In praise of CD singles…

It’s a sad fact that I love buying CDs. In my youth, even when I didn’t have that much disposable income, I’d buy as many CDs as possible, and I’d go on a heavy splurge at the turn of the year, with Christmas and my birthday within a fortnight of each other. I’d often get some CDs at Christmas, and any I didn’t receive I’d buy with money or gift tokens. As I grew older and got those job type things, I bought more and more. In my first two months of college I spent an obscene amount of money on CDs, some of which I still, to this day, have not listened to in full. As I’ve grown older, with downloading tempering my purchases more and more – wait until you’ve had a listen to see if you really need it Aidan – I’ve calmed down a little bit, but I still love that moment when I wander into a shop and see something makes me want to buy it.

Just today I was in HMV, not expecting to see anything, but there was the new Bloc Party single, Talons. Now I’m not their biggest fan, but they’ve a lot of great songs and every now and then these tracks have been the starting points for some even greater remixes, as in the case of Banquet (Phones), The Prayer (Para One), and Where Is Home (Diplo). They’ve also “taken over” The Guardian this week, so there’s no escaping them. Talons has been remixed by the aforementioned Phones (Paul Epworth, who also produced the original track, along with many other Bloc Party tracks), The Moody Boyz and XXXChange. Over the past year or so I’ve been enamoured with more and more of XXXChange’s remixes, as they cross boundaries between bmore, dub and straight up rave. This definitely fits into the latter category, not unlike his remixes of Panda Bear and Sunny Day Sets Fire. As most of his tracks end up on vinyl (and my expenditure on vinyl remains minimal) it’s rare that I get the chance to properly “own” any of his tracks. This dedication takes a special commitment, the kind that involves buying an awful collection of tracks such as Best Fwends‘ Alphabetically Arranged just for XXXChange’s remix of Myself. So when a handy four track CD appears with the XXX seal of approval, it’s much easier to part with a few quid. Heck, I even double take every time I see Elvis Presley Vs Spankox because I think I see Spank Rock, the name of the rapper whose first album was produced by XXXChange.

That said, it’s becoming more and more difficult to find such discs, as the CD single market dwindles. Before I left Dublin last month I was devastated to discover that HMV in Grafton Street had dispensed with their A-Z single section, opting to sell only CDs that chart. This seems to be the case across the board I have discovered, in both Ireland and the UK, with the exception of the HMV on Henry Street. Trainspotters take note. I’m not going to get into the whole legal download vs CD-purchasing debate, this isn’t that kind of post. But I do think there is something special about holding something in your hands, tearing off the cellophane, popping it into your CD player of choice, even if that is your laptop, and the CD is going to be ripped and left to gather dust. It still exists in the real world, rather than floating about in abstract form. I like that. So, while I have become a little bit more ruthless with my hard-earned cash, I don’t ever think there wil be a time when I won’t want to pop into HMV for an impulse purchase like today. As long as musicians keep putting out good music, I’ll keep buying it.

Incoming

I’ve been a fan of the Fabric and FABRICLIVE mixes for a number of years. A new mix in each series appears in alternate months, representing the sound of the DJs who play the London club on Fridays and Saturdays. The FABRICLIVE mixes are often riotous affairs, taking in everything from hip-hop, grime, drum and bass and electro, while the Fabric CDs are deeper treads through the dark alleys of techno. Personal favourites include Diplo‘s FABRICLIVE (my introduction to the man) as well as those of Spank Rock and Cut Copy, while on the Fabric end of things, I have been most impressed by the contributions of Carl Craig, Ewan Pearson and Global Communication.

Sometimes the DJs revel in the obvious: Spinbad’s mix is peppered with hip-hop classics such as Rapper’s Delight and Sound of Da Police; The Herbaliser dropped James Brown and the Jackson 5; Yoda even played Blister In The Sun. Going against the grain, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney wove a delightful selection of disco, where artists from Murphy’s DFA label sat right at home alongside the likes of Chic and Donald Byrd.

