Horrible news. Wesley Willis has passed at the age of forty. If you don’t know who he is, I highly recommend the second article below, which should give you an idea of what his music and schizophrenic demons were like. Forwarded from Drew.
Rest in your elusive peace
Brett Dancer and Larry Heard played at Barrumba tonight, and their sets were every bit as good as their sets at the Trackmode/Sound Signature party @ DEMF 2001. I hardly recognized any of Brett Dancer’s set, but maybe 30 minutes in he dropped Attend 1, which instantaneously catapulted me into dancefloor readyness. How f*ckin’ good is that song loud??? Must’ve heard it out at least 10 times this Summer and played it countless times at home. It just doesn’t get old or lose anything. Anyway, his whole 2-hour set was tight as hell, some Theo-style EQing throughout, and really got the dancefloor moving.
Then Larry Heard dropped the tempo down to about 110bpm, played some really nice slow stuff for about 20-30 minutes, then it got a bit noodly and ploddish for my taste for the next 20-30 minutes, but then he kicked it back in and all the stops were pulled. Within the next half-hour he played Energy Flash into that crazy wobbly acid song that has something to do with Whiskey. He played this insane track that I’ve heard a couple of times with this nearly Fix Flash style synth line that jocks back and forth between that and deeper pads with a drum ‘n bass style wobbly sine wave sub bass sound that devastates. After that he played a version of John Redman’s ‘People Everyday’ that sounded completely reworked from the original Cajual tune. Throughout all of this Brett Dancer would occasionally grab the EQs and jack away for a bit. 🙂 He also threw in ‘Change For Me’, Cajmere’s ‘Lookin’ For a Man’ and concluded his two-hour set with Plastic Dreams, at which point the mic dude came on.
He made us give it up for Brett Dancer and Larry Heard, which all were very happy to do, then he mentioned the special guest. Had I realized there was one, it may have occured to me that seeing Robert Owens in the DJ booth earlier meant something, or that he was working up to something when he was tearing up the dancefloor, but then they announced that he was the special guest, and it clicked. This was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. They started with ‘Can you Feel It’, with both Larry Heard and Robert Owens singing in parts, and Robert Owens freestyle singing over the remainder. The second song had a chorus that had something to do with life. I recognized it but I don’t know the name. The third song (I think) was Mysteries of Love, which was a vocal version that he sang on top of, and in response to the existing vocals on the record. Wicked! The conclusion was Distant Planet, and frankly, it was f*cking stunning. Jamie and I were completely gobsmacked throughout.
Am just listening to Andrew Duke’s remixes of me for the 2nd time (first time on speakers). It’s bloody weird hearing someone remix you! The remix of ‘Frosting’ is not the first I’ve heard, since Christian Bloch has already had a go at it, but this one is really faithful to the original, but a nice variation, and about 50bpm slower. It’s really slow. The remix of ‘In Flight Defibrillator’, which he aptly titled ‘Flight 313’ is almost unrecognizeable, and much more dancefloor. I may need to play it out on Sunday. It’s quite driving and dubby with a slightly clicky edge. At any rate, this is cool stuff. Need more time to digest them!
As you may have noticed, there is also this coming up:
-> Sunday, August 24 (Bank Holiday/Carnival Weekend) – Bootytronics @ Public Life, London, England
I’ll be featured on Samurai FM’s ‘London Underground’ show this week. I even put together a [gasp!] techno mix for it. They’ve got a choice of media and bandwidths for your listening ease. Hope y’all can tune in.
Broadcasting at:
Tuesday 29/7/03 – Noon GMT (7am EST)
Wednesday 30/7/03 – 11am GMT (6am EST)
Later on Wednesday 30/7/03 – 9pm GMT (4pm EST)
Tracklist:
======
Vainquer – Antistatic – Chain Reaction
Acid Scout – Holographic E.P. track A2 – Kurbel
Monolake – Tangent II – Monolake
Sensurreal – Astral Black – BMU
Convextion – Ondes – Down Low
John Beltran – Decembers Tragedy – Peacefrog
Peel Seamus – Artemis (Outbound Mix) – Delsin
Quiet Daze – Being Quiet – Transmat
Thomas Fehlmann – Superbock – Kompakt
Oxtongue – Delight – Kompakt Pop
M>O>S feat. Aroy Dee – Utility #2 – Rush Hour Recordings
Too Funk – Storm the Funk (remixed by Mark Broom) – Ferox
Tres Demented – Demented (or Just Crazy) – Planet E
Morganistic – Leaf – Input Neuron Musique
No time to post now, but this is a recap via my post to [313]:
What an amazing two days! I first stopped by John (Ramar)’s new weekly at
the new club ‘the Lane’ on Osborne Street, just at the south end of Brick
Lane. I was there for most of the last 4 hours of his 6 hour set, and it was
excellent. The Voices crew are really doing some excellent stuff in London.
