Some dope photos here. I think Sean Dack is behind this. I can feel it in ma bones.

Things I saw (and learned) this weekend.

*The President's helicopter, Marine One, narrowly dive to avoid a collision with a Southwest airlines plane on its final approach into Sky Harbor. The President wasn't aboard, but it was one of the closer calls I've seen in some time.
*The Cribs are rubbish live
*It is indeed terrible flying back from 70 degree arizona on the red eye, and landing in dreary old terminal A at Newark airport (further exacerbated by the 30 degree weather).
*Midnight Mike's got a dope new track (slowww cosmic groover) over at To Here Knows When
*Analysts are predicting Google to rise to $500/share. Yahoo! redux anyone?

Captain Comatose- Up In Flames (Glove Mix)

Sherburne's the month in techno is up. A must-read, per usual.

Seeing Greg Wilson at APT was probably one of the best nights I've had out in some time. The added bonus? He recorded the entire set on a reel to reel and sent me two discs with a perfect recording. With Greg's permission, I'm posting them here.


Greg Wilson- Live @ APT 25th October pt 1
Greg Wilson- Live @ APT 25th October pt 2

Check the cut at 43:17 on the first mix.. %^%^&*(%*&(!

Here's a cool article by Greg as well.

Ok.

Sorry I've been neglecting this little digit pulpit. I'll be better, promise.

Frequent readers of this blog will note that I normally write about electronic music. This is partially due to the fact that, for the past year or so, I've been quite disinfranchised with Rock and Roll, and just can't get excited about half of the bands the kids in tight jeans are hollering about (The Kills being the notable exception).

However, I'm gradually getting excited. The Long Blondes grabbed my attention, as did Art Brut, and now, two bands you need to know about:

Love is All (On the ever-impressive Whats your Rupture? imprint responsible for the Long Blondes)

Love is All- Make Out Fall Out Make Up

Also, this band called The Big Sleep. Tight, fast psych-pop with lovely vocals. I'm super excited about this band. Here's a cut. Go see them on Dec 2 at Fat Baby in the LES.

The Big Sleep- Murder


And for those of you looking for ze Techno music, perhaps this amazingly good 25 min. mix from Philip Sherburne will satiate you. Bonus points and eternal adoration if you can tell me what the hell the first cut is. Sounds like Luciano, but I don't know where/ what/ when.

Jamie Lidell- Multiply (Gonzalez mix)

Nice label profile on Leaf over at the BBC collective. Full Mp3's and a mix from Tony Morely.

konrad black - medusa smile (rockets revamp)

Closer Musik- Closer Dancer

Squarepusher- Port Rhombus

An article I wrote in this week's earplug.

Hey Man, Slow Down
Forward-thinking producers free themselves from high tempos

In the worlds of house and techno, beats-per-minute counts have traditionally strained forward, assuming that dance-floor impact is directly proportionate to tempo. But now, several DJs and producers are reaching back to dance music's roots to focus on a core, hypnotic groove that has gone neglected in recent years. Though the late-'80s Belgian "new beat" sound — rumored to have started with a DJ playing 45 BPM acid records at 33 — emphasized this ethic, it largely disappeared in '90s subgenres like techno, trance, and even house. But today, it seems, producers are rediscovering the appeal of a slow, plodding, yet powerful 4/4 beat used in lieu of barnstorming tempos.

"Before house and techno became so dominant in the clubs, dance music ranged from below 100 BPM to above 130 BPM, with an entire spectrum of tempos and rhythms played within a night," says Greg Wilson, a hugely influential British DJ at the forefront of the early '80s electro-funk scene. "For me, one of the flaws with the dance-music culture of the late '80s and early '90s was that the majority of DJs began to believe that a record had to be uptempo and 4/4 to be suitable to play. As a result, a whole area of dance music was generally ignored."

A "faster equals better" sentiment has held true for much house and techno music produced throughout the past 15 years; jungle and speed garage offer obvious examples of dance music's desire to accelerate. Aside from disco nouveau producers like Metro Area and Danny Wang, who have never ventured far from disco's groove-based roots, it's been difficult to find many DJs selecting peak-hour tracks that fall below 130 BPM. One exception is Ewan Pearson, who says he "rarely goes over 126 [BPM]" and that "slower doesn't mean deeper or mellower; it ends up being quite hypnotic — trance-y, in the old, acid-house sense."

But more and more DJs and producers have started to rediscover the effect the sluggish, New Beat-inspired groove can have on an educated dance-floor crowd. The intensity of Motiivi:Tuntematon's "1939," included on Annie's DJ Kicks installment, is made all the more urgent by the fact that it never ventures above 110 BPM, setting adrift grumbling synthesizers and howling filter sweeps. Pearson's "Slow NRG" edit of Alter Ego's "Beat the Bush," meanwhile, is a techno anthem transformed into a lumbering, panting beast, and Sebastian's "Dolami" also shows that techno doesn't have to break the BPM bank to attain the same raw energy and intensity that faster records seek to achieve.

As to just what is it about these rediscovered tempos that makes them so appealing, Beats in Space host Tim Sweeney thinks slower selections add to the overall dynamic of a set, while Optimo's JD Twitch says that a 110 BPM track "gives a completely different bump and grind than 130 BPM techno. Basically, it's a sleazy, sexy tempo that engenders different dance moves." But Twitch also suggests a remarkably commonsense motivation: "It's also good to have a break from the tyranny of high tempos." (CJN)

Two things I'm super stoked about:

-Sweden's Love is all playing in NYC next week.

-The fact that former Hacienda DJ (and really nice guy) Greg Wilson took the time to send me a perfect recording of his Refuse! set at APT (I was wondering what he was doing w/ the reel-to-reel back there!). Its unbelievably good, and I'm going to ask him if I can post it here for your listening pleasure. Stay tuned, and go buy Greg's CD, Credit to the Edit.

Also, John Tejada is playing some bonkers Bushwick warehouse party on Sat for those of you in the NYC. Tip!

The decline and fall of the Holy Roman Empire.

Claro Intelectro- Nobody

Lali Puna- Micronomic

Who Made Who (self titled)
Gomma
October 2005

While recent takes on Benny Benassi's campy electro hit "Satisfaction" and Mr. Oizo's lovable/goofy "Flat Beat" approach novelty, Danish trio Who Made Who's debut proves their talent runs deeper than cheeky party covers. On their self-titled album, melodic punk-funk and disco are played live in the style of !!!, with the emphasis on tight pop arrangements rather than stoned-out jams. Given the AC/DC-inspired name, it seems fitting that musical points of reference are unabashedly deliberate: album opener "Roses" nods to Liquid Liquid with an oscillating bass line and intricate percussion, while "Johnny Lucky" appropriates the art-school swagger of the Talking Heads and stripped-down funk of ESG. "Space for Rent" breaks out of the traditional mold, mounting an Old-West style bass line over a modified schaffel beat with filtered, falsetto vocals, further solidifying Who Made Who as the thinking man's party band. (CJN)

Check the new XLR8R (with Carl Craig on the Front). I have a piece on Jackson and his Computer Band.