A long weekend in Detroit [3]

This is my final post of a much-delayed report from DEMF.
If your appetite has been whetted, I'd like to recommend a couple of others - pipecock at ISM and kenny hanlon at bodytonic - I know, for example, they had a very different time to me at the Mills thing. And they're top lads with great blogs. Check 'em out. Meanwhile, read on...


Monday (Memorial Day)

The last day was always going to be tricky. I knew that I had to drag my arse off site by 7pm, so I could realistically be in the car and crossing the border by about 8ish, to have any chance of getting home at a reasonable hour to be functioning as a responsible parent for the next day and rest of the week (we'll just not even pretend to think work was even an issue - but a 2 year old is). And there's always next year, and the fact that Detroit's literally a drive down the road from ours these days. But still.

I knew I was going to miss Los Hermanos live - which, if the live UR showcase (Galaxy 2 Galaxy as a full band, etc.) the last time I was here would be anything to go by, would be a real kick in the teeth. Particularly in the light of how relativly underwhelming the day before had been on site.

At last, I finally get to see Flying Lotus after missing him several times in the UK. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Completely mental but totally kicking it. Finished with something that was almost twisted deep house then went down to half-step on a real Alden Tyrell "Phaze Me" tip. Oooof. No idea if that's a big tune of his or if he was just going for it on the spot, but a Movement Moment if there ever was one. Sun's been shining, great turnout, stages all close together so you can go and catch someone even out of curiosity - strolled past Ellen Allien as she was dropping LFO and cutting up Wee Pappa Girl Rappers somewhere in it all. Mental. Dennis Ferrer was pretty good, Carl Craig didn't seem to be doing anything ground-breaking, but maybe next year as musical director he'll get some of the duff aspects of the festival sorted (particularly the Detroit stage piss-poor excuse for a sound system - and the slightly patchy programming).

But it's not just about the actual festival itself. Memorial Day weekend in Detroit is about so much more. Catching up with old mates. Meeting a shitload of great new folk. Record shopping. Bloody great off-festival parties. Rooftop afterparties in Greektown with the sun blazing down as you realise just exactly where you are, looking around,and feeling there's no place like this on earth. And knowing you'll be back. Who's up for a meetup next year?

A long weekend in Detroit [2]

First, apologies for the delay between blog posts - real life got in the way too much this summer. Typed this up with a slapped wrist, promise to do better in future!

An early start was well rewarded with a lovely chilled set from Liz Copeland on the Beatport stage. Can't remember who else I heard for most of the rest of the day, as reconnecting with old mates (and new) from far and wide: Iowa, NYC, Rotterdam, Pittsburgh, Dublin, Atlanta - yup, people travel for this. And it really adds to the good-natured, sociable vibe that makes this special.

An early night was had, cos I wanted to make it along to the Omar S party the next day, which was basically one of the best things of my whole weekend in Detroit - lovely sociable vibe, top sound, 70+ degrees sunshine, and some great tunes from Dave Powers (including some top tunes I later discovered were his own - which will definitely be getting airing on Purple Radio) before Omar S himself. I'd heard a lot about his guy, and wasn't disappointed. House music can mean anything these days, and most of it ain't good - so it was a pleasure to hear someone who keeps the faith, and lived up to the buzz I'd picked up from many different quarters.

Innervisions live were pretty damn good, MK was very disappointing (dire sound on the Detroit stage), Wighnomy Brothers, on the other hand, were amazing - . Missed Octave One and Osunlade, but you can't get to see everything at these things, and apart from the terrible setup and unlistenable sound at the Detroit stage, it was all good, as they say over here.

Ended up that night at a Jeff Mills afterparty which was ultimately disappointing: waiting >30 mins so they could double the admission after midnight. So was fucking cold, $20 lighter, then stepped in to a not-that-busy venue with it banging out in two rooms. Great. It was *incredibly* fucking loud (even with earplugs), and hardly any real variation on an overall theme of bangbangbangfuckingbang. NFM, as they say on a couple of fora. Room 2 was equally banging (to about 10 people), and then by the time Mills came on, the room was packed and pretty uncomfortable to say the least. By which time, I was shattered, despondant, and wishing I'd gone to something else. Overall, a totally overpriced and utterly underwhelming event. Oh well. You live and learn (but I wish I'd fucking well gone to one of the house-oriented parties that was also on - went with the flow, and ended up at something that simply wasn't for me at all. You live and learn..

