Sampling Culture http://samplingculture.posterous.com Most recent posts at Sampling Culture posterous.com Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:25:00 -0700 Love the new James Blake tracks - "Love What Happened Here" & "At Birth" http://samplingculture.posterous.com/love-the-new-james-blake-tracks-at-birth-love http://samplingculture.posterous.com/love-the-new-james-blake-tracks-at-birth-love

I'm so happy about this recent news, and my recent listening pleasure!

According to R&S records (See the tweet below announcing it) -- there is a new James Blake record dropping in December 2011. Two tracks from the EP: "Love What Happened Here" and "At Birth" have been streamed on Youtube  in ADVANCE. Love this up! 

James Blake is so talented and he's a wonderful performer to watch. He sings flawlessly live too, with great stage presence. 

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With tips from Exclaim.ca & http://postdubstep.tumblr.com/

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Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:07:00 -0700 Kensington Market comes alive http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/kensington-market-comes-alive http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/kensington-market-comes-alive

Citizens filled the streets to the sounds of electronic belly-dancing music. A crowd huddled in a circle around a group of performers who wore belly-dancing costumes and jingled their bells in time to the music. People took photos and clapped after each dancer went into the middle of the circle. Walking down Augusta Avenue, the smell of hot corn tomales and empanadas, samosas and thai spring rolls emanated from each food stand and wafted into the nostrils of passers by. Local artists and vendors sold their jewelry and paintings to visitors and residents who make their homes in Kensington Market.

Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market are a time when cars are banished from the streets and people take over the streets to build community. The event in July was called Water! Streams of Consciousness. Over in the wading pool in the Bellevue Square park, children and their parents mingled on a picturesque summer day. The market is always full of sites and sounds – only Pedestrian Sundays are better because the market is enhanced by the presence of more people and a greater feeling of celebration that permeates the space. Imagine what our city streets could be like if they were allowed to flourish the way the Pedestrian Sundays festival has enabled Kensington Market to, each summer since 2004. Over the years, the idea of Pedestrian Sundays has spread to different neighbourhoods, in both Mirvish Village and Baldwin Village. Perhaps the idea is ripe enough to spread across the entire city. Pedestrian Sundays don't propose to permanently change the streets, instead, the website tells us: “they forever change the way you perceive them.” The idea behind Pedestrian Sundays is stated simply on pskensington.ca: “Remove the automobile and the streets become a cultural playground – an expression of our community’s diverse ethnicity, age and interests.” The festival is very DIY and encompasses the human touch that is missing in so many large over-produced festivals that draw people to the city in the summer. It's all about local community and building a sustainable future by going back to the roots of how cultures thrive through local ecologies. As the website explains this link to the global ecological movement: “A community takes back their common space and celebrates a day of cleaner air.” On this particular Sunday in July, many groups came out to build ties with the community, reach out to the public and sell their wares. The Toronto Vegetarian Association, Oxfam Canada, and Spacing magazine were all there. Even Blocks Recording Club, an indie label collective run by artists, set up a little table to sell music by acclaimed local artists such as Owen Pallett, Kids on TV and Katie Stelmanis. Meanwhile, many bands performed - at least one per corner along the route from College to Dundas on both Augusta Ave and Kensington Avenue. The band Escalate had set up outside of the Embassy bar on Augusta and drew quite a crowd. With their jazz-lounge sounds and confident style, the four piece band did an excellent job captivating a self-selected audience of younger hipsters and families alike. Theatrical performers were found along the route too. A puppeteer had set up a little theatre and drew a small crowd toward his interactive performances. Meanwhile, Clay & Paper Theatre had set up a large caravan loaded up with books for sale. Books were only a dollar each and the proceeds went toward funding their cycling oriented puppet squad and other theatre projects. It was like a scene from a bohemian movie, or a blast from the hippie era of the past. People looked at books and made their selection, while a cheerful lady with a hula-hoop twirled around and sang a song. On Nassau Street a group of dancers from the group who run Standupdance.com did modern improvisation on the street. They moved fluidly like water around one another and communicated freely with their bodies as people watched. They paid no attention, and as the postcard they gave me explained, they were there to 'dance like no one is watching.' Further along Nassau Street, a group of musicians played music as a group of ten people played musical chairs. When the music stopped everyone scrambled to find a seat. The music got faster and faster until there were only two women players left. Finally only one declared victory, and another round started. It's not too late to attend the next Pedestrian Sunday. There are several more slated to happen before the end of the season. On August 14th the market will remember the blackout in Toronto, when people enjoyed acoustic music, community meals and low consumption activities. August 28th will mark the market's celebration of Air! The Kensington Community Air Show. “In contrast to the Toronto International Air Show, we fly messages of peace, blow horns and hot air, eat chili, blow bubbles and dance in the street,” says the Pedestrian Sundays website (pskensington.ca). On September 25th, Pedestrian Sundays will celebrate earth and global harvest traditions, and on October 30th, Halloween celebrations will honour ancestors.

