More ASC in Tokyo

Last night ASC really impressed me at Module. A distinctive feature of his RA and ssg mixes are how perfectly balanced and structured they are. But these are studio mixes, so I was interested to see if he could pull it off in a live setting. And indeed he can. Over 3 hours he put together a tightly mixed and beautifully composed set that demonstrated his distinctive take on the autonomic sound. I know he is coming out of D&B, but not much of what I heard last night is what I associate with this genre, he is definitely going well beyond it. Much respect to ASC for a great performance!

Good news is that everyone around the world can catch ASC in action, as he is playing Monday night at Dommune. And before then, for our Tokyo friends, he is playing a special deepspace ambient set today (Sunday) at our "Sound Garden" chill out party. Here is the timetable for today:

Sound Garden chill out at Bar Orbit
16:00 - 18:00 - Chris
18:00 - 20:00 - Jerome
20:00 - 21:00 - ASC (deepspace set)
21:00 - 23:00 - David

Full details here. Hope to see some ssgs down there later today, it is going to be a super relaxing way to finish the weekend... And the info for tomorrow night at Dommune is:

Continental Drift at Dommune
Monday 30 May: C_olvrin, ASC

If you want to come, there are still spots available, you can register here.
Live stream at http://www.dommune.com/

Tokyo: 9pm - 12am
Melbourne: 10pm - 1am
London: 1pm - 4pm
Berlin: 2pm - 5pm
New York: 8am - 11am

As usual, Dommune can be a bit late getting started, keep an eye on the mnml ssgs account, I'll update everyone on when things get started.

Ssg special - Kangding Ray

"Capital burns off the nuance in a culture. Foreign investment, global markets, corporate acquisitions, the flow of information through transnational media, the attenuating influence of money that's electronic and sex that's cyberspaced, untouched money and computer-safe sex, the convergence of consumer desire..."(Don DeLillo, Underworld, 785).

Or... (Kangding Ray, OR, 2011)

When Chris, Cam, Dave and I started mnml ssgs back at the end of 2007, one of the first things we did was formulate a wishlist of artists we'd like to do mixes for us. Kangding Ray was on it. The email went out in due course, and David got back to us, leaving the line open: less than a promise, more than a no. It was tantalising. Three years later, here it is: from our perspective, a patience-ripened mix more than a thousand days in the waiting. What can we say? Kangding Ray has repaid us, with interest, with pure gold.

Those of you who are already Raster-Noton tragics like Chris and I will have noted the emergence of Kangding Ray's work, and with it a distinctive voice that manages to be unlike the others it nonetheless clearly draws inspiration and influence from. For the unfamiliar, a few loose comparisons. There is a strong avant sound design side to his work, making it more in the tradition of 'audible architecture' a la Robert Henke. But the difference, for me, is a musical quality of composition absent from a lot of Monolake. While hardly songs, Kangding Ray tracks are beautifully wrought arrangements. There is also a definite dark, emotive strain in Kangding's sound, which brings him close to Apparat or Moderat. Again though, this isn't quite right: for me, Kangding Ray shows an admirable restraint that Apparat's full blown 'Ableton emo' often lacks. Finally, there is a highly developed 'sound sculpture' side to Kangding Ray.

This third aspect has really come to the polished fore on the new album. If you checked out the astonishing Pruit Igoe EP last year – without a doubt, one of 2010's best – then this will give you a foretaste. But OR (Gold) is more: this is an album that bathes you in the dark glow of late capitalism, right up to your neck. I'm not bullshitting you, either on the sound side or David's intentions – read about the album here. Hell, buy a copy: this is capitalism, after all. Indeed, consider doing so before the system implodes. Having said all that, the incredible thing OR is that this isn't some kind of worthy political posturing, or unlistenable, murmuring 'arrhythmic deconstruction of the arrhythmia of the creative destructive heart of capitalism'. It also happens to be an amazingly immersive and listenable album.

I don't want to say too much about the mix Kangding Ray has made for us, because I want to avoid giving your ears strong preconceptions. It's called 'vs', it was made for ssgs – in more ways than one – and it is, in outline, a sublime swirl through a decade and more of heavy memories: his, yours, ours. Like floating through an imploding system. I love it.

ssg special - Kangding Ray VS mix

For more general info on Kangding Ray, check his excellent website, http://kangdingray.com/ ; for more general info on the state of capitalism, try watching Fox News while reading DeLillo and listening to OR at high volume.

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Seduced again

 

After falling hard for Marcel Dettmann a couple of years ago, lately I have slowly lost interest. His album last year was solid, but it didn't greatly appeal to me, and when I saw him play last year he was good, but certainly not on the level I had expected. I never doubted his talent, but I did wonder if he was suffering a bit from a punishing touring schedule and a few too many commitments. Staying on top of your game while travelling week in, week out, is a tough ask for anyone. So when I saw the tracklist for this new mix of his, I was immediately interested, as this looked much more like what attracted me to Dettmann in the first place. And having listened to it, I have to say, this really is an inspired effort: beautifully programmed and much more personal than anything else I have heard from him. This is a mix that I expect to stay on my mp3 player for a long time. Definitely worth checking:

oki-ni presents "Seduction" by Marcel Dettmann

01 - Chris & Cosey - Metroeme
02 - Bruce Gilbert - Epitaph for Henran Brenlar
03 - Twilight Ritual - Tears On The Wall
04 - Kas Product - Tina Town
05 - Cluster - Fotschi Tong
06 - Severed Heads - Legion
07 - The Klinik - Suffer In Silence
08 - Raime - Retread
09 - The Cure - A Strange Day
10 - Klaus Doldinger - Eingeschlossen
11 - Front 242 - Don’t Crash
12 - Demdike Stare - Rain & Shame
13 - Ultravox - Rage In Eden
14 - Burning Star Core - Hopelessly Devoted
15 - Section 25 - The Process
16 - Pink Industry - Is This The End?

