Earlier this week some people in my office and I pulled off a surprise birthday party for a co-worker that involved, amongst other things, filling her office in its entirety with balloons. Of course, someone had to play the obligatory Nena “99 Red Balloons” thing as the theme song once she came through the door, but that leads me to this forgotten hip hop classic. John Forte, who many considered to be the fourth member of the Fugees, released a track called “Ninety Nine” that essentially re-worked the synth-pop original into a subwoofer-pusher back in ‘98.
The original synth riffs are still intact in Ninety Nine. It featured the vocals of Jeni Fujita, while Forte’s own raps were spit on top of a heavily-distorted derivative of the same synth that doubled up against an array of head-nodding kicks. This was at a time when mainstream rap like this was still sounding pretty good, although those days were numbered. Once the Y2K hype-machine kicked into full gear the following year (which, ironically, was ninety-nine), the division between the mainstream and underground really cracked open.
In 2012, dance music is undergoing its biggest flux in decades. As the entire world around it also changes, so has our own little community right in our backyard. Stop and think about what has happened in the last four or five years alone: bars have closed down, party crews faded in and out, some clubs changed direction, and others came along to fill any voids. But at the very end of every January, almost everyone involved in our Boston scene is aware of the fact that one of the longest-running weekly events in the COUNTRY gets to carve (yet) another notch in the table. Yes folks, Elements is celebrating their big 13 today :)
Bill Crook and Lenore Falusio serve as a humble reminder that some things in our transformative world CAN remain consistent, and thrive. While even the wall paneling and tap fixtures change at the Phoenix Landing, the home of Elements every Thursday since January 1999, the ethos of the night have stayed put. Kemal and Future Cut, the producers behind some of the records they probably played in 1999, have gone on to craft world music and pop, respectively. And the likes of current-day producers Netsky and Wilkinson were barely old enough to talk then. But Bill and Lenore’s love of the music remains the same, a modest suggestion that they are not slowing down with the night any time soon.
The focus on drum and bass isn’t the only thing that hasn’t changed about Elements; everything from the way Bill and Lenore book the DJ’s (evenly balancing local and abroad talent), to the branding, the same reasonable $5 cover, and even their medium of choice (both still have a soft spot for good ol’ vinyl) are the same. The anniversary parties are NO exception; they dilligently comb through all their records to pull out both classics and long-forgotten gems. Multiple generations of scene-goers come out of the woodwork to celebrate and, of course, bag an official t-shirt.
I remember back in 2005 when their sixth anniversary party was kind of a big deal. On the way out, some kid distinctly told me “I’m willing to bet they’re still gonna be here six years from now.” Fast forward to their tenth anniversary party in 2009, when everyone was chanting “TEN MORE YEARS” at the tail end. Perhaps it isn’t just the night itself that is strong and steady. It is also due to the relentless support of Elements’ fanbase, who often come by week-in and week-out, and regard the night as an institution for electronic music in Boston!
It’s well worth your effort to come by, especially if you’ve never been before. Remember, the Phoenix is 19+, a bonus for you college bassheads out there. $5 cover, t-shirts, giveaways at the end, veterans know this drill all too well. Click here for the Facebook event invite, and click here to read a great article about the night written by Luke O’Neil, which was published in the GLOBE last weekend.
Chicago’s Dance Mania records has been active for over 25 years; it was one of the first imprints pushing house music, period. Often times in renegade fashion, right out of the trunk of someone’s car outside the club. They’ve had their hand in releasing everything from house to disco, juke, ghetto tech, and bootie, but the roots of the label have remained the same: most of the producers were Chi-town natives. Some of them, Paul Johnson for example, spent plenty of time at the top of the game long after Dance Mania put him on the map. Others, like Herman Orphey, only ended up releasing a few things which unfortunately ended up drowning in a vast sea of obscurity.
