Electronic Beats Magazine - Issue 02/2009 by Telekom Electronic Beats

MICKY ROSEN & ALEX URSEANU SEEKERS OF BEAUTY & HOTELIERS

Behind every original property are the original people who make it happen. Design Hotels™ presents its most illustrious personalities. Micky Rosen and Alex Urseanu are more than just innovative hoteliers who have led the way in Frankfurt’s hospitality and nighlife scene. They’re the keepers of their hometown’s hottest guest list.

LET TER FROM TH E EDIT OR

“TUNE IN, TURN ON, DROP OUT” As summer rolls around again, our thoughts inevitably lean towards a holiday: we all decide we need to ‘get away from it all’, we want to escape – in effect we want to drop-out, if only for a short while. The point is that for almost all of us, summer holidays are usually just a short break from the norm; within two or three weeks we are all back at our desks, admittedly browner and more relaxed but also ready to settle back into the many intricate systems and routines that we have built around us in order to navigate this thing called our daily lives. Which got us wondering – what has happened to the real dropouts? The few who genuinely choose an entirely unique and different path away from what any of us would consider ‘the norm’. Far from it being a summer holiday of escapism for them – this is their life. This poses an interesting question as to whether it’s still possible to really exit society forever? This is the subject that Paul Sullivan gets to grips with in his smart essay, 21st Century Drop Outs. From looking back to the literary experimental drop-outs like George Orwell and the psychedelic hippies of the sixties to where most of us are today – married to our jobs, locked in a world of monitoring satellites and mobile phones and yet all secretly yearning for island life escapism, evidenced by the success of TV shows like Lost or Survivor. He has found a number of weird and wonderful examples of current people who really have managed to find alternative paths – check out anti-capitalism hero Daniel Suelo who has lived without using cash in America for eight years! (No, he definitely can’t lend you five bucks.)

I M AG E

MICHAEL MANN

Then we have a really insightful interview with Klaus Thymann, whose beautiful photography book Hybrids captures myriad groups of different people who really do their own thing - whether that means running a religious theme park, being a Burning Man festival obsessive or a tall bike jouster (basically a gladiator on a bicycle) – as he said, an open-mind when meeting these people is key – then you can understand their choices so much better! I for one, think I might have some badass bicycle-jousting moves.

There is much more – including a fresh look from Viktoria Pelles at Grey Gardens, a 1975 documentary about legendary American aristocratic drop-outs ‘Big Edie’ and ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier (mother and daughter who were aunt and cousin respectively to Jackie Kennedy Onassis). They lived as wildly eccentric recluses in a tumbling down mansion which was close to be condemned until Jackie O herself stepped in with a generous donation. Their story has continued to fire the imagination of many artists, designers and of course film-makers – and a new ‘Grey Gardens’ is in cinema now. There is much more including an unusual selection of a summer festivals where you can make a valiant effort at forgetting you have to be back at work in a week! The people in this issue prove that variety really is the spice of life and that there are many other paths available to you other than the obvious one. And even if you can’t afford to totally drop out this summer, make sure you do get away and do something unusual, new and maybe even a little freaky. You never know, you may end up liking it more than you’d expected! Enjoy your summer. Liz McGrath

CONTRIBUTORS

PEOPLE PUBLISHER PRODUCER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ART DIRECTOR FASHION & STYLE EDITOR FEATURES EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER PROGRAM MANAGER ONLINE EDITOR PROJECT DIRECTOR ONLINE ONLINE MUSIC EDITOR PRESS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS COVER ARTWORK Lisa Borges ARTWORK / PHOTOGRAPHY

WEBSITE

Toni Kappesz Commandante Berlin Gmbh, Schröderstr. 11, 10115 Berlin, Germany Liz McGrath (liz@electronicbeats.net) Lisa Borges (lisa@electronicbeats.net) Sandra Liermann (sandra@electronicbeats.net) Viktoria Pelles (viktoria@electronicbeats.net) Leona List (leona@electronicbeats.net) Claudia Jonas (claudia@electronicbeats.net) Semir Chouaibi (semir@electronicbeats.net) Carlos de Brito (carlos@electronicbeats.net) Gareth Owen (gareth@electronicbeats.net) Michelle Kramer (michelle@electronicbeats.net) Viktoria Pelles, Gareth Owen, Paul Sullivan, Emer Grant, Conor Creighton, Johannes Bonke, Hana Yanetski, Neale Lytollis, Jobot, Rainer Metz, Ari Stein Klaus Thymann, Rachel de Joode, Frauke Fischer, Lars Borges, Steve Ryan, Mody Al Khufash, Lisa Borges, Leona List, Steffi Rossol, Stefan Kehl www.electronicbeats.net

EM ER

KL AUS

RACH EL

CONOR

GRANT

THYMANN

DE JOODE

CREIGHT ON

Emer Grant (26) is a freelance art and

Klaus Thymann is an award-winning

A graduate of Gerrit Rietveld Art Aca-

Conor Creighton is an Irish writer based

design curator from Derry, N. Ireland.

Danish photographer working with

demy in Amsterdam Rachel de Joode is a

in Berlin. He’s been writing on subcul-

Working for Damien Hirst and Thomas

high-profile brands like Levi’s, Nike and

fine arts photographer working in edito-

ture and the peculiar pockets of people

Heatherwick in London, she moved to

adidas, magazines such as i-D and Dazed

rial fashion photography for magazines

who live on the periphery of society for

Berlin in 2008 where she works for Sev-

and Confused as well as photographing

like Sleek, Domus, Pulp, QVEST; her solo

five years. Before that he lived on the

enstar Gallery and Peter Harvey. She oc-

music legends like Depeche Mode, The

work has been exhibited throughout the

Aran Islands making furniture from

casionally likes to write about the cross-

Prodigy or David Bowie. His contribu-

Netherlands, Berlin and Paris. For this

driftwood. For this issue he returned to

over of the arts and music scenes, and

tion to this EB issue is the vibrant pho-

issue of EB, Rachel revealed the full ex-

the islands for one week and managed

finds Berlin the perfect setting to do this.

tography from his critically acclaimed

tent of her charms by getting a couple of

to escape without getting stung for any

publication Hybrids (2007).

Shady Outcasts to pose for her camera.

overdue bar tabs.

WWW.THYMANN.COM

WWW.RACHELDEJOODE.COM

WWW.CONORCREIGHTON. WORDPRESS.COM

INDEX

TH E ESCAPIST ISSUE TUNE I N

FEATURES

F OCUS

MOST WANTED

06–19

20–25

26–47

48–49

GONE BABY GONE ............................. 28

SHADY OUTCASTS ............................. 48

NEWS ................................................. 10

KLAUS THYMANN: HYBRIDS .............. 20

ZOMBIE DISCO SQUAD ............................ 12

HIGH SOCIETY DROP-OUTS .............. 32

SKINNY WOLVES ...................................... 13

FRINGE MOVEMENTS......................... 38

PLAYDOE ................................................... 14

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT.................. 44

ATA ............................................................. 16

SECRET GARDENS, BURNING MEN ... 46

ELECTRONIC BEATS FESTIVALS ............ 18 ACE NORTON INTERVIEW ...................... 19

JET SET TI NG

GET DRESSED

I NTERVI EWS

H EAR TH IS

50–61

62–73

74–87

88–99

THE GIRL WHO FELL TO EARTH ........ 62

PHOENIX............................................. 76

THE COLLECTOR’S GUIDE ................. 90

MICACHU ............................................ 80

MUSIC REVIEWS ................................. 92

PREFUSE 73 ....................................... 82

MY MUSIC MOMENT: EROL ALKAN .... 98

COPENHAGEN, DESIGN MAVEN AND FREETHINKING HAVEN ...................... 50

DELETE MUSIC ................................... 86

EB TUNE IN

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

If you want a full update on all the latest developments in the world of Electronic Beats then get reading as we tell you all about the fab new interactive features on our website, the short films you can find online and an interview with one of the producers, acclaimed music director Ace Norton and we have the latest reports from two sold-out EB festivals in Graz and Cologne. Busy busy busy! Then for Ones To Watch weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got South African hip-hop stars Playdoe, who have some seriously banging beats thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll make you pop! In Tough At The Top, Jamie Farrell talks about his experimental, abstract label Skinny Wolves, which he heads up from Dublin. And in Word From The Wise, Ata, the king of Frankfurt club Robert Johnson and owner of Playhouse Records, tells us '7 ways to Jack Your Club' - one for all the budding club owners and party-throwers out there.

Competition

Rober t Johnson Could S a v e Yo u r L i f e ! The lyric ‘last night a DJ saved my life’ has never rung truer! Legendary Frankfurt club Robert Johnson has been saving lives every weekend for the last decade. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it right? That’s right, the club is celebrating 10 years in operation. Happy Birthday guys! Over the years Robert Johnson has built up a solid gold reputation as one of the best clubs in Germany – playing host to both up and coming local talents and established stars of the German and international DJ scene. For the few of you who don’t know, the man behind this club is DJ, Producer, Playhouse label owner and all-round good guy, Ata. Check out his Word From The Wise on page 16 for ‘7 Ways To Jack Your Club’. Robert Johnson have kindly gifted us with three special 10 year Anniversary packages to give away which include the Prins Thomas Live At Robert Johnson Vol.2 CD and the special t-shirt designed by graphic designer Michael Satter bearing the party motto ‘10 Years Live Saver’ on it. The anniversary celebrations will take place over the weekend June 19-21 with Ricardo Villalobos, Roman Flügel, Sebastian Kahrs, Arto Mwambé (live), Gerd Janson, Oliver Hafenbauer, Chloé, Ivan Smagghe, Ata, Rhythm & Sound feat. Tikiman and Andrew Weatherall all taking to the decks to play some music and keep the people smiling. To win just tell us, what is the motto of the Robert Johnson 10 year anniversary party? A N S W E R S T O W I N @ E L E C T R O N I C B E AT S . N E T BY

L I Z M C G R AT H

W W W . R O B E R T- J O H N S O N . D E

Ibiza Space Clubbers

Slave t o Grace Jones Yo u C a n B e T h e r e T o o ! The awesomeness that is Grace Jones – music and style icon of the 70s, 80s, 90s and the now – is going to be performing live in Space club in Ibiza on August 9. This is a huge coup for Space club especially as it’s the first time Ms Grace Jones has performed on the island for over 20 years. The fans inside will surely go absolutely bananas for her! Grace will perform songs from her new album Hurricane (her tenth studio album and her first for 19 years) The Space gig is all part of a comeback that started last year and has been building up in recent months as her Hurricane Tour takes her around the world – this grande dame of nightclubbing has still got ‘it’ in diamante-covered bucketloads! The very special news is that readers of Electronic Beats mag and www.electronicbeats.net stand a chance to win two guestlist places for the once-in-a-lifetime chance of seeing Grace Jones perform live at Space! In order to win please complete the rest of this famous Grace Jones song: ‘Slave To The...’ - Good luck! A N S W E R S T O W I N @ E L E C T R O N I C B E AT S . N E T BY

L I Z M C G R AT H

W W W. W E LOV E - M U S I C . C O M W E L O V E … S PA C E ( 0 9 ) S U N D AY S O P E N I N G PA R T Y 1 4 T H J U N E / C L O S I N G PA R T Y 2 7 T H S E P T E M B E R

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

The School of Life

Fashionable Backpacks

Ideas to Live by

Return of the Rucksack

Want to change something in your life and just don’t know where to start? Before heading down the tempting path of telling the boss to sod off and just leaving everything behind to open a breakfast café in Goa, why not check out the theschoolof life.com for more rational inspiration. The most recent project by philosophy writer Alain De Botton is also a physical centre in the shape of a small shop nestled between a kebab shop and a drycleaners in central London. Aiming to provide a sense of direction, wisdom and even solace to people through secular culture (arts, literature, science), The School of Life offers help on everything from urban gardening and baking bread to how to be an explorer or understanding love. Now that’s a start! BY

VIK TORIA PELLES

W W W. T H E S C H O O LO F L I F E . C O M

Störtebecking

Club Pir a t es S a i l t h e S p ree ! This summer in Berlin, the fourth of July promises to be a massive celebration (and not only for Americans with newfound patriotism) with virtually every Berlin club worth their salt joining forces for a Boat Parade on the Spree. The fall of the wall 20 years ago provided access to countless alternative locations that were transformed into creative centres. Gradually these spaces have been lost to financial establishment, but under the pirate inspired motto ‘Störtebecking – Raise the Flag’ a marine demo/ party aims to claim back some of the cultural free-space of the Spree. This is a demo Berlin-style and involves the capital’s top clubs, speak Berghain, Arena, Bar 25, Club der Visionäre et al, so expect top music and a seriously cracking time! Historically, the Störtebeker pirates referred to themselves as Likedeeler, a term that means ‘fair sharing’, and this legacy will certainly carry on with ‘Raise the Flag’ proceeds going to Berlin kids in need. M Y S PA C E . C O M / S T O E R T E B E C K I N G

Remember a time when wearing a rucksack, preferably an Eastpack, was the ultimate in cool? Well, at least for kids of a certain age. Now after way too many years of weird trends like bags made from truck tarps – admittedly a few classics never did go out of style e.g. the good old Fjällräven ‘Kånken’ – it is actually a big relief to see that the very practical rucksack is facing a huge comeback. Aforementioned streetwear brand Eastpack has joined up with Raf Simons for the third season running, presenting an impressive range of very stylish accessories to stuff your belongings into, including a rucksack that might well be one of the best contemporary interpretations of this traditional device. Also, Danish favourites Wood Wood have an exceptionally nice, rather retro-inspired rucksack in their collection that evokes memories of hikes in the mountains. Searching for a new approach on the theme might make you want to take a look at the current collection of Chris & Tibor with their golden leather or chequered fabric models. But if your wardrobe requires some bigger fashion names, why not try and see if the Marc by Marc Jacobs version of a backpack, quite suitable for a day in the city, might not very well be just the perfect thing for you. BY

RAINER METZ

W W W . F J A L L R A V E N . D E | W W W . E A S T PA K . C O M / R A F S I M O N S WWW.WOODWOOD.DK | WWW.CHRISTIBOR.COM WWW.MARCJACOBS.COM

O n e s T o Wa t c h | Z o m b i e D i s c o S q u a d

Jack Like A Zombie Lucas Hunter and Nat Self are the two players in the small, but perfectly formed Zombie Disco Squad. As a DJ team, they have lit up dance f loors across the world, from Russia to America and almost everywhere in Europe on their way, but it is their unique productions that are creating the next level of interest in the pair, who have been signed to a one-year, exclusive deal with Jesse Rose’s Made To Play label. I N T ERV I EW

GARETH OWEN

Lucas and Nat first met when they both worked at the same bar in West London. With Lucas on the decks and Nat behind the bar, they soon bonded over a shared love of old-skool electro and Miami bass. With Lucas DJing, a small collective called the Black Hearts grew up around the pair organising parties and playing out as a DJ team. However, Nat and Lucas have extremely competitive perfectionist personalities and a stint doing work experience at the nu-disco label Tirk opened Luke’s eyes to the amount of work required to be a success in the modern music landscape. By this point they had both decided that music was the direction their lives were going to take, and so this knowledge combined with a more laid-back attitude from the other members of their collective led to Lucas and Nat branching out on their own whilst pinching a description of the Black Hearts musical style and using it as their own moniker. And so Zombie Disco Squad was born. A move from West to East London was the first decision the pair made, gaining themselves a pair of short lived residencies at 93ft East and the Vibe Bar (then cornerstones of East London’s music scene, acquired through constant hustling of their mixtapes) which touched on everything from Chicago jack tracks, to Baltimore and fidget house and baile funk – a sound they christened ‘ghetto house. For various reasons those two residencies never quite worked out as planned, so they moved to the more laid-back surroundings of Catch-22 and a new party called ‘Get Rude’. And as the saying goes, it was third time lucky. Their Get

Rude parties were an instant success – with friends and local acts playing a sound that fitted with the boys’ aesthetic, it wasn’t long before ghetto house was the dominant force in London’s fickle and fashionable club-scene. But for two ultra competitive perfectionists, the copycat DJs and formulaic blog house sounds were starting to become stale, and a new challenge was needed. Staying true to their electro roots, Nat and Lucas wanted to push their sound forward, combining what they loved with more techno inf luences, and leaving the blog house mp3 DJs and music scenesters behind. A move to Berlin for Lucas to concentrate on music full time whilst Nat stayed in London, worked to unexpectedly improve their productions as they completed their first EP showcasing their sound. That effort led to a bidding war of sorts between Jesse Rose and Claude Von Stroke for their debut EP, Congo Fire, which has already been tipped as this years ‘Heater’. However, where Claude Von Stroke may have won the fight, Jesse Rose won the war by signing up the boys for an exclusive one-year deal, describing the pair as one of the most exciting acts he has heard. And, as the icing on their cake, Jesse invited them to be resident DJs at his Made To Play night in Berlin’s Panorama Bar. For two DJs that started out only a couple of years ago in one of Europe’s most competitive music scenes to now having a monthly residency at Berlin’s Mecca of serious dance music, is surely the proof that with hard work and persistence, almost anything is possible. Keep your ears open, because Zombie Disco Squad is a name you are going to be hearing a lot more of in the coming months.

T o u g h A t T h e T o p | S k i n n y Wo l v e s

H u n g r y L i k e T h e Wo l f With the musical tide shifting towards darker, more abstract forms of electronic music, it’s obvious that new labels are going to come to the fore to satisfy this sudden demand for the bizarre. Step up Skinny Wolves. Like most of the best things in life, the label evolved more or less by accident, yet despite its unintentional beginnings – and a name hastily culled from a Comet Gain song – things are looking bright for the young upstart from Ireland. Co-founder Jamie Farrell took time out to talk about making music in outpost Dublin. I N T ERV I EW

N E A L E LY T O L L I S

W h i ch o f t h e re l e a s e s f ro m S k i n ny Wo lve s h ave yo u b e e n m o s t p ro u d o f s o fa r ? The first record we released. 250 copies

all with handmade sleeves. A lot of sweat and tears went into that record and it sold out in one month which was nice! T h e m o s t re c o g n i s a b l e a c t s o n S k i n ny Wo lve s a re a l l i n t e r n a t i o n a l . W h a t i s yo u r a pp ro a ch t o s i g n i n g a r t i s t s ? A local

label with international connections. We try to nurture local talent by giving support slots to the bands we like. We do have plans to release more records by Irish bands and more international bands at the same time too. We are actually working on the idea of some split records featuring local and international artists that we think would work really well together and hopefully people will see that Ireland has lots to offer musically. D o you feel at all isolat ed in Dublin, a far cr y f rom t h e m o re t r aditional music centres such a s London or New Yo rk ? For

T h e re d o e s s e e m t o b e a m ove away f ro m u p l i f t i n g d a n c e m u s i c i n t o d a rke r, m o r e a b s t r a c t t e r r i t o r y t h e s e d ays .

a while I think Dublin was off the map for smaller, cutting edge bands when they went on tour, but now, thanks to promoters here like Foggy Notions, Umack and ourselves, these new bands will have an audience here. The main con for us as a label based in Ireland is that we have no vinyl pressing plant so we are isolated in some ways, but in other ways we are just as in the middle of everything thanks to the Web.