More info over at oki-ni. And if you missed the Andrew Weatherall mix in their series, that one is also highly recommended.

ASC in Tokyo!

Great news for ssgs in Tokyo: next Saturday 28th May one of our favourite artists - ASC - is coming to town, and is playing at one of our favourite clubs, Module. As you probably know by now, I am a big fan of ASC's distinctive take on the autonomic sound, so I am really looking forward to hearing him in a club environment. If you have yet to check out ASC, I strongly suggest rectifying that immediately by grabbing these two excellent mixes from ASC. These are definitely two of the best mix I have heard in the last year. Incredibly well balanced and structured:

ASC - RA233 mix

ASC - ssg special mix

ASC will be playing for 3 hours, with an extended to open the night from C_olvrin, who many of you might remember from the excellent set he played at our Dommune party last year. I'll be opening the chill out room upstairs, so umm... there is some added incentive to come to the party. Anyway, details are:

Continental Drift presents ASC
Saturday 28 May at Module
10pm - late
2,500 yen on the door

For more info, check the RA page and the Module page. And if you want to hear more mixes and music from ASC, check his blog. Hope to see you on Saturday. This party is going to be fun. I strongly recommend coming out for it.

motion sickness of time travel tracklist

As promised, here is the tracklist for the excellent Motion Sickness of Time Travel mix. If you haven't checked it yet, I strongly suggest you do, it's a beauty. And perfectly suited for a Sunday...

"Electric Rain" mix - Curated by Rachel Evans / Motion Sickness of Time Travel

Artist / Album / Track / Label

1. Air Sign / Our Galactic Covered Wagons to the Stars / "Untitled", side A / Stunned
2. Nova Scotian Arms / Slow Architecture split / "Graphics Bloom" / Sweat Lodge Guru
3. Afterlife / Hypnautic Rinse / "Open Ocean" / Stunned
4. Bernardino Femminielli / Souvenir Express / "Memoria Punto D#" / Digitalis Ltd.
5. Charlatan / Meridians / "Flares" / Hobo Cult Records
6. Tidal / Motion Sickness of Time Travel/Tidal split / "Shadow Cast" / Tranquility Tapes
7. Sounding the Deep / Glacier / "Cosmic Shore" / Sonic Meditations
8. Hobo Cubes / Emotions / "High. Y." / Los' Discos Enfantasmes
9. Lee Noble / No Becoming / "Emotive Cloak" / Sweat Lodge Guru
10. Lunar Miasma / Crystal Covered / "Purple Oscillator" / Bases Frequencies
11. Panabrite / Nordsee/ Contemplating the Observatory / "Tunnel Flight" / Digitlais Ltd.
12. Renee Hell / Club Speed / "Room 7" / Ekhein
13. Emeralds / Grass Ceiling / "Standing Water" / Fag Tapes
14. Expo 70 / Psychic Funeral / "Psychokinesis Within Meme" / Sonic Meditations
15. Sundrips / Arrays / "Silver Breeze" / Fade Away Tapes
16. Derek Rogers / Informal Meditations / "Live at Salvage Vanguard Theater, Austin, TX 2010.10.10" / No Kings
17. The Away Team / Evacuate Planet Earth/Cloud Prism split  / " Skymud" / Hooker Vision
18. Reedbeds / Reedbeds / "Untitled", side A/ Calypso Hum

New ssg mix up on Tuesday.

Not Not Fun

The last week or so I have been organising some of my music as I think about what I will play next weekend at our next chill out party. And in the process of doing this, it started becoming very clear  how much of the music I have been buying this year comes from Not Not Fun. Over the last 6-12 months I have found myself increasing bored with most contemporary techno and house: it is not bad, but... it is just not that exciting either. Yes, of course there are still some strong releases coming out, but there is too much that is good and not great. Quite simply, I am struggling to remain that interested... In this context, I have found myself increasing gravitating towards and exploring Not Not Fun. NNF is erratic, exuberant, obscure, quirky, but thoroughly interesting and worthwhile. If you check their Discogs page, you can see they put out quite a bit of stuff, and the quality is definitely mixed. But if you dig about, there are some real gems in there. Some of the releases I have been enjoying include: Dylan Ettinger's "New Age Outlaws" and "Lions of Judah", Xander Harris' "Urban Gothic", and Sand Circles' "Midnight Crimes". And on the new sub-label 100% Silk, "Muddy Tracks" by The Deeep is great, as is the new Gillette EP. Actually pretty much all of the stuff on 100% Silk is worth checking - it is more dancefloor orientated and a bit less weird. Pipecock has written a good introduction to the sub-label, which I would recommend reading if you would like to know more.

To be clear, NNF is not to everyone's tastes, and there is plenty of stuff which is a bit 'too much' for me. But I would encourage you to check it out, as they are releasing some excellent music right now, and as I said, it tends to be much more interesting and inventive than what is currently going on in techno and house. If you are interested, an excellent entry point into their sounds is the NNF label mix pontone is hosting:

NNF pontone mixtape

Another good thing about NNF is that even though they release a lot of stuff on tape, they also put out plenty of vinyl and digital. This means it is much easier to get hold of their releases in comparison to some of the other labels currently operating out of the States. So if can handle the over-the-top descriptions and that horrible BEEP, check out the big selection of NNF releases at Boomkat.

