House Is A Feeling

Birthday in a hotel is a new experience for me. Good shower though.

First things first, I haven’t heard this mix. I don’t have much interest in it except for two reasons. One, because it’s interesting that Saunderson (like Carl Craig) is playing so much European house music. In fact it’s even more interesting, because Saunderson playing David Guetta and Fedde Le Grande suggests he has an even bigger love for mainstream European house, the sort of stuff that’s viewed with disdain by many.

Secondly, it’s funny to see Kevin Saunderson say he uses CDs and Ableton to DJ. I have to say, I love seeing artists contradict the all too easily prefabricated image that is erected of them. Saunderson is a “Detroit Techno Legend” and so of course he must fight tooth and nail for vinyl, despise all European house and techno, and be the ultimate purist in all his musical selections. Newsflash, he actually is nothing like that, nor should he have to be.

It shouldn’t even be surprising. Fans fight the wars in such a partisan way and yet artists are probably way more liberal in their views. So Kevin Saunderson actually isn’t a purist. Just as countless minimal artists probably use hardware and hate digital downloads. The prefabs we create for artists are shoddy.

It’s interesting too to read the RA thread about this mix. It’s as if the Pope had just appeared in public with a used Durex stuck to his robes. Some people are outraged at the heresy, and others are all “Oh perhaps it got stuck to the Holy Father by mistake as he sat on a park bench!” or “A condom? Don’t be silly! That’s just a transparent balloon with some fish paste stuck to it, his holiness was probably at a mariner’s birthday party and spilled a vol-au-vent”

It’s just the same with Kevin Saunderson. Some people are outraged, others cite “Belleville infallibility”. Personally, I fail to see how it’s a surprise that the guy whose most famous records are “Good Life” and “Big Fun” actually likes slightly naff party music! I mean come on, the clue is in the titles!

I think the key point here is one that should be pretty obvious, “cheesiness” has no skin colour.

On Friday, some people were chanting and singing over the music. I mean, adding their own vocals! Not quite “the roof is on fire” or that 90s “woo-woo” but just as bad.

This is really annoying! I’ve never been in a club before and thought “can you shut up, I can’t actually hear the music I’m supposed to be dancing to”. Isn’t this more what happens if you go to see singer songwriters or something? It lasted for no more than 10 minutes and was probably just one group of people, but seriously, let’s all ensure that this NEVER becomes a trend.

It’s good living 10 minutes from T Bar. It means that when you go out for a drink with your flatmates, and then decide to stay out beyond pub closing times, you can just say “let’s go to T Bar” and suddenly you’re getting a great fix of house and techno music. In Dublin I’d have to walk for 10 minutes to be 10 minutes away from anything. And that thing would be a park or a newsagents.

Last night was an impulse decision, maybe the best way to go clubbing. I had no idea who was playing and hadn’t planned to go along. There was no queue and it was emptyish at about 11.30, which my friends tell me is unusual. The door policy had a weird feeling: you knew you’d get in but not before it was made clear that you were being assessed. In the end I interrupted the guy’s questions to ask who was playing. Maybe they don’t want people coming in unless you like the music. Who knows? I stopped short of saying “I really love house music, honest mister”.

It turned out the DJs were Carsten Jost from Dial, and Carsten Klemann from My My. There was no sign of Jost though. Klemann played for the entire time we were there, from 11.30 or so until 4, and it was a brilliant DJ set, as good as you’ll see. When we got in he was playing Mountain People, and there was plenty of current stuff in that vein like Dennis Ferrer and Sascha Dive. It was a party set as much as a house one though, peppered with hits like “Erotic City”, “Miura”, and Herbert’s remix of “Sing It Back”.

He also gets huge bonus points for playing Underground Resistance’s “Transition”, which I haven’t heard in a club since 2003 or so. It still makes my head spin, and I’ve always loved the intense sombre message in that spoken vocal. The other record he played that was one of my favourites when it came out was the King Britte mix of Josh One’s “Contemplation”. That’s from around the same time but it’s been popping up quite a bit lately, I’m sure I’ve droned on about it before somewhere on this blog!

What a great record it still is, like the 00s “Voodoo Ray”. It’s also a good reminder of the last time when lots of worthwhile crossover records were house. That pre-minimal age seems like aeons ago. I guess 5/6 years is aeons ago in dance music. Or maybe it should feel even more distant than it does.

