As we head into 2010, the continuum of great music streaming from the tail end of last year just don’t stop. Latin playboy Matías Aguayo takes house in all sorts of new (vocal-driven) directions, while L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok hold it down with their London club and label Night Slugs. Then over on this side of the pond, Washed Out, Pictureplane, Toro Y Moi, and Neon Indian take electronic music back to the garage, while Beach House blesses Sub Pop with a new seaside stunner.
Rimer London “Intercity”
Crafty producers have been churning out upbeat, analog-synth-powered dance tunes for decades now, but the infectious nature of a good arpeggio is practically undeniable, especially when paired with a solid backbeat. Amsterdam’s Rimer London, who also spends time in electro-disco outfit Le Le, has learned this lesson well, as “Intercity” is a delicious dose of spacey-yet-danceable electronic pop. You know, the kind that vaguely recalls the early ’80s when people loved/feared technology in a totally naive way and everyone couldn’t wait for someone to invent a robot that knew how to love. That’s what 1983 was like, right?
Patrick Cowley and Jorge Socarras Catholic
A few years ago, some San Francisco DJs and music enthusiasts happened upon a stack of unreleased tape reels featuring collaborations between gay disco icon Patrick Cowley and multi-instrumentalist Jorge Socarras. Shockingly, Catholic was not a Hi-NRG disco album along the lines of Cowley’s production for Sylvester, but a multi-genre concept work that hardly contains any typical disco elements. Instead, there’s the frenetic post-disco punk of “I Never Want to Fall in Love,” the dreamy synth softness of “I Remember,” and the almost Television-like weirdo-rock of “Cars Collide.” A synth-drenched cover of Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” finishes the 14-song disc, and the listener is left with a feeling that there is no better song to complete such a lovely, significant time capsule.
New York’s The Bunker, Akufen to Travel to Colorado for Communikey
This April, the Rocky Mountain State is going to get a taste of unadulterated New York techno with the Brooklyn-based dance club The Bunker transporting itself out to Boulder, Colorado for the third annual Communikey festival. Bunker residents Derek Plaslaiko and Spinoza will make the journey along with Mutek representative Akufen, who will be making his debut in Colorado. Along with Attentat and Cheep & Deep, the rest Communikey’s 2010 line-up will be announced throughout the rest of this month, and early passes will go on sale in February.
pictured Akufen
BFlecha “Ceja De Carnival”
Sounding something like a lush combination of Hudson Mohawke’s stuttering productions and Top 40 radio’s sugary hooks, “Ceja De Carnival,” from Spain’s BFlecha, is a surprisingly brilliant original track to be coming from such a young artist, especially one whose native stomping grounds in Galicia aren’t exactly known as a hotbed of wonky beats. The talented female producer seems to not only know her way around a solid hip-hop beat, but also the kind of synth work that makes those kinds of productions flow so well. You can grab “Ceja De Carnival” along with its B-side, “Kosmic Lovers,” from Arkestra in February.
Slug Life: London Bassheads L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok Slither Between Genres While Keeping it Deceptively Simple
At the bottom of the flyer for last October’s edition of Night Slugs, the London club night run by Alex “Bok Bok” Sushon and James “L-Vis 1990” Connolly, it simply states: “house/bass.” Compared to the convoluted descriptions you see on most rave handbills and posters—full of buzzwords trying to tempt floating punters inside the door—it’s simultaneously simple and all-encompassing, and gives the first clue to the policy of what London’s best party is all about.
“It’s really all about keeping it simple,” Sushon explains. “‘House [and] bass’ is a simple way to explain exactly what’s going on without getting too specific or reductive… I’m hating the new genre toss-off that’s happening in the UK right now. Just because a new batch of producers are making tracks doesn’t mean they need a new name. It’s reductive.”
