Well...

Dear friends, as most of you with an IQ over 17 have gathered, I'm out of blogging since quite some time now. I've totally stopped participating in the share net in all ways and have neglected this blog for good; I even forgot to celebrate its 4th birthday. I actually spend less and less time online, as I find it too exhausting and distracting. I must be getting really old.

The truth is that, putting aside my already busy schedule (see: family life, day job, part-time job #2), I've finally decided to devote my virtually non-existent and oh so precious free time to meddle again with music production. And yes, if the stars are right, even to fulfill a project I have in mind since I was 20+ (aaargh, has it been that long? anyway...) To go along with that, I try to sort out my house, starting from the record collection, a challenge for the brave indeed. Which I'm halfway through btw, yet the hard 50% is ahead of me and I'm sorting vinyl only...

I tried to build a new blog from scratch in order to post my to-be vinyl rips as I had so pompously announced, yet didn't even managed to come to the end of that - too many distractions, so little time. When it came to ripping, I did a dozen of tests; yet, due to a (totally silly) mistake I had to get rid of everything I had recorded - and that was another blow.

And then it just dawned to me that OK, failing always annoys me (I'm that type of guy...) still there is time to do certain stuff and there is time to fold back and gather your strength; to think about your life and organize your space and time, or even to do completely different things. I simply have to sort out my life a bit before I can get back on any track. For how long, I really don't know. After all, Time Is Time, as they say in Zion.

So. I plan on leaving this blog intact, for as long as it takes them (?) to take it down - or until my RS premiums expire for good, which will surely come first. I'll think about what I'll do with it when the time comes. Some links are already off anyway, yet even thinking about digging those CDs out and ripping them... Maybe I'll keep the blog inactive with a possible comeback in mind, maybe I'll just let it rot or just sweep it like a sand mandala.

On the other hand, if someone is interested in running it, in keeping it going, best thing you can do is to send me an e-mail or comment here and we can possibly arrange it. Only serious proposals, as they say in the ads; I may be about to quit this blog, yet I still feel close to it...

So, dear friends. I feel this is not the last we'll hear of each other. Still, since Life has its magnificent twists now and then and we never know where we will land after the ride, I bid you farewell in advance and hope the best for you and your people.

Love Is The Law, Love Under Will.

Back from the grave

OK, I have to admit it was a really big surprise for me to see this blog back up again. I sincerely had lost all hope about it and was thinking about creating a new one, what it would be about, if there was a way to re-post all previously upped CDs, etc. etc.- and had decided I have absolutely no time to do that anymore. And suddenly I visit my account and see it's up again, for a few weeks at least, judging from your comments. What can I say...

Some great news, people. I bought a Mac and managed to get my audio stuff together, creating a mini-studio - which gives me the ability to rip from vinyl. Finally. So, now my record collection is up for grabs. Needless to say, I won't be ripping any recent stuff, unless it's decidedly out-of-print and unavailable elsewhere - I haven't done anything like it in the past and I won't start now. But I have a lot of good stuff from the (late) '90s and early '00s that's mostly unknown yet marvelous stuff, deep and punchy techno and house, or some rare releases from well-known artists, so I'll start with these first.

Vinyl ripping is definitely slower than CD ripping. I'll just do my best, just don't expect daily updates. And while the state of my 12"s is far from being 'mint', I'm afraid I won't do a lot of corrections, pop- and hiss-wise, I just don't have the time. But we'll live with it. Also, I'm thinking on posting high quality links, possibly FLAC - give me some feedback on that, won't you?

So glad to be back. I now know that I missed this. So nice to see you again, dear friends.

(No, these are not my records. They are better kept and organized but, sadly, only slightly.)

Love Parade

The Love Parade accident fucked me up big time. Despite its commercial character, I think it started with the best of intentions and served its purpose; good or bad, it turned out to be the biggest dance-music related free festival. Investigating who's fault it was, is something yet to be done; if it's either an out-of-control mob or just bad planning to blame, it's not really important yet. What matters is that people trying to have a good time suddenly are no more. What a sad way to end something like that.

My condolences to families and friends; it could have been any one of us in there.

Maps

Sometimes I check the red spots on the globe to your right. I put it there about a year and a half, or something, when the previous map crashed. I don't have a tool to track down each and everyone IP that accidentally passed from here; I kind of loath them actually. But I think it's nice to know that someone from, say, Chile is browsing in a deep winter night, teeth clicking, while I'm having my cold coffee sweating in an unbearable 40°C cement hell. You know.