But fuck it. I think that was an official afterparty, and the promoters seem to be showing themselves as cash grab merchants this year much more so than previous years, from what I could gather (boat party was $50 - same price as the whole weekend ticket - WTF?! - yet sold out within days. Hmm). That said, it merely strengthens the case for checking out the many other parties in town, which have historically been the ones to check out - such as the sublime Omar S the day before.

Another epic win of the day was at the 'party store' ('offie' to our UK readers, 'beer store' to the Canucks). Michigan microbrew heaven, as discovered the first day I got here - so I stocked up as they were going to be closed on Monday (public holiday), and wanted to take some back to Canadia with me. Scored a couple of mixed cases, including: Third Coast Beer; Bell's Pale Ale; Arcadia IPA; and Arcadia Nut Brown Ale.

There's a lot to be said for the exceptionally fine ales you can get in this part of the world. And, indeed, some damn good places to eat in Detroit. Slows is incredible. This was another highlight of the Saturday, and one of my erudite and discerning buddies proclaimed they were some of the best ribs he's ever had. And he's not one to say such things lightly - far from it - so it would be churlish to disagree. Festivals in cities rule for this exact reason :)

We've Moved!

After many months, the Purple Radio main site redesign has been compeleted (and *how* - big thanks to James and Laura for their sterling work.

After a few months of testing the water with this music blogging malarkey, the posts and comments from this site are now integrated with the remainder of our content, includng the forums, shoutboxes, photos and all manner of shiny, shiny toys, so come over and join us - the water's fine!

Purple Radio presents: Big Chill Sundae

Two hours of Michael Jackson magic

Saturday Soul MJ special

Broadcast live 27th June '09

The Jackson 5 ~ Never Can Say Goodbye
The Jacksons ~ Heartbreak Hotel
The Jacksons ~ Blues Away
Michael Jackson ~ Girlfriend
Michael Jackson ~ Baby, Be Mine
Michael Jackson ~ The Way You Make Me Feel
The Jacksons ~ Blame It On The Boogie
The Jacksons ~ Shake Your Body Down To The Ground
Michael Jackson ~ Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
Michael Jackson ~ PYT (12" mix)
The Jacksons ~ Skywriter
The Jacksons ~ Walk Right Now
The Jacksons ~ Can You Feel It
Michael Jackson ~ Off The Wall
Michael Jackson ~ Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
Michael Jackson ~ Rock With You
Michael Jackson ~ Do You Remember The Time
Michael Jackson ~ You Rock My World
Michael Jackson ~ Man In The Mirror
The Jackson 5 ~ I'll Be There
The Jackson 5 ~ Got To Be There
The Jackson 5 ~ Ain't No Sunshine
The Jacksons ~ Dreamer
Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney ~ The Girl Is Mine
The Jackson 5 ~ I Want You Back (Z Trip mix)
The Jackson 5 ~ It's Great To Be Here
Michael Jackson ~ Beat It
The Jackson 5 ~ Mirrors of My Mind
Michael Jackson ~ Thriller
Michael Jackson ~ Human Nature

Download

Down Under back over here.

Picked up a stack of tracks from an Aussie mate of mine the other day - we share similar tastes in music, so I send him links to British hip-hop and he returns the favour.

This time around, the recommendations were thoroughly sunny, so I thought I'd share a few of the best with you.

First up are Bliss N Eso. consisting MC Bliss, MC Esoterik and DJ Izm, they seemed to have been around on the Australian scene for a good few years now, so I feel I've been more than a bit behind the cutting edge on this one, this is cracking little summer evening number, from their album Flying Colours



The other end of the scale is Seth Sentry, who hasn't even been signed yet, but seems to be getting himself around a cult following around Melbourne. This guy has fantastic flow, and definitely falls under the 'relaxed, non-aggro' hip-hop that I really like. 'The Waitress Song' is due to be included on his yet-to-be-released EP 'The Waiter Minutes Promo'.



Last up is Shad, who isn't Australian, but Canadian. This track, 'The Old Prince Lives At Home', from the album of the same name, definitely ticks my 'phat horn line' box, and shows his skills with the acapella at the end - this bloke deserves to be better known over here.

