I have been a music writer for many years. Most recently I was a writer for the Live Nation Property Insomniac which holds some of the largest electronic music festivals in the country. Before that I was the music editor for BPM Magazine/DJMixed.com, (better info about the founders here) a writer for local San Diego club mag Where@ in the late 90s and I was a feature writer and music reviewer for RE:UP magazine in the early 2000s. Re-Up Magazine Issue 12 Digital Booklet (feature on Carlos Niño on page 30 and a music review for Zero DB on page 90.)
Writing portfolio: (view or download PDF)
Read some text feature samples at the top and music reviews down below.
Features
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Does Your Mama Know for Insomniac
L.A. Nightlife Gone: Does Your Mama Know? 1992–2003
This is a feature I wrote about the legendary LA after-hours club Does Your Mama Know. Read all about how Missy Eliott grabbed my crotch in the booth while I was playing there. There are also stories of Grace Jones and the scandalous local LA news trying to get in.
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When it comes to creating fulfilling, meaningful, soul-powering music, someone like Carlos Niño could teach us a thing or two about what is hard or what is not. “Nothing is ever difficult.” He states while discussing his experience working with the talented artists that make up Life Force Trio, Ammoncontact and many of his numerous musical projects. Of course he’s commenting that working with these familiar personages, and their creative process in making an album such as The Living Room (recently released on Plug Research) is not difficult. But there is probably more meaning in that statement than just a mere working method. Things that you and I may find to be extremely difficult–such as working out beats on a MPC, and fingering the keys of the ubiquitous Rhodes–seem to come quite naturally to Niño and the rest of his musical familiars. They work together in a seemingly effortless fashion on many of Carlos’ expansive and diverse labors of love.
“The Life Force Trio is Dexter Story and I as a production and writing team, but it’s also a collective. Andres and Gaby are musical partners and frequent collaborators of mine with Ammoncontact and Build An Ark. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is the main person I make music with. Fabian (Ammon) is always around making music and so I bring him in on everything I can. Dwight (Trible) came in for a couple songs and Derf and Jesse are guests on Alice! All of these folks are close musical family.” Says Carlos of his Life Force creative partners. “I came up with that name as a way to differentiate the Love is the Answer project I did with Dwight Trible from the other (Trible) projects I’ve done. Then it became a group and now we’re doing our own thing as a band and production team.” The trio, which obviously features more than only three members, has continued on through various other projects that kept those involved creating together until just recently when The Living Room was molded into long-player form. Like many music producers, Carlos is involved behind the scenes, directing the output of his friends and family, crafting MPC soundscapes and writing songs, but unlike many of the (mainstream) producers out there, he’s not doing it for worldly riches. “I try to stay away from money,” he says while discussing the co-option of greedy, young urban professionals in LA. “If you give me some, I’ll just buy a keyboard or go on a trip, or take my friends and family to dinner, or donate it to The South Central Farmers.” (the embattled LA farm community who constantly have to fight for the chance to simply work the land and feed their families due to the constant threat of ravenous developers—they know the meaning of difficult).
With projects as diverse as the hip-hop cultured Ammoncontact, the all-natural musicianship of the organic Hu Vibrational project–where the music is created completely with hand-made acoustic instruments–and the savage-beast-soothing therapy that is Life Force Trio’s The Living Room, you would think that money would be made and someone so ambitious as Nino would be looking forward to big mansions, shiny cars and elevated, ass-kissed producer status. Obviously this is not what Carlos Niño is about and it’s most definitely not what drives him.
“I just do what I feel from my heart.” Carlos explains simply, “My approach has always been to relate to people musically like I would in a conversation, with encouragement, compassion and creativity.” And regarding young people and the question of whether or not they can be reached in these dark days of substance-free, top-40, MTV-infected noise pollution, Carlos offers an open-ended option, “The music will always reach people that are listening.”
Many people are doing just that throughout the avenues of his weekly radio show Spaceways (on KPFK 90.7fm), live performances, full-length albums and one-off releases. He has been involved with radio since the age of sixteen; he also put together his own concerts early on, combining artists that, in his mind, we’re naturally supposed to perform together. “It all came from the idea of taking my radio show live. Putting Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson with Dwight Trible and Kamau Daaood, Brainfreeze, Saul Williams, Yusef Lateef, all of it, in mini festivals.” He says. As far as the Spaceways program is concerned, the agenda of Carlos Niño seems to be one that is simply about love and a sense of duty to the music and the people who create it. “I take the responsibility of being on the radio very seriously. I have made it a point to represent and further inspire my “peers” with the show.” Carlos explains, detailing its importance, “It’s a great honor to be able to do it. I love music and always felt a calling to listen, support and create music.”