Maybe people are looking for a bit more substance in the music that they are listening to. It would be fair to say we are into the darker side of things music-wise. We come from a background of listening to bands that used electronics and live band instrumentation, however primitively. With such easy access to music now, people can afford the time to sift through the crap and sniff out the interesting stuff.

What’s t he indep endent music scene like in Du b l i n t h e s e d ays? There is probably a lot more going on in Ireland than

Te l ep a t h e a re re a l ly o n t h e u p - a n d - u p t h e s e d ays . W h a t i s i t a b o u t t h e m t h a t a pp e a l s t o yo u s o m u ch ? We love the music

people seem to realise. More and more people are looking towards alternative spaces to hold events and parties which we think is very healthy. There are a lot more free events and a lot more integration of music and art rather than music just as entertainment. There’s lots of great new bands; So Cow, Wounds, Children Under Hoof, Dublin Duck Dispensary, Cap Pas Cap, Twinkranes… the scene is getting better all the time!

they are doing. Their sound has evolved so much, it’s really interesting to see where they are taking it and how people are reacting to it. We’re really happy for them. They are not afraid to experiment with their approach to making music, even if it may alienate some older fans. They have a vision and a freshness that is invigorating!

I n t he cur rent g lobal downtur n, it seems especi a l ly t o u g h fo r small labels t o sur vive. How will Skinny Wolve s we a t h e r t he s t or m? It’s hard to see this as a business. We just put out

Mainly, we have a thing for bands who were out there on their own, creating their own blueprints for what they thought music should be, and who weren’t afraid to do what they wanted. Bands like Chrome, Suicide, The Fall, The Birthday Party, Wipers, Devo, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, John Foxx, Screamers…

records for bands we love. It’s very low-key and not really affected by the financial crisis. The pressings are in very limited editions and I think people who love music will always find money to spend on vinyl.

A s i d e f ro m yo u r ow n re l e a s e s , wh o a re yo u r m u s i c a l h e ro e s ?

W h a t’s c o m i n g u p f ro m S k i n ny Wo lve s i n t h e n e a r f u t u re ?

More vinyl release, more shows, mini festivals, DJ nights… and bankruptcy!

O n e s T o Wa t c h | P l a y d o e

The Playdoe Beat W i l l M a k e Yo u Po p L i ke T h i s !

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

If spank rock took a gold-plated, multicoloured time machine and travelled back to guest star on stage with Kraftwerk, the audience would be showered with Playdoe’s sound and their breakdancing crews would forever hail the likes of Spoek and DJ Fuck as their leaders. With lyrics that you would expect to find as ingredients sprawled across cereal boxes eaten by eighties naughty outcasts, The Garbage Pail Kids, the two-man outfit dubbed Playdoe (yes, like the malleable substance but minus an ‘h’ and with a cheeky ‘e’ added to the end!), collectively hail from South Africa and are on a mission to take on the world with a target audience ranging from Austrian soccer mums, Nigerian barbers to Tibetan lawyers. In short, they want to take their music to a level where it’s as accessible and wild as possible – a bit like their home country which they have yet to dent with their mix of neolectro afrobotic ethnotechno. Spoek (the rapper, singer, dancer and self-proclaimed car parker), met DJ Fuck (known to his mum as Simon Dent Ringrose), in high school when the then teenage journo, Spoek, interviewed Simon about his hobby as a graffiti-writing scratch DJ. Years later, they hooked up when Spoek confessed his dorky rapping capabilities to the famous beats master in training. Both booty bassing brothers have got hyper happenings in music in their past (Spoek was a part of HIVIP and Sweat.X amongst many others) and DJ Fuck has a popular underground cult called The Real Estate Agents – not to mention the talent to play a tiny piano on stage whilst tinkering with a microwave in real-time – talk about a musical multitasker! Since their worlds collided, the pair have been on tour across Europe supporting the likes of Big Dada’s hot ticket, Cadence Weapon, and Dirty Stank founder, Dizzee Rascal. Citing their inf luences from living with their grandmother (says Spoek!) to BMX gangs and other random foods, Playdoe’s music makes kids more excited than Mexican jumping beans at a pole vaulting competition! To get an idea of just how rowdy and outright ridiculous the band and their audience get when these two take the stage, all you need to do is check out all of the fan footage that YouTube hosts. Not only are their tunes just too fast and too damn loud for

the average mobile phone to handle, no handheld video recorder seems to be able to keep up to capture Spoek’s gyrating reaction to DJ Fuck’s seemingly tireless blips, beats and bops. Playdoe really are a band that play hard and work even harder – their video for the track ‘Pop Like This’, shows that even though they may have a severe lust for all that is fast and hyper bassy, they also have a huge love for colour and graphics aplenty, as each scene in it portrays the band in a comic book-like world where their music serves as soundtrack to an entirely pixelated reality. Off stage and out of camera shot, the band’s look lends a heavily 8-bit inf luenced head nod to the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air with a twist of Run DMC f lavours, thanks to Spoek’s seemingly endless supply of Cazal classics that would make any seriously old skool hip hopster drop down and give you 30 windmills for the chance to get their hands on! So what happens once you’ve toured Europe in your underwear (Spoek again!), and got bloggers going gaga over your every move? Well, if you were any of the young f lash-in-the-pans of late, you would normally let yourself be swallowed by a major label and try your darndest to get snapped on Perez Hilton’s blog – and then live the rest of your life in the shadow of a rich wife with dogs smaller than your average basketball – but NOT Playdoe! Oh no! These boys are totally true to their Motherland and are helping to bring the attention that the press has lavished upon them back to their country to help make a change from the usual headlines on apartheid. Whilst tirelessly living as a band on the rise in South Africa, Playdoe will continue to make music that makes even your grandmother want to do the butterf ly to, as they plan on recording three singles and hunting down a new label to help them spread their musical love once more. Luckily enough for the boys and girls out there that still hear vinyl, you can pick yourself up a copy of Playdoe’s 12” titled ‘Sibot & Spoek are Playdoe!’ from their MySpace! Go there now and see how it’s that Playdoe beat that makes you pop like that! T E X T Jobot W W W . M Y S PA C E . C O M / F U C K P L AY D O E

A Wo r d F r o m T h e W i s e

At a

Seeing as Frankfurts super-club Robert Johnson are celebrating their 10th birthday this summer, Ata has decided to share his ‘7 Ways To Jack Your Club’ –listen and learn kids, this man really knows his party stimmung!

1 Find a room that fits your mind, body and soul. Even if it is a shitty dirthole, use your fantasy and pay attention to the niceness of daylight. 2 Your sound system. Can you actually hear the music or is it just boom-boom-boom? Plus, you need a good sound engineer who you can trust. Any problems? Call us! Speaking of sound: the room acoustics are most important. Sometimes you have to make a room fit to have the right sound. 3 Your employees. Choose them wisely for every aspect of your operation – from the door to the bar and back again. Make them feel like family! 4 The DJ booth. It should be a central point in your club. Make the selector feel like he’s in his living room and not in a tiny shoebox. 5 Light is important, but not important enough to spend all your money on 80,000 Watt and then forget that you actually intended to play music not a clavilux. 6 Interior and alcohol should be of the same high-proof quality. No cheap bootlegging stuff! Your headaches the next day will cost twice as much. 7 Play music from your heart and not from the charts.

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

EB TUNE IN

E l e c t r o n i c B e a t s Fe s t i va l s

Graz & Cologne Electronic Beats have just kicked off the festival season in style! We had two festivals take place, the first on May 20th in Graz, Austria and the second on May 23th in Cologne, Germany. The Graz festival was really something special, as Electronic Beats were opening the ninth annual spring festival for electronic music and art in Graz. Rocking the beautiful open-air stage was a truly international line-up: American electro-punk super-group Gossip, Swedish experimental singer Fever Ray and Berlin indieelectronic band Bodi-Bill.

FIAGO

All the performers gave their all in a really memorable night of electronic music! Then in Cologne, French superstars Pheonix wowed the crowd with songs from their new album, Simian Mobile Disco proved why they are such classic club stars and again Gossip and Fever Ray did their thing. Beth Ditto from Gossip was particularly fierce!! T O WAT C H A L L T H E A C T I O N G O D O W N , LO G O N T O W W W. E L E C T R O N I C B E AT S . N E T A N D C H E C K O U T T H E F E S T I VA L M O V I E S !

PHOENIX

THE GOSSIP

FEVER R AY

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO

F I LT H Y DUKES

JUNIOR BOYS

BODI BILL

elctronicbeats.net

Jumping on the future train Hopefully you’ve already noted Electronic Beats Online’s sexy new redesign, and have been enjoying our oft-updated music, lifestyle and events news, pieces and feature interviews. But now there’s even more to love: a travel section, a weekly “ONES TO WATCH” spotlight, a deliciously random “TODAY WE LIKE” column, a boatload of non-magazine CD reviews and exclusive downloads, video content and EB radio mixes. We recently sat down with illustrious power trio Moderat and found out what makes them insane (hint: a certain famous Berlin studio where David Bowie recorded Heroes), where Norway’s Blackbelt Anderson goes on his astral journeys, and what the

mysterious Boogie Corporation actually did when they disappeared off the music radar for four years. Then we chatted with the newest toast of London, La Roux, whose label already seems to be restricting access, Britney-style. Soon we’ll be sitting down with three of Berlin’s newest nightlife impresarios and getting them to argue about why their clubs are the best in town, blogging a whirlwind road trip through the US Midwest, and attempting to find out what really happens behind the closed doors of New York’s coolest labels. PS: WE’VE BOWED DOWN TO T WITTER AS WELL: TWITTER.COM/EBNET

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

Ace Nor ton

Visualising Sound Electronic Beats Directions Vol.1 is a collection of three short films that showcase different artists abstract interpretations of Electronic Beats. Directors Ace Norton, Uwe Flade and Corine Stuebi all took part. Here we spoke with the Californian music video director Ace Norton about his film Soundscapes and his creative process.

C an you t ell us how you f ir s t became a f ilm d irect or?

W h a t d i d yo u re a l ly wa n t t o s h ow by p re senting different sounds from different c i t i e s ? W h a t d o t h ey s ay a b o u t t h e c i t y a n d t h e p e op l e t h a t l ive t h e re ? D o t h e s o u n d s o f o u r c i t i e s b i n d u s t o get h e r o r s ep a r a t e us ?

When I was in seventh grade I wanted to be a professional aggressive inline skater but I broke my tailbone jumping off a f light of stairs. I was home bound and I couldn’t do any physical activities, so to kill time after school I would borrow my father’s 8mm video camera and made these mini short films. Ironically, I guess my passion for filmmaking arose out of pure boredom. W h a t’s t h e b i g ge s t f i l m yo u’ve d o n e t o d at e, and what’s t he f ilm t hat’s closes t t o your he a r t ?

I’ve worked with both big and small budgets and it really comes down to the music. The video that’s probably closest to me is Sebastien Tellier’s ‘La Ritournelle’. First off, it’s an absolutely beautiful song, but it was my first video for Partizan so I was sooo hungry to make it good. I always treat each video like it could be my last, so I stay grounded.

We may live hundreds of miles from one another, speak in different languages, eat different foods, pray to different gods, but no matter how different we are, we can all relate through sound and music. It really is the universal language. Yo u m e n t i o n e d ‘ L o s t i n T r a n s l a t i o n’ a s a n i n s pi r a t i o n fo r yo u . T h a t f i l m wa s e s s e n t i a l ly a b o u t t wo p e op l e d e a l i n g w i t h ex t re m e l o n e l i n e s s i n a b i g a l i e n c i t y – i s yo u r f i l m a b o u t a ny of those elements?

I mean, it’s about travelling by yourself and appreciating the sounds around you. With work and conversation and cell phones, it’s so rare we're able to take a moment and observe.

D o you have plan s for a feature f ilm or do you j u s t l ove t o d o shor ts?

Te l l u s a b o u t yo u r n ex t p ro j e c t !

I have a couple feature projects in the mix ... The scripts are finished, I'm just waiting for financing and logistics. I'd like to do something low budget and bare bones.

W h a t wa s d i f f e r e n t /s p e c i a l i n p r o d u c i n g t h e E l e c t r o n i c B e a t s f i l m c o mp a re d t o ot h e r p ro j e c t s ?

H ow did you come about wit h t he idea for Sound s c a p e s a n d why did you choose Berlin, Ams t erdam and L.A .?

I make videos for other people's music and I wanted to switch it up and make a music video for my own song. For Berlin, t he predominant noises you chose we re a j a cket z ipper being done up, pencils snapping and a ga r b a ge t i p b eing t humped – why wa s t hat?

To me, Berlin is very concrete and industrial – the sounds are more tough and less melodic than, say, Amsterdam. I wanted to find sounds that were metallic, fast-paced, and representative of a bustling concrete jungle. Honestly, the pencils came out of pure logistics ... we were in the Partizan office and I wanted to shoot something in there because the interior had such a nice look to it. I saw a bunch of pencils in the conference area and immediately put two and two together.

A music video for Patrick Wolf and a few other commercials.

The openness – they trusted me, they let me do my thing, and they gave me complete creative freedom. It’s so rare to find that these days. Te l l u s a b o u t t h e p ro d u c t i o n a n d t h e c re a t ive p ro c e s s .

We had a bare bones crew of three, and we backpacked around Europe for 10 days. I’m from southern California where it’s sunny and people walk around in bathing suits, so the weather was probably our biggest obstacle. Our first day of shooting in Berlin it snowed and it was the very first time I had ever seen snow fall in a city. It was like Christmas morning for me. I was so excited that I ran outside, lost my footing, and slipped down an entire f light of stairs. Kind of like how I got into film-making in the first place, hahaha! I N T ERV I EW

L I Z M C G R AT H

S E E W W W . E L E C T R O N I C B E AT S . N E T A N D W W W . A C E N O R T O N . C O M

G AY R O D E O

KLAUS THYMANN

Hybrids Not content working only for high-profile brands and cutting edge magazines, award-winning Danish photographer Klaus Thymann decided to embark on a solo project documenting hybrid and separatist societies across the globe. Thymann was inspired to start the project after witnessing how trends in communication, such as the web, began to provide extremist societies with a different level of exposure and new ways to get together. From the Burning Man Festival to the Homeless World Cup, the project spans the globe providing a unique insight into these separatist groups. The project has been received with immediate success and has since been exhibited internationally; the work is currently on show at the Sevenstar Gallery in Berlin. TEXT

EMER GRANT

PHOTOS

KL AUS THYMANN

B U R N I N G M A N F E S T I VA L

“I think it’s fantastic that people are doing a l l t h e s e d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s .”

R E L I G I O U S T H E M E PA R K

G AY R O D E O

How would you define a hybrid? It’s a combination culture, they are all combination cultures, where two unlike things from society are combined, but often it’s more than that. What drew you to the notion of photographing hybrids? Basically, there are multiple reason for the Hybrids project: one reason is that it was my first photographic book, so I wanted to do something that was original, come in completely fresh and surprise people. It comes from noticing an emerging trend that I started to pick up on before 2000, when the Internet and communication meant that people with quite specific interests could popularise and publicise them in a greater way, people could find a fellowship. I found all of these things interesting on their own, but the connections between them that were not necessarily so obvious were also really interesting. The aim was to create a body of work that would be open to interpretation, where people could begin to explore and discover themselves through other people. What was the most extreme thing that you witnessed? It’s difficult to think of just one. An example would be from the religious theme park. They don’t really allow press there, so I had to basically explain to them that I wanted to ‘spread the word’ and that I’d found Jesus again. I arrived wearing a T-shirt saying ‘I love Jesus’ and Birkenstock sandals. What was quite strange to witness was that they re-enact the crucifixion there, so they’ve actually got three Jesus’ working around the park, stunt Jesus, who gets crucified, another Jesus who sings, and then a back-up Jesus in case of emergency. At the crucifixion, a lot of people started crying, it was quite something, I think it was because a lot of people have emotions that are from a different register, but they come through when they see stuff like this. Did you experience these societies as a participant or as a photographer? My main objective was my work, to go in with an open mind and shoot the images with an open mind; to not be judgmental of what people are doing. I think it’s fantastic that people are doing all these different things. The book was published in 2007; is there a difference in what a hybrid has become over the last two years? Do you think that the notion of a hybrid is becoming harder to find? It’s definitely easier to see them, there is an exposure level and everything has been accelerated a lot. The fact that TV is disappearing and everything is online means that things get dug out and revealed much quicker. There is a part of it where certain groups will try to remain unexposed, and this is how they will survive, and there are movements that will do anything for exposure and to get as many people as possible involved. It goes in two directions really, and certain things are so hardcore that

people just won’t have a go, like for example, the bike jousting. The tall bike jousting looks quite extreme what was your experience of it? I heard about it from a friend and thought it would be great to photograph, so I f lew to New York to see what it was about. It is really special, it’s not an easy place to get to and not really publicised. You’ve got to be willing to just get there and get dirty. As soon as we arrived, my assistant got hit on the head with a tomato. There was no hostility though, it’s quite hardcore just in its nature: gladiators on bicycles. An example of how hybrid societies today can become exposed and quite mainstream is the Burning Man Festival. You photographed it in 2003 and it has since become hugely popular. How do you think this has affected the nature of the festival? I heard that there was one in Spain now. With Burning Man, there have always been a lot of parameters which are quite contradictory. People go there with all types of different motivations. It is one of the few opportunities in America to create a ‘free thinking’ society, like a micro society within society, but it has so many restrictions. Just the fact that you can’t spend any money there and it’s in America is one of the biggest contradictions. People go there and leave the next day, back to their startup companies in San Francisco making a ton of money. In every society there is an underlying code of conduct, as with every belief that becomes a movement. That’s kinda the irony. These things are always highly regulated, that’s why people seek likeminded people, so that they don’t have to regulate themselves, they all exist within the same parameters. What would you say is the most important thing that the world can learn from the existence of hybrid societies? Tolerance is a common theme that runs through all of it, that was one of the reasons why I started it. It’s not about teaching, but motivating people to be tolerant. I’m fully aware that people aren’t tolerant and that they are never gonna be; that’s fine too. I don’t think anything is either entirely positive or negative, for me it’s a fascination and very interesting if people express themselves in any given way – whether it’s verbal or art or writing, I think deep down it’s a positive thing to express yourself, provided the means of expression isn’t deliberately harming anyone else. WWW.THYMANN.COM W W W . S E V E N S TA R G A L L E R Y. C O M

TA L L B I K E J O U S T I N G

“It’s not about teaching, but motivating people t o be t olerant, I’m fully aware t hat people aren’t t olerant and t hat t hey are never g o n n a b e ; t h a t ’ s f i n e t o o .”

