Academy, Oxford (14 July 2009)
A chugging, continuous cacophony, Sharks bite like a ravenous crow onto the attention spans of tonight's gently packed 02 academy. Bold, bright and uplifting punk. Exeter's Computers invite people to "Take a step forward...it might be fun". Dressed like pageboys, all in white and with mullets to make a hipster cocktail party blush, their head-banging craziness is refreshing and, surprisingly, deeply felt, whereas the vocalist announces it's the slimmest stage they've ever been on, whereby they take to the floor, and with track titles like "Love The Music, Hate The Kids" you can be sure of a bashful sociological periphery, their momentous blasts of punk fizz enveloping, pulling stylish wheelies, while the drummer grapples with his equipment as if he's swimming against a torrent of trojan viruses.Their last song - or moreover, scream, is met with welcome humility, bigging up their mortal counterparts Sharks, and the last act of the evening, Ghost Of A Thousand. If the decibels omitted during their performance are equivalent to anything, it is indeed a hoover bag of busted ghosts. Formed in Brighton, England, in late 2004, GOAT quickly won critical praise for their riotous aggression. Members Andy Blyth (guitar), Jag Jago (guitar), Memby Jago (drums), Tom Lacey (vocals), and Gez Walton (bass) released their debut album, "This Is Where the Fight Begins" in 2007, touring with the Zico Chain and Flood of Red, and playing sets at the Reading and Leeds rock festivals. With the album scoring five Ks in Kerrang!, Lacey's lyrics collapse in the mouth of the noise pit like chocolate truffles.
This drummer is also equivocally animated, chasing and hanging onto the tracks like an alligator with locked jaws. I can't comprehend a syllable the singer's saying, but perhaps that's not the point, and maybe it'll pay off for the memory matrix when I download a copy of this chuntering blitzkrieg. Even the moshing wasn't bad. To quote GOAT, "It's not about beating the shit out of each other, it's about community and having a f***ing good time. Give your neighbour a hug". And that, was nice.
The Computers: MySpace
The Ghost Of A Thousand: MySpace
Download: Ghost Of A Thousand on eMusic
MK Stop 10: Spinnerette + Little Fish @ 02 Academy, Oxford (July 13 2009)
Mic range: check. Four guitars: tested. Water bottles: six. Towels: five. Beers: two. In spite of this, one song centred on being a diva. A semi-solo project it may be, but Brody Dalle wouldn't be as much an irresistible force without the bombast of her three-guitarist backing cast. Wearing a bra on the outside of his T-Shirt, I was concerned whether the second male guitarist was hinting, or if it was a coincedental metaphor for the performance going tits-up. Not so.Rumbling like a tsunami, the wall-of-sound characteristic is prevalent and foreboding, and as an air pocket in the floor area fills, I take my place at the front row for this, her characterized-as-alternative-pop-punk romp post-leaving The Distillers, accompanied by Alain Johannes of Queens Of The Stone Age, Jack Irons from Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tony Bevilacqua, also late of The Distillers. It's a set that revels in punk hedonism while bringing up speckles of sludge in the midrange. The lyrics in places are oxymoronic counterpoints - "A Spectral Suspension" fastens in "Go to sleep" to begin, causing the listener an uneasy fright if not prepared for the burst of lightning that transcends the honeycomb flavouring.
"Rebellious Palpitations" is more confrontational - "Hey what's your name? Give you anything you want / Take everything you've got". "Baptized By Fire" is pure Goldfrapp circa "Train", wrenching in jittery electro bravura. Acting like a supercharged version of the Cocteau Twins on "Lullabies To Violane Vol.1", the songs are similarly refuge material, embracing their battle-scars from the past but keeping the motors visor locked to the future. Brody leans down at intervals to holler at her fans, blending an apex of slurred choreography with the wonky riffage on display.