Spaceways is a major connection in the lineage of his creative work since his past productions were realized by having Dwight Trible as a guest, subsequently turning that opportunity into an early and very rare release. (Dwight Trible & The Oasis Of Peace Live On All At One Point released on Cassette in 1997,) and soon after, Trible’s album Horace in 1998. The radio experience also brought him in contact with Dublab where he – “after a little investigation into what Frosty was all about” – became a daily part of the lab with a show and as an organizer of events and outreach projects for the station. “Frosty used to listen to my radio show.”He remembers about the renown internet radio destination. “When he was started dublab.com in ‘99 he asked me and a few others to be the resident DJs on the station.”
When you think about how many production credits he has since 1997 and now with his hand in such a diverse assortment of rich projects from the heart you would think he would go insane trying to keep up with it so many releases. “I plan and don’t plan.” he comments about making it all happen, “I can do it all because I’ve minimized the non-essentials from life, like working at a job I don’t love, or going out to get my energy sucked by vampires at a party. I work on about ve projects at a time. Probably more like ten.”
Soon come from Carlos Niño: the new Build An Ark full-length (October), the new Hu Vibrational CD/2xLP on Soul Jazz, a production on Mia Doi Todd’s new record with partner Miguel Atwood- Ferguson, Miguel’s debut LP and a lot more!
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I don’t have the text for this one so the PDF will have to do.
(click to read in browser or download for better viewing since you may have to zoom in.)
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Mark Farina recently played at EDC Las Vegas for the first time in 2016.
“My experience playing at EDC Vegas this year was great. I played the earlier events in LA but this was my first time at the Vegas EDC. I played the closing set on Monday morning (at the Upside Down House stage) after Juan Atkins who I had not shared the stage with for some time, so that was exciting, plus it was really nice to see some of the house heads come out.”
Now he’s preparing for the new release of his Mushroom Jazz 8 mix series (out on July 22, 2016), and he is also celebrating twenty-five years of Mushroom Jazz.
Anything that lasts twenty-five years must be good right? A relationship, a band, a vehicle – or in this case a mix series – after so many years can tell its own stories, it can be a legend, it can be a legacy.
What is Mushroom Jazz 8? It is all of the above: a relationship, a band of various artists, a vehicle for discovering new music (that you may never hear without listening to the mix), a legend of past adventures told by thousands who have listened and a legacy of one of the world’s best djs.
Think about that for a minute: one of the World’s best djs. Imagine you are Mark Farina. You are really good at what you do, you are humble, and in our case, you are happy to talk about the eighth licensed mix release. This demonstrates an appreciation of an artist’s place in the musical food chain. While being at the top, he understands that his role is to bring these sounds to the world, and not just in the form of a regular compilation, but instead, mixed in a way that no one else can.
Mark describes his relationship with Mushroom jazz in a very personal manner. It is a part of him and it is an aspect of his art that continues to evolve. He created it many years ago and cultivated it from a series of mixtapes (around 20 tape releases along with another series called Downtempo Forest and its 20 or so volumes) into a high-quality, licensed release series.
Like a tree, it grew from the ground up over a period of years, with enough headroom and space for interpretation like any quality art. The listener can explicate Mushroom Jazz in his or her own way. The mix is designed to allow us to get into our own heads and experience it as our subconscious sees fit.
“I always wanted the music for Mushroom Jazz to be more organic. I knew that by combining short instrumental tracks into a stream of sound I could do what I wanted. In the past volumes, there were many songs that stood out and that people remembered. For this latest mix I wanted to present heady, thoughtful music and I wanted to stay away from a single or series of single songs, and let it become a whole.”
He plays this style of music regularly during his travels. Sometimes he is booked to play a longer set so he’ll begin with Mushroom Jazz and build up to his Chicago house sound for which he is also well known around the world. Other times he will play the House on one stage and then play Mushroom Jazz on another stage, at the same event.
“One of the benefits of doing two different genres, is that sometimes different times call for different styles.” Mark explains, “It can open up many other possibilities.”
