Fuck For Friendship

Hello.
Here is a lot of stuff for you.
First, check this deep mix by Andrei Oid.
Second, we re starting the new “music review” section here, on FFF.
The first publication is a sort of introduction of one of our reviewers - Gosh from Yaputhma.
So it might be a bit too big. But the basic idea is to have weekly reviews of some interesting music (and not necessary techno or electronic) and provide you some reading and listening as well.
The biggest problem is audio preview, we still unsure how to solve this problem, - for the first selection Gosh put all the tracks in one DJ mix, but it will be hard to maintain on regular basics, so any ideas about this and other issues welcome!
Check it out and be prepared!

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Mini vs Micro
by Gosh from Yaputhma

The common misconception about the 90% of music that seem to fill trendy dancefloors these days is calling it “minimal”. Oh this infamous mnml house/techno… Some praise it, some are bored with it, some (rare breed though) never liked it. But what is minimalism per se? And what does it mean in the context of contemporary dance music? Let’s see…

My definition: minimalism as an artistic approach means applying maximum care & attention to the minimal palette of elements. The classic academic minimalist composers or Basic Channel/Wolfgang Voigt/Richie Hawtin did exactly this. They could have employed the simplest melody, rhythm, loop or sample and play around with it for minutes or even hours, immersing a listener into mediation… because they really cared about this simplest element or a set of elements, how they interact with each other, suit each other. The one-note bass thump between kicks, the sole but constantly mutating dub [deep]chord, the primitivistic hi-hat, a single vocal cut-up sample – it might work essentially effective, if chosen and arranged carefully. And it might work much more effective than a track constructed from multitude of elements.

And that’s what, in my opinion, we have now. A lot of tracks on the scene follow the superficial trends set up by the new classic of minimal techno/house: the absence or super-limited usage of melodies, prevalence of percussive and thinly-sounding (microscopic) sounds as opposed to phat-sounding kicks, hi-hats and synth lines of classic 90s, the absence or spare use of melodic bass lines. Yet at the same time what is often missing is the careful selection and assemblage of these elements. Instead we can have a pointillist construction of sounds with a various measure of weirdness, which might does its work in a ketamine-powered environment for young bodies striving for circular movements, but from an artistic point of view it might be just too… inefficient. Because all these sound events don’t much care about each other, just as their creator who didn’t put enough thought into organizing them.

And the worst thing, the common element is very frequently missing: the space between the notes (or between those everlasting electrohouse/nutrance riffs), the much needed silence which ties together all the sounds and makes them breathe. Years ago, I was told by one of my music teachers, who apparently in turn has learnt it from his own guru and so it goes until the root of creation – “the space between the notes is as much important as notes themselves”. I remembered it well, filtered it through myself and I guess it stood the test of time for me as a kind of musical credo.

So, a known term (however not as widespread as the ubiquitous “minimal”) is “micro”: micro-house, micro-techno; which describes the music as being constructed of multitude of tiny events, which come and go, wiggle, bump and depart just as these bacteria in a Petri dish. And the spirit of such micro-music is normally the opposite to the classic minimalism. And while I wouldn’t want to debase it purely because of its idea, I should say it must be devilishly (or godly) hard task to organize all these living sound creatures into a world which doesn’t fall apart… well, even our Creator hasn’t exactly succeeded, eh?

Enough theory. Welcome two recent examples of successful implementation of both approaches: a bunch of releases by Markus Fix and SIS on Cécille Records (minimal house) and fresh album by Lee Jones, “Electronic Frank” on Aus Records (micro safari).

SIS (aka Burak Sar) is a relative newcomer, who already received praises from the community and an honour of being released on Ricardo Villalobos’ own SeiEsDrum imprint (with a dj-tool “Trompeta/Clarinete”, which sounds however too primitive and formulaic to my ears). Markus Fix has more releases on various labels, but still can be called a newcomer either. Both guys are professional and acclaimed DJs though, and imho their musical output is quite varied in depth and quality (so their other releases left me either a bit or completely cold).

This said, I am totally raving about the 2×2 EPs these gentlemen released on Cécille Records. I can even say, I haven’t heard a minimal house which got me moved that deep, in every sense of the word, for a long time, maybe years. This is exactly what the style name suggests and the definition given above implies: a simple but incredibly effective combination of basic elements: rhythm, bassline, melodies or their traces, and samples. This is what Cadenza Records has been trying all the time to achieve and for too many times (unfortunately!) failed (although I’m very sympathetic to its spirit and still don’t lose faith in the label. Well, both parts of Los Updates “First If You Please remixes” keep the spirit alive and are actually on the same grounds as these Cécille releases in question).

Markus Fix - El Comienzo 
[cecille 001] -2007

“The Russian” is the most standard track here, already used in a few dj mixes and apparently popular amongst minimal DJs. By standard I mean the new formula becoming dangerously fashionable: take a sample of chorus singing something in a weird (=undecipherable and sounding psychedelically out-of-place) language, and put it over minimal beats. Repeat it in with an unpredictable rate. No structure, no development. Recognize where the wind blows from? He-he :) The only problem is the this Russian is missing that enchanting piano loop that kept “Enfants” from falling apart… But again, this is a DJ tool – you are free to add your own! Anyway, the track’s not bad, but for me, however, the real treasures here are “Panacota” – as yummy, but not as fatty as real Italian Panna Cotta dessert – and, especially, ultra-epic “Entrada De Sol” – 12 minutes of bliss, it’s all in the unstoppable and ever advancing development, cinematic string section sample, otherworldly melodies, intricate percussion magic and a vocal sample which sounds like a sinister Dave Gahan snippet. Overwhelming and mesmerizing. I bet I would go completely nuts when hearing it on a proper dancefloor…