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Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:02:00 -0700 Montreal: The place to be for Mutek http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/mutek http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/mutek

Each year in early June throngs of electronic music fans descend upon Montreal for the Mutek festival - a unique program of experimental music and visual art installations. This year the festival delivered a high quality program that techno aficionados have come to expect. Many excellent genre-crossing acts performed and, despite relentless rain, attendees revelled in danceable music and learned about exciting new musical groups from North America and Europe.

Half-way into the week long festival, Mutek's Friday night showcase offered up two acts that remain relatively under the radar but are worthy of more attention. Christina Sealey and Richard Oddie make up the dark electro-pop duo Orphx. In their mid-thirties, they live in the Hamilton area and play in Toronto, Montreal and Europe whenever they get the chance. Sealey is a talented painter and Oddie is a university teacher, specializing in social science, geography and politics. The duo got to know each other well while producing many of their 20-plus record catalogue from which they perform songs at their live gigs. The Orphx show at Mutek included material from the group's latest EPs (Blacklight and Division) that came out on the hard techno label Sonic Groove of New York. Oddie said that their intention at Mutek was “to give people a sense of our different styles and influences.” Their set revealed their flare for combining of techno and house, electro and dub. I interviewed Oddie about their creative process. “We make music with a lot of tension. It's music with darker feelings. We explore [those feelings] and work through them,” says Oddie. Their music is dark and industrial and on one of their records Orphx explored places they liked in their city. “We used sounds from the city [of Hamilton]. I suppose [the city] does shape our music a lot,” says Oddie. “[Hamilton] is a city that has struggled with poverty and the decline of the steel industry,” he explains. “There are feelings that come with that – [both] negative [ones] with social problems and positive [ones] as people try to... recreate themselves,” says Oddie. Oddie figures that their music may be paralleled by living in the post-industrial environment, but he reflectively adds, “Perhaps we mirror [our environment] self-consciously.” “We like Detroit techno – [which was borne out of] similar conditions. [It's] futuristic but relatively dark music. They [Detroit techno artists] were shaped by what was going on in their city.” With song titles like Burning Flags and Simulacrum one wonders what inspires Orphx thematically. “A lot of it is in response to things I'm reading, or things I hear about in the news,” says Oddie. “Other times [a song title] is in reference to something I am reading, or a psychological concept,” Oddie says. He is most excited about artists making music on the fringes of techno. “They have a concept, and psychological and emotional weight to their music. It's not just party music. There's something else going on and for me that is going back to the origins of techno. The [early] material from Detroit had a lot of emotional weight and depth to it. I like the idea of taking techno seriously,” explains Oddie. Orphx started out making music in the early 1990's and they were heavily influenced by Japanese ‘noise’ and industrial music. Since then they've connected with a small but global audience of music fans, record labels and galleries who enjoy their sound. “More recently we've been doing techno music more overtly... and foregrounding that structure and we seem to be reaching a new audience which is exciting,” says Oddie. “It's hard to get shows [in Hamilton] unless you put a lot of effort in. In Toronto there is a techno scene – and we'd like to play some of those gigs,” says Oddie. For now, Mutek was a real treat for them. “Mutek is one of the rare exciting places to play,” says Oddie. Following Orphx, Actress was next on the Mutek bill performing an Ableton Live set that included sound effects and samples. Darren Cunningham (a.k.a. Actress) says he writes all of his tracks visually – “I want to create a visual experience in the sound and generate a mood so I can immerse people in the texture of the sound.” When I interviewed Cunningham at Mutek about the origins of his creative process, he told me he was once a footballer for West Bromwich Albion in London, but had to stop playing at the age of 19 because of an injury. When he lost his dream to be a footballer, he says he was heartbroken. “It was a devastating time.” However he says, “The upside of that is that I've always had music – Even when I was playing football I was dabbling in music.” “What you're hearing in my music is losing a dream that I worked hard to achieve,” explains Actress. “I put all of that into my music. My music is now an expression of that,” he says. Actress finds some similarities between his former career and his new one. “To be a sports person and musician you have to be a hundred per cent devoted to your art. The skills I put into my tracks are similar to the level of devotion I would put into playing football in the past,” he says. Today he is a music producer and the owner of the Brixton based record label Werk Discs. Asked why he chose the name Actress, he explains, “An actress performs a role... and creates a persona for that part. So I re-contextualize that idea within my music.” Judging by his stage presence at his Mutek performance, which was very low-key and authentic, acting may be something that Cunningham jokes about, but never entertains seriously. Most Mutek attendees would probably be inclined to agree with Actress when he said after his show, “It's a great program they have in Montreal...Mutek was brilliant and well-organized.” If you've never attended Mutek festival, you're advised to book it into your calendar early for next year. See you on the dance floor!