Not unknown to acute rocking are Little Fish, supporting Spinnerette this evening. "Brody is the real deal, she has such a great voice and independent attitude that we feel blessed to be part of, and be able to watch perform every night of the tour." say Juju and Nez. "She is a true rock'n bleeder. You learn about music when you play with a band at this level, and we are grateful as it has forced us to sit up straight, not be complacent and work harder. We take note of what is needed in order to make a mark in the music world... and hopefully one day, we will be good enough to make our way through, as have Spinnerette". They do more than make a splash in comparison, their brand of two-piece, electric rock suited as the calm before the storm in this context. It's a toy box of sorts, harnessing layers of greatness on opener "Whiplash", the free-spirited sunshine pop stating "I'm fine with that" with an oomph recalling PJ Harvey. "When I first came here there was a black hole" she says on "Let Me Die Young". Hopes are high that they won't be sucked into the wilderness. What are their aspirations? "To take every day as it comes and be grateful that we are still in the running, still in the game, still learning, and still moving forward with our music. To have fun. To continue to do what we love doing - playing shows, and evolve. We have our album released out the states late October so we will be touring the US late September onwards...from there, we shall see. We also know that our album will then be released in the UK come November. Who knows what fate has in mind for us? We just keep our heads down, work hard and continue to make music that we believe in".
Download: Spinnerette on eMusic
Spinnerette: MySpace
Little Fish: MySpace
MK Stop 9: Edenheight @ The Cellar, Oxford (July 10 2009)
In the midst of everyday life, where something normally vibrant within the psyche can be starched flat, given a drubbing, or distorted beyond recognition, there are heaven-sent bands like Edenheight to readdress the balance. Basking in the glow of an illustrious influences list, browsing their MySpace page for the first occasion offers up a titbit of what's to come at this month's afrobeat, latin jazz and funk extravaganza Bossaphonik. Having seen Mankala tear it up two months prior with a meld of Santana-like rhythms and lyrical interplay, fellow Bristolians' Edenheight present a repertoire of dub-inflected meanderings and a healthy smattering of jazz-funk attitude.With the DJs ushering in funky but reserved tunes to please those seated and standing, starting as a four piece - Manfredi Funk Initiative - jamming out an arousing take on British funk, two saxophonists enter by the third number, while watching the drummer and keyboard player is a visual treat, and like a portable microwave, they know how to bring the heat. Abundant in atmosphere but never sickly like cake icing, seldom have I ventured to The Cellar when the vibes have been this spectacularly intense.
Edenheight are at their best when the instruments are left to ornament and careen wildly - the saxophone sections in particular - and distilled to the most vital levels of conditioning. A cauldron of good eggs as a nine-piece congregation, the interval is a nice touch, giving minutes to compose oneself before giving in to another hour of rockin' jazz-funk. Shortly after, the arrival of Madlox applies an underlying pulse to the evening. The partying audience lap this up, dancing with red shoes on. Working in unison, the sax men vary their inhalation technique to great effect, the group alternating numbers throughout but always making more than just a pretty sound. Madlox rides with the lyric "You know I wanna do anything you wanna do", attracting bodies closer by a word to "Get down", whereby the crowd show an affinity and respect by doing as he says. Ultimately, what's at stake with gigs like this? Edenheight have a simple answer: pleasure.
Bossaphonik: MySpace
Edenheight: MySpace
Edenheight: Official website
MK Stop 8: From Here, We Run! + Tristan And The Troubadours + Stone Saloon @ The Jericho Tavern, Oxford (July 9 2009)
There are lights, cameras and action, and then there are smiles, hollering and tomfoolery. Such is the setting of the Jericho Tavern for From Here, We Run!, a band collating demo of the month accolades from Oxford's monthly music magazine Nightshift, and wooing the audience over with a math-pop backdrop, one that calls to mind Warp's Battles if they were straddled through a forest of sweet-natured melancholy. Like playing in a garage with a door open, letting passing traffic occupy an impermanent space for enchantment of their sticky, sultry myriad, as such, Pieteke's almost reclusive balladeering germinates amongst warbling guitar melodies and Alanis Morrissette-esque zest, singing "If this is a war of the worlds, I don't wanna be a part", and offsetting tumbling drum sections with an alluring, but decidedly detached rigour. She makes a montage of these lyrics with a commanding sense of presence, pulling the curtains on my listening, the night after with "Waiting", saying "The little things you say and do, it all dissolves like a sugar cube". Let's hope their name doesn't sink from the spotlights any day soon.Opening with a grunting chord fluctuation and fuzzy, glitter-ball synths, Tristan And The Troubadours violin lifts proceedings amongst floppy percussion duets and edgy roleplay. Sounding like the lovechild of A Silver Mount Zion and Joy Division, they deliver sonic postcards to implant a partial emotive permanence onto the setting, "reel to reel". Swaggering like a swinger on heat, when a life becomes too controlled, there bides less and less life to control, and TATT understand this notion by implementing sparkling keys as an overlay to the soaring violin, that begins to poke its head to the forefront by the second half.