It's no surprise that most people that pass by from here seem to be located in Europe and the Americas - music posted in this blog is both made and enjoyed primarily there. Which always makes me think how limited these forms of music truly are, at first, but then I carry on. A lot of dots in Asia as well, as if to prove me wrong; still, many countries there also have fast web connections - and strong relations to Euro and US culture. The global village and all that '70s shit, you know.

Anyway, every once in a while I see an alien name or an impossibly located dot and I get curious; and sometimes I go to google maps, wikipedia etc, to find out where that place really is, extra info, etc. Geography for the insane; guess where the spot sits on. But besides the scarce (but always exciting) hits from the African continent and from lands as distant from me as New Zealand or the deepest south of Tierra del Fuego, I have to admit that the most intriguing ones come from certain oceans' islands. Did I really had guests from Unalaska? The Mariana Islands and La Roche and Fiji? Mauritius and Réunion AND the island Rodrigues on the right, (that's actually not even tagged in Gmaps)???

More than crazy, it's a real pleasure and honor for me and a certain pride creeps in; pride not of myself (at least not much...), but of the power of the music we like and support and spread. If I was posting Lady Gaga, I would expect visits from everywhere; but that would be just a result of good marketing on her behalf. Weird electronics seem also to be more globally spread but for the techno posts I wouldn't imagine that, yet here you are all. So cool. On the other hand, there might only be ten true techno fans in XXXXland and one of them happened to visit here once; I'm still happy about it.

Which again might be just a trick of my mind. When I heard Rob Hood was to play here (it was 2002 or 2003) I could easily imagine him thinking: 'What the fuck am I going to Greece for? Everybody down there is greasy, eats souvlaki and dances syrtaki and shit'. Yet there were hundreds of people to play to; it was a great night. Mills could easily slam 2000 people overcrowding a club. What I mean is that music scenes grow in totally weird places in strange ways. Even more when we're talking about blog visits, hence about individuals visiting other individuals' pages.

Anyway, hoping these guys keep visiting here, I have to ask: where is that place in the Gulf of Guinea (south of Ghana or Ivory Coast, west of Gabon)? I started thinking that someone hacked his/hers IP to show that location. Or than Atlanteans are visiting. Or submarines with satellite connections... Or that dot south and a little to the east from Hawaii - is it French Polynesia? Mu?
Help me.

P.S. As I finished this post, I noticed someone from Hino and Chihuahua just clicked in. Joy.
P.S.#2 (2010-11-26) This South Pacific island I mentioned turned out indeed to be French Polynesia, the city of Pape'ete on Tahiti to be exact. Greetings, fellow earthlings.

Update

OK, I feel I own an explanation for my absence, and it goes like this. Besides having no free time at all, I had surpassed my RS account's storage limit so much that I could't post anything more; had to erase old files to post new ones. Which I chose not to do, but to buy another one instead. So now everything's OK, new posts are coming very soon (I had them ready but not up). Hope you're still there, digging in the past posts. Cheers.

Birthday #3

It seems we've reached this blog's third birthday today. I know it might sound a bit cheesy, but I'd like to thank you all once more for dropping by at some time or another, for leaving a comment or a link, etc., etc.

For a change, I prepared something for the occasion, which is simply the next post. Felt right, since a) it's out of print, b) you get a CD for each year the blog goes on, and c) besides Basic Channel/ Chain Reaction and the Cologne guys, Tresor has been the most influential label on my taste in techno, as it was through them that I got in touch with the Detroit scene.

So... enjoy.

More humans!

I haven't been posting or updating much lately; my free time was really scarce due to work problems and a really tight schedule.

I have received a number of demos from new artists to be posted here for their promotion; I was planning a massive post for this but never found the time to do it. I haven't forgotten them; I actually liked much of that stuff, so I'll just ask them to forgive me on not posting it (yet).

Now our baby daughter has finally arrived (I'm so happydad right now), so I'll guess I'll have even less time - the same will to continue nevertheless. This blog will keep going as long as my fingers can move and I still have lots of stuff to share. On the other hand, it definitely has to go slower, at least for the next months. And will probably become even more laconic.

Checking here once or twice per week will be enough; more than that rather unnecessary. You can always check the older posts if you like, or start roaming through the links to the right, or whatever. Blessed be.

Clicks & Cuts links off

After a request by the Mille Plateaux label, I'll remove the Clicks & Cuts compilations posted here (*,*,*,*).
I understand their point as they plan to make a comeback in 2010, and I'll say I hope to see them do it quick.

