Events
Okay, I need to stop opening every one of my entries with the "god-I-am-so-lame-I-never-update-this-thang" disclaimer. . . but the said declaration/disclaimer is kind of true, so I can't help myself.
In any case, some news:
I have a new cd out. I have yet to scan in the cover so you can see what it looks like. In the meantime, if anyone wants a copy, just let me know. Or, better, come to the the Linear City-building event on Thursday at
Gallery 727 and pick one up yourself. I will be spinning there, and there will be alcohol and lots of building blocks and pieces with which to help create a linear city along the walls of the gallery. You'll see.
So, please come. You will like it.
xoxo,
John
p.s. Gallery 727 is located at 727 South Spring Street, in Downtown Los Angeles. The event starts at 6:00 p.m.
Senor Juan Campos ist back
Okay, I am back. I had been avoiding opening up a Google account, which they make you do now to update your blogs. One more password, one more user name. Blah blah blah. But, I had to bite the bullet, suck it up, and do it. So das ist why I get to post super fun happy blog entries again.
Anyhoo.
I have a new cd that I've almost finished the cover art for. Once it's finished, I will be peddling it left and right to all of my friends and well-wishers. I think it's turned out well, and it spans a range of house music styles (well, within reason) from a range of time periods. Death to the cult of the new! So, there's a Frankie Knuckles remix of a Cerrone track on it, and there are two Audio Werner tracks on it. I tried to mix it up as much as possible, follow some sort of "flow" if you will, to ensure maximum HOOTAGE for listeners far and wide.
There will be a "cd release party" sometime in the near future. I'm sure I'll post the details for it in an oh-so timely manner, as that seems to be the ongoing theme of this miserable blog.
Blog blog blog.
On second thought, a review of a year-in-review, or a brief and piddly reflection on one
I’ve just finished scouring the contents of a reliable dance music year-in-review –
Resident Advisor’s – with the ulterior motive of discovering some choice tracks that I may have missed last year. I know, how lame to be so slow on the uptake. However, I must interject in my defense: What is often a common complaint amongst US DJs – the “no one likes techno and house in the US like they do in Europe” complaint (oh, wait, there’s more, “and therefore I’m going to move to Berlin and be extra cool and make minimal techno”) – can actually work to one’s advantage in this case: you could play
Âme’s track “Rej” (which was probably played 1,000s of times at clubs across Europe last year) at a party or shin-dig here in the US, and chances are, most folks would be hearing it for the first time and would thus ecstatically raise their hands in the air to it, out of pure surprise and bliss . . . maybe. In any case, you can peruse a year-in-review list of the top 30 club tracks of 2006 in 2007 and still be cool, as the tracks would be new to most booty-shaking party-goers’ ears.
The Âme boys caught in a pensive pose
So, anyhoo, das ist what I wanted to do and thus I embarked on my audiophilic mission compliments of Resident Advisor. The descriptions of the tracks made them sound like the ultimate in booty-shaking aural bliss, each one the kind of track that would get everyone to stop their blabbering and start shaking it. My expectations were high; ooh the anticipation, it hurts so good. But, alas and SIGH, upon listening, I found myself relatively motionless, my booty planted firmly in my seat. The same, I am almost positive, would be true for the party-goers who would ultimately hear these tracks. In short, they’d keep on blabbering. And I’d make more margaritas and proceed with a fantastically sloppy set.
The truth of the matter is that what moves an American (meaning, what makes them physically move, not what makes them cry) is not necessarily what moves a German or a Brit, or a Swede, or Frahnch person. Call us low-brow superficial bumpkins, but if a track is to move booties, it better provide a discernible hook, a pop, a snap, a clap, a rhythm, or a sing-songy vocal track that really makes those tushes gyrate. Otherwise, it’s just lounge or mood music (which has its time and place too, but. . .). I have read so many descriptions of recent techno tracks by artists like
Fuckpony or
Troy Pierce , or something on
Mobilee or
Minus , and they are peppered as equally with words like “playful,” “funky,” and “lovable” as they are with the usual “deep,” “minimal,” and “moody.” Honestly, I rarely hear the funk, or the love, or the playtime fun in these tracks. I hear austerity, seriousness, precision, but not that good-old fashioned hoe-down lovable funkiness they supposedly have in them. And the same can be said of so many tracks on this year-in-review list. They aren’t “bad” tracks per se; rather, they simply wouldn’t necessarily elicit the same responses stateside, including from DJs, such as yours truly.