Tune in and Drop out people! It's summer time and we are ready to do some wild and unusual things! Whether that means going to some of the really alternative festivals out there (check out our guide) or observing out the close-knit group of Tokyo Rockabillies, who like to spend their free time perfecting their quiffs and dance moves (the photos of this scene by Lars Borges are something special). Paul Sullivan gets to grips with what dropping out really means in the 21st century and whether it’s still possible to pursue truly alternative lifestyles. And if you want to know what life is like on the smallest populated island of the Aran Islands in Ireland then read Solitary Confinement – a hilarious look at secluded village life. While at the other end of the social spectrum we have an article on the high society drop-outs of Grey Gardens – an insight into the reclusive existence of two eccentric members of the American Bouvier aristocracy (aunt and cousin of Jackie O), an endlessly fascinating pair who have recently inspired a new movie starring Drew Barrymore.

EB FOCUS

TEXT

PA U L S U L L I V A N

PHOTO

LEONA LIST

Gone Baby Gone What does Dropping Out mean in the 21st century? Can we really exit society forever these days? Could we ever really? Or is it a question of seeking ‘alternative lifestyles’? Paul Sullivan explores the past and present of an idea that never quite went out of fashion…

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

A H i s t o r y O f A n I d ea

D e s e r t I s l a n d D e lus ions

It was at a New York press conference on September 19, 1966 that Dr. Timothy Leary uttered the immortal words: “Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out.” The phrase allegedly came to him in the shower, following a suggestion from his pal/academic cohort Marshall McLuhan that Leary invent a punchy phrase to promote the benefits of LSD. Punchy it certainly proved: a million hippies, hipsters and students swiftly took the idiom to heart, giving up college, taking spontaneous road trips, setting up ashrams and generally getting high on acid and weed – all of which lead to Leary belatedly clarifying the phrase in his 1983 autobiography, Flashbacks. “Drop out suggested an elective, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments,” he wrote. “Drop Out meant self-reliance, a discovery of one’s singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice, and change. Unhappily, my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean ‘Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity’.” In fact, Leary’s phrase was really just a psychedelic take on a much older idea advocated by thinkers ever since – well, ever since there have been commitments (involuntary or unconscious) and systems to drop out of. In the 1930s, George Orwell famously quit society to live as a tramp, documenting his experiences in his book Down And Out In Paris & London. Almost a century before that, in 1854, Henry David Thoreau opted to dwell as frugally as possible in a small, self-built wooden house in Massachusetts. Thoreau – inf luenced by Ralph Emerson and the Transcendentalists, who in turn were inf luenced by Kant and the German Idealists (with a splash of Rousseau and the Romantics for good measure) – also wrote a book: the highly inf luential Walden. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer,” wrote Thoreau in the final chapter. “Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” March to the beat of your own drum: this is the kind of advice we could easily imagine giving (or receiving) in our very own era of ‘individual freedom’. Indeed, Walden’s key theme – to get as close as possible to nature and self-sufficiency – has echoed loudly down through the centuries, through the psychedelic sixties and the Situationist movements, to recent movies like Sean Penn’s Into The Wild (2007), based on the true story of Christopher McCandless, who donated all his savings ($24,000) to Oxfam and travelled to Alaska to live a Thoreau-esque existence off the land. After a two-year romp through the wilderness he eventually died by eating a poisonous plant.

Yet even if we wanted to escape totally and completely – could we? Mobile phones, satellite networks and ubiquitous computer terminals have created such a hyper-connected world that a Robinson Crusoe-esque voyage to some sequestered island where we can light fires with f lints and spear trout with crudely whittled sticks seems laughably romantic. Yet despite – or rather, because of this – the lure of films like The Beach and TV’s castaway culture (Lost, Survivor) has never been stronger. Desert islands might be hard to come by in 2009, but folk like Daniel Suelo are managing to live moneyless existences right in their own back yard. Suelo, whose experiences and philosophical ref lections are regularly recorded on his blog, www.zerocurrency.blogspot.com, has lived without cash in his native America for eight years. He eats wild edibles, food from farms and orchards, even roadkill. He doesn’t ask for food, but sometimes accepts leftovers from restaurants and bakeries. He carries a tarp for shelter, sometimes stays in abandoned buildings or farm sheds, and now and again housesits for friends. In Moab, Utah, a favoured hangout, his principal address is a cave. “I do not believe money or the use of money is evil, but that it is something that must go obsolete if we are to survive,” he says via email. “If you use money, use it ethically. And if you can find a way to free yourself from it, do it, by all means.” Suelo’s window to freedom ‘cracked open’ when two friends invited him to visit Alaska in an old Dodge Van. “I slung fish on the docks but got disgusted with the whole thing and walked out with visions of living off the land,” he says. “I walked into the wild with only enough food for a couple days. Unlike McCandless, I was blessed to run into a Basque dude named Ander, who had similar visions as my own. We speared fish and ate berries and mushrooms for weeks. Then we started hitch-hiking together and were astonished at the magical coincidences, how human generosity came just as we needed it.” Suelo traveled to Thailand and India, heard the Dalai Lama talk, considered becoming a Hindu Sadhu – then realized a much better ‘test’ would be to “return to one of the most materialistic, money-worshipping nations on earth, America, to the authentically profound principles of spirituality hidden beneath our own religion of hypocrisy. The idea exhilarated me. ‘I can be a Sadhu in America’, I thought. To be a vagabond, a bum, and make an art of it – this idea enchanted me. The idea of it was just plain fun.”

21s t C e n t u r y S o l u t i o n s One man’s meat is another man’s poisson as they say, and becoming an itinerant, moneyless vagabond might not be everyone’s idea of a good time. But the notion of dropping out still carries plenty of compelling charm. From quixotic stoner slackery and culture-jamming iconoclasts to emotive eco-warriors and ardent anti-consumerists, the tang of rebellion can still be sniffed in the polluted air of our modern-day societies. But in an ironic culture where even anti-commercial ideas are regularly co-opted by advertisers and sold back to us as lifestyle options, is it really possible to rebel or ‘drop out’ in any meaningful way? “These days everything is so broken up and ‘modular’, it is hard to distinguish the drop-outs from the reliable regulars,” says Martin Cohen from the Philosophical Society of England. “I’d say that to drop out you need to have been pretty sure of being ‘in’ something, and more and more people are excluded from such security anyway. When you look at some of today’s so-called drop-outs, say the anti-globalisation protestors who travel to G7 summits abroad, they are actually still people with some advantages over those who really are excluded. What that might show is that dropping out is much more a lifestyle decision than an economic event.” Commerce, advertising and branding reign over our daily existence with a hitherto unknown intensity. The topic was tackled to some extent by Naomi Klein in her 1999 book No Logo (itself published by a multinational) amongst others, but ‘counter-culture’ figures like Banksy or Damien Hirst, reeling in large amounts of dosh while simultaneously denouncing capitalist culture with ‘subversive’ stencil art and diamond-encrusted skulls, remain a potent paradox. Recessions and recent economic crashes notwithstanding, our world seems inescapably commercial. Major cities like London, New York and Tokyo have slowly become wealthier, more organised, more homogenous. Pockets of resistance show up here and there, but few Western cultures have any real ‘people power’ – which is why the recent political protests in Iceland, which eventually ousted the reigning government, came as such a surprise. Berlin, with its cheap rents, relatively low levels of commerce and liberal attitude to partying, has more drop out options than most. The city has become something of a magnet for the West’s ‘dropnoscenti’ – squatters, creatives and refuseniks of all ages – as well as ‘techno tourists’: weekend visitors that travel from other cities simply to get wasted on Berlin’s dancef loors in a way that’s increasingly impossible back home.

“I think techno offers a good opportunity to escape the normal nine-to-five,” comments Marcel Dettmann, resident at Berlin’s legendary Berghain, a vast, industrial space whose refusal to buy into ‘lifestyle’ clubbing has made it one of the best and most purist techno clubs in the world. Dettmann’s sets are equally renowned, intense and sinuous 12-hour journeys that often only begin at eight or nine a.m. “I am personally very glad I have the chance to do what I like most – music. I don’t know whether I feel more human than someone in a ‘normal’ job but when I play, there are some very special emotions in the audience, and for me, too.” But dancef loor devastation is a short-term fix, and while Dettmann agrees that Berlin is “a good city for someone that wants to do his own thing”, he also admits you need money to survive. And even sectors of Berlin are becoming hopelessly gentrified, areas like Prenzlauer Berg and former dens of discontent like Tacheles being cases in point. Tacheles, a 19th century shopping arcade occupied by the Nazis during the war, was taken over by artists and squatters in 1989 when the Berlin wall fell. Once a bastion of anti-capitalist idealism, it has, ironically, become something of a tourist attraction, although new ‘underground art’ centres such as the sprawling Berliner Kindl brewery in Neukölln are cropping up in its place and keeping the ‘old spirit’ alive. “Due to the unique historical situation in east Berlin after the fall of the wall, Tacheles in the early years was one of the places where everything seemed to be possible,” comments Linda Cerna, a spokesperson for the venue. “But getting more professional, co-operating with other national and international institutions, realizing big projects…Tacheles had to change and we think that it is positive that a place like this is still changing.”

In an ironic culture where even anti- commercial idea s are regularly co - opt ed by adver tiser s and sold back t o us a s lifes tyle options, is it really possible t o rebel or ‘drop out’ in any meaningful way?

A ( n I m ) M at e r i a l Wo rl d

Dropping In?

“Figures such as Thoreau, who chose to live a self-sufficient-ish life in the local woods, or even the Buddha could be described as ‘drop-outs’ if we misunderstand them,” reckons Sophie Howarth, from Alain de Botton’s London-based centre for alternative living, the School Of Life. ”But if we take a step back from the contemporary focus on the [materialistic phenomenon known as] ‘aff luenza’, and consider their lives as examples of pursuing what it might mean to live authentically and wisely, we may find ourselves radically reconsidering easy judgement.” “Aff luenza” - a combination of the words aff luence and inf luenza - is an anti-consumerist term defined by clinical psychologist Oliver James as “placing a high value on money, possessions, appearances (physical and social) and fame.” James believes, amongst other things, that high rates of mental disorders are the consequence of excessive wealth-seeking in consumerist nations and that the costs of prizing material wealth generally and vastly outweigh the benefits. Global capitalism is having a weird old time of it right now, and the subsequent economic slump is biting into many people’s personal lives, making us rethink our material and spiritual priorities. Guardian columnist and misanthropic anti-hero Charlie Brooker summed it up in his usual succinct way: “All of it was a dream. All that crap we bought, all the bottled water and Blu-Ray players and designer shoes and iPod Shuff les and patio heaters; all the jobs we had; all the catchphrases we memorised and the stupid things we thought. Everything we did for the past 10 years - none of it really felt real, did it? Time to snap out of it. Time to grow our own vegetables and learn hand-to-hand combat with staves. And time, perhaps, to really start living.” Despite the humorous slant, Brooker made a serious point, one that has been gaining in popularity since way before the recession. Compared to the imminent death of our host planet, material wealth seems even more shallow than it did before. The onset of global warming showed many that, rather than escaping from our world, we need to engage with it and find creative solutions to real social and environmental problems. “It’s funny,” says Ran Prieur, whose inf luential essay ‘How To Drop Out’ still gets 2500 hits a month on his site, www.ranprieur. com. “The 21st century used to mean f lying cars and now it's looking more and more like the fall of Rome. I think future historians will see this as the century when industrial civilization broke down, so it’s a great time to learn different ways of living. Specifically, the money economy will never again be as dominant as it was in the late 20th century. In the future, as in the past, success will be measured more often by direct useful actions than by the ability to go out and earn tokens. Many of the tasks that are now being done for money will disappear and the people who did them will have to learn stuff like how to grow food and repair bicycles. So ‘dropouts’ who already have practice living at the edge of the money economy are going to be leaders.”

Freeganism, a movement that “practices strategies for everyday living based on sharing resources, minimizing the detrimental impact of our consumption and reducing and recovering waste and independence from the profit-driven economy,” shares that spirit. Freegans believe in creating a better world simply by sharing, and have garnered much press for practices such as ‘dumpster-diving’, where usable resources are foraged from bins and skips and distributed amongst the Freegan community. “Running away to a desert island can sound like an attractive alternative, but may not necessarily be a viable solution,” says Alf, a practicing Freegan based in the UK. “Freeganism is not about disengaging from the world around us, but about engaging with people and with the environment in a more considerate way. It’s about freeing ourselves from the adverse effects and constraints of a consumer-driven society. We do this by being content to live off less: by offering our time as volunteers and finding that our basic material needs are met when we change our motivation and priorities.” “Dropping out completely has never been possible anyway,” states Prieur. “It’s a myth. Even 400 years ago, when you could run off and join the Indians, you were just moving from being part of one society to being part of another. I think we have to do that again, except the society that we’re moving to doesn’t quite exist yet. We have to build it. To get there, we have to move beyond the myth of the self-sufficient individual, and we also have to move beyond thinking of the dominant society as poison, and think of it as a resource. [Author] William Kotke wrote something like: ‘not only is it acceptable to use the tools of the present system to build the better system that will replace it – ideally, all of its tools would be used that way’.” Shades of hippy/communist idealism notwithstanding, proactive engagement is highly popular today as a way of combating myopic government policies, re-balancing certain inequalities and re-thinking our own lifestyles. Utilizing the system to make positive changes from the inside certainly seems a more logically effective method than running away from it. In that sense, ‘ dropping in’ could well be the new ‘dropping out’.

Utilizing t he sys t em t o make positive changes f rom t he inside cer t ainly seems a more logically ef fective met hod t han r unning away f rom it.

GREY GARDENS

High Society Drop Outs Creative intellects and reclusion seem always to have gone hand in hand. Sometimes there even seems to be a kind of inverse relation between a person’s artistic genius and their need to share it, whereby interesting people tend not to give much of themselves away and, conversely, those with precious little to impart on the world unfortunately do very little else. While many expressive and visionary minds manage to find an outlet for their creativity and leave behind a legacy of literature, films or paintings, there are still a great many brilliant brains – quite possibly on the more loopy side of things – that owing to their reclusive natures, we will never receive any sort of access to. But it is precisely this rare insight that the Maysles’ 1975 documentary Grey Gardens allows us. There are of course many reasons that Grey Gardens continues to fascinate and inspire so long after it was first made: the costumes, the bizarre mother-daughter tensions, the cats, racoons, and the beautiful but ruinous backdrop of the Grey Gardens mansion itself, but ultimately it is the privileged look into the interior and otherwise entirely inaccessible lives of two genuine eccentrics that has made it such a unique film.

TEXT

VIK TORIA PELLES

PHOTOGR APHERS

A L L I M A G E S A S C O U R T E S Y O F M AY S L E S F I L M S

EB FOCUS

Over six week s, Al and David spent around f ive d a y s a w e e k a t t h e B e a l e s ’, c a p t u r i n g t h e w o m e n going about t heir day which consist ed of doing nothing much albeit with a lot of ver ve and a c a p t i v a t i n g v o l u b i l i t y. Edith ‘Big Edie’ Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith ‘Little Edie’ Bouvier Beale were born into American aristocracy and were the aunt and cousin respectively of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Little Edie enjoyed a gilded upbringing and seemed to possess all the qualities needed to become a successful socialite: the right ancestry, an excellent education and last but not least, awe-inspiring beauty. As fate would have it though, the Beales rose to national attention not by a high profile wedding to Howard Hughes or J. Paul Getty, from whom Little Edie claimed she’d had proposals, nor by successes on the silverscreen of which she dreamed, but rather in the early seventies when the Board of Health made a raid on the Bouvier Beale East Hamptons estate, Grey Gardens, and the National Enquirer ran an exposé on the deplorable conditions in which they lived. Mrs Beale had separated from her husband in 1931 when Little Edie was 14 years old. Though she was given child support, she received no alimony and was left to rely on her family. Obviously, Big Edie in one way or another did not live up to the family’s expectations and was mostly cut out of her father’s will, leaving her to support herself, her daughter and the running of Grey Gardens on a small trust-fund. After disappointments in New York (both personal and professional) and on the request of her mother, who suffered depression and had undergone numerous eye operations, Little Edie, aged 35, moved back to Grey Gardens in 1952. It was about two decades later that the ‘raid’, as Little Edie chose to call it, was carried out and the Beales were ordered to clean up the property or face eviction. Following the publicity, Jackie O – now the wife of one of the richest men in the world, Aristotle Onassis – donated some thousands of dollars in order to clean the house, install a new plumbing system and furnace, as well as cart away thousands of bags of rubbish.

In the 1970s, Lee Radziwill, the younger sister of Jackie O, began discussions with David and Albert Maysles about creating a documentary on Jacqueline Kennedy’s childhood in the East Hamptons. In this context, the brothers visited the two Edies and quickly came to the decision that this mother-daughter duo would make a more interesting subject for their film. Over six weeks, Al and David spent around five days a week at the Beales’, capturing the women going about their day which consisted of doing nothing much albeit with a lot of verve and a captivating volubility. In an interview Albert Maysles has confessed it was originally thought they would live in part of the house during filming but that the smell created by the dozens of cats and racoons in the house was simply too overwhelming. But a film depicting two women – aristocracy or not – living in sequestered squalor would be much too dire to garner the kind of following that Grey Gardens has. And so we get to the duality of Big and Little Edie, for as much as they chose a life in seclusion, both were performers at heart. Big Edie had pursued a singing career, giving recitals in her home and at local functions, while Little Edie wanted to be a dancer. Another definite hallmark of the documentary is Little Edie’s great sense of fashion. That she didn’t have access to the latest and most expensive fashions is clear, but nevertheless she manages to put together one dramatically stylish ensemble after the other using tablecloths, drapery and refurbished clothing many sizes too small – often claimed to be the hand-me-downs of cousin Jackie O. Her incomparable style has served as inspiration for fashion spreads in Italian Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar among others, and most recently Galliano’s 2008 spring/summer collection was in direct homage to the unlikely style icon. In the film she is never seen without some sort of headwear, sometimes a sweater or a towel fashioned into a turban with a giant brooch. We are left to speculate over the state of Edie’s hair, lack thereof or the possible causes, and though it would be pure speculation it’s nonetheless interesting to note that in some esoteric medical opinions (see, for example, Thorwald Dethlefsen) alopecia is linked to social inhibition.

