Lerosa mixing up Lerosa

It’s been a while since I posted something. Too many things keeping me from saying something that’s worthwhile saying really. Anyway, here’s something…

If you’ve never heard of Lerosa, you either spent the last 5 years on a deserted island or in a mental hospital. The latter doesn’t sound half bad given the nice meds you get. But yeah, Lerosa has caused quite a stir these past few years. So if you’re into house music, you probably felt that stir too (if not, get your head checked). To get a full picture of his discography it wouldn’t hurt to give a quick glance here. A few recent releases worthwhile checking are his Night Radio ep on Uzuri and the wonderful collaboration he did with Donato Dozzy on Apnea, the ‘Snakes At Number 2’ ep. Go get it! Seriously!

He recently recorded a nice dj-set of a selection of his own work and remixes, all tightly mixed and prepped for your listening pleasure. It does give you a nice view on what Lerosa is about musically, deep house where the word “deep” actually means what it’s supposed to.

Get the mix here:
http://fairtilizer.com/track/61764/download

Tracklist:

Russell – Real Soon
Franco Cangelli – Innocence In A Jar (Lerosa Remix) – Mowar
Regret – D1
Clique – Real Soon
Seeker – Enclave
Circadia – Millions of Moments
Lovers bleed – Millions of Moments
Plesso – Ostgut
Dark Knight – A Touch of Class
One Year Friends – Enclave
Much Later – Uzuri
Triage – Quintessentials
Abby – Uzuri
Buddy system – Quintessentials
Andy Vaz – Hurry, Hurry Remix (Lerosa Mix) – Yore
Pussy – Enclave

tracklisting of the last Hybridize

Finally managed to write the tracklist of the Hybridize Five mix. Blame it on the day job.
I’m pretty satisfied with this one actually…

Brersoul – Flow (Z-Wave) – ESP (1992)
Ron Trent – Indigenous Beat Box – Future Vision (2009)
Bo – Les Paradis Artificiels – Labo Music (2006)
John Daly – Space Walk – Mule Musiq (2009)
Donnacha Costello – Pleite Reissue – Look Long (2009)
Kuba – Message From Earth – Matrix (2009)
Morgan Geist – Linking Tunnel – Clear (1997)
The Good Men – Sticky Fingers – Pssst Music (1995)
Levon Vincent – Woman Is The devil – Deconstruct (2008)
Dark Matrix – Untitled – Losonofono (2002)
Shawn Rudiman – Direct Box – Matrix (2009)
I:Cube – Mingus In My Pocket – Versatile (1997)
Mark Thibideau – In The Moment – Third Ear (2006)
Kirk Degiorgio – Traject – Abstract Forms (2009)
Franco Cangelli – Denizen – Persistencebit (2009)
Mathew Jonson – Typerope – Itiswhatitis (2003)
Mauser – Leger De Main – Synapsis (2009)
Chicago Skyway – Heavens & Angels – MOS (2009)
Jeroen Search – Region 1 – Figure SPC (2009)
Tony Lionni – Free Your Mind – Aesthetic Audio (2008)
Rydell – Careless – Fachwerk (2009)
Aubrey – D1 – Dark (2001)
Mark Broom – White – Native (2001)
Russ Gabriel – Three Fifty One – Pariter (2008)
Peter Van Hoesen – Strikethrough – Morse (2009)
Alexander Kowalski – Oxygen – Kanzleramt (2001)
Duplex – Elevated Mood – Clone (2006)
Fabrice Lig – Closed (Phil Latio mix) – Residual (1999)
Shawn Rudiman – Dirty – Sound Architecture (2005)
65d Mavericks – Whispers of my Beloved – Surface (2009)

Hybridize Five, the last one…

I know it’s been kind of quite here. I don’t always have the time to update it and to be honest, I didn’t have a lot to say. Having a day job tends to steal away a lot of your free time. Nevertheless, here’s another post…

I recently did some serious cleaning up in my record collection, throwing many things on discogs for sale, rearranging lost records and to my pleasant surprize rediscovering forgotten gems. So that’s when ideas started to fall together for a new mix. A 2-hour journey into deep and sexy technoid shades of electronic music. I have to admit that I’ve always had a weak spot for the emotional side of techno. So the fifth and last installment of the Hybrize Series is one with sweet melancholic deepness and erotic electronic grooves. Something to listen to with your eyes closed, something that lets your mind drift away to your personal imaginary island, far away from all the daily worries and the evil crap we have to deal with… And yes this is the last installment, because I think ‘5′ is a nice way to end. Life can be that simple sometimes.

