Alex Zahara (Boston, 12 inches of Pleasure)
Eddie O. (Boston, Zero G Sounds)
At The Paradise Front Lounge
967 Commonwealth Avenue | Boston, MA
9pm - 2am, 21+
With a lot of excitement and a little sadness I want to invite you to our going away party featuring one of my favorite live acts this last year, Alex Smoke from Glasgow, Scotland. There are an abundance of reasons you will be happy if you come, just for him. So keep reading and downloading via the links below if the name itself doesn't get you out of your seat.
But why sad? At the end of the summer two of us--Eddie O. and myself--are moving to NYC and saying goodbye to Boston and the scene we've tried to build for the music and people we like (that's you). Since not all of you are on his list or know him, Eddie O. has been my promotions partner for this party, the 808 Chinatown and South End parties, and others. Eddie has played a leading role in Boston techno since the end of the Redlight days days through his unlockedgroove and zer0gsounds labels/collectives/parties. I wouldn't have been able to do what I've done without him. And so I'm excited to see him step out from behind the scenes to play a live/DJ Ableton hybrid set for this final party. These are small reasons we hope you'll come out to say goodbye, make plans to visit us in NYC, and share many a drink.
But the important reasons you should come, as always, are the tunes.
For those Alex Smoke is one of the best we could have hoped for on this occasion.
Reading the interviews and biographies in the links below you pick up common themes. Alex is something of classically trained savant for electronic music production of diverse genres and influences who has quickly achieved status among Europe's top live acts and built an impressive repertoire of accomplishments, all the while being a remarkably humble and decent person. He has a slew of 12 inch single releases on Berlin's discriminating Vakant minimal techno imprint. Scotland's famous Soma Recordings recognized the rare talent by putting out two full length albums to critical and popular acclaim and also a sci.fi.hi.fi DJ mix series release following in the foot steps of Luciano. There was a remix request for the 1960's pioneer of minimal composing, Steve Reich, and a commission for a classical arrangement celebrating the human genome mapping.
Most importantly, of course is his live performance--intense and musical, full of the minimal aesthetic (in its best sense), back boned by the influences of Chicago House, Detroit Techno and Detroit Electro among others--has made Alex Smoke a regular guest in the forward thinking clubs and Summer festival circuit around Europe. This summer brought Alex to headline Saturday night at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, a performance that was called by many as the festival's best behind Carl Craig's rare live performance. In addition to this special night the tour will see Alex return to play North America's preeminent techno parties including The Bunker in New York and Kontrol in San Francisco. The techno cognoscenti just can't get enough.
Those are just a few opinions. Here's another.
From Derek Plaslaiko's Resident Advisor Podcast Interview when asked "Any favorite Bunker memories that you can share with us?":
"There have been a lot of them, but the first one that comes to mind is Alex Smoke. Both times he has played, it's been incredible! The first time was at our old location at subTonic. Bryan and I didn't know what to expect, and he blew the roof off that place! We desperately wanted him to come back as soon as humanly possible. We were lucky enough to have him back in November '07 and he was even better. People were going so crazy in there that night! So crazy, that he continued his set for about 40 minutes longer than he was scheduled for. I was due to go on after him. He wrapped it up around 3:35 and the people didn't even let up with the cheering for nearly 5 minutes! You just don't hear a reaction like that too often out of people these days. http://www.residentadvisor.
hum+haw - Alex's new multi-genre label for everything from indie hip-hop to techno www.myspace.com/humhaw
vakant - Quality minimal label home to releases from Onur Ozur, Mathias Kaden, Dinky and of course Alex for his more minimal 12-inches www.vakant.net | www.myspace.com/vakant
Bleep
3/2/2007
Friday 3/9 -
Very Special Live PA - presented by 808 (RobotLoveSongs,
UnlockedGroove, Eric McLaughlin)
Enormous Room, Central Sq., 567 Mass Ave, Cambridge
Doors at 8pm, $5 before 10pm, $10 after, 21+
No RSVP required but we strongly encourage you to come
early
lounge, eat, listen or risk missing one of the best live
sets
this Robot have ever heard
Alex Under's music appeals
to me not as a promoter but first and foremost as a music
nut on the dance floor. His Live PA at Montreal's Mutek
Festival Friday night party in the Founderie Darling
(where I took the above photo) was the best hour of music
and partying I experienced during all of 2006 and that's
after coming right from the Detroit Electronic Music
Festival the weekend prior. If you want to know why he was
voted top 5 Best Newcomers in '05 by Germany's Groove
Magazine (yeah we're a little slow in the US) and why ther
is such a buzz around this first US tour please read below
about Alex from some very reputable sources and follow the
links to music and projects.
