Bit of a delay in the updates at sQuare productions continues to shop the documentary, Speaking in Code, to film festivals throughout the world. Ideally, the movie will premiere at a festival, and the process to distribute the film all over the world can soon follow.

But a new trend in the film world is giving us extra confidence the film is more relevant than ever.

Berlin Calling, a fictional film starring Paul Kalkbrenner is starting to promote itself around the world. Their Facebook group is here. It’s screening this month in places like Sao Paolo, Rejkjavik, Tokyo and Toronto.

Kalkbrenner’s home record label is BPitch Control, the same label as Speaking in Code subjects Modeselektor and Ellen Allien. The film is a hyper-realistic look at the nightlife in Berlin, which drives Kalkbrenner’s character, DJ Ickarus, to madness.

Another film is a severely intimate documentary of Berlin club culture:

Released in 2006, Don’t Forget to Go Home (or Feiern) flew under the radar of film-dom, perhaps for its subject matter: the use of drugs in clubbing. This film features up-close and personal interviews with the likes of Ewan Pearson, Luciano and the elusive Ricard Villalobos. the DVD also includes a dynamite soundtrack.

Further up the mainstream, dance music is catching on. New York’s DFA Records is featured heavily in Part of the Weekend Never Dies:

Predominantly about the Belgian Soulwax production team,  the documentary debuted in the US at the Montalbán Theatre in Los Angeles last Monday. It also features Erol Alkan, Tiga, Peaches and Busy P, who recently designed some shoes for Nike.

And at the top of the hype heap sit Justice:

The cleverly-titled A Cross the Universe is getting love from much of the blog world, mainly because it features Justice, the hip dance duo from France who’ve gone as far as Cadillac ads.

Speaking in Code is different from all of these films, because it peeks behind the veil of club culture, the people and performers that make electronic music their lives. While these others take a broad look and show an unparalleled amount of the party culture, Speaking in Code is more personal about the music.

Paul Kalkbrenner, however, is a different animal. For sure the man is one of the foremost producers in techno today, taking an intelligent tact when dealing with beats. There are fewer breakdowns and more complex structures. Take this live set we found on the B-Log:

Paul Kalkbrenner - Piknic Electronik Podcast #07

The tracklisting shows the depth of his production skills:

1. Paul Kalkbrenner — Gia 2000
2. Paul Kalkbrenner — Treibsand
3. Pig & Dan — Smack (Weave)
4. Paul Kalkbrenner — Far Away
5. Paul Kalkbrenner — Mein Zipperlein
6. Paul Kalkbrenner — Ick Muss Aus Dit Milieu Heraus
7. The Touch — Heart In The City (Pig & Dan Remix) (Trunkfunk Records)
8. Paul Kalkbrenner — Krank
9. Ellen Alien & Apparat — Jet (Paul Kalkbrenner Remix)
10. Paul Kalkbrenner — Seaquest

Little did we know, running into Herr Kalkbrenner during the filming of our film, he would become a movie star, although his charisma should have tipped us off.

Robag Wruhme, another character in Speaking in Code, keeps on his hectic production schedule. Most recently, he was spotted putting his signature sound on Laurie Anderson’s epic “O Superman” for Get Physical:

M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade feat Laurie Anderson - O Superman (Robag’s Pumper Nikkel Remix)

Lately the musical exchange has been two-way. Boston’s own DJ Volvox spent time in the capital city Berlin while Jan Kruger and Shed, Panorama regulars, recently hit Boston for Make It New. The night celebrates a 4-year anniversary this week.

And of course, Berliners Modeselektor, also a subject of Speaking in Code, continue to climb the world’s rankings as producers, recently being called on by Björk. Shared by our friends at the Ill-ec-tro-nic:

Björk - Dull Flame of Desire (Modeselektor ‘For Girls’ Mix)

Meanwhile, Make It New has their eyes set on another star producer from the Kapital City, Marcel Dettman:

Scuba - From Within (Marcel Dettman Remix)

Godspeed to all the filmmakers, directors and subjects of the new breed of techno movies. Soon enough, Speaking in Code will be on your schedule.

 

 Paul Kalkbrenner - Live Piknic Electronik Podcast 07: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 MANDY vs Booka Shade Feat. Laurie Anderson - O Superman (Robags Pumper Nikkel Remix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Bjork - Dull Flame of Desire (Modeselektor For Girls Remix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Scuba- From Within (Marcel Dettmann Remix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Speaking in Code is now officially on Facebook. Become a fan here.

As we all know, Facebook is becoming a social network tool of mammoth proportions. Unlike MySpace, which was poorly designed for rapid expansion, Facebook seems equipped to bring on all persons with internet, including moms, long-lost classmates and different characters from the film. We’ll certainly update our page as much as possible.

The movie may well see a film festival debut soon, so sign up for the email list (on the right) to get word of where you can see the first movie that puts a human face on machine music.

The newest official trailer is also now on YouTube. It’s featured at speakingincode.com of course.