I’m not even sure where to begin in running down his set, but suffice it to
say that it would have met the approval of any DHP afficiando.
From there I wandered around the corner to catch the last hour of Tom
Churchill’s set. F*cking wicked! *Everyone* in the place was floored by his
selection. Every single track was devastating. I’m sort of gutted that I
missed the first hour despite hearing amazing stuff from Ramar at the same
time. DEMF-calibre conundrum…
Titonton came on and f*cking killed it. It was enormous. I’ve not seen a
techno (and a bit of house) set like that in ages. His scratching was
TP-superb and never overwhelming while his sense of how to mix perfectly
matched the tracks he was playing – like going from cut-up madness to a
three minute long-mix mix between deep house toons. And what a
brilliant chap! He sacrificied the last 30 minutes of his set to let Matthew
Puffet come on and mix for about an hour or so as they closed the 2nd room,
since he had sold everyone in the main room, then came back on after Matthew
Puffet’s (also great) set and took off where he left off. Nic Larsen closed
with a half-dozen classics and it was sealed. I seriously doubt anyone will
forget this one.
Despite a severe hangover, I made it up to Cargo for Sunday night. Some of
the best £4 I’ve ever spent. Fat Freddy’s (???)… were wicked. Their 15
minute version of Midnight Marauders was stunning, preceeded by a funk track
that was almost as long and equally epic, followed by a nearly 20 minute
apparently improvised song with a London ragga MC, which segued into the
actual song, punctuated with the lead singer’s Razzell-esque
vocal-scratching after he’d just done his Motown vocals. Wow! Very
cativating.
Recloose followed with a nice dub-into hip hop and house set that really hit
the spot. I’ve never been floored by his DJ mechanics, but I have to give it
up for his sense of when to drop the (very) short mix despite one horrendous
4 minute train wreck in the middle that he wouldn’t let go. Surprisingly,
after that he proceeded to enter deep house mixing zone and rode it out in
immaculate style, carrying every mix at legth to perfection. What a way to
end a beautful weekend in London! With so much coming up, this is shaping up
to be a legendary Summer!
It was really weird seeing Public Life in the day:
Even Jean made it down from Swiss Cottage. Who would’ve thought three kids from the class of ‘92 at Iowa City High School would be hanging out in a Public Toilet in London 11 years later?
During my first mix, I realized the monitor was only responding to one turntable, so it was a mix from the speakers again. However, the crowd was having a great time. I wasn’t horribly concerned about technical imperfections so much as I was struggling so hard to hear that I couldn’t fully feel what I was doing. Still, it was a great time. The bartended even ran up about ½-hour in to my set and screamed “Turn it up! This is fucking wicked!!!”
And just as the photographic evidence runs out, so does the recording. Ben and KT had to leave in order to get up early for their flight, but I think they had a really good time, getting to see what an awesome scene we have here, even if it wouldn’t normally be their thing.
The rest of the night was fantastic. The ownership were having so much fun they let Jonny play an extra 45 minutes past closing. His set was blinding too. I should have recording of 74 minutes of each set up soon. I got home really late after the most overcrowded night bus ride ever, and said a delusional goodbye to Ben as they left bright and early. It was a wonderful visit, especially since in Iowa City my attention is spread so thin. I really love these guys.
