The summer is indeed coming to an end but the dance parties continue onward with a brand-spanking-new mix from one of our favorites, Space Ranger.
The German trio spends most of their time abroad but their deep, melodic, sample-based tracks have found their way all over the world and drawn heavy support from the likes of Aeroplane, The Revenge, James Curd, Hot Toddy, Mylo, Vampire Weekend, Pete Herbert and Jacques Renault.
Their combination of sophisticated production skills and years of experience working dance floors have proved useful and beneficial in establishing a cult-like fanbase that follows their every move. Through incorporation of samples taken from their massive collection of old-school dance, disco and soul records, Space Ranger has honed a unique and distinctive blend of deep house & disco that has become their trademark.
If you aren't familiar with Plastic Plates (aka Felix Xavier), you are either living on another planet or new to the disco scene. Seriously, where have you been? The Sydney born DJ/Musician/Producer who now makes his home in L.A. returns to U Street Music Hall for his third visit on Wednesday, along with headliner The MagicianPerseus for a night of disco madness. Unfortunately, The Magician had to cancel the rest of his U.S. tour due an emergency back home. Instead, D.C. will have the pleasure of getting down to French Express label boss, Perseus as headliner for the evening.
Plastic Plates has been somewhat of a quick riser, feeding off his lush remix of Adele's, "Set Fire To The Rain" early last year. His well-balanced combination of pop and disco has made him a regular on the "mix tape" circuit and helped lay the framework for mainstream exposure with takes on Katy Perry, Mark Ronson, Empire of the Sun and so on. Unlike many producers who stress the percussion and/or bass elements, Felix lets the keys/synths do the heavy lifting and the end result is...well...magical. His greatest asset is a willingness to think outside the box...or rather DJ outside the box! The point I'm illustrating is that he fears no boundaries and clearly has a desire to set himself apart from the pack. These intangibles should prove invaluable as he looks to continue disco dominance in 2012.
A few months ago, I stumbled across a remix of James Blake's, "Wilhelm Scream" by Portland, Oregon musician, Andrew "POINDEXTER" Rodriguez. I am pretty sure that "obsessed" is a slight understatement, because five months later, I'm still listening to it at least once a week. It's my four minutes of serenity, and after hearing the synth drop with the lyrics,“I don’t know about my dreams,” I can't help but smile.
One listen and you'll realize why so many, including myself, compare him to Breakbot.
Good morning DPC readers! I'm excited to announce another DPC Ticket Giveaway! This time we will be giving away a pair of tickets for 4/20-Blisspop: TIGER & WOODS (Live), Tim Sweeney, Beautiful Swimmers at U Street Music Hall. We've been looking forward to this show for quite some time and it promises to be an unforgettable night in the District. Details for entering the contest are at the end of the post.
Tiger & Woods are "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." They say that their names are Larry Tiger and David Woods; they must be fans of golf and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." T&W first emerged onto the scene in 2009 with two vinyl EP's, Hole in One and Caddy Shag, released unofficially on the Editainment Record Label.
Well last night was a fun way to start the weekend. First, our very own DJ Remote Ctrl threw down some great beats in Adams Morgan to kick off the night. We had an interesting encounter with a weird dude who thought it was a good idea to pour hot wax on his bare chest out of a glass candle (which he then broke). Next, we headed over to U-Street Music Hall to catch a set from Gigamesh. I have personally been looking forward to seeing Gigamesh live for quite some time and was not disappointed. He played mainly his own remixes and edits which are all superb.
Today we feature a local Washington, DC DJ/Producer, The Metaphysical. Ed has been involved with music since he was a young teen. At the age of 13, he got his first job assisting a studio owner and helping maintain and troubleshoot his museum of vintage synthesizers. I don't know about you, but that certainly sounds a lot cooler than my first job. He started DJing in the DC hip hop scene after college and has moved on to spinning dance music and other genres. Now he makes his living exclusively from his work as a DJ and can transform to play whatever style is requested of him. He recently put out a new edit that has been stuck in my head all week. Its a track called Disco Jam (DC BASS MIX) that was originally put out by Eddie Drennon in 1978. This track is huge and it is sure to make you move. You can check it out right here:
I asked The Metaphysical about his early influences and he said "pioneers like Clara Rockmore the immortal theremin virtuoso, Steve Reich the father of looping, and french soundtrack composer Francois de Roubaix. My heart has always been in the 70's from prog rock to funk to disco, the sound and the feel is unmatched by most musicians. It was a time of experimentation when trained musician were in abundance." Today, his favorite producers mostly come from either Wolf Music or Sleazy Beat Recordings. Artists like Fantastic Man, KRL, Tornado Wallace, and Eddie C. His favorite producer who's kind of on the hush is Pied Piper, "his long format acid disco edits KILL."
Like other artists we feature on the blog I asked Ed what his favorite dance move was, and this is what he said, "I have always wanted to master the art of the Ninja, or more specifically Willi Ninja. His Vogue can not be matched. I've always wanted to throw a Paris Is Burning style Ball in his memory."
Ed will be playing tonight with Trev-Ski (whose Guest Mix for DPC can be found here) at their monthly party at MiG Bar in DC called Captiol City Disco. Definitely swing through if you don't have plans. You can also see The Metaphysical in the area on Saturday at GKYK at The Rock and Roll Hotel with DJ Keenan or Thursday the 23rd at The Get Down in Fells Point, Baltimore, with DJ Mic_L.
Also check out The Metaphysical's Soundcloud page for other old school edits, live sets, and some really good mixes. Below is a mix The Metaphysical recently did for One Love Massive. Its a half hour long and contains some great tunes.
