Happy new year ssgs! On Sunday 15 January we will be having our first 'Sound Garden' chill out party for 2012. This month our special guest is Sapphire Slows. She is a relatively new Japanese artists, who has recently put out her first two records: a 7" on Big Love, and a 12" on Not Not Fun. These two releases have a dreamy, ethereal feeling to them, with the most obvious reference point for her sound being someone like Maria Minerva. And as with some the best material on NNF and 100% Silk, there is a kind of DIY charm to her music. To give you an idea, here is a video of one of the tracks from her NNF single:
Sapphire Slows - Animal Dreams from Not Not Fun on Vimeo.
If you want to check more about Sapphire Slows, she has a facebook page and soundcloud. And to see her on person, come down to Orbit on 15 January when she'll be joining us to spin some records. I am glad to see more artists like this appearing in Japan and we very happy to welcome her as our guest for the next edition of 'Sound Garden'. Details are:
Sound Garden - January party
Guest: Sapphire Slows (Not Not Fun)
Residents: David Dicembre (Combine) / Jelomu (Drone) / Chris (MNML SSGS)
Sunday 15 January 2012
16:00 - 23:00
Bar Orbit, Sangenjaya
FREE
So if you are free on the 15th, please come down and welcome 2012 with us in a relaxed and friendly style. We are looking forward to continuing these chill out parties throughout the year.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for putting together another Sound Garden party. I really liked the first one I attended (I think it was No. 2), but found the following ones increasingly disappointing...
ReplyDeleteLast time in particular the volume was so low that I asked the staff whether their speakers were working properly. They responded that they would turn up the volume "later" . My guess is that they are trying to keep the volume down so people talk more, and therefore order more drinks?
It also seems that the event is turning more into a venue for people to catch up with friends, so at times it almost feels like a private party. Nothing wrong with that...but wasn't the original aim to be an ambient music event? When someone of Dozzy's calibre is playing, I want to listen to the music and not girls screaming hello to their friends across the room or singing Happy Birthday...
And of course it's great to have a full house, but when there are constantly people bumping into you/stepping over you, listening to music is no longer fun.
My suggestion would be to consider to change the format slightly and:
1. Charge 500 JPY at the door, part of which could go to the venue, who would then have an incentive to return the music to an audible level. At the same time it would create a disincentive to guests who are not really interested in the music anyway.
2. Prohibit guests bringing their own food. This should further increase profit for the venue, and also make the events feel less like an izakaya/private party.
Hope this is helpful - I appreciate all the work that undoubtedly goes into organizing these parties, and look forward to many more in 2012!
hi patrick
ReplyDeletethanks for the feedback. you have raised some very valid points, especially about getting the volume right and the balance between listening and sociability.
in regards to the food, the primary reason we let people bring their own is it stop people from leaving. the timing is rather awkward as it goes right through dinner. for the first party or two a lot of people left early because they got hungry. so we decided to let people bring their own food as a way of encouraging people to stay.
as for the volume issue, i don't think this is a specific decision by the venue. perhaps we are just not getting the level right. we didn't at the last party.
other points taken on board and we will think about them. from my perspective i think there needs to be a balance between it being an environment where we can enjoy ambient music, but also that it can be suitably sociable. this is all an ongoing experiment for us so we will keep working to get it right.
by the way, presuming this is the patrick that i have met at sound garden, can you email me at mnmlssg@gmail.com?
cheers
chris
This looks interesting... after basically bashing 100% Silk in your year-end post. You guys... heh.
ReplyDeleteStill waiting for that.
ReplyDelete