That's about all I have to say about NNF, as I am still exploring. But if you want something a bit different and are feeling adventurous, my advice would definitely be to check this label out.

Berlin double

Just a quick post for any ssgs in Berlin... I will be there in early June (3rd-13th), but I wish I was travelling there a couple of weeks earlier, as this weekend and next there are a few special acts playing. This Saturday 21 May at the Robot Army party Ugandan Methods are playing live. I presume this will be Ancient Methods & Regis, which would be seriously cool. I am still waiting for a chance to see Ancient Methods play, I remain firmly convinced they are one of the most interesting and important acts in techno today. And then next weekend the thoroughly under-rated Scorn will be playing live as part of the 'Tourist Trap' party on Saturday 28th May. I strongly recommend checking him out - he has a very distinctive and totally awesome sound, kind of like death metal dub-step. Sandra Electronics are also on the bill, again I am presuming Regis will be involved with that. Filling out the bill are other ssg favourites Function, Sandwell District, and Dasha Rush, so this is definitely a very ssg-friendly party. Two gigs that make really want to be in Berlin! But I cannot complain too much, as this Saturday in Tokyo Atom TM is playing at Unit, and Fred P at Eleven, then next Saturday 28th ASC will be making his Japan debut at Module... So plenty of fun to be had over here too...

Ssg special - Motion Sickness of Time Travel

Operating in parallel to our techno world is another electronic universe, one made up of limited editions tapes and CDRs filled with obscure syth oddities and lo-fi gems. For those outside (like myself) this is all rather daunting, hell most of us still have our old tape player in a box somewhere at our parents' house. This world can be rather impenetrable, but you get enough glimpses to know that there is something very exciting happening over there. Editions Mego has probably done the most to bridge this divide, notably with artists like Oneohtrix Point Never and the Emeralds, and their new sublabel Spectrum Spools. This really is just the tip of the iceberg, though, and when I hear an artist like today's contributor I want to discover more...

Motion Sickness of Time Travel would have been another artist / ship in the night, if it wasn't for the strong recommendation given to me by two people whose taste I really trust. As soon as I read the name I was interested. In my books, Motion Sickness of Time Travel is one seriously cool artist name. And on hearing Seeping Through The Veil of The Unconscious the name somehow made sense. The album has an ethereal beauty to it, ghostly and enchanting, music that recalls lost memories you never quite had. Intrigued and wanting to know more about this artist and these sounds, I asked Rachel Evans (aka MSOTT) for a mix and she kindly obliged. The result is a captivating, beautiful journey into this other world that many of us know little about.

This is what Rachel wrote about her mix:

"It's pretty hot in the southern United States, especially around this time of the year. The temperature seems to rise a little everyday, and rain seems to fall less and less. It wouldn't be quite so bad if it weren't such a dry heat. The tracks I chose for this mix are from our personal tape and cd collection. All of the releases are both refreshing and relaxing in their own ways. The synth and guitar expressions included have a way of cooling down the air around me on extra humid days, and washing over like a slow, chilly rain. Each track has its own fragrance too, and expresses its own unique personality. Although the artists are varied, there's still some amount of underlying aesthetic that holds all of them together like a lovely bouquet. My friendship with many of the artists featured further cements this mixture of music and well-represents some of my favorite tape labels and artists operating today."

"Electric Rain" mix - Curated by Rachel Evans / Motion Sickness of Time Travel

As usual, full tracklist up next week. Rachel is very busy, with plenty of solo & collab work on the way. There is a MSOTT LP & CD coming soon on Digitalis, a split release with Nova Scotian Arms on Aguirre, as well as cassettes on Hobo Cult Records and Digitalis Ltd. As Quiet Evenings (with her husband Grant), there is a lovely new CD called Transcending Spheres, and they are playing at Gainesville, FL on 20th May. This is just a short list of stuff Rachel has coming up... She is also working on a project with a good friend of ours, Camella Lobo from Tropic of Cancer. Very excited to see how that develops. Anyway, for more information, make sure to check the Motion Sickness of Time Travel homepage. Huge thanks to Rachel for this gem. Enjoy the trip.

Next chill out party - Sunday 29 May

We had our first Sound Garden chill out party last month and it went very well. Everyone who came had a great time (we think) and there was plenty of great music played (we know). Orbit really is a perfect place for something like this, it was lots of fun sitting around on the floor, drinking, relaxing, and talking with friends. So building on the success of our first party, the second installment will be on Sunday 29 May. This time we will be starting and finishing a bit earlier, so try to get down before it gets too late. Jerome, David and myself will be providing the music, and if we are lucky, we may have a special guest too...

Sound Garden - May party
DJs: David Dicembre (Combine) / Chris (MNML SSGS) / Jelomu (Drone) / ?

Sunday 29 May
16:00 - 23:00
Bar Orbit, Sangenjaya
FREE

If you want to have a relaxing Sunday evening with friends and good music, this is the place to be. See you there!