Bitching

I was re-checking the comments on TechTech's last post - out of curiosity, to see how many people responded to his final message, etc. I just saw that someone was bitching about me for trying to pat a friendly soul on its (virtual) back.
Now, if I was a guy trying to show off, (a) I'd be doing it through Oprah's show, and (b) I'd probably already be a celebrity, considering my intelligence, good looks and gigantic male genitalia. Still, since I've seen this 'hater' kind of behavior spreading out (again) through the last months all over the share-net, I feel like clearing some things out.

When someone spends time of her/his day to rip a CD or a vinyl; to correct any pops or frequency imbalances; to scan or gather the covers and labels and whatever; to pack and post them in a premium account which s/he sustains just for the fun of sharing; to write down some shit in a language that might not be her/his mother tongue; to sum it up, when someone's blogging and posting her/his own rips he needs time to do that. I consider myself to spend an average of just less than an hour per day for posting. Considering I work about 12 hours a day and spend at least two more in the traffic, it's off my sleep time (I like to spend time with my wife now and then, you see). This hour is oh so fucking precious. And I rip CDs; I just couldn't do it if I did ripped vinyl.

Some people I know steal time from work. Others temporarily isolate themselves from their family or friends, lost in the posting vortex. We could be spending this time for recreation, fucking around with friends or playing games. But no, we're still here trying to share stuff, like so many people did before us; trying to keep certain material in the surface, not to let it be buried under the tons of crap flying around. Trying to give back some to those who we took some from. But the main point here is that everyone of us is doing it on her/his own free will. Not for money (well... most of us don't), neither for the glory. We're no 'heroes of the underground'; we need no medals, we're all in this together and egos have no place in the net. Many cannot handle this conflict between 'real' and 'internet' life; that's why they stop. Exhausting work schedules and/or unpredictable events do take their toll and demand time more and more.

Still, some leechers (most of them under-aged, I guess) seem to think everyone of us is out there just to supply them and their own bubble-world with the latest crap from the X hype label; which they'll never support anyway. Or with the 'long lost gems' from the past they've been 'searching' (= cruising around the net for twenty minutes and pressing everyone they know about it, instead of just buying the fucking record for 2 euros on discogs) 'for ages' (= since last Tuesday). So, it doesn't matter if that guy who slowed down a bit or even shut down a blog had a really serious issue, like collapsing from overworking or losing a beloved one; no, he's a fucker and they hate him for cutting off their supply, so they end up insulting him or even fucking up with his page.

As for the case that spawned this post, I only have to say to mr. 'Big Daddy Fat Ass' that I'm also going through a lot of stuff lately and feeling exactly like TechTech sometimes, as far as I can tell from the distance. But if you think I showed off or that I owe you something more than I offer, you must be really confused. You don't know me. You don't know how I live, where I live and if I'm actually 'keeping it real' or not (whatever that means). I don't, either, and I wouldn't care to know really. But I'm a human being, like all of us; a bit more than a stupid persona in the internet. And I have to say that you don't get a saying in how much I post or how often. This is not a free supermarket and I'm not your music dealer. If you don't like it, get off. The worst thing though (I would ignore you otherwise, believe me) was that you crapped on TechTech's page, where everybody tried to comfort him. Most of all, from the safety of your anonymity.

I wouldn't go so far as to ask some respect from anyone, as it is entirely up to one's culture and mental capacity to grasp this much misunderstood concept, even more to apply it to someone you don't even know and you probably never will (I might be a 60 years' old mother of three in disguise, as far as you can tell). Some politeness would be nice, though. And if you don't like someone, just leave their pages. If you don't like what you read, then just don't. Stop fucking around, people are not your toys.
(By the way, if you had given an e-mail, I'd be PMing you instead of doing this in public; that's why you see these sentences here. They'll stay up only for an short amount of time anyway, just in case you happen to see them.)

I might have over-reacted on this (and spent a lot of time I don't really have...), still I know some of you out there will understand (I even know who you are, guys). But the 'haters' issue is really troubling me, I can't even grasp why would someone spend time on something s/he doesn't like at all, and I keep seeing it all the time in other blogs. It's a kind of vampyrism, I guess

To all greedy leeches, suck these first.

2010. The Year We Make Contact

First of all I'd like to wish a HAPPY NEW YEAR to every soul out there. Be happy and healthy and try for the best and take care of one another.

I sincerely cannot believe that a full decade has passed since the millennium turn. A date I was surprised to reach anyway... Well, 21th century is on its way for good. We've reached the Odyssey Two year. The future is here. Watch out for the real Big Brother.
ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA.
ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.
Chilling...

