.
.
THE MORODERS
01. Kalabrese - Not The Same Shoes feat. Kate Wax (Stattmusik)
02. Shit Robot – Chasm (DFA)
03. Deadbeat - Mecca (Drum Jack) (Wagon Repair)
04. Syclops – Monkeypuss (DFA)
05. Schleck+Stecker – Untitled (live at Cosmic Listener)
06. Walter Jones - All God's Children (Juan Nunez & Little Chris Remix) (Westbound Music)
07. Loose Joints – Tell you (today) (West End)
08. Melba Moore – Need love (Epic)
The essence of djing is playing live in front of a crowd. Act and react. However, a lot of inspiration is drawn from the endless hours of literally playing with your records at home...without an audience, without too many drinks, without people yelling in your ear but with all your records, with your own equipment and only with yourself between the records and your hands playing it. It’s the setting in which this mix was created and recorded. Influenced again by the daily struggle, your visit to the record shop, last Saturday night...the list could be endless.
What I did was just coming home, playing my records to relax from a day full of brain work. Now I’m thinking about the result, trying to figure out what I could tell you. Some notes:
On my way home I was thinking about the first track and these lyric fell into my mind: “I don’t know what you feel ‘cause you’re not here.” Along with the rest of it and the fact that it’s by one of my favourite producers at the moment, Kalabrese, it sets the tone nicely. Next up is Shit Robot and his rave record which is always too slow to play at peak time and too massive not to be played at peak time which is actually, well, fascinating. The day I recorded this I went to one of my local record dealers, Backstock in Dresden, Germany where the owner recommended some records, like usual. He told me about Sascha Funke playing around with the “Jack” part of ‘Mecca’, looping it and letting it run over the actual track. I bought it and had to find out if there’s anything else you could do with it. The ever jacking Syclops helped me.
In January 2008 we played a show with Schleck+Stecker and the day after they played at our radio show. They make their Techno live and I tried not to lose the beat. The fantastic thing about vinyl records is the fact that they have two sides. I bought ‘Walter Jones – All God’s Children’ for the Maurice Fulton remix but when I checked out the other side...I realized I love this record so much because it’s working so well when we play it out at the club. An then there’s Disco: the best dance music that has ever been created.
The result hopefully conveys my idea of “playing” as an act to get closer to the core of the music which I then often draw inspiration from.
09. Konk – Elephant (Soul Jazz)
10. Idjut Boys – Smokin’ Balls (Bass Bonus) (Headinghome)
11. Dottores Kranky Disco Band – You Are Woebob (Space Disco Craftworx Inc.)
12. The House Master Boyz And The Rude Boy of House – House Nation (Acca House) (Trax)
13. Osunlade – Queen’s Battle (Strictly Rhythm)
14. 3rd Face – Canto Della Liberta (Classic)
15. Paul Woolford Presents Bobby Peru – Erotic Discourse (20:20 Vision)
16. Jesse Rose – Evening Standard (Dubsided)
17. The Jimmy Castor Bunch – Troglodyte (Jimi Bazzouka Edit)
18. Kelpe – Suitcasing (D.C.)
19. Burial – Archangel (Hyperdub)
From my point of view, you can divide mixes into three different categories. There are those DJs whose mixes focus on a certain flow and that try to minimize the sound variations between the tracks. At best, listening to such a mix is like to immerse yourself into it, to dive through the similar soundscapes and 80 minutes later you re-emerge in a different mood than before. It’s self-explanatory that those mixes cannot feature too many different genres.
That’s left to those mixes which are working like a mixtape. The great thing about them is that the songs are still in full bloom. To keep this effect, DJs who prefer these kind of mixes shouldn’t overstate the beatmatching. There are a lot of ways to connect tracks...
Personally speaking, the mixes which make it to the major league are those belonging to the third category and combine the advantages of the first two. Creating a certain vibe, or better, telling a story, without using only similar sounding tracks. I love surprises on the dancefloor just as I love them under my headphones. But dancing for hours is only possible if the DJ doesn’t lose this golden threat no matter how much it looks like a sinus curve. Concerning doing a mix this way, there are only a few DJs out there who are up to this challenge. Optimo, The Glimmers or Allez-Allez, who did the process part 056, come to my mind in place of some other talented DJs.