Ssg special - A.P

Ranging from spacey ambient, drone, to more downbeat dub techno, Ghost Sounds is a label I have come to appreciate for its understated beauty. The standout release so far has been the "City Nightlights" album by relapxych.0. It reminds me a lot of some of what I love about 90s ambient - there are some beats under the soundscapes, as well as some common themes and threads that are explored and repeated throughout. After spending time with the album, we thought it'd be interesting to hearing what a mix from Anders Peterson (aka relapxych.0) would sound like.

A.P has kindly provided two mixes: one is based on his own music and that of his Ghost Sounds label. The second one emerges from his role doing mastering, and is a new wave mix made up mainly of material from Fockewulf 190. These mixes actually dovetail very nicely with where my head is at right now, as I've been listening to plenty of '80s stuff recently, as well a lot of ambient. Despite the two mixes exploring different genres, there is definitely a commonality in the way A.P presents the sounds: there is a warmth and personal touch in the way the music is compiled that gives these mixes a real charm.

A.P "Reality altering psychoacoustics" mix

 1. (0.00) relapxych.0 - "City nightlights II"
 2. (5.44) A.P reworks Muslimgauze - "Citadel in nightlight"
 3. (11.46) Rie Lambdoll / relapxych.0 - "In the maze"
 4. (16.37) Skyscaper - "Skyshapes"
 5. (19.40) Skyscaper / Ekelon - "Shaping the sky"
 6. (25.21) Skyscaper - "Skyshapes"
 7. (26.11) relapxych.0 - "Desert nightfall"
 8. (30.24) Fatih Tuter - "W&S I" (relapxych.0's Under desert nightskies Remix)
 9. (33.53) relapxych.0 - "Landmark II"
 10. (37.56) Unknown caller - "Transmission F"
 11. (42.20) relapxych.00 - "Pharmaceptic"
 12. (47.54) Unknown caller - "Room of scattered memories and dust"
 13. (52.59) A.P - "Encrypted m2"
 14. (55.24) A.P - "Foreverneverendeverend"
 15. (56.31) A.P - "Nowhere everywhere"
 16. (58.00) relapxych.0 - "Reembrace"
 17. (61.46) Last industrial estate - "Thrown a way (Machinery in motion")

Track 1 and 9 from "City nightlights" (CD / 12", Ghost Sounds PXYCH.03), track 2 from upcoming Muslimgauze box set on Extreme Music, track 3 from V/A "Wandering" CD (Silent season, SSCD06), track 4-6 from "Skyshapes" 12" (Ghost Sounds PXYCH.08), track 7 from "Shapes / phases" 12" (Ghost Sounds PXYCH.02), track 8 from "Wide & shallow with remixes I" CD (Silent season SSCD08), track 10, 12 and 13-15 from upcoming A.P "The eerie calm reincarnate" 2Lp / CD (Ghost Sounds PXYCH.09), track 11 from "Hallucinogenitaliencryption" 12" / CD (Ghost Sounds PXYCH.06), track 16 from "Ripples on the surface of time and space" CD (Ghost Sounds PXYCH.07) and track 17 from "Shapes in motion" 12" (Ghost Sounds PXYCH.00).

A.P "New waves of old" mix

 1. (0.00) Fockewulf 190 - Dreamingspace
 2. (2.53) Fockewulf 190 - Body heat
 3. (9.19) Fockewulf 190 - Microcosmos
 4. (11.58) Fockewulf 190 - We are colder
 5. (16.41) Fockewulf 190 - UFO
 6. (19.06) Fockewulf 190 - Orient express
 7. (24.22) Fockewulf 190 - Dreamingspace
 8. (25.26) Fockewulf 190 - Gitano
 9. (31.22) Mushy - Faded heart
 10. (37.04) Beograd - MRAK
 11. (39.35) Tara Cross - Touch me here, touch me there
 12. (43.11) Port said - Monsoon
 13. (49.55) Tara Cross - Uncovering dishes
 14. (56.11) Degada Saf - Tri-banal
 15. (61.14) Tara Cross - Like I am (Comme je suis)

Tracks 1-8 from FOCKEWULF 190 "Microcosmos 1981-1986" 2Lp (Vinyl-on-demand VOD89), track 9 from MUSHY "Faded heart" LP / CD (Mannequin MNQ 004), track 10 from upcoming BEOGRAD 7" on Anna Logue Records, tracks 11, 13 and 15 from TARA CROSS, "Tara Cross 1982-89" 4LP-Box (Vinyl-on-demand, VOD85), track 12 from upcoming 2lp (Vinyl-on-demand) and track 14 from Degada Saf "No inzro" CD (Mannequin MNQ 009). Label websites: Vinyl-On-Demand / Mannequin / Anna Logue

Given that the two mixes are using music from a few artists and labels, we decided it was best to post the tracklists as the same time. For more info on A.P and the Ghost Sounds label, check their homepage. Thanks to Anders for taking the time to put together these mixes. Enjoy...

Dommune double

Over Golden Week Tokyo has really come back alive, and that is set to continue, with a pair of great shows at Dommune. On Monday Surgeon is returning for what will be his 3rd appearance at the club (I think). And then on Tuesday Mindgames will be taking over Dommune, with DJ So (one of the Labyrinth organisers) and Peter van Hoesen playing. At Unit last week Peter put together the best set I have ever seen from him. Totally next level: powerful, deeply personal techno. I am really looking forward to hearing what he will do in the context of Dommune. These are going to be 2 fun parties. Make sure to tune in if you can! The details are:

Monday 9 May: Surgeon
Tuesday 10 May: DJ So, Peter van Hoesen
Live stream at http://www.dommune.com/

Tokyo: 9pm - 12am
Melbourne: 10pm - 1am
London: 1pm - 4pm
Berlin: 2pm - 5pm
New York: 8am - 11am

Well, I think those are the correct time zones... It starts around 9pm Japan time, that is for sure. Often the talk show beforehand runs over time, so if people are still talking shit when it is scheduled to start, just be patient!

