DJ Koze Shares New Single “Pick up” Listen Hereknock knock Out May 4th On Pampa Records
[Photo by Gepa Hinrichsen]
DJ Koze recently announced the release of his new album, knock knock, out May 4th via Pampa Records. Along with the announcement he shared first single “Seeing Aliens” and followed up with “Illumination” featuring the ever-unique Róisín Murphy. Today he’s sharing the final single to be taken from the album in the form of the rolling, infectious dancefloor filler “Pick up.” Of the albums varied and intriguing array of tracks, “Pick up” is the most immediate, a track that instantly gets under the skin and becomes more satisfyingly joyful with each passing minute.
Like all DJ Koze records, knock knock exists outside of trend and influence. In fact, Knock Knock is a step further beyond: absolutely every single thing here, from grooves to voices to handclaps, is otherworldly and unique. Which is not to say it is utter alien abstraction. There is still disco, there is still soul, there is still techno, there is still hip hop, there is still psychedelia – there are even wafts of easy listening and lost crackly thrift store record memories – but though it may sound familiar, it never does what your brain thinks it’s going to do.And that’s what is crucial here. Koze is a world-maker, knock knock is far and away his greatest statement of that. You don’t get to choose how you hear his music – you enter his world or you don’t, that’s it. knock knock is an album that came together slowly and steadily, his working processes arcane and mysterious in their steady accumulation of sound and inspiration. It’s so complete and bursting with detail and consistency in every way that you’d swear it was meticulously planned (but there was no master plan) to create a definitive artifact: the record itself decided when it was ready. And now it is ready, the most perfectly constructed portal into that other world, you had better be ready too!
As much as is said of our current times being new lows, where things have changed for the worse and we’re unsure of the future, it’s worth returning to study the past to understand how steadily low we remain.
“Nothing’s changed,” says a younger BarackObama in a sample for the opening track to Long Trax 2, the second album from Tokyo-based, America musician, writer, and photographer WillLong, out March16th on SmalltownSupersound. The album will be released as three separate 12” singles, in addition to CD and digital.
Long Trax 2 follows Long’s deep house debut, LongTrax, released in 2016 on 2016 on DJ Sprinkles’ (TerreThaemlitz) ComatonseRecordings. Receiving a 4.2 rating, Long Trax was praised by ResidentAdvisor and described as a “meditative listen.”
It’s follow-up, Long Trax 2, presents as an ongoing criticism of cultural stasis, conveyed via minimal synthesizers, sampler, and rhythm machine. Dance floors are widely perceived by the masses as safe zones, but few can imagine how to apply notions of safety and equality to other aspects of society. We shouldn’t need clubs to hide from our fears and differences in the outside world. Looking ahead, we should look not so optimistically upon what we have accomplished, but with urgency and empathy upon what we haven’t.
Since 2005, Long has produced ambient music under the name Celer, and is a member of the pop music band Oh, Yoko with Miko. He curates and manages the label TwoAcorns, and is also involved with the NormalCookie and BunTapes labels. Stream “Nothing’s Changed” — https://soundcloud.com/smalltownsupersound/nothings-changed/
It was one of their first performances without Phife Dawg, and they paid him many great tributes during it. ATCQ also came to preach and teach, and Q-Tip was absolutely fierce on the mic. The whole crowd was with them the entire time.
Cut Copy were easily the best band we saw on Day 2 of Mamby on the Beach. They played an energetic set that had the whole beach crowd jumping before it was even halfway done.
#18 – Will Clarke – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 24th.
Speaking of great Mamby sets, DJ Will Clarke‘s was our favorite DJ set by far. He seemed to be having a great time behind the decks and inspired me to dust off my digital turntables.
#17 – Nicolas Jaar – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 16th.
We ended our Pitchfork experience with Nicolas Jaar, and it was a lovely, trippy way to end the festival. He created a neat soundscape that drifted and swirled around the crowd like a warm fog.
#16 – Derrick Carter – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 16th.
If you need a boost to start your final day of a big music festival, go see Chicago house music DJ legend Derrick Carter. His set in the early hours of the last day of Pitchfork was outstanding. Everyone worked up an early sweat and enough energy to make it through the rest of the day. He put on a clinic.
Who’s in the top 15? Come back tomorrow to see.
Keep your mind open.
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IT’S ALRIGHT BETWEEN US AS IT IS, FIRST NEW SOLO ALBUM SINCE 2012, NOW AVAILABLE VIA SMALLTOWN SUPERSOUND
(It’s Alright Between Us As It Is Album Art)
“best solo album from the space disco don” — Uncut
October 20th saw the release of Lindstrøm’s fifth solo album and first since 2012, It’s Alright Between Us As It Is, via Smalltown Supersound. Presented as one continuous stream of nine interlocked tracks, It’s Alright Between Us As It Is aggregates all the best elements of the Norwegian producer’s long and varied career: the Balearic free-disco excursions of his two albums with Prins Thomas, cosmic voyages in the vein of Where You Go I Go Too, and shimmering electronic pop, remindful of 2010’s Real Life Is No Cool. After presenting singles, “Shinin” feat. Grace Hall and “Tensions,” Lindstrøm now shares “Bungl (Like A Ghost)” featuring Jenny Hval. As one of three guest voices on the album alongside the aforementioned Hall and Frida Sundemo, Hval’s “creepy, cut-up vocals usher in a potently psychedelic third act” (Uncut).