Not placing myself on the same level with those mentioned above, nevertheless, I try to pursue a similar approach. To be honest I didn’t have something like a storyboard in mind for the mix. When finally it came together it was seeming pretty vibrant the development felt natural. To me one way to create an ongoing vibe is browsing my record collection for tracks which can be different but have at least one similar part or sound. Starting my part of the mix with Konk, that’s the case for the first blending to the Idjut Boys. Listen to the percussion parts which seem to sound completely equal! After, there’s an edit of Plastics’ ‘Robots’. It’s crazy but I love its circus vibe. After some fun with the ‘House Nation’-Accapella the House part starts. Osunlade, 3rd Face, Paul Woolford and Jesse Rose are sort of a peak in my part of the mix. The lyrics of the The Jimi Bazzouka-Edit are a bit too much, of course. But to me there’s an ironic break if you’re listening to what he’s doing with the vocals. Ace! The Kelpe track is a long time favourite of mine and perfect to prepare a gloomy finish. And what more gloomy tune can you imagine than one by Burial?
Conrad & Philipp (The Moroders)
.
.
MISS LE BOMB
The process... the process...I was wanting to do a cover of this song for a long time. Maybe this reflects my ironic attitude towards pop music, my general disgust for Paul McCartney, the tweeness of the 'message' of the song and the actual and unavoidable fact that it has a very catchy melody and is, as German's say, an ear-worm.
So how do I start this: First I run to my tried and trusty keyboard (a rather hissy Yamaha PSS-780, I have been in possession of this particular model for 15 years now). I play the original track in order to find out the chord pattern after which I flick with pleasure through the preset rhythms and chord/bass/fill-ins. On finding the suitable preset (tropical), I record the rhythm/chord combination into the built in sequencer. This allows me to practice playing the melody for recording. I choose one of my favourite organ sounds and attempt to play the 'song' melody over the top of the chords. There are, of course and as usual, a lot of mistakes but these I leave. I am a firm believer in showing the working process in all it's faults and flaws and this applies, I think, especially to me as I am not a trained piano player (but I am a trained accordion player so I know how to get around a keyboard - albeit vertically rather than horizontally...). It also gives the music that special something.
The song is now recorded on the keyboards sequencer but now I want to process the overall sound further, perhaps remove the high-frequency hiss that emits from the aging machine, perhaps add vocals, perhaps add some effects.
I record the music onto a mono track in logic. Then the thought occurs: Do I really want to sing this song? How can I possibly embody the two powerful and politically charged voices of Paul and Stevie in one wavery Scottish whimper? I decide against adding vocals. The melody is already there as hum-catcher and everyone will recognize the original. Another thought strikes me: perhaps it is even too recognizable in it's current form. I try out a few plug in effects to see what happens, Ohmboyz psychedelic delays and pitches which just create a big mess, then a logic step filter which creates a more interesting effect...
Has it ever happened to you (as it regularly does to me) that you just can't get the rhythm of the song that's currently being played? Somehow you know it's wrong because everyone is dancing on a different beat to you but you just can't understand where the beat starts and which note is on the 'one'. Inadvertently I have managed to create a dumbfoundingly confusing piece of music that, still somehow recognizable as Ebony and Ivory, can never be sung along to, can probably not be danced to (not with much comfort at least) but still seems to have a consistent rhythm, yet one so disturbing that you'd probably rather switch it off than spend time trying to figure it out, waiting for the eureka-moment of rhythm-comprehension. Even the irritating age-hiss has turned into a redeeming feature.
I am happy and bounce.
.
.
JACOB LONDON
Music writing itself
I'm sure there are a lot of artists out there that can relate to this idea of music writing itself. It's like there is a creative snowballing effect. First you push the piece forward by applying some technique. But after a while, in a session of working on the song, something happens and its like the tables have turned and song is using you to work on itself. Once you get in the zone, it becomes more and more apparent what needs to happen next; how the song should evolve, how loud a sound needs to be, what new sounds need to be heard. In every song that we have finished, this has been the case to some degree.
There needs to be some prep work involved in a track. I heard somewhere that musicians make decent cooks and vice versa. Perhaps some of the process is the same. We prepare each track for being written before we actually get to the 'writing' part, to create a palette of "ingredients" to work with. If you think about it, a good cook won’t just start cooking without first laying out the ingredients, cutting up vegetables and doing a little prep work.