But PLEASE COME EARLY BY 10PM LATEST OR RISK NOT GETTING
IN. Since this is a rare public 808 party anyone can come
but we really want you to come the mostest Enormous
Room is tiny and will fill up with people off the
street if you're not already there to take their spot. Our
opening acts are gonna ease it and bump up the gears with
deep filtered dub to eclectic maximal party bombs to
Detroit flavored minimal goodness.
Big events are great and Alex's music is certainly well
suited and usually played to much much larger crowds
outside of the North America. But hopefully Friday will be
one of those nights with lots of what I call "disco
moments" which happen most often when you put an
amazing artist and performer in an intimate room packed
with likeminded people. We're working to tailor the room
and crowd to this goal by upgrading the sound system and
starting at 8pm to make a whole night of it for the
regular 808 crowd before the weekend warriors arrive.
Without a doubt one of the most prominent Spanish artists
of the moment, Alex Under is known for musical projects
like Dolly la Parton and Musica Charlista (with Damien
Schwartz), as well as being one of the managers of Net28,
the collective behind such labels as CMYK, Bemysheep and
Cyclical Tracks. Since his QG Madrilene, his musical
recipe is spread out little by little, achieving an impact
on the world scene with the materialization of his debut
LP Dispositivos de mi granja released in 2005 on Trapez.
An artist in perpetual mutation, Alex Under avoids
linearity and takes pleasure in subtly changing grooves,
putting in contrast different micro-sounds from techno
varieties such as deep, minimal and house. Powerful bass
lines, humor and emotion, and a certain dose of cerebral
precision, help to create a hypnotic formula evoking an
immediate physical reaction once the mental stimulus has
begun. Perfect for letting yourself escape...
For a while there in '02-'03 clubland, the wobbly bass
syncopations, brittle, jacking beats, and uncluttered
sonic ether that comprised microhouse was as ubiquitous as
the well-shorn pates on the bespectacled denizens that
flocked underground to get their off-kilter grooves on.
The term has since cooled, following trends towards
bigger, more linear, and — dare we say —
"deep" tracks, but Madrid- based producer Alex
Under has made some of the style's best work since its
original peak. While label affiliations such as Trapez,
Apnea, and his own Cmyk Musik might have most caché among
the techno-nerd elite, the deliciously disorienting but
immensely danceable power of his productions is
inescapable to anyone with a few limbs to shake
IF you happen to be in Montreal this weekend come hang out with me, RobotLoveSongs' disco DJ Joseph Colbourne, and a bunch of other fun french-canadien disco robots
9:30-3am,
$10, bubbly included
569 Mass Ave, 2nd floor, Central Square
DJs
z900 – Bleep’s late night electro-techno weapon
Alan Manzi (unlockedgroove) – UG’s disco to classic
Detroit techno don
Eric McLaughlin (808)
Just when you thought there
was nothing to do on NYE in Boston other than stay at home
with your friends to eat, drink, get sloppy while
listening to the tunes you want to hear, and jumping up
and down on your coffee table, now you can do the exact
same thing with us at Enormous Room and not have to clean
up, piss off the neighbors, or risk melting down your
sound system (ER just upgraded their sound so we don’t
have to worry about that either).
In a last minute change of
schedule Enormous Room offered their NYE to the 808 crew
for a party that no one needs to RSVP for. But I highly
recommend you come early to avoid the inevitable line and
displace some off-the-street weekend warrior who doesn’t
know anything about the records they are listening to or
how we all like to party
Bleep
12/13/2006
Many apologies for the RSVP list confusion
at our last 808 event. It was very painful to turn
so many people away. If you were one of these people
I hope you will accept my apology. It happened
because we had fewer spots because of the size guest list
the new venue would allow us; there are more of you on the
email list after so much success with the parties at our
old space; and we over promoted this party in our
excitement. It was also my birthday so a good number
of spots were taken by old friends before the main email
blast went out. Next timel the list will be significantly
larger now that we know how things work at the new
venue. We will also only be sending out one
coordinated email blast from each of the partners in the
808 parties. This will give you a more democratic
chance to get on the list before it closes. Thanks
for your understanding and helping to make these parties
so much fun.
Bleep
11/27/2006
Updated the past
events section with photos of the last 5 Gallery 808
parties.
Bleep
9/31/2006
Last night was our last Party In the Combat
Zone at Gallery 808. We're very sad to announce that
a demo crew will be gutting our little slice of techno
heaven early next week to make way for another luxury
Condo building to suck the soul out of this city. It
has been a really amazing run for us there. We're really grateful
that so many of you have come out to enjoy it with us and
help put Boston on the map as a place for quality techno.