For those who longed it out, Stone Saloon stole the show. Commencing, ironically with "Down To Jericho", Ben Lee's voice stops you in your tracks like a red traffic light. A cross-breed of Michael Stipe and Bruce Springsteen. rather like a bubble in the side of a tyre, eventually, as the tyre evolves and heats up, as does the crowd, the pressure behind the bubble intensifies, as does the band, causing it to grow and grow until it explodes! Releasing all their inner content, his personhood is not bereft of a wink to the stars, as should Stone Saloon's status in the forthcoming months.
From Here, We Run!: MySpace
Tristan And The Troubadours: MySpace
Stone Saloon: MySpace
MK Stop 7: Black Powder + Ace Bushy Striptease + Saints Innocents @ The Wheatsheaf, Oxford (8 July 2009)
Don't be deceived by the student-prankster, piss-up styled pseudonym, Ace Bushy Striptease border on a twee, cutesy jangle, paired with march-style drum spurts and deliberately clumsy vocal deliveries. They're joined by Black Powder tonight and if proof were needed The Wheatsheaf have an uncanny knack of choosing great artists, the show is an hour late on the road. Not to be perturbed, an additional bonus is that Antony and the Johnsons are rambling over the PA. Black Powder's songs survive via alternated hops, skips and jumps from the drummer, scrunching up the pace like a hedgehog in defence, at other points synchronized to build a fiery synergy, topped off by the lead singer's spiky mohican to wash it down. Covering subjects as disparate as prostitution, Jesus ("your heroes are liars they love you so little") and assorted consequential "Filth" (another equally interesting track title), it's hard rocking right to the finish line, the players abusing their instruments as if life depended on it, and the moods harboured in doom-mongering cross-context juxtaposition - the singer a jekyll and hyde mish-mash of Noddy Holder and an irritable rottweiler. Whatever the score, they're here and heavy, and that's all that matters.Ace Bushy Striptease see to taming down the noise threshold, yet by the end of their set there are cheers that ricochet from wall to wall. Reading her track order off a notepad, there are stops and starts from the lead singer, and the secondary ("this next song might be better"), that this reviewer puts down to not idle chatter, but a reminder of what it means to be human again. So there's mic trouble from the sound engineer's point of view, but still their identity remains intact, alive, and out there.
Google-searched as a defunct cemetery in Paris, Saints Innocents' music is fortunately posessed with more spirit than a well-stocked off-license. A complete bloody mess of sweeping guitar, speed-freak drumming and skydive-like screams and bellows, it reads like a cavalcade of insecurities being blasted to pieces by the angst of youth. Alright in small doses, but not for the long haul.
Ace Bushy Striptease: MySpace
Ace Bushy Striptease: Official website
The Wheatsheaf: MySpace
MK Stop 6: Edenheight interview (July 7 2009)
I conducted a short interview with Ev of Edenheight ahead of their perfomance at Bossaphonik, on the 10th July 2009.
Many thanks for your words Ev. Are you looking forward to playing at The Cellar on Friday?
I look forward to all of our gigs. The band are too, as our performances are never the same twice. When we played at The Cellar last summer we had an impromptu moment where we decided to switch drummer and percussionist around mid-song during an afrobeat number, resulting in a massive percussion duel, which was a buzz for everyone on stage and off. The crowd were really receptive in Oxford too, which always helps us do our job with a smile.
