Crew Love, headed up by the Wolf + Lamb and Soul Clap duos, are back on Saturday, August 1 with the fifth edition of the annual Full Moon Fest—and far from running out of steam after a half decade of groovesome fun, the shindig looks to be stronger than ever. Teaming up with MATTE Projects, the crew is moving the affair to a great-sounding new locale, the lush pop-up party space Brooklyn Mirage, complete with tropical flora, cloud misters, a selection of food vendors and, apparently, beach sand imported from the South of France. But as always, it’s the music that makes these kinds of get-togethers work, and this year’s Full Moon Fest doesn’t disappoint, with Tensnake and Yelle leading the way on the main stage, which also features sets from RÜFÜS DU SOL, Oliver Nelson, MOTHXR, and the Kite String Tangle. Then there’s the Crew Love stage itself, which—besides Wolf & Lamb and Soul Clap themselves—sees tunes coming courtesy of PillowTalk, No Regular Play, Slow Hands, Nick Monaco, Navid Izadi, and Life On Planets. The party runs from 3pm till late; you can purchase advance tickets here. And don’t sleep—Full Moon Fest has sold out all four previous years, and early-bird tickets are already gone.
DJ Pierre, Spanky, and Herb J of the Chicago-based acid-house group Phuture have remastered the trio’s seminal record “Acid Tracks” for re-issue on vinyl available now via Juno Records.
Trax Records—the Chicago-based house music label that played a major part in the development of house music during the mid 80’s—has just released a new repressing of “Acid Tracks” by influential acid-house pioneers. Identified by numerous different artists as the first acid house record ever produced, the release features the then uncharacteristic bass lines from the Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer that the acid house genre was built upon. This squelchy bass line was the sound that gave the group it’s identity, and from that identity a whole style of house music would be born. The members of Phuture have also been credited with pioneering and developing the Chicago acid-house sound with their other releases on Trax Records, including the club EP “We Are Phuture.” The vinyl was originally mastered by Marshall Jefferson and includes all three original tracks from the first pressing, including the unmistakable B side combination of ‘Phuture Jacks’ and the cocaine addiction warning message ‘Your Only Friend’. Check out Phuture on Facebook for more info and buy the record directly from Juno Records here.
You can also catch DJ Pierre and Phuture on tour this year, with a live date this Saturday at the Twisted Pepper in Dublin, or next month on July 27 at SummerDance in Grant Park, IL.
Following on from its inaugural release—the Stark Champagne EP from Omar Santis—Swedish label Karakul return with the Laid EP from UK producer Andy Scott (a.k.a. NY*AK). Employing an all hardware setup including an MPC, a Juno 106, and various Roland drum machines, Scott presents four warm, soulful cuts with swung rhythms reminiscent of hip-hop’s golden era. Pulled from the EP is the title cut, “Laid,” a sample-heavy slow burner with an undeniably infectious groove. The full EP—with artwork by Callum Mclean—is available now over at Phonica Records, with “Laid” available as a free download below.
On July 6, UK-born Berlin-based producer BNJMN will follow up his brilliant Luster EP with the release of Chrome, a four-tracker set for arrival on his own Brack imprint.
Chrome continues down the darker and grittier path BNJMN first started delving into with Luster: deep, low-end thuds bookend the tracks, with murky, hypnotising synth work and scraping percussion slicing around on top. The analog drenched sounds and textures run wild throughout the EP, creating nuances and subtle shifts that only become apparent after repeated listens.
EP cut “Rattled” can be streamed in full below, with the full release available for preorder here.