Two examples of Night Slugs’ elegantly simple flyers
Reductive and, perhaps most vitally, restrictive. The lack of restrictions that the pair places on themselves—a result of their complete lack of elitism (“I hate stigma and purism in music. My aim has always been to obliterate these perceptions, and as seamlessly as possible,” says Bok Bok)—is what makes them so strong. London’s a city full of trends and hype, and musically that applies more than ever before. Producers are the next big thing before they’ve released their debut single, and over the hill by the time the tune is on the net. Promoters book the same next big things at the same time, resulting in a capital of identikit club nights.
But trends don’t matter at Night Slugs, which is why long after bandwagon jumpers stopped caring about bassline house, Bok Bok and L-Vis booked Rinse FM resident DJ Rekless, and still play tracks by TRC, Screema, and Nastee Boy. While other promoters were booking the same hyped funky DJs in slightly different combinations, these two paired scene queen Cooly G with San Francisco’s Christian Martin. “Both play deep, tough, off-the wall house music,” explains Sushon. Simple.
NIGHT MOVES
Let’s backtrack. Sushon, 24, a grime DJ from South London who cut his teeth as a resident at Camberwell’s Redstar (a “semi-legendary” pub venue where Skull Juice, Oneman, Ben UFO, and Ramadanman also played some of their first DJ sets) got in touch with Brighton’s Connolly, 25, after hearing his first single, “Change the Game,” in 2008. At that point, Connolly had been running Fallout, a drum & bass and breakstep night, for several years with locals High Ranking and Mumdance, and had recently started a new night called So Loud!, for which he booked Brooklyn bass king Drop the Lime. (“This was probably the best decision I ever made,” Connolly emphasizes. “The party was bananas, but more than that, Luca [Venezia, a.k.a. Drop the Lime] really helped set me on a path to where I am today. The week after the party, I wrote ‘Change the Game.’ The title signified a shift in my musical style.”)
Connolly had also booked Sushon and his girlfriend Manara for a party he was throwing in London, and they immediately hit it off due to their similar tastes. The pair stayed in touch until Connolly officially moved to London, and they decided to make their partnership professional, with L-Vis swiftly denouncing his complex Ableton sets. “My attitude towards music has totally changed since starting Slugs,” says Connolly. “I was wanting to do something really grand back then with my DJ sets, incorporating video, etc., but Slugs really brought me back to basics. There’s nothing better than the energy of playing bass music with turntables.”
L-Vis 1990’s “Change The Game”
Early Night Slugs events took place at the Redstar (guests included D1, Kingdom, and Oneman), but they soon outgrew the venue and made their debut at Shoreditch’s East Village late last year, booking Drop the Lime’s entire Trouble & Bass crew for an all-night back-toback session.
Night Slugs has grown in stature with almost every event since, thrice taking over London’s larger Egg club, and taking the show to Leicester and Brighton. Most recently, Bok Bok and L-Vis embarked on a Stateside tour, sharing bills with Christian Martin, Trouble & Bass, Bersa Discos, Kingdom, and fellow UK upstart Joker.
“I was blown away by how successful it was,” confesses Sushon. “Every town repped hard, people actually knew what we were about, and we can’t really ask for more. There’s a lot of love for the UK vibe in these cities.”
“I think in the past, say, 10 years, it would be pretty much unheard of for guys like us to be able to tour the States,” says Connolly. “But with the help of the internet, our music can stretch so much further afield.” One such example is Diplo, who commissioned Bok Bok and Manara to record a session for the Mad Decent podcast series, and later released L-Vis’ “United Groove” single on the label.
The pair’s own music has advanced at a similar rate. Their collaborative remix of Crazy Cousinz’ “Bongo Jam” gets played out by the king of UK funky, Marcus Nasty, and Glasgow label Dress 2 Sweat (now part of the Numbers label umbrella with Wireblock and Stuff) closed out its discography with a four-track EP of twisted, tribal-house mutants from the duo. Bok Bok’s recent remix of Jinder’s “Youth Blood” is a synth-soaked cyber-funk epic, while L-Vis’ new “Zahonda” single is a taut house banger stationed somewhere between Brackles and Buraka Som Sistema.