Oh yeah… it’s unnecessary to mention, but I’ll do it anyway, the set is recorded with vinyl straight from the heart, warts and all. No computer mixing can replace what you feel inside. Sometimes beauty can be found in flaws and imperfection. Nuff said, get the mix here below.

Hybridize Five

I don’t have a tracklist yet. Gimme some time…

The Parkwalker rises again!

About 7, 8 years ago I was carrying deep house around in my record case (yeah back then there was also a thing called deep house) and among my babies there were these records on the now defunct label Funknose, which was a sublabel of Swag Records. Little did I know then that I was playing Affie Yusuf’s music. Under his Parkwalker moniker he released three beautiful ep’s on Funknose of which my favourite would be ‘Shades of Soul’. I used to play the title track way too many times back then! It had this sweet deep sounds with a gently uplifting bassline and throughout the track this guy talking about different kinds of Blues. Definitely a must-have record! Very easy to find on discogs, unfortunately for very little money… Some people are really clueless! http://www.discogs.com/Parkwalker-Shades-Of-Soul/release/80710

You can find a lot more music by Affie under various monikers, various labels and various shades of house and techno. Check his disco here: http://www.discogs.com/artist/Affie+Yusuf

Fastforward to today, having started the new label Nowar with my partner in crime Dj Akî, we’re closing the circle. Our first release on Nowar comes by none other than The Parkwalker himself. The story is a simple one… I shot him a message on this marvelous thing we love to hate called Myspace and some time later, demo tracks arrived. Selecting the tracks went pretty fast. Both me and my partner were instantly drawn to the tracks ‘Opendance’ and ‘Degeneration’.

Opendance is slightly more on the tech-house 90’s trip, but without all the bullshit dancefloor fanfare. It’s a deep hypnotic trip with a simple and very effective bassline pulling you in on a funky rhythm base. Halfway the track tribal-like voices kick in, bringing the music on a whole other level. ‘Degeneration’ has a rather organic feel with a raw unpolished edge. Personally I wouldn’t want this track to sound any other way. I guess the dirtyness of the sound enhances the blues feel. I’m not sure if there’s thing called blues house, but if there was, this track would definitely come very close to that feeling. If John Lee Hooker was making house music now, I’m sure he wouldn’t sound very differently. You can check Nowar’s myspace to have a listen: www.myspace.com/nowarhousemusic

Anyway, I think The Parkwalker was the perfect way to start this new label. It sets the mood and the musical direction we’re looking for perfectly.

Tessera compilation on Sushitech

It doesn’t happen that often when you can say “shit, this is a brilliant record” or “one of the best releases this year if you ask me!”, but Sushitech’s last release, the Tessera compilation would be one of those moments. I heard Yossi talk about this compilation for like an eternity. A lot of work went into this, listening, re-listening, selecting, basically making sure this compilation isn’t just a random selection of a couple of house tracks. The track selection is beautifully coherent and makes the entire compilation, four twelve inches in total, a captivating trip in the elegance and sexiness of deep house with a sweet 90’s touch. You can find oldskool producers such as Nick Holder, Russ Gabriel, Steve O’Sullivan as well as recent names such as Serafin, Lauhaus, E. Bridge or Anonym. It’s hard to pick a favourite because all tracks are timeless quality house gems, but if I have to highlight a few of them I’d go for Steve O’Sullivan’s Soft Scoop Memories, Russ Gabriel’s Change, Anonym’s Go Deeper, Leonel Castillo’s Stone Beach and Nick Holder’s Feeling Sad.
Still the whole thing just breathes uncompromising quality for which the Sushitech imprint has up to now always stood for. Mad props to Matt Du Jardin and Yossi Amoyal to make this happen!