Earlier this month, Apple unveiled details of Apple Music, a new service launching at the end of June. Paid subscribers will have access to unlimited music streaming for $9.99 per month, plus a three-month free trial period. However, the company’s original policy, which stated that music labels and publishers would not receive any royalties from plays during the 90-day trial, sparked controversy. Siding with independent labels such as Beggars Group (home to the XL and Rough Trade labels) and the Association of Independent Music, pop star Taylor Swift penned an open letter to Apple over the weekend explaining why her 1989 LP would not be available on the service, and calling on the company to change its policy. “Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing,” she wrote. “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
As a result, Apple’s Eddy Cue announced the reversal of the policy this morning via Twitter, stating: “Apple will always make sure that artist are paid. #AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period. We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple.” A ‘per-stream’ royalty system will be out into place instead. (via Resident Advisor)
Last month, Four Tet (a.k.a. Kieran Hebden) revealed that he’d be releasing a new album via his own Text label in early July, entitled Morning/Evening. Over the weekend, however, the two-track LP saw a surprise release in celebration of the summer solstice, and is available to stream and download via Bandcamp now. According to the accompanying description, “This music was created on a laptop computer using the Ableton Live software to control and mix VST synthesizers and manipulations of found audio recordings.” A physical release will land on July 10. (via Resident Advisor)
London’s Fabric launched its eponymous label in 2001, a mere two years the famed club began packing its three rooms with the U.K. capital’s discerning revelers; Berghain opened its doors in 2004, and its associated label, Ostgut Ton, began releasing the kind of rarefied techno that defines the Berlin nitery in 2006. But the Rex Club decided to let things simmer a little longer: The Parisian boîte originally began packing ’em in during the late ’80s, becoming a haven for the city’s electronic sounds in the early ’90s—but it wasn’t until last month that Rex Club Music burst finally upon the scene. But the two-decade-plus wait was worth it, as the label has sprung to life with a near-literal bang, tapping a pair of the club’s top residents—Julien “D’Julz” Veniel and Phil Weeks—to kick things off by combining their considerable talents for the inaugural single. As you might be able to guess, the result, the Second Hand Smoke EP (released last month), is a monster of an EP, with the “Break 4 Love“–referencing “Ligne B” (complete with tough Trus’me remix) backed with the hard-charging, evocative “2 Miles Away.” Hooking up via Skype, the two French vets discussed the new label, the making of the EP, the burgeoning Paris scene and, of course, the beloved club they call home.
D’Julz, you’ve been involved with Rex Club almost since the beginning, right?
D’Julz: Not the beginning, but almost forever. I think the first time I played there was around ’95 or ’96, for a party called Temple that some rave promoters had moved to the club. At that time, it was becoming very hard to do raves, because the police were shutting them all down—and the Rex was one of the only clubs that thought that it would be interesting to work with these new promoters and this new crowd. The club gave all the Saturdays to Temple, and I had one night a month with them. After a year or two, the promoters had moved on to something else and the night was done, but the Rex decided to give the DJs their own nights. And that’s how Bass Culture was born in 1997.
And that party still lives on—that’s quite a run.
D’Julz: Yes, it is! It was a monthly for the first four years, but then I started playing abroad more and more, so I changed it to every other month. It’s still doing great…and I still love doing it.
Would it be fair to say that both you and Bass Culture helped to define the direction of the club in those day? D’Julz: Oh, I don’t know about that. There have been so many local artists who have been doing great nights there—starting, of course, with Laurent Garnier. He was there a few years before I started. The thing that did happen was that, in the very early days, the Rex had rock nights and hip-hop nights, and after a while, it was only electronic music. But it had all the electronic styles—there were big drum & bass nights, and Fridays were always big techno nights. And Phil’s nights were centered more around Chicago house; he can tell you more about that.
Weeks: Julien started way before me—I think the Rex is now totally associated with him and his night. I can remember going to his nights just to dance. He’s really been there since the beginning of our time—of Paris time. For me, it was different. I didn’t start playing there till 2001. It was not my night, but it was the first time I got booked at the club. It was something that I been waiting for, of course—everyone was like, “You have to play at the Rex Club!” We had that old mixer—do you remember that, Julien?
D’Julz: Yeah! It was of French mixer—a really nice one, but one that I never saw outside of France.