Purple Radio presents: Big Chill Sundae

Purple Radio @ The Thunderbolt, Bristol

Mellow, Mellow

We've started a new mix project thingy, which is basically an hour of non-scary tuneage to soothe your frazzled noggin after what has probably been yet another monster weekend. It runs midday 'til 1 fortnightly Sundays and is open to all. So if you fancy putting a mix together of suitably calming, laidback stuff for broadcast- please get in touch.

Here's the opening gambit from me.

Andre 3000 ~ Prototype

The Beatles ~ Sun King

Cantoma ~ Maja (dub)

Isley Brothers ~ For The Love Of You

Marvin Gaye ~ After The Dance (instrumental)

Sub Sub ~ Past

Crazy Penis ~ You've Lost That Feeling

Lemon Jelly ~ Soft

Marlena Shaw ~ Loving You Was Like A Party

The Futures ~ Ain't Got Time Fa Nothing

Lowrell ~ Mellow, Mellow

Leroy Hutson ~ All Because Of You

Cheers

Blackie

Mellow, Mellow

A long weekend in Detroit [1]

So I was updating the thread I started on the purple radio forum with a few impressions from the weekend just gone, but thought it might be good to try and flesh things out somewhat for posterity.

Friday:

Arrived at the motel around 10:30pm. Being able to drive to Detroit after coming home from work still feels surreal (in a good way), but certainly wasn't complaining. About 3.5 hours' drive, plenty of time to listen to some recent downloads (Four Tet vs Burial stands out in particular, and the Surgeon RA podcast made a lot of sense en route). No fecking service stations were fully open on the 403/401 heading west, though - sort it out!

My room-mate, as discussed, has already left for the evening (he was off to a private barbeque/gig round someone's house) but my car license plate attracted comments from my neighbours - first time someone's GOT it, but hardly surprising under the circumstances. Turns out not only do these good folk know my room-mate, but we have other mates in common, *and* two of us are on DJHistory! You know when you sometimes feel "yup, I'm definitely in the right place"... hadn't been out of the car even an hour, and I knew this weekend was gonna be special :)

So I ended up tagging along with them to a party - early night, pah! - which my room-mate also happened to come along to. Can't really recall much, apart from Karizma was playing (and was great - so were the others who played before), struck by what a great crowd it was (very mixed, no attitude/lairiness, everyone up for it, and seemingly fuelled on little more than booze and ciggies - there's no smoking ban in Michigan). But a great first night in Motor City, and the festival hadn't even started!

Purple Radio presents: Funkatarium

Purple Radio @ The Bank, Bristol.

Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll

For Rich. Enjoy!

Vaughn Mason & Crew ~ Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll

Nostalgia: from there to here

I recently got my ears around House of House's Rushing to Paradise and it piqued my interest. Those Northern rave style pianos that I loved, coupled with a classic house vocal, strung out into a 15 minute epic, made me delve back into my memories of when i first started going out raving. A word now that almost creates a weird feeling: isnt that what people used to do before the government got appalled and tried to outlaw repetitive beats?

I remember a time when pianos were not just allowed, but de rigeur. Of big sweaty blokes who'd normally be beating each other up, grinning inanely at each other under a cloud of dry ice and lasers. Of clubs scattered across the northwest with people going to service stations afterwards to keep the party going.

I might be a mid-30's dad who doesnt go out as much as he used to, but when someone sent me this clip a bit ago, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I remembered when it all started for me. The clip is from Quadrant Park in Liverpool roundabout the start of the 1990's and the tune is N Joi's unbeatable Anthem. Rave on.



House of House - Rushing to Paradise listen here

MOODGADGET records

Perusing through the new releases on Junodownload earlier today and in so doing started a morning journey to destination lost hope, my speakers indifferently spewed forth shit tunes after shit tunes then came average tune after average tune then more shit ones . A break in the audio clouds came when I happened upon an artist called Charles Trees. Charles' big bummed off kilter beats and cut up stuttery atmospheres started pulling me down from a retail no shop. There's something sunny, warm, nostalgic and forward looking about Charles' music that made me put my hand into my digital wallet and fork out some not so hard earned cash. I then went on to listen to other artists from Charles' home label Moodgadget. I have to thank Charles for both making his music and introducing me to Moodgadget.

