Charles I has been creating a massive amount of buzz in the Los Angeles Electro scene recently and with tracks like Rule The Dancefloor it’s easy to see why. Charles I is a breath of fresh air in the Los Angeles music scene and continues turn out impressive singles and remixes, which is why I was very excited when Charles I was kind enough to send over his newest single, Rule the Dancefloor, his latest remix of Grimes‘ huge track, Vanessa, as well as a link to his brand new mix for all you loyal GDD™ readers!
Check out the two exclusive tracks as well as Charles I’s newest mix after the jump!
The year was 2010. A creepy, crawly song was climbing the Beatport charts, and House DJs around the world were supporting this arachno-tune that seemed to fit into any set. Pleasurekraft‘s ‘Tarantula’ had spun its web throughout the entire dance music community, before receiving ‘Best Tech House Track’ at the Beatport awards in Miami that following March. With handfuls of extremely well-produced originals and remixes as well as a global tour schedule since then, we thought it’d be good to catch up with Kalle and Kaveh of Pleasurekraft before their set tonight at Playhouse in Hollywood.
Read on after the jump for our exclusive interview as well as a fantastic new mix…
Tracklist:
01 Format B – Country Girl (Original Mix) [Formatik]
02 Jamie Woon – Luciano’s Lady Luck (Kenny Ground Reconstruction Bootleg) [White Label]
03 Sneaky Sound System – We Love (Pleasurekraft Remix) [Modular]
04 Beatles vs Lisboa + Luthier – Come Together [White Label]
05 Danny Quattro + Grant Nalder – Something Radio (Original Mix) [Hofingers]
06 Pleasurekraft – Satyr Song (Umek Remix) [1605]
07 Pleasurekraft – Satyr Song (Original Mix) [1605]
08 Pleasurekraft – The Main Ingredient (Original Mix) [Hotfingers]
09 DJ Madskillz – Wooze (Original Mix) [Bitten]
10 Pleasurekraft – Carny (Jaceo Remix) [Great Stuff]
11 Hectik Rivero – I Feel Fine (Original Mix) [Mr Nice Guy]
12 Pleasurekraft – The Main Ingredient (Jesse Perez Remix) [Hotfingers]
13 David Herrero – Have You Ever Wake (Original Mix) [Lapsus Music]
Gotta Dance Dirty™: We always ask the same question first around here. What’s your drink of choice from the bar?
Pleasurekraft: Without a doubt St Germain – its a French liqueur made form elderflower. Mix with 1 shot Hangar One vodka (from Cali of course!) w/ 1.5 shot St Germain, a little club soda and a lemon twist and you have “The Pleasurekraft” – you didn’t expect an answer that detailed did you?
GDD™: The massive hit, ‘Tarantula,’ really solidified Pleasurekraft as a major player in the global Tech House community, especially with the nod from Beatport as best Tech House track of 2010. When you were in the studio putting it together, did you realize how well-received it would be?
PK: Not at all actually. We just felt it was unique enough to stand out from the majority of tech house out there – but when it entered the top 10 of Beatport’s Tech House chart we were beside ourselves, you can imagine how that feeling escalated when it entered the overall chart!
GDD™: Speaking of ‘Tarantula,’ there’s an eerie, creepy sense of sound in many of your productions like ‘Anubis’ and ‘Carny’ that really sets you guys apart sonically. How did you guys find this sound?
PK: We didn’t neccasarily sit down and try to come up with a “dark” sound, for whatever reason it just comes out of us. I don’t know if its just our general outlook on life and the way we see things that perhaps it just comes out that way in the music.
GDD™: It looks like you guys will be all over the place this month, with gigs everywhere from Mexico City to San Francisco to Budapest. Do you enjoy the travelling aspect of being an artist/DJ? Are there any tips of the travel trade that you recommend?
PK: I think like everything else in life there are pluses and minuses. Even the most glamorous jobs in the world have their cons. Is it fun sitting in airports/airplanes/hotels all by yourself for the majority of your time? DEFINATELY not. Is it incredible to travel on this little planet of ours and see people going crazy when you play live? Absolutely. Travel tips? Melatonin, don’t eat on flights, and be nice to your airline employees because they will go out of their way for you if you don’t treat them the way most people do on flights!
GDD™: What are the roles for Kalle + Kaveh? Do you guys have a symbiotic DJ and studio partner relationship? Or do you both do a little of everything?
PK: When we first started out we were sending files back and forth and working on tracks that way – then we actually managed to work on tracks simultaneously in studio together in Stockholm for large chunks of time, but about 6 months ago as demand for our productions and remixes grew, while the gig requests grew – we sat down with our management and agencies and all agreed that I would concentrate on the touring and Kalle would concentrate on the productions.
GDD™: You say that your music is inspired by deep, underground Techno, and it definitely sounds that way. Who are some underground Techno acts that you guys worship?