Weeks: I was only playing once in a while at first, maybe only once a year. I got my own night, and started getting more involved with the club, in 2008 or 2009. It’s the night I still do with my partner, Didier Allyne. He’s more on the techno side than I am, but we are good friends in live, so we decided to join up.
And now, finally, there’s a label, Rex Club Music. D’Julz: Yes, finally! It’s Molly’s project—she’s an up-and-coming French talent who has been working at the Rex Club for many years, first doing promotions and later doing he own nights there. The boss of the Rex decided it was about time to start a label, and we’re all really happy that she’s the one who did it—she has a wide range in taste.
The club itself features a fairly wide swathe of music, so it will probably be difficult for the label to fully represent what the club is about.
D’Julz: Yes, that is true. The first release is house, of course, but the label has to show more than house. At some point, there will be techno and other things, for sure. But she is the right person to do it. She’ll be getting a lot of people who are residents of the club, and also guests from all over the world—and she wanted to start with something from me, which is great. But when she asked me if I had any new music, I said no! [laughs] That’s happened to be just when I started working with Phil on a project, and we didn’t know what to do with the project. We weren’t even sure if we were going to use our own names—the only thing we knew was that we didn’t want to put it out on our own labels. When we knew about the label, we realized it would be perfect, so we told Molly that we have this project, and if she likes it, maybe it would be perfect for the first release. She liked the tracks…and there you go!
Had you two worked in the studio together before this project? Weeks: That was the first time, even though we’ve known each other since late ’90s. It was my idea to do this. Julien was sending me some music, and I was impressed by the sound quality, which is very important to me—everything always sounds so digital. So I was like, “Shit, man—we should make some music together!”
It’s kind of amazing that it never happened before.
Weeks: Yeah. We’re both at the club, I appreciate his work, he’s always playing my music—finally it was, okay, let’s do it! That’s how it started. Then Molly called while we were in the studio, and said “I would like something from you and Julien!” She already knew from you that we were working together, no?
D’Julz: Yeah, she did know. But it was perfect timing, really.
Weeks: We didn’t even think about it. We weren’t like, “Oh, we will be the first release on the new label.” We just said yes. But we are kind of proud to be the first release.
How did you two actually work—were you in the studio together for this, or were you sending files back and forth?
D’Julz: We were working in Phil’s studio—and Phil definitely has his own way of working. I usually use a mix of analog hardware and the computer—depending on the project, it might be more with synths, or it might be more with Ableton, but it’s a mix. Phil has his own way of working, which is almost 100 percent in the MPC3000, with just a couple of other things like the 909. Writing everything in the MPC is quite unique and makes things sound very special, and I was very curious to work this way. I just brought a couple of records to sample, and after that, it was just basically us jamming.
Do you think the results mesh your two sounds together, or does it sound like neither of you?
D’Julz: We finished the first track, “2 Miles Away,” really quickly, and I think that one sound different than what either one of us would sound like on our own. That was actually what we were aiming for.
Weeks: I would never have done that track by myself, for sure. It’s us working together, but it doesn’t sound like us, I don’t think.
D’Julz: But the second one, “Ligne B,” the sound of us together. The bass and beats are definitely Phil’s style—and the loop on top is maybe me. It’s the perfect combination of the both of us, and I think the EP is quite rich because of this.
Weeks: I feel exactly the same. That second track, the one with the bass, is the one that I’m playing the most in my sets.
D’Julz: Me, too! [laughs] But a lot of people have been playing the first one, so we are happy.
I know a lot of people really love that Trus’me mix of “Ligne B” as well.
Weeks: So do I!
D’Julz: We actually had a few names in mind for the remix, but I’ve really been liking what Trus’me’s been doing lately. It’s a bit more techno, but always with a nice groove. There’s something quite different about his music, and I really like that. Anyway, we submitted his name and a few others to Molly, and she knows Trus’me quite well and bumped into him when he was playing at Concrete a few months ago, and it just went from there. He did a great job—it’s stripped down and more focused on the bass.
