Ladies and gentlemen, my pal Tre and I are very pleased to bring you the 51st edition of The Dirt this week. Lots of good stuff in here as always, so scroll on down and check out our favorites this week. Remember to support these artists and buy the full EPs and high quality tracks on Beatport!
PARTY IN THE MOONLIGHT HOUSE • Fonzerelli – Moonlight Party (Tom Glass Remix)√+ I love this song. Brings back memories from a long time ago when we used to blast the original of this song in the dorms (FT) at UCSB. Great new take on it here from Tom Glass.
FuzZ never has produced anything I didn’t love and Deep is no exception. Deep lures you in with a complex and long intro, only to drop you into a mellow, groovy and psychedelic wonderland that is similar to the best Flying Lotus beats. This track is not one to miss folks, click the link and grab the MP3 now!
YO Bill has been kind enough to give away this track exclusively on this weeks dirt! Teddy Jammin is as technical as it is catchy, which can only be a good thing. The track’s groovy vocals have been mixed in with YO Bill’s recognizably intricate percussion to bring you a guaranteed dance floor hit!
Many of the die-hard Tech fans have been watching Colour with amazement, it seems the English producer really can do no wrong. Don’t believe me? Grab Frequencies Modulate, take a listen and you can send me your apology later. The track takes you on a dark journey that resonates retro-house chords, complex percussion and intricate synthesis. Seriously, grab this jam!
The up and coming Los Angeles natives, THIEVES always impress me and Pousser is no exception. It’s an original groove that speaks to the duo’s rock roots.
Yesterday we caught up with Al from Shadow Dancer to talk about MegaDrives, production, and dancing dirty. For the interview, tunes, and listing info, read on after the jump…
GDD™:In line with interview tradition – what do you guys drink?
SD: On the day of a gig, it’s coffee, water, beer, water. Consumed in that order.
GDD™:Did you coin the name Shadow Dancer after the Shinobi game? and if so, have you ever completed it?
SD: Not exactly, but near enough. I did complete it on the MegaDrive, but not in the arcade – I always ran out of 10 pees. I was always good at the Shinobi games, which is odd because I’m rubbish at playing videogames. I guess I’m just part ninja!
GDD™:Which one of you took to electronic music first? and then how long was it before you and Paul started making music together?
SD: I think we were both into it at around the same time: when I was about seven, and Paul was eight. We started making music together a few years after that, when I was nine. I’d say I was into club music first, I used to be really into clubbing as a teenager.
GDD™: What influenced your sound growing up in Manchester?
SD: Haha, rumbled! We actually grew up in Wales. I’d say the main influence was that there was f••k all to do, and we had no money. You had to make your own entertainment in those days, which we did with a £100 Casio SK-1 synthesizer, and a tape recorder. We were mainly influenced by Jean-Michel Jarre, being honest. Later on, when we started making music with a sequencer, I’d say Warp Records were the main influence.
GDD™: You’re the only Brits on BNR – how did that come about?
SD: You’d have to ask Alex that! We don’t play in Britain very often, which may answer that question, albeit a bit cryptically!
GDD™:Hearing you and Paul play out a number of times, I’m always intrigued to know who does what. Are you 50-50 on the production and equal on the performing, or is one of you more of a studio wizard?
SD: Paul is the studio wizard. I’m making some beats, basslines and tunes in my flat and giving the parts to Paul digitally, but I only started doing this again in 2011 after a lengthy break from composition. So nothing that’s been released yet.
GDD™:In the studio are you backing VSTs or Hardware?
SD: Hardware, I can’t use VSTs and I only have three Korg Electribes. I need to touch buttons and fiddle with knobs.
GDD™: So which synth couldn’t you live without?
SD: The Korg EA-1.
GDD™: You’ve had recent releases with your ‘Boss Rush’ double A-side on BNR Trax, and then the enormous ‘Murder Room’ EP on BoysNoize Records. Did you have to approach the two differently, and were you gunning for a different sound on the BNR Trax release?
SD: Well, we debuted a mixture of tracks from both in our SW4 live set last summer, and at the time I didn’t know what was going to be released and on what, but my memory is not what it was.
GDD™:So who determined where each of the EPs were to be released?
SD: I’d say Alex ultimately, but I certainly remember him consulting with Paul, and there was talk of using an alter-ego for BNR Trax for a while.
GDD™:We really enjoyed ‘Golden Traxe’ in 2009, are there plans for a follow up full-length in the near future?