The process for creating the mix begins with compiling a list of twenty or more tracks and then getting them cleared for licensing.
“Since many of the songs are sample-based you never know.” Farina adds, “An artist is at risk of getting in trouble for using a sample.”
“One time I think it was volume two or three, Farina remembers, a jazz guitarist was in a retail store and the Mushroom Jazz mix was playing, he noticed his work had been sampled by one of the artists on the comp and he contacted the label and wanted to be paid.” He adds, “You have to be careful to make sure everything is cleared before you begin the mix, so you don’t have to go back and remove anything.”
After the group of tracks is licensed and cleared, the mix is created and the project comes to life. Then the complete lifecycle of art-becoming-product begins. Mark and his team are very creative in financing the project. If you view Mushroom Jazz 8 on pledgemusic.com you’ll see various packages that are available to fans who donate to the cause, which helps to finance the release. There are things like vinyl test pressings, remix offers, packages containing Mark’s original photographic artwork, custom headphones, VIP passes to performances, all the way to a private dj set by Farina for a hefty but worthwhile investment. Everyone gets to contribute to the art and they get something in return, in addition to the music itself.
He sources the tracks from peers with whom he has worked in the past like Colosuss, but he also digs through the digital bins of sites like Soundcloud to discover new artists. Tracks like “Night Light” by PH-Wert and “Rain Drops” by Freddie Joachim sit perfectly in the same company as better known artists like DJ Spinna, whose song “Duke” is one of the standouts. As Mark puts it, “I was very happy to get one from Spinna on this one.”
Mushroom Jazz 8 is a perfect return to form for the series. It begins as many of his mixes do, with an intro of a sample encouraging one to “listen as well as you know how…” The Jazz flows throughout and each track is perfectly blended into a seamless sound. The bumping hip-hop beats and tempo – which are the secret ingredients to Mark’s Mushroom Jazz sound – continue throughout. You can always tell a great mix when you enjoy it so much that it ends before you are ready. Much like a great film or a great party, you want it to last but when it does end you are left completely satisfied and wanting more.
With Mushroom Jazz 8 – and the last 25 years of mixtapes and eight licensed mix projects – Mark Farina is leaving the world an amazing cultural library for both young and old to enjoy. This is the perfect first step for a young person to take into a lifelong jazz journey and it’s also a great position from which an older generation can look back and say something like, “I told you this music is amazing, and there is an almost endless amount in the world for you to enjoy throughout your life.”
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Take one look at the bright, colorful album covers and retro, jet-set-glam party appearance and it could be easy to think you know all about Ursula 1000. You might even imagine him sporting a snobby, arrogant swagger that any lounge-dwelling, ultra-hip super DJ might have. Anyone on the outside might even think that it’s all just a gimmick to draw attention to his music and DJ sets, or even – since he appears on Eighteenth Street Lounge Music – that it’s all just martini-sipping showmanship that the label encourages to try and sell more albums. Now come on, that’s something the major-label-suits might try to sell more units, but not our beloved ESL, they’ve always delivered the goods without much hype.
So then maybe Ursula 1000 is not far from the reality of Alex Gimeno’s true persona. “You know, the era of the mid-to-late 60’s is very dear to my hear” says Alex about his the whole lounge/glam/60’s labels, “Probably the one era that I get consistently drawn to, but there’s more to me than that. I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s loving rock, and new wave, punk and disco, and it was time for those other facets of me to shine
through.”Well now with his new album Here Comes Tomorrow many other facets are shining, and unlike those old styles that influence him, they’re wrapped up in some glistening supersonics, completely stretching the limits of speakers, headphones and P.A. systems.
“I’m attracted to the dynamics of music where things happen by accident,” he says about his creative process. “You’re fooling around with different sounds, and suddenly you create this unique kind of tone that you did not expect.”
Dynamically speaking, these accidents and chance happenings fill up the full-frequency spectrum and kick its ass. What with big brass sections, hearty kick drums, sexy moans & groans and the sparkle of glitter in the lyrics, it’s a stereophonic party at any time, anywhere.
Alex makes music with the intent of rocking the house but he doesn’t want some long meandering beat track for the casual listener. They must be songs, and they are intended for someone to listen to the album as a whole outside of the club environment. For this he incorporates numerous textures into his sound, and of course in the past (like many others) he has sampled from his vast collection, but for this album he did something different.
