DANCE ZINE SCIONAV.COM VOL. 3
STAFF
Scion Project Manager: Jeri Yoshizu, Sciontist Editor: Eric Ducker Creative Direction: Scion Art Director: malbon Production Director: Anton Schlesinger Assistant Editor: Maud Deitch Graphic Designers: Nicholas Acemoglu, Cameron Charles, Kate Merritt, Gabriella Spartos Sheriff: Stephen Gisondi
CONTRIBUTORS
Writers: Lloyd Cargo, Samantha Cornwell, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Vivian Host, Miles Raymer, Evan Shamoon Photographers: David Black, Katherine Finkelstein, Ysa Perez, Colin Young-Wolff
CONTACT
For additional information on Scion, email, write or call. Scion Customer Experience 19001 S. Western Avenue Mail Stop WC12 Torrance, CA 90501 Phone: 866.70.SCION Fax: 310.381.5932 Email: Email us through the Contact page located on scion.com Hours: M-F, 6am-5pm PST Online Chat: M-F, 6am-6pm PST Scion Dance Zine is published by malbon. For more information about malbon, contact info@malbonfarms.com Company references, advertisements and/or websites listed in this publication are not affiliated with Scion, unless otherwise noted through disclosure. Scion does not warrant these companies and is not liable for their performances or the content on their advertisements and/or websites. Š 2011 Scion, a marque of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. All rights reserved. Scion and the Scion logo are trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation. 00430-ZIN03-DN
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SCION A/V SCHEDULE JUNE
Scion A/V Presents: Dim Mak Pickle Patch Tour Featuring Scanners, Autoerotique, Ali Love, Peacetreaty, Rob Roy & New Ivory (performing talent will vary for each date) U31 in San Diego, CA (June 6) Cinespace in Los Angeles, CA (June 7) Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa, CA (June 8) 330 Ritch in San Francisco, CA (June 9) Bar Deluxe in Salt Lake City, UT (June 13) The Nomad in Omaha, NE (June 15) 2720 Cherokee in St. Louis, MO (June 16) Beauty Bar in Chicago, IL (June 17) B Side Lounge in Cleveland, OH (June 18) Tammany Hall in New York, NY (June 20) U Hall in Washington, DC (June 21) Kings Barcade in Raleigh, NC (June 22) Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta, GA (June 23) Beauty Bar in Austin, TX (June 25) The Lowbrow Palace in El Paso, TX (June 26) Bar Smith in Phoenix, AZ (June 27) Scion Art Tour: Installation 7: Video CO Exhibitions in Minneapolis, MN (June 4-June 25) Scion Presents: The Big Idea, curated by Monsieur L’Agent, at Installation LA (June 25)
JULY
Scion Art Tour: Installation 7: Video Pump Project in Austin, TX (July 9-July 30) Locations, cities and dates subject to change
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
Scion A/V Presents: Big Freedia
Scion A/V Remix: Rhonda International
Scion A/V Presents: Trouble & Bass: Sounds of NYC
MUSIC VIDEOS
Scion A/V Remix: Win Win — Victim f. Blaqstarr
Big Freedia, “Y’all Get Back Now” Corrine, “Dream A Little Dream” Mobroder, “Rush (Nile Delta Remix)” Telephoned, “Hold Me” Win Win, “Interleave”
ASK SCION
QUESTION: Do you think dance music listeners go over-the-top with their classifications of subgenres? Do you think this intense categorization ends up clarifying things or confusing listeners? I absolutely believe that dance music listeners, as well as artists, go overboard with their classifications. Not only does it confuse, it limits listeners or artists from experiencing certain music. For example, sometimes “techno people” will only listen to techno and go to techno events. But John Smith’s interpretation of techno can be completely different from Jane Doe’s idea of what techno is. As a DJ, I believe it is important to open people’s eyes and ears to different genres and angles of music. I tend to be a chameleon DJ as much as I can, which a lot of [insert dance music subgenre of you choice here] purists would be offended by. But if I can make someone feel as happy as I do hearing certain songs, that’s all that matters to me. —DJ Gina Turner is the host of Below the Bassline on Scion Radio 17
If you have a question, email us through the Contact page on scionav.com
Story: Julianne Escobedo Shepherd Big Freedia is something like a mythical goddess of booty and cacophony. Statuesque and often rocking a dramatic bang-swoop or high-top fade, she megaphones instructions to shake that thang with the command of a drill instructor and the moxie of head cheerleader.