Weeks: It’s that 303 bass. We made it with the original TB-303, and I think that’s why he liked it—the sound of it is huge.
Do you two have any more plans to work together?
Weeks: We haven’t even talked about that yet, I don’t think. Are we, Julien?
D’Jules: We had a lot of fun working together, and we are both happy with the result. But right now, I really need to start focusing on my own material, because I was doing a lot of collaborations before. I know Phil is a workaholic—he does like two tracks a day or something—but I’m a lot slower, so that’s why I have to set time aside to work on my own stuff. Eventually, I’d love to do something else with Phil.
Weeks: And I’m working on my next album, so at the moment I’m focused on that. I’m not even doing very much remix work right now. But we’ll do something again, for sure.
Do you both see yourself staying at the Rex Club for as long as you’re DJing?
D’Julz: Well, both of our nights have never been doing as well as they are now, I have to say. The Paris scene in general has exploded in the past three years.
Weeks: I think it is the best in the world now. Before, I would have said London and Berlin—but I think Paris is taking over, at least in Europe.
D’Julz: And that’s something that we did not see coming! But it’s at another level right now, with new clubs, new parties and new festivals. With the Rex in the middle of this, you might think it might suffer from having all this new competition—but that’s not the case at all. The club is doing better than ever, and so there is no plan to ever move on.
Weeks: I am the same way. It’s so funny—when I’m playing there now, there are all these kids looking at the CDJ trying to see what you are playing. They all want the music! People aren’t there just to party and get fucked up. They really want to know about the music, and you can feel that. And Paris wasn’t always like that.
D’Julz: This new generation is just fantastic. They are very open-minded, and they are very educated about things. They are the best crowd that you can imagine.
If you told a crowd of seasoned LA promoters that two twenty-something LA chicks had crafted a formula for late night events that was simply both of them opening for a single headliner for the entirety of the night, and that within 9 months that formula would have people literally climbing up the walls as though they were possessed by the Holy Ghost, you’d probably get a healthy dose of skepticism. It takes years of experience and toiling away in anonymity to break through, right?
It seems Alison Swing and Masha Mar have little respect for tradition. Even they are in awe of what their party thrown under the moniker “Dig Deeper” has become in such a short period of time. When the duo aren’t opening up for for the likes of Max Graef, Jay Daniel, and Iron Curtis in the comforting shadows of the LA subterranean scene, they are throwing events at The Standard Rooftop in Downtown LA or at The Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. Their names can also be seen on a vast array of lineups around town as they perfect their craft and expand their outreach. Don’t think that their impressive early returns have come without hustle; these ladies work hard.
But when they are behind the decks, they are flashing Cheshire smiles in the darkness, serving up forward-thinking house music and hugging awe-struck revellers from across the DJ-booth divide. They have stumbled into a certain kind of magic that is all their own and unlike most other LA parties happening right now.
Some of that is at least due in part to the younger crowd that has embraced vinyl as a medium all over again, and who freak out when Swing—who exclusively plays vinyl—drops a well-timed cut of LCD Soundsystem’s “Get Innocuous” as an ice cube into a stiff 4/4 cocktail.
Credit their artistry as well, such as Masha’s prophetic suggestion that they adorn their DJ booth with madonna figurines and other religious paraphernalia as an homage to the legendary Chicago-based DJ, vinyl cult purveyor and personal hero of theirs. Marea (Black’s real name) would later tag the two on Instagram for the ornate altar placed in the middle of the dancefloor—Boiler Room style—from which she graciously administered her sermon.
Masha opened up the night with some divine selections of her own blend of soulful deep house, which draws heavy influence from Detroit and the likes of Omar S, that would serve as communion to the first devotees who arrived.