“This time around, instead of tweaking found sounds, I’ve played the licks and then in post production EQ-ed them and added dirt.” He says about replacing sampling with original source, “Sometimes even sampling what I’ve played to get that 16-bit noise–it usually does the trick.”
So the crackling Cuban rhythm-section that sounds forty-years-old is really our hero playing all them instruments, throwing ‘em on the ground, stomping all over them, making them dirty, then throwing ‘em into the mix, leaving them all sparkly, rough and sounding sweet.
With such a strong sound It’s tough to imagine that this rich album is self-produced and auto-performed—although it’s not that he doesn’t have help. Gimeno records in a home studio using his Protools rig, and then does some finish work at a friend’s studio. He’s also technologically up-to-date, working with musicians as far away as Japan via the internet. Izumi Ookawara of the Japanese pop band Qypthone contributed vocals (on the opening number Kaboom!) without even leaving her pop- obsessed country. In fact he’s collaborated with quite a few musicians on the album, but the most notable of them all is the one with his father Jose A. Gimeno. Even more curious is the fact that he didn’t use the senior Gimeno’s master musicianship and years of touring chops (with Los Chavales de Espana) on one of the album’s two Latin-styled tracks. He sneaked dad into the title cut, Here Comes Tomorrow, the most experimental and not-so-catchy-tune that in no way resembles anything that Los Chavales de Espana might have played back in his day. It was then that the Ursula1000-world of computer production joined forces with the traditional method of writing out a performance note-by-note.
“My dad comes from the old school way of doing music, like monks sitting there writing text by hand…it’s very laborious; he wrote out his parts (in musical notation) that same way.” Alex comments about working with his father. “It’s funny, being in this new world of making music via computer, you’re exposed to wave forms (on screen) and going back to reading sheet music for me was like time travel, but he nailed it; what he wrote was just perfect.”
OK. So what’s really going on here is Ursula 1000 – the cartoon-like persona who glams it up with models and celebrities in exotic locations – is really a true, multi-instrumentalist who writes his own music, is actually playing the gear when he could be simply pushing buttons, and in this case, he uses his father’s music genius to enhance his recording – the nerve of this guy! Well he sure is busting-up our misconceptions of the substance-free, gimmicky cartoon character isn’t he? Can we find any fault in this hero? I don’t think you can when someone who loves what he does so much puts out such fun, exciting tunes. His demeanor seems to be carefree and worry-free, but there’s also a lot of thought put into each note and everything has some sort of significance. He is a true DJ who paid dues by hustling college radio, ripping up early drum n bass parties, and working day jobs–even after his first album was released.
Now he’s established and really has nothing to prove. DJs are into his records and folks with the funky itch for something different are discovering Ursula 1000 by the bulk. He’s there in musical spirit on the big television shows, commercials and even movies are the next logical step.
Besides all that, the best thing about this guy is that he’s the real deal, he truly loves his job and to his credit – never mind Ursula 1000 – he really does love the shaken-not-stirred cocktail, “I love Gin martinis,”
he says, “especially with lots of olives – but I drink them down while listening to Giorgio Moroder!”
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I’m the editor for a newspaper and magazine group in San Diego, CA that publishes 25 hyper local papers. This was a cover story about a small nightclub in my neighborhood.
Music Reviews
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Thomas Blondet No Dibby Dibby Sound 7”
Rhythm and CultureThis recent release from DC’s R&C Recordings is one for the big rooms at the peak time when the booze is kicking in and the ladies and gents are in full-on creep mode. You know, when some extra-heavy bass and toms are needed to blast through the crowd and idle chatter around the dancefloor area needs to be silenced by some Latin horns and toasty chants. “No Dibby Dibby Sound” does just that. It will also be extremely effective if you’re sitting in a cubicle at work daydreaming about those things, wishing it wasn’t Tuesday. So just what does “dibby dibby” mean, rude boy? Roughly it’s something bad or of low quality. There’s no dibby dibby sound here, Thomas B’s sound is damn fine. His production chops are top quality and he collaborates with excellent musicians so you will always get the good stuff from his label. Let’s not forget the deep sound of “Dub Steppa” on the flip, its late night vibe is thick and rich with a collab by New York’s Subatomic Sound System. Available on 7” wax and digital. JW
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Thes One
Lifestyle MarketingThere is nothing cheesier than a television commercial jingle; especially the old ones from the ’60s and ’70s, back before today’s norm where brands will choose some chart-topping, popular song and license it for a commercial. During those times many songs used in TV and radio ads were created specifically for the product being marketed. Herb Pilhofer was a revolutionary in his commercial work in that he used Moogs and other synthesizers in his music made for marketing when many others likely used standard instruments.