Recently, Freedia’s become probably the bestknown artist out of New Orleans’ storied bounce music scene, thanks in dual parts to the popularity of her party-slammers and the fact that she’s the first true bounce artist to ever tour vigorously beyond Louisiana. “I’ve gotten famous outside of New Orleans because of the hard work and determination of my staff working to [spread the] bounce gospel,” she says. “It’s been very exciting and very interesting over the last couple years to go to different places and teach people about the culture of bounce music.” New Orleans is the type of city that’s been selfsustaining for decades, though, and Freedia’s long been a scene queen. She started making bounce more than 12 years ago when she was still in high school, and since then she’s elevated gay awareness in rap as much as she has bounce culture. But it’s her experience and neverwavering charisma that seem to guarantee a future outside a NOLA rap niche. On new track “Let It Go Nah,” she’s altered with auto-tune, an über-pop move on a track that would sound as comfy next to Katy Perry as it would Katey Red. The song adheres to bounce standards, but Freedia shows how elastic its simple form can be.
Still, if there’s one element that will never waver in the bounce oeuvre, it’s the importance of the booty. With New Orleans moves evolving as quickly as breaks in the beat, what’s Freedia’s favorite dance floor twerk? “I’m gonna make that simple. Bend over, make that bump go up and down like a basketball. Dribble it like a basketball,” she says. “Swiggle is my favorite, which is making my booty go around, swiggling it around and around in a circle. Actually, I’d call it mixing, because when you swiggle you add the arm motions and the upper body surfing. Mixing is my favorite. When I just mix my booty like a cake mixer.” Long live bounce music! bigfreedia.com Hear Scion A/V Presents: Big Freedia, featuring five new songs, at scionav.com/bigfreedia
MOBRODER
RUSH (NILE DELTA REMIX) WATCH THIS VIDEO, PLUS OTHERS FROM WIN WIN, BIG FREEDIA, TELEPHONED AND MORE
SCION A/V MUSIC VIDEO SERIES
SCIONAV.COM/MUSIC/SCIONAVVIDEO
JEFF MILLS Story: Miles Raymer
Jeff Mills has long been regarded as a legend in the techno community, but sometimes a person’s reputation gets so massive that newcomers don’t even know how he got it in the first place. So in case you’re not hip to what makes Jeff Mills such a distinct figure, here’s a brief primer. HE’S A VIRTUOSO MULTITASKER
Most DJs only use two turntables or two CD-Js. Granted that can get pretty hectic, especially in the days before Serato and cue points, but Mills prefers to use three turntables at a time, as well as a pair of CD-Js. He also throws in a vintage Roland TR-909 drum machine that he programs on the fly. Altogether there’s an astounding number of potential ways for things to get messy. He’s like the techno equivalent of those guys who talk on the phone and play Angry Birds while carrying four cups of hot coffee, except he’s less of a menace and he never messes up. HE WAS IN TECHNO’S PUBLIC ENEMY
Mills has been living in Chicago for a couple of decades now, but he got his start in Detroit in the early 1980s during techno’s formative years. In 1989 he started collaborating with “Mad” Mike Banks, a fellow Detroit techno producer and former member of Parliament/Funkadelic, on a project called Underground Resistance. In 1991 they pulled together the hardest, noisiest ideas happening in techno, acid house and hip-hop at the time and turned them into a four-song EP called Riot and wrapped it in a confrontational and highly politicized package that included wearing military gear during public appearances. Underground Resistance has opened up to include more members, and Mills isn’t closely involved any more, but UR’s website still includes manifestos.