I’m not sure how representative last night was, but I can see myself spending plenty of time in T Bar, especially since it’s free. As for Klemann, I can only say that if you get a chance to see him then go for it. It was the sort of set you don’t stop dancing to, which probably explains why I feel like I’ve run a marathon this morning.

Praise be to Jesus for giving us Monday off. I don’t know about you, but for me chocolate eggs and two days off are easily enough to dismiss the age old questions of why bad things happen to good people, or why it is morally wrong to stop AIDS via contraception etc.

So I’ll be playing at this monthly Swedish club, Klubb Physique, on Saturday. I don’t know how many Swedish HIAF readers there are but if you’re in the area come down and say hello. Previous guests at Physique include the likes of Jerome Sydenham, Par Grindvik, and Tomas Andersson, plus Cassy will play there next month, so I’m in good company.

Meanwhile I’m still piggybacking a neighbour’s internet connection and in and out of hotels for training, but I have a guest mix ready to go and more ideas for posts once I get that stuff sorted. Hopefully very soon.

I’m training in West London for a while so it’s hard to keep updating at the moment. I barely have proper net access until I get back to my new home in East London. So give me some time and hopefully I’ll have a guest mix soon if not as many posts as usual. Don’t worry, once I finish this two weeks of fairly mind blowing learning I’ll be back!

No particular order.

1. Break SL-Laguna Seca (Philpot)

Some of you might remember I included Break SL’s “Flow” in my top 30 for 2007, and so it’s good he’s finally back with a new four track EP. This will be on limited green transparent vinyl, with just 500 copies. I especially love the title track here, a seriously heavyweight piece of Chicago house with that very musical feel you might expect. (NB: I use the word musical neutrally here!)

2.  Losoul-West Side Horn (Playhouse)

About 7 years ago, when I first was getting seriously into dance music, I can remember I would mostly use Soulseek to get tunes. I didn’t have decks at the time and when I’d read about a producer, old or new, I’d try and find their stuff online. It wasn’t right I suppose, but I’ve spent plenty of money, time and energy since, and I never illegally download anymore. It was a really good way to pique my interest when I had no money, and that’s why I find it hard to totally condemn illegal downloading.

I remember around 5 or 6 years ago I heard something by Losoul. I looked him up on Discogs and somebody had said “when you see Losoul on a record, you buy it, simple as that”. I’ve followed that advice quite frequently since. I don’t think everything Peter Kremeier does is perfect but he has made a lot of great records. He’s also quite versatile. I can remember him releasing this at the height of that gothy European house sound and it fitted in really well.

All that brings us to “West Side Horn”. This is not as mindblowing as “Open Door” or “You Know”, but it is a sharp acid track that’s really good to lay under other records. It’s got a great rhythm and is very subtle. I almost cringe when I hear a 303 noise these days, because so often it means shoddy retrospection, but Kremeier makes that familiar burbling sound seem fresh here.

3. Floppy Sounds-Entertainment (Dub) (Wave Music)

I got this via a Jamie Jones chart on Beatport. He’s recently done a chart of mostly old records, and it’s interesting to hear his picks and how they relate to now. I always tend to like his charts so should probably check out a mix. Anyone ever hear that Get Lost CD he did?

As for the track, it sounds very prescient doesn’t it? It has the same arid and crisp feel of so much current house music, and even the Basic Channel influence.  If anyone has any similar recommendations I’d love to hear them. Was this a popular sound in 1997?

4. Marshall Jefferson-Mushrooms (Salt City Orchestra Mix) (Soap)

Here’s another old one, which is a total classic for many of you I’m sure.

I remember hearing “Mushrooms” first on this CD which I must dig out next time I’m back in Dublin. Recently a remix by Justin Martin came out, which I thought was pretty crap, but it did remind me of the track so it had a use! There aren’t many records that will make you feel as woozy as this does.  It’s the ultimate summer record and always seemed like a tune that should be played outdoors to me. Is it Ibiza’s diminishing influence that has led to the demise of this sort of sun drenched house music? Berlin is chilly.

“Mushrooms” has got that smokey heat you feel in good dub music, but a swing that’s totally house. And then there’s the vocal which I find as amusing as it is intense.

5. Mara Trax-Let Goose (Oslo)

And something new to end this mini-chart! This one comes with a story.

I interviewed the hiphop act Gangstarr a long time ago. After about 5 minutes the phone broke, I could hear them but they couldn’t hear me, so they began screaming “get your fucking Irish ass back on the line”. They were nice though. The reason I bring them up now is that all they talked about was “funk” and “the funk”. It was extremely boring, even though they were friendly.