PK: Well I should clarify I guess, I used “techno” in the broadest sense the way a parent doesn’t “get” their kids music. I personally don’t listen to a lot of underground techno, some of course – especially more melodic techno, but prefer tech house as it has a much groovier disposition. I also love house music. But honestly I think Kalle and I are both influenced by so much music outside of the techno world that those things influence the pleasurekraft sound much much more than anything from the techno world. If you asked us our favorite producers regardless of genre there wouldn’t be alot of techno/house guys in there.
GDD™: Who is the funniest artist you have ever shared a bill with? Any day-job comedians out there in the Tech House circuit?
PK: Emmm well for me I always have a great time laughing whenever I have a chance to play with Curtis [Green Velvet]. He is such a wonderful person, but like his music has such a great quirky sense of comedy that its always a joy to hang out with him. Plus he is a realllly positive person who has been in this business a long time and has great perspectives on it for newer artists like us.
GDD™: Have you guys been in the studio as of recent? Any new tracks we might be able to keep an eye/ear out for?
PK: Funny you should ask as it looks like just as of today this new original is gonna be huge (is that arrogant to say?). We are going to get some vocals from Green Velvet for it who already did vocals for another track of ours as well that will be forthcoming this year.
GDD™: If you were supreme ruler of the Pleasurekraft nation, what would your national anthem be?
PK: This is like asking someone what their favorite song is – I am always marveled by people that can actually name a single song in the world that they would call their “favorite”. I have no idea! It most likely would not be a techno/house track as I can tell you that!
GDD™: Give us 5 chart tracks that we’ll be sure to hear at Playhouse tonight.
PK: Why do you want to spoil the surprise??!! Just “Treat Yo Self” as Aziz Ansari would say, to some “Pleasurekraft” cocktails with that wonderful St Germain and get your asses on the dancefloor. Let the music do the rest! See you all tonight!!!!!!!!!
GDD™: Thanks so much for taking the time. We’ll be sure to have a few ‘Pleasurekrafts’ in your honor tonight at Playhouse!
Canada is producing a pretty noteworthy crop of awesome young artists from the likes of Jacques Greene to Prince Club to John Roman, and now USA’s northern neighbor welcomes Toronto native Meech to the varsity team. Meech’s I want EP, out today on the Danish imprint Demento Mori, takes off from a swingy percussive intro to a growling bass number, full with housey piano stabs, cheeky vocal chops and white noise blasts. Pick up the EP here on Beatport.
Good morning! It’s the start of a new week and we’re getting back into the swing of things after an eventful weekend. Today’s news includes the Super Bowl halftime show, Calvin Harris, Radio One’s Hackney Big Weekend, & Maya Jane Coles. Please read on after the jump.
Super Bowl Half-time Show: Madonna w/ LMFAO, M.I.A., Cee Lo, Nicki Minaj
If you’re one of the people quietly hoping for LMFAO to quietly fade away…don’t hold your breath. The dance-pop outfit’s ringleaders SkyBlu and Redfoo last night took the stage at the Super Bowl XLVI as part of Madonna’s half-time show…for an estimated audience of over 100 million people (okay, not all of them would’ve been glued to the screen at this exact moment). Now we have all been treated to the sight of the 53-year-old pop star ‘shuffling’ with the Party Rockers in front of America’s biggest TV audience.
The appearance of LMFAO in a kind of Gladiators-meets-Village People garb wasn’t deemed the most offensive sight at half-time, though. That (dis)honour went to cult favourite M.I.A., who flipped the middle finger to the camera during her guest appearance during Madonna’s new single, Give Me All Your Luvin’. Why won’t she think of the children? “The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologise to our fans,” said NBC Spokesman Brian McCarthy.
Perhaps the most insane aspect of the whole affair, however, was the extravagant stage set-up for Madonna’s 13 minutes at centre field. We’d like to see that kind of budget funnelled towards a 2012 Daft Punk tour…
Pop star Calvin Harris was the most successful songwriter in the UK singles chart in 2011, according to research from trade magazine Music Week.
Harris wrote Rihanna’s number one track We Found Love as well as having hits of his own with Bounce and Feel So Close.
He also gained a songwriting credit on US star Chris Brown’s song Yeah 3X after complaining that it copied his 2009 single I’m Not Alone.
The Smeezingtons, who wrote for Bruno Mars and Cee Lo, were in second place.
Singer-songwriter Adele was in third place thanks to her enormous success last year, with fellow chart star Ed Sheeran in fourth.
Music Week head of business analysis Paul Williams said: “2011 was a great year for British songwriters, reflected by high positions on this chart for Calvin Harris, Adele and Ed Sheeran.”
British writers also enjoyed a good year in the US, he added, with We Found Love spending 10 weeks at the top of the US singles chart, while Adele had three chart-topping songs in America.
Norwegian duo Stargate were in fifth place on the list after penning tracks for Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Wiz Khalifa and Alexis Jordan, while their songwriting partner Ester Dean was in sixth.