SD: Based on the amount of new tracks we’re working on, definitely not in the near future. We are both of the opinion that you shouldn’t put any old crap out, and we would only release a follow-up if we thought we had enough tracks that were good. We do have some old tracks we recorded between 1997 and 2002 that we are hoping will get released as a compilation though. One of the tracks from this era was on the last EP, a track called ‘Lo-Fighters’.
GDD™: What does the rest of 2011 have in store for Shadow Dancer?
SD: We’re really excited about playing festivals in the summer. We’ve taken a break from the live sets this year – in fact, Fabric in January was the last time we did one, but we’re going to play live at some of the festivals.
GDD™: And finally, we have to ask you this for obvious reasons: when you’re in a club and not on DJing duties, do you dance dirty?
SD: I jiggle about enthusiastically, but I’m always lurking at the back where noone can see me.
GDD™: Ha ha, fair enough! Thanks for taking the time Al, looking forward to catching you guys at Fabric on Friday.
In March it was announced that French Electro imprint Institubes, was to be disbanded, citing financial problems after eight years of sterling service to the underground electronic music scene. In bittersweet conjunction with the sad news, came another announcement: that the new Marble label headed by Para One, Surkin and Bobmo was to continue delivering tasty French electro in Institubes’ absence. This week we caught up with Jean-Baptiste de Laubier aka Para One, for an exclusive insight into the Marble imprint and what it has in store for the EDM community.
It all kicks off after the jump…
GDD™:Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Jean. Let’s kick things off: Institubes has left behind one hell of a legacy. In what ways will you guys seek to do things differently with Marble?
PO:Yeah, we’re really proud of what Institubes has accomplished in the past, but everything in the industry has changed during the last decade, so we wanted to start fresh and come up with a very different concept. Marble’s an artist’s label, we don’t need to make money with it since the three of us can earn a living by playing gigs, or producing remixes, and getting income from publishing. We just needed a new platform to develop our own “brand”, and our careers. It’s a much lighter structure, we don’t have many expenses since we don’t have to produce actual records. It allows us to be super fast, so we’re gonna release a 12″ every three weeks for the first six months! The end of Institubes was really sad but it taught us a lot, and we took experience from that. Now, with Sound Pellegrino and Marble we can keep the family together and move on.
GDD™: Glad to hear you guys are still a unit. Sound Pellegrino definitely offer their specific feel to a track, but is there a trademark “Marble” sound that you guys are gunning for?
PO: At first, there wasn’t. But with the times, some kind of trademark sound could reveal itself naturally. We just want to release fun & clever timeless dance music, with a modern twist. So it will be very diverse, style-wise, but the spirit stays the same. The three of us are very involved in all the artistic choices we have to make for the label, so I guess our taste will shape that trademark. For example, we just started producing together as the “Marble Players” and as we were doing the second EP – due to be out before the summer – we realized that we were starting to have “Marble Players” specific moves.
GDD™: So what roles do each of you play in the label?
PO: We share studios here in Paris and we’re in everyday of the week, so it’s really easy to discuss everything all together. We obvisouly have to split work into specific tasks but for the moment we operate as a team. We have to agree to all artistic choices.
GDD™: The big question that many are asking is: will the formation and running of Marble result in a reduced touring schedule for the three of you?
PO: On the contrary, because we’re planning on putting together Marble tours. We want to produce cool parties around, with guests.
GDD™: Very cool, we look forward to hearing more about those. Are there any imprints besides Institubes that you admire and look to as almost model labels, and great inspiration for Marble?
PO: In the past, obviously, tons of labels had a huge impact on us like Strictly Rythm, Dance Mania, Relief, Trax, UR, DJ International, Hardwax, and Warp. The other day we also realized how important International Deejay Gigolos had been in the late 90′s, early naughties for us. All those labels built a huge legacy, but our concept is much closer to recent labels like our friends Sound Pellegrino. The way to put out music and promote releases has to change, and we get inspiration amongst those new, lighter structures.
GDD™: The freedom and availability of digital distribution services has opened up the musical floodgates in recent years. How tricky is it to run an independent label successfully in present day?
PO: Our answer to the difficulties of the market is: don’t count on music sales income. We’re not expecting the mp3 sales to be big enough to keep the ship afloat. We invest money in the label, we will promote parties, build partnerships, keeping the outlays as light as possible. Expecting your label to become super big by selling records is a plan that won’t work anymore, not in 2011. We could sit and be sad about it, but we decided to push forward, as it’s no use trying to hold on to what the industry was like in the past. It’s a lost cause.
GDD™: What was the vibe within the French electro scene when news broke that Institubes had disbanded?
PO: We were surprised and moved to see how big the reactions were, actually. It looks like artists, other labels and fans were very affected by it. I guess everybody took it as another warning on how fragile those independent labels are.
