Warp 20 Celebrates with Flying Lotus, Battles, & More (Review)

Posted Tuesday, September 08, 2009 @ 01:45 in Music by Jorge Hernandez

Judging by its current anniversary tour, Warp is clearly intent on taking over the world – on time. At New York’s Terminal 5 Friday night it was “Doors at 6pm, first show at 7pm,” no joke; working stiffs and chronically fashionably late be damned.

Rather than roll out stalwarts like Aphex Twin or Squarepusher the maverick label chose this Warp20 night to show off what the next twenty years might hold: acts that were still rooted in renegade electronics but increasingly mixed up with indie rock and no-school hip hop.

The punctual and funemployed caught the US debut of Australian noise-funk provocateurs Pivot. Pushing the swinging doors open, we caught LA’s DJ Flying Lotus bobbing and weaving on stage like a praying mantis, all skinny arms and head-nodding, while lights flared around him. Signs along the entrance had warned “Strobe lights will be used”, and they were. The blow-out moment came as “Parisian Goldfish” stormed the mix. For someone kicking out such brain-rattling beats, he was all charm; taking swigs of his beer, laughing with the crowd, he seemed to be loving the moment as much as anyone on the floor.

In their “only New York gig” this year, dingy post-disco brats !!! took it one step further and actually got down on the floor with the dudes in retro-frame glasses and dread-locked blondes grooving to tunes like “Hearts of Hearts”. Beatboxing headliners Battles sounded like a melodic explosion in an instrument factory, highlighting new tracks like the oddly jazz-funky “Sweetie and Shag”.

Kudos to the techs at Terminal 5 for keeping the bombastic assault in relative check. In front of the stage, our photographer said the soundwaves were actually blowing her hair back. Six hours of full-throttle dissonance could’ve easily ended in puddles of bloody earholes, but the open roof serving up burgers and empanadas was a good place to rest fried cilia. By night’s end if someone had announced Radiohead had just signed to Warp, nobody would’ve blinked. Probably not even David Byrne, who seemed politely perplexed to be getting patted down at the door on our way out. (Just in case you like a celebrity endorsement with your sycophantic predictions).

- Photo Credit: Anna White

The interview with Daniel Agust of GusGus is up at Earplug/Flavorwire. Peek below.

Exclusive: Interview With GusGus Vocalist Daníel Ágúst

As anyone who’s followed GusGus knows, surprises await with every release. But the Icelandic collective has even more surprising surprises with its latest album, 24/7. First, there’s the Jesus-on-velvet cover art; then there’s a cameo by pop-savant Jimi Tenor. And there’s the track list, just six songs long.

24/7 is the group’s first album on Cologne’s micro-house juggernaut Kompakt, so it’s filled with darker, abstract electronic tracks instead of club hits. The video for the first single, the share-friendly “Add This Song,” takes place in a morgue and includes a fetish-friendly corpse-licking scene. Despite these quirks, singer Daníel Ágúst says that this time around, the intent was to take a break from the circus vibe the group spent the last decade cultivating. “We allow the band to go through changes and develop musically,” he explains. “When I came back, it was because I felt I had something to share.” Read More »

The interview with Mungolian Jetset is up at Urb.com. There’s an excerpt below, the rest is here.

Oh, those happy-go-lucky Scandinavians and their music-loving ways, living in utopia as they presumably do, with their low crime rate, modular furniture and blue-eyed soul. It’s not hard to imagine folk, freak-jazz, funk, disco and house music flowing freely on tap. While Norwegian star-dust dandies Todd Terje, Lindstrom, Rune Lindbaek, Royksopp, and Annie are beaming their beats from a mirror-ball planet, Mungolian Jet Set’s sticky grooves sound like something that bubbles up from a mossy well in a lost forest. We Gave it All Away and Now We Are Taking It Back collects 16 remixes and collaborations of uncut internationalist, psychedelic, funk on a double CD. On “Creepy,” a lil DC Go-Go kicks through; “Original Highway Delight” sounds like a stomping Italo/Hi-NRG homage to Patrick Cowley; “Moon Song (The Gospel According To Mung)” bumps an ambient dub; and Bob Marley gets a breakbeat reset on “Could You Be Loved.”