There's a long way to go but we feel a sustainable, high
quality and cutting edge techno culture is within reach.
Because of that we knew we couldn't wake up on Sunday
morning having passed up one last opportunity to bang it
out, stay up late, get a just a little sloppy, and jump up
and down on the dance floor to the tunes we love. Please
stay on the lookout for future emails as we try to find
new venues for the acts we had booked in October (it was
going to be the best month we've put together so far with Unit
4 and Dan Bell)
and for other things we will be working at a new
private venue or regular nightspot.
Bleep
9/27/2006
Well, last party was as much of a party
as this 'bot has had the pleasure of working for here in Boston in a long
time maybe ever. Thank you Bryan Kasenic (DJ
spinoza), miskate, and
of course Derek
Plaslaiko. The word's spreading because artists
like these three know how to kill it in the most quality way
possible. It was a packed and bumping dance floor
even with records and sounds that demand your attention.
They might have even make your
friends want to leave because they don't get it. But
hey if it doesn't polarize
it's not good. And yes, there was sweat dripping
from the ceiling like any proper techno party.
If you are on the email list or
not I highly recommend you RSVP at least a couple days before the next
event to be ensured you're on this list. We had to turn people away
last time.
Bleep
9/26/2006
This is my email to announce our last
party. I want to put it hear to give Bryan Kasenic and his efforts
the credit they deserve.
The
Bunker at subTonic, NYC every friday night is
both an inspiration and by far my favorite night to go to. By nearly all
accounts it is the best and most respected minimal techno night anywhere
in the USA. So we're more than a little excited that they are invading our
turf up here in Boston's Combat Zone to show us how it's done.
Miskate
is one of the founders of the so-hot Foundsound
label and Unfoundsound
net-label out of Philadelphia. Kate will be treating us with her brand
new live set (download a preview) which we have been told is sure to
blow our tin-cans off! But Miskate first made a huge splash in the minimal
techno world in 2004 with her debut single "Rip it Cookie
Muenster" (co-produced with Someone Else), which was played by
everyone from Richie Hawtin to John Peel (
R.I.P.). Since then, she has released many head-turning singles on
Foundsound, Microcosm, Alphahouse, Karloff, and Einmaleins, which were
devoured by intelligent dancefloors around the world. She and the rest of
the Foundsound crew have established themselves as one of the highest
quality east coast USA techno labels with their unique take on techno by
using samples gathered from field recordings or objects around the house
to compose quirky dance floor jams. The unfoundsound net label downloads
section features a bunch of great tracks for free download including some
from a few of the artists on the unlockedgroove roster. http://foundsoundrecords.com
Bryan Kasenic aka DJ Spinoza is the resident DJ and main man behind
The
Bunker friday nights at subTonic in NYC. This brief self-description
of the night puts it perfectly and dovetails in very nicely with the RLS
philosophy. Most nights the downstairs is a techno dance party,
others twist disco, dirty dancehall, psychedelic dub, dark electro, tonal
microburst, and weirdo bleepy electronics. We love music and genre-
tunnels are boring. Aside from that he regularly organizes all
night warehouse parties throughout NYC including the Wolf+Lamb after hours
series that are not only the most fun you can have standing up but are the
primary inspiration and model for our parties at Gallery 808. He's
responsible for bringing countless international techno acts through the
states (seriously, check out the line-up history). He's come through
Boston a few times over the past couple of years and layed down a
particularly nasty set at The Phoenix Landing . This is one of the people
we respect the most and we're glad to bring him up. I highly encourage you
to sign up for his email events list which is weekly required reading for
me as it offers excellent descriptions of his own events but also lists
every good dance music event going on that week in New York. Email
Beyond
Booking with "bunker add" in the subject line to join. http://w
ww.klever.org/thebunkernyc/ Download
his latest mix (right click, "Save As...")
Derek
Plaslaiko is making his second appearance at 808 and third at an RLS
event (remember
Future/Retro at the Opal Lounge in early 2005). Those of you who were
there this most recent time may recall that it was one of the best parties
to date. Derek played for hours and never let the dancefloor take a break,
even when the authorities made us turn the music down! An official
Ghostly/Spectral DJ, Plaslaiko is highly regarded among the techno elite
and rightfully so. We think he's the best techno DJ living in NYC right
now and really can't get enough of his staccatto minimal funk with flashes
of acid and Chicago jack. Live
Mix from Gallery 808 Boston 5.13.2006
Bleep
7/25/2006
Thank you
all who came out to the enormous room last weekend, to the enormous room
staff, and especially to the DJs subK and Teep. I don't know if I've
ever had more rewarding experience throwing a party. It was
everything but it was especially hearing music so close to my heart and
seeing fellow robots, friends, and altogether new faces dancing madly and
smiling from ear to ear at every mix.