GDD™: How do you view the current musical climate for a newly founded French electro label? And how do you see that climate evolving in the coming years?
PO: We’re at a turning point, definitely. but French electronic music’s history is all about that, right? We had “waves” for the last three decades at least, with lots of new exciting artists coming up every time. It’s true that in the underground at least, the bangey distorted club music is fading out. We saw that coming for a while, obviously, and now all eyes are on a new generation that’s rising up at the moment; along with Club Cheval, Sound Pellegrino, Youngunz, and others, we’re proud to bring our own vision to enrich this new sound.
GDD™: Has the resurgence of 2-step, garage and uk-funky influenced your sound or ideas for future production?
PO: It has, probably. It’s natural that after years of straight 4/4 house and techno music, the rise of these new styles and beat sequences is inspiring. The English scene is like a laboratory, with English producers frequently bringing new ideas to the table even if these are sometimes recycled ideas! For our part, we have been influenced for a long time by Todd Edwards who was the originator of that style, so it’s natural to come back to it. After all, there is a lot of new exciting dance music around us, we’re eager to play each one of our gigs because of all these cool new tracks we can test out.
GDD™: How active a part do each of you play in the creative process for the other artists on your label?
PO: We are very invested in the music we want to release, even when it’s from other artists. Most of the times we open the sessions at our studio and discuss it with the guys, sometimes we can even help with a mix, add a sound, or whatever. It really depends, sometimes we just want to release a song a friend sent us as it is.
GDD™: What exciting stuff do you guys have instore for 2011 and 2012?
PO: Too much to name it all! Like I said, tons of EPs will be released this first year, and probably at least a compilation, maybe even albums. Can’t say it all for now, but you’d better stay tuned!
GDD™: Thanks for taking the time Jean, and from all of the GDD Team, we wish the three of you the best of luck with the everything.
In the wake of Institubes‘ resignation, Marble Music, a Surkin, Bobmo, Para One venture, emerges as one of the most exciting labels to watch in 2011. High Powered Boys, Para One, Jean Nipon and Bart B More are a few former Institubers who have already found a home at Sound Pellegrino and are, as I’d imagine, scheduled to work with Marble sometime this year.
Jillionaire & Jubilee present Chicken n Beer 1+1 on Saturday March 26th at BAR (28NE 14th St, Miami, FL) featuring Maya Vanya, Savage Skulls, French Fries, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, Walshy Fire of Black Chiney, Toddla T and more.For more info on this event click here.Time slots after the jump.Download mixtape here.Enjoy…
It’s a sad day for french electronic music with the closing of institubes records a fine label that helped unearth some of the most talented young producers to come out of france over it’s nearly eight years of operation and also help shape the french electronic music scene in the 00′s. Run by Teki latex & Dj Orgasmic they showed us the musical stylings of Surkin, Das Glow, Bobmo, high powered boys and para one, quite the list if you want an electro hoe down.
Institubes has had to close its doors due to losing too much money through operating costs, and a tough uphill battle with the bigger companies focusing on the who and not the music. In an ever changing and demanding consumer world it seems that brand, image and self promotion have taken top priority over the quality and quantity of musical releases these days. Especially when music is released at light speed these days it can be hard to find yourself in the clutter that is the internet.
Never fear Teki & Orgasmic are still putting dope tunes out through their sound pellegrino imprint, things are not slowing up for the boys, with many of their releases featuring renaissance man, harvard bass, solo, l-vis 1990 and plenty more. The full press release can be found over at institubes records. it’s quite the read. Below is a look back at some of the great tunes released over the years from the institubes back catalouge.
2003
The first releases were dope french hip hop from L’Atelier, La fête de la musique compact bass, string samples plus smooth french rhymes make this a pretty tasty track. (i wish i knew french)
Surkin released his most famous working in 2oo6 (one of the golden years for electro) ‘ghetto obsession’, you should know it by now its a peak hour floor stomper. 2006 also saw the release of Para One’s debut album Epiphanie, which definitely had its moments with some raunchy basslines mixed up with hip hop style beats break this album up from being just another electro album.
Bobmo & Surkin teamed up to bring us the collaboration project ‘high powered boys‘ releasing the double sided ‘sounds of cain’ which included the monster club hit ‘hoes get down’. 08 also saw the release of dj orgasmic’s six pack anthem featuring teki latex spiting hot fire over electro hip hop cuts makes for a pretty rad offering.
Having released plenty of tunes on institubes over the years das glow was one of the last artists to put out tracks with his phase IV EP, acid house inspired techno coupled to driving bass lines, great for taking things deep.