Hval comments, “I recorded some vocals over this little baroque piece, and for some reason I felt like I was invading it, or haunting it. I felt like the ghost voice from classic literature. Then later Lindstrøm stretched out to a sweeping disco manifesto for the cemetery – at least that was the feeling I got when I heard the finished version. I guess recorded music can always be described as human remains. Songs contain parts of us that no longer exist, but managed to inscribe themselves into a recording before they moved on.”
As described by Lindstrøm, “This track is the glue to the album, and if it wasn’t for ‘Bungl,’ the album would not have happened. Jenny’s contribution transformed an unfinished idea into something really special.”
Day three of the Pitchfork Music Festivalstarted out a bit chilly as the Windy City was living up to its nickname, but we soon got our sweaty groove on thanks to a great set by Chicago house music legend and pioneer Derrick Carter.
Derrick Carter dropping beats like an Olympic power lifter dropping a barbell.
For those of you who weren’t dancing during his set, please see a doctor because something is wrong with you. He put on a house music clinic. It was a great way to start the day.
We also heard a bit of Colin Stetson‘s set. He plays this wild, droning, hypnotizing saxophone music that is difficult to describe but quite mesmerizing. We had plenty of time before Ride‘s set, so we met up with my college pal and his husband again before heading off to do a little shopping and eating.
Ride put on a good set of shoegaze that was a great switch from all the hip hop, electro, and funk we heard during the festival. Unfortunately, they had a shortened set due to some early technical difficulties, but they played new and old material and blasted all of us with the final song of their set. It was a loud, distorted, fuzzed-out assault. “I needed that,” said one man next to me by the time they were done.
Ride melting faces in a killer finale.
Ride did a signing at the record fair afterwards, and I scored a signed copy of their newest album, Weather Diaries (review coming soon). They were happy to meet everybody, and I’m happy to report they had a long line of fans there.
Mandy caught Jamilla Woods‘ set, which she enjoyed very much, after she’d been moved from the Blue Stage to the Green Stage due to the Avalanchescancelling their performance. According to their Twitter feed, a family member one of the band members had some sort of dire medical emergency. My college pal came to the festival mainly to see them, so he was more than annoyed they weren’t playing. He and his husband learned via a Google search that the Avalanches are about as finicky as Morrissey when it comes to performing.
Thankfully, Nicolas Jaarput on an excellent set of his experimental electro / trance music that was both psychedelic and dance-inspiring at the same time. At about the halfway point of his set, a guy in front of me turned to his friends and said, “This is the best set I’ve seen all weekend.” and then left.
Chilean DJ Nicolas Jaar creating intricate beats on the fly.
We split after that, beating the crowds and stopping to meet artist Jay Ryan so we could get one of his posters. He does really neat and cute art for a lot of bands and other projects. We already had a Bob Mould tour poster of his hanging in our living room, and now Mandy has a “It’s Time to Read” poster that will go in her office featuring bears, cats, and a wooly mammoth reading books.
I walked out with a new pair of sunglasses and CD’s by Screaming Females, Vacation, Waxahatchee, Tycho, Priests, Slowdive, She-Devils, Ride, and Wavves, and even a cassette by a band called Diagonal. I’ll have reviews of all this stuff in the coming months.
All in all, the Pitchfork Music Festival was a good time. We’d go back if the lineup was good and we could stay close to the festival. As it’s been for the last few festivals I’ve attended, VIP tickets don’t look worth the money. It’s not as laid back as a Levitation festival, but still fun. It also could’ve used a little more rock, in my opinion, but it was worth the trip.
Keep your mind open.
That’s my pal, Chris, on the far right and his husband, Darin, on the far left. Chris and I hadn’t seen each other since 1993.
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Chicago house music legend Derrick Carterwill be playing a set to a hometown crowd at the Pitchfork Music FestivalJuly 16th. Mr. Carter has moved the genre of house back into popularity again and built a big following in Europe. He uses samples well and always has the sickest beats. I’m sure he’ll put a bit of extra mustard and relish on his set in front of a lot of fellow Chicagoans.
I had never attended an electronic-themed music festival before my wife and I went to Chicago’s Mamby on the Beach at Oakwood Beach this year. They’ve been running this festival for a few years now, and I’ve been meaning to get to it since it’s practically in my back yard. This was also the first time I’d been to a beach in a long while.
The weather was good, although the wind did whip across the beach and adjoining park now and then. This was especially cold on Sunday night, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
One of the first things we discovered upon entering the festival is that large bottles of sunscreen aren’t allowed inside it. “You can put some on before you come in,” said the man checking our bags. He let me keep a small keychain bottle of it, but they were apparently worried I might be smuggling drugs or booze in my new bottle of SPF 30 lotion. Heaven forbid I try to take sunscreen to a music festival on a beach.