Lady Gaga was seventh in the top ten, followed by Claude Kelly, who co-wrote tracks including Jessie J’s Price Tag.
In ninth was Welsh composer Paul Mealor, who wrote the Military Wives’ Christmas number one Wherever You Are.
American writer-producer Dr Luke, who won Billboard’s songwriter of the year in 2010 and 2011, rounded off in the list in tenth position.
Maya Jane Coles has mixed the next edition of DJ-Kicks, due for release in April.
Coles has been one of house music’s most popular new artists ever since her breakthrough single, What They Say, came out on Real Tone Records in 2010. At just 24 years old, the London-based DJ and producer is now a hot commodity at clubs and festivals around the world, and last year slipped into the top 10 of your favorite DJs of 2011. DJ-Kicks will be her first commercial mix CD, and according to Coles, shows her at her most diverse.
“I don’t just do one thing and I wanted [the mix] to reflect that,” she says. “Most of the mixes I’ve put out there so far have been house based, but I also produce stuff under the Nocturnal Sunshine moniker, which is more two-step/bass influenced stuff. This mix evolved into something that wasn’t just four-to-the-floor.”
Like every edition of DJ-Kicks, the mix features exclusive tracks from the curator: one is “Not Listening,” and the other is “Meant To Be,” a track from Coles’ more two-step influenced alter-ego, Nocturnal Sunshine.
Tracklist
01. Deft – Loqux & Past
02. Kris Wadsworth – Mainline (Jimmy Edgar Remix)
03. Chasing Kurt – Money
04. Bozzwell – In My Cocoon
05. Larse – Karoo
06. Milscot feat. Angela Sheik – All Alone (Domyan Just Slow Remix)
07. Adam Stacks – Hey Love
08. Phil Kieran & White Noise Sound – Never Believed
09. Sigward – Nuerd
10. Maya Jane Coles – Not Listening
11. Virgo Four – It’s a Crime (Caribou Remix)
12. Roberto Bardini – Hate Me (Muteoscillator Fairy Tall Remix)
13. Tripmastaz – Guess Who
14. Standard Fair – Little Helper 16-3
15. Nocturnal Sunshine – Meant to Be
16. Zenker Brothers – Berg 10
17. Last Magpie – No More Stories
18. Zoe Zoe – Church
19. Gerry Read – Roomland (Youandewan Remix)
20. T. Williams – Analog Tour
21. Marcel Dettmann – Translation Two
22. Claro Intelecto – Hunter’s Rocket to the Sky
!K7 will release Maya Jane Coles’ DJ-Kicks in April 2012.
ADAM KADMON is a dance-punk/noise trio from Vancouver or as it’s described on their facebook “2 polite quiet asians and one loud outgoing white boy”.
Their music is definitely not for the faint at heart. A key feature is definitely the hypnotic catchy bass lines and 90′s feel. Even though KADMON is fairly new to the scene both of the shows they’ve played have been packed full. It probably has something to do with the fact that even though there is an obvious comparison to DFA 1979 they’re doing something different from a lot of the other bands in Vancouver. Not to mention they cover songs like Alice Deejays ‘Better off alone’! Oh and the lead singer is kind of a babe. Make sure to keep an eye out for their next show as I’m sure they will only get bigger and better.
Tons of outstanding tracks have recently been inspired by Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” including this lil’ diddy from our boy Don Cash. Check out the LP, “City“, here.
ONE week from today Friday Feb 10th, Chapel Arts gets transformed into the ultimate getaway from the norm of our everyday life. Picture the craziest visuals that one might see at a rave. Cocktail waitresses airbrushed head to toe. A provocative interactive art exhibit featuring censored nude photographs. Some of the finest burlesque performers this city has to offer and not to mention live music featuring: SUPERMALE, (all the way from Norway) YOUNG LIARS & FACTS. Also if your really feeling frisky that night there will be a kissing booth documented by Winnie’s own photographer Tomas Uribé. And if all of this wasn’t enough to entice you I will also be playing some chongo/goth beats later on in the evening.
This wicked event is brought to you by de la lune and sponsored by ION Magazine, Motha’s Magik and NUMA Models. On a more serious note this event is actually a benefit for The Heart and Stroke Foundation so don’t feel bad about spending your hard earned $$. Heart disease and stroke take 1 in 3 Canadians before their time. Join, act, share, donate. Together, we can make death wait. Buy your tickets now online or at Zulu, Red Cat and Beatstreet. This is surely one event not to be missed. See you all there! <3
Check out this video of SPREAD held at Chapel Arts last year, video by Eric Weisner.
The British Tech-House producer, Jordan Peak‘s newest release, Mean Streets is full of late night beats. The entire EP is massive and not only features the well-polished sounds of Jordan Peak but also contains remixes from Chris Carrier and Sishi Rosch. Mean Streets is a Techy delight full of swinging House grooves, catchy samples and hypnotizing basslines. Check it out after the jump!