A song can be a catalyst to developing some distance from problems. Do you want your music to draw people into the deeper states of reflection, to communicate information about sound, colour, planetary movements, dna, ethnic bodies, or any of the above?
"Just picking up a musical instrument is a political statement" - David Byrne. As for the lyrics you've picked up on, I can only say that Madlox is free to write what he feels and we're happy to empower his perspective. Everyone has a role, and he's the MC.
Your track "Triptych" bestows the vocal "I dare you to open your mind." Do you work with your emotions as a strength rather than trying to fight against them?
Like I said, I'm not the MC. I'm the producer/director. I know that we are a predominantly live band, with an emphasis on percussive energy and swing, and that the emotional input on everyones part throughout a performance is in all aspects a positive one. The choice made to involve an MC was implemented as we wanted to commit to a contemporary rhythmic style rather than edging towards a pastiche funk sound. I'm not sure how the question relates to the angle of the lyric and would rather leave the direct response to Madlox.
Right. Living in Oxford, I get to hear a broad palette of sounds via gigging. Harold Budd visited the city in 2007, while at November's Audioscope festival I experienced Boxcutter remixing his hypnotic "Gave Dub" with "Fieldtrip", and a shower of amen breaks. Do you think your location influences your footing in funk music, and are there pleasures beyond the genre that you enjoy seeing out?
There is definitely a vibrant live music scene in Bristol, which includes all the styles you can imagine. The inner city also produces many dance music innovations which I believe can be largely attributed to the innovation and musical fervour of Carribean culture. The carnival sound systems have played earliest host to home produced sounds including breaks through jungle and drum'n'bass to dubstep. People have talked about a 'Bristol sound', which if anything has probably been labelled 'dark' or 'edgy'. In our experience, there have been times where our sound has been misunderstood by crowds out of town, and we've discussed the possibility that maybe some towns have a different vibe to others. The vibe in Bristol may verge towards agression and angst at times. Perceived in context it's seen as an act of impunity against oppression, and human nature shines through.
What inspires you (the whole, majority or selected) to make music?
Life, love, and music.
You're all at various ages, culture is wide open to be sampled, and commodities, in the information age, don't always last forever. What do you value utmost in these climes, is your vision staying consistent, and what do you predict from it changing in the future?
Is it me or does this question start with 3 unrelated statements?
They're all connected by adherence to an impetus for change.
Irrespective of the rhetoric, my vision is still 20/20. People always want a piece of something good, but if they can't produce their own ideas eventually they'll dry up. Tap into the key energy of the constituent parts to form a real band, so that the energy flow is generated not borrowed. Then you have the creative well at the heart of any project. People might steal the water from time to time, but if it's good water, eventually the well gets the credit.
As producers, do you translate specific ideas from other artforms into musical ideas, such as films, radio or television?
I'd say it's probable, since we all absorb these forms on a daily basis. Specific ones though, not as yet. Maybe soon.
I'd say it's probable, since we all absorb these forms on a daily basis. Specific ones though, not as yet. Maybe soon.
Technology has advanced society so much over the last 30 years. Before then, computers were for the rich only, mobile phones didn't exist and television was solely terrestrial. Now there's total overchoice. I remember reading a Knowledge Magazine article with Klute who said the same thing. His subject matter was his latest album at the time - "No-One's Listening Anymore." Do you agree or disagree with that statement?
Well I wasn't listening when it was said, but then I'm not sure I would have been before I had a mobile either. The overload of media has also shown that self-publishing doesn't always produce the best quality too!
Sure thing. All I know is that I'm safer when I go out, I can communicate with a whole community of like-minded (and lesser so) individuals on web forums, and I can choose to switch off the box (to the level where I no longer watch or have a television). Whether overchoice helps is debatable - people can spend more time deciding now, which could impair judgement on their wider life. Where music is concerned the effects are tenfold; anyone can make a demo CD cheaply, which is healthy for sending to media outlets. MySpace has revolutionised the A&R procedure of getting music signed - see the Artic Monkeys and their blowing up from the MySpace public. What would it take to plant the seed inside yourselves for wished mass exposure?