The interview was enough to put me off the word “funk” for life. Except now this Mara Trax record may have “the funk”. After I did the Gangstarr interview, I found the stuff they said seemed to keep recurring elsewhere, for years. For example, DJ Premier said something like “most music today is microwaveable, and ready in 5 minutes, but our shit is marinaded”. I mean, how many times have you heard that kind of comment since? That kind of comment is microwaveable. Plus what is it about funk and food that go together? Deep fried funk etc?

Is it cos fat beats=fat dudes? I have no idea, though Mara Trax is two women. As much as it pains my microwaveable white ass to say it, this Mara Trax EP is FUNKY. Hell it’s almost “phat”. It’s not microwaveable and has been suitably marinaded. But since it’s a record and the method in which it’s cooked does not affect your physical well being, and never will, you have no cause to care!

And that concludes this week’s mini-chart. Now over to you guys.

Check out my latest What People Play roundup, and some RA reviews here, here, here, here, and here. Feel free to disagree.

If you want to be linked then let me know here. I know I have promised to link to many of you and not delivered, what is it about updating the list of links that is so difficult to do?

Now I live in London. Apply the tippex to your fine smelling leather bound address books.

I had a strange weekend, music-wise I DJed in the Pod on Saturday. Even though I’ll probably be back there to play every 5 or 6 weeks it still felt like the end of my dance music escapades and everything else in Dublin.

I have to admit I felt a bit emotional, albeit in unlikely places. As I walked back down Harcourt Street, past the hordes of drunken aggressive people that congregate outside all those awful bars, and down Grafton Street with the usual Saturday night atmosphere, I kind of felt detached a bit because I was leaving. Even the negative parts of a city are parts of it, and they have a weird familiarity.

The Pod was great, probably the best night I’ve had playing there, alongside Eoin Cregan from Bodytonic. It was full from an early stage and had that nice locked in atmosphere where you feel you can play anything. I got to play the final 3 tunes and so (for those of you who want to know, and are as geeky as I am) I chose these.

1. Substance/Vainqueur-Emerge (Processed Edit) (Scion Versions)
2. Marcel Fengler-Early Glow (Ostgut-Ton)
3. Jamie Lloyd-May I (Quarion Mix) (Future Classics)

The Quarion mix is a funny record for me, in that my personal affection for it seems to have outweighed any ability I have at rating it objectively. I reviewed it a while ago, but now I like it even more, with some memories to attach to it.

I know this sometimes happens, you love a book or a record irrationally, and its meaning to you transcends its wider value to others. Often with dance music it’s the records you associate with times or parties or friends that can be more than the sum of their parts. That’s always been something I love about dance music, that it becomes your social life. I’ve no doubt plenty people reading here feel this way about certain records.

As for this Quarion remix, it’s just a very simple and happy house/trance record, but it seems perfect for the end of a night. It also mixes surprisingly well with hard techno! It really blew me away to play it to a full club, I was dancing like a complete idiot behind the decks and I wasn’t even too drunk. I know now that I will always remember that record and I will always really love it because of the great memories I have of playing it. It must be great to be an artist and know that something you did has given people enjoyment in this way.

It all sort of reminded me how important music and DJing has been in the last few years for me. At times stuff has been really difficult. Without explaining too much there was around 18 months where the only enjoyment in my life was DJing, doing the radio show, and then eventually, blogging. At times like that you realise that a love for music will always be there, and that it really can be a massive help in bad times. I should say also that those of you who commented and stuff probably don’t realise the value of your contribution, so thanks.

Unfortunately a massive help can also be a crutch. Or a way of constantly telling yourself you’re right and the world is wrong. I’ve seen how easy it is to feel like this, in myself and in others. This is why I’m glad I can have music writing as a hobby for the foreseeable future, not necessarily as a 24/7 career. Most music critics, myself included, always have to be right. It’s tiring.

But don’t worry, that doesn’t mean I’m deleting this blog or anything! It probably doesn’t even mean I’ll be doing less blogging or writing. But it should mean everything here is much fresher and more enthusiastic, because that’s how I’ve been feeling since I found out I was moving to London.

Anyway enough sentimentality from me for one day! See some of you around London no doubt (it’s tiny here, right?) and check out the Quarion tune if you haven’t already at the stream below. And stay tuned for more posts on the way

Jamie Lloyd-May I (Quarion Mix) (Future Classic):