OCH - Whale Song

Recently repressed, this was one of the standout tracks for me when we had Eric Cloutier & John Osborn over last summer.  

What Went Wrong?

First off - sorry for the lack of info here and the delay in posting it, but we wanted to be sure that the information we had was correct.

Secondly, we sincerely apologise to anyone who was looking forward to seeing Eric, and had made plans to go and see him. We were completely gutted about what happened, but it was outwith our control.

As for the reason as to why Eric didn't play - it turns out that Eric got himself a visa for his tour, which he believed covered him for the duration of his time in Europe, but it actually only lasted 3 days. So when he arrived in Glasgow, he was detained by customs, and as the visa was not valid he was held in solitary confinement and deported the next morning.

There was nothing that we could do about it, and we didn't get a chance to contact Eric to find out exactly what happened until he was back in Berlin.


I want to say thanks to everyone who still came down, and by all accounts seemed to have a good night - we really appreciated it.

Also thanks to Animal Farm for having us down to Substanz, it was a pleasure to be playing there again, and was a great end to what had been a pretty stressful day & night.


As for what's next - we have Forward Strategy Group booked for 7th October & Sigha for 2nd December.. thankfully they're from the UK.

Wax Works & Equalised Present.. Eric Cloutier

In 2006 Eric Cloutier decided to leave Detroit for pastures new, but I doubt that even he would have imagined that within the next 5 years he would become resident at New York’s most important techno club, a mnmlssgs favourite and one of the fortunate few people who gets to play records across the world.

We caught up with Eric to find out how things are going in New York, how his production is coming along, why he has decided to withhold tracklists and what he has planned for his European Tour, which sees him play Glasgow on July 1st.



Firstly why did you decide to leave Detroit? And what made you move to New York, at a time when many of your peers had already made or were making the move to Europe instead, is this something that you considered?

The thought of moving out of Detroit was in my head for quite a while, as I'd always been fascinated with NYC, and eventually living in Europe, so that was one factor. A second was just that musically, in Detroit, I had kind of hit a plateau, and in order for me to take the next steps with my career in music, I needed to get out of there and get some new insight on to myself and the scenes abroad. Though most of my friends were moving to Europe, I never really saw iHt as a viable option that early on, and was fine with staying stateside for a while longer to build more of a name for myself.

The attraction of living in a city that never sleeps is obvious, but how is the electronic music scene there at the moment? And what role has Bunker played in this?

The scene in NYC is really great. There's a fascinatingly diverse group of people that not only attend but throw events, and there's never really a weekend that there isn't at least one thing to go to, regardless of what style of music you're in to. The Bunker definitely has a huge impact on the city, as we're one of the only parties around doing the kind of techno and house that we do. Most others are a bit more mainstream where as we're catering to the true heads and presenting new music and artists all the time.

New York has a rich history of great techno DJs from natives like Adam X and Function to Jeff Mills’ residency at Limelight, are there any producers/DJs we should keep an eye out for?

Fred P and DJ Qu aren't new names to the scene, but they should always be on the watch by people. They're constantly creating and DJing insanely good music, so if you see their name on anything, you can almost assure quality will be the standard.

Bunker recently celebrated it’s 8th Birthday with special 8 hour sets from Donato Dozzy, Optimo & Derek Plaislaiko, how was the party? And do you have any personal highlights from the 5 years of which you have been a part of Bunker?

The anniversary party was, without a doubt, absolutely amazing. I can't speak for how Optimo did because i spent the entire night in the back room listening to Dozzy, but from all reports, both rooms were completely rammed the entire time, with nothing but quality music pumping through the speakers for all eight hours. My highlights of the Bunker are too numerous to mention. Every party is a great one, every guest DJ is a joy to hang around, and every chance I get to play as a resident is completely amazing to me. Its just one of the places I feel damn good at, month after month.