Pilhofer formed the first digital recording studio (Studio 80 in Minneapolis, – notably where Prince made his first demos.) and also created these exciting jingles using early electronic instruments, making short compositions that worked on their own musically and also (at that time) to help promote various lifestyle products. They still have the catchy patterns of appealing sounds and melody found in typical marketing music, but they are free of cheese and full of funk, rock, electronics and strange sounds. Now, many years later, the jingles are lasting works of sonic art in themselves and People Under the Stairs producer and beat maker Thes One takes them to the next level by completely reinventing them into his first, and decidedly unique solo project.
I’ll admit I was expecting something similar to the works of Steinski – whose day job for many years has been creating music for commercials and film and whose use of comedy makes his work extremely entertaining. Thes One’s material is much more serious and delivers a mellow, cerebral account of the emotions being expressed in Pilhofer’ s productions. The best attribute of this project is the fact that you get the originals on one disk and Thes One’s album on another, so you can compare the two, as well as take them in individually.
A natural progression of the modern beat digger is turning out to be a sort of music historian, archivist and maybe even interpreter as many djs and producers are teaching next generations about song craft of old as well as showing them what can happen in the future. This a good example of the validity of marketing music as entertainment and art, as well as a look into the next era where both could consistently be one in the same.
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Here’s a PDF with various music reviews from when I was music editor for BPM Mag a long time ago. Those were good times, I would get stacks of vinyl and CDs in the mail every day.
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Wax Tailor
Hope and Sorrow
www.waxtailor.comWritten for Re:Up mag.
Well I’ve never heard of Wax Tailor before. I guess I missed his CMJ and itunes chart-topping success. I had no idea that he has been compared to acts such as Portishead, RJD2 and DJ Shadow and I guess I just missed that Playboy magazine said some nice shit about one of his singles. I did read the bio and typically it screams about how good he is. Why do these bio things keep happening? When was the last time you got all excited about some shit that an employee of a PR agency wrote about an album? Yeah me neither. I will tell you this though: Wax Tailor isn’t kidding around. His music is way more mature and complex than underground heads would expect. Hell, if Playboy likes it then I’m gonna grab it at Starbucks next time I slurp some grande shit. Oh, it isn’t available there? Well how the hell did Playboy hear about it then. Oh, you means this is some underground shit? This French dude gets down with Ursula Rucker, and Sharon Jones? Well anyone who can handle some vocals and who can put some soul in their sauce is OK by me.
All bitching and joking aside I’m proud of the man because he could easily be making some Baltimore, electro, punk-revival-future-disco music to sell to some car commercials. Hell I would do that just to get some chips to buy more gear, but Mr. Tailor, he’s got beats for days and lots of melodies and he ain’t selling out. Hip-hop lives in there too, there’s plenty of it and dammit it sure sounds good. I’m getting a little crazy with music again because there’s so much out there but it’s either trying to conform to what’s hot or it’s acting out like a rebellious teenager, just trying to get noticed by being as weird as possible. Wax Tailor is grown, he’s been doing it quite awhile and he makes some good stuff that you should get down with if you know what’s good for ya. Forget about what the hype machine shouts about. Just pick up this long player and enjoy yourself with fifteen hot, sweaty, juicy, delicious, jazzy, delicacies for tha entire family of smart folks who like it done right. Oh and you will be rewinding and reabsorbing Ursula’s We Be over and over like I did. That’s some amazing stuff right there.
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Jon Wesley
Subatomic Sound System
On All Frequencies
Subatomic SoundOn all frequencies? That’s for damn sure. These guys and gals flip so many different sound styles it would be hard to describe them if not for these three letters— D – U – B. When many folks think of dub they might imagine super-chilled, spacey, stoned-out sounds that appear to be like reggae made by aliens. In reality–as many loyal readers of these pages know–dub is all about the science of sound and any music will fit into this experiment. This Subatomic collective is the perfect project to push this idea forward since they represent so many cultures and music genres. Let’s run through a quick checklist of what’s represented: Dancehall, hip-hop, soul/r&b, drum ‘n’ bass, reggae, and slow 4/4 house rhythms are all present, and they co-mingle perfectly thanks to top-notch musicianship and pro production.
