Beyond Basstown
Our compadres over at Basstown did the right thing Friday night. Their “SOLID!” event in Cambridge’s Central Square hosted Initiales AA, a techno kid from RISD and, as it turns out, Missouri. We share a kind of kinship with the young DJ/Producer, being that he is from the midwest, DJs with a certain panache and loves proper techno. So much so he even paid his own way to visit Koln for Total 7.
Initiales AA made a mix for his Basstown show:
Rufus Wainwright - Tiergarten (Supermayer Remix)
Apparat ft. Raz Ohara - Holdon (Modeslektor Remix)
Martini Bros - From Buleaux (Konrad Black Remix)
Dapayk & Padburg - Sister
Monty Luke & Tasho / Marc Houle - Paranoid / Techno Vocals (acapella)
Prztz - Nutdisco (Duckbeats So-Yo Dub)
Layo & Bushwacka - Life2Live (Jesse Rose Stripper Dub)
Tying Tiffany - You Know Me
Hidenobo Ito - Voicedelique (Krikor Remix)
Calvin Harris - Girls (Micky Slim’s Bomb Squad Remix)
Deadmau5 - The Reward is Cheese
Kris Menace - Steamroller
Gregor Tresher - A Thousand Nights
Daso - Daybreak (Jona Mix)
Van Den Love - Tom Cruise (Christopher Wade’s As Little As Possible Mix)
Speaking in Code did the same, visiting Koln for Total 6. The annual Kompakt party where all the artistic family gets together. In fact, the image above (credited to “SQare”) was published in the excellent European music magazine Intro. In the film, you watch Kompakt blow up before your eyes as the guest list they prepared far exceeds the capacity of their provincial venue.
The whole electronic vibe is spilling into America as well. Beyond critical favorites like LCD Soundsystem, Burial and Simian Mobile Disco (oh, and Justice, who just booked Madison Square Garden), Basstown-promoted acts like Pantha Du Prince (img, img2, flyer) and SiC stars Modeselektor are getting in on the action. Most significant though, is the popularity of The Field.
The Field is a Kompakt recording artist from Sweden. Newly-discovered Boston blog Pulp and Circumstance had his album in their best of 2007 (in addition to Modeselektor and Pantha Du Prince). The Field is one Alex Willner, a Facebook friend. We obtained some of his early ambient demos back in the day and feel it’s time to share them now. It is his birthday, after all.
It’s all a sign of the continuing ascent of electronic music and the overall acceptance of the sound as an artform. The better the aesthetic, the better the music. Consider again our friend Thom Yorke, who is very much a visionary of the new music paradigm. A referenced top track of 2007 was a remix of his track “Harrowdown Hill” from Ripperton, who we casually blogged about a few months back:
Thom Yorke - “Harrowdown Hill (Ripperton Dub)”
Hi Thom.
Initiales AA - "Basstown Mix": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download the Field - "Track 06": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download The Field - "Track 08": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download The Field - "Track 10": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Thom Yorke - "Harrowdown Hill (Ripperton Dub)": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
January 24th, 2008 at 1:48 am
I really enjoy the Field demos. Needless to say they draw heavy influence from many of Voigt’s productions, as well as others from that time. Regardless, they stand as intriguing, mysterious, cold productions. Maybe I just have an affinity for subtle repetitions and sonic textures which conjure up images of empty northern landscapes, but these tracks really draw me in. Do you know if the other tracks are available ? (Considering 5, 6, 8 and 10 are only provided.)
Either way, thanks for this ! A lovely surprise.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
He used 2 be sane. He used 2 be an excellent actor. Then he found Scientology, jumped backwards on Oprahs couch and blasted Brooke Shields 4 taking prescription drugs 4 post partum depression. He used 2 be one of the greats in Hollywood now hes just ur average run of the mill nutbar.