Bleep
7/13/2006
If you didn't notice take
a look at the root page and check the web flyer for our special electro
party Saturday, July 22nd at Enormous
Room in Central Square, Cambridge featuring subK
(Chicago) and Teep (Boston).
These two very remarkable DJs inspired this robot to venture out of the
over-world again into doing events regular bars, lounges, and clubs so you
and a wider audience can get the best real deal electro music. It going to
rock and there definitely hasn't been opportunities to go out and hear
electro done like this in our city for a long, long time. It will
compel your feet while reprogramming your sonic circuits to the true
definition of what electro
music is and was at its best. But judge for yourself by coming
out. Be there early. Enormous Room only holds 85 people. The
normal traffic could easily pack the place by 10:30pm and it's most fun to
dance with a crowd there for the music itself right!
subK, our featured
guest, has a bunch really-worth-the-download mixes on her site
as well as ample evidence of her other visual art multi-talents that you
are highly encouraged to check out. Her atlas
I and atlas II mixes
are destined to be on regular bleep iPod rotation for a long time.
subK played the main electro after-party at the DEMF festival this year
and the word on the street is that she upstaged all the people on the bill
above her. Her bio contains what is my favorite phrase of
self-description ever: She creates "hybrid techno-electro mixes
that tell stories of machines doing rain dances and making out in corners
infused with blinking neon lights..." What a lovely
vision. Usually I don't like DJ bios but hers is as much a work of
art as the rest of the site so I've pasted it here:
+LOVE
SONGS WRITTEN BY CASH REGISTERS, SUNG BY FAX MACHINES+
SUBK is a sophisticated program which
was injected into the cranium of a seven-year-old girl in Chicago in the
80's.
This girl always knew she wasn't like the others. . . she dreamed of
insect-human fusions and heard an echo of her four-on-the-floor
heartbeat in the buzzing of power.
Upon looking at early pencil drawings of her favorite blip-bleepy
ODYSSEY II video games (now featured as cover art for what was to become
her “Out of this World is a Space Game” mix) , it comes as no
surprise that this unsuspecting little girl would eventually submit to
the mechanical world of technoid music and morph into DJ SUBK.
The earliest prototype of a SUBK set
was saturated with synthpop, darkwave, post-punk dronings and
industrial, but now has evolved into a newer, sleeker Version charged by
the more abstractly robotic sounds of Electro, Techno, Italo, and all
mutations in between. Instead of restricting itself to one genre,
location, or period in musical history, the SUBK program extracts from
the dark, deep and mechanical side of many, creating hybrid
techno-electro mixes that tell stories of machines doing rain dances and
making out in corners infused with blinking neon lights...
In addition to DJing the Midwest and her home city of Chicago, SUBK has
been travelling the backroads of the US, Europe and Canada to perform
alongside such diverse acts as TERENCE FIXMER and DOUGLAS MCCARTHY of
NITZER EBB, TODD SINES , ECTOMORPH, METOPE, TOK TOK, SAL PRINCIPATO of
LIQUID LIQUID , KILL MEMORY CRASH, LUKE EARGOGGLE, PUNISHER, ADAM X,
HIDDEN VARIABLE. The SubK-Mix: Mental Inertia was created in tandem with
the live set of the same name of prolific UK electro producer and
synapse-destroyer SCAPE ONE, who she recently completed a 6-city US tour
with to help promote his new label, ADAPTIVE PROGRAMS .
SUBK's vision of the future includes conducting further experiments in
both Audio and Visual, from continuing to unearth the legions of
sleeping, dreaming Robots with her discriminating needles, to twisting
molten Neon glass tubing for her Holograms to wink at.
All of her creations arise out of the kindred experiences of watching
traffic lights change, recording the staticky hum of shortwave radio
emergency broadcast stations, and realizing that in the 5am light of
sunrise, you no longer recognize the street you've inhabited for years.
It all subsides into beats and abstractions, urban shutdown and mental
inertia, music for minds and dancefloors combined.
Teep
has been DJing for over 10 years and has played just about every possible
venue in the Boston/Cambridge area, underground and legitimate clubs
alike. This is his second RLS apearance which some of you may remember
when he stoked the fire on the dance floor before Morgan Geist in early
2005 at Opal. Teep began going out in the nascent early 90's New
England scene when it had a vastly different feel and landscape.