HE’S FASHION FORWARD
On Division Street in Chicago there’s a stretch where it borders the Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods that has been full of jock bars and yuppie pet shops ever since the area started to gentrify a decade ago. For a long time the strip’s lone reminder of the area’s former weirdo artsy cool was a boutique called Gamma Player, which displayed men and women’s clothing that looked like costumes for sci-fi movies, but was made out of really expensive luxury materials. It was mostly popular with Japanese techno fanatics who came to the store because one of its owners was Jeff Mills. Maybe that’s the reason the store ended up closing, but the Gamma Player name lives on in an exclusive accessories line available on the website of Axis Records, Mills’ label, next to his own merch, which is frequently created in collaboration with fashion designers. HE MADE ONE OF THE BEST TECHNO SONGS OF THE 1990S
Mills is incredibly prolific, but he’ll forever be best known for “The Bells,” a single he released in 1996. If you went to a rave anywhere in the world from that point and beyond, you definitely heard it played and saw a crowd go nuts to its thumping beat, staccato bass and lead synth line that sounds vaguely like The Twilight Zone theme being squeezed and stretched apart by a robot. Mills composed “The Bells” in roughly three hours in late 1994. Before it was given an official vinyl pressing, Mills spent a year spinning the track off of a metal reference disk as a way to test drive it in front of an audience. HE RECORDED A LIVE ALBUM WITH AN 80-PIECE ORCHESTRA
In 2005, Mills recorded a live program of 15 songs from his catalog alongside the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra underneath a 1stcentury Roman aqueduct in the south of France. He provided percussion and the beats from his 909 and the 80-piece orchestra played the parts he’d originally composed on synthesizers. Unlike pretty much every high-concept attempt to fuse techno and classical music, the music’s amazingly not cheesy or embarrassing to anyone involved. For the concert DVD that German label Tresor issued, Mills contributed an essay about how human life may be descended from aliens. axisrecords.com To watch a video interview with Jeff Mills, check out scionav.com/music/houseparty
D E L I V E R Y Interview: Samantha Cornwell If you’re looking for the sort of house music that brings the catwalks of the early 1990s to the dance parties of the present, the Los Angeles production duo Delivery is what you’ve been missing. The pair are staples of the scene surrounding the infamous A Club Called Rhonda at El Cid in Silver Lake, and they recently put out a collaborative EP for the song “Return To Me,” with vocalist duo B.C., as the first release on Rhonda International (in partnership with Scion A/V). Here, Alex Perliter and Greg Shin give some background on who they are and where they’re coming from.
What made you decide to collaborate with the vocalists in B.C.? Shin: It made sense to go and work with vocalists, because a lot of the music we like is vocal music and vocal house from the early ’90s. We didn’t want to exploit it, or copy it, but we wanted to take it and apply it to today’s pop music and dance music cultures. We eventually ended up meeting B.C. a year and a half ago at Rhonda and we liked their style. Perliter: They came to our studio two days after that, and right there they showed us a rough version of “Return To Me.” Instantly, we thought it was cool.
How did you start making dance music together? Shin: We both grew up in LA listening to a lot of rock music, a lot of West Coast hip-hop and a lot of old electronic music from Warp and Reflex Records. We met in college and decided that we should explore making music together because we had such similar but diverse tastes in music. Our interest in analog synthesizers lead us to electronic music.
If you could collaborate with any recording artist who would it be? Shin: One of the main reasons why I make music is because of Dr. Dre. I was enamored by his beats. I would collaborate with his earlier, younger self. Perliter: I think another person who one day we’d love to collaborate with would be Philip Glass. He’s known as a great collaborator, and he’s a huge influence for us, so we think we could do something really interesting with him.