We just did a remix for Jesus Jackson on Physical Graffiti Recordings. Before we did this mix we came up with a plan of attack. We decided we were going to squash as many cuts from as many top 100 songs from the late 80s as possible into the remix, and they all were going to be in key with each other (and the vocal) but not recognizable. Hopefully the end result would be unique, but extremely familiar at the same time. The setup for this mix was a fairly involved process.
1. Get everything in key: We used a tool called Mixed In Key to match the Jesus Jackson Vocal to some 300 songs (various billboard top 100s from the 80s). This program is intended for dj's to use to mix their songs in key and will label your music with a scale that you can use to decide how "in key" the songs are. Once we ran this process we were left with a sortable database of music, and we were able to select our songs based on how "in key" they were with the vocal.
2. Match the tempos: Once we had our songs selected, we brought them into Prosoniq Time Factory to be time-stretched based on their original BPM to 131 BPM. Time Factory is a stand alone program that uses a very high end process to adjust the speed of a wave file without affecting the pitch.
3. Cut the WAV samples up: We used Soundforge to chop the samples down to just the instrumental parts of the songs. For this mix we wanted to stay away from having vocals in our samples to keep them from being too recognizable.
4. Bring them into the sampler: We used Native Instruments Battery 3 to organize the samples to the keyboard. Battery 3 can automatically map each sample to a key on a keyboard by default and provides some very simple options for adjusting the parameters of each sample.
Once the samples are in battery, we have another process for cutting the sample up even more. First we create a one bar loop. While the sample is playing in the loop, we slowly move the sample start forward until you hear the sample catch a groove that you like, then copy that sample to the next cell.
Go back to the cell that contains the sample that is looping, and move the sample start forward again until you hear another groove you like, and copy the sample to the next available cell. Repeat.
We did this for each sample until we had filled up a couple battery kits – over 200 cuts from various top 100 song from the 80 – all in key with our vocal.
This might sound like a lot of prep work (and it was), but once we got started on this remix, the song almost immediately began to write itself. We didn't need to stop to find new samples, or look for further inspiration, every sound we threw into this mix was one that we knew worked with the song. All we needed to do was get creative with the overall production and arrangement.
.
.
ACID CIRCUS
after being bombarded with a slew of low energy music for the last couple years, we figured the current minimal scene needed bit of a kick in the ass. actually, the vibe on this release is similar to our live sets...stripped-down mid-90's swinging business with up to date sound design.
we created a sketch for the track in FL using battery and few vintage style synths and then took it into logic to dynamically enhance the overall mix (especially the hand clap breakdown).
the vocal was taken from a random mic session recorded in our studio between ourselves and drumcell. after 30 minutes of nonsensical rambling and joking we ended up keeping the "LETS GET WEIRD THEME" which was influenced by drugged out moments encountered at way too many delusional afterhours. that's when we dumped it into logic and completed the sequence around the vocal using freaked out efex to add to the overall weirdness of the track. *weird you*.
vidal & vangelis vargas - acid circus
structural...
.
.
.
.
structures don't necessarily need mass to express their strength...so what is it that grants the co-existence of resilience and elegance?...
tension can be erased through a balance of elements...like a one-fingered hand-stand or a sure-footed jump...in an experiential vocabulary where clumsiness and hesitation don't exist, an aligned structure yields the possibility of a weightless strength (unburdened by forces)...a personal truth emerges, giving light to dark matter...(not relying on muscle and brawn to hold things together with a tightly-clenched-jaw and a white-knuckled-grip...)...
rather it is the beauty of a relaxed expression...propelling grace through a focused will. imagination brims with possibilities and an offer to experience good things twice. i've been working to become like that self-righting object (remember the gomboc?)...knowing that there is an external form to emotion...