During that time, when electronic music information distribution was
dominated by telephone info lines and internet BBS's and lists for the
initiated, Teep gained a rap as the electro expert in those cyber circles
(though he's very well versed in much more than that as you will quickly
find). That reputation took him to DJ for appreciative audiences in
Providence, Montreal, New York, Ann Arbor, and San Francisco. Closer to
home, he is a founding member and now a frequent guest on the
long-standing Beyond the QE2 radio
program on WZBC 90.3FM late Saturday nights (1-6 am) which has been breaking
ground in electronic music radio for 11 years. In addition to
playing the music he cares about, he writes for the collaborative blogs MoodMat
and Simulacron and
produces a monthly electronix show called "ThirsT" for the
German based Internet radio station Welt-Am-Draht.
Many of his past and present mixes and sets are available for mp3 download
from his site the Aquabahn
including a recent (April 06) set
from an QE2 guest appearance. I personally recommend the
"Lip Service" all-vocal, many-genre theme mix and the
"Ghost" mix of brooding electro and dystopian drama inspired by
the movie rendition of Jack London's "Sea Wolf". You'll
find other gems to no doubt.
To end the post I'll share something that happened to me
recently and my thoughts relevant to this night and RLS as a whole.
A close friend with good but somewhat different music tastes from mine
recently questioned my promoting "electro" which he said had
become a dirty word. While grateful for the criticism, I realized what he
was referring to was electro-house and the general electro-fying of many
above-ground dance music genres in recent years as DJs and producers
self-gravitate towards tracks that incorporate some of electro's
archetypal sounds. Not that there's not good electro-house or that
those sounds are bad to pepper into any mix or track, but any of you who's
read this far understands that over-doing almost anything is bad. In music
that will make the genre a dirty word. Well, that's a tragedy
if it's discouraging people from discovering, but while I don't care much
about the "going" opinion in guiding what kind of events to do,
I am compelled to provide an opportunity for balance to anyone interested
about the roots and the electro being made today in the spirit of those
roots. Many of the links
here can help but the best way to learn in Boston is to hear it,
either in person at this RLS event or on the web using the links to mixes
by Teep and subK above. These virtual lessons-from-the-decks
incorporate good "real" electro from its funk and Kraftwerk-ian
roots--which became whole genres of music from hip-hop to techno--to the
pure strains of electronix--sometimes menacingly dark or sometimes full of
sci-fi robotic-love drama--that have been innovating over the decades and
have come to re-electro-fy nearly every genre of dance music both for good
and bad.
Bleep
6/13/2006
Review of Movement '06 and Mutek '06 below.
Mixes are actually up in the Music section
from Colbourne, GYS, Jon Schmidt, and Derek Plaslaiko.
Pictures from our parties in April and May at
Gallery 808 are up in the Past Events section.
Pictures from RLS adventures in Detroit for
the Movement Festival (DEMF) and Montreal for the Mutek Festival are up
in the Past Events section.
Review of Movement Festival 2006 (aka Detroit
Electronic Music Festival)
This was my first time to Detroit, and, while it was a
blast, I definitely have mixed feelings. The city itself is a
techno oasis. It fits the aesthetic and needs perfectly. For
example, Ghostly's Untitled party on Friday night was on the eighth
floor of a recently reclaimed building. And I do mean recently
reclaimed. The elevator broke down while I was in it at 4am for
half an hour. It was just a big empty black room with a
make-shift bar, a few dim lights, windows over the expanse of the urban
decay below, and gigantic stacks of subs. Where else could you
have a sound system so powerful that it was rattling the windows on cars
three blocks away with buildings in between and right next to a police
station. Heaven! On the other hand the city is dilapidated,
dirty, and full of empty store fronts and mid-rises claiming to be new
condo developments. It was a bit oppressive and not a vacation in
your standard sense. I went to some of the coolest
venues and met some really nice people some of whom are now more than
just cyber-pals. On the other hand nothing I went to at the
festival or after parties was sufficiently packed or fully went
off. Yes, I know I missed some great festival sets and parties
(i.e. the Pullen/DJ Harvey party at Oslo and the bulk of Seth Troxler
and Ryan Crosson's uber after-after-hours at Agave).
The festival itself was well run by the Paxahau
promotions group. I heard they have already been awarded the contract
for the next several years by the city. There were enough toilets,
the beer was cold and in big cups, the corn dogs were to die for, the
set times were fairly accurate, and at about $46 for a weekend pass it
was very reasonable. However, this is in contrast to the past when entry was free or at bargain basement prices; so a lot of the
Detroit heads didn't make it. The attendees were 90% Midwest raver
trash and 10% people I'd like to have multiple cups of coffee
with. They made for good people watching and that's about
it. Their music played too heavily in the line-up as well.