“Racoons and cats become a little boring, I mean f o r t o o l o n g a t i m e … ” LITTLE EDIE

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

EB FOCUS

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

They simply could not be themselves a s Bouviers and t he only way t o escape t his wa s t o go of f and become recluses. Of inhibition there is however little trace in the Maysles brothers’ documentary, and much of its genius lies in the way that it pulled these women out of their seclusion, but in a way that was obviously acceptable to them. Upon its release, Grey Gardens met with fierce criticism, most of it based on the belief that the film is exploitative. A Mr Walter Goodman of the New York Times complained at the show of so much “sagging f lesh” and dismissed the Beales as “grotesque” and a “freak sideshow”, criticism that Little Edie took issue with in a very eloquent letter to the newspaper, explaining that her mother and she were certainly no victims, that they were proud of the film, regarded it a work by pioneering filmmakers and “a breakthrough into something very beautiful and precious called life”. The response was unfortunately never printed, the New York Times instead claiming Ms Beale to be a schizophrenic. Grey Gardens is no doubt an intense piece of filmmaking, but equally as entertaining. It eschews the use of voiceover or other formal narration. This, in combination with the very intimate camera work of Albert Maysles, makes the viewer feel absolutely present in each scene. Scenes that are littered with Little Edie’s gems of unwitting camp (“I am pulverised by this latest thing…” or “Racoons and cats become a little boring, I mean for too long a time…”), and impromptu song and dance performances, in between which a very complex mother-daughter relationship is being revealed. The nature of this relationship is what lends the documentary a story line and ultimately its climax. It is also source to endless hypothesising and theorising: Is Mrs Beale to blame for her daughter’s ‘arrested development’? Does Little Edie use her mother as an excuse for her own inability to deal with the reality of life? The answers to these questions seem to lie – very fittingly – in a ‘grey’ area somewhere between both possibilities. The two women seem to both benefit and not benefit from the relationship. When asked on the matter in an interview, Albert Maysles gives his opinion that Edie and Edie were held together by the fact that they had this common heritage – the Bouviers, an American aristocracy – which was really a bind to them both. The mother wanted to be a singer, the daughter a dancer, and whether by professional outlook or just the nature of who they were, they simply could not be themselves as Bouviers and the only way to escape this was to go off and become recluses. And strangely, a mutual respect and unmistakable admiration for each other does seem to prevail over the pair’s endless bickering and frustrated tension.

From first meeting with outrage and disbelief, the Grey Gardens film and the Beales themselves have gone on to inspire a horde of productions and publications. In addition to various fashion features there has been – most recently – an HBO film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, but also a Broadway musical and numerous memorabilia scrapbooks from people with a real, or at times tenuous, link to Little Edie or the Beale family. The mystique and aesthetic of the Beales and Grey Gardens is very addictive and so this abundance of additional material, even that lacking in quality, comes as a welcome fix for all Big and Little Edie junkies. Just try it once.

D O C U M E N TA R Y: G R E Y G A R D E N S D I R E C T O R S : A L B E R T M AY S L E S , E L L E N H O V D E , M U F F I E M E Y E R P R O D U C E D B Y: A L B E R T M AY S L E S , D AV I D M AY S L E S , S U S A N F R O E M K E D I S T R I B U T E D B Y: T H E C R I T E R I O N C O L L E C T I O N R E L E A S E D AT E : U S A 2 7 S E P T E M B E R 1 9 7 5 BOOK: GREY GARDENS A L B E R T M AY S L E S / R E B E K A H M AY S L E S P U B L I S H E D B Y: F R E E N E W S P R O J E C T S P U B L I C AT I O N D AT E : 5 / 0 1 / 2 0 0 9

F r inge Movements PHOTOS TEXT

LARS BORGES

VIK TORIA PELLES

Sunday, Yoyogi Park, Tokyo – It’s a sea of stiff quiffs, greasy combs and glistening black leather as the members of the Tokyo Rockabilly Club congregate at the Harajuku entrance of the ‘People’s Park’ twisting, writhing and sliding to the vintage rockabilly sounds blasting from a portable sound system. As a culture the Japanese have always had a reputation for taking things to the extreme and their social clubs are no exception. The Rockabilly Club may have dwindled from their 900-person strong member base, but a dedicated few still duct-tape their winklepickers every Sunday to rip up the pavement in mysterious idolisation of an American ideal, which in all truth probably never existed.

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

R A R E E NCO UNTERS AT ARAN ISL ANDS

Solit ar y Conf inement Persistent rain, locals who don’t like ‘blow-ins’ and one pub with random opening times – not what most would consider attractive living conditions, yet Inis Meain has attracted its share of newcomers. Conor Creighton meets the settlers that prefer island solitude to urban lures. TEXT

CONOR CREIGHTON

I M AG E S

S T E V E R YA N

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

“Life is very present here, existential.” LIZZY

Dogs and cats have an important role to play in the formation of society on an island with less than 180 inhabitants. They swell the numbers and fill gossip gaps when the two-legged animals run out of conversation. Inis Meain is the least populated of the Aran Island archipelago on the West Coast of Ireland, and right now all talk is of a cat called Obama who is pitch black and has a propensity for running away. Obama is Michael’s cat. The locals gave it to him, because he’s North American and the cat appeared during the US elections, but also as a round about way of saying well done for toughing it out over winter. Michael’s been on the island eight months. The house he rents is famous for being a draught trap. Over Christmas he slept on the couch in front of a blazing fire and four “useless heaters”. But Michael knew exactly what he was getting himself in for when he relocated; so too did Niamh who swapped redbrick suburban Dublin for a smoke-damaged trailer and Lizzy who gave up Stockholm for a cottage that only gets a break from the wind when a tsunami passes through. Dropping clean off the face of the planet is a comfortable decision but you could think of a hundred more hospitable places to do it than on Inis Meain. The island is sectioned into tiny, stonewalled fields, each with their own name. When it rains – every time you look up – the water polishes the stones and the island looks like an upturned whale belly rather than the place a person might call home. There is one shop and one pub on the island. When open, the pub doesn’t close until you decide, but if it’s just you drinking with only the beer mats and the ashtrays for company that won’t be too late. “When I arrived I was determined to get to know people by going to the pub every night,” says Michael, “The owner has opened up just for me, served me a drink, locked up and then dropped me home on a few occasions.” You come for the solitude and stay for the service, I guess. Micheal was, and still is, a stockbroker. He replaced the trading room f loor in Toronto for a linoleum kitchen on the island. When his boss agreed to his request to work from home for a while, Michael asked if the location of that “home” mattered. His boss

said no. Michael sold up, packed a bag and was gone. Niamh is in a different world to Michael. While Michael is a mild curiosity to locals who don’t understand how twenty hours at a computer could constitute a day’s work, Niamh is an absolute enigma. A middle-aged, eloquent woman who occupies a wreck of a caravan and drifts around the island surviving on rolling tobacco and giving precious few clues away. Niamh has worked as a ship’s cook in the Caribbean, Spain and off the coast of Africa. She gets by in Spanish, German and the island language, Irish, but all the locals get out of her are mumbles. On an island no bigger than an airport the goings on in your day-to-day life is everyone’s business but your past is yours to bury. Lizzy makes movies. She’s been living on the island two years but has been coming there on and off since 1996. “I decided to live in heaven but go to hell,” she says summing up her decision to run her film company from her kitchen and make the odd dart into Europe to drum up business. “Life is very present here, existential.” Lizzy put her neck on the line by documenting the locals in documentaries but rather than exclude her the depictions endeared her to locals who know call her an islander. They don’t like blow-ins on Inis Meain is what the ferrymen will tell you before you land. And up until quite recently they never spoke English to the daytrippers or the botanists who came ashore to annoy them with questions about the lack of doctors and trained professionals on the island. ‘What do you do if someone has a heart attack?’ ‘Sure we give them a whack on the head.’ The funny thing about a life of solitude on a small island is that the isolation only exists beyond the threshold, once you step over that small beam, you’re on show in front of the toughest audiences you’ll ever meet, who will coddle you for your honesty and shun you for any malevolence. Or to put it in the language of the animal-friendly islanders, “A dog is only allowed to bite someone once.”

Michael is a stockbroker. He replaced the trading room f loor in Toronto for a linoleum kitchen on the island.

YO U R GU I D E T O TH E SUM M ER FESTIVAL S

Secret Gardens and Bur ning Men How better to drop out than by getting lost at some of this summer’s best festivals? From tiny to huge, we’ve got them covered. Fetish street parties? Check. Music festivals? Got ’em. Downright weird outings? Natürlich! But before you buy your tickets and pack your tent, make sure you have these essentials. Gleaned from painful experiences in muddy fields and sun-baked tents, we think this is the minimum you’ll need to survive any festival: One change of clothes – if nothing else, a spare T-shirt and shorts, a small box with wet wipes, Ibuprofen, plasters and a toothbrush, a waterproof jacket, lots of lighters (even if you don’t smoke), a box of condoms and of course your ticket.

»T H E E S CA P I ST I S S U E «

SO NA R

L OVEBOX WEEKEND

Spain / 18th – 20th June Quite possibly the biggest and most well-known dance music festival in the world, Sonar takes place over four days in Barcelona. Expect a broad interpretation of what dance music can be and some very hedonistic parties. Make sure you see Grace Jones, Fever Ray, James Pants, Moderat

UK / 18th-19th July The only festival worth visiting in the heart of London, Lovebox was started by members of Groove Armada and just gets bigger every year. Short and sweet – it’s all over in two days – the focus is on music for dancing and letting your hair down in the sun. Must see Duran Duran, New York Dolls, Friendly Fires, Secretsundaze

BLISSFIELDS UK / 3rd - 5th July Named the best small festival at the UK Festival Awards, Blissfields manages to load their line-up with scores of bands that probably won’t be playing at Glastonbury this year as well as the Super Furry Animals who probably are. Don’t forget a copy of the NME

TH E SECRET GARDEN PART Y UK / 23rd -26th July An intimate and family friendly festival where creative participation is actively encouraged through dressing up, art installations and ‘action camps’. Must see Jarvis Cocker, The XX, Caribou Don’t forget the kids

GA R D E N F E ST I VA L Croatia / 3rd -12th July Nearly two weeks of fun in the sun in Europe's new Ibiza: Croatia. With a line-up firmly focused on DJs, this festival is a laid-back alternative to a week on the white isle. With the likes of Secretsundaze and Mulletover hosting daily boat parties, a seventies discotheque and more sand than you can shake a stick at, this is the perfect summer festival. Must see Andy Blake, Greg Wilson, Benji B

E X I T F E ST I VA L Serbia / 9th -12th July Almost certainly the only ‘mainstream’ festival that started as !"# !$%# &'# ()*)++,&"# !-!,".%# /+&*&0!"# 1,+&2)3,45# 67,%# 8!.# 3&%)0# the Best European Festival by the UK Festival Awards in 2007. These days, protest and discussion has given way to beats, lasers and guitars in this huge Balkan party next to the Danube. See back-to-back DJ sets from Adam Beyer Vs Eric Prydz, Yousef Vs Paul Woolford and Carl Cox Vs Green Velvet

M E LT F E ST I VA L Germany / 17th-19th July Probably Germany’s biggest festival celebrating all things related to dance music. Held at a disused quarry in Saxony, the festival is now in its 12th year, having grown steadily in size every year since its creation. Expect to see virtually everyone in German and international dance music. Must see Kiki, Aphex Twin, DJ Koze, Kasabian.

TH E WICKERMAN FESTIVAL Scotland / 24th -25th July Boutique festival in the highlands of Scotland, where a pleasingly diverse line-up, a family friendly atmosphere and some beautiful scenery combine to make this one of Scotland’s best alternative festivals. Catch Candi Staton, The Human League, Billy Bragg, The Zutons, Utah Saints

BURNI NG MAN Nevada, USA / 31st Aug – 7th Sept A seven-day extravaganza of hedonism in themed camps and villages in a temporary city in the desert, this year’s event is themed around chaos in nature, under the general banner of evolution. With no booked acts, the 23-year old Burning Man relies on the participation of its attendees to create the entertainment, which culminates in the burning of a human effigy. Best left behind your sanity

F OL SOM FESTIVAL Germany / 5th Sept Not so much a festival as a one-day street celebration of leather and fetish cultures, Folsom is naturally held in Berlin. Up to 20,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event. Don’t forget a dog collar, an open mind TEXT

GARTEH OWEN

PHOTO

T H E W I C K E R M A N F E S T I VA L

SHADY OUTCASTS PHOTOGRAPHY

RACHEL DE JOODE

PRODUCTION

SANDRA LIERMANN

FROM LEF T TO RIGHT 1. ADRIAN MUSTELIN/ MARTIN LAMOTHE 2. LINDA FARROW LUXE 3. LINDA FARROW LUXE 4. LUELLA BY LINDA FARROW 5. SOPHIA KOKOSALAKI BY LINDA FARROW 6. MATTHEW WILLIAMSON BY LINDA FARROW 7. ADRIAN MUSTELIN/ MARTIN LAMOTHE 8. LINDA FARROW LUXE 9. ‘SEPP’ BY MYKITA & BERNHARD WILLHELM 10. MYKITA

VIK TORIA PELLES & LISA BORGES

COPENHAGEN

Design Maven & F reet hinking Haven

»COPENHAGEN«

In keeping with the spirit of our summer Drop Out issue it was clear we’d have to cover Copenhagen for the Jetsetting section. Because even as one of the most aff luent cities in Europe with a seamless design aesthetic and enviable efficiency, Copenhagen is home to a completely unique squatter community that has, despite countless threats of eviction and of being closed down, managed to survive and thrive for close to 40 years. Today the self-governed commune consists of around 850 residents spread across roughly 85 acres in the otherwise very posh borough of Christianshavn. Its prime real-estate location is naturally a principal motivation for closing the area down, but it stands to reason that Christiania is also the number one tourist attraction in Copenhagen and is in this way certainly contributing to the wealth of the city. The area does attract pot-smokers and dealers, and though Pusher Street doesn’t provide the organised variety of cannabis that it did a few years back, the citizens of Christiania often come under fire for this ‘problem’. But past the beer-garden, where it’s mainly visitors enjoying a beer, a smoke and a game of backgammon, is where the true magic of Christiania begins with kooky houses shrouded in green and f lowers lining the paths and locals just going about their daily business. Certainly in springtime this place is idyllic enough to stir up some hippy-ideals in the most conservative of hearts. It goes without saying that the rest of Copenhagen is also fabulous, though definitely more sleek than bohemian chic. Marvel at the architecture, ooh-and-aah in the design-shops, live it up on the nightlife scene and do it all in the company of the very friendly and fun-loving Dane

PLACES

I L L U S T R AT I O N

LEONA LIST

KLASSIK MODERNE

15 PALUDAN BØGER

MØBELKUNST

16 THE LAUNDROMAT CAFÉ

RUNDETAARN

17 KALASET

V1 GALLERY

18 GAVLEN

WAS

19 MADKLUBBEN

DANISH DESIGN CENTRE

20 LÊLÊ NHÀ HANG

ILLUMS BOLIGHUS

21 MORGENSTEDET

ARTREBELS

22 IDA DAVIDSEN

WOOD WOOD

23 RESTAURANT JACOBSEN

BO BECH BAKERY

24 BODEGA

10 STILLEBEN

25 JOLENE

11 RÜTZOU

26 KARRIERE

12 HENRIK VIBSKOV

27 DUB AT MONO BAR

13 MELANGE DE LUXE

28 KØDBODERNE 18

14 LE MONT BLANC

CITY The elegant city centre boasts the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe, and it is here and on the streets that spread off it that visitors tend to spend most of their time. Here you’ll also find the famous Tivoli, which as one of the oldest amusement parks in the world has a very distinctive charm. NØRREBRO This feels like the most multi-cultural part of the city and though a little shabbier than the chic city centre, Nørrebro has a lot to offer in the way of cosy cafés, eateries that won’t break the bank and more second-hand shops than you can shake a stick at. ØSTERBRO Home to yummy-mummies and the like, Østerbro is also the place to go for delicious delis, home interiors and the gorgeous and expansive Fælledparken.

VESTERBRO This area has undergone extensive renovation in the last years, and as more and more galleries and nightlife venues spring up and new residents move in for the central location, Vesterbro’s reputation as a centre for drugs and prostitution is transforming. This is where you’ll find the impossibly hip Kødbyen (old meat-packing district). CHRISTIANSHAVN That the artificial island of Christianshavn was inspired by Amsterdam is noticeable when you walk along its canals, cobbled streets and Dutch-style buildings. These days the area is home to a very diverse crowd from artists to businessmen, and aside from the fancy restaurants and cool bars, this is just the spot to stroll aimlessly while taking in an especially picturesque atmosphere.

EB JET SETTING

»BE INSPIRED« The impeccable design and unfathomable efficiency of the Danish capital is present at every turn, from the impossibly elegant airport to the stylish practicality of the ‘cargo bikes’ (nihola.info) charging down double-track cycle lanes. Some of the city’s most spectacular architecture is best seen from the water, and for this purpose the canal tours, which leave at least every half- hour and also allow you the option to hop on and off, are a great option (canaltours.com). With so many major architectural disasters popping up in other European capitals, well-balanced Copenhagen provides a veritable haven for visitors that have had their tastes affronted at home. These are some other suggestions to pacify your thirst for inspired art and design.

Klassik Moderne Møbelkunst Unfortunately out of the budget range for most of us mortals, this shop of Danish modern design classics does serve up a great big dose of inspiration to anyone with a penchant for the clean yet daring lines of the Scandinavian aesthetic. BREDGADE 3, CITY / +45 3333 9060 / WWW.KLASSIK.DK

Rundetaarn This round tower practically in the centre of the city provides beautiful views from the rooftop, and on the way up along the amazingly designed spiral ramp you can take a breather halfway at the exhibition space that holds exhibits on subjects ranging from the nineties’ underground painting scene, antiquity and Islamic art or graphic design across Europe. KØBMAGERGADE 52A, CITY / +45 3373 0373 / WWW.RUNDETAARN.DK

V1 Gallery Founded in 2002, the V1 Gallery is the hottest ticket in town for emerging and established artists, and stays mostly true to its ambition to challenge both viewers and the norms with quality art that has both nerve and heart. Check the website for current exhibitions.

WAS Headed up by charismatic multi-talent Simon Nygaard, the Wonderland concept first saw the light of day in the shape of a free-of-charge art publication, which soon won the hearts and minds of the creative underground. These days, Wonderland is also an inspiring young gallery, Wonderland Art Space, which is well worth the visit for the mix of Danish and international artists exhibited, and you might even score an invite to one of their infamous parties ... ABSALONSGADE 21B, VESTERBRO / +45 3322 3343 / MADEINWONDERLAND.DK WONDERLANDONLINE.DK

Danish Design Centre Created to develop and promote Danish design nationally and internationally, the quality of a visit to the DDC is quite dependent on the exhibitions, which are at times a little dry. The DDC is still worth a visit though, if only for the great design souvenirs you can pick up in the museum shop. HC ANDERSENS BOULEVARD 27, CITY / +45 3369 3369 / DDC.DK

FLÆSKETORVET 69, VESTERBRO / V1GALLERY.COM

KLASSIK MODERNE MØBELKUNST

R U N D E TA A R N T H E R O YA L L I B R A R Y

»COPENHAGEN«

SIMON NYGAARD Simon Nygaard finished high school and left his native Roskilde quicksmart to enjoy the opportunities only a big city offers. As cofounder and partner of Wonderland, which comprises the WAS gallery, the Wonderland art magazine and creative agency Made In Wonderland, Simon has certainly made the most of his nine years in the Danish capital. In the rare moments that he’s not on the job, you’ll find Simon eating Vietnamese at LêLê on Vesterbrogade, getting a few drinks in at smoky artbar Byens Kro or the Berlin-f lavoured Ritz, or shopping for shoes and art, most likely at ArtRebels, his fave shop and conveniently also friends of his.