download: 080211-modyfier_part01
knor – roc(k)ambolesque : dec 2007 on gs-zurich
inaqui marin – i don’t know : jan 2008 on regular
stefan tretau – mir : dec 2007 on fortek
max cavalerra – nostalgia : jan 2008 on karmarouge records
bukaddor & fishbeck – mantikor : jan 2008 on traum
internal sync – song for dementia (stefan tretau remix) : nov 2007 on broque
miss kitten – metalhead : jan 2008 on nobody’s bizzness
sascha dive – annihilating rhythm : jan 2008 on drumpoet community
italoboyz – at de stella : jan 2008 on get physical music
nivek tsoy – new galaxy love : jan 2008 on dessous
paulo olarte – solo tu (isolee remix) : jul 2007 on fresh fish
john waynes – retouch (me mix) : jan 2008 on brique rouge
paco osuna & dj ladida – another chance : nov 2007 on article
download: 080211-modyfier_part02
komytea – kaktus city (sasse aka freestyle man remix) : jan 2008 on laka
sasse – mount juneay (discotronix remix) : dec 2007 on mule musiq
das etwas – lick the nose : jan 2008 on mule musiq
i:cube – pazuzu : dec 2007 on versatile records
armin prayd – jokuvamana city (stereofunk remix) : dec 2007 on bikinitracks
johnjon – sag nicht sowas : jan 2008 on stil vor talent
oliver klein & martin eyerer – babylon (patrick zigon remix) : jan 2008 on kling klong
nico purman – muela pain : jan 2008 on vakant
prosumer & murat tepeli – turn around feat. elif bicer (cassy smooth remix) : jan 2008 on ostgut ton
plasmik – mindpattern (afrilounge’s deep string remix) : jan 2008 on connoisseur recordings
jurgen kirsch – liquid : jan 2008 on stil vor talent
cesare vs disorder – small creatures : jan 2008 on resopal schallware
joseph capriati – pac man (from karaoke to stardom remix) : jan 2008 on minibus
caribou – she’s the one (kelley polar remix) : nov 2007 on city slang
.
.
TAGO-MAGO
I used this mix to tie together some ideas/songs that refused to leave my head, so now at least they're in one place and not spilling everywhere. Tracks 1-9 were in heavy rotation for much of the second half of 2007 (the first half being occupied largely by Funkstorung's "return to the acid planet"). Some tracks were edited with grid-spaced beatmatching, some were done freehand. Can you guess which?
download: tago-mago - process part 062 (mix 1)
01 james holden - idiot (tago-mago edit)
02 para one - turtle trouble
03 ben theves - texas (tago-mago edit)
04 ttc - codeine (tago-mago edit)
05 daft punk - human after all (guy-man after all justice mix)
06 sebatiAn - h.a.l.
07 krazy baldhead - revolution (para one remix) (tago-mago edit)
08 faux pas - dorothy's finger (tago-mago edit)
09 skream - midnight request line (tago-mago edit)
10 paul woolford - erotic discourse (tago-mago edit)
11 michael fakesch - give it to me (tago-mago edit)
12 chris liebing - d (tago-mago edit)
13 autechre - stop look listen (tago-mago edit)
.
.
PAPA SANG BASS MEETS SHEVA RUTHERFORD
(Konstantin Gabbro is a founder of Orac together with Randy Jones aka Caro and of Adjunct together with Kenneth James Gibson aka [a]pendics.shuffle. He makes music as Papa Sang Bass.)
I had looped a few grooves for this project when my friend, Ron, phoned me out of the blue to let me know he was back in town. I hadn't spoken to him in quite some time. Ron (Ronald) Robinson has two names; the second one is Sheva Rutherford. Both names are real and legal in different states. He lived in Los Angeles for years before taking a two year absence from the city in an effort to pursue other venues of his career as an actor and singer.
A day or two later he came over, we hung out and I wrote a few words on paper. I recorded a few minutes of totally random vocal improvisations of his which made their way into this track. He used some of the words I had come up with, not all. He also sang a few lines of his own. Here are some of the words:
Head in the slumber
I just don't know...
A tiny legend
She comes and goes
A single touch
The purest ray serene
Why can't we go there?
She takes it all...
Although it was about 11 at night and we thought it was nice and quiet, all kinds of different noises happened. I decided to leave most of them in the track.
Later I sat down to sort the recordings out and realized that the way the vocals landed on the timeline in Logic wasmore or less the way to have them in the track. At the end the track turned out to be a somewhat dubby little jam with the vocal snippets mixed in a traditional dub style - mute/unmute the effects, ride the sliders on the vocal tracks sort of thing. I decided to call the track "Tiny Legends", two words that came up that night.
.
