September 30, 2009

September 29, 2009

iN tHe MiX IX: dJ Connect-I-Cut











dJ Connect-I-Cut Drum'n'Bass for Papa (DL)












Playaz:


DJ Hype True Playaz Anthem

Dr Octagon Blue Flowers (DJ Hype RMX)

Hidden Agenda Pressin' On

Aquasky Blow Your Mind

Jaheim Put That Woman First (Calibre Vocal RMX)

D'Angelo Brown Sugar (Nu Boots RMX)

E-Z Rollers Stray Dogs

Nasty Habits Shadow Boxing

Exocet Demon Seed

Adele Hometown Glory (High Contrast RMX)

MC Det Can U Feel










September 24, 2009

BAR 25 / after the hype is before the hype




There's a writing on one of the walls in my neighbourhood. It says: "after the hype is before the hype." Now when I look at recent events such as the closing of BAR 25, I know exactly what the composer of the message tries to express. There's always something to (small) talk about, a venue or spot where "you have to have been". However, it never takes long before that certain plc t b is off, over and out. Then, that cycle starts anew.

To be honest, I totally missed out on the last big Berlin hype named BAR 25. I mean I have been there, but that's a couple of years back when I visited the city. I liked it. Now that I'm living here for 2 months, I was a bit irritated by all that "let's go to BAR 25...you know...they'll shut their doors soon...forever."

Yeah right!

Honestly, weren't they supposed to close down by the end of the season in 2007? And then again in 2008? For me, this seems to be nothing but a teaser to get more and more people in a place. Another example? Look at Hühnerhaus on Skalitzerstraße (if you're familiar. otherwise, google maps might be helpful). The chicken there is alright, but is it worth cooling one's heels for half an hour and more? No, it's certainly not. It's a hype and it will therefore disappear again, because "after the hype is before the hype." So true.

Besides all that, this year's B25 closing tune is extra. Check out the video below for Niconé and Braemer's "Nur mal kurz". It's a pretty fresh adaption of Zager and Evans' song from the 60s. Enjoy. And don't forget: "after the hype....













September 13, 2009

In The Light Of Recent Events / Wahl 2009





My first post in my mother tongue as it has to be that way. This is hardly of any interest for readers outside of Germany.








Wer hätte gedacht, dass auf diesem Blog tatsächlich mal ein Sido Track auftaucht...am allerwenigsten ich selbst. Doch obiges Video überzeugt (inhaltlich/teilweise) irgendwie. Klar, die Prollnummer wird wie immer gnadenlos durchgezogen, aber der Text trifft die aktuelle Stimmung ganz gut. Davon abgesehen ist der Sound scheußlich, das Video sexistisch und G-Hot einer der lächerlichsten Rappernamen, die ich je gehört habe. Wortspiele können richtig weh tun.


Aber jetzt zur Sache, denn bald ist es wieder soweit: 4 Jahre sind seit dem legendären Schröder Abgang (A. Merkel war, vom scheidenden Kanzler am Wahlabend aufs Heftigste attackiert, den Tränen nahe und tat mir richtig leid) vergangen und von der schon damals oft austauschbaren SPD ist nicht viel geblieben, das sie als sozialdemokratische Partei kennzeichnen würde. Versprechen ("Wähl mich, ich versprech' dir das Blaue vom Himmel - ich erzähl dir was du hör'n willst, denn ich brauch' deine Stimme" Sido/G-Hot) gibt es nun von allen Seiten. Die Gelben möchten die Steuern senken, die Grünen 1 Mio Arbeitsplätze schaffen und die Roten das Schulsystem revolutionieren. Alles gut. Alles schwer machbar.


Aber darum geht es bei dieser Wahl auch nur indirekt. Was aus meiner eigenen Sicht am meisten zählt ist, dass die Rechten keinen Aufwind bekommen, oder besser gesagt, nicht noch mehr davon. Denn die letzten Landtagswahlen (vor allem im Osten) verheißen absolut nichts Gutes. Jede Stimme für eine der 5 größten Parteien ist eine gegen die Nazis. Und das ist das Wichtigste!