How do you think regular parties like Rhonda affect a local dance music scene? Perliter: Well, I wouldn’t call Rhonda a “regular” dance party. Regular dance parties are lame warehouse, supposedly “underground” raves. Shin: I think that Rhonda introduces a lot of the people to both cutting-edge house music and legendary artists that come and play. A party like Rhonda actually cares about the kinds of artists they book. There is a linear relationship between all the artists that play Rhonda.
facebook.com/deliveryla Hear Delivery’s collaboration with B.C. on Scion A/V Remix: Rhonda International at scionav.com/rhonda
GIGAMESH Story: Lloyd Cargo
DJ and producer Gigamesh has built his following by constructing remixes as sturdy as fortresses. Some of his best loved cuts are his takes on durable classics, like the Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll,” Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” and Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.” Each disparate and indubitable track is stripped down and built back up as a towering monument to the dance floor. Gigamesh comes from Minneapolis and has spent time in Miami, but calls the studio his home, spending his time juggling remix duties and side projects Señor Stereo and DiscoTech with creating his own music. His collaborations with vocalists Induce, Amanda Love and Nicole Godiva evolved into a self-titled EP of original music that sits comfortably alongside his eclectic remix arsenal. “Two of my favorite venues to DJ are the Grand Central in Miami and First Avenue in
Minneapolis, the venue immortalized by Prince in Purple Rain. And yes, I have bathed in the waters of Lake Minnetonka,” says Gigamesh, possibly acknowledging the inspiration behind his prolific output, as well as his penchant for genre bending. His explanation for why such varied source material works so well together is clearer than Lake Minnetonka’s supposedly magical waters. “There is no common strain between the songs I select to remix. I’ve started embracing that as the theme, that I don’t stick to one particular genre,” he says. “I don’t have any rules. I just try to make whatever feels good in the moment. If people are into it, it’s a success.” gigameshmusic.com Hear Gigamesh’s remix of Win Win from Scion A/V Remix: Win Win — Victim f. Blaqstarr at scionav.com/winwin
While many “nu-disco” DJs continue to obsess over artifacts from the past (re-edits of old songs, lost punk-funk B-sides) and drop way too much money on obscure vinyl on eBay, Midnight Magic quietly elevates the game with brand-new music that feels instantly classic. From their 12-inch “Beam Me Up” to remixes for Corinne, Azari & III and Cut Copy, the NYC-based band makes songs impossibly rich, catchy and full-sounding. Sounding this good doesn’t happen overnight. Since their late teens, producers Andrew Raposo (also the bassist) and Morgan Wiley (keyboards) have played together in numerous projects, including Dim Mak hip-hop outfit Automato and disco house superstars Hercules & Love Affair. Along the way, they soaked up knowledge from DFA label producers James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, and befriended vocalist Tiffany Roth, horn-player Carter Yatusake and the five other members who make up the group. “We feel kind of like a hillbilly family,” says Raposo, on the phone from Midnight Sun, the Brooklyn studio where he and Wiley are producing Classixx, Paze Infinite and a host of other artists. We asked Raposo how the magic happens.
Talk about some of the band’s shared loves, musically and aesthetically. We all love pizza. We all love the realm of the surreal and the psychedelic, and horror films in particular. We all love Michael Jackson and Parliament and Bohannon and Sylvester—those are the four that we talk about a lot. The list goes on: classic soul and funk and disco, tropicália music from Brazil, the Ethiopiques compilations, Selda Bagcan and all the Turkish psych rock stuff. How do you think growing up in New York has influenced you? It has made me a little paranoid and neurotic, but extremely good at dealing with people and crazy situations. It’s made me fascinated by people and their lives. I don’t think there’s a more public city in the Western Hemisphere. I mean, I’m a rich kid from the Upper East Side, but you wouldn’t know it when you’re just walking around in the street. Everybody else could be from anywhere and you have to deal with them. You