The Metaphysical - OLM Mixtape by OneLoveMassive Tracklist: Tornado Wallace - Tornado Never Dies Daniel Solar - Into My Life The Metaphysical - Disco Jam (DC Bass Mix) Ray Charles - What'd I Say (Bobby C Sound TV Remix) The Metaphysical - Everymans Chance to Disco (Unreleased) Perseus - Russian Girlfriends Eddie C - My Woman (Wolf Mix) Jeremy Glenn - New Life (Perseus 'Summer of 83' Remix) Luther Vandross - Sugar & Spice (Hey Champ Edit)
It's almost as if the Soundcloud and Dance Party Gods were looking down upon me after I published yesterday's post. And thank goodness for Soundcloud because I now have another new DJ that I can become obsessed with (!!!). Cue all my guy friend's groaning cause now I won't shut up about this one.
20 year old (!!!) David August is a house/deep house DJ/Producer from Berlin. As a child, August was a piano player and at the young age of 15, he began DJing. Only two years ago he released his first EP, and also has a residency at Diynamic's Club EGO. (source)
After looking at EGO's calendar of events - I find myself wanting to book a flight to Hamburg, Germany for some epic dance parties. Who wants to join me? More importantly, who wants to buy my plane ticket or sneak me in their suitcase?
August was the spotlight for Diynamic's Radioshow this past week, and did not disappoint. At numerous points I found myself backtracking to segues and peaks that were freaking amazing. And I'm not exaggerating either. Around the 8 minute mark "Supreme" by Doctor Dru & Adana Twins drops. Love the piano in it and it's simply soothing to me.
It really boggles my mind (probably out of slight jealousy) that people can actually put together tracks so seamlessly. Or seem to pick the right tracks that work and speak to people. I mean, don't mind me - I'm just your average Asian girl, I'll be over here...enjoying the music, dancing in the corner and taking some shots to the face while you're playing beautiful music.
The 17 minute marks Moullinex's happy song, "Sunflare", where I found myself singing along. And it starts to get going around 21 minutes as Slow Hands' track, "Kreuzberg Blues" hits which changes the tempo of the mix - and it is a w e s o m e. That's right, so awesome that it needed space in between it. Duh. I could go on and on about the different parts, but I will highlight the 37 minute mark which seems to be a favorite among the comments on Soundcloud. Me? I'm obsessed with it.
And if someone wants to find the song, I'm sure Rashad would be grateful because I was bugging him about it (via GChat) for about an hour yesterday as I kept asking him the difference between samples, edits, and music definitions I don't understand. I immediately recognized the sample which our friend, Mr. Bonkerz, has included in Volume 4 of his mixes. Rashad informed me it wasn't the same song - the track wasn't slowed down, and then explained musical lingo that I once again didn't understand (woops).
The mix rounds out nicely and another highlight of mine was at 48 minutes. Once it was over, it left me feeling a little sad. I hate and love when that happens because I want more! So I obliged my feelings and promptly listened to this mix 3 more times and decided this will now be the mix that I will be playing whenever people come over.
Sorry I'm not sorry but I'm pretty sure my taste in music is better - therefore I get to choose what goes on at all times. Though after taking one listen to this, I'm sure you wouldn't object to have this playing either.
PS - Does anyone else agree he is extremely good-looking? Because my hand is raised. PPS - Go Hokies! As you read this, I'm getting ready to head to Blacksburg for the first time in almost 2 years. Be happy for me, but also scared. Hello, Homecoming weekend full of awesome decisions. PPPS - What are you excited for this weekend?
Do I really need an introduction for the next person whose mix I'm about to share? I've been pretty much obsessed with him since I started loving DDPs, and seeing him live is still on my bucket list. I love his recent (and only) album that was released in 2010, "From Cradle to the Rave" and his song "Take 'Em Up" featuring vocals from Nancy Whang is a go-to song of mine. Always.
Shit Robot, aka Marcus Lambkin (DFA Records) story is pretty remarkable. After winning a green card, Lambkin left Dublin in 1992 to head to New York City and began spinning at parties in the East Village. His success only began to get even bigger after he was offered a Saturday night slot by owner of the well-known once underground after-hours nightclub, "Save the Robots" (which btw, sounds awesome). Shit Robot met another fellow Dubliner, Dominique Keegan, and the two started the record label, "Plant".*
You may be wondering to yourself how Shit Robot came to be on the DFA Record label since he teamed up with Keegan to start a record label. Well, it's ironic that the duo's office was in the same building as James Murphy. Who was then himself starting a studio in the basement of the same office building. And thus a beautiful relationship was born, and eventually both ended up as front-men, playing at Plant Bar, the "Unofficial DFA Headquarters", that Lambkin and Keegan owned.**
I'm so glad the relationship formed because I truly think that both James Murphy and Shit Robot are some of the most talented DJs and producers out there. I can attest after seeing James Murphy live that it was a dance party; all the while Murphy was making it look seamless. Shit Robot's tour dates are a little less US-based, so it's a little harder for me to justify a trip, but I'm hoping to cross that off my "music bucket list" sooner rather than later.
This particular mix features a lot more of Shit Robot's roots. There are a lot of hard-hitting tracks, including Nick Lawson & Matthew Burton's "Gruff It" that drops around the 23 minute mark. Caribou's remix of "It's a Crime" by Virgo Four brings a more abstract side to the mix (getting weird at 51 minutes in!) that I really, really love. Caribou is one of those bands that I listen to frequently, and I not only love them live, but I enjoy their remixes too. The Bot's segue from Akabu's "Life is so Strange" into the remix was perfectly placed. I'm actually still trying to figure out how/when the transition *really* occurred.
Hopefully this spotlight has schooled you in Shit Robot 101. I expect all of you to have taken notes, and come with me when he's touring near the Metropolitan area. And now that you're dismissed, your first assignment is to listen to this mix.