As a business person I can understand why Paxahau would do this for the
financial health and requirements of the festival. But that detracted
from a remarkable raw artistic integrity and chaos that former years had, I am
told. If I go next year I'm not buying a weekend pass unless the
line-up is full of the classic and cutting edge stuff I want to
hear. I probably would have been better off sleeping all day and
staying up for the after-after hours.
That being said, there were some incredible
acts. Marc Houle's live set in the Beatport tent was
sick. On the main stage, Perlon live acts Pantytec (Sammy Dee and
Zip) and the duo, Dandy Jack and the Junction SM, supplied some
really heady captivating groovy minimal micro sounds (compared to some
of the pound you into the ground techno around). The following
night at the Perlon after-hours, they all put the party into overdrive
for hour after hour. It was by my overall best party in Detroit,
and I'm now a huge fan of Dand Jack and Junction SM (Sonja Moonear).
Back at the Festival Massachusetts local, Fred Giannelli aka the Kooky
Scientist, played my favorite set of Saturday on the main stage to
however many thousands of people the amphitheater at Hart Plaza can
squeeze in. Fred, I had no idea you are such a star. If only
Boston were so clued in...Anyway, what he played was really interesting techno
with minimal sensibility but lots of meat on the bones. He opened
with a track that sampled a few minutes of comedian Steven Colbert's
recent White House appearance. It didn't take more than a
track or two to get the crowd dancing for the first time that day.
I saw little bits of Magda, Dan Bell, Robert Hood, Carl Craig to name a
few other festival highlights. But it was damn hot and the
festival setting did not help me to have the most or best listening
experiences. Unfortunately I missed the closing night too. Damn, but
work my work was paying for part of the trip and required me to be in
Toronto Tuesday morning.
Afterparties of note: Perlon as mentioned. BMG
of Ectomorph put together an edition of his Canniball party at
Oslo. The highlight was seeing an original unsung Detroit hero, DJ
Shake, lay down amazing records spanning at least half-a-dozen genres
with a fluidity and finesse that only a master can do. You know he's
special when Dan Bell and BMG just orbit around him at the bar before
his set like they're young trainspotters. Everyone else rocked it
to. Oslo may be my favorite venue ever--intimate, great people, the music I like,
sushi, inventive minimal design, superb sound. The Disco/Secret
party at the Detroit Eagle, a bear bar, was a great time. Mostly it
was about meeting fellow disco nuts and eating real-man BBQ food.
After the Perlon party that night I went to bed at
6am. Six hours later I woke up to 30 SMS messages informing me
that I'd all but missed the best after-after hours of the weekend put on
by Seth Troxler and Ryan Crosson on the patio at Agave. The two
are top shelf DJs and producers that represent the newest generation of
techno musicians and personalities out of Detroit. So what did I
do? I put on my clothes and hopped on over to what at 1:30 in the
afternoon was still one of the most uber parties I've been to.
Ryan Elliott, Matt Dear, Seth, Butane, and Troy Pierce were going record
for record. Fred Giannelli and Sammy Dee were bleary eyed but
still going. Sammy, you get my award for most spirit.
Review of Mutek Festival, Montreal 2006
This was also my first time at Mutek. Bottom
line. Mutek was a different but much better experience than DEMF.
Alex Under played the best performance of either event at the
Fonderie Darling on Friday. It was techno, not minimal, not hard,
but just subtly changing grooves that just kept coming with waves
of pressure. I hope he tours more in North America now. Also
that night, Zip, playing as Dimbiman, was a fantastic minimal headfuck
of a closer on Friday. Thursday evening, at Ex-Centris during the
A/Vision event, Ryoichi Kurokawa created the best visuals I have ever
seen. They were created live while he was simultaneously making
music that sounded on the ambient side of Autechre using two laptops and a
table full of gear. The standing ovation was well deserved.
Yes, "standing" ovation. We were all sitting in a
movie theatre with beefed up sound.
In general the lights and visuals were some of the
best I've seen at any venue or event. Darling Foundry and the
S.A.T. were both the perfect industrial artsy venues and didn't suffer
the usual problems and annoyances of big club venues. Most
importantly the quality ratio of the crowd was the polar opposite of
Detroit. 90% of the people at Mutek were nice, genuine music
nerds, and creative-types. The parties in general were put together with
a more thematic or contrast minded program. I heard stuff I didn't
know or even like, but it was always of high quality and
interesting. I was glad to have the experience.
On Saturday at the Piknic Electronik my favorite
Perlon girl Sonja Moonear played another beautiful minimal set. Henrik Schwarz proved that you can be really into your own
(awesome) music. He danced around behind his laptop without being a
showboat at all but was rather genuine. That night, Mutek let
the party out at the Metropolis, a big theatre with superb acoustics.