I asked Yossi Amoyal to add a few words of his own about this project:

“It took me and the artist a very long time to work on this project as it’s very hard to build up a nice and consistent story on a 12” combining different artists who live in different places in the world and take inspiration from different environments. But as we all know, music is an international language and track after track we all teamed up to write this nice musical journey to the compilation that marks the 10th release on each of our labels. We started with the original productions of the main label producers and then we mixed it with some fine classics and favorite guests to complete the listening journey of this compilation.
In total the process of producing this record took us all more then 8 months and it’s so nice to get all the warm words and nice feedback after the hard work we did. It’s nice to see that quality people can listen and understand exactly what we were trying to bring.”

If you haven’t already, make sure you get a listen to this compilation. Go to Sushitech’s website http://www.sushitech.com and check the clips. You can also find more information about past and upcoming releases.

Matt Chester, Endless Days ep, 11th Hour Recordings

11th Hour Recordings may not be the most hyped techno label around, but it sure as hell continues to offer pure quality Detroit-inspired techno. The label’s sixth release ‘Endless Days’ is produced by the label boss himself, Matt Chester. A brilliantly funky four-tracker essential to anyone’s Detroit techno collection. The ep starts off with the aptly titled track ‘Kick It’, slick break beats reminiscent of what electro used to or should be and a bassline outrageously funky somehow reminding me of Cameo’s ‘Word Up’. DJ 3000’s remix of ‘Kick It’ is slightly more on the house tip, but slowly evolves into an orgy of space strings which might even attract the attention of italo-disco heads. The flipside unleashes more deep techno starting off with ‘Cold Restraint’, a melodic piece of galactic beauty, layered with deep melancholic strings, although the bassline keeps the whole arrangement solidly dancefloor-friendly. I guess I could compare it to Dutch deep techno by the likes of The Moderator or Duplex, but Matt Chester definitely has his own funky take! ‘Down and Out in EC2’ ends the ep gracefully with more break electro grooves and funked up basslines, layered with beautiful strings and melodies. All four tracks complement each other perfectly. This ep is not just four random tracks, but is a well thought out piece of vinyl that will stand the test of time. Matt Chester is one of those producers you should look out for!

Have a listen here:
http://www.matt-chester.com/wp/releases/ehr006

Stripped to Please (a trip into what used to be minimal techno)

I recorded a new techno mix. I guess you could call this minimal techno, only that the word ‘techno’ actually means something other that trumpet sounds or superficial Ibiza crap… The mix is a selection of techno grooves, stripped to the essence, what minimalism is all about I think… But who am I to judge anyway. Let your ears be the judge!

Get it here:

Stripped to Please

And the tracklist:

Surgeon – Bad Hands (Roly Vex’d Remix) – Dynamic Tension Records (2007)
Justin Berkovi – Carine – Force Inc (1999)
Robert Hood – And Then We Planned Our Escape – Music Man (2007)
Mark Broom – Drift – Mosaic (1998)
Scion – Emerge 1 – Chain Reaction (1995)
Codebase – Seek And Destroy (Swayzak Glitchmix) – Force Inc (2003)
James Kumo – Alphawave – Ann Aimee (2009)
El Mal – Bad Schandau – Ifach (1997)
Dettman/Klock – Scenario – Ostgut Ton (2007)
Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search – Metheor – Outland Records (2008)
Marcel Dettmann – Plain – Beatstreet (2008)
Planetary Assault Systems – Twelve – Peacefrog (2001)
I-F – Spiegelbeeld – Disko B (1998)
The Vision – Explain The Style – Metroplex (1996)
Monobox – The Construct – Logistic Records (2003)
Redshape – Plonk (Dub) – Present (2008)
Roberto Bosco – Deep Chord – Night Vision (2008)
John Thomas – Vision – Logistic Records (2001)
Ben Klock – Subzero – Ostgut Ton (2008)
Mike Parker – Amalgamated (Extension Mix) – Geophone (2001)
Deetron – Interurban – Ongaku Musik (2001)
Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search – Induction – Smallville Records (2008)
Jeroen – 1511 – 6277 (2006)
James Ruskin – Profile – Blueprint (2003)
Unknown – Catscan Remix – Seldom Felt (2008)
Scorp – Atomitron – Scorp (2000)
Timeblind – Tree Qua – Communique Records (1996)
James Ruskin – Work – Blueprint (1998)

Electro… what is/was it all about?