The industry is changing. Mass marketing is still required for mass exposure, so a major deal or investors are required to achieve that end, but product placement has dwindled and 360 deals have been born. Arctic Monkeys and such benefit from the fact that youth culture moves quickly and buys readily. Why do you think the vast majority of major artists are signed under 25?
MySpace is easier for demo distribution, but without marketing it would never propel a band alone. I watched the number of hits of a friends' band (who made the papers for all the wrong reasons recently) see their MySpace hits go through the roof, but they didn't sell any more albums. They had loads illegally downloaded however, and their gigs sell out.
It would be nice if all the people who'd like our music could find it easily, but we don't have millions to invest in production and such to get across the radio / TV hurdle so we just keep playing in the good small venues and try to produce a couple of tunes for
ourselves as a matter of course.
Thanks from all at SubVersion Ev. Hoping to catch you on Friday.
ourselves as a matter of course.
One final question: your list of players and collaborators is fairly vast for a funk-orientated group. Do you find it daunting recording in the studio with various ordinations, or do you draw inspiration from the melding of styles from your constituent parts?
It's never daunting until the live recording stages are finished and the post production begins. The collective that we have become are now functioning as 3 different groups - Manfredi Funk Initiative (the hammond funk 4tet featured on Craig Charles funk and soul show, BBC radio6 recently), The SubVersions, believe it or not, (A rare groove 7 piece, purely live), and Edenheight, who are appearing as a 9 piece at Bossaphonik on Friday. The additional guests that we invite in are all there because we respect their work and abilities, and decide we'd like to produce some work together. It's all an interesting process for everyone involved.
It's never daunting until the live recording stages are finished and the post production begins. The collective that we have become are now functioning as 3 different groups - Manfredi Funk Initiative (the hammond funk 4tet featured on Craig Charles funk and soul show, BBC radio6 recently), The SubVersions, believe it or not, (A rare groove 7 piece, purely live), and Edenheight, who are appearing as a 9 piece at Bossaphonik on Friday. The additional guests that we invite in are all there because we respect their work and abilities, and decide we'd like to produce some work together. It's all an interesting process for everyone involved.
Edenheight: MySpace
Edenheight: Official website
The Cellar: MySpace
MK Stop 5: 3rd Degree Leburn @ The Bullingdon, Oxford (6 July 2009)
Despite Bryan Adams being in Oxford this evening, I preferred to plump for, on the basis of previous impressive acts from Dana Gillespie and Sharrie Williams, the Famous Monday Blues weekly party. Far from being dedicated to repetition of a single value without experimentation or renewal, my past visits have granted oracular voices; not sunken in pop sugar, nor treading over molten coals of extinguished blues spirits.Tonight's performance is a slightly different proposition, changing the complexion to three guitarists, two vocalists, one drummer and additional percussion provided by Derome. If a burn is a type of injury that may be caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction, then 3rd Degree Leburn are a type of lotion for soothing pains and prejudices out of the system. Like stirring freshly poured coffee, their mixture is full of strength and potency from the off, hitting the Bully's four walls with grace. One regular sports his delightfully long beard, but he's not stroking it, rather swaying side to side with the joyous blues that Leburn administer. The audience are freed from turgid spectating to dancefloor making by tracks one and two, both extracted from a forthcoming CD. Tune three, "Angel Without Wings" embeds the overriding theme of their songs: love with women. "Old Age Pension" guarantees that they have a sense of humour: "You know it's bad when all the bus stops look the same". It's not long before the guitar lines, like trails from jet planes, are cast long and disperse minus cloud cover; manna for the mind and feet.
The interval allows the drum kit to take refuge, the lights to be dimmed, and the candle-lit audience rows combing through the locks of time. Covering Bob Marley and The Wailers' mighty "Exodus", they display versatility that greases the wheels of this venue's machine, whereas a rendition of James Brown's "Sex Machine" ups the ante to take us into the finale of much applause. The most important part of a house are the people inside, and Leburn understand the implications of putting on a great show for every attendee.