What are the main elements that you think differentiate Copenhagen from other capitals? Copenhagen is a really clean city, showcased by the fact that you can swim in the harbour. We actually have a really big f loating beach in the middle of the harbour. It is also really well known for its gastronomy, we have about 10 Michelin-awarded restaurants. And then we have all the creative subcultures; it’s a very creative city. We live on ideas and culture.

What does ‘Fristaden Christiania’ mean to you? I think that Christiania is really important for the city, because it is so different from the rest of the established city and system. It gives Copenhagen a free spirit, which I find really important. Normally the vibe at Christiania is very good, but recently there has been some bad atmosphere there. This is because of drugs and people out there which don’t have anything to do with the real Christiania, which stands for a free mind and good karma.

What is your favourite area of the city? Vesterbro! This is where I live, have my gallery and my office.

How do you see Copenhagen developing? Is there anything you would want to add, change or remove to make it a more ideal place? I would like to add some more old free spaces/buildings. A lot of the old buildings and places have been destroyed and replaced with something new. Hopefully the Carlsberg area will be a new creative area. It looks like it could happen and I sure hope so!

WAS DANISH DESIGN CENTRE

D A N I S H N AT I O N A L B A N K B Y A R N E J A C O B S E N

EB JET SETTING

»WHERE TO SPEND IT« The beautiful Danes and their admirable fashion sense will force you to get your spending shoes on. In the city centre there are plenty of boutiques pushing international designer wares (stigp.dk, gossipshop.dk, stormfashion.dk), but beyond this there are also some very original finds to be made.

Illums Bolighus At the heart of the city district is this legendary homewares stores spread over four f loors. Illums does the hard work for you by collecting the best of Scandinavian design all in the one fairly spacious and very elegant building. AMAGERTORV 10, CIT Y / +45 3314 1941 / ILLUMSBOLIGHUS.COM

ArtRebels This is the home and office of the creative network of artists, designers, musicians and DJs that are making a name for themselves as ArtRebels. The shop in the meatpacking district is also used to host the occasional exhibition and other artsy events. But if you’re not going to make it to Copenhagen any time soon then you can check out all their wares at their online shop, too. FLÆSKETORVET 17-19, VESTERBRO / ARTREBELS.COM

Wood Wood Whether underground trends or high fashion, Wood Wood has got it covered. With their own brand together with fashion royalty like Comme des Garçons, Junya Watanabe, Bernhard Wilhelm and Henrik Vibskov, this is the definitive Copenhagen shopping experience – for man or woman! KRYSTALGADE 4-7, CITY / +4533936264 / WOODWOOD.DK

Bo Bech Bakery The sourdough bread from star chef Bo Bech at the Restaurant Paustian became such a hit that it needed its very own outlet. The bread really is outstanding; definitely special enough to warrant the strange looks you’ll attract going through airport security with six loaves of bread for the home freezer.

Rützou For the pleasure of discovering something new, head to Rützou and prepare to be seduced by the unique creations of Danish clothes designer Susanne Rützou. The designs are undeniably feminine yet manage to steer clear from anything too fussy. Add the use of absolutely gorgeous material, some clever detailing and – speaking from experience here – you have the sort of covetable collection from which you will simply have to have at least one or two items. STORE REGNEGADE 3, CITY / RUTZOU.COM

Mélange de Luxe Nørrebro is littered with second-hand shops, but Melange de Luxe definitely has that special something; a luxury secondhand shop with a great atmosphere, where you can find Versace clutches and other – often sequinned – treasures. Lose yourself in fashion nostalgia to the hypnotic whirring noise of the hardworking sewing machine from the dressmaker’s room in the back. RAVNSBORGGADE 6B, NØRREBRO / +45 2263 6575

Stilleben Located on a great street in general for girly shopping, Stilleben is all about very original and totally gorgeous ceramics by Danish and other international designers. LÆDERSTRÆDE 14, CITY / +45 3391 1131 / STILLEBEN.DK / STILLEBENSHOP.DK

STORE KONGENSGADE 46, CITY / +45 33936264 / BOBECH.NET/BAGERI

Henrik Vibskov Denmark was for a long time known only as a destination for homewares and furniture, but things are definitely happening in the fashion stakes and Henrik Vibskov, the patron saint of Danish fashion design, has a lot to do with this new-found claim to fame. Whether for women or men, Vibskov’s designs are totally original and always use super luxurious materials. KRYSTALGADE 6, CITY / +4533146100 / HENRIKVIBSKOV.COM

WOOD WOOD

ILLUMS BOLIGHUS

MEL ANGE DELUXE

»COPENHAGEN«

CHRISTINE ARNEFORS A native of Sweden, Christine moved to Copenhagen after a stint in Berlin to pursue studies at the Copenhagen Business School. She also works part-time in the highly recommended cocktail bar, K-Bar, and knows all the best places to spend a lazy day, have afternoon tea, find a vintage bargain or party after hours.

What are the main elements that you think differentiate Copenhagen from other capitals? Prices – one of the most expensive capitals in Europe Bikes – bicycles are the ultimate vehicle to get around town, and everybody uses them. The mix – it is not entirely Scandinavian and not entirely European, but something in between. Describe the ultimate day in Copenhagen – where would you go, what would you do or see? I would wake up early and go to a f lea market to find some good bargains. After lunch somewhere I would take a walk to Islands Brygge (Iceland’s Wharf ) to have an ice cream and relax on the wharf, overlooking the canal and the newest avant-garde housing there. I would probably hang out there the whole afternoon, reading a book and tanning, and in the evening I would have some Thai at Wokshop Ny Østergade and finish at The Office in Østerbro, a neat-looking place with great cocktails. Then I would bike home in a zigzag. Tell us about your favourite… …Street The most picturesque street is Værnedamsvej in Vesterbro, a very alive street with a good mix of food, f lowers, clothes and cafés. …Cafés Bang&Jensen in Istedgade 130, a relaxed but fun place, always crowded with good coffee! Tante T in Viktoriagade 6, this is cuteness overload – a place decorated like a living room from the forties where you can get a brunch or afternoon tea. Choose between a coffee or about a million different sorts of tea.

STILLEBEN

…Restaurants O Mo Nim, Korean Barbecue (Gasværksvej 21), authentic and yummy place where you grill your food on the table. Tony’s Pizza, Istedgade 38, there are only three seats but great pizza, and the bakers are as f lirty as you would expect them to be. …Bars Ritz in Viktoriagade 22, don’t get fooled by the name, there’s nothing fancy about this bar but it’s extremely hyped and always full with people. K-Bar, Ved Stranden 20, check the lemon meringue cocktail! Beautiful interior too. …Clubs Kødboderne 18, situated in Kødbyen, is an up-and-coming place with good bookings Dunkel, Vester Voldgade 10, the only club open after 5am is the obvious after-hours place. …Shops The second-hand shops around town, the fancy but also the less fancy run by grannies, you can find some really good stuff. They are situated around Vesterbrogade, Istedgade, Nørrebrogade and also next to the Triangle in Østerbro. I also enjoy going to f lea markets around town, there’s a good website for that: www.markedskalenderen.dk (in Danish but easy to understand anyway). To escape the city for a day, where you do like to go? Definitely to Louisiana, the art museum north of Copenhagen, it is an impressive museum with interesting exhibitions and the surroundings are worth seeing too. Another alternative would be to go to the old-school amusement-park Bakken, also north of Copenhagen, to eat some spun sugar and ride roller coasters. How do you see Copenhagen developing? Is there anything you would want to add, change or remove to make it a more ideal place? I would like to remove the ugly hat/mini-beanie trend on guys here. Ugly! Take them off!

EB JET SETTING

»RECHARGE« Café culture is alive and well in Copenhagen, but continental visitors take note: you are mostly expected to make your order and pay at the counter. For this reason it is also not expected that you tip – service is included. The cafés in the city centre can be very pricey, but there are more economic options in areas like Nørrebro or Vesterbro that are equally as charming.

Le Mont Blanc Cheap, greasy pizza in a great central sunny location. SVARTEGADE 1A, CITY / +45 3391 2002

Paludan Bøger From the outside this may look like the now ubiquitous coffee/ book shop, though infinitely more stylish. Once inside, however, and down the stairs, you’ll find a most beautiful antiquary complete with grey-bearded bespectacled men in low-toned but intense intellectual discussion. FIOLSTRÆDE 10, CITY / +45 3315 0675

The Laundromat Café Potentially the world’s hippest laundrette, the Laundromat Café also impresses with a no-fuss menu, very friendly service and rows upon rows of candy coloured paperbacks sorted by colour. Great coffee too!

Kalaset This is the brunch destination extraordinaire. Whether herbivore, carnivore or omnivore – all are deliciously catered for. The servings are generous and all come with something that is just a little bit out of the ordinary even if it’s home-made ketchup for the burger. The interior is Bohemian and quirky and altogether creates an environment you’ll be happy to spend most of the afternoon in. VENDERSGADE 16, CITY / +4533330035

Gavlen A locals’ kind of a place with a classic interior layout dominated by a big bar. With plenty of beers to choose from and perfectly decent food at fair prices, you’ll understand why people come back time and again. RYESGADE 1, NØRREBRO / +45 35370237 / CAFEGAVLEN.DK

ELMEGADE 15, NØRREBRO / +45 3535 2672 / THELAUNDROMATCAFE.COM

T H E L A U N D R O M AT C A F É

KAFFEKALASET

T H E L A U N D R O M AT C A F É

»COPENHAGEN«

»VELBEKOMME« There is no shortage of Michelin awarded eateries in this city, but finding more modestly priced eateries can be difficult. A good tip, however, is heading to multicultural Nørrebro, where along Nørrebrogade you can pick up a falafel wrap and the like on the quick. Around Sankt Hans Torv there are also a number of less expensive places to sit down for lunch or dinner. Here are some others not to miss.

Madklubben A self-anointed ‘Bistro de Luxe’, Madklubben impresses as much with the comfortable elegance of its interior (virtually every table could be your favourite spot) as with their range of wines and the bistro menu based on Scandinavian specialties. STORE KONGENSGADE 66, CITY / MADKLUBBEN.INFO

Ida Davidsen A visit to Copenhagen wouldn’t really be complete without partaking of what might be considered the Danish national dish, smørrebrød. These open sandwiches are best washed down with a beer and a Gammeldansk at Ida Davidsen, an establishment with decades of experience. STORE KONGENSGADE 70, CITY / +45 3391 3655 / IDADAVIDSEN.DK

LêLê nhà hang This Vietnamese ‘street kitchen’ is currently experiencing some serious hype with a mixed group of patrons only too happy to have a drink or two at the bar while waiting for a table (reservations are not possible). With an expansive loft style interior that still manages to be cosy and super delicious dishes, it’s safe to say that the popularity is well deserved. VESTERBROGADE 40, VESTERBRO / LELE-NHAHANG.COM

Morgenstedet Vegetarians don’t really have an easy time in meat-happy Denmark, but head to Morgenstedet in Christiania and enjoy locally grown, organic meals at very fair prices. The homely atmosphere and idyllic set outdoor patio should also be enough to appease any frustrated carnivores.

Restaurant Jacobsen Submerge yourself completely in Danish design! At Restaurant Jacobsen, the building and practically the entire interior was designed by the world famous architect and designer. At the location just north of Copenhagen, you’ll also have a fine view of the sea and Sweden. After the meal, drive a little further and fill up your motor at the Arne Jacobsen designed petrol station. For real! STRANDVEJEN 449, KLAMPENBORG / +45 3963 4322 / RESTAURANTJACOBSEN.DK

FABRIKSOMRÅDET 134, CHRISTIANIA / MORGENSTEDET.DK

LÊLÊ NHÀ HANG

MADKLUBBEN

R E S TA U R A N T J A C O B S E N

MORGENSTEDET

EB JET SETTING

»HAVE A BALL!« While not known as a clubbing destination, there is no shortage of swanky bars and sweaty dancef loors in this city. Night owls are somewhat restricted by the 5am curfew at club venues, but there are some morning pubs called ‘Morgenværtshus’ where committed revellers can get their last beers in.

Bodega Leading somewhat of a double life, Bodega goes through the week as quite a lovely café open until 9pm for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but check out the transformation on Fridays and Saturdays when the place hosts DJs and turns into a hip, happening Nørrebro bar. KAPELVEJ 1, NØRREBRO / +45 3539 0707 / BODEGA.DK

Jolene A favourite of Danish fashion legend Henrik Vibskov and Trentemøller, who is known to mix records there on random nights, this bar/music venue in the meat-packing district is also a firm favourite with smokers as they get their own little room to play in. FLÆSKETORVET 81-85, VESTERBRO / MYSPACE.COM/JOLENEBAR

Karriere World famous conceptual artist Olafur Eliasson is responsible for the design of this bar and music venue, and it looks – in a word – amazing! A definite must-see.

DUB at Mono Bar This very centrally located gem of a bar is very cleverly hidden in a beautiful old courtyard. The bar has rather random opening times so check the website first, but finding it will be well worth your while, especially on Wednesdays when Copenhagen’s hedonist elite fuelled on the first-class cocktails from behind the bar are let loose to the sounds of – among others – the city’s rising star, DJ Massimo. ØSTERGADE 24C (PISTOLSTRÆDE), CITY / MONOCOP.COM

Kødboderne 18 Housed in a massive former butcher hall in Copenhagen’s old meat packing district, Kødboderne 18 (KB18 for short) has all the makings of an underground clubbing classic. Reputably the only club with a consistently interesting line-up, the music policy focuses on the electronic variety but can consist of dancehall or minimal depending on the booking on the night. Fairly new on the scene, KB18 is fast becoming a favourite with its weathered walls and ‘anything goes’ attitude. KØDBODERNE 18, VESTERBRO / KODBODERNE18.DK

FLÆSKETORVET 57-67, VESTERBRO / +45 3321 5509 / KARRIEREBAR.COM

KARRIERE

JOLENE

BODEGA

»COPENHAGEN«

ULRIK SCHOU Ulrik is a born-and-bred Copenhagener that has recently – as so many other Danes – moved a little south of the border to Berlin, and now splits his time between the two capitals. A programmer for special effects, Ulrik spent his student days rocking the stages of several venues in Copenhagen.

Describe the ultimate day in Copenhagen – where would you go, what would you do or see? An essential thing to have in Copenhagen is a bike, the city is relatively small and you can cross it in approximately 40 minutes, but the public transportation is slow and expensive compared to other cities. If the weather is good, I will pick up sandwich in Nørrebro and find a spot in the Assistensens Kirkegård to eat it. Assistenens Kirkegård is a graveyard but functions more like a park, here you can sit on the grass without the noise of the traffic. The graveyard has a gothic feeling to it and a few very famous Danes are buried here: fairy tale legend H.C. Andersen, electromagnetic physicist H.C. Ørsted, existentialist philosopher Søren Kirkegaard and so forth. If the weather is playing along I would then bike through Frederiksberg to Vesterbro, down Istedgade and head out to Islands Brygge or Amager Strand for a swim. Danish people are known to be quite handsome, which lightens up a ride through the city. On rainy days I would just park myself in a café on Blaagaardsgade, Nørrebro.

AMAGER BEACH

We hear Copenhagen does not offer the kind of clubbing paradise that perhaps London or Berlin does. But what are the hot tips for live music or other rock venues? In Christiania there is Loppen, which is fantastic especially for up-and-coming bands. The Libertines and Franz Ferdinand, for example, played here before making it big, and it remains a popular venue for established bands as well. I can also recommend Stengade30 (Nørrebro), which is a bit of an alternative place that plays everything from techno to indie to rock. They usually have two dance f loors open and it normally stays nice and crowded with a slightly younger crowd. Clubs close at 5am, but to carry on the option is to go to a morgenværtshus (morning-pub), for example Guldregn in Vesterbro or Louises in Nørrebro. Both places are a little drunken and chaotic, so keep an eye on your bags, but will ensure you go home with some kind of experience.

EB JET SETTING

OLIVER KILIAN A bona-fide man about town, Oliver Kilian took his first tender steps in Paris but grew up largely in London, where he claims to have matured. There is however much energetic youthfulness and cheekiness surrounding this multilingual entrepreneur, who has been developing his own businesses in Berlin and Copenhagen since 1989. Hay4you.com was established in 1992 and has since acted as an absolute godsend to visiting artists and bankers alike.

In a notoriously expensive city finding a decent hotel at a fair price can be a challenge; hay4you offers an economic but no less stylish alternative with the approximately 100 centrally located apartments that it administers to. Generally, apartments are available for a week stay minimum, but they have also been known to house many an artist and visiting DJ needing a lastminute arrangement – it is definitely worth asking. We can’t speak for the other 99 of course but our airy apartment, moments away from the central city hall, was a European urbanite’s dream, all high ceilings, wooden f loors and massive windows. In 2007, 23K was also established; a hotel/townhouse

with six bedrooms created primarily for teams of designers, musicians and the like as a place for them to work, sleep, play and create. Not content with daytime activity, Oliver is also active in the city’s nocturnal scene with the establishment in 2008 of the Mono event room (www.monocop.com), which hosts Dub@Mono, a Wednesday bar to dubby house sounds created together with Roger van Hooft (read more on page 58).

SCANDIC FRONT

H AY 4 Y O U A PA R T M E N T

FOX

»COPENHAGEN«

»GET SOME SLEEP« First Hotel Skt. Petri Located in Krystalgade close to Copenhagen’s main shopping boulevard Strøget, the Royal Palace and the hottest nightlife spots, Hotel Skt. Petri is housed in a slick 1920s building originally intended to be a department store. Danish artist Per Arnoldi decked out the rooms in a bold, tricolour, contemporary scheme which sounds more interesting than it actually is. However, the Lobby is quite a sight and so are the views onto one of the prettiest parts of town, so opt for a room with a terrace. The hotel’s lounges and bars are a popular destination del mode for the fashion f lock during Copenhagen Fashion Week. K R Y S TA L G A D E 2 2 / + 4 5 ( 0 ) 3 3 4 5 9 1 0 0 / W W W . H O T E L S K T P E T R I . C O M

Hotel Guldsmeden Instead of following the pack and doing Scandinavian cool, Sandra and Marc Weinert’s little chain of hotels (there are four in Denmark, a resort in Bali, and a small villa hotel in the south of France) are all about charm, warm ambiance and, most importantly, an eco-friendly feel. The furniture is made from sustainably-sourced teak and bamboo, the lavish breakfast buffet sports the freshest organic products from nearby farms, and even the toiletries and the mini-bar are environmentally approved. Located in the revitalised area of Vesterbro (the former red-light district), the Guldsmeden hotels are serene inner city refuges with an attentive service for some serious relaxation. W W W. H OT E LG U L D S M E D E N . D K

Hotel Fox Two in one: the Fox is hotel and gallery space in one, since each of its 61 rooms has been individually decorated by international artists from the fields of graphic design, urban art and illustration. The outcome is a playful, eye-popping extravaganza from the sophisticated to the ridiculous. If you don’t want your stay to turn into some psychedelic nightmare make sure to book your room of choice well ahead. The hotel opened its doors in 2005 so the interior has probably seen better days. However, with its great location, a nice breakfast and a happening lobby, the Fox is a good choice for a younger clientele about to hit the town at night.