The latest tracklist to be announced was that of the upcoming Fabric mix from Metro Area, and it seems very much to sit at the Murphy/Mahoney end of things. Metro Area (Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani) was “born out of the duo’s dichotomous love of both the old moods of R&B, disco and boogie and the more cutting-edge sound of innovative house and techno.” My limited knowledge of Geist’s work leads me to believe that this will be an interesting compilation, to say the least. On his 2004 compilation, Unclassics, he wades through a selection of supposedly forgotten 80s electro and italo-disco, and it is a marvellous listen. A-Trak even borrowed a track directly from the mix for his Dirty South Dance release.

At first glance, I recognise just four artists on this mix’s tracklisting, among them Gary’s Gang, whose Do It At The Disco was reworked by Mr Oizo last year for his mind-bending Patrick122 last year. As for the rest, I remain entirely ignorant, at least until I get my hands on the mix. With any luck, I’ll be introduced to a host of new sounds, along with all the other lucky souls who see fit to add this to their collection next month.

MENTAL!

As in let’s go f*cking… I went to see Jape and Friendly Fires tonight in 53 Degrees, “the North West’s premier live music, club and comedy venue.” It was my first gig there, and while I was very impressed by both acts, I spent much of the gig thinking about what bugs me when I go to gigs. The following gripes came to mind during and after the show.

When people barge to the front and don’t apologise – we’re all here for the same thing, so be nice.
When people spend the soundcheck bellowing football chants (as above).
When people spend the whole gig chatting to their mate(s) (although I can be guilty of that sometimes).
When people thrust one hand in the air and sing along to throwaway lyrics like “come oooon” as if they’re the most meaningful lyrics since Sam Cooke wrote A Change Is Gonna Come.
When people scream for the band’s biggest song, which will probably be their encore anyway.
When people scream for songs during quiet parts of a song.
When people think it’s appropriate to mosh to upbeat indie-dance-pop.
When people scream during breakdowns
When crowds sing so loud you can’t hear the band.
Crowd surfing (I’m sorry, I really think this is utterly pointless).
When band-members get into the crowd and adoring fan-girls start stroking said band-members hair.

I realise while writing this that I may come across like Otto in the U2 episode of The Simpsons – “Sit down, you’re ruining it for everyone!” – but I’m 90% certain these, among others, are gripes shared by others. Feel free to add your own…

Diplo

Photo by Tim Soter

One of the highlights for many at this year’s Electric Picnic was the appearance of Philadelphia-based DJ Diplo. To explain the diversity of his DJing style, I need only note his opening tracks: kicking off with XR2, a horn-laden, bmore bass-thumping track he produced for MIA, he thundered into DJ Jean’s The Launch, a forgotten trance hit from the late 90s. Heard outside its original context, this track becomes a guilty pleasure, finding new meaning as it straddles new styles, its muffled countdown acting as the perfect opening for such a barn-storming set.

Consistently busy, Diplo’s most recent work is that with hipster queen Santogold. Having produced three tracks for her self-titled debut album, he went on to create Top Ranking, a mind-bending fusion of Santogold’s tracks and a selection of dub sounds from the likes of Benga and Skream, as well as choice oddities by artists as varied as B52s, Devo and even Aretha Franklin. That said, Santi herself was such a perfectionist that she insisted on the man re-recording it on several occasions, his own personal favourite would have been two or three versions before that which saw the light of day.

Another mix of his that caught a lot of attention was I Like Turtles, a mix for Pitchfork in August 2007 which was subsequently released through his Mad Decent label. Similarly eclectic, it’s a breathtaking run through some of the biggest songs of last year from the likes of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Soulja Boy and Justice, some classics such as Orbital’s Halcyon, and, of all things, even a bootleg of The Bartman. His motivation behind this mix was to make it so good that no-one would be able to follow with a better one, and, to date, there has been no subsequent Pitchfork mix. If that isn’t an indication of its success, I don’t know what is.