have to sit next to them on the train, you have to listen to what they’re listening to and look at what they eat. Tell me about working with Eric Broucek, the former DFA engineer. He is a zealot about the way he deals with sound. He sees sound as if everything is a landscape. The tree off in the distance is the synth line, the hill over here is the bassline. He is an artist unto himself, and as a result, you can listen to his mixes a hundred times and you don’t get bored. James [Murphy] is the same way. Try to tell James Murphy the high hat is too loud and he’ll slap your hand away from the board. Speaking of the studio, how do you guys get everything sounding like it does? With computer software that same string patch is always that same string patch, unless you put a different filter on it. We can’t work that way. It’s not that we don’t like it, it’s not how we’re programmed. We’re so used to turning knobs and plugging cords in and out. When people hear something in our songs and it sounds old,
Interview: Vivian Host Photography: Katherine Finkelstein
it’s because it is! Some days things aren’t working right. Sometimes the heat or the moisture affects the way an oscillator performs. Every day you’ve got a clear palette, and you come up with weird nuances and work-arounds. We use our ears and use gear that we’ve worked with before, but it’s also a total happy accident. What’s the difference between working in Midnight Magic and working in Jessica 6, your other band with Morgan Wiley? In some ways, Jessica 6 is all about spontaneity and Midnight Magic is all about method. Midnight Magic began as a studio project with me, Morgan, Tiffany and Carter. With Jessica 6, a massive piece of the pie is Nomi [Ruiz]. She is an aesthete, a brilliant producer and songwriter, and has a clear vision for how things should go. I don’t want to make one thing sound more conceptual than the other, but with Jessica 6 I just wait for when we’re all in the same room for the magic to happen. We combust very quickly and it can be very challenging, but we just let it be.
Most artists want to be the center of attention, but you and Wiley seem so comfortable helping others realize their sonic vision. I recently saw Nick Cave and I don’t think there is a better frontman in rock & roll. I don’t like my voice. I don’t write poetry. I don’t think there’s a message that I need to get across that I’m not. Morgan is a keyboard and piano player and I’m a bass player—we’ll never be the frontguys in the band. We are collaborators more than anything else. We get really excited about working with other people and trying to make an idea as good as it can be. And we love having a great vocalist come in with a great set of lyrics. Not to be cliché, but that’s what really sets us on fire. midnightmagicsounds.com Watch a video interview with Midnight Magic at scionav.com/music/radio17 and hear their remix of “Dream a Little Dream” by Corinne from Scion A/V Remix: Corinne at scionav.com/corinne
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Trouble & Bass Story: Julianne Escobedo Shepherd Photography: Ysa Perez
Nearly five years ago at Boogaloo, a semi-obscure but well-appointed club nestled beneath the Marcy J/M/Z stop in Brooklyn, Trouble & Bass was born. A new night started by enterprising young DJ/producers Drop the Lime and Star Eyes, it was a devotional to the heftiest thumpers on the low end of the bass cabinet and shrouded in mystery and intrigue, a night lurker’s oasis. Word about the party spread through flyers and word of mouth. It was after-hours, of course, and like any untamed rave in the urban jungle, kind of raw at first. “We didn’t realize it was some crazy spot where off-duty cops with guns at the door would frisk you down,” says Drop the Lime with a laugh. “It was just madness, but we packed it out. There were times where we had a line down the block, but the place only held like 150 people. One time, we teamed up with [NY promoter] Todd P, and at the end of the night, he’s arguing with the promoters and the promoter’s like, pulling out a gun. That craziness really got us started in a more roots, down-to-earth way.” Wild times for sure, but there was so much more to come beyond their baby days. Boogaloo is no more and, meanwhile, Trouble & Bass has spread its rugged gospel, now becoming a crew internationally known as the “Heavy Bass Champions of the World.” Having expanded to include core members the Captain and AC Slater, plus other DJ/producers on the come-up, they’ve gone from scrappy party promoters to dance icons—mining, creating and releasing some of the most innovative woofer-loving music across the globe. Most importantly, they’ve helped define and congeal the New York party sound, one that’s not so specific aesthetically but is bound together by the same unhinged energy of their first events.
