Motor City Drum Ensemble feature (from 07.03.10 CWG Newsletter)
Most of the time in Chicago's clubs today its hard to remember the days when House music ruled and dance music that came from the soul was king. Let's face it, even beyond Top40 & Hip-Hop with today's current fads of hard ElectroHouse, IndieDance anthems and clubby Bangers ruling dancefloors across the city, there isn't much room for the subtlety and power of dance music that can move your feet and your soul. But there are those of us who are keeping the torch alive, still remembering the days where Chicago and Detroit were the epicenters of something very special. Stuttgart's Danilo Plessow a.k.a. Motor City Drum Ensemble is one of those people.
A musician from the age of 6, Danilo would fall in love with Jazz at 11 and was releasing his first records by the age of 16. One half of the duo Inverse Cinematics, his first releases were mostly of the broken beat variety as he strived to combine his love of Jazz, Soul, Funk, Hip-Hop and House.
He would continue working in the Nujazz vein until 2007 when he would return to his House music roots for Motor City Drum Ensemble. MCDE combined his love for Soul, Disco and Detroit/Chicago 90's house into an exquisitely produced raw Deep House and Techno sound just as much today as yesterday. With the immediate success of his first releases and the absolute adoration for his "RawCuts" series, Danilo was a large part of the Deep House sound that dominated Europe and beyond in 2009. Voted #41 in Resident Advisor's top 100 DJs of 2009, and with two tracks on their top 50 list (including RawCuts #6 at #10) its no wonder his subsequent Mix for the R.A. podcast was so well received.
RESIDENT ADVISOR PODCAST 132: MCDE by invrs
With quotes from his website like "The goal is to bring some emotions back on
the dancefloor, cause whats a party without a feeling?" and describing the MCDE label's output as "sophisticated, emotional tracks which stand on their own and also have a certain longevity" its no wonder we here at The Workgroup feel a certain kinship. As Danilo states on his website "Kerri Chandler once summed it up brillantly: A basement, a red light & a feeling. Thats what MCDE is about!" and its what we're all about too.
Past All Systems Go! guest Aeroplane goes from 2 to 1
It appears that Aeroplane's first ever Chicago appearance at All Systems Go! #10 will be their last appearance here as a duo. Citing what seems to be creative differences, it appears Vito DeLuca will carry on the Aeroplane torch while Stephen Fasano will move on to persue some musical projects of his own. Here's Vito's post on their Facebook page...
Hi everybody, It has been nearly 3 years since Stephen and I released our first 12" on Eskimo. Nearly 3 years since we've been doing remixes and touring the world as DJ's with some success. And for nearly three years we have been enjoying every second of it. Maybe you don't know this, but Stephen and I have been working together for more than 7 years now. 7 years of good and bad times. 7 years of creating different projects, exploring different directions. Today, we are more excited and passionate than ever about creating new music. Except that since the last months Stephen's vision and mine were going different ways. That is the reason why we decided that one of us should leave Aeroplane. Not to destroy it, but to make it last. Discussions were intense, and emotional, but Stephen is leaving me in charge of our baby. I will be, from now on, the one and only member of Aeroplane. Why me? Just because recently, I've been responsible for most of the music and the studio work. Aeroplane became more mine than his. There is no angriness here, no conflicts to come, just a mature decision to save what we've been building together and that both of us do not want to see disappear. Stephen is already working on new projects which you'll be aware off very soon. Let's wish Stephen all the luck in the world even though he doesn't need luck, because he has got talent. He will be back with amazing stuff, trust me, I know him very well. Vito
It will be interesting to see which direction each go in musically, either way I'm sure both projects will be excellent. We wish them both the best.
Motor City Drum Ensemble & Kyle Hall Interviews
There is an excellent interview with one of our favorite artists Danilo Plessow (Motor City Drum Ensemble, Jayson Brothers, Inverse Cinematics) over at Wunderkind that is a must read... Here's a link.
And while you're there you should also check out his interview with Kyle Hall. Kyle is a young Detroit native whose set at the Made In Detroit underground stage was definitely a highlight of Movement 2010 (DEMF) for me. There's also a mix of Kyle's for download... Here's a link.
Some mixes from our All Systems Go! guest for this month…. Weaponry
On June 16th we will be holding our 12th installment of All Systems Go! at SmartBar and our guest will be our good friend Weaponry. Here are some links to mixes of his that will get you in the mood for Wednesday.