Despite just 1 or 2 releases, 1995’s “Tabu” was a good effort on Orphey’s behalf. While Dance Mania was heavily involved in pushing the ghetto tech sound at the time, every few releases included the occasional house throwback like this. Tabu is a pretty simple affair; very organic with a minimal number of samples and sequence change-ups. Yet the groove is there, as are the soulful keys and ubiquitous 909 hi-hats. Nothing is over-analyzed or over-done- no different strucurally than the earliest house from the 1980s.
A Tale of Us is a deep house duo straight out of Berlin. 2011 was a good year for these guys; even with just one EP (the “Dark Song” three-tracker), they managed to wow crowds throughout the world with their flawless storytelling behind a set of turntables. Which appropriately explains why they were ranked #15 on Resident Advisor’s worldwide poll this past December. Expect to hear more releases from them on Visionquest as well as the seminal Crosstown Rebels label; of course you can be the first to hear them when they perform tonight on the second floor at Felt! (33 Washington St, Boston)
2011 wasn’t enough for producer Travis Stewart, aka Machinedrum. A slew of remixes, singles for Planet Mu and LuckyMe, his full-length effort Room(s) (on the former of those two labels), and guest mixes for FACT magazine, Electronic Explorations, and Mary Anne Hobbs. If, amidst all that, you still aren’t familiar with his sound, better catch up now…he’s only gaining additional momentum from the blogosphere and DJ community.
Machinedrum’s first effort of 2012 is an EP on Scottish label LuckyMe titled “SXLND”. It opens with “Take Good Care”, a brief synth warmup which conveys a continuation of the crackling, low-fi sound found on Room(s). But the rest of the foray suggests the curtain being drawn back to commence a scene anew.
Title track “SXLND” and the cuts that follow it are straightforward, dancefloor-designed beats that have a lot in common with the house-and-bass sounds coming out of the right side of the Atlantic. The strings glisten even through the thickest of British fog, complimented with occasional vocal slices, syncopation across the table, and robotic techno keys which conjure up a land that is vastly… um, sexy. (Ah… so that’s what it stands for!)
While “No Respect” is an edgy low-end workout, the real gem is “Van Vogue” as it’s everything Machinedrum does best. Similar to the legendary painter who preceded Machinedrum by a hundred and some-odd years, this track is an obvious display of emotional honesty; the vibrant pastel paints now replaced by lush synths, heavy bass, and equally colorful percussion. Finally, “DDD” closes things off on a lighter note, throwing down keys that are simple, catchy, and simply head-nod-inducing.
Aside from the EP, I also recommend Machinedrum’s DJ mixes. He has the tendency to smashed together IDM, juke, and oldskool jungle with his own stuff, with no regrets whatsoever. Most recent is a berserk 50-minute mix for Boiler Room, which is worth checking out just for the added hilarity from the one like Murderbot in the background.
Several months ago we had Boston-turned-San Fran resident Eric Sharp climb aboard the Boogiedownload Podcast bandwagon. Being that it isn’t much warmer in San Fran than it is in Boston right now, there is no choice for someone like him to hit the warmth of the studio during these sad winter months. It sure doesn’t stop him from sporting those signature shades while cooking up one energetic stomper after the next though!
Allow me to share with you his new single which includes two songs: “Hope Springs Eternal” and “Let it Go”. Fresh out the oven from digi-label Rock It Science Laboratories, Sharp’s original version of Hope Springs Eternal is a grooving tech house affair that extracts what appears to be an urban vocal snippet from the 80s, blows the dust off and brings it up to date. Then he proceeds to bring the man himself, ROY DAVIS JR., from the same era himself, aboard to chop and re-sequence things up a little bit.