I was a badly behaved robot that night but was thankfully quick and
often on the draw with my camera. I remember Lawrence and Mossa
playing heady, funky, beautiful minimal sounds that I would listen to
any day. Frenchmen duo, Noze, kicked the party into gear with
something that reminded me of Modeselektor but much better to my taste
(i.e. less jarring and no hip-hop raggaeton). Then ghetto-techno-sci-fi-booty
wierdos, the Detroit Grand Pubahs, told us all to do dirty things and
shocked the well behaved minimally minded into dancing (or
complaining). Do download the videos above if you want to see Matt
Goudy, Jr. ˜aka Paris the Black Fu or the Schizophrenic Brainchild of
Funkno˜ do his thing to the crowd in a blond bob wig, a trench coat,
big boots, and a leather thong. Of course you want to! Do
yourself the favor. Thomas Brinkmann closed it out with a
bang. All I remember was the crowd flipping out when he dropped
some old rave samples into his live set. So it went.
On Sunday the weather cleared in time to have the
min2Max tour stop in the outdoors for the Piknic Electronik at Parc Jean-Drapeau
on the island in the river across from Montreal. It
was a beautiful setting underneath a giant steel "stabile"
sculpture. The same artist invented the "mobile" I
was told. Marc Houle nailed it once again and then Ricardo
Villalobos and Richie Hawtin played for about 6 hours. All I have
to say is, it's about time. Richie has seemed rather uninspired
(granted they were in Boston and NYC at shitty clubs) the last few times I've seen him.
But this was done
right. A couple hours were completely lost marking out in the
middle of the dancing crowd. Ricardo cracked me up with his ear to
ear perma-grin and his limp-wristed air pumps whenever something went
off particularly well. He closed the set up with Kraftwerk's
Numbers, one of the most important records in all of dance music history
and a classic I've never had the pleasure to hear over a big sound
system. Thanks Ricardo.
The last "official" set at the final
Nocturne that night was Montreal's dub techno virtuoso,
Deadbeat. It was more dub, dancehall and reggae than techno
but it was outstanding to hear the ultra deep bass rumble through the
Darling Foundry huge brick space; the perfect "official"
closer. Yes, I said official twice...hint hint. There was an
unpublished after-hours. Dedicated? Yes! I woke up the day
before at noon and started misbehaving immediately at noon so was
absolutely beat by 3am when it started. I also I had to be at work
the next day by 1pm in Boston. But, I have a notorious bad habit
of missing morning flights so the logical thing to do was stay up all
night by going to the final after-hours. The promise of
Dandy Jack and Junction SM again was just too tempting. While standing
outside, Ricardo and Magda walked in. It was going to be
nutty. Unfortunately that's for someone else's review. When
I left to the hotel to shower and put on my business casual for the
flight and work day at 6am Sonja had just gone on and the craziness was
just starting.
Bleep
4/8/2006
Bleep is back in action after a 9 month hiatus from
throwing parties! Why? because we had the opportunity to partner
with zer0gsounds and unlockedgroove,
cambridge's techno mainstays, to through a party with sleeparchive,
one of the best techno acts in the world right now. Thank you all
who came and I'm sorry to those of you who missed it. It was a
truly great night. But there will be more.
Not only that but I got off my tin can and have updated
the site! Most importantly there's lots of pictures of all you
wonderfully cool music nerds who have made our parties....welll...parties!
Check it out and feel free to comment on the flickr photo albums from some of our parties..
Bleep
7/16/2005
Here we are, finally, the last bleep-mail
transmission for the end of Klik and our 6 month run
of fun in Boston club land this year. It's true
almost entirely. The only thing I would revise now
is that we still have some "unfinished business"
with Lansdowne St. so I'm not sure I would be so kind to
them at this point but water under the bridge right.....
Regrettably,
we have had to pull the plug on Klik at The Modern. This
past Saturday was the final installment of the night.
We're sorry to anyone who was planning to come out to any
of the remaining nights in June's line-up. We were really
looking forward to them as well.
We
learned the hard way that Klik's concept was not
commercially viable for a weekly party in Boston on
Lansdowne St. at this point in time. While we gave it our
best under the circumstances and had a few really great
little parties with you all, it was over- ambitious to
think we would achieve the level of success that it takes
to cover the overhead of what really is a world-class
venue for dance music. Still we hope that some ground was
broken and that there will be opportunities to do one-off
parties when artists like Superpitcher, Matt Dear, Ellen
Alien, or John Tejada--who deserve to play in a great room
with great sound--become available.