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Wed, 04 Aug 2010 08:50:00 -0700 Plastikman Live transforms Detroit http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/04/plastikman-live-transforms-detroit http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/04/plastikman-live-transforms-detroit

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For one weekend at the end of May Detroit is transformed into the place to be for all techno music fans and globe-trotting industry workers who come from as far as Europe to party, celebrate the global techno subculture and make business connections. This year marked the 10th anniversary of Movement Festival, Detroit's annual electronic music festival and to celebrate, they hosted a special live headliner - a Canadian – the techno icon Plastikman, a.k.a. Windsor born Richie Hawtin.

The Plastikman Live show was highly-anticipated. It was received by an enthusiastic crowd in Heart Plaza with thousands of people dancing. Countless tweets went out over the course of the three-day event, with lots of praise for the Plastikman Live show. “The Plastikman show is unlike anything I've ever witnessed,” tweeted Montreal hip-hop DJ, A-trak, who also performed at the festival. During the Movement Festival, Toronto film maker Peter Mettler - renowned for his films such as Petropolis (2010) and Gambling, Gods and LSD (2000) - filmed the momentous Plastikman Live show. (No word yet on where the film will appear.)

The Plastikman Live show is an audio-visual showcase that integrates visual representations of elements of the songs. Although audio-visual technicians ensure the system is up and running during the show, Plastikman's cues on stage trigger variations in the visuals. He has full control of the audio visual system as he performs. Spread over several large LED panels, the show features unique visuals for each of Plastikman's popular tracks and the crowd watches as the visuals are synched perfectly with the music – changing dynamically with each song. Hawtin and the M-nus record label team – a crew of about 15 people - are currently almost half way through their 15-date Plastikman Live tour to music festivals and large venues in North America and Europe. M-nus is working with Derivative, a Toronto company that specializes in live visual architecture.

Derivative has worked with many popular artists and corporate clients, including the band Rush for their 2004 tour, the architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron for the Prada store in Tokyo and film giant Disney in Los Angeles. In the months that led up to the first Plastikman Live show in Mannheim on March 27, 2010, M-nus art director and video director Ali Demirel worked with the Derivative team and used their Touch Designer software. They tested the show and did many rehearsals to work out the kinks. “However, it's a work in progress that we still work on to perfect the show,” explains Demirel.

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(Ali Demirel photo courtesy of Minus.)

Detroit has a special significance for Hawtin, since he grew up across the river in Windsor. Detroit was the birthplace of a burgeoning techno sound and it was where he found his largest audience in the early years of his DJ career. Plastikman Live has evolved considerably since the show's first incarnations. Back in 2004, Plastikman Live did a show during the Mutek electronic and digital arts festival in Montreal. Although that show received mixed reviews, since then things have become easier because of hardware and software developments. “The visual software TouchDesigner that we use for the show is much more flexible and stable. Now we can perform with a laptop whereas [in 2004] we had to build a huge custom computer,” explains Demirel.

Demirel adds that developments in LED technology have made it possible to create an interesting visual stage design. Plus, the communication possibilities between the visual and music software, such as Ableton Live with Max4Live, make it possible for the visuals to be fully integrated into Richie Hawtin's audio set. Demirel and Hawtin have been working together for nearly 6 years.

Demirel says that he and Hawtin already had similar tastes in visuals before they met, but together developed their artistic style further over time. “We also learned a lot about technically realizing more advanced shows and performing for different types of environments and setups,” explains Demirel.

To gain a better understanding of how live visuals have evolved over time, following the history and evolution of the Plastikman Live show is a good start. “My first design didn't have any integration with [Richie's] setup,” says Demirel. “I was feeling his musical direction and performing everything manually. I didn't even use any live visual software... But through the years I discovered what I needed for synchronizing our performance and I [incorporated] some new tools,” says Demirel.By now, “with Derivative's TouchDesigner, everything is designed so perfectly in sync to Richie Hawtin's performance,” explains Demirel, “I don't even touch a button!”

Over time, Demirel has also learned a few surprising things about the techno icon, Plastikman. “I would have called myself one of the most perfectionistic people until I experienced working with [Richie Hawtin]!” says Demirel. “He never gets tired and never rests, and he adds more elements and details to the project even when you think it [is] enough!” But, he adds, “He [Hawtin] is open to collaborating with each person [each from different fields] involved in the project and [he is] capable of giving creative feedback and directions to all of them.”

In the Plastikman Live show the artistic creation is more important than the personalities. The live show is constructed in a way that obscures Plastikman behind the visual screen, rather than showcasing him in the normal pop music icon fashion. Demirel says, “This show is not about a star personality... We don't want the audience to come there to see the person who makes the music, but rather we want them to experience his audio-visual artistic creation.”

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