Quite simply, we Americans, for the most part, are descendents of farmers and rural folk (I am no exception), not urban intellectuals; the popular music of this country is rap, jazz, r&b, disco, house, rock and roll, nu-metal, country. All of this stuff, whether you like it or not, is a mainstay of the American soundscape, and it is a far cry from the icy sounds of Berlin minimal techno (which you might here wafting through the aisles of a convenience store on Karl Marx Allee), whose roots could be traced back to the avant-garde, to Shostakovich, classical and beyond. And thus it is a far cry from the music cited within the aforementioned top 30 list.
Café Moskau on the fabled Karl Marx Allee, a planned urban testament to socialist goodness
Of course, one response to all of this would be to give up and become yet another cliché of the American electronic music world: high-tail it to Berlin to join the rest of the expat flock and make and spin minimal techno (and make lots of German friends! They love Americans!!!). But, I choose to do otherwise, to stay in LA , to take in the sights and the sounds and the smells, and make music here, something inspired uniquely by this oh-so bizarre and kooky landscape and its mix of twits and kool kats and losers and winners (wieners?). Thus my top 30 list would look much different, as would those of many other US-based DJs who don’t constantly turn Deutschland-side for inspiration.
Fragrant Downtown Los Angeles, as seen through the Not a Cornfields installation
On that note, here are my top 10 tracks (or artists, as some artists have produced multiple sooper tracks) for maximum booty-shaking and/or hoots for the New Year:
1.
Jesse Rose His “Stop, Look, Listen” track alongside Henrik Schwarz pushes the boundaries and conventions of current house music. “Suggestion Box” provides the necessary bounce to get those booties a shakin. Rumor has it that he’s now moved to Berlin. SIGH. Hopefully these new environs won’t steal the bounce out of his sound and take the wind out of his cha-cha sails.
2.
Ilija Rudmann “See” Side A’s retro-electro sounds and lady-vocals eeking out “See, what you waiting for?” evoke roller skates, knee-high socks, and head and wrist bands – with an afro or two thrown in for good measure. Side B’s “Black Magic Minimal Workout Mix” bumps it with a sharp snare pop, a chuggy-chuggy bassline, and some moody melody lines to keep the atmosphere deep, verging on hypnotic. Also check out 2005’s “The Last Action Hero” for another dancefloor number that bumps it.
3.
Cio D’or The “Lichtblick/Sternenglanz” 12” provides three moody, atmospheric tracks, two of which are dancefloor-friendly, and one of which would provide the perfect soundtrack to a remake of a French New Wave film (not that any of them should be remade. . . but you get the point). “Sternenglanz” sounds like a disco track for the new millennium, complete with tinkly bells, semi-melodic drones, and an electronic-y snare sound that hits it where it counts. Lovely lovely goodness.
4.
Missy Elliot House Mixes This double LP compilation actually came out in 2004, but like I said before, since most Americans aren’t too up on the whole techno/house thang, no worries: we can still pretend it came out last year. And who cares when it came out, really? It contains some extra groovy, extra choice remixes of the best Missy Elliot tracks. Guaranteed to add a bit of sass to that tired old stilted dj set of yours.
5.
Lars Sommerfeld “The Next Step” The bassline of this track wins it points in my book, or, should I say, elevates the track from good to groovy. The bass pulses and chugs while remaining elastic and bouncey. A repeated guitar arpeggio sample fills in some of the space in between, while a simple repeated synthesizer melody completes the ensemble. The synth melody is simple in a way that I normally wouldn’t like – like in that I’m-bored-and-don’t-know-what-to-play-so-here-are-the-same-two-notes-repeated-back-in-forth-like-a-2-Unlimited-track kind of way – but in this case it works for me.
6.