Als Entscheidungshilfe sei jedem dieser seit einigen Jahren etablierte Multiple Choice Test empfohlen. Der Wahl-o-Mat hat die Wahlprogramme vieler Parteien auf kurze, prägnante Thesen gekürzt, denen man entweder zustimmen oder widersprechen kann. Neutrale Nennungen sind ebenfalls möglich. Die Ergebnisse können wirklich überraschen, so wie in meinem eigenen Fall. Wohlgemerkt handelt sich bei diesen Ergebnissen um Wahlempfehlungen, die zum Nachdenken anregen sollen und nicht um direkte Entscheidungsabnahmen. Verantwortung muss jeder selbst übernehmen.







Zuletzt noch eine kleine Rechnung, die auf die Wichtigkeit jeder abgegebenen Stimme hinweisen soll, da die Nazis (NPD, DVU) auf keinen Fall Erfolge feiern dürfen.


Wenn von den knapp 60 Mio wahlberechtigten Deutschen 3% rechts außen wählen, gibt es bei einer Wahlbeteiligung von (utopischen) 100% genau 1,8 Mio Stimmen für die Nazis. Gehen wir jetzt davon aus, dass die rechten Wähler alle ihre (Haken-)kreuze setzen und viele Mitte oder Links Wähler zu Hause bleiben, wir also beispielsweise eine Wahlbeteiligung von 60% haben. Dann bleibt es zwar bei 1,8 Mio Nazikreuzen, aber von den möglichen 58,2 Mio Mitte/Links Stimmen bestehen nur noch 34,2 Mio. Das sieht zwar auf den ersten Blick nach einer überwältigenden Mehrheit aus, doch der Prozentsatz an rechten Stimmen ist dadurch schon auf fast 5,3 gestiegen. Und jeder weiß, was das bedeutet.


Es ist eben doch nicht ganz so einfach, wie in Sido&G-Hot's video: "Egal, wen man wählt, nichts ändert sich." Doch, doch...wenn man nicht aufpasst, kann sich ganz schnell etwas ändern. Jeder muss sich seiner Verantwortung stellen und dafür sorgen, dass die Rechten am 27.09.09 umsonst zur Urne wackeln...





September 11, 2009

iN tHe MiX VIII: dJ FiNgeR bRuTaL















Ingredients:


Fat Freddy's Drop Shiverman


Maurizio M6 (b) - Edit


Rocker's Hi-Fi We Na Go Run


Mikkel Metal Lumever


Runaway Brooklyn Club Jam


Phantom Schmidt Schichto Transparentio


Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia

Dead Souls (Radioslave Long Distance Kiss Mix)


Woolfy vs Projections

Neeve (Permanent Vacation Tropical Heat Mix)




September 04, 2009

Daisuke Tanabe / Ki Records





In the beginning of the year, a couple of friends and me launched a label. With Ki Records, we try to establish an idea rather than simply an output for music. We started with releasing music for now, but the publishing of art in all of its forms will follow soon. By the end of this year we hope to have our T-Shirt collection ready, consisting of 50 unique pieces - all handpainted. Art exhibitions will come after. There's a lot to look forward for.

Our first music release came out in May, but I missed to write a feature on Propellor. You can get a good idea of Christian Löffler's Heights EP on Mitch's blog Digital My Ass, one of my label cronies.

For the second release on Ki Records we invited a very special and talented artist from Japan to join our label. Daisuke Tanabe, who studied art in Tokyo and London, has been producing music for the last 13 years. Various releases on Zero DB’s "Fluid Ounce" label and an impressive amount of remixes for Gilles Peterson’s "Brownswood" imprint have proven Daisuke Tanabe’s versatility and talent for modern experimental electronic music. As a live Act and Dj, he has performed with Gilles Peterson, Onra, Tim Exile und Hudson Mohawke & Clark.

We decided to dare a leap into a more experimental way by publishing his outstanding "Flowers on a Wall". The four-track EP will be released in August 2009 (500 copies WW on limited vinyl), simultaneously to his first Album on Japan’s Circulation Records.