As far as running a label is concerned, his major enjoyment comes from his ability to oversee the work of others while taking a break from his own, and the artists that he feels garner special a mention are London’s Boy 8-Bit and Baltimore’s DJ Blaqstarr. On the other hand, his major frustration comes when certain acts don’t provide him with new material. Already well-documented, Bonde do Rolê have had a turbulent year, with the departure of one member, the addition two more, and a heavy amount of touring. While he understands the financial necessity of such a schedule, Diplo hopes that the group will soon knuckle down and get back to the studio. He’s certainly not the only one.

As for the man himself, he claims that his next work should come at some point in 2009. An unlikely source of inspiration for him is Mississippi-born modernist writer William Faulkner, whose Go Down, Moses was an inspiration for Diplo’s 2004 album Florida. A fellow Southerner (the album takes its title from Diplo’s birthplace), Faulkner was the first major figure from the South he found to create work that was truly challenging and interesting. While the atmospheric Florida has more in common with the work of DJ Shadow and RJD2, his DJ sets, like that at Electric Picnic, are unlike those of any other. His Stradbally set raced through everything one would imagine from listening to his mixtapes and then some, was technically impeccable and, more importantly, a whole lot of fun. Having played just four shows on this island since 2005, one can only hope that he will come back soon, and often.

You Can’t Wait For Life

Last week it was announced that queen of the hipsters Santogold will be supporting Kanye West on the European leg of his present tour. As previously stated, I felt that her album could have become an album by which to remember this Summer, but for the unfortunate fact that A) it leaked in late April, and B) it wasn’t really much of a Summer. That said, during the period to which we arbitrarily refer as “Summer” I spent a lot of time listening to her self-titled album, as well as Top Ranking, the dub-centric mixtape put together by Diplo which placed her tracks against a selection of dub beats and soul classics – the likes of Benga & Coki‘s Night and Aretha Franklin’s Save Me (to name but two). In short, these two collections just get better and better with each listen. So, having seen her at Pukkelpop and again at Electric Picnic (where she was most definitely a highlight of what was considered by many to be a lacklustre lineup), I can definitely say that she is not to be missed.

As for Mr West, well, who knows. While he has, to date, released three albums of undeniable quality, his performances can often be brief and erratic, and his most recent track, Love Lockdown, has not exactly met with unanimous approval. He doesn’t rap on it, and it’s sung in that autotune style used by T-Pain for example. Either way, I for one am quite excited by the prospect of his forthcoming album 808s & Heartbreak, if only because the title suggests a particular approach as well as a hint of introspection and vulnerability not seen since All Falls Down. Due out in December, the album will no doubt have been leaked by the time he takes to the stage at the RDS, but if not, he’ll definitely have enough songs to hand to keep the fans happy. Whether or not Love Lockdown and its friends are any match for Gold Digger or Touch The Sky remains to be seen, but at least we can rest assured Santogold will have won herself a new set of fans.

The Dopeness in Life

At the weekend I went to see The Wackness, a film about a high school graduate (Josh Peck) who sells drugs to a therapist (Ben Kingsley) in return for sessions, while harbouring a serious crush on said therapist’s step-daughter. It’s a nice little film, not spectacular but by no means unimpressive, but what really struck me about the film was its soundtrack. It’s been a while since I’ve cared too much about the music in a film, but this was, for me at any rate, something special. Set in 1994, it features several classics of the hip-hop genre, reflecting the tastes of any self-respecting low-level drug dealer. For example, the teen has a Jeru The Damaja poster in his bedroom, and lives his life with his headphones around his neck, cassettes at his fingertips.

There were a few moments in the film that I found quite curious: while Peck sits on the train imagining girls pole dancing through the carriage the sound of Nas’ The World Is Yours drifts from his headphones onto the film’s soundtrack. This track features lyrical references to the film Gandhi, which stars one Ben Kingsley. A few minutes later, as Peck goes to visit his drug supplier (played by Wu-Tang’s Method Man), he hears The Notorious B.I.G. for the first time. The track in question is The What, from his debut album Ready To Die, featuring, of all people, Method Man, whose on screen persona is extolling the qualities of this new release. I find it hard to believe that these allusions and connections are entirely coincidental, and they only added to the joy of watching this film.