Lusine “Inside/Out” 12”
One of LA’s finest. This 12” contains Lusine’s signature style of glitchy/techy percussion and rhythms, offset by waves of melodic, blissed-out goodness. While I am not much a fan of driving, I will admit that the track “These Things” is the perfect soundtrack to driving at night in Los Angeles. It adds a surreal but cozy touch to an otherwise impersonal and monotonous experience. Lovely. You can hear this track in Set One, under Live Sets in the right-hand sidebar. It’s track one.
7.
An-2 “Midnight Radio” With its revolving ‘80s synth line laid over waves of moody melody and a driving rhythm, I think of this as the 2006 version of the opening track of the ever-brilliant ‘80s film “Some Kind of Wonderful.” I love this track, and it makes for part of a fantastic opening to a fantastic evening.
8.
John Tejada “The End of it All” Another one of LA’s finest. I tend to gravitate towards Tejada’s remixes more than his original work, but “The End of it All” manages to pull me (and many another listener/dancer) in right quick with its off-kilter melody and its boom-boom clicky-clicky rhythm. You can hear this track in Nuet År Kamp, under Live Sets in the right-hand sidebar. It’s track one.
9.
DJ Chloé “Overhead” The bliss of this track causes one to let out a sigh of satisfaction, an “ahhh, that’s so nice” – at least, that’s the reaction I have. The track rocks back in forth between a lulling sustained melody and a more percussive and techy bit. A good closing tune. I know nothing about the producer, DJ Chloé, other than the weird cryptic hipster crap on the Kill The DJ website, whose front page has “we are all dysfunctional” scrawled ad nauseum across it. Whatever.
10.
Audiofly “Till Mari” I know, I know, their muted faux-hawks and hipster sunglass aesthetic is tiresome, and they could be lumped in with the whole minimal techno revival sensation that’s sweeping . . . other nations, but this track is gold, as are some of their others. Melodic and minimal, but not in that plunky-plunky-bleep-casiotone-distorted-man’s-voice kind of way. When the track kicks in, it provides a groovy repetitive staccato synth line that will at least get people thinking about shaking their rumps (re: ‘tis a good transitional track into a set of more upbeat tunes).
Finally, on a completely unrelated note, of the top ten djs Resident Advisor nominated to their 2006 list, not one was a woman. Hello? I'm not one for tokenism, but come on. They could have at least included
Ellen Allien . This only confirms what should be painfully obvious to anyone who’s paying attention: the dj and electronic music world remains a straight boys’ club. May 2007 find that world doused with a healthy dose of estrogen and queer goodness.
xoxo,
Johnnycakes
New sounds for the new year
Greetings freunden und well-wishers,
In honor of the new year and new season, I've created a new cd/dj set of new sounds to be discovered and explored.
But first, let's recap the year of 2006. The year in review, johnkamp-style: it was. . . really great.
Isn't that clever?!!
Here is the cover for the new cd/dj set:
Und hier ist das tracklisting:
The cover and the tracklisting double as the sleeve for the cd. It was designed by yours truly. I'm not going to be posting this set online; 'tis to be more of a gift for the holidays. If anyone wants one, just ask, and I will be much obliged. . . to send you one.
Finally - and on a side note - I think my biggest pet peave is sloppy English. Let's all make our own personal resolutions and get grammar-happy.
xoxo + doughnuts
John
Sets! Sounds!. . . SOOPER!
Greetings, freunds und well-wishers,
I am happy to inform you that with the help of a tech-savvy compadre I have finally gotten two of my live sets online for your casual, passive, or active enjoyment. See the sidebar for "live sets." The first set I recorded over one year ago, in my old apartment in crummy West Los Angeles. The second one I recorded a few months ago in James's loft in ever-fragrant, ever-scenic Downtown LA. There is, as I've said 10,000 times, a new set in the works, but for now, you're stuck with these two. I will include a track listing in the next posting, particularly because this is a way to support the artists on the mixes (this hyper-possessive approach to DJing where you don't publish your set lists is a tad bit ridiculoso to moi). Also, SASradio 1 will be up in the coming weeks. Expect different sounds (re: not all tech-house and house) and some yakking from yours truly.