It
would be easy to be discouraged about the state of
innovative leftfield dance music nightlife in Boston but
there are a many reasons we should be optimistic. One of
these came from a most unlikely source, Lansdowne Street
itself. DaveRalph,
the creative director for the Street, wanted to take the
risk on an unproven concept, invested many resources, and
asked us to do a night. We're grateful for the
opportunity. There are numerous other cool little nights
around town. Friday's at Rivergods and Thursdays at
Middlesex are great nights with very similar music to Klik
in intimate settings. Abe
DuqueI hear is coming to Wednesdays at The
Phoenix Landing in July. Tuesdays at The Phoenix features
robot-friendly disco I'm such a nut for. The LCD
Soundsystem / M.I.A. show last week was amazing and packed
with some really cool people. There are more and I will
try to keep an updated list on the BOSTON
EVENTS section of the RLS web site. The are
numerous individuals who DJ, make music, or work on print
or web publication projects devoted to quality dance music
and sub-culture. We will try to cover these in LINKSsection.
What's
next? Nothing is planned as of now though we are always
entertaining new ideas. Maybe loft parties, maybe
one-offs, or maybe a night again down the road. More
immediately I'm going to get pictures of all our parties
this year on the site for you. I'm also considering the
options for a message board hosted on RobotLoveSongs, but
dedicated to underground dance music in Boston rather than
just our nights. It would be a place for you to promote
your events, discuss whatever you're into, and generally
facilitate community in our creative sub- culture. I think
this would be very good for all of us if it takes off. If
anyone has technical skills you would like to contribute
please be in touch. Check RLSin a few weeks and hopefully we'll have made some
progress.
Lastly,
thank you for the support and have a great weekend!
Bleep
7/15/2005
OK, sorry because I'm horribly late updating this since
Klik ended in the middle of June.. Have been
interviewing for and recently took a new job. Now I'm
looking for a new loft too because my landlords kid
wants to move into my little slice of robot heaven. No
promises but I'm going to update all of the sections, add
pics, and a message board soon. It's all ready to go
technically but I just have to format for the RLS
site. OK, signing off, kinda drunk and going to Scotty
Bliss's new night downstairs (Friday's) at Wonderbar.
He's got Roy Dank of NYC's APT club "Pop Your
Funk" fame. Should be a kick in the
pants!!! Get your metal asses off the couch and go
check it out.
Bleep
5/25/2005
With Bill Crook venturing into old-school electro and techno territory this
Saturday I thought I'd share a really cool mix of that vein which has had some heavy rotation in the bleep mobile. The promotional mix is called Electro Classics and was made by X-BOBO for the CBS (www.cbs.nu). It 73 minutes of classics from Herbie Hancock, Kraftwerk,
Egyptian Lover, and a few newer names.
Bleep
5/12/2005
Well it's official. We're gonna stay at The Modern for a spell. From the growing turnout and vibe last week, we think you like the club, the tunes, and each other. To show our appreciation we've just booked Sammy Dee (Pantytec, Perlon, Berlin) as a special guest next week and our real kick off party. A streaming mix recorded live at Paxahau in Detroit is on the right side of the page.
This week we welcome Mr. Jon Schmidt back on wheels as an official resident and ambassador of the subtle minimal groove. Joining him will be Shuman (satellite) a resident for the new Recycle Wednesdays @ The Phoenix Landing. Last night he played a great opening set there and we're excited to hear him rip it on the weekend. Hope to see you there!
Bleep
5/3/2005
This past Friday we threw our last Future/Retro party at Opal. We'd like to say thank you to all of you for coming down and having a blast together. To all of you old friends, thank you for showing your support. You made a long time dream for this robot possible. To all of you new friends, it's been such a pleasure to meet so many of you who have a passion for the same leftfield dance music we get so excited about. It has been very rewarding and encouraging to find there is a small yet healthy and creative scene growing here.
RobotLoveSongs will continue doing events. Klik, Saturday's at the Modern, will continue to feature the minimal techno, micro house, and electro-funk sides of our sound every week. We hope to be a catalyst for a great party for people like you, an outlet for local DJs/producers, and a proper venue for top level visiting talent. In the last two weeks, a kicking sound system, cool little room, generous bar staff, fun people, and seriously rocking tunes have turned KLIK into a full on dance part y.
If you need a fix for your acid-jacking-Chicago-house-italo-electro-disco action I hope to continue to feature those sounds in the near future in monthly or one-off installment of FUTURE/Retro parties. In the mean time, the Cybernetic Broadcasting System pumps out the highest quality tunes 24 hours a day.
Regrettably,
we have had to pull the plug on Klik at The Modern. This
past Saturday was the final installment of the night.
We're sorry to anyone who was planning to come out to any
of the remaining nights in June's line-up. We were really
looking forward to them as well.