Subatomic is not only just a studio project but is also a fierce live experience with fearless leader and mastermind Emch behind the soundboard, co-founder Tha Riddim Doktor, and family Daddy Lion Chandell, King Django, Naada, Nemiss, Rhiannon, Paige Scott, Treasure Don, and Benny Beats all make up the sound system and take up a lot of stage area with enough diversity to truly rep the group’s New York home base.
Once again this is no ordinary music project and it will not fit neatly in any category so it’s best left up to each individual listener to decide what they would call it. As for me I call it a damn good album of material with plenty of joints that I can play in my dj sets and tons of great listening while going about my business.
Fresh music is out there but you have to actively seek it out. Subatomic Sound System will probably not be force-fed to you in the crap-infested-media-ether but it is widely available for your consumption. Why not start at their website and take it from there. www.subatomicsound.com
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Galactic
From The Corner To The Block
www.galacticfunk.comGalactic faithfully represents New Orleans. They’ve toured with many amazing performers, even some of your favorite hip-hop hustlers and they’ve put out a bunch of albums over the last ten (plus) years. Their most recent From The Corner to the Block should get them noticed by even more people; it’s most definitely something that has to be heard.
Is it a hip-hop record? Hell no. This is a hybrid, funked-up-as-funk-gets rock, funk fusion of hip-hop sensibility. There’s blackened intrumentality with Z-Trip, profound thought from the deep-voiced Chali 2na and way more than a knicklebag with Lady Bug Mecca all smoked up in one of my favorite cuts Squarebiz. Of course there’s a whole bunch of other goodness featuring Lyrics Born, Mr. Lif, Boots Riley (of The Coup), Omegha Watts and much more. The highlight – and the one I listened to the most –has to be an amazing number called Second And Dryades Featuring Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, which really brings out that sweaty New Orleans vibe. I love how the live element leaps out of the recorded format and Galactic is extremely tight being that they’ve been playing together for such a long time.
I have issues with some bands. They can be extremely boring. They might have a couple of good ideas, they may even make a couple of decent songs, but rarely are they amazing and consistent. My rule with all of them is that if I buy an album I want all of it to be good. If I go to a show I want to enjoy the whole thing–not just four minutes of it. And I want some variety dammit.
Well Galactic is worth my full attention, my dollars and my hard earned time to enjoy music. Let’s hope they reach more people and keep making such great stuff. My only rule with these quality musicians is that I’ll always check out anything else they do.
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DJ Vadim
Soundcatcher
Barely Breaking Evenwww.bbemusic.com/djvadim
I’ll get to Vadim in a minute but first let’s discuss Barely Breaking Even. This label puts out the best music and they should be rich by now. I’m expecting them to change their name to “Richer than Rich Folks Who Listen to Shitty Music” or something like that someday. And bravo BBE family for giving us this fine, fine release from good ol’ Vad the inhaler.
Son you must be smoking the best shit or eating right or doing lots of pushups. The fung shway must be kicking in or some dope music fairy must be fluttering around your mystical aura because Soundcatcher has got to be some of the best music I’ve heard in at least a few weeks. Maybe more than that, maybe so far this year. Alright put it this way if Vadim (and One self of course) Fat Freddy’s Drop and the Stones Throw posse went on tour together I would quit this glamorous magazine writing biz in a second and head out to follow the tour just to cheer them all on. I would be the guy with the “Vadim can kick your honor student’s ass” shirt on, selling bootleg Ninja Tune tees out in the parking lot. I would champion the sounds of this man, I would tell everyone about how much I keep playing Them Say over and over (mainly because it’s too short) and how Kill, Kill, Kill just gets murdered by Big Red ( and I have no idea what they’re saying) and then it bleeds soul all over the scene with Katherin Deboer just stabbing me with her vocal chords. Well that might be over the top but music this good make me all crazy and I start to make plans, ya know?