“I believe in the art of the opening DJ,” said Masha when speaking to XLR8R afterwards. “I set the tone by starting off with Avalon Emmerson’s ‘Church of Soma’ (HNNY remix) and then moved into the shamanic Red Axes ‘Me and Abra In Ruanda’ (Hivern Discs).” Repping your talents as an opening DJ is a bold move, but it legitimately was the perfect scene-setter. By the time she played her last track, the crowd in front of the booth was already thicker than the King James Version of The Bible, with little-to no-chance of mercy anticipated from The Black Madonna.
Once Alison went on, dancers had overtaken the back of the DJ booth as well. Not missing a beat, she transitioned into Axel Boman’s new track, “Something Bad on my Mind” from Junk Yard Connection’s ‘Back Yard Impressions Vol. II.’ By then, the party was locked into a groove with their hands waving and, judging by their faces and yelps, clearly feeling like the music was the perfect soundtrack for their life at that very moment.
Before delivering her sermon, The Black Madonna arrived early with her record bag in-tow to take in the party, mingling with her friends and hanging around the pulpit to hear the majority of Swing’s set.
“Marea is someone I really look up to, not only as a DJ, but as another woman in the music industry. Her viewpoints have been a huge source of inspiration for me,” said Swing with obvious reverence.
And lo and behold, The Black Madonna came down from heaven, playing a set straight out of the Book of Revelations that featured Chicago house, rare disco edits, Berghain-style techno, and everything in between. Adding one more bullet point to their resume for the night, Masha and Alison had to take on the role of security enforcement to keep the heaving crowd from bumping into The Black Madonna as she preached. For lack of a better metaphor, seeing her navigate so many genres so fluidly was a religious experience and the party was primed for the Rapture that, appropriately, finished late on a Sunday morning.
Dig Deeper maintains a brand that, at its core, is asking the dance community to try new ideas when it comes to partying. House music was built on the fundamental belief that no matter who you are, where you come from, or where you’re going, at the very least, you deserve a place where you will be accepted. Dig Deeper is a place to confess your sins, and a place to wash away the shames of atonement.
Masha & Alison have work lined up all over town for the next couple of months. Catch them at one of their dates in Los Angeles, and check out Dig Deeper for more information on their next event. You can also check out The Black Madonna in New York during Pride Weekend for The Bunker & Wrecked Pride present: Honey Soundsystem, The Black Madonna, Carlos Souffront, Mike Servito, and Honcho.
Back in April, JoeFarr’s Longanimity EP kicked off Leisure System’s GRIDLOCK 12” series, which represents the labels “ongoing interest in melding the freaky and the functional on the dance floor.” Now, EP cut “Mormon Shuffle” gets a weird and wonderful new video from the Old Rope Films camp.
The video is a twisted, hallucinogenic, and quite humorous three-and-a-half minutes which arrived with very little planning: “With barely any time, we instinctively decided the most natural visual accompaniment for JoeFarr’s writhing mechanical atmospheres would be this funked up fashion shoot stuck in a Möbius strip in time,” director Theo Watkins says. “It came to us like a whisper from another dimension.”
You can watch the full video for JoeFarr’s “Mormon Shuffle” below, with the full EP available here.
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III Points has released the initial lineup for their 2015 festival, taking place in the Wynwood Art District area of Miami during the second weekend of October. One of the acts on the bill that has attracted the interest of Hip-Hop heads all over the internet, is the collaborative performance between Ghostface Killah and MF DOOM, titled “Live From The Other Side Of Time.” The two story-teller MCs are set to present an exclusive audio/visual show that will have the performers transported to the stage via a “Star Trek-style” live screen. The DOOMSTARKS album was reported to drop in 2015 by Ghostface himself in a reddit AMA thread back in December of 2014, but rumors surrounding the release of the mysterious album have been circulating for over 8 years. Other artists on the lineup include The Martinez Brothers, Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, and Animal Collective’s own, Panda Bear.
The three-day event will showcase Miami’s local performers, vendors, artists, and musicians, and will include panels, lectures, gallery shows, and a fully immersive 4 stage main-grounds. Early bird tickets are sold out, but the next wave of tickets can be purchased on the III Points website.