Hotel Front Newly taken over by the Scandic Group the Hotel Front has a prime waterfront pitch opposite the new Opera House and just a stroll away from the photogenic canal Nyhavn. The decor is modern with a rich, color pallet featuring black, earthy and bold hues as well as some sprawled design classics. The place boasts super-friendly service, the most comfy beds in Copenhagen and a free mini-bar. 2 1 S K T. A N N Æ P L A D S / C I T Y / T E L . + 4 5 ( 0 ) 3 3 1 3 3 4 0 0 WWW.SCANDICHOTELS.COM

JARMERS PL ADS 3 / +45 (0)33133000 / WWW.HOTELFOX.DK

FOX

SANKT PETRI

GULDSMEDEN

FOX

PHOTOGR APH Y

PRODUCTION STYLING MODELS

FRAUKE FISCHER

SANDRA LIERMANN

M O DY A L K H U FA S H E K ATA R I N A @ M E G A M O D E L S / J U L I U S @ M 4

HAIR & MAKEUP

S T E FA N K E H L @ B LO S S O M M A N AG E M E N T

WITH CHANEL AND SEXY HAIR H A I R & M A K E U P A S S I S TA N T S T Y L I S T S A S S I S TA N T

POLINA MORGONOV

JORDAN NASSAR

P H O T O G R A P H E R S A S S I S TA N T SPECIAL THANKS TO

DR ESS H AT

N O E L FÄ S KO R N

BENNY BECKER

SISI WASABI

RIKE FEUERSTEIN

SHOES

BALDININI

ON HER DR ESS

TA L B O T R U N H O F

SHOES

RUPERT SANDERSON

N E C K L AC E

CELINE

B R AC E L E T

MALENE BIRGER

ON HIM JAC K E T

HOLLAND ESQUIRE

R IGHT SIDE B L U E /O R A N G E D R E S S

SISI WASABI

DR ESS

FRIDA WEYER

SHOES

SCHERER GONZALEZ

ON HER G O L D JAC K E T & B E A D E D T O P S K I R T/ T U T U

K AV I A R G AU C H E

H&M DIVIDED EXCLUSIVE

ON HIM N E C K L AC E JEANS

K AV I A R G AU C H E

TIGER OF SWEDEN

DR ESS

HAUSACH COUTURE

SHOES

BALDININI

ON HIM JAC K E T JEANS

HOLLAND ESQUIRE TIGER OF SWEDEN SHOES

VAG A B O N D ON HER

DR ESS

MALENE BIRGER SHOES

BROOCH

CELINE

MALENE BIRGER

ON HER B AT H I N G S U I T & K I M O N O SHOES

U N R AT H & S T R A N O

RUPERT SANDERSON

B R AC E L E T

PIECES

ON HIM SHIRT

RAF

TROUSERS SHOES

WOOD WOOD

VAG A B O N D

For interviews this issue there is quite the mixed bag for you to choose from â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we have French super-group Phoenix, who have just released their new album and called it 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix', if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind! Then there is up and coming UK electro star Micachu, a lady who has all the critics in a froth and whose Matthew Herbert-produced album Jewellery is tipped for the top. Then we talked with Guillermo Scott Herren, better known as Prefuse 73, about his new hip-hop infused album out on Warp. Last but not least, DJ and producer Daniel Rajkovic discusses his up-and-coming Berlin label Delete Music and what's rocking his world most this summer; house, minimal.... or rockabilly!

PHOENIX

Sailing the Seas TEXT

JOHANNES BONKE

PHOTO

LARS BORGES

»DROP OUT«

In 1991, a small but resistant group of French teenagers decided that a typical life in the aff luent suburbs of Versailles was not for them. So they told their horrified parents they were dropping out of society to form a rock’n’roll band – Phoenix. As it turned out, they are now one of France’s most successful exports. We caught up with lead singer Thomas Mars and guitarist Laurent Brancowitz to discuss their latest album, bravely titled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, being on the road, and why Marcel Proust accompanies them everywhere. T homa s and Laurent, you had a t hree year brea k b et we e n t he la s t album and t his one, and you came up wit h s o m e b r i l l i ant work. Is an occa sional drop-out f rom your da i ly ro u t i n e a n essential par t of your creative process?

We dropped out of everyday society a long time ago, yet we never actually stopped working. For us, there was never a time-out because we toured and then we were writing songs, it just took a lot of time. But everything you do changes you. We’ve always had a very non-rock’n’roll attitude because when you’re making something you want to feel unique in a way. And when you do a summer festival or when you’re on tour, it’s very easy to fall into clichés: you almost feel like a tennis player who’s going to the same tournament, and they have the same lives and they can share. With us, we really want things to be different and we work really hard to make it unique in our own way. THOMAS MARS

I s yo u r d e s i re t o m a ke i n t e r n a t i o n a l ex p e r i e n c e s o n e o f t he rea sons why you decided t o sing your songs i n E n g l i s h i ns t ead of F rench even t hough you come f rom a c o u n t r y t hat’s ver y proud of its language and its culture? A n d i n t h e b eginning, did F rench people look down on you b e c a u s e o f t hat a s well?

Yeah, we are like sailors attracted by the sea. We couldn’t imagine living all our lives in France. It’s just a thing we never thought about, that would have been so boring.

couldn’t live without that very special routine. It’s not like we’re travelling the world and being tourists all the time. There’s a meaning to it, so that helps a lot. I think that keeps us from being tired. When you know why you’re there and you are not just wandering around it’s really fine. We never felt exhausted from too much touring. It could happen. We miss our homes sometimes, it’s true. We just put on some Edith Piaf and cry a little, and then we can all do fifty more shows, ha ha! D o yo u l i ke t o h ave i n t i m a t e ro a d t r i p s w i t h a t o u r b u s o r f ly i n g t o get t h e re a s fa s t a s p o s s i b l e ?

No, we take the tour bus, yes. The tour bus is a very important tool to our happiness. We tried one tour without the tour bus and it was a disaster. Tour bus is cool! Tour bus is fun! No, we are a bunch of friends and all the crew are our friends too, so it’s really a beautiful family travelling around. We need our little home. But also you need discipline because this life can be very boring if you do it the obvious rock’n’roll way: it really drives you crazy because it’s always the same and it’s not very satisfying. So you have to have discipline to do things differently, not to be the slave to this life, but to control it. TM LB

L AU R E N T B R A N C OW I T Z

I don’t like sports, but it’s like being a basketball player: you have to go to the US, you cannot just stay in France. Just because we know that the community we are speaking to and are part of has this language, it’s just a convention. If it had been Croatian we would have sang in Croatian, it’s just a convention. Just like Latin was the language of Quattrocento, of Renaissance. English is the language of pop music, pop culture – that’s why: just because its culture is above nationality, just something supranational. TM

D ur ing your la s t world t our you did almos t 200 g i g s i n o n e year : how do you cope wit h t he fact t hat you are t r ave l l i n g a ll t he time? TM

You have another kind of routine that helps you mentally. We

T h a t’s e a s i ly s a i d , b u t yo u h ave a s h ow b a s i c a l ly eve r y n i g h t , yo u h ave c r a z y fa n s b e g g i n g t o m e et yo u a f t e r wa rd s , b e a u t i f u l g i rl s wh o h a n g a ro u n d , f re e d r i n k s a ny t i m e. A l ot o f p e op l e d rop o u t o f s o c i et y t o h ave ex a c t ly t h a t . S o h ow d o yo u b r i n g yo u r s e lve s d ow n t o a n o r m a l l eve l wh e re yo u s ay : I d o n’t wa n t t o l ive t h e ro ck ’ n’ro l l c l i ch é a f t e r a l l ? T h a t m u s t b e d i f f i c u l t e s p e c i a l ly a t yo u r a ge ?

It’s a matter of what you want to do. I am the extreme member of the band because I never go out after the show. It’s my rule. It’s just what you want to do. To me, just the idea of living such a clichéd existence is so boring that I would actually prefer to read Marcel Proust all the time during a tour. LB

T h a t’s f u n ny b e c a u s e t h e re i s a c t u a l ly a q u ot e by M a rc e l P ro u s t : “ T h e re a l voya ge o f d i s c ove r y c o n s i s t s n ot i n s e e ki n g n ew l a n d s c a p e s b u t i n h av i n g n ew eye s .” H ow m u ch d o e s t r ave l l i n g a n d t h e ex p e r i e n c e o f d i f f e re n t c u l t u re s i n s p i re yo u ? I s t h a t a n e s s e n t i a l p a r t o f yo u r m u s i c ?

EB INTERVIEWS

The life of a musician is a seasonal thing: you’re in the studio, then you’re on tour, you move from place to place, but you know how you’re going to get there. It’s a circular movement; you always know you’re coming back to something familiar. So I guess when he says to have ‘new eyes’ it’s true that it’s the most important thing to seek constantly for something new. Nothing is worse for us than to be satisfied with the present. We love the future too much to be stuck in a rut now. And then the rock’n’roll life: it’s a choice between what makes you feel empty or what’s gratifying you. So for us it’s hard to have new lives, ‘new eyes’, if you do the same thing every day. Those parties, those backstage parties and stuff, they are pretty much the same everywhere: it’s the same drinks, the same. L B When you travel, it even gives you a new vision of home. Now we love France whereas when we were kids we hated it. Now, we kind of love it as if we are the tourists, we love every little cheesy aspect of it because we have missed it and therefore grown to love and appreciate it! TM

What did you hat e about F r ance when you were k i d s ? LB

Jo h n L e n n o n o n c e s a i d : “ L i f e i s wh a t h a pp e n s wh i l e yo u a re b u sy m a k i n g p l a n s ”. H ow i mp o r t a n t i s i t fo r yo u t o h ave s t r i c t g o a l s ? I s t h e p ro c e s s o f get t i n g t h e re m o re f u n t h a n a c t u a l ly get t i n g t h e re s u l t i n t h e e n d ?

Yeah, when we finished our current album we already had all we needed to have. It’s the process that is important even if it’s complicated and painful, there are sublime moments that we will never forget. And all the rest (like playing live) is just a bonus, so we take it as a gift. But maybe we did the first album thinking of the future reward, and it was a mistake because there is no reward. The reward should be the fact that you’re making it, and now we know that so we cherish it. LB

W h a t wa s yo u r p ro c e s s t o get i n s p i re d fo r t h i s a l b u m ? Yo u r l i f e a s va ga b o n d s ?

Actually, for the album process we live a different life. We kind of tried to go to the same place every day and forget who we are, and kind of let luck and chance write the album on its own. It’s like being tired enough just to stop trying to control things and letting your subconscious speak. That’s the technique we have. LB

Just the fact that it was familiar, that it seemed so cheap. W h a t wo u l d t h a t p l a c e b e ?

T he weird t hing about our gener ation is t hat we m o s t ly c o m m unicat e via t hese new Int er net t ools. Thank s t o Fa c e b o o k we are somehow disconnect ed wit h f r iends more t h a n eve r b ecause you are not meeting people face-t o-face a ny m o re, b ut more or less chatting daily or skyping or se n d i n g m e s s ages. It seems almos t like anot her way of dropp i n g o u t o f s ociety, alt hough ironically you always seem t o be c o n n e c t e d t o ot her s. What is your opinion on t his?

I think people are still connecting because it’s very important. You can be a man in the crowd, that’s very possible. But it’s just a new way to interact. I guess for us, we are not really fond of all these things, we use them more like a diary. It’s more a diary of just having souvenirs, just having small memories. And now you keep them like this or you could make a photo album before, but now you can share it, which is really a cool thing.

We are very precise when we choose the studio where we are going to record because we know it’s crucial, it’s going to affect the shape and sound of the record. That’s why we recorded this album mostly at our friend’s studio in Paris, in Montmartre. So we would come there and forget everything we know, because it’s very hard to be surprised by what your brain naturally produces. So you have to tire it enough to be able to lose control – that’s our process. LB

D o you s till have t his mutual f lat in Par is? TM

No.

You were hanging out t here all t oget her for ye a r s wh i ch s ounds like a lot of fun. That ended? TM

No. I still have the f lat but no one lives there, it’s empty.

I s it because you jus t g rew older and you t hought i f yo u s e e e ach ot her ever y day it’s good t o get some dis t anc e ?

No, because it was like a student life and now we are not students anymore. I think it’s a normal step. L B We see each other every day now, and even if we weren’t making music we would see each other every day. So it didn’t really change, we just have more square meters. TM

Yo u m u s t t r u s t e a ch ot h e r a l ot t o o, r i g h t ?

The thing is that we are really good friends, so we are happy to meet each other every day. Even if it can be painful because we love each other. (laughs) TM

:ke Beef$ H[jhe H[lebkj_ed$ ÂťDROP OUTÂŤ

:ke Beef$ I]^h hZVhdc! i]Z 9jd Adde Wg^c\h gZigd Xdadg"^che^gVi^dc id i]Z [dglVgY"i]^c`^c\ EJB6 W^`Z XdaaZXi^dc# 8dadg"WadX`^c\ ^h VkVâVWaZ ^c 7ajZ 7aVX` VcY 7aVX` L]îZ# I]Z 9jd Adde ^h YZkâ^h]an [Vhi lî] îh -"\ZVg iZX]cdad\n# >ih Vci^"i]Z[i hZa["adX`^c\ hnhiZb ZcVWaZh ndj id g^YZ Vcnl]ZgZ ldggn"[gZZ# 6cY dcXZ ndj \Zi i]ZgZ! i]Z W^`ZĂ&#x2030;h hZb^"[daY^c\ YZh^\c VcY [daY^c\ eZYVah Vaadl ndj id iV`Z ndjg g^YZ ^ch^YZ lî] ZVhZ# J^[ :ke Beef$ ?jĂ&#x160;i W jh[dZo" \Wij" WdZ [Ye#\h_[dZbo h[lebkj_ed$ Ed m^[[bi$

FKC7 .#=;7H 8?A;

M I CAC H U

Experimental Pop Erudite TEXT

EMER GRANT

Micachu, a.k.a Mika Levi is a 21-year old musician from the UK. Originally signed to Accidental Records and then (in 2009) to Rough Trade. Her debut album Jewellery, produced by inf luential electronic musician Matthew Herbert, was tipped by many critics to become the album of the year. She performs live with the band The Shapes. H ow would you def ine t he music t hat you make?

I’m not sure exactly, but it’s really annoying when someone says that they can’t define their music, so I should think of something, it’s fairly ‘poppie’, perhaps? Noisy pop, even. I mean in essence, they are a bunch of pop songs, but we are trying to define the sound through the instruments we use as opposed to anything else, so it is a little bit different. At the moment we are doing a lot of live stuff with the band. The sound is pretty textural. A lot of the material that we use is derived from sampling and choosing the sounds that we like, coming up with bass lines that we want to hear. We’re not really trying to assign ourselves to a particular genre, it really is just what we want to hear. I s t here somet hing t hat you would say your music wa s a b o u t ?

There’s no political ethos or anything like that. A lot of the songs, in terms of meaning, are about neurosis, and it’s all personal to me, but there is no intended message. Why do you t hink you s t and out f rom ot her ba n d s a t t h e m oment, what do you t hink makes you dif ferent?

Well, we try a lot of stuff out that doesn’t necessarily work, or it might work but the result is something quite uncomfortable. I really don’t know, though, specifically what makes us different, I think that’s something for everyone else to decide. What would you say are your main inf luences?

Oh my God, there’s so much stuff! Too much in fact! Me personally at the moment, I’ve been listening to The Excess and The Invisible, who I think are amazing. I listen to a lot of electronic music, I really liked Capital K when I was younger, I still do! I listen to a lot of hiphop production from people like Timbaland and Jayzilla. I listen to a lot of jazz like Alice Coltrane and Charlie Hooker, but that was a while ago now, I guess it’s been a lot of hiphop and a lot of Harry Partch. I’ve also been getting into a lot of eighties and nineties American punk bands; I can see some similarities in the sounds that we are producing. I am drawn to music that has a distinctive sound. G e n r e’s s u ch a s h i p h op a n d r’ n’ b a r e i n f l u e n c e s , t h e s e ge n r e s h ave q u i t e ‘ m a i n s t r e a m ’ a s s o c i a t i o n s a s opp o s e d t o perhaps t he more electronic/ under g round c o mp o n e n t s t hat come t hrough in your music. What do you t h i n k i s t h e relationship between t he mains tream genres and t h e m o re ‘ avant-garde’ s tuf f ?

I listen to all types of music, and there is good and bad stuff that exists in both realms. I like the confidence and the attitude that

comes with garage and R’n’B, but as with anything, some of it is really crap. I think how music is received is relevant to the creative process that it comes from, I am not writing records that I know will appeal to a certain demography. I think it would be difficult for us to write anything for the purpose of a paycheck or to meet a certain criteria that would be defined by someone else. Yo u c o m e f ro m a c l a s s i c a l ly t r a i n e d b a ckg ro u n d , h ow d o yo u t h i n k t h i s h a s i n f l u e n c e d yo u r m u s i c ?

I guess it’s a good thing, I feel very lucky to have had musical training, it has meant that I could focus on music all my life, but most of what I have learnt, I learnt from listening to records as opposed to what I was taught at school. I think it’s great to have educational training and I think education facilitates technical advantages, for example you could have someone teach you to play something in a way that is better to suit your body shape. For me, the point of studying composition, as far as I can see it, is that it buys you time to focus on your own projects and grasp a better skill of communicating ideas from your own projects. I think it’s good to take it all in and then forget about it as well, people being educated in a certain way can sometimes forget the need to explore. B j ö rk wa s re c e n t ly s p ot t e d i n yo u r a u d i e n c e, wh o e l s e wo u l d yo u l i ke t o s e e i n f u t u re a u d i e n c e s ?