3rd Degree Leburn: MySpace
3rd Degree Leburn: Facebook
3rd Degree Leburn: reverbnation
MK Stop 4: White Denim @ 02 Academy, Oxford (3 July 2009)
If the sizzling English weather of the last few weeks wasn't a make or breaker to staying outside, sitting at a computer monitor is assuredly not the best method to appreciate White Denim. Performing tracks from their "Workout Holiday", "Exposion" and "Fits" albums, they run the risk early on of being so damn lugubrious, so stoner slack racket, that it drags everything down with it. Thankfully that's not what happens here, as lead vocalist James Petralli lunges into an upsurge of quick-fire shouting amongst thorny guitar peaks, while the drummer regulates body temperature as if he's ploughing through ice in a chilly breeze. Heavy on a grungy, garage tint, their product is realistic but never cosmetic, eschewing traditional modes in favour of a wine glass of psychadelic merriness. Personal highlights of the set include the trashy, ramshackle gabber tempos of "Heart From Us All", the shuffly, ants-in-pants schizophrenia of "Ieiei"; scuzzy, Jethro Tull-on-lithium splendour of "Say What You Want", and all-out-guitar-and-indecipherable-language-barrier "El Hard Attack DCWYW".
The decisive flowing quality is that you're unsure where one tune starts and the subsequent begins. Instead of mapping cadences of silence to fill up the frenzy, each transition is a seamless collage of harsh feedback and percussive intermissions from guitarist and drummer respectively. And when I use respectively, that's loosely, for obedience of the vocalist is sparingly employed to guide the time-signature-switch-ups and rolling dynamic interludes between instruments. Through all of this, it's not tough to put your finger on why the full house of the 02 academy is raucous in support. Maybe it's the singer's rhythmic deviance where he goes off on a complete tangent but somehow remains anchored to coherency. Perhaps it's the additional wonder generated by the light show where red blends into blue and the darkness of the room beckons us asunder. Possibly it's the variation of the lyrical themes that keep the crowd bubbling, and that veers the show away from trite noisemaking. Personally, the talisman of enjoyment arises from recognising all of the above. Experimental fits: yes please.
White Denim: MySpace
Download: White Denim on eMusic
White Denim: Official website
MK Stop 3: Muttley - Time Heals All Wounds (July 2009)
Artwork credits: cordani @ est00.comI'm toying with the risk of sounding like a broken record, but I feel I have to get past troubles off my chest. The woman I've waxed lyrical of in the 15 Minutes Of Fame Mix Series blurbs was sent the writeup I pondered on for over a year. The initial response I received wasn't unexpected - her friend jumped in to reply to me with an expletive, saying "don't try to start your psycho games again", whereby I sent him an email, explaining my perspectives diplomatically, and gave him the download link to use as he liked. She, as it happens, never responded. A Muttley message is for life, not just for pixelated fairytales, though it appears I've been misunderstood severely.
"Time Heals All Wounds" consists of several symbolic interjections. Predominantly a drum and bass mix, my first since "Departure" in August 2006, the content respects past idiosyncracies I made in 2007, most heartily in The Dastardly Diaries Chapter 2. In this project, Mick Dastardly (aka Muttley) took on the task of presenting a multi-genre, all-nighter track showcase, coupled with a webzine, themed to complement the IChiOne events in Amsterdam (see SubVersion Stop 3), and two other causes not affiliated, or acting in conjunction with the Dutch event.
To download it, click here.
Comprising 150 audio clips and seven mixes, the sequence was three-tier; for one, it highlighted descriptive benefits in relation to basic genre tags - "Attitude", "Chill" and "Deepersounds" titles were attributed to each audio clip, allowing users to shape their own playlists; second, it juxtaposed aesthetic transitions where the tunes could be blended; third, cryptic data snippets covering science, nature, insomnia and etymology were submitted to aid crossing the boundaries of cigarette card-styled, information station emulation. "Time Heals All Wounds" is the continuation of such progress. The lyrical pigment of "Billion Dollar Gravy" - "Baby, don't you leave me", is a sentimental ploy to the woman I lost in the foliage.