Electro. The word electro today propels us to an ocean of hyped kids worshipping crosses at big events that kind of remind us of those glorious raving days… Obviously I’m happy for them that they’re having the time of their lives. Oh I’m not out to write an endless rant. I’m sure this type of pop music has its place in the music industry and caters for hordes of kids hitting puberty, going through their identity crises and worrying about their newly discovered pubic hair. Haven’t we all been there at some point in our lives?

There was a time that electro was a whole different story though, far away from ring tune-friendly, soulless, corporate cheese… (Forgive me… I’m a sarcastic person, I need to laugh now and then to cleanse my soul.) There was a time that electro stood for quality underground electronic funk.

In the beginning – yeah that sounds cheesy, doesn’t it – electro was part of hip hop culture in the early 80’s, and was the soundtrack to an army of b-boys and b-girls body-popping, floating, backspining and uprocking. Yeah… those breakdancing days. Electro was dance music for cyborgs and the infamous TR-808 was the orchestra conductor. Thé biggest tune that kickstarted and practically revolutionized electronic music for generations to come was the all-time classic Planet Rock by Africa Bambaataa, produced by the legendary Arthur Baker. I’m not going to write an article about the whole breakdance movement and the electro(funk) of the early 80’s. But if this era intrigues you, then you should definitely check Greg Wilson’s website www.electrofunkroots.co.uk and google artists such as Africa Bambaataa, The Jonzun Crew, Nucleus, Hashim, Man Parrish …

This whole movement obviously caught the eye of the mainstream record companies and it didn’t take long to see breakdancers in about every video in 1984. But the electro sound continued to develop. Juan Atkins, aka Model 500, kept on working the 808 and ended up making the blueprint of techno. Also in Detroit you had the Direct Beat label churning out timeless releases with Aux 88 being the main pusher. This sound was later coined Techno Bass. I never understood why though, it was still electro to me. Underground Resistance had its take on electro too with among others the legendary Drexciya and another essential Detroit artist is of course Ectomorph on his imprint Interdimensional Transmissions. Equally essential to the new skool was the Dutch scene around the labels Clone and Bunker. Artists such as I-F, Legowelt, Pametex, Syncom Data rocked the new Dutch electro sound and created a unique cold but funky robosexual 808-driven strain of the electro virus. The UK had its new skool pushers too, such as Scape One, The Wee DJ’s, Andrea Parker. In Germany Anthony Rother could be considered as the pioneer of the German nu-skool electro, releasing on his own label Psi49net and Elektrolux. which also released artists such as N)E(M, MAS 2008, Audiowerk, just to name a few. I’m sure there’s plenty more to be said about the new skool electro emerging around the end of the last century. It would take too long to write about that.

The ‘other’ face of electro seems to be forgotten under the weight of the more commercial electro sounds of today. Complaining is not going to help though, but there’s no harm in mentioning a different side of the story. To put some music to these words I dug up some old electro mixes of mine, and I asked for some folks who used to be quite big in the Belgian electro scene to provide me with some mixes too. Irish Italian Lerosa and Londoner Matt Chester are joining in on the fun.

Spacid who was one of the main forces behind the nu-skool electro sound in Belgium, and who obviously has been active in many other styles like italo disco (check out his label Radius Records), Chicago house etc., has an old skool 80’s electro mix online which gives an idea of how the vintage electro sounded like.

Don’t Stop The Microwave by Spacid

Rob & Zoopsie also sent me a mix. This dj duo from Mons Belgium definitely earned their wings in the electro scene and are now also producing discoid sounds under the moniker The Revolving Eyes and their new wave/electro project Tetra Plok.

Rescate Drama by Rob & Zoopsie

Other important names in the Belgian electro scene from back in the day are Joost De Lijser, Lysergic, Shaman, Autokinetik… Feel free to slap me in the face if I’m forgetting other names, but only if you’re a woman. It wouldn’t be so sexy would it?

Lerosa may be known as a deep house producer, but he’s definitely no stranger to electro. Check out his recent interview on Infinitestemachine for more info about this cat!

Electro mix by Lerosa

Matt Chester from the 11th Hour imprint (check out his Endless Days ep) is also one of those versatile dj’s who have an electro affinity. His set has a more in your face dancefloor approach…

Heavy Industry by Matt Chester

And last but not least yours truly with 2 dark electro mixes from back in the day.