Pet Shop Boys kicked off their US tour in NYC last night at the Hammerstein. You can read my review for the Village Voice here. Pictures on Flickr!

My second crack at an Underworld Interview is up at Urb.com

:: Interview with Karl Hyde
By Jorge Hernandez Photography by N/A
08/06/09 :: URB web

In 1980 when Karl Hyde and Rick Smith first got together in Cardiff, England, MP3s, iPods, even MTV didn’t exist, and Apple computer was in the middle of a lawsuit with the Beatles’ Apple record label. The experimental electronic band by Hyde and Smith was formed but undefined; the name was represented by an abstract squiggle and pronounced “Freur.” By the time “Born Slippy” appeared on the Trainspotting soundtrack and DJ Darren Emerson joined and left, Underworld had burned through several genres, line-ups, and personal dramas, marking their evolution with Underworld MK1-3 sub-brands. This summer Underworld releases its back catalogue on iTunes, launches an iPhone application and aims to stream a live concert to Apple’s ubiquitous handsets. We caught up with front man and “beat” poet Karl Hyde a few days before their tour of select North American cities to chat about the Internet, flashing fans, and why inflatable dildos belong on stage.

URB: I’ve been following your Twitter. It seems with all the snippets of dialogue that run around in your head and make it to your lyrics, this would be a perfect platform for you.
KH: [Laughs] When I first heard about it, I said, Oh great, they created something else I need to see. Fantastic. It’s okay. Fortunately, I haven’t switched it on my phone yet, so I’ve been saved. In the studio, I have to close my laptop. Otherwise, every second I’d be doing it.

URB: Were you involved with developing the iPhone app? How did you select which loops and which songs to include?
KH: That was Rick’s baby. Isotope Studios approached us, so Rick worked with them to reprogram the tunes for the app. I stood by and said, Oh, that’s nice. It’s nice sometimes not to be so involved with some things.

URB: You’re also re-releasing your back catalog. That must’ve been a massive project.
KH: We’ve been fortunate to own our catalogue from day one of this group, and that’s… that’s a smile. We’re starting with the albums, then we’ll roll out all the twelves, then the singles.

URB: Are you going to include the River Run material?
KH: A lot of people have been asking us about that. It’s been coming up. People have been asking for hard copies of that, on quality vinyl, which is quite extraordinary.

URB: But at the moment?
KH: No, because we’re also involved in writing and recording and testing out material on the road as we’re going. People have already been finding new material on YouTube. We’ve always done that. It’s invaluable, when you play something live onstage, and you see, Ah, that’s really working or Oh, that’s really NOT working, we need to look at that again. The dynamic and the energy of the audience tell you a lot about how successfully the music is communicating a vibe. Early next year we’ll start to roll out the new material and release it throughout the year.

URB: Will it be an album, or just stuff that trickles out?
KH: Eventually, it will culminate in an album. But for many years now, I haven’t been drawn to the album format. It starts getting silly, you can only have so much material.
Aaargh! What happens if you want to release ten tracks after you just released these ten tracks? What the Internet has allowed us to do is release things in whatever shape or form we want – CDs, albums, MP3, or giving it away through our radio show. That feels much more exciting to us than dropping an album and making a big hoo-hah for a couple weeks then forgetting about it. We’ve been doing that for years. We need to feel something fresh, too.

URB: So, why aren’t you coming to NY?
KH:  Because there’s plans to return to the East Coast later. I’m not supposed to say that. But you can’t tour the states and not play New York. It would be a bit odd.

URB: So is this like your pre-Broadway run?
KH: Exactly.

URB: In concert, you always have a video camera with which you project the audience onto the stage. What happens with that video? Do you save it? I heard you’re having a contest where fans can submit clips that could be played in their cities.
KH: We’re still talking about how it. I didn’t know that information was out. So, well done! I like being pushed. Are you living in my garden shed? Yes, we’re planning on using fan-made videos during the show. We’ve been putting some backstage footage online as well, everything from audience shots to some obscure stuff, which we wonder about putting out. Occasionally, you get an exhibitionist, so you have to cut away. Unless it’s an exhibitionist the audience wants to see more of.

URB: Besides naughty groupies, what else can fans look forward to this time around?
KH: It’s a new show, really. We’ve got new video material, new songs, and we have more inflated structures. The inflated structures have kind of taken on a life of their own.