Also huge respect to our friends at Dommune. Through donations raised during broadcasts over the last month or so, they have managed to raise almost 8,000,000 yen for earthquake relief. An amazing effort. 

PC presents - housebound loveache rollercoaster mixtape

I've been thinking about love recently. Love is the answer, the message, the problem, the solution, the rubbish, the riddle, the scam, the ravishing and the revelation. When you've got it, it's the gas in your tank; when it leaves you, it's the heave in your gag reflex. As Spike Milligan once asked, with the help of a comma:

'What is this thing called, love?'

I've also been thinking a lot about mixtapes over the past while. I've been especially provoked by the always wonderful selections coming out of pontone (that actually use the mp3 medium to advantageous message), as some as the extremely thoughtful and interesting mixes on FACT and RA, such as King Midas Sound's amazing one (which I'm still caning, and of which, no doubt, you've already heard me enthuse). Theirs is a pretty unbeatable homage to meeting/finding 'the one'. Here, I've done something different...

....'cos I've also been thinking a lot about narrative and mixing. When I started playing some of the 80s vinyl I own, I found Optimo's approach totally inappropriate for me (not least of all 'cos I don't have the chops to pull off those kindsa mixes). I remember Terre mentioning how/why s/he often doesn't beatmix - let the track play, all the way through. If it's worth hearing, it's worth hearing in full. Back then, cassettes and record players without pitch control made a virtue of that contraint, I think (or, at least, it's easy to put a nostalgic halo on what was, actually, just a pain in the arse - but that's nostalgia for you). Here in terms of mixing and matching, I've opted for the middle ground, but left the Mazzy Star-style fading to iTunes (yes, quite romantic, isn't it), proving that everyone's a fucking DJ these days, even any given Ms A. McBook (of Cupertino, CA).

So, taken together: this is a semi-automated narrative mixtape about a love affair, from go to whoah to - oh no - and back again, with the eventual getting of wisdom (building up [to] some serious romantic callous). From the flowers of lust to the full blooming of hate and evil to the timid blossoming of spring once more, all the way through to the dusky afterglow of affectionate ambivalence (a summery dismissal), with the pace and tone matching the mood (I hope). Love and lust being as they are, I chose some pretty garish colours in parts. Also intentional. 'Cos infatuation is cheesy. And lust is very rude (and quite gross, if it's not your lust). And love is also the ultimate enigma. But also totally undeniable. Which is why we all love it so much.

So here it is, lad(d)ies: hot on the heels (and developed in interactive thought with) of our lists from yesterday, a mix provoked and shaped by the thing itself, the ultimate conjugation, the cause of nearly all our highs and a fair portion of our lows...

Housebound Loveache Rollercoaster Mixtape

* tips also to the rejected remainder from this one: I just could *not* get a track to fit from Yoshinori Sunahara's Lovebeat, here. But do check it out - maybe you can tell me why he wouldn't fade into the others...

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PC presents - a tracklist made from a mixtape made of my 010100010s

Finally, the fucking tracklist....

Frank Bretschneider - A Soft Throbbing of Time
Peverelist - Roll with the Punches
Fatima Yamaha - What's a girl to do?
Carly Simon - Why (12" version)
Pink Floyd - Fearless
Dj Sprinkles - Ball'r (Madonna-free Zone)
The Aphex Twin - Z Twig
O–|–> - Love 2 tha 9s
Kraftwerk - Computer Love
Roman Flugel - Brian Le Bon
The Aphex Twin - Lichen
Loscil - The Making of Grief Point
Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Uoon 1

...and here's the mixtape one more time, if you like the tracklist and didn't give it a gander

9/6/04: 'We must take threats seriously before they fully materialize.' (Applause.)

19 Electronic Love Songs

Groove N' Vibes asked us to contribute a play list for their site. After much discussion over what the theme of our list should be, we eventually decided on 'electronic love songs'. Thanks to Groove N' Vibes for inviting us. It was fun coming up with this list. Lots of memories...

19 Electronic Love Songs from MNML SSGS

More soon.

Cio D'Or and Donato Dozzy present J

Today Golden Week starts in Japan, and people here can enjoy a much needed holiday over the next week. It has been a difficult period since the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March, but this country has proven its courage and resilience. Japan has drawn on its inner strength, and it has also benefited from the support shown by our friends around the world. More than anything, it is this feeling of solidarity that has helped. And this is where this special mix comes from - a shared bond with and love for the beautiful country of Japan, from two people with very big and beautiful hearts: Cio D'Or and Donato Dozzy.

The mix is a sublime 40 minute journey combining DJ and live electronics, distinguished by the warmth and love that radiates from this music. Cio and Dozz had been working on this for a while, and after the recent disaster here, they wanted to give this as a gift for Japan. Neel kindly mastered the mix to get it sounding just right. And Donato's wife, Koto, provided the photo. To accompany the mix, they all provided some words for Japan:

"Japan's earthquake, tsunami and that huge disaster coming from the Fukushima atomic-reactor was & is a huge shock for the whole world. It distorted a big shadow through my daily life. My first mind was: What to do? How can I help Japan people & all my friends over there?