“It’s a certain attitude that comes through. Whether it’s disco or dubstep, it’s got that New York attitude.” Individually, Trouble & Bass members are united by the sole overlapping section of their Venn diagram: bass music. But they’re separately informed by their own experiences living in the city, which is now experiencing a true renaissance for dance music and parties—it’s arguably at its most diverse and interesting point since the 1990s. (Luckily, though, there are no Party Monster-mongering club kids at this point, though T&B as a collective does have a very endearing propensity for Creepers.) “It’s one big fire,” says the Captain. “New York is much different than any other metropolitan area, because you have so many ethnicities slapping together. Like Kingdom will play at some Dominican club, and Cubic Zirconia will play at some Lower East Side club, and Michna will play at a club with bottle service. Everyone takes what they do and puts it together.” Trouble & Bass has been the fulcrum for many factions of the NYC dance explosion. They’ve not only been tireless promoters of other artists through their label and new booking company, but they’ve reached out to smaller, like-minded musicians in their outer orbit for collaborations, shared bills and even video cameos. “I felt that it was important to start Trouble & Bass as a way to propel artists,” says Drop the Lime, “because I remember how frustrating it is when you’re starting out and you’re like, ‘How do I get my music out there? How do I play gigs? What do I do?’ It’s frustrating, especially when you’re really hungry.” Though their music varies, Trouble & Bass makes arias for haunted raves, serenades the midnight movers and will crush your ribcage with a drop. That’s perhaps the most New York thing about them. Because everyone who lives in New York knows that New York culture is an ever-shifting lava lamp. Scenes are malleable, clubs are fleeting, all artists must evolve to stay remotely relevant. But when it comes down to the city’s sound, there’s one finite element that has been, is now and forever will be. “It’s a certain attitude that comes through. Whether it’s disco or dubstep, it’s got that New York attitude,” says AC Slater. “If you listen to LA music, it’s got its own vibe, it’s polished, but when you listen to New York music, it’s grit.” “That New York grit,” continues the Captain. “True grit. And if it doesn’t have it, then you’re not making New York music.” Check out Scion A/V Presents: Trouble & Bass: Sounds of NYC, a compilation of new music and a book featuring Drop the Lime, Hussle Club, Kingdom, Michna and Cubic Zirconia at scionav.com/troubleandbass
SFV ACID
Story: Evan Shamoon Photography: David Black
Reflecting on his musical output, Zane Reynolds, otherwise known as DJ/producer SFV ACID, says, “I wanted to represent the Valley in some sort of light.” Born and raised in Southern California’s much-maligned San Fernando Valley (read: SFV), Reynolds has made it a mission to bring some outside positivity to the 818. “I just wanna make something that’s fairly interesting, and I want the Valley to be a part of it,” he says. It was his Get Laid CD-R that first made a name for him, and now the young producer is set to release his New West Coast EP on Post Present Medium, the label started by No Age’s Dean Spunt. Heavily influenced by his father, a jazz guitar player and artist who put him onto bands like the Residents at a young age, Reynolds has found himself drawn to weirdo outsider culture as far back as he can remember. But it wasn’t until around 11th grade, upon discovering vinyl, that he began actively making music. “There was this garage sale in Northridge, put on by a porn star and her wrestler husband, and the wrestler husband’s father had just died,” Reynolds recalls. “He was from the East Coast, and he had a record shop, and I was just buying all kinds [of music] there.” Meshing acid house basslines with the smooth electronic funk that Los Angeles is known for, SFV ACID floats between disparate segments of his city’s musical worlds. Disenchanted with the insularity of “scenes,” after working as an intern for Ariel Pink, Reynolds found himself caught in LA’s various whirlpools of psychedelic music. In fact, his fondest memory as SFV ACID so far has been a performance at Club Wildness, a notoriously loose party held at a bar near MacArthur Park. “It was the best response, the best atmosphere, it was everything I wanted in a place to play. The vibe was just at maximum there.” sfvacid.com Hear SFV ACID’s remix of “Return To Me” by Delivery & B.C. from Scion A/V Remix: Rhonda International at scionav.com/rhonda
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Story: Maud Deitch Photography: Colin Young-Wolff