Donato spent a few weeks in America after the party, playing a couple more gigs alongside you and Spinoza, did you have an opportunity to get some advice or tips from him in the studio? How is your production coming a long? What software/hardware are you using in the studio? And when can we expect to hear something from you?

Wasn't able to pick Dozzy's brain much while he was here, but we do talk on the regular and he's always giving me a pointer here and there. My production's, however, aren't going as well as I'd like them to, but that's all part of the learning curve that I've mistakenly taken too long to jump in to. I'm mainly using Ableton as a scratch pad to get ideas out quickly, and then I eventually bring things in to Logic to warm them up a bit and lay things out with their far superior sound engine. As for when I'll have something done...who knows. I'd like to get an EP out this year, maybe a remix of someone, but I'm having a hard time getting the proper amount of time to sit in the studio and work.

Many of your friends started producing years ago, is this something that you wish you had been more active about or does it provide you with some extra satisfaction that you are one of the very few modern DJs who has made his name as a DJ?

If I could have another chance, or go back in time, I'd have started much sooner than I have now. I really wish I'd have made something and been constantly working on things for years, because I know that would help me a lot with where my career is heading. But its also nice knowing some of the amazing gigs that I've obtained have come solely from my DJing and nothing more. That's a feat not many people can accomplish these days. Its a small group of people that are in that group.

Your European tour starts in a couple of months, which sees you visiting Glasgow on the 1st July – where else are you playing? And do you have anything planned besides your gigs?

There's a whole slew of dates that I'll be doing, including the Toi.Toi 1yr Anniversary in London, playing at Cookies in Berlin with John Osborn, and playing an awesome open-air party in Paris for my good friend Celine called Sundae...but more dates are being added all the time, and I'm hoping I have an exceptionally full schedule for the three weeks that I'll be overseas.

You also return to Japan this year, playing alongside Peter Van Hoesen in May, is there any chance you will be making another appearance at Labyrinth in September? Can you describe your experience of the festival, and what was it like to play in such a unique environment?

No word on a return booking to the Labyrinth festival itself, but I just returned from my trip to Tokyo to play "Enter the Labyrinth," also thrown by Mindgames, as a pre-party for the festival. Without getting in to too many details, the gig itself was an absolute blast, and the entire night was filled with incredible music. Peter and I had an absolute blast, and I must thank both him and Russ from Mindgames for the chance to make it to Japan again. But regarding the festival...all I can say is its the best party I've ever been to in my life, filled with some of the greatest people I've ever met, which created some very long lasting, very strong relationships with many people, and I would absolutely love to do it over again - both as an artist and as an attendee.

mnmlssgs are huge fans of Labyrinth, and are also keen admirers of yours (Eric is one of the few DJs to provide 2 ssgs mixes), can you tell us how your ssg mix came about and if you have a personal favourite from the mix series?

Chris from ssg's had heard a few of my podcasts, and I was a pretty frequent commenter on the blog, and eventually we struck up a good friendship and he asked me to do a mix for them. It took me a while, as I wanted to present something really special to them, but once I did, myself and others were extremely happy with the results. The second one came about after I played at Labyrinth in 2009, and it was really meant to just be a continuation of the festival in some ways, highlighting some tracks heard while there as well as from what I learned being a part of Labyrinth. Too hard to pick a favourite, though - almost all the mixes are so solid you can't narrow down to one.

You mentioned recently that you are no longer providing tracklists for your mixes, is this something that you have been considering for a while and why have you made this decision?

I've always tossed about the idea of not including tracklists, but for the longest time I always did because it really helps people decide whether or not to download the mix. Everyone scans the tracklist, and if it seems interesting, everyone downloads it. That being said, though, I'm also a bigger fan of people just taking a chance - quit checking the tracklist, and just expand your mind for once, without having some pretense as to what the podcast may or may not sound like based on the song selection. I've been spending even more time hunting down quality music and spending hours a day on the hunt for new tunes that I don't want them to be easily picked up by sniping poseur DJ's and kids who just want to undercut me and what I've worked so hard to achieve.