Then we flip over to “Let It Go”, a completely different side of Sharp’s production and testament to his versatility. This is a fidgety workout; low-frequency oscillating basslines are the show stealer here. The R&B vocal is replaced with a stamina-infused hip hop howl in the vein of Lil Jon. Which the crowd and I like, it gets us dancing. When Lil Jon says “Jump”, we say “How High”, and all that noise. White Girl Lust flips Let It Go, adding more complex percussion and trades the wobbly bassline in for a squelchy acid house lead. If you like acid, today is your lucky day: the download is available for FREE on Soundcloud.
There is also a bonus track that hints at drum and bass Sharp collabed with recent Make It New guest Lousiahhh called “The End of Mankind” as well.
If you’ve been to the Goodlife, one of Boston’s institutions for dance and electronic music, you’ve probably encountered the same problem as I. You pay the cover, walk in, and immediately wrap around the wall to dive into the abyss of the basement. Not to come up for air until the bouncers kick out your ass promptly at 2am. It’s not unlike when my family used to take me to the beach in Cape Cod when I was a young Jedi: I would jump in the water the second we arrived, not to come out until my mother had to drag me from the waves when it was time to go.
The problem with all this? I never got to appreciate what it was like playing on the sand, and at the Goodlife, many never get to appreciate the vibe of that upstairs room that everyone just walks right by! But the top floor, which serves as a restaurant during the day, has a vibe of its own. Where the basement is dark and booming, the side room is full of ambient light and is conversation-friendly. The upstairs is generally less packed, and therefore, the line to the bar shorter. (You waited a half hour in line to get in, why wait even longer just to score a frosty beverage, right?)
The DJ’s who populate the tiny booth in the top floor room are all local taste-makers who can juggle being cutting-edge while being crowd-friendly. If you want to hear dubstep or tech house you’re going to have to head downstairs. But disco, deep house, dancehall, hip hop, even indie are all fair game upstairs. A great example of what you might hear on the top floor is the “Charming Pig” mix by DJ Evaredy. Evaredy hosts a night called “The Thickness” on the second friday of each month at Goodlife; and guess what, it’s upstairs only. But as I learned by the time I was 13, playing on the sand isn’t all that bad. It sure beat doing homework!
“The Charming Pig” is 45 minutes of mellow house with a side order of synth-pop. In other words, the four-on-the-floor beats are a little slowed down, and vocals are very prominent. Hometown heroes Juan MacLean and Soul Clap make appearances. Look out for more Goodlife-endorsed DJ mixes by following their Soundcloud page; Evaredy’s is just the first in the series.
Check out that upstairs room for a few minutes the next time you go to Goodlife, you may be pleasantly surprised!
So over the weekend while everyone was paying attention to who the AFC and NFC champions came to be (here we go fellas….2008 flashback!) the NAMM conference was still in full throttle, touting a variety of product announcements and whatnot. Out of the seemingly endless array of them, here are a few I think are important and potential game-changers.
So a few minutes ago I posted a video of dudes surfing huge waves in Tahiti. So while we’re on the subject of waves, let me introduce you to a free VST software synthesizer you may also find handy. (Well, if you’re a producer, that is.) Superwave P8 has for years been one of the most popular freeware subtractive synthesizers on the Internet. Why is that? Because in plain english, it is a no-BS subtractive synthesizer that has a clean layout, sounds good, and is user friendly (especially for beginners).
Although Superwave P8 has been around for several years, this is actually a good thing because it is a tried and tested program. Beginners will like this VST because it has only the important components of a synthesizer, such as just 2 oscillators, the basic wave shapes (including a super-saw), a couple of filters, two LFO’s, and basic envelope and effect parameter controls. No modular capabilities or superfluous add-ons that will make an entry-level producer’s head explode!
Younger producers who have the non-suite version of Ableton Live, or other programs such as Reaper will probably get the most benefit out of Superwave P8. Users of modern trackers that can handle plug-ins (like Renoise) will also benefit. I’m willing to bet because Superwave is an older program, it is also less of a resource-hog on your computer as well. Have a look at the video above to see the Superwave P8 in action. And watch the video in this link if you’re having trouble setting it up in Ableton.