Consulting producer, journalist and SiC character Philip Sherburne has been busy of late. His excellent DJ mix “Light in August” can be downloaded via new music website Fairtilizer:

DJ Koze, “Cecily” (Philpot)
Shinedoe, “The Peacemaker (Deetron Remix)” (100% Pure)
Channel X, “Burning Train” (Upon You)
JC Freaks, “The Rock” (Wandering)
Knowing Looks, “1100=moon” (Musique Risquée)
Vera, “People’s House” (Cargo Edition)
Goldwill, “Motion Team” (Musik Gewinnt Freunde)
Recloose, “Can’t Take It (Carl Craig Remix)” (Planet E)
Ra.H, “The Fall of Justice” (Morphine)
Motorcitysoul, “Change You (Shur-I-Kan Remix)” (Simple)
Crustation, “Flame (Mood II Swing Borderline Insanity Dub)” (Jive)
Blaze, “Lovely Dae (Friends Experiment Remix)” (Playhouse)

Philip Sherburne - “Light in August” (Fairtilizer)

And his own productions are getting noticed as well, coming from Berlin-based Lan Muzic, the label of Mobilee Records recording artist Exercise One. His newest B-Side, “Milk & Honey” has touches of Field shard-pop, BPitch electro and Luciano glint:

Philip Sherburne - “Milk & Honey” (RCRD LBL)

Buy them at Beatport or at a new digital download purveyor, cleverly named Zero Inch (0″).

NYC’s The Bunker, run by our friend Bryan Kasenic, has also been ramping up operations, including a move to a bigger space and a podcast service. They have been nothing short of instrumental in bringing techno to the US. There have even been a few Boston friends who’ve moved to be closer to the phenomenon, much like an emigration to Berlin.

One name that they jumped on was Jan Krueger, perhaps Berlin’s hottest DJ right now. His Bunker podcast shows why:

Jan Krueger - “Bunker Podcast”

In Boston, Make It New has been partnering with Bryan, the Bunker and Beyond to chain-link a two-date tour for visiting DJs (Jeff Samuel, Shed). We’re all hoping to bring Irish DJ/Producer Sian soon, who recently sent us this new mix.

Sian - “Altro Mondo Mix”

He sent it to us using … Facebook. Of course.

 

 Jan Krueger - Bunker Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Sian - Altro Mondo: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As we come closer to the release of Speaking in Code, interest is picking up in some far-flung places. It seems club music reaches far and wide. In fact, electronic music can be seen as a kind of international folk music (and recent DJ sets from the likes of the Italoboyz are even bringing more traditional folk music under its beat). Its thump can be heard in clubs from Vancouver to Tel Aviv.

We see it in the blog posts that link to the film, from Spain to Romania, from the Netherlands to Slovenia:

There’s also input from the legendary Andres B blog (”sounds really interesting“) and recent words from Off Notes Notes (”I’d like to see this“) and Colective Futuro (”We are definitely looking forward to checking this out!“) plus many, many more.

Thanks for all the support. The new trailer can be found here. Screenshots of our blog friends can be found at the MySpace account as well.

We also maintain the MySpace account, which is filled with good wishes from most corners of the world. Although, for certain, much of the comments and friend requests we have come from the United States. There is still much interest in the movie right here at home.

Kompakt Total 9 is coming soon. We feature Kompakt Total 6 in Speaking in Code. Here’s one of the many excellent tracks on this year’s annual compilation:

The Rice Twins - The Signifier (Kompakt-MP3.net)

And of course Modeselektor continues its climb into the realms of the electronic elite with their latest single. Here’s a remix of thier track with Thom Yorke of Radiohead (one of their biggest fans) from the master of the remix, Trentemoller:

Modeselektor feat. Thom Yorke - The White Flash (Trentemoller Remix) (Beatport.com)

The live component of electronic music is an underappreciated one. BPitch’s Apparat, one of many musicians who makes an appearance in Speaking in Code, is particularly adept at playing his productions in a live setting (there’s a clip of he and Ellen Allien playing in the newest trailer). Here’s a recent set recorded live in Utrecht, Netherlands:

Apparat - Live at Bar Weinig

And a bonus MP3 we found from Argentina while looking over the SiC links from around the world. It’s a really trancey remix of Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek.” Sorry about the trance.

Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek (Randy Boyer and Eric Tadla Remix)

See you soon.

 

 The Rice Twins - The Signifier: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Modeselektor - The White Flash feat Thom Yorke (Trentemoller Remix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Apparat - Live at Bar Weinig: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek (Randy Boyer and Eric Tadla): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s alive.

sQuare productions has launched a website for our film: speakingincode.com. It features extra screenshots from the movie and a brand new trailer, produced by David Casey and edited by Dan Gahr.

The trailer features a dynamite intro and further insight into the subject of the film. Namely six stories of characters who become Lost In Music.

Click the above screenshot for access to the website and keep an eye on it and this blog for more information on the movie as it comes to light.

A link to the trailer at blip.tv is here.