Sometimes, when a film wears such influences so obviously on its sleeve I can find it quite off-putting, as in Juno for example, or several of the works of Cameron Crowe. This film manages to pull it off, however, as the languid beats and rhymes on the soundtrack perfectly reflect and complement the sweaty summer days in which these characters find themselves. A Tribe Called Quest’s famous Can I Kick It? features, as does Craig Mack’s Flava In Ya Ear. To top it off, R Kelly’s Bump n’ Grind even manages to make an appearance, and, without wanting to give anything away, I doubt a more appropriate song could possibly have been chosen. Ultimately, the best thing that I can say about this film is that it has reminded me of everything that I love about hip-hop, so much so that over the last few days I’ve been returning to some of the classics of the genre, such as Nas’ Illmatic and the aforementioned Ready To Die. I can only recommend that you do too.

Edit: I just noticed that Jim Carroll posted something similar about this film this morning. Great minds eh!

The Cool Kids – The Bake Sale

The Bake Sale is a whirlwind of ideas, clocking in at a breezy 32 minutes. Much of their production is sparse and bare, leaving their lyrical prowess to roam free over crisp beats and hi-hats. Lyrically Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish are concerned with the finer detail, as proven on Mikey Rocks: “I don’t use bad grammar so please excuse this / I’m just trying to let niggas know who I is.” Such droll punchlines are a world apart from the overblown lyrical tendencies of many popular rappers, as is the prevalence of a positive, good-natured vibe – when confronted with aggressive guys Chuck doesn’t throw up his fists: “No sense in throwing punches, let’s do lunch, Man you like me too, ain’t no future in your frontin’.” All in all, this short effort is a welcome antidote to the prevailing wind of hardcore gangster rap, and a tantalising taste of what is to follow on their full length debut.

This is no dreaming demon…

The Proxy, a young Russian producer, first appeared on the electro scene in late 2006 with a track called Destroy, released on Tiga’s Turbo label. Appropriately named, the track is a hard-hitting slab of electro noise that samples Second Phase’s Mentasm, itself a track that almost single-handedly inspired the hard-house scene. While for many this kind of sample invokes waves of nostalgia, it is more often than not lost on a generation of clubbers that weren’t around to hear the original in the first place. Fear not: this will not be a rose-tinted look at the old days – I will freely acknowledge that I first heard of Mentasm in 2002 when Muzik catalogued the 10 Tracks That Shook The World – but rather a clinical look at what’s happening today.

Since Destroy, The Proxy has released a series of tracks in a similar vein, such as Decoy and Dance In The Dark, as well as some remixes, among them a reworking of Boys Noize’s Let’s Buy Happiness. Just last week a remix of Digitalism’s Home Zone was posted on his Myspace page. Of greater interest to this writer is the buzz surrounding Raven, a track which encapsulates everything about this producer’s sound. It has everything: pounding beats, off-beat chants of “Hey!”, an angry, Mentasm-inspired synthline that drops to nowhere before gradually building up to full volume, only to fizz its way into oblivion in the middle of a beatless breakdown, and finally return amidst the aforementioned beats and chants. It’s not really something that’s going to get a crowd singing along, that is unless a crowd is willing to chant “ne-nehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-ne!” ad nauseam. It comes from the same school of thought as Justice’s Waters of Nazareth (the track that supposedly launched the good ship blog-house) and the work of Boys Noize and Digitalism. It’s no wonder that it’s these artists that The Proxy is now remixing. Raven is not particularly clever. That said, it is big. It’s a HUGE track, and, in the right context, in the hands of the right DJ, it can make a lot of sense. On its own, or surrounded by other tracks like it, it gets pretty boring. As one DJ (who shall remain nameless) put it, it’s boy music. Now I’m no expert, but I always thought the idea was to get the girls dancing, and then get the boys to follow the girls. Once that part of the job is done, it’s not right to ignore the girls, because surely you want to keep them on the floor. There’s nothing worse than a dancefloor chock full of sweaty boys pumped up by more and more pounding pounding techno music.