Weaponry - Spur Of The Moment Mix
Building Trus’ | Interview with D3K frontman Trus’me
“Imagine being at a party where everyone knows the records and no one’s making requests,” says David “Trus’me” Wolstencroft, outlining the vision for his global party brand and record label, D3K (Disco 3000). “Everyone will be completely on the same tip. I haven’t experienced that enough!”
Gearing up to make his way stateside for the second installment of the Chicago edition of D3K at historic Chicago venue Smart Bar with the Chicago Workgroup, the industrious 28-year-old Mancunian expounded, via Skype, his philosophy on the future of dance music. “Every DJ is a DJ’s DJ, but not everyone gets the chance to play like that,” he says. “We give the green light to do something different, anything from jazz to boogie to house to hip-hop to reggae…anything you can dance to that’s just good music.”
It may seem a whimsical fancy, letting DJs do whatever they want, but Wolstencroft has put hours of calculated effort into ensuring that, far from a potential free-for-all train wreck of sounds, D3K is helmed by competent and thoughtful DJs. They just may not be the big names you’re used to seeing. “It’s an old model,” he says. “Like Ministry of Sound, it’s a concept, a style, an image, and it doesn’t matter who’s playing because you know what kind of scene it is and what you’re going there for.”
Old or no, that blueprint has resonated throughout the industry. With satellite parties on three continents, D3K’s efforts culminate each fall with a three-day festival in Petrcane, Croatia. Sponsored by more than 12 labels—including DFA and Versatile—this meeting of minds promises politicking and dancing on land and sea at the beachside locale.
Born and raised in Manchester, Wolstencroft credits the city’s diverse culture as a key musical influence. “There’s a high musical taste there,” he explains. “It’s good to be surrounded by people who have such great taste and you can learn from.”
He’s also kept an ear tuned to U.S. movements, especially Detroit’s. His gritty, sample-heavy house and techno productions often get compared to the output from the Motor City. “People always say, ‘You’ve got a Moodymann vibe,’ but it’s more than that. I have a sampling mentality that runs through Manchester and hip-hop, and it comes out like the Detroit sounds: deep, edgy, soulful and rough.”
Musical comparisons aside, his entrepreneurial zeal is all his own. After wrapping up an undergraduate business degree, he returned to school for a master’s in business enterprise while juggling night classes at the respected School of Sound Recording. “That’s how I got my label where it is in under two years,” Wolstencroft says. “I put all my studies together to run these things and manage myself.”
As strategic as he’s been, there have been missteps along the way. In 2006, he sent out a slew of promo CDs to labels around the world in hopes of getting a deal. One landed at the offices of Chicago-based Still Music, where he was signed and released his first three records. The relationship quickly deteriorated. “I’m past it now,” he says of the situation. “It’s all summarized in the EP I released on my own label, which is called ‘$till No Check.’ Read into that how you want.”
Yet the exposure led to a successful touring career as well as the launch of his label Prime Numbers, where he focuses on U.K. talent—“just good stripped-down stuff that I’m into”—and his Disco 3000 venture. Still, he maintains a humble attitude. “None of this stuff I’m doing is new. It’s just old formulas that people seem to have forgotten,” he says. “I’m just trying to bring the old-school mythology back.”
Trus’me plays The Chicago Workgroup's 'All Systems Go!' at Smart Bar with Onefiftyone, Ross Kelly and Mister Joshua on Saturday March 10.
Holy Ghost! Interview
Scene the Light
Interview with Holy Ghost's Nicholas Millhiser
As producers dive into their computers to make new songs from entirely digital resources, it’s fewer and further between that acts incorporate classic analog equipment and recording techniques. Holy Ghost! happens to be one of those acts, eschewing the digital in favor of analog warmth. Born out of a desire to recreate the sounds they were sampling as high schoolers, Nicholas Millhiser and Alexander Frankel—along with their Mentors at DFA, James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy—have slowly crafted a sound that pays deep respects to its disco influences while still forging new paths in dance music. In anticipation of their DJ set at Smart Bar Wed 10, we caught up with Millhiser to talk more about what makes them tick.
CWG | You and Alex go way back to the playground days right?
NM | Alex and I met in the second grade. We grew up together and went to the same school. We were always really into music and started playing in bands when we were really young. Alex and I started a rap group when we were in high school. That became Automato, a project produced by James [Murphy] and Tim [Goldsworthy]. That’s how we met those guys. The band fell apart after one record, but Alex and I kept working on stuff with James and Tim.
CWG | Was Automato really straight up rap?
NM | It was a live six-person band. At the time, James and Tim were not well known at all and we were having a hard time finding a producer that could make the record sonically sound like samples, even though we were a live band. They were the first people that really got that and through the process of making that record, Alex and I learned about being in the studio and learned the foundation of all the stuff we do now.