RAÍZ Brothers Vangelis and Vidal Vargas came up in the Los Angeles rave boom of the 1990s, going to parties and making music in their mom’s house. It was a great time, but they came to realize that the scene was limited and, in a way, that it was limiting them. The two have subsequently spent the past 20 years constantly expanding and contracting their repertoire. The result is a live set that is focused both in its technique and attention to detail, but wide open when it comes to possibility. Their first project as a duo, the minimal techno group Acid Circus, introduced LA to the brothers’ unique performance style, which involves live mixing their original tracks. Now performing as Raíz, they’ve refined the technique into what Vangelis describes as “a digital DJ/live PA hybrid.” This signature style was inspired in part by Orbital (another brother duo) and then combined with their love and respect for Detroit techno DJs like Richie Hawtin and Jeff Mills. While the Vargas brothers watched Detroit develop a reputation for its signature sound, they decided that they needed to, as Vidal says,
“put LA on the map as having a legitimate techno scene.” In order to do this, the two, along with friend Moe Espinosa (aka Drumcell), started their label Droid Behavior. In the ten years of its existence, Droid Behavior mission’s has become less localized. “The focus has become pushing American artists,” says Vidal. “Right now the scene is probably more European-dominated than ever. The whole American sound from the ’90s has been taken over by Berlin and stuff from the UK, so we need to keep that American voice alive.” Similarly, Raíz has broadened their own sets. While they began with strictly techno selections, they now flow from dubstep to deep house and back to techno. What the Vargas brothers figured out is that limiting your sound can be advantageous when solidifying a smaller scene, but that a more inclusive approach really gets the power of the music across. As Vangelis puts it, “The point is just to get people dancing, however you have to do it.” droidbehavior.com
New York Scene Report Jacques Renault is a New York-based DJ with such an international following that to get him to tell us about his favorite places in the five boroughs, we had to catch up with him via Skype while he was somewhere in Europe. When back in New York, Renault throws parties, produces, remixes and generally partakes in everything the city has to offer. Academy Records
One of my favorite record stores is Academy Records, both in Williamsburg and the East Village. They have a quality selection of used records and a few new things as well. I always walk away with something. I first started going to Academy when it was based in Manhattan. When I first moved to New York, I would go every week and I got to know them over the years. They have just about the best in rock, jazz, soul and dance 12-inches and LPs. Then they opened the Academy Annex in Williamsburg, which is closer to where I live. It’s also feels like ten times the size, which means even more great things and more time spent digging. I can usually handle a few hours, but then after that I need to take a break or else everything sounds the same. Let’s Play House
I’ve been doing my own night here called Let’s Play House with my friend Nik Mercer. It’s a traveling party, so it’s been at hotels like Tribeca Grand and the Ace, venues like Union Square Ballroom and our classic warehouse parties as well. Most recently we were at Cameo in Brooklyn. It’s got great sound and it’s a good size, and it’s easy for our Williamsburg and Manhattan friends. The idea is to contribute to New York nightlife, which you can see is happening a lot in our scene. It’s not about competing for nights, but to add more. New venues and spaces make it all worthwhile. subMercer
A fun/funny New York event happened at subMercer recently. Something like ten, or even 15, New York DJs all playing in one night. It can be ridiculous, but it brings a lot of people together under one roof, people like Stretch Armstrong, Eli Escobar, Lee Douglas, Nick Chacona, Prince Language, My Cousin Roy, Justin Miller and myself, to name a few. I think it was the closing party for the season at the club. A chaotic evening of DJs.
Le Bain
I’d say one of my favorite places is Le Bain, which is on the top floor of the Standard Hotel. Neil Aline and Jerome Viger-Kohler, who program the club, are no strangers to nightlife. They’ve been doing this for years, including their legendary Été D’amour parties. They started doing Sundays at Le Bain I think pretty much from the get-go and it’s easily the go-to weekly party in New York. There are always great artists from around the globe, and more often than not they have surprise guests and the not-so-usual suspects. Friends always go, so it’s definitely become somewhat of a meeting spot as well. There is a rooftop that’s nice for fresh air in the summer (or the winter) and a jacuzzi that can fit maybe 20 people that can be entertaining as well. It’s all good vibes, good music and a smart crowd. It’s a fun place to play and hang out. Oh, and the jacuzzi is next to the dance floor. jacquesrenault.com
blog roll discobelle.net Run by a group of Swedish electronic music fans with impeccable taste, Discobelle has established itself as an essential destination for discovering the latest in international dance music. In 2010, they started their own label, Discobelle Records, and have already released singles from artists including Jamtech Foundation and Brenmar.