Away from the clubs, we have that other great demon of this time: internet hype. From what I can tell, this first started to happen just after Boys Noize dropped this monster at Coachella in early April. That is now five months ago, and this track won’t be released until October 8th. Somehow, this track has not found its way onto the Blogosphere, except in the form of a set rip from Erol Alkan’s set at Polsslag (again, in April). With that in mind, it is easy to see why bloggers and forum users have got it so bad for the track. In an age of instant access this track is outside the realm of the accessible. For the time-being, only the chosen few have this track in their arsenal, so they are in the position to use it to drive floors demented with this. In recent weeks I’ve seen Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, Tiga and even Diplo and A-Trak use it in their sets – A-Trak even followed it with Nirvana’s Lithium at Electric Picnic. While that particular track selection left me a little cold, I am sure that it goes some way to exemplifying Raven’s capacity for destruction. These DJs are what you might call the elite, and they can do what they like. As suggested earlier, they are also much more likely to use it in an inventive context that will bring out the best of the track as well as using it to highlihjt unheard or forgotten elements of others. Come October 8th, every DJ worth his or her salt will have it at their disposal, but will they able to do the track, or themselves, justice? Who knows whether or not you’ll even hear it on a Saturday night. Six months is a long time in clubland, and, outside of festival season, a track as functional as Raven just might not cut the mustard for anyone other than the hype-creators sitting at home on the internet, who will no doubt be content to have it at 320kbps at last.

Simian Mobile Disco – Sample and Hold

Attack Decay Sustain Release Remixed

Remix albums are a curious concept. The artist in question hands over their work to a series of remixers, who can then either enhance or destroy the original tracks. In the case of Simian Mobile Disco’s Sample and Hold: Attack Decay Sustain Release Remixed, both possibilities have come to pass. Simon Baker’s remix of Sleep Deprivation seems a rather bizarre starting point: a ten minute reworking of the album’s opener that bears no resemblance to the original hardly seems the best way of attracting people’s attention. Things pick up with Shit Robot’s DFA workout of It’s The Beat, eschewing all but the original track’s vocals. After that, however, it’s all downhill. Metal (Tits & Acid) and dubstep (I Believe) are not ideal bedmates for Simian Mobile Disco, and things strike a new low when Danton Eeprom mixes the beautiful Wooden in the wrong key. While Beyond The Wizards Sleeve leave Love with some dignity, overall it seems that there are more hits than misses on this collection. My advice? Stick with the source material.

Ratatat

New York-based duo Ratatat have come a long way in the last few years. Two albums, two remix compilations and a few international tours have seen their profile grow and grow, and with the release of their third album, that trajectory does not look like stopping any time soon. I spoke to producer/synth wizard Evan Mast soon after the band finished a brief tour of the southern hemisphere. “It’s a crazy feeling – that’s about as far away from home as you can possibly get, it’s pretty amazing to go there, that people will actually show up to see a show.” This is not the first time that they have travelled this far: “we played there like a year and a half before that, planting seeds there, and the crowds are getting a little bigger.” In Australia the boys found themselves paired up by the promoter with “a band called Regurgitator. I don’t think they’re really known outside of Australia, but they’re huge over there, they’re like a big 90s rock band, like the Soundgarden of Australia or something.” On the other end of the scale, they supported a little known French act called Daft Punk last year. “I got to hang out with Thomas after the show, super nice guy, really cool guy.” Evan was very impressed with the family atmosphere the robots maintained backstage, with friends and family joining them on tour. Around the same time, Daft Punk produced a short mix for Luis Vuitton’s Autumn collection, in the middle of which they dropped Ratatat’s Lex. “It was amazing. I’ve been a fan of Daft Punk for years, so to have them use one of our tracks in that DJ set, yeah that was pretty huge.” Not only that, but, in an interview with Pitchfork, Daft Punk namechecked the New Yorkers as one of their favourite acts of the moment. “I was just kind of blown away by that.”