CWG | Not a bad duo to have looking over your shoulder as you’re learning things. Was that your first inroads into making music in the style you’re doing now?
NM | It happened quite serendipitously. I was into dance music when I was in high school. Like everyone, when Homework came out, I got really into it. I think I went through an embarrassing drum ‘n’ bass phase like a lot of other people as well. It was around that time that we got our first apartment and there was this really great record store near by. We started buying disco records, looking for samples and drum breaks. Disco records were always the ones in the dollar been and they also had these long drum breaks. Through the process of buying records for samples, you inevitably stumble across you really, actually like. After we met Tim and James we’d be talking about records and Tim would reference some Loose Joints record and I’d be like ‘oh yeah. I have that record. I really kind of like that record.’ And Tim would be like ‘Of course you like that record. It’s an amazing record.’ That’s how we discovered that people liked that stuff.
CWG | Speaking of disco, people are really throwing that term around a lot; attaching it to their parties or their sound. I feel like DFA is trying to let it be known that it’s music is much broader than that. How do you feel about the term and where does it fit into your music?
NM | We definitely get pegged in with that ‘nudisco’ scene. That’s partially our fault because our music certainly references disco and when we deejay, we play a lot of disco. Even though there are a lot of references to disco I wouldn’t say that we’re a pure, 100% disco group. Not that I wouldn’t like to be! I say that with the greatest respect to the disco artists that I like. I don’t think we’ve been able to capture that ‘thing,’ we sort of do our own bastardized version of it. I think James would say the same thing. But at the same time there is a very sincere love of disco. I don’t think that term gets thrown around as much in Europe, which is interesting. In America, because the dance music scene is so much smaller, promoters—especially when we’ve been to L.A. or Vancouver or San Francisco—they’re like ‘yeah, yeah, the opening DJ, he’s a disco DJ.’ Disco has just become a catchall terms for hipster dance music. It could mean that they’re playing nudisco or electro or any of these things that really don’t have anything to do with each other.
CWG | That’s something that’s been trending up in Chicago as well. The term has become a signifier for promoters who want to get people out to their parties.
NM | It’s just a term that’s ubiquitous with general, hip dance music. It’s like electro, ‘electro’ doesn’t’ sound anything like electro. When I first started reading about it getting big, I got really excited thinking people might be making Nucleus records again. Not quite. I like a lot of the new electro, but it’s the same sort of thing, it doesn’t really have anything to do with the term itself.
CWG | You guys have really become big studio heads, working on many of the different DFA projects. Would you consider yourself part of a DFA house band?
NM | I wouldn’t say that. DFA has grown a lot since it’s inception, but when DFA started it really was just a group of friends. There’s James and Tim. Then there’s Juan, who is James’s best friend. Marcus, Shit Robot, worked upstairs and then there was Gavin, the synth repair guy, who does work as Black Meteoric Star. So the original core group at DFA was first and foremost a good group of friends. The way people at DFA work on records is just informal, you work on tracks with your friends. If James was out of town and Tim was working on a remix and needed someone to play drums, he would call me up. If they needed someone to play keys, they would call Alex. It’s the same way now. We were just working on a track and wanted big vocals so I called up Antony and asked if she would come over and yell. We’re no more a part of the DFA house band than anyone else in the group.
CWG | Is this how the cult of analog over there got started?
NM | For sure. For me it started right when Alex and I graduated from high school and we’d signed our first record deal. At that time we were totally obsessed with Radiohead and wanted to know how to sound like that. We spent the majority of our recording budget buying gear. Then we met James and Tim and we walk into their studio. It had everything we could ever dream of, all the stuff we’d only seen in pictures. It was all there, it worked and these guys knew how to use it.
CWG | So these days, where do Tim and James fit into the equation? Like, say on the new album.
NM | Their roles have definitely changed as they’ve become more successful. They are much harder to pin down. I don’t think anyone will ever get another James and Tim produced album like the way we did the Automato record. That was six months in a studio, coming in every day, and James and Tim are there. On our new record, we knew very early on that James was going to be too busy to be involved in any real formal way, so his role was more as an executive producer. We’d play him demos and give him ideas and we’d get his reactions. There involvement was informal, but no less important. Just as friends, over the past two years, I’ve definitely spent an enormous amount of time with them, picking their brains and getting their opinions on it. Some day I’d love to make a full record with them, but their just too busy with that little band, that adorable little LCD Soundsystem.