What can a single human do in this situation?
Steps, that I felt : Not be against something, but for something. 
And giving music for Japanese people & friends.
About music... there isn´t much to say, it talks by itself.
Donato & me agreed to transmit our first co-production mix for you, “J”!
Music*** all over you!"

Cio

"There are events and circumstances in life where no words are needed. If it's true that music is the primordial language, then I'm trying to express my feelings towards the people I love in the only way I know: through the music...

See you in September."

Donato

"I am very happy that Cio and Donato prepared some musical thoughts for the people of the big "J". All I could do was to give my little contribution to that, with deep love and friendship."

Neel

"東日本大震災により亡くなられた方々のご冥福をお祈りすると共に、
被災され避難生活を余儀なくされている多くの方々へ心からのお見舞いを申し上げます。

故郷で起こっている想像を絶する数々の出来事に、遠くイタリアの地で心を痛めています。
願って止まないことは、被災地の方々をはじめ、日本にいるみなさんに１日でも早く心穏やかな日常が戻ることです。
平和で笑顔の絶えない日常に。
本国の地にはおりませんが、わたしも一日本人として微力ながら復興に参加していこうと思います。
歴史ある美しい日本を私たちの子孫へ伝えてゆくためにも。"

平井こと

Cio D'Or and Donato Dozzy - J

If you download and like the mix, we ask that you consider making a donation to a charity, such as: Second Harvest Japan, Save the Children Japan, Ahinaga-ikuekai, or Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Thank you to Cio, Donato, Neel and everyone else involved in making this mix happen. We will be also being doing some promo CDR versions of this at Disk Union, more info on that soon. Now please enjoy this beautiful, heartful mix. Much love from the J.

Golden Tokyo

As PC wrote yesterday, it is a big couple of days in Melbourne with Virgo 4 tonight and Sandwell District on Friday. While I am disappointed my Australia trip did not last long enough to catch these parties, I am glad to be back in Tokyo for a string of killer events. After a very quiet March and April, Golden Week looks like it will mark a further return back to normality for Tokyo. These are the parties I will be hitting:

Thursday 28 April - Surgeon live @ Unit: Super excited about this one... Ahead of his new album, Surgeon is playing live. Live. Wow. He hasn't produced much recently, but we all know what he is capable of. I'm expecting this to be one of the best things I see in 2011. You can sign up for a web discount for the event here.

Saturday 30 April - Dan Bell @ Unit: Like Surgeon, Dan Bell is a regular visitor and longtime favourite of the Japanese, so it is good these artists happen to be coming back around now. And with Mr Dependable on the decks, I think we know we are in for a good night.


Tuesday 3 May - Peter van Hoesen & Eric Cloutier @ Unit: Ok, so this will be the third time I will be at Unit in under a week. Lucky it is a good club... Peter and Eric are preparing special sets for this show, and with Mindgames in charge you know it'll be a well produced affair. This is going to be an amazing night for sure.

Saturday 7 May - Freaks festival featuring Function, Dan Bell and other people I don't care about somewhere outside: The lineup is a bit random. But Function is playing. And so is Dan Bell. And it is outdoors. That's enough for me to be there.

And that is just Golden Week... The rest of May is looking fantastic with Terre Thaemlitz, Fred P, Atom TM and ASC all scheduled to be playing. Hope to see some ssgs out at these parties!

Partial Reterritorialization, Part Melbourne, 2011: Virgo cum Sandwell cum Melbourne

Well, my whole remorselessly cynical/critical mask just fell off, didn't it? It must have been my jaw dropping the floor that did it.

I don't usually allow myself to get excited about upcoming gigs in Melbourne: keeping my expectations hovering somewhere between the ground floor and the basement is the only way to be pleasantly surprised, most of the time. But how often do two gigs like this hit town, two days in a row?

First on stage this Thursday is Virgo Four. Tig and Blake - with whom I had a ball doing the ssgs xms prty in December, and more generally of Two Bright Lakes fame - have just done a bang up job putting together the Sugar Mountain Festival. I wonder how they find time, considering all the reports I hear of them playing at house parties on the weekend... neatly and nicely for those of us in the +61 3, this also means a Virgo Four sideshow this Thursday at the Toff in Town. It's an early gig, from 8pm, I think, and will be supported by Tig's live/Detroit/amphetamine-n-solvents abusin' Speed Painters, and others. If you read this blog and don't know Virgo Four, well JFGI/... just act like you do – and come along.

Then, on Friday (Pete takes a big, deep breath) we have: not Function. Not Regis. But Sandwell District. The handsomest man in techno AND the best dressed man in techno. Together. And playing for as long as they fucking well want to play. In the Mercat Basement. I'm going to get my hyperbole wand out and tap it in time as I say: I don't think there is a better techno gig happening anywhere in the world on this day, and for once it is in Melbourne. Thank Jahweh for the statistical majority of Deadmau5 fans; now we have Sandwell District playing in Melbourne on a proper rig for a proper amount of time. Sandwell District are playing in Melbourne. Did I mention that... ? anyway... anyway... many many thanks to all the involved peepz for taking soloaction and making this happen, against initial odds... Gig info and some sets/links

I hope to see you there. In proper techno geek style, I will be wearing New Balance shoes, jeans, and either one of the two Stefan Marx t shirts I own. Please come say hi. Visually, it is said that Paul 'Hotflush' Scuba looks like the evil lovechild of Chris and I. 'Cept I am much prettier, naturally. And more excited...