Reconfigure Human by Franco Cangelli
Arcane Move by Franco Cangelli

Interstellar Attitude by Franco Cangelli, a few years ago…

I recently dug up an old mix I recorded a few years back. The idea was to come up with a nice listening techno mix, suitable for armchair moments and long car drives… interstellar car drives…

Grab it here:

http://soundcloud.com/franco-cangelli/francocangelli-interstellarattitude/download

This is the tracklist:

Kenny Larkin – Amethyst – R&S
Dimension 5 – Analogue Assault – Delsin
Crème Eclipse 01 -Crème
Carl Craig – Televised Green Smoke – Planet-e
Raiders of the Lost Arp – Workflow – Nature
Kenny Larkin – Nightfall – Peacefrog
Duplex – Censory (remix2) – Clone
Plaid – Link – Warp
Claro Intelecto – Back – Ai
Stasis – Phenomyna – Peacefrog
Plaid – Prig – Warp
Optic Nerve – Vortex – Omnisonus
Dimension 5 – The Message – Delsin
2000 and One – Bowed – 100% Pure
Carl Craig – Food and Art – Planet-e

Dan Curtin Interview

Sorry if I ignored the blog action a bit, but it was only because I was waiting for something very interesting to post here. And so I have!
You can find here an interview I did with one the most influential techno artists out there. The one and only mr. Dan Curtin. For people unfamiliar with this cat, (shame on you!) check out his discography on discogs and it will leave you wondering why you’ve never heard of him. For the interview I avoided the cliché questions like ‘What are your influences’, but kept it more down to earth. Anyway, nuff said, read Dan’s words here below.

Maybe we could start with a quick update on what’s to come. What do people need to look out for? Any releases, remixes, tours planned, Metamorphic news…? Any album plans?

OK, check out my Beat Fiend EP which was just released on Mobilee Records and I also recently did a remix for Goth/Pop duo Waving Not Drowning, the track is called Twists and Turns, out now only in digital format but coming soon on vinyl and CD. The next release on my label Metamorphic is in production right now and will be out soon on vinyl and digital. The artist is James Kumo from Manchester. You might know him from his recent releases on Delsin and Ann Aimee. There is also a remix from me on this EP. Following that on Metamorphic is an EP by me with a Morgan Geist remix. Then after that is a follow up EP on Mobilee with another EP on Mobilee sub label, Leena. Let’s see, there is a remix for some guy called Franco Cangelli coming soon on Persistencebit and then in April I have a remix coming on Octupus records out of Spain for the artist Calculus. Also in April I have a remix on Trenton Records for Italian producer Giovanni Varga.
I think that is it before the summer break release wise. Right now I’m working on my new album which will be released after the summer.
And for tours watch out for a 9-gig tour of the USA starting on March 28 and then a 2-week tour of South America starting on May 25. Then of course the European gigs in-between all of that.

After having produced quite a few albums, do you still believe in the album format in this digital age when people can just buy the tracks they like. Do you think the album as a whole is still relevant?

I think good albums are totally relevant and necessary. If somebody is truly into an artist then they will want to hear all that artist has to offer, and the album is a necessary platform for expressing more than is possible on one track. Music is not just about one quick track and then on to something else, it’s an experience and a journey and the album can deliver this. This is a ridiculous situation if you think about it, I mean, do you go to a concert of your favorite band and only hear one song?!!? Of course not. People who only buy one track here and there don’t really like music anyway and they aren’t my customers or fans. They have the attention span of a 3 year old and no real appreciation for music. The album is only irrelevant from artists who are irrelevant! If the artist is not capable of delivering 13 excellent songs then they have no business even trying to make an album in the first place.

Do you think your life as a globetrotting dj is a chaotic one or do you manage to keep a ‘normal’ life next to that?

I try hard to keep a normal life, it’s kind of possible but in a way a constant struggle.
I pretty much threw out the notion of a ‘normal’ life when I chose this career path.
But there are periods of normalcy which are nice.

How does this affect your productions? Do you find it easy to separate one life from the other?

The producing and DJing go hand in hand, they feed off and nourish each other.

You never mistake your couch back home for your economy class seat on the plane?

Well, it is weird that the hotel room, no matter where on the planet, always seems like home and all airports seem familiar and kind of like home too.