Brooklyn and Los Angeles based Jakub Alexander and Adam E hunt set Moodgadget up in 2004 originally only distributing through BitTorrent and have since then racked up a nice sized roster of artists with a really diverse and high quality output of content .

Take a look and listen here Moodgadget@junodownloads

More info on Moodgadget artists here.

LES' NON MCCARTNEY'S BIRD'S LEG OFF

I'm having a listening to The Beatles phase at the moment. I'd recommend one to anyone.

I put this mix together in Ableton. It ain't just them Beatles lads though. It's a ton of stuff. Some familiar to most some not so. So if you ever wanted to hear 'You Never Give Me Your Money' blended with some 4hero this could be a right nice day for you.
ELEVENTHIRTYEIGHT

LES' NON McCARTNEY BIRD'S LEG OFF MIX- Download here

Mix done by Stu Eleventhirtyeight live in Ableton live April 2009 contains loops,sections and sounds from the following artists.
0:00
THE BEATLES-come together, cut up and programmed beats, DOCTOR QUANDARY-the forest
7.44
THE BEATLES you never give me your money,4hero-Our own place.Lewis Taylor-lucky-various programmed bits.DJ HELTA SKELTA- midnight madness instrumental
16.45
GHOST-42 instrumental
19.20
ALGORHYTHMS- kiss of death,THE BEATLES-Lucy in the sky with diamonds,SHAWN LEE cut up drums
25.40
SUPER SMOKY SOUL AND GUILTY SIMPSON-Knockout kings instrumental,THE CLONIUS-Valediction instrumental,programmed bass synth modulation
28.15
DOCTOR QUANDARY-Masks,MINNIE RIPPERTON-here we go,WORDSMITH-The Cro Debate instrumental,AIR-Alone in Tokyo,BiLL WITHERS-Lovely day,GROVER WASHINGTON JR-Inner city Blues,PORTISHEAD-Sour times,THE DAP KINGS-Tell me,Programmed dub drum Loop
38.45
CHANNEL TWO-Universal King,SHAWN LEE cut up loops and various programmed bits
42.05
GEORGE DUKE-Smooth,TONY ALLEN drum loop,cut up rhodes chords
44.27
THE BEATLES-Tomorrow Never knows, within without you,4HERO drums cutup,programmed beats and synths, rhodes sample outro.

Eleventhirtyeight

Norman Connors ~ Once I've Been There

Started my latest show with this beauty, so thought I'd share with you (but feel free to splash out on the £200 12" if you like)

Norman Connors ~ Once I've Been There

4/4 - 60:07

Here's an hour (and seven seconds!) mix that I did for Jez's excellent Throbbing Couch show (7 'til 9 fortnightly Saturday evenings, you know where)

I very rarely play more than three 'house' records in a row these days (despite being a proper househeads when it was once acceptable for men to wear leather strides without owning a motorbike), so it was a real pleasure to string some 4/4 stuff together for a change.

Cheers to Jez for hosting the mix - don't forget 7-9 Saturday's fortnightly! - and I hope you enjoy the tunes.

Tracklist:

Williams ~ Bubble Jam
Mudd ~ 54B
Holy Ghost ~ Hold On (Instrumental mix)
Grizzle Hands ~ Its Disco Dub
Sugardaddy ~ Stripped To The Bone
City Reverb ~ City Of Lights (Larry Fives Dub)
Maxim Samos ~ Alpha Storm (AN-2 mix)
Amplified Orchestra ~ Moon Voyage
Mutant Disco ~ Musica
Faze Action ~ Space Disco
Underworld ~ Dirty Epic (Jori Hukonen mix)
Kariya ~ Let Me Love You Tonight
Povar Pavel Khaleev ~ Wait For Me
Deep Space Orchestra ~ City Streets

4/4 - 60:07

Double Exposure ~ My Love Is Free

Top notch dancefloor action from the mighty Salsoul label, which already has me questioning my 'favourite disco record' claim below, haha.

Ripped at a fat-as-you-like 320 kbps; fill your boots.

Cheers

Blackie

Double Exposure ~ My Love Is Free