Bok Bok – “Youth Blood” Remix
“I’m so excited about producing music right now,” Connolly proclaims. “There are so many amazing artists in our scene, everyone is just bouncing off each other. I think for the first time ever I’m looking at the producers around me for inspiration. I’m constantly looking forward.”
“My ears get tired of hearing the same thing,” Sushon adds. “Inspired by a Dexplicit quote, I try to bring the sweet with the sour, a kind of grime euphoria. I guess years of the dominance of greyness in post-UK garage music has left me and a lot of others hungry for color, and 2009 was really the year of feeding that hunger. It’s been the year of the neon synths!”
XLR8R TV’s episode feat. L-Vis 1990 & Bok Bok
BASIC INSTINCTS
So the next step? Night Slugs the label, obviously. “That’s just a natural progression for us,” explains Connolly. “Over the last 18 months, Slugs has slowly been picking up a crew of really great producers [including Mosca, Greena, Jam City, Egyptrixx, and Kingdom], building tracks in a similar context to myself and Alex. It’s happened really naturally; it feels organic.”
Sushon continues: “This is Night Slugs coming of age. Our aim with it is to crystallize the spectrum of music we’ve been repping at our club nights, and to give a home and some stability to this new sound that’s emerging out of the mish-mash. We want to document what’s going on around us through releases that will hopefully feel timeless.” He rightfully points out that the first single, the brilliant “Square One” by Mosca, “pretty much nails down this whole crossover; a house track swallowed up by the UK soundsystem portal.” There’s the rub: Night Slugs is seeped in British dance culture but casts an eye abroad that allows it to break down barriers before they’re even established.
Lali Puna “Remember”
The first taste of Lali Puna‘s first album in over five years comes in the understated electronic pop of “Remember.” Per usual, singer Valerie Trebeljahr’s soft-spoken voice provides an ideal counterpart to the song’s pulsing bass synths and clicking drum beats. “Remember” manages to be upbeat without being giddy, somber without being sullen, and altogether memorable.
Our Inventions is out April 1 on Morr Music.
Son Lux “Weapons III (Polyphonic Remix)”
One of numerous remixes on the upcoming Weapons EP by classically trained singer/composer Ryan Lott (a.k.a. Son Lux), Polyphonic’s version of “Weapons III” utilizes tumbling synth melodies and droning atmosphere to create a tense noise composition not unlike something from Matmos’ Supreme Balloon album. The song helps round out a varied release that also features re-works from Nico Muhly and Alias alongside Son Lux’s original tracks.
Shlohmo Shlomoshun Deluxe
The re-release of LA/SF-based producer Shlohmo‘s mini-album, Shlomoshun Deluxe sounds fantastic if you’re stoned. A clear-headed listen, however, reveals its production to be sub-par. Not that it sounds bad; the patron of beats and bass, known to friends as Henry Laufer, admits to using less-than-professional methods and second-rate gear, a not-uncommon practice in his peer group (see FlyLo’s consistent vinyl crackle). It’s these nuances which set Shlohmo’s tracks apart from the sheen of, say, Nosaj Thing, as the noisy hiss of “Hot Boxing the Cockpit” somehow compliments the birdsong and head-nodding rhythm it accompanies, and the dulled, distorted high frequencies on “Tomato Squeeze” and “Dead Pixel” are integral to Shlomoshun Deluxe‘s direct appeal.
New Superpitcher Album Coming in May
German microhouse producer and part-time collaborator on the Supermayer project with Michael Mayer, Aksel Schaufler (a.k.a. Superpitcher) is taking time off of his noteworthy side-projects to release the second full-length of his solo career. Entitled Kilimanjaro, the new record comes six years after its predecessor, Here Comes Love. Superpitcher’s sophomore effort will come to us via Cologne’s Kompakt label on May 17, and its first single, entitled “Rabbits in a Hurry,” will be released March 5. You can catch a sneak-peek of Kilimanjaro‘s lead single here, and an in-depth review with Schaufler on his forthcoming new album here.
