RA bookmarks the best features, opinions and websites out there in the electronic music community. This week: who wrote Rej, the trials of Frankie Knuckles and the Guardian goes raving...
It’s not all about shaking your ass at clubs, there’s also staring at your computer. RA bookmarks the best features, opinions, websites and videos out there in the electronic music community. This is what caught our eye this week:
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Rave is dead; long live rave: The Guardian’s on-again-off-again attitude to dance music continues. The busting of illegal raves has made nice headline grabbers this summer, complete with farmers interviewed beside their haystacks: "I never expected to see anything like this in my lifetime here." But even though rave has given way to rock, it seems illegal raves are “back” in media terms, so they dutifully sent out a reporter to one of these newfangled revival raves to see. Don’t worry, ex-Mixmag scribe and Franz Ferdinand fan Alexis Petridis interprets it all for us: it seems people aren’t going for the music now, but for “outlaw cool.” But hang on, didn’t you give up on dance music years ago?
Can you play something…better? In a grumpy interview with Jonty Scrufff, we learn that house music originator Frankie Knuckles a) hates Rudy Giuliani, b) often visits the street that’s named after him and c) doesn’t take kindly to requests. “I like being close to the crowd, but not so they can disturb me,” says Knuckles. “I would say that probably 90% of the people understand that, but there’s that 10% who don’t, who think the purpose of me being that close to them is so they can bother me while I’m working. The minute they destroy my whole head and ruin my evening, then the rest of the night becomes work, and it’s awful.”
How I made Rej: DJ Mag techno scribbler Richard Brophy has the lowdown on Âme’s techno hit ‘Rej’ at his blog Test Industries. Apparantly the track was originally a collaboration between Âme and Rajko Mueller, better known as Isolée. Ame said that after working together on a track for a few weeks, Isolée didn’t like what he heard and jumped ship, leaving Âme to finish the project on their own. We wondered what it reminded us of! ‘Rej’ sees a rerelease soon on mega-label Defected, so brace yourself for another onslaught…
Retrofuturism: An “educational” film posted at YouTube in three parts explaining to electronic music to the Pong generation. Half analogue synth porn and half still-stuck-in-the-seventies nostalgia, it’s very bizarre to see electronic instruments treated as such otherworldly, mysterious objects. The videos show that attitudes to electronic music might have changed (as have the hairstyles), but the fundamentals behind the technology haven’t. Creepy. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
Baplab Blogger: Ocular Spectra has posted an overview of NYC’s Baplab Festival last month. He didn’t stay for the techno at night, but he pointed at clicked at some of the more art-tastic daytime offerings, which included audience participation zippers, interactive Saturday Night Fever dancefloors and top-10 radio towers. Best of all, Ocular really knows his f-stops from lens caps – beautiful photos. Hence the name?
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Transmission ends. If you have any interesting links that you think might fit here (no promo spam please, we beg you), post them in the forum or send them to us at info (at) residentadvisor.net with the subject line 'Essential Clicks'.
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Nic Fanciulli shows his deep housey side and love for the Germans on his latest mix CD. 'Renaissance presents Nic Fanciulli Volume 2' is released next month.
Rave is dead; long live rave: The Guardian’s on-again-off-again attitude to dance music continues. The busting of illegal raves has made nice headline grabbers this summer, complete with farmers interviewed beside their haystacks: "I never expected to see anything like this in my lifetime here." But even though rave has given way to rock, it seems illegal raves are “back” in media terms, so they dutifully sent out a reporter to one of these newfangled revival raves to see. Don’t worry, ex-Mixmag scribe and Franz Ferdinand fan Alexis Petridis interprets it all for us: it seems people aren’t going for the music now, but for “outlaw cool.” But hang on, didn’t you give up on dance music years ago?
Can you play something…better? In a grumpy interview with Jonty Scrufff, we learn that house music originator Frankie Knuckles a) hates Rudy Giuliani, b) often visits the street that’s named after him and c) doesn’t take kindly to requests. “I like being close to the crowd, but not so they can disturb me,” says Knuckles. “I would say that probably 90% of the people understand that, but there’s that 10% who don’t, who think the purpose of me being that close to them is so they can bother me while I’m working. The minute they destroy my whole head and ruin my evening, then the rest of the night becomes work, and it’s awful.”
How I made Rej: DJ Mag techno scribbler Richard Brophy has the lowdown on Âme’s techno hit ‘Rej’ at his blog Test Industries. Apparantly the track was originally a collaboration between Âme and Rajko Mueller, better known as Isolée. Ame said that after working together on a track for a few weeks, Isolée didn’t like what he heard and jumped ship, leaving Âme to finish the project on their own. We wondered what it reminded us of! ‘Rej’ sees a rerelease soon on mega-label Defected, so brace yourself for another onslaught…
Retrofuturism: An “educational” film posted at YouTube in three parts explaining to electronic music to the Pong generation. Half analogue synth porn and half still-stuck-in-the-seventies nostalgia, it’s very bizarre to see electronic instruments treated as such otherworldly, mysterious objects. The videos show that attitudes to electronic music might have changed (as have the hairstyles), but the fundamentals behind the technology haven’t. Creepy. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
Baplab Blogger: Ocular Spectra has posted an overview of NYC’s Baplab Festival last month. He didn’t stay for the techno at night, but he pointed at clicked at some of the more art-tastic daytime offerings, which included audience participation zippers, interactive Saturday Night Fever dancefloors and top-10 radio towers. Best of all, Ocular really knows his f-stops from lens caps – beautiful photos. Hence the name?
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