Sis - La Garua
[cecille 002]  -2007

“Orgsa” is the main gem here, with its calmly psychedelic tapestry of vocal cutup samples. Reminded me of the excellent “Pasa par” by Alex Under from “Rojo Par Y Pasa EP” (CMYK 006), which microsampled this old Suzanne Vega song… but with more varied and weird sample play and less playful (but more hypnotic) groove. “Lesh (inchi and maya)” is quite minimal, but rather as an exercise in restraint, not an absence of thought. “Can Bando” is another rare treat, a percussive workout with gentle ethereal melody that lives above, or in parallel, to the rhythm, in a manner of “Heriklon”,  “Gugga Sempa” or “Sieso” by Ricardo Villalobos, or less known example – “Mostra” by Petre Inspirescu (Cadenza 20, one of the most valuable and atypical releases from the label for me). Of these all examples, I have the impression that SIS succeeds the most in putting an abstract melody to a house riddim.

The abovementioned 2 EPs, while of course still DJ friendly, might be sometimes a bit too introvert for many dancefloors (but they really shine for my “inner bedroom dancer ego”). The following pieces of vinyl, on the contrary, are more fittingly active and already well proved their magic for many DJs.

Markus Fix - Cannibals
[cecille 004] - 2008

“One day soon” is a swaying stomper, employing a classic dub bassline, growing in the jungle of percussion that sounds incredibly “live” but never deep-house cheesy. “Release yourself” is another exemplary semi-minimal house playing around with piano loops and just teasing, teasing, teasing with taking off this kick drum and building tension. The percussion here is incredibly intricate as well: listening in headphones is pure aural pleasure (btw, the same applies to most of the reviewed tracks). “Africa or not” is a bit too stripped down for my ears (or is it just the thumping kick and howling subbass that I don’t like?), but in fact it’s again a DJ tool – cannibals celebrating their glorious victory over drum beats, virtually nothing else (kinda like Luciano & Tomas Melchior’s “Father”, but more sombre). All in all maybe the less exciting release from the bunch personally for me, but still very good, and again – in the hands of a DJ it can really do its magic as a tool.

Sis - Nesrib ep
[cecille 007] -2008

Well, and this one is a real hit already on European dancefloors. The title track, as I heard it through the grapevine, is being banged up everywhere and by everyone. And what can I say, it’s indeed fabulous… Unstoppable carousel of vocal samples, some of them might be called a bit too party-anthemic – but heck, we need anthems sometimes, don’t we? That’s actually the only complaint that can be filed to this track – immediate recognizability and the ultimate grandiosity factor – which, in fact, can be addressed to any anthem… “Dim dim” is way less grandeur, and again exemplifies that minimal definition – the interaction between simple elements, which are not squeezed too tight and thus have enough space around them to evolve and prosper. Also good to hear this simple voice sample appearing only as of the middle of the track, providing the further development. “Holly Bolly” rounds the vinyl off with a short (by modern standards) rush of latin percussive/guitar workout for you to exercise the fast mixing in a Jeff Mills-stylee (heh, the music itself can be compared to Millsean banging stripped-down techno, only with a guitar strum instead of that power hitting chord).

Listen to all tracks from above mentioned releases in one mix by dj Snobo aka Gosh from Yaputhma. View Playlist.

Lee Jones - Electronic Frank
[Aus music,  AUSCD02] - 2008

Lee Jones is a seasoned pro, starting out in the 90s with his one-man project Hefner (not to be confused with the indie band of the same name), exploring all shades of electronica, broken beat/downtempo, and future-jazz (or acid jazz, as it was called then). In the XXI century however, he perhaps is mostly known, besides solo releases under his real name, as the driving force of the highly regarded trio My My, who had a bunch of exquisite and varied EPs on Playhouse, Ostgut, Circus Company and the same Aus Music. Their “Songs for the Gentle” album was one of the precious musical gifts of 2006, and now as Lee unleashes his solo effort it seems obvious who is the main mastermind behind the trio’s music.

The covers of the album and accompanying EP picture a finely drawn zebra and giraffe (perhaps more wild animals to follow with subsequent EPs), and safari can be a good metaphor to describe the mood of the album: a joyride on the wild nature, you driving around the picturesque savannas surrounded by vivid and fast moving creatures of all kinds. The music is full of events – melodic and rhythmic, which happen and not always even repeat… The sound palette is extremely varied – strings, pianos, woodwinds and brass, voices and percussions of all kinds, exotic fragments from worldwide musics… and at the same time the flow remains easy and the structure does not seem bloated, you don’t get dizzy of all these kolibris buzzing around your head.

This balance between action-packed structures and easy mood is really rare. I remember the wow-factor of Akufen’s EPs and the “My Way” album on Force Inc… but after the initial excitement has passed, it seemed that it really resembled the circus extravaganza show: astonishing, but have you actually felt the need to go the circus since childhood? Well, maybe sensual overload still makes sense sometimes, but only for a VERY special occasion or mood.

What else astonishes is the absence of fillers: I got through the whole 66-minute album several times at one breath, without ever getting bored. Most of the tracks are laid back enough for a home-listening, while the second half of the album features more DJ friendly and slightly less “exotic” stuff (although still not the peak-time bangers).

The already much praised and discussed final track, modestly called “MDMAzing”, stands out from the rest of the bunch by being the most “trendy” one with its a (little) bit trancey mood – actually it is based on the classic Balearic house chords and bassline, which will definitely bring to seasoned ravers’ minds those intended and justified (and ancient) flashbacks… However, the provocative track title, no matter how witty it could have been, wouldn’t help the package as a whole to be already named as an album of the year by several music zines and individuals, and I believe this is one of those not‑so‑frequent cases, when the hype is fully and unconditionally justified.

Listen to this album in Beatport player: