John Kamp: DJ

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

posted by Prairieform @ 4:33 PM