CWG | And sound tracking movies. I saw that James did the soundtrack to the new Noah Baumbach film Greenberg.
NM | I was with Nancy from the Juan MacLean when I saw that and I was like ‘Holy shit. He’s going to be insufferable now! (laughs)”
CWG | A blessing and a curse. At least the album is done now right?
NM | Yes, now it enters what I like to call record industry purgatory. It just sits there and waits while the label figures out how they want to release it. Which is fine with us, the past year has been really intense for us. Now, we get a little time to breath and figure out how to play live.
CWG | So you want to have a live band when you tour for the album?
NM | That’s always been the goal. It’s just such an enormous undertaking. Alex and I have always wanted to wait till the last possible minute so that when we’re ready to do it we can just block out a huge chunk of time and treat it almost like making a record.
CWG | Was it a conscious effort to wait this long to do your album?
NM | It’s definitely something that worked out in our favor. When we put out “Hold On,” it’s not like there was this plan for what the album was going to be. I think most bands, when they put out a first single, there’s already this idea of what the project is going to be. Alex and I, we had just made this song and James and Tim were stocked about it and wanted to put it out. There wasn’t a second single ready; we were just noodling on a bunch of stuff. So we took a step back to think about what the project is going to be. But at the same time, due to of the success of “Hold On,” we got asked to do all these remixes, which we’d always wanted to do. In the process of doing those, we got a lot more comfortable in the studio and started to develop a clearer aesthetic for our own stuff.
CWG | I would have been really surprised if you’d told me that there was a 15-page marketing plan ready to be put into place upon the release of “Hold On.”
NM | Alex was a personal assistant and I was working in a wine shop. There was no grand plan whatsoever.
-----------------------------------
Holy Ghost plays The Chicago Workgroup's 'All Systems Go!' party at Smart Bar on 02.10.10 along with Kid Color, Samone Roberts, Scotty Brandon and Weaponry.
Exclusive Holy Ghost! mixes
In preparation for the big Holy Ghost! show at SmartBar NEXT Wednesday, we wanted to post a taste of what to expect! Holy Ghost! records two exclusive mixes with Red Bull Music Academy Radio and we HIGHLY recommend checking them both out!
Holy Ghost! - Headphone Highlights
http://redbullmusicacademyradio.com/shows/1434/
Holy Ghost! - Trainwreck Mix
http://redbullmusicacademyradio.com/shows/714/
Viva Italo!
Lindstrøm & Christabelle
REAL LIFE IS NO COOL
Smalltown•Supersound
Ital•o \i-tal-õ\ adj + dis•co \dis-ko \ n + Pop \päp\n
Even before people started throwing around the term “nudisco,” lanky Norwegian super producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm was declared the undisputed king of the sound, which actually encompasses as much Italo, boogie and ‘80s electro as it does disco. Wanting to break from his jazzy house productions as Slow Supreme, but lacking a label willing to release his new discoid nuggets, Lindstrøm launched his own, Feedelity, in 2003 debuting with his single “Music (In My Mind).” It was his first collaboration with a wily young vocalist, Solale.
Now, seven years later that partnership has finally come to fruition with Real Life is No Cool, the duo’s full-length effort, with Solale now using her first name Christabelle. What’s so special about this album is that between their start early last decade and now, we’ve watched Lindstrøm’s productions evolve well beyond where they started but haven’t strayed so far that it doesn’t feel like he’s coming full circle with this latest.
His debut solo album from last year, Where You Go I Go Too let go of the disco dance tone that first turned us on to Lindstrøm. In its stead was proggy electronica of epic proportions. We still loved the record—but it’s not exactly fodder for a dance floor. Now with Real Life, Lindstrøm has re-embraced his poppier sensibility with shorter—much shorter—productions showcasing the arpeggiated synth lines, druggy midtempo italo-disco beats we fondly remember and sultry song writing from Christabelle. At only three weeks into the New Year, we have to roll our eyes at the number of bloggers already proclaiming it to be one of the best records of the year, but we must also admit that it’s damn good.
Much of the album reminds us of stateside disco phenom Glass Candy. This is not to say that Lindstrøm is cashing in on the popular indie disco outfit. Rather, there are ample comparisons between the two. Both are fronted by women whose charm lies in their sexed up and strong, freeform presence. And there’s no doubt that Glass Candy’s Johnny Jewel and Lindstrøm would both name check Moroder as a crucial influence. Ultimately, even if Lindstrøm did let Glass Candy persuade his move back toward a pop style, we’re glad for it. It’s this side of his sound that gets us moving.