Last week I posted a video demonstrating the mindblowing technology that is the Phantom HD camera. At thousands of frames per second, watching a glass of water shatter on a hotel bathroom floor was a pretty interesting thing to watch. So it only makes sense to up the ante this week, and post another video with the Phantom at work, this time filming the movement of about a BILLION times the amount of water.
Billabong hosts a pro surf competition every year in Teahupo’o, a small village in Tahiti. Teahupo’o is renowned for its infamous waves, which can easily reach 50 FEET in height. The slope of the reef beneath the surface of the water causes the wave to hollow out in the center once it breaks. And like climbing to the top of Everest, very few people will ever get to witness it first hand; those that do risk death with even the smallest screw-up!
Although wiping out on a Teahupo’o wave would be akin to falling off a five-story building, film maker Chris Bryan lets us safely watch other people surf these monsters from the safety of our desk chairs. And thanks to the Phantom, those wave breaks just became that much more epic. Full-screen this bad boy.
Did I miss anything? Email nminieri@yahoo.com if you want me to include your event, as long as it’s in the general Boston area and is catered towards dance/electronic music. I will be updating the list on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Nick Smeed (best known as L.E.D. FUT) has been quite productive as of recent, both throwing events around the city as well as clocking in some studio time outside his 9-to-5 at That Bloomin’ Place. He’s been collaborating extensively with left-coast producer Sergio Paramo, a house head he met at the Winter Music Conference in Miami several years ago. While on holiday break, Paramo decided to travel up to Boston to spend a couple weeks collaborating in the studio with L.E.D. FUT, the results of which are starting to trickle out to the Soundcloud arena.
One of Paramo & L.E.D. FUT’s strongest works so far is a track called “Jumbo” which they released a preview clip of a mere few hours ago. Jumbo is a well-executed song that manages to extract all the fun elements of a variety of dance genres! The fast-growing UK bass sound bestills the most influence, instantly recognized in the booming 808 bee-line. The we have the percussion which, similar to most tech house, consists of very short clicks and punctuated samples designed to ALMOST sound like actual drums (but not quite). Finally, the rapid-fire vocal snippets actually relish the rhythm, rather than steal the entire show; this is a technique very heavily used in numerous styles of garage. But what I especially like about “Jumbo” is it doesn’t try too hard to sound like any of the said genres; it stands on a leg of its own because of the groove and the accessability.
Sergio is winding down his trip in Boston, but be sure to catch him play tonight at Good Bar in downtown Boston (183 State St), alongside L.E.D. FUT along with longtime New England favorites Bookum and Jordan Jaser Kane. $5 Cover. Facebook event invite
Another great night is in store for Goodlife partygoers tomorrow (I feel like I’ve been there a lot lately, could it be something in the water?!) Picó Picante has gained a great deal of traction in the mere six months they have been in existence. Starting from their humble beginnings at the cozy Lily Pad in Somerville, they moved to the more spacious Goodlife several months ago as patronage began to rise. Why wouldn’t it; everyone is digging the sounds of moombahton, latin house, tropical bass, freestyle, cumbia, or whatever other names people come up with to define the sound that makes me forget about the harsh wind and blinding snow Boston bestows upon us at this time of year.
Sara Skolnick and Ernesto Morales are not only instrumental in running Picó Picante, but they also perform as a duo called Pajaritos. As DJ’s, they spend a lot of time carefully searching music that compliments the night. The ethos of Picó Picante are very organic as the sound of global music changes faster than the current stock market even on a slow day. They are constantly on their toes, not only to keep their setlists fresh, but also to find ways to rejuvinate each installment of the once-a-month event.
Pajaritos and I had the opportunity to email back and forth regarding the night and where they are headed for 2012. So without further ado, here’s a bit about Pico Picante, straight from the source!
Nick: Describe Pico Picante in one sentence to someone who may be new to the Boston area.