Your most recent mix was a vinyl only, dub techno mix, why did you choose to record this strictly on vinyl? And is this something that is being reflected in your DJ’ing at the moment?

I chose to do it strictly on vinyl because most of the tracks that were used in that mix are vinyl only and impossible to find on digital. I don't see the point in encoding a record to play with Traktor Scratch when i have the physical vinyl in my hand, so I wanted to prove a point that not everything needs to be on Beatport's Top 10 to be good. But I've also been using more and more vinyl in my sets because the overwhelming amount of pathetic and mediocre music that comes in to my inbox was just becoming frustrating and tiresome. I'd rather ensure I'm buying and performing with the best music I can find, so eliminating one of the repeat offenders - shitty promos and underproduced / overthought techno and house - isn't clouding my judgement or taste.

Many DJs have been extremely open about their dislike for digital DJ’ing, as a DJ who utilises both vinyl & digital, what stops you from being exclusively digital?

Well this is not only a tired argument, but its also open to interpretation by all. "Digital DJing" to me is using Ableton or Traktor to autosync things, not using an encoded vinyl solution like Traktor Scratch or Serato, so firstly I have to address that separation. That being said, I don't really see the point in having the argument - if you're playing a set that makes me move, then you're doing something right. I don't really care how you go about it, playing good tracks in an intelligent manner is far more important than the avenue you take when presenting it. I've heard DJ's that can't beatmatch to save their lives play some of the most amazing records I've never heard, and that will be more important to me, every time, than if you can be rock solid behind the decks and play terrible music for ten hours. I'll never stop using vinyl in my sets, and I always like to surprise people now and then with a vinyl only situation, so it really depends on my mood. Very rarely do I ever perform with only my laptop...probably closer to never.

Can you tell us a bit about the mix you have recorded for us, what we can expect from you on the 1st? and what your plans are for the future?

Not really much to say about the mix - I'll let it do the talking. Its typical of me, though - deeper, slower, slightly darker, a little dubby, with a dash of house on the side - so it should fairly accurately represent at least one portion of the night when I play there on July 1st. Since I'll be doing the entire evening again, from start to finish, you can expect this to be a warmup to my warmup. As for my future - make a damn record!

It’s unlikely, but if we ever get the opportunity to visit New York, where’s the best place to get some Pizza?

Ahh, the standard "I'm visiting NYC..." question. Its impossible to answer who has the best pizza because there's so many pizza places. But if I had to shoot for two in my neighborhood, Roberta's and Grandma Rose's are pretty hard to top.

Check out the mix from Eric HERE

RA Event & Tickets
Facebook

Massive thanks to Eric for thi and I hope you all enjoy the mix.

See you on the 1st.

Death Is Not Final

Easter is over, the electric frog is not back until July and the highlight of this weekend is techno's poster boy, Richie Hawtin, playing @ Pressure, but that doesn't mean it's all bad news.. May is shaping up to be an excellent month for nights out, and hopefully it sets the tone for the rest of the summer.

On the first Friday of the Month we are playing Point 4 @ The Soundhaus with Neil Murphy & Jamie Knox of Loop. We will be taking over 'The Wee Room' for the evening, with Nomad & Tronic playing the 'Main Room' & 'Mirror Room' respectively. There's an afterparty for the night too, which will be hosted by Hotbox and will feature Mr. Copy & Turtle from Animal Farm.. After playing at the afterparty for the last Point4, I can honestly say that this will be wild and if you miss it, then you're missing out.

The Saturday isn't really up to much to be honest, Melting Pot is always going to be a good night, but apart from that it's uninspiring.

The week after has Dygas at The Admiral, Steve Rachmad at La Cheetah & Agoria at The Arches. Plenty to choose from on this night, so hopefully they are all pretty busy.