The steady slo-mo thump of “Lovesick” has our shoulders bobbing early on as Christabelle asks “Can you call it a sound / can you feel the beat / can you listen to it / can you feel my fate?” If this is love sickness, we hope it always feels this good. A consistent theme in the sound and lyrics, the brooding dissonance of the duo’s cover of Vangelis’ Italo classic “Let it Happen” sets the tone for the rest of the album. Enticing us to “come and take a ride on the wheel of life,” its syncopated chug and soaring melodies lift us up out of our frigid winter surroundings without pushing us into a complete lala land.
Throughout you can sense the more challenging work that was driving Lindstrøm on Where You Go, as in the edgy pulse of “So Much Fun,” but here, in a pop framework, its infinitely more dance worthy. This comes to a head on “Baby Can’t Stop,” without a doubt the brightest song on the album. While everyone else is going ape shit for Aeroplane’s remix—and we’re massive Aeroplane fans—we prefer the ‘80s brass-fueled boogie of the original. It’s pure pop gold.
Even the dramatic mood swing of “Never Say Never” is a welcome addition to the album. A downright chaotic number with the beat literally running in reverse, it reminds us that dance music doesn’t have to be all sugar and nice. Lindstrøm may have made his poppiest album yet, but that hasn’t stopped him from challenging our ears.
02.10.10 All Systems Go! wsg/ HOLY GHOST!
For our February edition of All Systems Go! we are extremely proud to present our guests; DFA recording artists Holy Ghost!
Holy Ghost! consists of two individuals, Nicholas Millhiser and Alexander Frankel. Both grew up a few blocks from each other in New York City and began collaborating on music at an early age. their first foray into the music world came in the shape of their first band, Automato, while attending high school. Shortly after signing to Capitol Records in 2000, they teamed up with DFA founders Tim Goldsworthy and James Murphy to handle production duties on Automato's debut. After recording with Tim and James, Alex and Nick began lending their skills to various DFA productions, including remixes and as touring and recording members of The Juan Maclean. All the while, Nick and Alex began working towards their own record. Holy Ghost! is a product of their obsessions with analog synthesizers, rare disco, and ancient production techniques. Their work is a co-production with DFA and a real family affair.
Their first single was "Hold On," a thumping disco trot that recalls a smoother and more mysterious time. Holy Ghost! would go on to provide remixes for the likes of Moby, MGMT, Phoenix, Panthers, Curses!, Cut Copy and more before releasing their most recent original single "I Will Come Back." With it they bring their love for old-school synthesizers to a five and a half-minute dance floor epic, featuring the angelic voices of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. This latest Green Label Sound single will also be featured on Holy Ghost!’s highly-anticipated debut album due out early this year on DFA Records.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
February 10, 2010
10p-4a
21+
$10 | $8 before midnight
$4 DOS EQUIS BOTTLES
$5 TITO’S VODKA COCKTAILS
$5 JACK DANIELS COCKTAILS
01.13.10 All Systems Go! wsg/ Phillip Stone
All Systems Go! launches into the new year on January 13th with our special guest Phillip Stone!
Phillip Stone comes from the outskirts of Chicago, where he had an early exposure to the infamous days of the Midwestern house and techno rave scene. He made an early name for himself by opening for world famous international artists in key downtown clubs, as well as playing at numerous underground loft and after-hours parties. His early influences came from the likes of Marco Carola, Carl Cox, Derrick Carter, Mazi, as well as many others. He was also an early riser to the minimal scene once he was exposed to Matthew Dear and others that contributed to the movement.
Well before the blending of techno and house became par for the course, Phillip’s sets always drew influences from all corners of the dance music world. His sets range from deep house, techno, after-hours tunes, as well as tech-house. Having been in the circuit for about 5 years now, he has played alongside the likes of Dan Bell, Adam Beyer, Marco Carola, and many other key figures. Besides playing at parties during the Winter Music Conference and Movement festival the past 2 years, he has played frequently in Detroit (The Works), New York (Bar 13), and Miami (PS-14 and Karu and Y). All the while, he has been a regular in Chicago's clubs like Smartbar, Zentra, and the Moonshine Mamby series. This year he plans to begin to produce, and plans are the works for some European dates over the summer. Listening to Phillip’s sets, you’re always guaranteed to hear something new, fresh (and probably unreleased), as well as rare and unexpected old classics.
Here's a link to Phil's edit of Hot Chocolate's "Cadillac (Phils Dub Edit)" for your downloading pleasure... DOWNLOAD
Also, here's a link to a mix by Phil over on Soul Clap's blog, check it out! PHIL IS ILL