Check out his myspace and listen to his clearly incredible music.

Fat Freddy's Drop ∆ Dr Boondigga









I'd partly like to agree with Ralph Hobauer in Swiss-based 78s magazine who names Fat Freddy's second long player a "dissappointment on a high level". What he tries to say is that although Fat Freddy seem to be incapable of releasing bad music, they can do better, as shown on their first album "Based On A True Story".

But as it is (almost) always the case with bands and their first albums compared to their second, third or fourth: it gets worse. Remember The Prodigy, once been the pride of UK Breakbeats, and their intitial release "Experience". Following on, "Music For The Jilted Generation" had a couple of highlights, but everything that came after was simply a poor imitation of their earlier masterpieces. Or take Jamiroquai for example. "Emergency On Planet Earth" is the hell of an album, one of my all-time favourites still. But "Return Of The Space Cowboy", their second LP, is substantially less interesting. Forget that cosmic virtuality which followed...

There a so many more examples for this phenomena like The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Matthew Herbert, Erykah Badu, Phoenix, Joe Cocker, Goldie, The Streets or Portishead...just to name a few. So Fat Freddy's still is in good company. But for me, as a huge fan of their music and especially their live show, it's kinda difficult to swallow. I did have expected more. Or maybe I should say: other.

But let's take one thing at a time.

"Dr Boondigga..." starts with a tune that bears witness to the Sonar Kollektiv influence the band had over the last four years. "Big BW" features synths, a modern R'n'Bish-kinda beat and mellow horns. It can easily be placed in the chill-out shelf of your local media store (washing machines, toasters and CDs). It's hardly any special. "Shiverman", the second track, then links to Fat Freddy's dub heritage. And that's what they are best at. However, compared to their former tracks, it has a clear concentration on the dancefloor. I wouldn't call that a disadvantage, but I'm missing the deepness I'm used to from "Ernie" or "Flashback". Only after min 7:08 the tune gains full force, thanks to these incredible horns FFD are famous for. "Boondigga" is the next party-tune. This time with a dose of Pop music which provides the song with a good-time feeling. To my ears it just sounds a bit too cheesy.

Now come the good news:

"The Raft", track number 4 on "Dr Boondigga..." pushes us right back to the pure dub days of FFD. The tune is a killer. Horns, drums, echoes and Joe Dukie's splendid voice perfectly complement each other. That's what I was waiting for.






"Pull The Catch" heavily reminds me of Nightmares On Waxes "In A Space Outta Sound", which in fact confounds my statement that second or third releases almost never touch the quality of the preceding. In my opinion, NOW's 5th album is his best. "Pull The Catch" consists of a bouncing Hip-Hop beat, a massive electronic bassline and synth and beautiful horns. The break section around min 2:15 is one of FFD's finest and rounds the track up to being my personal favourite on the album.

"The Camel" starts with bass and a distorted guitar, another novelty in the band's style. But that bit of Rock suits them pretty well and is enhanced at min 3:20 when UK's female number one Soul voice Alice Russell drops in. I especially like the Herbie Hancock kinda synths with which the song concludes.

"The Nod" unfortunately doesn't turn the corner from bad to good. Besides the annoying lyrics "I'm cooking in the kitchen tonight...", the Hip-Hop MC feature makes bad things worse. Next!

"Wild Wind" starts with a Dub Techno beat and once again adresses the dancefloor. It somewhat uses a similar receipe like track 2 and 3, but this time FFD leave out the smoothness and create a dark, propulsive atmosphere. Brilliant tune!

"Dr Boondigga..." finishes off with another wonderful piece of music. "Breakthrough" ties on earlier tracks like "This Room" and "Dark Days". This is Fat Freddy's at their best: Harmonic melodies, sublime horn sections, superb Dub drums and above all: Joe Dukie's crystal clear voice.

Still, to get an idea of how amazing this band really is, one has to attend their live show. It's a massive spectacle!






September 02, 2009

Onesongonepic IV





Photo: Amélie Kai Ehrenfeld Lightning