Again not much happening on Saturday, but I will be going to Loop at The Brunswick. Andy Gilbert who played at the last Wax Works party is playing, so I'm sure the tunes will be good, entry is cheap and Andy will have the vinyl out - more than enough reason to be in attendance.

I recently posted about Shackleton playing on the 20th May, and I was looking forward to this party the most out of all the ones I have mentioned, but the 20th May just got absolutely massive..

After having Kenny Larkin over to play, and playing 3 times in the one day with Ben Klock at the Electric Frog - Animal Farm have gone and booked Berghain resident Norman Nodge to play the subclub. But what looked like a nasty clash has actually turned out perfectly, as the Shackleton gig ends at 10:30pm and the subclub opens at 11pm. It's not often that you get a night of top class music starting 7pm and going on until 7am in Glasgow, this is essential.

The last weekend in May is pretty quiet Deadly Rhythm have Martyn & Braiden booked, but that's not really my cup of tea so I expect it will be a weekend of rest before Steffi in June.

A little bit of Wax Works related news if you're interested..

We recorded a mix for the 'Loopcast' recently, and it should hopefully be online within the next week or so - it's only an hour, but the tunes are excellent and it's all vinyl as always.

Not sure when the next Wax Works party will be, but we have recently teamed up with the lads from EQD to put on a couple of parties later in the year. The 1st July should be in your diary, we are hosting one of mnmlssgs favourite DJ's, Eric Cloutier - who will be spinning alll night in The Admiral.. There will also be an exclusive mix from Eric, we're hoping to have some CDs in and around Glasgow in June, give me a shout if you want one.

Also, I think we will be playing an all day party at The Halt Bar - this will either be at the end of May or the first weekend in June. I will keep you posted.

Sorry!

First off.. really sorry about the lack of updates this month, I have been on holiday from work/music/life, but I am getting back into the swing of things and will be keeping you in the loop for the foreseeable future.

I guess now is a good opportunity to say thanks to everyone who made it down to Wax Works on the 6th March, it was an excellent party with great tunes from start to finish. Big thanks to Davie Barr and Andy Gilbert who both played excellent sets, towards the end of Andy's set things got a bit blurry but the place was groovin' - so thank you :)

We are working on another date for Bar Petite, I will keep you posted on that one.

Our other gig this month was at the Point4 afterparty with Simon Stokes & Animal Farm. Point4 was a brilliant night with standout sets from Mr. Copy & Bobby Wilson (there were others playing, but I only saw these 2) the crowd was fantastic and there was a really good atmosphere about the place. The same can also be said for the afterparty, which was wild. If you were there, then you know.

Thanks to everyone involved in putting on the party, it was a pleasure to be part of it.

On to some music.. There has been plenty of top quality mixes uploaded recently, probably too many, so I have whittled it down to just a few in particular that I recommend you download, set aside some time and give them your undivided attention.

Here goes...

Eric Cloutier - Dub Explorations

I don't want to go on about Eric too much just yet, all I will say is check out this mix and be in Glasgow on the 1st July. A quick description of the mix - vinyl only dub techno from the man.

Alan Backdrop - Anecumene

I first came across Alan Backdrop via mnml.nl where he posted up a mix, it was described as ambient/droning/techno (I think) - I also knew him from Discogs as he is/was selling a record I'm after for about €500, but this was the first I had heard him mix. The mix itself was exactly what I am into and I was seriously impressed by the structure of the set and some of the records that were played. Alan is not a man for tracklists though, and I can completely understand why.

As for this mix, Brian over at SCA has put up a nice article which gives you a bit of background on Alan, I recommend having a read at this before getting torn into the mix, which at just over 3 hours is a bit of a marathon for a podcast. but please, check this out.

As for a quick description, I doubt I can do better than the man himself.

"An atmospheric journey that starts slowly with ambient/drone music and fades into a frantic techno gear. It evolves constantly, scoring several moments of wonder, suspense, fear, peace, frenzy and mystery. I hope that listeners can feel strong emotions, equal or different from mine."

and last but by no means least...