As a shout-out to our wonderful subjects the Wighnomy Brothers and their label, Freunde Am Tanzen, here’s a DJ mix from the Wighnomys, which borrows heavily from Metawuffmischlege, one of 2008’s best mix CDs:

Wighnomy Brothers - Back to the Basics DJ Set (5/22/08)

The idea of being “Lost in Music” is not a new one, but it does take on significant meaning in our project.

Philadelphia’s famous Sister Sledge (”We Are Family”) broached the phrase in 1979 with their underrated underground masterpiece “Lost In Music.” The lyrics go like this:

We’re lost in music
Caught in a trap
No turnin’ back
We’re lost in music

Two of our favorite remixes come from the original producers, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, perhaps most famous as the production team behind Chic (”Good Times,” “Le Freak”):

Sister Sledge - Lost In Music (Edwards & Rodgers Remix)

A more recent remix comes from JD Twitch of Optimo in Scotland, who is without a doubt one of the visionaries of the music industry today. He splices it with Jesse Jackson’s incredible speech from the Wattstax concert in a riot-plagued 1972 Los Angeles:

Sister Sledge featuring the Rev Jesse Jackson - Lost In Music (Twitch Edit)

“What time is it? / Nation time”

It still works for the film.

We’re lost in music
Feel so alive
I quit my 9 to 5
We’re lost in music

And a bonus DJ mix from our friend DJ Baldur, the Boston via Iceland DJ who has stolen the hearts of Boston residents. A two-time audience winner of the Boston Phoenix reader’s poll.

DJezus - White Boy Gets Too Much Sun

Baldur’s release notes here. Tracklisting here.

Thanks for your continued support.

 

 Wighnomy Brothers Live At Back To The Basics 05.22.08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Sister Sledge - Lost In Music (Edwards And Rodgers Remix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Sister Sledge Featuring The Reverend Jesse Jackson - Lost In Music (Twitch Edit): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 DJezus - Whiteboy Gets Too Much Sun: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Speaking in Code director Amy Grill is currently at the Sonar music festival, where some of the movie was filmed, and is screening it to a very select number of people. The movie is indeed complete (I’ve seen it!), and it is, in a word, remarkable. It’s a movie: it looks like a movie and it acts like a movie. And it draws out emotion … like a movie.

I remember very distinctly the feeling when I walked out of a living room in Somerville where I watched it–mesmerized. It was that particular feeling you have after you just saw a movie. You learned something about the world, about people, about characters but most of all, you learn something about yourself.

Our friends at Beatport were given a screening, and their editorial site, Beatportal has chimed in.

“Speaking In Code (I’m not allowed to reveal too much about the plot) probably comes as close to capturing the feeling of the electronic music lifestyle as anything I’ve ever watched before,” writes Beatportal reporter Terry Church. “It reveals (subtly) the global electronic music scene to be a set of lissome sleeper cells connected by digital knowledge and collaborative existentialism.”

Grill adds, “Speaking In Code is heartbreaking at times but all at once lighthearted, hopeful and funny.”

Church goes on:

“The documentary’s subjects add a brave honesty to the film. There’s no gloss, no idolism and no glamour – in the end, it’s a painful account about the struggle people face when they take that leap and make music their life.”

Read his full report here:

‘Speaking in Code’: Electronic Music’s Most Important Documentary?

Currently, the film is being submitted for participation in a number of international film festivals - and we’re striving to get the film seen by as many people as possible. We know you can’t wait to see it, but you’ll have to wait a little bit longer.

Speaking in Code features many voices to be sure, one of which is from Wolfgang Voigt, the leader of Kompakt. Voigt’s label recent acquired the rights to Gas, his illustrious ambient house project (read my Weekly Dig review here). It’s four CDs of pure sonic bliss, and a must have for any reader of this blog or any fan of Speaking in Code. By the set here or click the cover below.

The whole Gas project has been around for some time and stems in a way from 1995’s Love Inc. CD Life’s a Gas. Here’s one track from that masterpiece:

Love Inc. - Hot Love (Gas Mix)

Our old friend T. Raumschmiere has been shocking dancefloors with his latest outrageous club tracks simply called “E”:

T. Raumschmiere - E

Do no play that 128kbps version too loudly. Get the 320kbps version at Beatport.

In Boston, things continue to get more dance frenzies. Now Get Physical superstars Booka Shade are playing the Middle East Downstairs, one of the more famous rock clubs in the city. Their newest, The Sun & The Neon Light, wasn’t as impressive as their past full lengths, but mixed together (by them) it sounds awesome.

Booka Shade - The Sun & The Neon Light (Mixed)

Hopefully the city will see another visitor soon enough. Dublin’s Sian (aka Graham Goodwin), who’s had releases on Poker Flat, Aus Music, Mule Electronic and Dessous. We found his newest DJ mix where the world comes to meet now, that is to say, Facebook.

Sian - DJ Mix 002

More updates as Speaking in Code gets written up around the world. Thanks again for the interest in Speaking in Code.

 

 Love Inc- Hot Love (Gas Mix): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 T Raumschmiere - E: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Booka Shade - The Sun And The Neon Light (Mixed): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Sian - DJ Mix 002: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download