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Sunday Sounds

I'm back in Australia for a brief trip to show everyone that I'm not glowing or shaking (too much). The other day a good friend of mine was giving me a lift and he happened to have this TLR mix playing. I hadn't listened to it in years; actually I had totally forgotten about it. But as soon as I heard one bar from the mix it immediately brought back lots of feelings and memories. Since then it has been banging around my head and I have found a new link for it. The original description of the mix is "deep and tearjerking slowjams exporing the darker side of the innerself". That's about right...

TLR - Falling

Slow, epic, beautiful and totally unashamed music straight from the 80s. Have a good Sunday ssgs.

Ulf Eriksson tracklist

Here is the tracklist for Ulf Eriksson's killer ssg mix. As you can see, a very good display of all the excellent music coming out on Kontra... This is definitely one of our favourite techno mixes from 2011. If you missed it, don't sleep on this any longer.

Ssg special - Ulf Eriksson (Kontra-Musik)

Robert Hood – Breaking the Chains [Drama]
Jason Fine - Workin´ it Out [Kontra-Musik]
Mokira - Axis Audio (Echospace Model I) [Kontra-Musik] UNRELEASED!
Furesshu – Blackrain EXCLUSIVE!
Octave One – Trak 3 [430 West]
The Skinless Brothers – Backyard [Central]
The Skinless Brothers – It’s The G [Central]
Mokira - Time Track (Silent Servant Remix) [Kontra-Musik]
Marcel Dettmann – Factory Report II [Kontra-Musik]
James Ruskin – Time & Place [Blueprint]
Dark Comedy – Plankton [Art Of Dance]
Planetary Assault Systems – Exploration Of The Ravish [Peacefrog]
Martin Jarl – Mörkaformen_06 [Konvex Konkav]
Shed – Impact [Soloaction]
Millennium to Millennium – Amazon (4 hero version) [UR]
Mokira – Axis Audio [Echospace Model II] EXCLUSIVE!
Jonsson/Alter – Orgelpunkten [Kontra-Musik] UNRELEASED!

New ssg special up next week.

Terre Talks [III of III]: from distro to consumpto, with many ambi♥alent returns...

Hello all,

well, following on from parts one and two of our extended Q&A with Terre, here's part III. This time, the questions turn to focus on use and consumption, with a slight return to some of the ridiculous aspects of promo, and a brief and revealing glance at the Mille Plateaux morass. This Q&A in its entirety is quite text heavy, we know, so please consider printing the beasty out and having a close read – I promise you Terre's insights bear the closest possible scrutiny. Once again, thank you to Terre for her time and thoughts, and thank you to you all for being patient with the uneven publication schedule here.

selling, buying in, selling out:

What are some of the strategies (including the oblique and counter-intuitive ones) that you have developed for selling your work on your terms? I'm really fascinated by the way you've done this, especially the way you've managed to do so many things that others have failed at? What's the secret please, M(r)s?

To be clear, it's never on my terms. I make concessions and compromises all the time, even if some of the people I'm doing business with think I'm a total stubborn asshole who refuses to budge (but there are also definitely people with whom things go very smoothly, and we get along just fine - there's no telling how things go). If anything, most of the strategies I've come up with are last resorts born of desperation and hopelessness. Take the "Dead Stock Archive" offline alternative to online MP3 downloads. It was the result of my frustration from trying to get my illegally uploaded Mille Plateaux albums removed from iTunes, Juno and other major online distributors, and the utter distrust that experience fostered in me towards the major distributors who refused to respond to my correspondences for years. Back then I had absolutely no idea who had uploaded the files (it was Rainer Streubel, who uploaded all the Mille Plateaux back catalog he could lay his hands on without permission in a desperate attempt to earn back his investment after buying the Mille Plateaux name after the 2003 bankruptcy), and the distributors were absolutely not cooperating with my requests for them to tell me with whom they were in contract. That's why I was so quick to go public about the original MP catalog's re-upload into Beatport last year, sending emails to a bunch of press people. What took 4 years to come down the first time took 4 days the second - amazing. But that was also my first real awakening to the viral nature of today's music press, with everything being spammed across a gazillion websites. So I've become a bit uncomfortable with that, too. I mean, I was not expecting that amount of visibility on the subject. I guess I still live with old concepts of low-circulation distribution for "underground" or "independent" or "alternative" journalism. But, anyway, the point is that it's really difficult to get stuff pulled down once it's online. No joke.

I guess my key strategy - if you could call it that - is to bite the hand that feeds me (us), since it's also a hand that smacks me (us). I mean, I'm thankful as hell that I somehow got lucky enough to not have to work in an office environment or something like that - for the moment - but it requires a lot of social sacrifices and living very sparsely. It also means no retirement plan, I no longer qualify for credit cards (even those ones "everyone" can get), etc. I'm not talking about being a pissy egomaniac artist wheeling his white grand piano into the swimming pool because the round bologna doesn't match the square bread (although that will always be one way people see things as filtered through dominant mythologies of what it means to be a musician). I simply believe if one is truly grateful for all one has, rather than relish in one's privileges (as few or great as they are) it is necessary to constantly draw attention to the injustices and imbalances of the lives we lead, and the associative violence our lifestyles enact on others. This means criticizing one's own comfort zone, too. Otherwise we're all just Uncle Toms, no matter what our station in life.

consumption:

On a major website the other day, the first 'comment' (don't get me started on those) to an album was as follows: 'AMAZING. Perfect for working all day at my desk.'

on another login only promo site, the following two comments, one after the other, both telling

from: XXX YYY (laptop community), 2011-01-18 12:35:02
YES!!\ this is so good, pure magic. please can i have the mp3s\?

from: AAA ZZZ (cleft palate recordings), 2011-01-18 12:22:38
\ i like this collection of tunes. it is funky in its own way. i will support this release.