Fanu's "Tribes (remix)" symbolises the alternation of personalities I could trust during my diagnosis of suffering from psychotic depression. "New Day" by ICR is the amulet of respect I bestow on the woman for moving on with her life. "Mystery Mating" objectifies the surfeit of sex and quick love that she appeared to have aggregated. "Barmaid" - "Nobody had a chance to be somebody...so, anyway, what? Hm?" externalizes the self-doubt and disconnected pitfalls of choice.
"You Are Never Alone" touches on the unbridled support of Bridewell Gardens in my recovery. "Calm Before The Storm (Flight Of The Albatross)" contains the vocal "You would say you'd care for me", then questioning the soloistic - "No crying, no lying, no trouble beautiful girl". Khonnor's "Daylight And Delight" centres the discerned emotions in a diaspora of confusion - "When I think that I am safe, something happens that makes me feel otherwise, because I can feel the pain of something better, could kill me". Panda Bear's "I m Not" recalls the minutes I spent plotting a graph of what I was listening, in relation to the woman overseeing it - like last.fm, it drew on track orders as a whole as opposed to singular rites. She replied to me indirectly with "I b there but not in 0s and 1s son", asserting the broken letters of "I m Not".
Badmammal's "Beach Song" is the epitome of advancing post "Murray Ostril: They Don't Sleep Any More On The Beach", one hidden (and the concluding) track in the TDD 2 collage, by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It is installed to identify a gain of self-esteem from the last project. In the "Clipticisms" (TDD 2's idiosyncracy system) I became very forlorn and distressed as to whether I had insulted the woman with my sequence of anecdotes - copied, pasted and methodized from the internet. Anyone knowing her screen alias could compose thought onto why I had paired her name with a quote rendering how some individuals have developed "a fake personality for themselves in the absence of one of their own". Today I regret the inclusion, whereas at that juncture I was low on sleep and pretty manic. I even have regrets as to apologising to the confederate of the data illustrated. But in all fairness, no-one else but me could have noticed, and to summarise, it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm undoubtedly the sole perpertrator whose lost hours of slumber over it.
I have hopefulness that you'll like "Time Heals All Wounds". It was originally created for my youngest grandmother's 74th birthday. Today it contains further reference and importance. It'll be the last drum and bass selection for a while, so if you're ready for another, please do let me know and I'll get on the case.
MK Stop 2: Muttley - Drones In Duality (June 2009)
Artwork credits: cordani @ est00.comStop 5: Download
"Drones In Duality" is the first in a series of mixes dedicated to Bridewell Gardens, which I visit every week to engage in therapeutic conservation and decorating work. The name is a reference to the double meaning properties of each track title, and the transference of a gesture in two different timeframes - before mucking in, and after a days' graft.
For instance, Bibio's "Cherry Blossom Road" encompasses the ability to walk down roads adorned with flowers, to and from the bus trip to Bridewell, while "Sleep In The Eyes" identifies the product of doing much work on the premises, or getting cobwebs out on the journey in. Hammock's "We Will Say Goodbye To Everyone" nods to the friendly atmosphere I've encountered, and the desire to wish well each person I meet there. Pan American's "So That No Matter" curtails an extended metaphor for "so that no matter what problems I face, I can get through the day, with help from my friends and family".
This is segued into Hakobune's "Realization At Dusk", which symbolises the enjoyment factor I weigh up the evening prior (getting sorted to make a stop) and heretofore the welcoming in of darkness (post-assignments and seeing everyone off). Oophoi's "Beyond These Skies" is the subsequent result of thinking forward, to what can be sentimental gold beyond nostalgic trifles. Then "Diamonds In The Sky" arrives to calm the listener: "They shine in the night / The diamonds in the sky / The sweet dreaming girl's paradise". "Softkiller" harks back to my relationship with the woman I've been so preocuppied with. Incomprehensible lyrics act as the undertow to ethereal guitar noodling and hushed chants.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