Madlib – Steppin’ into Tomorrow – Blue Note
Tread – Till the Night – Third Ear
Marvin Belton – Bleed to be Free – Ferrispark Records
Amp Fiddler – Love and War – Genuine
Soho – Hot Music – Pal Joey Music
Ramiro Mendes – Angola (Carl Craig’s Mix) – Lusafrica
Romanthony – Trust (Ghost Mix) – Downtown 161
Charlie – Spacer Woman – Automan
Brooks – Dripping in Gold – Mantis Recordings
Rick Wade – I Can’t Take It – Funky Chocolate
D.S.L. – Soothe Your Soul – Chilli Funk
Rima – This World – Jazzanova-Compost Records
DJ Gregory – Attend 1- Kitsune
Cesario Evora – Nutridinha (Kerri Chandler Alternate Mix) – Lusafrica
Passion Dance Orchestra – Inner Dance – Inner Music
Kunuyuki – Prescious Hall – Natural Resource
Soha – Les Enfants Du Bled – Africanism
Moodymann – Silence in the Secret Garden – Peacefrog
Moodymann – LiveinLA 1998 – Peacefrog
House of Gypsies – Sume Sigh Say (Tee’s Ultimate Vocal) – In House Records
Salt City Orchestra – The Book (Bookin da Beats) – Paper Recordings
Reunion – Strange Attention (Seiji Remix (Vocal)) – Sonar Kollectiv
Plutonia – Wear Your Size – Visions
Paul Johnson – Aww Sh*t – Relief Records
Mixxvibes – PMS – Music Plant
Surgeon – Magneze – Downwards
Robert Hood – Tactel – M Plant
Jacek Sienkiewicz – New Direction – Recognition
Acid Scout – Holographic A1 – Kurbel
Clark – Clip – Planet E
Willie Hutch – Brothers Gonna Work It Out – Motown
Some more Detroit business, and one Chicago dude on a Belgian label. GET ME OUT OF THE MIDWEST! 😉
Item Number = 1
VJ No = VJ7792
Artist = Jay Dee
Title = The Official Instrumental Series – Unreleased Vol 1
Label = Bling 47
Format = LP
***************************
Item Number = 2
VJ No = VJ7674
Artist = The Detroit Experiment ( inc Carl Craig / Amp Fiddler / Francisco Mora / Regina Carter / Karriem Riggins… )
Title = The Detroit Experiment – DE
Label = Planet E
Format = LP Double
***************************
Item Number = 3
VJ No = VJ7630
Artist = Tread
Title = Tread 3
Label = Third Ear
Format = LP Double
***************************
Item Number = 4
VJ No = VJ7658
Artist = Silent Partners ( Joshua & Mark E Quark )
Title = Down By Dub ( inc Joshua Remix )
Label = Hi Phen
Format = 12inch
***************************
Item Number = 5
VJ No = VJ7489
Artist = Rotating Assembly ( feat Theo Parrish / Marcellus Pittman / Jerrald James… )
Title = Rusty Waters
Label = Sound Signature
Format = 12inch
Amp Fiddler : Love And War EP – 12″
Marvin Belton : Bleed To Be Free EP – 12″ (Ferris Park)
Brain On Drugs : Drugs – 12″ (Chateau Flight Remix)
Bugz In The Attic Feat. Wunnmi : Zombie – 12″
DJ Gregory : Attend 1 / Attend 2 – 12″ (This is already the song of the Summer)
Cesaria Evora : Remixes By Kerri Chandler – 12″
Fitchie Feat. Joe Dukie : Midnight Marauders – 12″ (this is a really nice dub/soul thing)
Kool & The Gang : Ganthology – Sampler – 12″ (includes Summer Madness)
Madlib : Tracks From Shades Of Blue – 12″ (Blue Note allowed Madlib to crack their vaults)
Moodymann : Silence In The Secret Garden – 2xLP
Moodymann : Silence In The Secret Garden EP – 12″
Osunlade Feat. Jaffa : Native Tongue Revisited Pt.2 – 12″
Oxtongue – Delight -12″ (Kompakt Pop debut)
Pal Joey : Thong Test – 12″ (samples the Thong Song – don’t dismiss it, you’ve gotta hear it)
Reunion : Strange Attention – Seiji Mixes – 12″
Raphael Saadiq : Sky’s The Limit (AKA “Skyy Can You Feel Me”) – 12″ (Yam Whoo Edit)
Soho : More Hot Music – 12″ (reissue of classic Pal Joey track with new version)
Stateless : Art Of No State – 2xLP
Kaidi Tatham & Dego : Got Me Puzzled – 12″
Three Chairs : All Over – 12″
2Day & 2Moro : Disney On Acid / Rubber Feet – 7″ (new Omniverse thing)
The Visioneers : 55 Dollars / Visioneers – 7″ (old Omniverse thing)
The Visioneers : Days Gone By / The World Is Yours – 7″ (old Omniverse thing)
Rick Wade : Big Foot EP – 12″
Rick Wade : I Can’t Take It – 12″