We cheered up when we saw the “Silent Disco.” It’s a clever idea. Everyone gets a pair of wireless headphones and the DJ’s set is live streamed to them.
It looks weird at first, because it appears to be a bunch of people dancing to nothing.
It looks like a bunch of people suffering from dementia, but it’s actually a fun dance party.
I like the idea, as did a lot of others. I thought I might have to try this when I get my DJ skills up enough to do such a thing.
We arrived early enough on Saturday to catch most of Ravyn Lenae‘s set at the Beach Stage. It was an adjustment to go from our usual “dancing in clubs” to “dancing on sand,” but we managed well. Ms. Lenae had a fun time performing in front of a hometown crowd and put down a nice R&B set. Her cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” was delightful.
Rayvn Lenae
We headed to the MixMag Tent to see British DJ Will Clarkeafter that. He had a great set and seemed to be having a good time. It was inspiring for me, as my digital turntables have gone ignored for months while I’m finishing a book on disaster movies. I later Tweeted that his set inspired me to dust them off. He replied, “Do it.”
After a nice snack of Leghorn chicken sandwiches and free Vitamin Water, we went to see electro trio Marian Hillplay at the Beach Stage. They turned out to be the best band we saw all day on Saturday. They were funky, sexy, and even a bit trippy at times.
Marian Hill
Crowd favorites Miike Snowwere on after them, and they had a lot of us singing and jumping as the night got cooler and more people got higher. For the record, other people must have been allowed to bring in more than sunscreen because there was a lot of weed being blown at this festival, more than some of the Levitation festivals I’ve attended and those are psychedelic rock shows. We had to move to different places in the crowd multiple times to escape so much MJ smoke.
Miike Snow
We ended Saturday by checking out part of Tchami‘s “future house” set at the MixMag Tent. It was big, bright, and booming.
Tchami
It was also packed. The crowd couldn’t fit under the tent and extended well beyond it onto the beach.
So…much…house music!
We got back to our Air BNB place tired, sandy, and a bit sunburned, but ready for Sunday. We spent most of Sunday morning and early afternoon at Chicago’s Gay Pride Parade with friends, but then headed back to the beach in time to see STRFKRplay a fun set of dance rock that came complete with dancing and crowd-surfing astronauts.
STRFKR
We had time for some steamed chicken buns and turducken sausages before moving to the Park Stage for the first time all weekend to see Thundercat play a wild jazz fusion set that left some people confused and others (like me) wowed by the virtuosity of it.
Thundercat on the loose!
We zipped back to the Beach Stage to see Cut Copy, who delivered the best rock set of the whole weekend. They came to kick ass and apply sunscreen, but they were denied the sunscreen. The whole crowd was bumping, and beach balls and rolls of toilet paper (“I feel bad for anyone who ends up sad in one of the port-a-potties,” said my wife) flew in every direction.
Cut Copy
We ended the night, and the festival, with Flying Lotus. I’d been keen on seeing him for a while, and it was worth the wait. The sun had set and the temperature had dropped at least ten degrees from the start of the festival into the low 60’s by the time he started his set. Mandy was wrapped in a blanket and a lot of us were huddled in the crowd like penguins trying to stay warm off each other’s body heat.
It was a great set, full of stunning 3-D visuals and great mixes of both dance tracks and deep trip-hop stuff. One beautiful moment was when he mixed in Angelo Badalamenti’s theme to Twin Peaks.
Is this Laura Palmer’s eye?
The whole set was a mind trip. I wish I would’ve had 3-D glasses, but when I mentioned to a guy behind me how the visuals were 3-D he said something along the lines of, “I’m glad I’m not seeing it in 3-D. That would probably freak me out.”
It was a good time. Mandy summed up a lot of the crowd well. “It looks like a lot of people missing Greek culture over summer,” she said. Don’t get me wrong. We didn’t run into any douchebags. We did bump into a lot of trashed people, however. One woman was sobbing as we all left the venue. I stopped to make sure she was okay. She hugged me, told me I was “a good soul,” and then disappeared into the crowd.
Will we go back? We might, if the dates work out and the lineup is good. I sure wouldn’t turn down a press pass!
Todd Terje(real name: Terje Olsen) is a Norwegian house music producer and DJ who is known for his bright, shimmering dance anthems. He’s said in the past that he makes music because he likes to dance, and that’s good enough motivation for me to dig his work. He and his backing band, the Olsens, will be performing at Mamby on the BeachJune 25th in what I’m sure will be a perfect summer music set.
Green Velvetis one of several monikers held by Chicago house / trance / industrial DJ Curtis Jones. He walked away from a career as a chemical engineer to pursue his love of house music and beat production, and the world is better for it. Some of his cuts are legendary mid-1990’s dance club essentials, and his upcoming performance at Mamby on the Beachin his hometown on June 25th will be one of the highlights of the festival.
Joe Bradley, otherwise known as Latmun, blends house music with trance techno into big tracks that can shake the rafters. He hails from Nottingham, UK, and will soon be spinning at Chicago’s Mamby on the Beachfestival June 25th. I’m sure his set will be bold, loud, and beautiful.