factmag.com Based in the UK, FACT is one of the world’s premiere online dance magazines. Constantly up on cutting-edge news, music reviews and profiles of rising artists, FACT also puts out its renowned mix series twice a week. Mix contributors have included Blaqstarr, Hype Williams and Ikonika.
stoneyroads.com Stoney Roads is a blog dedicated to new and innovative dance and indie artists. Do you have any idea how massive the global dance music community is? Well, it’s ten times bigger than whatever you think. Check out Stoney Roads for proof.
Radio 17 ToP Picks Chicago house music pioneer Roy Davis Jr. has been at it for years, producing and recording original jams. We caught up with Davis to see what select cuts he’s been spinning lately.
Ian Pooley, “Your Love” (Pooled Records)
Cajmere f. Dajae, “Brighter Days” remixes
The man is back at it again! Ian Pooley is known by many as the Beethoven of electronic dance music. On this track, he creates a laidback, moody deep vibe with heavy soul claps seeping into a sampled vocal. This is a great track to start a soulful crowd out just right.
Some might say, “Another remix of a great classic? Not again!” But not me. This was a package that I was hyped to open, thinking, “How can you make this song better? I want to hear this!” I was not disappointed. Fresh kid of the day, Mark Broom, put his foot in on this one! He made it a disco chop thumper for today’s kids that fits right into peak time. I can’t wait to drop this one at the Wakarusa Festival in the Ozark Mountains on June 5 in front of 60,000 people at 4AM waiting to be energized again after dancing all day to some live bands. It will pull them out of their tents to dance on their sore feet.
Rob Treezy, Chicago on Acid EP (Relief Records)
This is a two-track EP, and “Chicago on Acid” is really the floor-killer here. Carl Cox and myself have already given this one a run across dance floors everywhere, and it has kids worldwide jumping with their hands in the air. This is a club acid house crusher for sure! Yogi & Husky, “Free Your Body” (Salted Records)
These guys have been on a roll lately, and this track has them jumping back to the 1980s electric sound. For those of you who feel that Prelude Records style, this one captures that sound perfectly and brings you right up front to the future retro. It makes you want to close your eyes and step right onto the dance floor into a cool techy chorded heaven. J. Noize f. Kaye Fox, “Enjoy The Ride” (Defected Records)
Giorgio Moroder meets Roulé Records with a dash of Armand Van Helden. This track has J. Noize sliding some Nas-like lyrics over a driving house beat. J. Noize is backed by Kaye Fox on the hook, who’s known for working with No ID when the two were signed to Def Jam. She comes back strong with this hot, electrifying, Daft-electric jam!
facebook.com/roydavisjr Listen to Chicago Urban House Radio, Roy Davis Jr.’s monthly Scion Radio 17 show at scionav.com/radio/channel15
Unemployed Lloyd, Blu Jemz and DJ Hoff at Scion A/V Poolside Party.
RaĂz at Scion House Party in Los Angeles, CA.
Franki Chan at Installation 7: Video at Installtion LA.
Scion A/V Dance Truck at Scion A/V Poolside Party.
SSUR at Installation 7: Video at Installtion LA.
Guests at Installation 7: Video in Brooklyn, NY.
Fritz Helder of Azari & III at Scion A/V Poolside Party.
ABOUT TOWN Guests at Scion House Party in Los Angeles, CA.
Matt Goldman at Installation 7: Video at Installtion LA.
Adrian Grenier and guest at Scion A/V Poolside Party.
Guest at Scion House Party in Los Angeles, CA.
Jeff Mills at Scion House Party in Los Angeles, CA.