Look, it's a photo of the Salem Lutheran Church stand at the Minnesota State Fair, the largest state fair in the country. I sampled the egg coffee, which my parents used to make when I was growing up. For the recipe, just ask. It goes nicely with Swedish pancakes and kitschy Swedish tunes from Svensktoppar compilations.
Until next time,
Johnnycakes
Projects
Greetings, Friends and Well-wishers,
After suffering through a hellacious summer in LA, I've emerged from hibernation (yes, I hibernate in the summer, not in the winter; hot weather makes me unhappy, as does too much sunshine and no shade, which this city seems to be a fan of), with some nouveaux projects.
First is that the DJ sets should be accessible online in the coming weeks. A tech-savvy but socially lovely freund of mine is going to help me with all the logistics so that you can go clicky clicky and POOF, PRESTO, KAPOW, ein DJ set fur dein butt. Hoots.
Second is that I've finalized the sequence of tracks for the newest set. It is going to be short but (hopefully) sweet, with only ten songs. I view these sets as creative efforts/attempts more than anything, not as the final say on all things tech-house. This has been a helpful attitude for me, as I don't beat myself up too much if the final product isn't PERFECT. After all, what is? Aside from nature?
Third is that I have a new online radio show, which I've recorded the first installment for already. SASradio is its name, and it allows me to play a wider range of tunes that don't all contain a programmed drum beat, and it allows me to be able to yak about tidbits of information/news in between. Don't expect it to be a one-stop shop for much of anything; there are far too many blogs and other crap on the web that can do a much better job of that than I can. If you want to learn about cooking, or current events, or how to score the best ass, there are people who spend much more time on the web than I do who have exquisitely specific sites for informing you on such topics, and others! Anyhoo, SASradio should be up and running soon.
Finally, I'm embarking on a visual component to my live sets. Procuring one or two slide projectors is in order, as is a hefty supply of construction paper and user-friendly glue. More on this in the coming weeks.
Here's a completely unrelated flyer I made for a recent event at the community garden I have a plot in. The flyer was never posted around Silverlake, as it was never "approved" by everyone in the garden. I LOVE ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS! YAY! SHIT BRICKS!!!
Anyhoo, enough ranting, but here it is.
I've picked up some groovy new tunes of late too, which will go on my next mix, not the current one in the works. I've been digging the new tracks by Cio D'Or, and the mixes by Jeff Bennett. Neither of these folks seems to have embraced wholeheartedly the minimal techno invasion sweeping the world. Which is refreshing.
xoxo,
Johnnycakes
New sounds
Greetings, friends and well-wishers. I have finally gotten my bootay together and have made many copies of the new mix, plus the first one. If anyone wants one or both, please send me an e-mail, and I would be much obliged. Photos of both covers are below.
Keeping in line with my ongoing quest to be 21st Century, I will be uploading the mixes onto a server so that you, and you, and you can access them with the click of a mouse. Wow! That way, you won't have to wait around for me to mail you an actual cd.. . which can take a while.
Thank you to everyone who attended my birthday par-tay. I was worried the courtyard was going to collapse there were so many people. Apologies for the technical difficulties. The good news is that I have a new amp and will be getting new speakers, so that the next soiree in July, will be complete with canned and LIVE tunes by yours truly.
I'm already working on a new mix, alternately wanting it done but also taking my time. I am unhappy with many mixes I hear, as they are too flat, too monotone and lacking any dynamics. Making a mix of ALL minimal techno is interesting on an intellectual level, but in execution, it proves to be a bit of a bore to listen to. So, because this is so (in my book), I will attempt to produce something snappy, full of peaks, valleys, dips and dives.
In case you haven't been reading the news, the Senate has voted against setting a deadline for pullout from Iraq. George Bush is still stumping for a ban on gay marriage. And Howard Dean went on the 700 Club and told Pat Robetson that the Democratic Party's official platform on gay marriage is that marriage is between a man and a woman, which, in actuality, isn't the Party platform. Meanwhile, 1 out of 2 straight marriages continue to end in divorce.
And I've got an idea! Let's blame the whole thing on. . . WITCHCRAFT!
peace + love + huevos rancheros
John