Well Björk is hard to beat to be honest, that really was a crowning moment. The Queen would be nice, I’d like to do a gig at Buckingham Palace. There’s no one in particular, I guess I’d like it if our music could reach people who wouldn’t normally get the chance to hear it, like old people maybe. I’d like doing gigs in old peoples’ homes; I have done that in the past. Un c o nve n t i o n a l i n s t r u m e n t s , fo r ex a mp l e t h e H o ove r, a re p l a c i n g a s i g n a t u re ove r yo u r l ive s et , wh a t d o yo u t h i n k t h i s b r i n g s t o yo u r s o u n d ?

Well we want to try different things. The Hoover came to me when I realised that most people put on a CD or listen to the radio when they are hoovering. I really enjoy this element to making music, playing with instruments and exploring sound, and I don’t think it’s done enough. I don’t think that instruments are made to be played just one particular way or produce one particular sound. Harry Parch was a pioneer of this, altering and creating many of his own instruments. It’s about challenging stuff to create something fresh and having as much fun as possible when you’re doing it.

»DROP OUT«

PREFUSE 73

Ampexian Man Prefuse 73 is the alter ego of producer, musicians and creative mastermind Guillermo Scott Herren. From modest beginnings crafting tracks for rappers to making his own statements with second-hand equipment and a pile of records, the Georgia-born beatsmith’s musical career really began when he landed in New York. The move up North served as a catalyst for the creation of Prefuse 73’s 2001 debut Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives. Released on Warp, this seminal album redefined what hip hop-inf luenced music was capable of and bought recognition from a wider audience. Fast-forward to 2009. New album Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian finds Guillermo in top form with a collection of 29 musical vignettes that successfully push the genre’s envelope even further. We caught up with an expressive Guillermo in Berlin, during a whirlwind European press tour.

I N T ERV I EW

G A R E T H O W E N & H A N A YA N E T S K I

S o where have you jus t come in f rom? Japan?

I t m a ke s yo u wo n d e r h ow h e m a d e t h o s e s o u n d s .

Yeah Japan - I came into the UK, back from Japan. I spent one night off in the UK. I got very drunk and very high!

And all that shit was in real time! He was just like “boom boom bump” just punching shit in. I mean for me, I use outboard analogue, but I am like an idiot man, like a confused kid yelling by myself when something goes wrong.

A ny where excitin g?

It was exciting, I was getting drunk and high with [English dub producer] Adrian Sherwood. C ool, I’m a big fan of his.

It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. He is a total mentalist –one of my heroes. His editing and production techniques are very inf luential on me. The guy that runs my Japanese label was in London, booking Brian Eno, as he (Eno) is doing an installation there. He was like “why don’t you guys do fucking a record together” and I was laughing it off. This is a dude that made shit that is better than mine in ’75 and he was all “hell yeah lets do it” and I’m thinking “hmm…your weed is strong!” Anyway the next day he called my distributor and said, “does that Prefuse guy really want to do a record together?” That could be the illlest record I have ever done in my life!

D i d yo u f e e l i n t i m i d a t e d b e i n g a ro u n d s o m e o n e yo u a d m i re s o m u ch ?

Oh yeah, being around Adrian, I was just like I couldn’t believe he was down with it. I’m like “what the fuck” - this could actually work. You know what I mean? I can visualise how it could be done. It could end up being something that is so damn serious. You’re familiar with Battles right? O f c o u r s e.

That would be insane!

So like get John (Stanier) playing the drums, get someone like Tyondai on the vocals, get somebody you know is ill on bass and just having John play everything he does tempo-wise, but for it just to be completely twisted. I’ll do all the compositions and all the arrangements and all the fucked up shit but keep it as analogue as possible. With Adrian having all those resources and having the whole string and horn arrangements in it, to give all this texture that he could mess with that would be like…man!

I am int o a lot of t he On-U Sound s tuf f.

W h e re we re yo u i n L o n d o n ?

So sick!

I really don’t know where I was….

T hat would be per fect.

EB INTERVIEWS

I suppose you were only t here t he one night!

D o e s i t h e l p h av i n g t o d i s c u s s yo u r m u s i c ?

Plus I was totally faded out up to then, so I have no idea what area I was in. It was an area I hadn’t been in before, more like in East London I didn’t know what was going on. You know the times like you are a bit out of it, chatting a lot and you don’t even recognise your surroundings. It took me like an hour to realise there was this cabaret thing going on and all the girls were dressed in these outfits. I thought it was totally normal and I was like “shit these girls are crazy!”

I think it is better to ask for the response, not talk about it because I can’t really articulate myself too well about my own music. I can answer questions but I’m not very good at coming up with analogies and ways to describe it because there are so many different things that my mind is f looded with. Whether I do a good or bad job of it is speculative.

S ounds like a cool par ty.

Cool, thanks. It has just been a long process. I mean it’s like I paid a lot of dues, good and bad, and it’s better to take control of it. I don’t want to be on email for eight hours and miss the whole day when I could be making music or hanging out with my kid. There are so many things that I could be doing. Having to do all this stuff - its not really my personality.

Yeah it was really cool, man, something very special I think happened that night. It was kind of a holiday. You could say it was a time for me not to answer questions.

“There is no way you are going to do this shit expecting some manager to wipe your arse for you” D oes it get tir ing tr avelling wit hout a musical rel e a s e ?

At this point you see it as part of the job you know, and before you even leave New York you have to premeditate to know exactly what you got to do, or you’re going come over like a complete asshole. I’ve been in the middle of a project and I’m like “oh shit, oh fuck” people are asking me questions I don’t even know the answer to, and I’m just like “yeah.” I am my own manager so I know what I have to do, and now since I’m not a major label, I have to do stuff like this. Also, how can I mind that anyone wants to talk to me, even if they are hired to come talk to me? I’m just happy and I’m just thankful for all this. You have t o get exposure.

I mean, you know this guy (looks at his Berlin agent next to him), he’s starting early and that’s good. I have to know what I am doing. I t hink you have t o really hus tle now.

That’s what I try to tell people. I try to speak about it. Especially right now there is no way you are going to do this shit expecting some manager to wipe your arse for you. I’ve got a scattered arse brain. I speak in fragments, but still if you don’t do all of that, I’m missing out. Labels don’t do shit for you unless you are an 18-year-old kid with a bunch of new beats or a bunch of new songs. Everything is all on me though, so I don’t mind it.

We l l , I c a n’t s p e a k fo r t h e b u s i n e s s s i d e, b u t fo r t h e m u s i c s i d e I t h i n k yo u d i d a g o o d j o b.

S o h ow d o a pp ro a ch yo u r d ay ? Yo u m e n t i o n e d t h a t yo u h ave a ch i l d - I g u e s s t h a t i mp a c t s h ow yo u m a n a ge yo u r d ay i n terms of making music?

Well yeah, he lives with his mom, she is in a band called “The School of Seven Bells” who are on their own pop success, a completely different type of music. They tour, he thankfully has a really dope grandmother that comes and stays with him while we are both gone, but he has to split up a lot of things and compromise in a lot of ways. That’s a difficult thing but it’s not anything that I regret. Having him is one of those things that make you work harder, you know, as I am older than I was. When you are younger you have less responsibility and are so completely selfabsorbed in things in a very innocent way.

“ Vi nyl i s m o r e i mp o rt ant than any other shit that happens right now” The f irst part (of success) must be fun.

Yeah, it’s like: ”yeah I made it” but then it’s like “this all going to end.” Give it two years bro, and then you have to start fighting for it. It becomes like a battle. For me it’s never been a battle that I wanted to play. I have always wanted to make music and be alone. As far as having the freedom to do anything, whatever project I do has a stigma that it has to be connected somehow. I hate that sometimes. I hate that people have to make this connection between stuff. Like Savath & Savalas. I mean, that’s me and a girl writing in Catalan and Spanish and based on really stripped-down folk songs and really lo-fi psychedelica from south Brazil. There is no relationship!

»DROP OUT«

I t’s dif ferent worlds t o you?

Maybe the relation is that it comes out of my studio, but that is the only relation. People are like “I hear a lot of whatever in it” and it’s like “no you fucking don’t!” L ike people probably say “t he new Prefuse 73 pro j e c t ”.

Exactly, thank you! You said it perfectly. Diamond Watch Wrists is me and the drummer from Hella, who I consider one of best drummers in the US, doing something that we both would never normally do. It’s not the new Prefuse 73 project. It’s two people. It’s not anything related to that but at the same time I have to make this clear without denouncing stuff. It doesn’t show the diversity, it’s appealing to a whole different person. My mom can sit around listening to Savath & Savalas but my mom does not sit listening to Prefuse (laughs). That’s the last thing she wants to hear. I don’t think my Mom has even heard a Prefuse song before. You’ve never played her one?

She doesn’t like beats! She likes Savath and Savalas but a lot of that stuff she won’t listen to because she thinks it is too sad, she starts crying. S o your music does have an ef fect.

Yeah, but she doesn’t like beats too much. She likes soul music. I mean she turned me onto punk, soul music and jazz. That’s why I don’t get it… T here are some really soulful elements on t he alb u m .

Yeah my mom, she was a hippie but she never really liked beats, man. Even back in the day when I was listening to early hip hop; she just never really liked it. L et’s t alk about t he new Prefuse album. 29 son g s o n t h e a lbum, and seems a bit like a mix t ape but t he n i t’s n ot , b ecause t hey are like little vignett es of dif ferent m u s i c.

It’s based around a progressive sort of concept where the song is ever-going and changing. So that’s why we used tape with it. We didn’t want to do it in the digital realm, and take it to all kinds of different places. This guy would help me with the whole analogue aspect because he was more into the tape machine -- he was a genius -- he helped me to compile all my beats and hit them and do all this crazy shit. So everything was done, all the beats were done, then I put together the tapestry of how they would work and how they would fit in, so the times and the keys worked together. But the effects were all done in a music concrete fashion that happened by randomly running feedback loops. Just let it take its own course so when it is done I can listen to it on headphones and not remember that song at all. I s t here going t o be a vinyl relea se?

Vinyl is more important than any other shit that happens right now. It would be good to put through your iPod but there’s

nothing like listening to a sound source like a record, the material on the record will never disintegrate unless it is burned or destroyed. It is always going to be there forever. In the digital realm all this data is finally erased. It disappears and doesn’t exist after a certain time. I hear the CIA are the ones responsible for keeping tapes in circulation.

“Bring the brightness in, and share it with the people” D i d yo u u s e a l ot [ o f t a p e ] i n t h e re c o rd i n g ?

When we used a lot we just taped over shit we’d done and it made it sound saturated -- that’s why the beats sounded like “donk donk donk” instead of being digital like “inchs inchs inchs.” I’m so sick of that fucking sound right now. How many records are like that? Fuck it, man. But take it back to somebody like Steve Reich. That’s the typical kind of thing you could listen to forever. I could listen to his records all day, you could play his records together and they don’t have to end. He is the man. W h a t e l s e i n s p i re s yo u ?

Well, of course, throwback edits and Mantronix edits, any kind of edits -- especially the more manual ones. I definitely like the way they made edits when didn’t have an MPC. S o wh a t a re yo u r p l a n s o n t o u r i n g t h e a l b u m ? I s i t s o m et h i n g yo u wa n t t o d o ?

Yes I always want to tour. As long as my body can take it, as long as my body can keep up with doing three shows every night I’d like to do it. It’s more the organising. We could do it and we could pull it off, I have no doubt. It’s just fun for me. Tours are hard as shit when they test your patience. But its fun as shit getting people at dope shows. I think that’s what takes you out of your little empty bedroom, the little security zone that people live in. I’ve never really been interested in hanging in my bedroom; I liked hiding in my room. It’s a totally different world when it doesn’t look like some shutdown hole, there’s nothing depressing about it. Bring the brightness in, and share it with the people.

EB INTERVIEWS

DELETE MUSIC / DANIEL RAJKOVIC

Yugohome

Daniel Rajkovic was the original drop out kid. A Gothic punk from a small suburb of Munich, by the age of 20 he had a residency at legendary techno club Ultraschall, and by 24 was a resident at Tresor in Berlin. Now aged 29, he is busy further establishing his minimal and house record labels Delete Music and Delete Ltd, and working on his own releases. “I may not have green spiky hair anymore but I’m still a rebel at heart!” he tells EB. I N T ERV I EW PHOTO

L I Z M C G R AT H

STEFFI ROSSOL

»DROP OUT«

You obviously have some pretty old t echno roots w i t h i n t h e G er man t echno scene.

Yes, techno roots I have indeed! It all started in Munich in 1995 when I was 16, I was hanging out with Goths and Punks, we were going to crazy industrial parties, listening to lots of EBM. And then a friend took me to this legendary club called Ultraschall and it was a Kompakt night and I was so blown away, I was just like “what the fuck is this?!” I loved it. When did t he ambition ar ise t o DJ and make mus i c ?

That came quite a bit later to be honest. In the first few years, I just enjoyed being at the parties. Then in 1997 I bought my first two record players and started DJing a bit, but I was really crap to be honest (laughs). I mainly just played at illegal parties that these guys called Cocks On Weed organised. Then somehow in 1998, a year later, I got my first official gig at Ultraschall. You’re half Yugoslavian and t here’s quit e a big com m u n i t y i n M unich r ight? What wa s t hat like g rowing up t here ?

I had German friends and I had Yugo friends, we never talked about our cultural heritage much, you know what kids are like. But looking back, of course there were some differences. I felt like some of the Yugo guys were too crazy and I didn’t wanna be part of that. I always just did my own thing. But anyway, obviously I’m half Yugo. Look at my chest hairs! That is not a German chest. (laughs). A nd f rom t he beginning were you a minimal DJ?

Yes, I was always really into pretty minimal stuff – my first records were like PROFAN, Carl Craig and Kompakt early releases like Studio1 – but then I switched to much harder techno once I moved to Berlin (about seven years ago). I don’t know why I got so into that, but it was really hard. Maybe I was just too off my head (laughs). But then something changed the night I was booked to play the Tresor basement because I swear, every five minutes there would be different crazy drugged up guys coming over shouting at me “Play something harder! Harder!” And I really stopped and asked myself “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re in this dark, horrible, sweaty basement playing for these anabolic steroid guys just begging for harder music … I mean, where is the soul of the music? And where are the girls? No wonder they’re not here!” (laughs). So that was the point I thought, “OK Daniel, come back to the light a bit mate! Go back to your real roots”. T h a t i s h i l a r i o u s . O k ay, s o wh a t we r e yo u r ‘ r e a l r o ot s ’, m usically?

I was really inf luenced by my brother who was an Italo disco DJ in the eighties, I loved raiding his record collection. But I’ve always been a bit special with my taste in music. At school everyone I knew was listening to this cheesy euro-dance music and I was listening to Bauhaus, Joy Division, Throbbing Gristle.

I loved that whole English avant-garde scene. I had all sorts of crazy hairstyles and colours. I was so bored by the suburban life around me and I wanted to rebel from it. S o m e p e op l e h ave s a i d t h a t m i n i m a l m u s i c h a s h a d i t s d ay. E s p e c i a l ly n ow t h a t h o u s e i s h av i n g s u ch a m aj o r re b i r t h . W h a t wo u l d yo u s ay ?

Yeah, of course you can see there’s a really big change at the moment because everyone is back on house music. It’s all back but it’s a hype too. But sure, I play way more house than I did two years ago. However there is still definitely a big market for minimal and techno. B u t wh a t s o r t o f p a r t y wo u l d yo u r a t h e r b e a t ? A h o u s e p a r t y o r s o m e d a rk m i n i m a l p a r t y ?

To be honest, right now I would like to be at rockabilly parties! (laughs). No, but at the moment I enjoy playing a mixture of house and techno. S o w i l l yo u re l e a s e s o m e m o re h o u s ey t r a ck s i n t h e f u t u re ?

I will do that – that’s why I set up Delete Ltd, to release some different stuff. The first release will be from Cess, a Turkish guy from Dusseldorf and his music has a great housey oriental sound. W h a t a b o u t yo u r ow n m u s i c ?

I only started doing my own music at the end of last year and in a couple of months time, my first solo EP will be coming out on Vinyl Did It under my own name! Yo u a c t u a l ly h ave a n ot h e r j o b t h o u g h , r i g h t ?

Yeah that’s right. My background is in music event management. I was the Music Programme Manager for the Love Parade for three years and now I’m the Event Manager for Get Physical music. I really enjoy the mixture of doing events and then the Delete stuff plus my own music and DJing inbetween. It’s a bit crazy sometimes but I love this life, I choose it. And if gets too much then I could always go back to working as a forester again (because I was a forester for three years you know!). Yeah so if techno starts pissing me off, then I’ll just say tschüss guys, I’m going back into the forest! (laughs like a madman). S o wh a t h ave D e l et e g ot p l a n n e d fo r t h e re s t o f t h i s ye a r ?

We have lots of showcases coming up where the Delete artists will be playing (that’s Junkbox, Jon Seber, Cess and myself ). Sonar is next, then Berlin and hopefully New York. Please check the website for dates! W W W . M Y S PA C E . C O M / D E L E T E M U S I C I A N W W W . M Y S PA C E . C O M / D A N I E L R A J K O V I C

Hear This, as usual, is full to bursting with great new record reviews that will keep you going all summer long! Aside from that there is a great playlist for you to consider downloading in the Collectors Guide To Tuning In and Dropping Out (perfect for bumming around in a park all day long to) and rounding things off is London super-DJ and producer, the very lovely Erol Alkan, who talks about how and why hearing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Blue Mondayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the first time really did change his life forever.

EB HEAR THIS

MUSIC REVIEWS

THE

S OR’ ECT L L CO DE GUI TO

TUNING IN & DROPPING OUT TEXTS

VIK TORIA PELLES

ILLUSTRATION

LEONA LIST

NICO

GRATEFUL DEAD

The End (The End..., 1974)

Truckin (American Beauty, 1970)

The legendary track by The Doors was never more ominous and haunting than this version with Nico’s narcotic voice accompanied by Brian Eno’s droning synthesizers and electronic equipment. Born Christa Päffgen, Nico seemed intent on destroying the model looks that brought her such notoriety and admiration. But in her relentless self-destruction that saw the f lawless beauty turn into a rotting-toothed junkie, Nico also managed

With a group of dedicated fans referred to as the ‘Deadheads’ that followed the band from concert to concert for years, the Grateful Dead are quite clearly the ultimate drop out band having inspired a league of people to do just that.

to create a musical legacy that continues to inspire a range of artists from Bat for Lashes to the Gossip.

Demon Sweat (The Pod, 1991)

THE STRANGLERS Golden Brown (La Folie, 1981) This waltzing ballad, alternately about a girl or heroin depending on how you’re wired, is so intoxicatingly bittersweet in both melody and lyrics that it would make anyone want to lose themselves in either one or the other.

