Sven Väth!
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- Published on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 14:22
Dreaming is not over - the world is nice
Sven Väth is one of my biggest techno heroes and tonight he's playing in Copenhagen!
I remember just getting in to electronic music. I went to the local library and took out everything semi techno I could get my hands on. I texted my man Frantz Flottenheimer saying "that Paul Van Dyke is pretty cool!" He replied: "a bit too trance for me. Try Sven Väth or Timo Maas".
And so it was back to the library and check out Sven Väth's Contact CD. From the first track, I was sold:
What is this? A strange 80's type minimal beat? I thought techno was only meant to be 4/4! And what's up with these vocals? They are funny, weird, corny, cool and strangely addictive. And when that trancy synth kicked in ... I can safely say my world changed forever.
Pathfinder completely blew my mind and showed me electronic music isn't just umph umph - it's anything you want it to be, as long as it rocks. It was probably that one track that got me into electronic music for good.
Later I was lucky enough to befriend Torsten aka Helmuth Kool - one of Denmark's biggest Sven fanatics (and incidentally, the guy who introduced Frantz Flottenheimer to Sven back in the day).
I don't know how many car rides, after parties and phone conversations I've had with Torsten where he's told me the same anecdotes about how he and his friends would make 48 hour runs all around the Ruhr district to follow Sven around at legendary clubs in the 90's and how much better everything was back then - almost Deadhead style.
Now, the thing about Sven Väth isn't his productions. He doesn't even produce music himself, he has Alter Ego and others to do that, while I guess he sits in the background getting cool/silly ideas and vriting strange gørman und english vørds.
Sven is all about being the best and most entertaining techno DJ in the world. He does that by having great taste and a Napoleon complex huge personality.
Here are a few recommendations from Torsten. Some of the best Sven tracks, where he displays his great taste and crazy personality. You just gotta love that guy!
One for the Hang Overs
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- Published on Sunday, 01 January 2012 11:26
Something for your brain
New Year is a time for reflection. A look back at the old and a look towards the new.
But new year is also about partying and drinking way too much champagne, and today is a day for being lazy and stoopid.
For all my hangover peeps, I've trawled through the best of funny, cool and silly things posted on interwebz through 2011, so you can chill out in the comfort of your bed with one eye open and enjoy the absurdity of life.
Masta Killa and my Favorite Wu-Tang Lyric
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- Published on Sunday, 18 December 2011 17:52
Master of the mantis rapture commin' at ya
I love everything about the Wu-Tang Clan.
The RZA's beats. The kung-fu movie references, the samurai obsession and all the other weird religious and cultural symbolism and mythology.
Pretty much every single Wu lyric is outstanding, but Masta Killa's verse in Da Mystery of Chessboxin was always the one that made me go bananas.
Homicide's illegal and death is the penalty
What justifies the homicide, when he dies?
In his own iniquity it's the
Master of the Mantis Rapture coming at you
We have an APB on an MC Killer
Looks like the work of a Master
Evidence indicates that's it's stature
Merciless like a terrorist hard to capture
The flow, changes like a chameleon
Plays like a friend and stabs you like a dagger
This technique attacks the immune system
Disguised like a lie paralyzing the victim
You scream as it enters your bloodstream
Erupts your brain from the pain these thoughts contain
Moving on a nigga with the speed of a centipede
and injure - ANY MOTHERFUCKING CONTENDER
Here's the track with a cool LEGO video:
Dubstep is Still Alive!
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- Published on Monday, 12 December 2011 13:49
Sound never really dies, it just echoes
Last week, I wrote an article about the current state of dubstep. I was expecting the usual 500 readers, but somehow I guess it struck a nerve and managed to get 100 times that. Literally.
The title of that article was ”Who Killed Dubstep?” but my main point was that music is always evolving, and good music will always be good music.
Asking who killed dubstep was an attempt to figure out how and why the sound changed so much. But my focus was negative, only concentrating on the predominantly American bro-step sound. Here, I want to show how the genre has also evolved in positive ways.
I've asked some of Denmarks most interesting soundbwoys what they dig at the moment:
Psimono (Host of the Hest/Pony club night and founder of TEAL Records)
With regards to this beast called "Dubstep" - there are actually still interesting things going on, although the bits I'll use as examples may not be widely acknowledged as dubstep amongst the bro's.
To be fair, i think most things i liked about dubstep 5+ years ago are still the things i like today. Deep percussive, rhythmic patterns, subby stabs - a medidative sonic form.
Who Killed Dubstep?
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- Published on Wednesday, 07 December 2011 14:37
The life and death of a genre
”Yo kid, remember back in the day? The underground was truly the underground? People weren't trying to make hits. People were about it. No name dropping. It was just straight up underground club hopping.”
Abe Duque hit the spot back in 2004 in his funky acid classic What Happened. Culture is always moving, evolving. Life and evolution needs death and expiration.
I've never seen anything move as fast as dubstep though. Five years ago, it was an obscure genre. Just another branch off the ever changing UK scene. People weren't trying to make hits, people were about it.
Now it seems every pop star, rock band and cerial is on the brandwagon, trying to make a few bucks:
Justin Bieber to release dubstep album
Korn: "We were dubstep before there was dubstep"
What happened?
I'm in no way an authority on this, but I will try to give perspective, based on my own experience.
Update: remember to also check out my follow-up article!