What can the above comments tell us: who are we, if this is how we are relating to music through each other, and through each other with music?

There's that creepy phrase, "support this release." It's awkward, right? Well, both of these last two posts are clearly by people who frequent sites offering downloads for commentary. They're just fishing for files. The first one - yeah... I mean, we all work while looping an album or something, but to make that the defining point of how one likes the album, it's a little embarrassing. Muzak has changed over the years. It's amazing how every kind of store, restaurant, or office can blast the noisiest rock-hip-hop-alterna-techno-shit these days. I'm always very aware of the elderly walking around in these situations, wondering how it manages to function as white noise from their perspectives - is it easier or harder to ignore than an orchestral version of "Riders in the Storm"? These days a lot of department stores play house classics, so that just about sums up what shit robot pawns we house producers are. I was at an EU airport and the muzak was Ame's "Rej." Like, when I was 13 or 14 years old, that would have been the sign of some utopian future. But all I felt was sorrow.

laptops, piracy, long haul flying and drugs:

In a certain way, electronic music is comprised of the four elements in the title above (or, at least, it would be radically different if you remove one). So... why do we take laptops and long haul for granted, and why can't we talk about piracy and drugs? And/or what would happen if we talked piracy and drugs a little... ?

Clearly because piracy and drugs have legal ramifications that the other two subjects do not. I don't like to talk about drugs because I don't do them - by which I mean I've never even tried a cigarette or finished a beer in my entire life - and I know for most people that instantly disqualifies me from having any understanding of chemical issues, in the same way people who have kids get all preachy and asshole-ish with those of us who consciously do not. But absolutely, we are in the employ of industries - legal and illegal - which use us as ambiance for their chemical pushing. I've said it before, I think the reason my memories of the New York house scene are so much bleaker than the usual stories one hears is because I was taking it all in sober. My memories were not filtered by coke or X or K.

As for piracy, it really depends on what you are pirating. I mean, technically we are pirates every time we sing "Happy Birthday to You," the melody for which was written by Patty and Mildred Hill by the way. It's also very different if you are talking about pirating something born of a corporation that has taken on larger cultural meanings or has become a cultural icon. My favorite example of the cultural hypocrisy around these issues is Andy Warhol's Brillo boxes or Coca-Cola prints, which clearly duplicate copyrighted logos without permission, whereas the Warhol foundation will sue your ass off if you reprint an image of one of Warhol's works without licensing it! How do they make that work?!! Warhol's early works were so important, yet his foundation's legacy is just one huge BM on it all. And everyone in the art world feels the same. It's precisely why I left the visual arts. In any case, I think if one's actions become "piracy" simply as a side-effect of attempting to consciously interact with the culture imposed upon them by industry - to somehow "possess" what has been engrained into them - that is very different than "abusive" or "exploitative" piracy. And exploitation does not always correlate with profit - despite his latter wealth, I do not consider Warhol's prints to be exploiting Brillo, but I do consider the Warhol Foundation to be exploiting Warhol's legacy, and even then they are clearly acting in "defense" of having Warhol's works exploited by the larger art marketplace. So it's all a huge mess with everyone fucking everyone, with very few reach-arounds being offered.

Personally speaking, I took a huge risk with the "Dead Stock Archive," wondering if it would end up torrented. I really don't want my works to be so widely circulated, because they are not intended to function as "pop music." (Even my most "popular" albums have globally only sold a few thousand copies at best, which is as I feel it should be.) But I have to say the handful of people who have bought the "Archive" thus far have been very considerate about not uploading it. I feel they really support my views on file sharing, which is not about advocating for a culture of anal-retentive control, but about responsible use and support... not only financial support of producers, but cultural/ideological support as well. And - particularly within today's cultural climate of over-information (but never the right information) and free everything - there is a power to withholding information from the usual routes of circulation, authorized or unauthorized. It means that the information is used deliberately, and in relevant contexts. It is the reaffirmation of context. And that comes along with the reaffirmation of uncommon or alternative use values that can only be born of "failure." Those same things Gleason called, "the most useless thing in life." I know the common attitude is to put anything and everything out there so they can be "used" (ostensibly in a good sense, as opposed to "exploited"), but amidst the dominant cultural demands epitomized by Gleason, withholding is also a valuable way of keeping non-standard things from becoming defined as "useless."

finally (this old Marx-n-Foucault chestnut):

Who benefits from the situation as it is? And how could things be otherwise?

The rich and powerful. And it won't be otherwise. I realize that sounds incredibly reductionist, but there you go... And the fact it will never be otherwise doesn't mean stop resisting. It's the reason to resist. Non-violent non-cooperation in daily life whenever possible! If only Americanization's language of "dreams" and "hope" could be replaced with a conscious analysis of the unacceptable, filling our minds with the urgency of the moment rather than tainted aspirations of where we'd like to be... which for most people is sitting atop a pile of money, taking revenge on those who used to be above them. We never learn. We never break the systems. Not communally and not for long, anyway. We just regurgitate them, showing the thoroughness of our brainwashing, and the shallowness of our common values. *Sigh*

thank you! hugs (not rugs) P