All of this couldn’t help but bring attention their way, so what better time to get working on a new album. Due out this summer, LP3 is a shimmering mixture of sounds from across the world, no doubt inspired by their extensive touring over the last two years. “I was watching a lot of movies before we went into the studio, I was listening to all kinds of music.” Mast does not necessarily look to other artists for a starting point, more than that it seems a question of listeners finding shades of influences at the other end. “I think it just comes out, it’s really hard to trace. You make songs, and there’s new sounds and new ideas coming out.” As far as the production process is concerned, it’s an organic process from start to finish. Sitting on a tour bus isn’t all about sleeping for some people, as Mast found himself putting together an assortment of drum beats as building blocks for what would become the next album. “We had all those times in the tour van, this amazing van that had a little table in the back, sit there with your laptop and work on shit, that was really cool. So I had probably 30 or 40 beats before we went into the studio ready to go.” Once the beat is there, the boys take a DIY approach to assembling the track, as they “just start playing over it, whatever instruments that are around, and when something sounds good record it, and then start playing another instrument over the top,” and so on. With LP3 however, a number of tracks have grown out of a more delicate approach: “there was a bunch of songs that we started with piano parts or organ parts or something rather than beats.”

Another venture which has brought a lot of attention their way is their series of hip-hop remixes, something which, despite their distance from the community, is borne out of hip-hop itself: “I think the hip-hop community is open to that kinda thing, they put out twelve inches with just the acappella on the B-side, so they’re expecting people to use it as mashups in their DJ sets or whatever. I think it’s pretty much in line with what they’re expecting.” He imagines that to date most artists are unaware these remixes exist, but even so it’s not something that their labels will need to fight off. “I’m sure if we were printing up proper CDs and selling them for 12 bucks at amazon.com they would have something to say about it, but we’re not really making money off it.” Their approach to creating these remixes is a little different, as they “come together much more quickly, cause you can get away with a lot of repetition in a hip-hop track. I feel like our hip-hop remixes are like a third of the ideas of a Ratatat song.” Experimenting outside of their own material also affords them the opportunity to have more fun and indulge in a certain level of playfulness. “Making those songs a lot of times it was more about just trying to understand hip-hop production,” as well as attempting “certain things where you might pull a cheesy little drum drop, it’s sort of a hip-hop thing that we wouldn’t do in a Ratatat song, but it works in that context.”

When I asked him about how each remix came about, he was refreshingly honest: “Initially, the first mixtape, is a lot of stuff we just did for fun. A lot of it wasn’t really songs we were into, for the sake of someone rapping on the beat we used what we had. We got a little pickier with the second one but I wasn’t that into that Kanye West track that was on the second one [Diamonds], but it worked really well with the beat.” While these remixes may have slipped under most artists’ radars, there are some who have expressed an interest: “We did an interview with Beanie Sigel a couple of years ago after we made the first mixtape, and he had heard the track and I guess was really into it. And I’d heard through a friend that Bun B was really into the second volume. But I never really trust when I hear stuff. If I ever meet Bun B and he tells me directly that he likes it I’ll be happy.”

Ratatat’s last performance in Ireland came at the Electric Picnic in 2007, a bizarre experience for the band. “We arrived on the day that we played so we didn’t get to see a whole lot, we pretty much just played. It was insane, we played in Barcelona at 5 in the morning or something, and got on a plane and flew to Electric Picnic and had an afternoon set there, so we were completely delirious for the rest of that evening.” That is not to say his brief stay in Stradbally was anything other than positive. “We met some really weird dudes backstage who were just talking non-stop, it was a really weird night actually.” As for their next performance in Ireland, who knows? “I haven’t really seen the upcoming tour schedule yet, but I think there’s a pretty good chance of us coming back to Dublin. If not in July then in the fall for sure.” Here’s hoping.

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