Pajaritos: Picó Picante is a non-stop dance party driven by global music influences – a blur of intermingling cultures and a vibrant crowd.
Nick: Along with yourself, PC/MM and Parajitos were instrumental in helping kick Pico Picante off just six months ago. How long have you all been involved in the music scene - both in Boston and beyond? Any future plans for the night we should be aware of?
Pajaritos: This month we’re celebrating our first anniversary as Pajaritos. Now we’ll be starting to record our own music, as well as stepping up the Picó Picante party. We want each upcoming party to have its own theme, which incorporates specific musical motifs, costumes, props, instrument handouts, and other ideas. Most importantly, we want to expand the breadth of musical genres in our sets.
We’re excited to give a home to Boston global bass artists, as well as to invite guests from out of town to expand our city’s presence in the worldwide tropical community. We’d also like to experiment with ways to explore the cultural sources of this music - through panels, screenings, and collaborations with local organizations that promote a passionate, celebratory cross-cultural dialogue.
Nick: It’s hard to deny the widespread acceptance of salsa-spiced influences baked into many forms of dance music, especially moombahton and tropical bass. How do you predict these sounds will further evolve over the next five years?
Pajaritos: It’s hard to tell what direction these emerging genres will take, since they’ve already covered so much ground in their infancy. With only one year of digging into digital crates and with new releases popping up what seems like by the hour, we’re looking forward to more and more surprises.
Nick: Who are some artists who fall within the vein of Pico Picante you would recommend to a casual listener? How about some up-and-coming artists you would recommend to a serious listener?
Pajaritos: Soundcloud is a treasure trove for global bass artists, if anything for the immediacy that new tracks can go live and be shared among the bass community. Our inspiration from the night originally came from NYC artists and founders of the notorious Que Bajo?! party - Uproot Andy, Geko Jones, DJ Reaganomics. Other artists to check out - DJ Sabo of Los Angeles, the Peligrosa crew from Austin, Caballo, Javier Estrada, Fade to Mind artists. The beauty of all of this is the element of surprise when digging - just this week I was blown away by a “Rave Ateka” 3ball Guarachero release that dropped in the past few days.
Here we have a driving piece of techno with plenty of edge and even more attitude. Uncompromising even in its subtler parts, Denver McCarthy’s “Roughage” is a relentless onslaught of distorted kicks, a howling bass groove, and random edits that flip the song backwards to further screw with people like myself who suck at dancing.
Speaking of the reverse edits: Denver actually fills up the whole second side of the 12” with the same exact version of “Roughage”, only in reverse! Interestingly enough, the second side plays from the inside-out, so the appearance of the grooves on both sides are identical. He aptly named the track on side two “Egahguor”. Maybe he was out of ideas, or was on a tight deadline to get this 12” out to the masses, but either way, I’ve come across a lot of records in my day and never seen anything like this before.
McCarthy went on to re-release the normal version of Roughage on popular tech house label Primevil (with a couple of remixes), and has since recorded under a variety of different aliases. His most recent project as DJ Vraj actually experiments with healthy doses of classical and ambient; he has abandoned those 909 kicks for something a little more appropriate for the headphones rather than the warehouse.
These cats dropped one 12” on an indy label before they were quickly snatched up by Rawkus and the rest was history. Before the Smut Peddlers released their seminal “First Name Smut” and “Porn Again” LP’s in 1999 and 2001 (respectively), they cut one of the tracks that occupied the first side of said 12”: “One By One”. Teaming up with well-known Caucasian rapper Cage, they effed listeners up with pop rocks and Coca-Cola, while sticking needles in their third eyes. Abstract rap has always been hit-or-miss for me, but it just works in One By One.
When the Smut Peddlers released their Porn Again LP, they re-worked the song entirely, but retained much of the original lyrics. That version sounds a bit forced and arbitrary compared to the completely spontaneous and relaxed feel of the OG from ‘97.
Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 10:18PM 