Damn. You know what I hate about albums? They all sound the same. You know what I love about Soundcatcher? Every track is its own self and everybody on it is absolutely on point delivering solid stuff at every turn. Vadim has the production down and having nothing to prove, he holds back and lets the songs tell the story. He doesn’t have to brag he doesn’t have to boast he just makes fine jammies like Got To Rock ft. Zion. I mean, is it not enough V that you combine soul, funk, hip-hop, dub, reggae, and beautiful flutes into such an amazing album, but you just had to go and make a classic party rocker that all us djs will have to play over and over and over again. I’ve easily listened to this joint fifty times already and the album spent a week straight in my car. That never happens.
There’s more that rocks on Soundcatcher, don’t get me started, I could go on all day. Just get it. Don’t wait, just go, or click or whatever you do. Just buy it and turn it up, loud. Respect maximum large Vadim and friends. You rocked the house again.
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FabricLive 26: The Herbaliser
Fabric LondonThere are a lot of things I love about The Herbaliser. The first is the name–I’m sure many dudes are wishing they would have thought of it first, I know I do. The second is the fact that they’re a staple of Ninja Tune, which, as everyone knows, is the label that paved the way for so many other artists to have a chance. The other is the duo’s devotion to hip-hop and the music that influenced it. Of course there are many more, but those are at the top of the list. When I heard that Fabric London signed them up to do a mix I was surprised, not only because the Fabric mixes are usually more uptempo: house/tech, breaks, drum ‘n’ bass etc., but also because the few times I’ve heard The Herbaliser in a live setting the sound was straight purist hip-hop with Ollie scratching away the entire time. Don’t get me wrong I dig that, but sometimes I’m in the mood for some music to beat me down and wear me out. Well this time the boys have done just that—this mix is fierce! First of all they continue to represent British hip-hop very well by highlighting some of the best: The Nextment, DJ Format, Blufoot & Yungun, and Cappo to name a few. Plus they take it from the beginning of the evening and progress into the peak time with serious jams like J Rocc “Play This (One)” from Stones Throw, the Classic Eric B and Rakim “Paid in Full” Coldcut remix, (that’s the one that made the major labels see the value of a remix—never forget that!), and Demon Boyz “Glimity Glamity.” Then they start straight-up dropping bombs with “Spin it Round” by Nextmen with Dynamite MC (damn this one is on fire!), Breakestra’s “Family Rap” and my favorite, Apathy featuring Emilio Lopez whose rough verses over “Seven Nation Army” — “translate it into Spanish so foreign exchange motherfuckers can understand it” – add some rough and tough comedy to the set. I love mixes that don’t let up; the hardest thing to do when you’re playing for a crowd is to keep the music comin’ so strong that people cannot leave the floor no matter what; if they have to piss, get a drink or if they have a 100% chance of getting laid, they still ain’t leaving the party. The Herbaliser fellas have rocked many fiestas and headlined tons of major festivals so they can jam with the best, but it’s tough to translate that skill to a mix CD—well they’ve done it here. This might be a problem because I think this tough-ass mix broke my CD player, that’s OK though, it was worth it.
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Evan Marc
Emotional Ecology
PsyBooty
www.psybooty.comYou may already know an artist named Bluetech who in the last seven years has quickly established himself as a major force in the realm of quality downtempo and ambient styles. His music is extremely mature and thoughtful as well as elegantly produced. Well now Bluetech has a new uptempo project being released on the ever-so-open-minded label Psy Booty out of San Francisco under the moniker Evan Marc.
Evan’s new project features the same values as his Bluetech work only this time it’s directed even more for the dance floor and the ears that prefer a faster tempo. Techno in its purest form can be extremely beautiful and relaxing and that’s exactly how Evan Marc’s music sounds. 4/4 rhythms that might sound clunky when created by others are smooth sonic sculptures in Marc’s hands. His music sounds extremely digital but it has plenty of texture and depth which gives it a most important quality–character.
House and techno and well, even tech-house have become so similar over the years it’s a wonder that we still use names to describe the genre. Negatively it could be said that they all sound the same, but we know this is not always true. On the positive side, just like the infinite amount of distinct personalities that make up this crazy world (each having its own personality) there is always the possibility that we’ll stumble upon beautiful examples of innovation and craft. Evan Marc’s Emotional Ecology is just that.
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Here are some other music reviews for RE:UP. This magazine would let the writers be more thorough with the reviews so it was nice to be able to write more about the releases.
4Tet Everything Ecstatic Films
Presto and Richard Dorfmeister
DJ Vadim (Soundcatcher) and Love Trio
Wax Tailor, Thes One and Imperial Dub