URB: About those things… I’ve heard people call them everything from glo-stix to dildos.
KH: We just call them structures. They remind us of the toy Pick Up Sticks. With most shows, people put stuff on the floor, and they put things on the wall. But what about that 3D space? How do you fill that? The lights inside the structures really make them come alive.

URB: Will you be playing “Jumbo” on this tour?
KH: There’s a strong possibility. There are some tunes that if we don’t do, people would be disappointed. But there’s more new material than we’re able to integrate into the live set. So we’ve had to make a call.

When the publicist chimes in that it’s time another kind of call, Karl adds, “Thanks for helping us get the word out, mate.” This from someone name-checked by Radiohead as a major influence. Normally, it would seem a courtesy, but in this case, Karl remembers your name and the gratitude feels earnest and intimate. It’s enough to make you want to flash them.

Related:
Music :: All Points West ‘08 Photos
Review :: Underworld, Oblivion with Bells
Video :: Highlights from All Points West ‘08

I caught up with Danny Wang when he zipped and boogied through town this summer. The first couple photos are by the awesome Anna White, not me.

Daniel Wang: DJ, Producer, and Little Mister Sunshine

2:53 pm Wednesday Jul 29, 2009

by Jorge Hernandez

Ghostly artist Daniel Wang, a DJ who has been namechecked in Daft Punk liner notes, was on a bus to New York City, when he texted us from his German mobile: “still in boston with family…dont want pay roaming charges.” He was scheduled to play P.S.1’s Warm Up party the next day, along with Arthur’s Landing, an Arthur Russell tribute band. Like half of the East Village, earlier in the decade Wang moved to Berlin and became an instant fixture in the ex-pat broken disco scene. His visits to the States are frequent and fleeting, but giddy and anticipated affairs.

The next day was overcast and rainy. Arriving at P.S.1 early, you might have been worried by the sparse line. Would this be the weekend when New Yorkers just gave up and stayed inside? Brennan Green, a Balihu Records artist (which Wang founded back in 1993), was massaging the early birds with some no-wave and retro pop. Slowly, the crowd grew.

And then Wang arrived, dressed in color-splashed shorts and lime Day-Glo Nikes. After a quick round of hugs, kisses and pictures, he needed a moment alone: “Just give me a minute to get my music together. I can’t really concentrate on anything else when I’m thinking about my playlist.”

Photo credit: Jorge Hernandez

Laying out his CDs and vinyl in what was undoubtedly some kind of theme, he stepped out from behind the boards for a quick chat and a few more pictures. “Sorry I’ve been in such a rush,” he exclaimed. “I”m always going from one thing to another.” The occasion, this time? “It was my birthday. I wanted to see my grandmother, my family. And it’s a fun party to play. I get to spin with Brennan, see some other friends. But then, I’m off again, to California tomorrow.”

Photo credit: Joel Shaughnessy

A few tracks into his set, the motif he was assembling earlier became apparent. Patrick Juvet’s “I Love America.” Odyssey’s “Native New Yorker.” America’s “You Can Do Magic.” And one record that sent a certain writer up to the decks. “It’s called ‘Take Me to the Bridge’ by Vera,” Wang said, waving the record sleeve around a la Shirley Temple.

Later, the globetrotting, patriotic DJ’s DJ added, “I got my German/EU permanent visa in January 2009. I’m hoping to retire to a Greek Isle. USA — too many mixed feelings.”

Photo credit: Joel Shaughnessy

Whatever those were, he kept the negative ones off the 1’s and 2’s. At one point he even hopped on stage during the theme to the Star Wars cantina and did the Charleston. It was only a few days after Michael Jackson’s passing, and a poignant ode was inevitable: “Life ain’t so bad at all, if you live it off the wall.”

The clouds may have lingered, and a stray drop may have landed in a beer or two, but by night’s end, when the sky was dark and the remaining devotees were jumping around on stage, it was clear that Danny had packed sunshine to spare.