Eli Verveine - Kapterka

Eli is without doubt my favourite house DJ, I haven't heard anyone else who can make their set seem so.. personal? Her sets just have such a warm, inviting vibe and every track just works - I feel like she is a dJ who could play for hours and hours and you could just get totally lost in the groove.

As for the mix, it's warm, groovin' house music that will be on heavy rotation all summer long.
At only 1 hour long, there really is no excuse not to be all over this.

Hope you enjoy.

Favourite mixes of 2010

One of the issues I have with dance music, is that every week there are
countless podcasts and mixes released on tons of websites, blogs and
soundclouds. So many that it is impossible to even download all the mixes,
never mind listen to them.
 
The ssgs touched on this recently when posting their favourite mixes of the
past year, and I have to agree with them, I think if websites such as RA or
FACT didn’t release new mixes so relentlessly then perhaps we would have more
time to really listen to the mixes and be able to appreciate the better ones.
 
Anyway… Here is a list of my favourite mixes from 2010, I hope you find the
time to enjoy them.
 
DDKH
 
This one was posted up on the ssgs blog in the summer and with no artist
name or tracklist, it received little attention… Which is a shame, why do
we need a name, label or tracklist before giving something our time?
 
It reminds me of Adam X’s recent interview where he said that no one had
time for the TW stuff when he gave it to them under his own name, it’s a
strange world.
 
But the mix is fantastic, and you can find an incomplete tracklist for it
online if that’s your thing. Also the final track (Mike Parker – Acromion)
has just been released on Aquaplano and I would recommend picking this up,
move fast though as it is limited to 300.
 
Eric Cloutier Music Aus Strom
 
Eric is one of the most under appreciated DJs about, he is simply on a
different level. The guy knows just knows, and every mix by him is pretty
much guaranteed a lengthy stay on my ipod.
 
The mix that I have chosen to feature here is his most recent one for Music
Aus Strom, but it was a toss up between this and his Globus mix (promomixes.com)
for his mix of the year, so I would recommend you check that one out too.
 
P.S Eric is coming to Europe in the summer of 2011, so if you can make it
happen, then get this guy booked. I’m fairly certain he is coming to Glasgow
so we will definitely keep you all up to date if/when we know more.
 
Mike Parker @ Warehouse702
 
A new Mike Parker record or mix is the kind of thing that just gets me
going, it’s pretty much buy on sight when it comes to Mike’s music and the
same applies to his mixes – They are essential.
This mix is only a few weeks old, but it more than deserves it’s place in
this list.
 
Ancient Methods FACT Mix 188
 
Ancient Methods released what I think is their best record so far in AM05,
and judging by their FACT mix their live set is absolutely storming.
 
I think they are easily one of the most exciting acts in techno right now
and the future is looking very bright with these guys around.

Eli Verveine Rawmance
 
I am a massive fan of Eli, she is easily one of my favourite DJs and I
really hope that 2011 is a killer year for her, all of her mixes are just
so smooth and they are absolutely timeless.  I really owe the ssgs on this
one, because if it wasn’t for them then I would never have heard Eli when I
did.
 
This is just one of many fantastic mixes from Eli and you would be
doing yourself a huge favour to check them all out.

Silent Servant Tresor Promo Mix
 
Silent Servant is the unsung hero of Sandwell District, and he just owns
with this mix. The mix is from promomixes.com and it is based on Tresor 1996,
it features some of the finest techno from the early nineties and one of
Wax Works all time favourite tracks in ‘Speak To Me’.  I think this mix
really highlights the quality of the music from that period and you can still
play these tracks today and have people going crazy.
 
The mixes on promomixes.com are an education and I would recommend spending
sometime checking them out.  His recent remix of Claudio PRC is Also really
worth picking up and if you can get a copy I would recommend this. 
 
Thanks to all of the people who were involved in making these mixes happen.
 
Iain