I’m sure you’ve been through some exceptional moments as well as less memorable experiences throughout your dj-travels. Could you give some examples of weird, unusual, bad or fantastic gig experiences?

Fantastic? Well there have been plenty of those but they are rare. Those moments where true unity has been achieved, I mean, there is nothing like it. I know it sounds cliché but it is very real and true.
Weird and bad, I’d say all the times that parties have been shut down by the cops, when the cops rip the needle off the turntables and make everybody line up along the walls to get searched. Yeah, I’d say that was the worst and most surreal, having cops in helmets with big guns rush the decks.

Having lived in Europe for quite some time now, is there anything that you miss from the US?

Buffalo Wings! Ok, that and my home town and friends of family of course…

What would be the main cultural differences between the US and Europe? Do you notice these differences in clubbing?

That is too broad of a question, you need to compare smaller geographical areas. Europe and America are both so diverse. Clubbing is easier to answer, and that difference is narrowing all the time. Recent gigs in the US have left me wondering, “where am I?” when I was playing or dancing.
The response has been so great and heartfelt. The scene in the US died for a while but over the past couple of years it has been bubbling back up through the underground and now there are good scenes in most cities. The events and scenes are smaller than scenes in similarly sized cities in Europe but just as good. It is growing every day.

You’ve been around for ages in the bizz. How did you come to the point that you were actually able to live off this? I’m sure you’ve done other jobs in a past life?

It happened pretty quickly actually, I think I went from working jobs and doing music in the evenings and running my label on lunch breaks to living off of it in about 3 years or so. But after I quit my regular jobs I started a record shop and a distribution company so I did those together with production and Djing. I sold my shop and closed the distribution in ‘97 and focused only on making music and Djing/playing live.

Any idea what you’d have done if dj-ing and producing didn’t turn out to be a success? Maybe you wanted be a fireman or a pilot…?

Back then I would have gone into environmental sciences, because I studied that at university.

In the studio, are you still using a lot of hardware (both analogue and digital) or are you also using VST-instruments and plugins? If so, in what way has this affected the way you produce?

I use all that. And it doesn’t matter, yeah it makes things easier or faster or you have more possibilities for f/x sounds and stuff like that but in the end these things are irrelevant. Its all about what is in the mind and soul, if you have that then you can make music with anything. That’s is why I hate this constant push to have this controller, these f/x, this DJ system, whatever…nobody, and I mean nobody, rocks any harder because they have a certain piece of hardware and somebody else doesn’t. Think of any dancefloor you’ve been on when you had a transcendental experience and I guarantee you it was about the exchange of energy between the DJ and the people – and nothing else. Period.

Do you think you could produce with software only or do you still need to turn real knobs?

I can do it with any equipment and have done plenty of times. One thing that I need though is to be able to play the keyboard. I’m no genius pianist but to really get what is in my soul out I need to play it. I’ve been to studios where people don’t even have a keyboard! They step input all of the “music” but then again it sounds like it too. Also I’m really into drum machines, especially analog!

With politics, environment or other crucial developments these last few years, do you think dj’s and producers could take advantage of the fact that they can reach so many people and try to convey their opinions or do you think that art and politics simply don’t mix?

It mixes and it is important and it is very political. The act of playing music to a club of smiling people who are all together and all on the same level is powerful. For those moments everyone is elevated above the economic crisis, or wars, or the erosion of our rights and freedom, it’s like a taste of what life could be like all the time. Then these people take what they learned that night into their daily life. Do you think anybody who dances all night at a club to house music supports things like the border fences, or invasions of sovereign nations? Hell no, a resounding hell no.
To this day I believe the large club/party scene we had in the US in the 90s was eradicated by politicians and the police, because that is what it was. A relentless eradication of the scene in every city in the USA. And they succeeded.

Ok, let’s close the interview with a few words or names. You can describe your feelings towards them or simply give a very concise answer:

Hype
Sick of it

Pop music
Is pop music

Marvin Gaye
Ahh yeah…

Barak Obama
Wait and see

Detroit
true

Disco
Never died..but um, no need for “NuDisco”, thanks.

Mr. T
I pity that fool

Interview by Franco Cangelli

Some links to check:
http://www.myspace.com/thedancurtin
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Dan+Curtin
http://www.metrecs.com