Photo credit: Anna White

From Urb.com:
Nouvelle Vague Live Review (Filmore East @ Irving Plaza NYC 6/17/2009)
Posted Monday, June 22, 2009 @ 09:01 in Music by Jorge Hernandez

In some circles, Nouvelle Vague would be heretics, likely burnt at the stake. How else to describe and dispense with a French troupe of cover lovers that turns hardcore Punk, No Wave and New Wave classics into soft-core porn Muzak? New York is not one of those circles. Here, their laissez-faire-ness with raw riffs has endeared them to the Pernod-swilling set. But if you rolled into Irving Plaza – er, “Fillmore East” – on June 17 expecting a louche cabaret you were in for a boisterous awakening.

Producers Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux along with singers Nadeah and Melanie Pain had something much more American Gothic in mind, turning the venue into a honky-tonk revival, complete with roughhousing and supernatural spasms. The opener, Talking Heads “Road to Nowhere” set a deceptively casual tone. By the time Nadeah introduced “Oublions L’Amerique” – “a song by old punks who knew nothing of your wonderful country; pretend we’re singing ‘We Love America’, Merci” – the crowd was getting rowdy. Later as the full house chanted along to Dead Kennedys’ “Too Drunk to Fuck”, Nadeah, slinking in tongues, turned into Spider Woman, climbing the walls into the balcony, an act that nearly got her removed from the venue by security, unaware that she belonged onstage.

Say quoi?  Are these the same lounge lizards whose entire existence is premised on a cheeky triple-entendre on French cinema, 80’s electronica and Brazilian Bossa Nova? Yes and No. While Collin and Libaux are staples, the singers rotate. On this rare mini-tour in support of their third LP, NV3, the casting was pitch-perfect. As the musicians strummed, rattled and hummed through selections from all three albums, the singers vamped like wayward divas on the voodoo side of town. Their take on “Master and Servant” made a Depeche Mode headliner at the Grand Ole Opry seem like, you know, maybe not so crazy an idea. No matter how your fry your ‘taters, that deserves applause – and possibly a fenced-off stage. Pretty punk.

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Things that make you go, hmmmmutherfuckinmmmm: in one day, Gen X lost two of its biggest icons. Farrah Fawcett passed away in the morning; Michael Jackson in the afternoon. Every time I went for coffee, someone passed away. I’m not getting up again, I thought.

Farrah, you expected. She had been battling anal cancer for a while, and it had reently spread to her liver. Last night her family gathered to say their final farewells to the ultimate 70’s pin-up, actress and ultimately, heroine. It was a matter of hours. It was no less heavy. People at work were bummed out .

Then came a series of pings, texts, and exclamations. OMG, Michael Jackson rushed to the hospital; in cardiac arrest; dead from a pill overdose; in a coma. Finally, at 3:15, after hours of rumors, the LA Times confirmed, MJ, age 50 had passed away. On the way home, everyone in the subway was talking about Farrah and Michael. On the street, people had boomboxes on their fire escapes and car radios tuned to stations playing all Michael Jackson songs. The internet “collapsed” under the flurry of activity.

Iran disappeared. Once the death was confirmed, all mainstream news switched to Michael Jackson coverage. Barbara Walters aired a tribute to Farrah that ended with Jaclyn Smith crying.

Ed McMahon also died a couple days ago, but sad as that was, it didn’t really hit me or most people my age as hard as this one-two punch. Adding to the surreal vibe of it all, a rumor floated up from a fake news generator that Jeff Goldblum had died on location in Australia. According to “Kevin Spacey” on twitter, it’s all lies, so stop it. Just as well, there’s only so much even slackers can take.

“You’re just a product of / Loveliness / I like the groove of / Your walk, / Your talk, your dress…”

On June 12th, ambient/balearic producer and DJ, Andy Hughes passed away in a liver intensive care unit from a “short illness”. He was best known for his work with the Orb, notably on the album Orblivion which featured one of their bigger hits, “Toxygene”. Most recently, he was working with Basement Jaxx.  His family is accepting donations at JustGiving.com.

Ian “Eon” Loveday passed away June 17 from pneumonia. He was best known for the early 1990’s rave track, “Spice”, instantly recognizable by the “Dune” blips: “He who controls the Spice controls the universe” and “the Spice must flow.” He also teamed with Peter “Baby” Ford often; and Mark “S’Express” Moore. Most people would say, “Who?” But for ravers everywhere, this track bring long, giddy nights instantly, freshly to mind.