PORTABLE/BODYCODE

WEEN The most surreal album of hilariously psychedelic and unbelievably prolific band Ween would have to be The Pod, so named after the apartment in which Dean and Gene purportedly inhaled Scotchguard (later turned out only to be THC) through an especially made bong device and recorded 23 tracks of insane – and genius – heavily distorted sounds with really drugged out and freaky lyrics. It’s incredibly hard to pick a favourite, but as one of the band’s peculiarly heartbreaking love songs, the comparatively lucid ‘Demon Sweat’ narrowly outclasses the epically stoned ‘Pollo Asada’.

Release (Knowone Can Take Away 12” Perlon, 2008)

TAMA SUMO

For one of the most excellent sounding reasons for a producer to drop out of the traditional techno capitals check out Alan Abrahams (aka Portable/Bodycode). Growing up in Cape Town, Abrahams relocated to Europe where he made Lisbon – something of a European outsider – his home for many years. The time away from mainstream inf luence has obviously served him well and his inimitable compositions – sensual and sophisticated in equal parts – are among the few that work just as convincingly while sweating it out in a club as hanging out about the house.

Play Up/Brothers, Sisters 12” (Ostgut Tonträger, 2008)

JAMES BROWN & THE FAMOUS FLAMES

Dropping out in the idealistic, political way may be a thing of the sixties but escapism is alive and well in the 21st century. Anyone who’s ever been caught in the web of good vibes and f lawless choice of records of the charismatic Tama Sumo on the Sunday morning dancef loor of the Panorama Bar can attest to that. With this 12” produced with Prosumer you can have a little keepsake of the phenomenon for your record bag.

KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS Caroline Was A Drop Out (In Praise of Older Women..., 1985)

Legendary James Brown had being an individual and non-conformist absolutely down pat but he was also a believer that dropping out of school just ain’t cool, and if those school-skyving kids were going to be convinced by anything it’s got to be this piece of Brown’s inimitable screaming, squealing brand of soul-funk.

In 1985 was when the big hits stopped happening for Kid Creole in Europe, but actually In Praise of Older Women and Other Crimes is a gem of an album mixing soul, R & B, funk, reggae, salsa, samba, tango, Broadway and other styles with some seriously sharp writing. The nasty character study ‘Caroline…’ (“She was an outcast, typical smartass…”) is testament to August ‘The Kid’ Darnell’s awesome talent and outlook.

DONOVAN

BECK

The Hurdy Gurdy Man (The Hurdy Gurdy Man, 1967)

MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack (Flipside Rec. 7”, 1993)

This psychedelic anthem very suitably came about while Donovan was hanging out in Rishikesh, India studying transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi with – amongst others – members of the Beatles and Mia Farrow.

As the composer of nineties slacker anthem ‘Loser’ Beck provided the soundtrack to the stoned youth of many generation Xers. In his first official release ‘MTV makes me want to smoke crack’ Beck gets unambiguously to the essence of the will to opt out with lines like “…and everyone’s perky and everyone’s uptight.”

Don’t Be A Drop-Out (1966)

EB HEAR THIS

MUSIC REVI EWS REVIEWS

G A R E T H O W E N / N E A L E LY T O L L I S / A R I S T E I N

OUR TE URI AV O

KENNY GLASGOW Taste For The Lowlife

MITTEKILL You Are Home

THE VIEW Which Bitch?

KIKI Kaiku

(No. 19 Music)

(Modul8)

(1965 Records)

(Bpitch Control)

An instrumental figure in Toronto’s dance music scene, Kenny Glasgow has been DJing, organising parties and producing music for over twenty years. His first album takes the experiences gained over two decades of a life lived through electronic music and makes them shine through this 78-minute journey. The barest elements of house and techno combine to create an emotive force that is far beyond the sum of their parts as Kenny pairs lush sonic repetitiveness with emotive minimalism. In doing so, he creates something that can rightly rub shoulders with the Carl Craigs of this world. GO

Berlin two-piece Mittekill have been regulars on the local scene for some time now, and all that gigging has been beneficial since they’ve clearly had a good think about which of their legion tracks should end up on debut long player You Are Home. The selection is strong and appeals to both German and English speaking fans; the record has a crunchy, scratchy melancholy punctuated by lighter moments such as the epic ‘Italian Superdisco Funkrok’. Nice. NL

There’s just something inherently likeable about bands from Scotland. Regardless of their varying levels of musical prowess there’s usually a glint of mischievous impishness which sees them through. Orange Juice had it. Franz Ferdinand have it. Christ, even Travis had a certain glimmer of it. It’s an endearing cheekiness; the kind whereby they’d play you a private gig if only to distract you while their mates went joyriding in your car. The View with their punky poppy indie rock clearly have it in abundance. NL

Kiki has inhabited the world of contemporary dance music for nearly a decade now, but this is only the second album to be released by the Finn. Where Run With Me was riding the tail end of electro clash, Kaiku is a deeper, more mature affair, exploring themes of travelling and movement, with a few diversions into humorous after-hours jabber such as ‘Twins’ with Jake The Rapper. Heart-tugging tracks like ‘No Words Necessary’ and ‘Death Railway’, provide the strongest points of the album for me. A slow burner that has grown and grown since I first heard it. Excellent. GO

MUSIC REVIEWS

THE YOUNG LOVERS The Young Lover

DAMIAN LAZARUS Smoke The Monster Out

OPTIMO In Order To Edit

(Lounging Recordings)

(Get Physical)

(R&S Records)

Another surprise in the form of Herve side project ‘The Young Lovers’. For a white English man who makes mix CDs with titles like Ghetto Bass, Joshua ‘Hervé’ Harvey certainly knows how to confound expectations. With a strong jazz inf luence joining the dots between the dangling beats and smoky atmospherics, this more ref lective side project shows a more interesting side to the sonic trickery the young producer has used to such effect on tracks such as ‘Bleeper’. In fact there is just the barest hint of fidgety sounds to be found, and they work in the subtlest of ways: underpinning swinging beats and scratchy percussion. Of all he has done to date so far, it is this which will stand the test of time and quite rightly too. GO

The debut artist album from Crosstown Rebels founder Damian Lazarus is nothing if not unexpected. Eschewing the conventional patterns of a dance-oriented alum, the London-born producer, offers an eclectic debut that takes in cinematic vignettes and skewed electronic folk whilst remaining true to his role as a purveyor of dancing music,. Whilst recent mix compilations show that Lazarus’ tastes are impeccable, SMTO suffers from a lack of overall direction. Surprisingly, it is the ballad, folk inf luenced tracks and inspired cover in the shape of Scott Walker’s ‘It’s Raining Today’ where things become particularly interesting. In fact, if you removed the weakest links like ‘Memory Box’, you could convince me this was a new direction for Belle and Sebastian. Well, maybe. GO

A robust collection of R&S’s finer moments from their first incarnation, edited and mixed by Optimo – a man who is in danger of becoming a f lavour of the month. I am one of JD Twitch’s biggest fans, enjoying his current renaissance as master of the edit, but I am not too sure what this mix can offer to anyone who is already familiar with the likes of Capricorn’s ‘20Hz’. This breakneck mix harks back to Twitch’s days as resident at his own Pure night, when Joey Beltram’s ‘Energy Flash’ created a wave of excitement for the Glaswegian electronic music scene. While this serves as an enjoyable trip down memory lane, there is nothing here that has not been heard many times before. GO

PREFUSE 73 Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian

THE DØ A Mouthful

(Warp Records)

(Get Down!)

MOCKY Saskamodie

Folky, orchestral outfit The Dø are French-Finnish. Members Dan Levy and Olivia Merilahti got their musical start collaborating on a number of film soundtracks before deciding to go full time with a band set-up. A Mouthful represents their debut LP. It’s a mix of English and Finnish lyrics, sweeping orchestrations, abstract drum beats and noises which can best be described as throwing cutlery down the stairs. A curious mix. NL

(Crammed Discs)

Mocky is a member of what became known as the Canadian Crew; a wave of musicians from Canada who relocated to Berlin. Mocky is the one whose music is most difficult to get to grips with, and on Saskamodie it seems to be half Barry White, half freeform jazz, which is perhaps a polite way of saying it’s a f labby mystery veering on the unnecessary. NL

Epic new album from Guillermo Scott Herren and his Prefuse-73 moniker. Soaked in tape saturation and analogue effects, where the degradation of the sound is used as an instrument in itself – a technique that shares its DNA with Music Concrete. As the short movements abruptly stop and begin again, it is the texture of the recordings and background sounds that provide the glue that holds everything together. GO

EB HEAR THIS

FILTHY DUKES Nonsense in the Dark

DAT POLITICS Mad Kit

AUDIOJACK Radio

(Fiction Records)

(Chicksonspeed Records)

(20:20Vision)

Filthy Dukes have DJ’d for Mylo, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem and the Dazed & Confused parties, done remixes of reasonably cool artists like The Rakes to out-and-out dross such as Macabees and cite Kraftwerk, Daft Punk and the Chemicals as inf luences. Names, names, names. There’s no doubting their credentials and connections, so it comes as no surprise that they’ve more than delivered the goods here with an out and out dancef loor killer of an album. Well done boys. NL

DAT Politics’ LP is crammed to the brim with suitably fucked up registers, distorted beats and just a subtle smattering of Nintendo-era chip-tunery which mercifully prevents the whole thing descending into an irritating, foolish mess. It’s a nice effort and concrete proof that once they dispense with the idea of making ‘music’ themselves, the Chicks actually do have an ear for really cool music. NL

Audiojack have been lucky enough to taste success from the get-go. With first release ‘Robot’ selling over 10,000 vinyl copies, this Leeds duo pairs a sound that is instantly recognisable with a sparse Germanic production aesthetic. I remember watching YouTube videos of Audiojack literally jumping for joy as ‘Robot’ was caned mercilessly at DC10 in Ibiza a few years ago; the image of the two friends reacting to their song being played was more than just a little sweet. With just a clutch of previously released 12"s, including a massive reworking of Bobby Peru’s ‘Erotic Discourse’, these lads from Leeds have been fed and nurtured by that city’s most famous record label, 20:20Vision. The result is the album Radio, an intense, muscle-bound journey into techy, grooving house music. Lead single ‘Jack The Keys’ utilises a very simple but very effective change of tempo near the end – used in the right hands, I can see this 21st century jack track causing serious dancef loor devastation. ‘Schizophrenic’ features insistent stabbing synths and vocal snippets while ‘Red Eye’ would work in a Danny Tenaglia set. Let’s be clear though: many of these tracks could and should be used to exploit the crowd’s energy during a DJ set. Play ’em loud. Very loud GO

OCTAVE ONE Summers Of Jupiter (430 West)

FAZE ACTION Stratus Energy (Faze Action Records)

Of the small group of producers who pioneered London’s nu-disco scene in the mid to late nineties, it is Faze Action who’s stuck most closely to a sound that can be classed as conventional disco. From the opening bars of ‘Goodlovin’ with its Patrick Cowley groove, this is a journey to the high points of camp. However, it has enough interesting diversions and well thought-out stop offs to interest even the most jaded disco fan. Where a lot of nudisco seems to be fragmenting and repeating itself, tracks like ‘Hypnotic’ and ‘Keep It Coming’ show that old hands like Faze Action can still find plenty of inspiration in the genre’s dusty vaults. GO

The two brothers Lenny and Lawrence Burden, who make up Octave One, have spent the last five years touring, performing and working in the studio to create their own world from the purest strains of Detroit’s electronica. With titles that tip their hats to the apocalyptic, such as ‘Life After Man’ and ‘A World Divided’, the Burdens present a serious vision of electronic music that still has plenty of humour and emotion to be discovered (amongst insistent snares and chewy bass lines). GO

MUSIC REVIEWS

LIVE

EIN FEST VON

PRÄSENTIERT VON

MEDIENPARTNER

UNTERSTÜTZT VON

EB HEAR THIS

YEAH YEAH YEAHS It’s Blitz (Polydor)

THE SUBS Subculture (Lektroluv)

Belgium played a key role in the development of house music at the end of the 1980s and since then has produced a number of highly regarded electronic musicians from Soulwax to Vive la Fête. The Subs could very soon be joining that list of Belgian legends with Subculture. As albums go, it may be a little on the brief side but they’ve crammed lots of ideas into this; trancey beats, soaring productions and a liberal smattering of samples. NL

It seems that even the YYY’s debut LP was a hotly anticipated event and anything they’ve ever done since then has seen people scrambling to their local record store (or download site) to get their hands on it. It’s Blitz is their first record in three years and even the bloody cover art was well worth the wait. YYYs have got progressively down-tempo since Fever to Tell but have somehow retained all of their energy and edge. ‘Zero’ and ‘Heads Will Roll’ are masterpieces. Essential. NL

THE FIELD Yesterday And Today

OMAR S DETROIT Fabric 45

(Kompakt)

(Fabric Recordings)

Axel Willner is considered an unsung hero in the electronic world. His new release Yesterday And Today finds itself at a far different pace to his debut; an earthly and less saturated feeling invades this album. More of a blissed-out feeling as opposed to a straightup melodic focus. Most of the tracks, like the aptly titled ‘I Have The Moon, You Have The Internet’ and ‘Sequenced’, are reliant on the same brilliant but slightly repetitive formula that made his debut so successful. For me, the standout track is ‘Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime’, a beautiful tune strangely reminiscent of The Cars ‘Drive’; it’s Willner showing us exactly where he is most comfortable. Maybe my expectations were just too high on this release, and maybe it’s one of those albums that reveals itself over many listens, but I felt there was something truly magical on his debut that was maybe slightly amiss on Yesterday and Today. All in all, Yesterday and Today is a commendable effort but I would watch out for tomorrow! AR

Prior to the release of Fabric 45, Omar S managed to cause a small hurricane of chatter on the Internet by stating that he wasn’t even sure who Ricardo Villalobos was and that (like Villalobos) only his own productions would be making it onto his Fabric mix. Over the last few years the outspoken producer, and by extension his self-run FXHE label, have filled a hole amongst the house and techno heads who yearn for a sound that is more authentically Detroit. With handwritten labels, a utilitarian approach to productions and a healthy dose of attitude, Omar S exudes a confidence that signals he knows just where he stands in Detroit’s new wave, but that may be his undoing on what is effectively a DJ mix series. As an artistic overview you could do no better, but as a mix, it is weak at best. A great calling card for Omar but not a very good mix for Fabric. Still you can’t fault his productions, and if you are not a vinyl buyer this is highly recommended. GO

MUSIC REVIEWS

THE VIRGINS The Virgins

RöYKSOPP Junior

(Atlantic Records)

(Wall of Sound)

New York’s The Virgins drop a record which has more than sufficient potential to be on everyone’s stereos this summer. They make sexy, catchy disco punk tracks – ‘She’s Expensive’ and ‘Rich Girls’ are already radio and indie disco hits – and proudly describe themselves as ‘pop’ at a time when everyone else seems to think it’s a dirty word. With their saucy lyrics, infectious hooks and oh-so-naughty twinkles in their eyes, The Virgins have struck gold with their debut LP. NL

Norway doesn’t exactly have a rep as a hotbed for new music now, does it? Perhaps their only previous valid contribution to popular song was A-Ha, and even that’s stretching credibility a bit. Thank God then for Röyksopp who bang out another selection of insanely stylish electro with guest vocals from Lykke Li and the wonderful Karin Dreijer from The Knife. The spring feeling on this record is set to be offset against the more downtempo Senior, set for release later in the year. Two albums in the same year? Busy boys. NL

PET SHOP BOYS Yes (Parlophone)

THE JUAN MACLEAN The Future Will Come (DFA)

Pet Shop Boys represent a generation of musicians who can get past album number two without being dropped by their bored label; Yes is their 10th studio LP. Some 25 years after West End Girls hit, they’re still around and still producing credible electronic music. Those gorgeous 1980s Trevor Horn productions may be gone and this self-produced effort slightly more clinical, but PSB never fail to astound. This record is cold and witty, dark and carefree all at the same time. Buy it… immediately. NL

The Juan MacLean is musician John MacLean and partner in crime Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem (none other than James Murphy worked as their live sound engineer for a time). Needless to say, as a DFA release it’s crammed with the slick disco-punk you’d expect. So much so that if Donna Summer were alive and kicking today (well, ok, she is alive but if she were alive and younger) this is the sort of shit she’d be dropping on us as a little reminder that New York has a curious knack of producing the coolest music the world has ever heard. NL

MY SIC MU T MEN MO

EB HEAR THIS

EROL ALKAN I NTERVI EW

H A N A YA N E T S K I

If DJ/producer Erol Alkan had an electronic music bakery, there would be a pie in there to suit every taste. Known as one of the founding fathers of the electro-clash movement, he is an institution who always mixes the right recipes to keep people on their party feet. When laying down his sonic stamp he can be found making psychedelic rock and producing albums for The Long Blondes and the Mystery Jets whilst still finding the time to step out behind the decks for one of his notorious sets. Here he is looking back on two stand-out Music Moments that etched a mark on his music map forever. When I was about ten and my uncle played me ‘Blue Monday’ for the first time, but as well as just playing it on his stereo he told me to watch the LED lights on the graphic equaliser on which there was this pair of red lights that ran from left to right. The introduction with the base kick made the LED lights kind of f licker with a trail from left to right in a really kind of rhythmical way and I was gripped by the first bar. The visual aid that the EQ bought reminded me of something like Knight Rider, it was such an iconic thing having a red light pulsating back in 1986. It was very exciting and by the time the song had finished, I had just gone through one of the most important musical experiences of my life. When ‘Blue Monday’ came out, it was in key with the musical climate of the time. There are so many fantastic records from that era, but there is something about that track that gives it a strange life, it still sounds exciting and fresh 25 years later. It’s one of those records that aren’t quite right in a way. It wasn’t designed for the charts, it was just purely made for a moment and it defines the moment so well that it is still very relevant even today. You play it in club now and it would be the biggest track of the night, it’s just amazing and I will never grow bored of it. Another pivotal moment was hearing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ for the first time. It was at The Dome nightclub and I must have been about seventeen. It felt like I had always known the record

and it felt so effortless it was like “Oh God! Here it is! Bang!” I think it had something to do with the fact that the whole room was just so excited, it created this atmosphere and made it feel totally natural. It is something about when you experience a record with your own generation, it’s fresh to everybody and it feels like there is this major change coming and I think that only happens once every six or seven years. Getting older, your musical tastes change and you may not be acutely aware of something that is revolutionary for a generation beneath you. People could say the Artic Monkeys but I possibly didn’t experience it the same way as the generation beneath me. Like the same as Blur were for us, perhaps – but that’s how it should be anyway. I hope that I will hear something in the same vein again, but I don’t think it would be music for the popular culture, it would be a lot more niche. I still have amazing moments with records that I discover, but maybe not quite as epic. When you experience something when you are young, it moulds your tastes so much more: you can be quite militant in your tastes, and yet on one day you could be really into one type of music and the next day you completely change everything including your hairstyle. That is the beauty of youth and I think that people should be able to do that. Young people have a go at you for completely changing your tastes overnight but that’s what it is about! WWW.EROL ALKAN.CO.UK