We're staying inside tonight, we're too close to due time for me to start dragging my lady around in dark dens of sin and depravity all night. So, I wish you lot to enjoy the occasion to the full and have a really great time. I had planned a (really) big post for tonight but during the last week my connection's coming and going all the time and nothing is uploading, so I'll give it a rest and spend the night quietly in the real world.

Blessed be.

Drop Out

So, I'll be away for a week or two. From time to time I might have limited net access but for sure no way of posting stuff, so check back after the 17th.

For those on holidays, I hope you have a great time and relax and everything. For those left behind, stay strong - you're holding the fortress, possibly. And for those far south, well, it's winter there so... stay warm.

Cheers.

More rambling from the old guy...

I don't often write about current releases, mostly because I don't post new stuff and I'm barely able to write about the records I do post. But there are other reasons as well.

I have neither the time nor the will to listen to every single 12'' from all those 'labels' that constantly appear and disappear, just hoping I'll come upon something interesting. For me it would be impossible even to attempt to do something like this without spending twelve hours per day around the share-net - and still there would be no time to listen to all that stuff properly (five seconds of each track doesn't really count).

Due to certain family and work problems, my free time has almost evaporated in the last few years (not to mention my money...). It's not strange thus that when checking the vinyl stores or around the web for records I hardly give more than a single chance (about 30 secs) to most of the tracks. Still, some of them grab my attention from the start and keep me hooked for a long time, forcing me to come back and try to work them into my sets or just to listen and jump around (that's how I know I really like them, actually). This endurance through time is the key for me. And I feel I have to give the records the time to grow on me; as I've often made the typical mistakes of either (a) buying something that excites me at first but bores me to death the second time I listen to it, or (b) passed by something that later proved to be a masterpiece. I guess that's common ground for most of us, especially the DJs.

That is the best argument I could bring to support the free distribution of mp3s through the share-net. As promos for stuff you'll later buy if you like. Plus the fact that many many people don't even have the money to eat or dress properly. Expecting them to buy every track they would possibly like is nothing more that greed-fueled craziness (call it capitalism), while depriving them of their right to enjoy music might be culturally and spiritually fatal for them, their environment and humanity in general (call me crazy, but that's my opinion).

The best example I could think about what happens when we're not supporting the artists and actually don't buy those fucking tracks we like is what you'll read in this article.

I consider AW-Recordings to be one of the top new labels around. By definition retro-sounding, almost lo-fi at times, its records manage to shift our attention to the mood of each track, atmosphere and melodies being more important that the crispiness of the drums or the tricks they do with their samplers. Focusing on Detroit influenced, not strictly dancefloor-oriented material (deep techno and electro mostly), often based on a concept, the label ruled. Its releases certainly enriched and advanced this whole neo-Detroit thing, while some tracks are already considered classics of this 'genre'. It was respected and supported by many DJs and artists. Yet it's shutting down cause no one is buying their stuff. BTW, please remember that when buying downloads from those mp3 stores most people use, only half the money you pay reach the label (the stores cut a 45% share, if I'm not mistaken).
Same thing happens every day to smaller labels - they shut down. Now AW's daughter label will publish 'limited edition' 12"s; because they cannot afford to do more - I understand and respect that. But that also means I probably won't ever have the chance again to buy a AW record unless I hang around their e-shop all the time and search for 'illegal' promos, just to make sure i won't buy some famous crap. And as for those that download stuff, they'll only have 'illegal' and possibly low quality vinyl rips to listen to, without being able to support the label (even if they wanted to...). Nice, eh?

'Support the vinyl' and 'Buy from the creators' are not slogans of the old-minded and the weird. It's rather a necessity, if we are willing to keep dance music off the shelves of mp3 supermarkets that gather the money; if we want the people who create music to keep doing it.

Some of the more or less current stuff I'm into lately and would totally recommend (in no order at all):

- Several WéMè records, including a Drexciyan one
- Octave One's latest 'Summers On Jupiter'
- certain MuleElectronic and MuleMusiq 12"s, and all CDs btw
- everything by Lopazz (especially RSPRED028)
- Gigolo 239, as well as the new Hell album
- Aguayo's 'Minimal' (try to mix this one with Isolée's "Beau Mot Plage')
- many tracks by Solomun

Allow me a special mention to the one and only Henrik Schwarz, whom I respect infinitely for his creativity and imagination (and I am thankful for his remixes), and also many compliments to Innervisions, possibly the most interesting Berlin label today, as well as to its eclectic founders Dixon and Âme.

Nuff said. Go out there and buy stuff. Or expect to listen to Jacko electro-house remixes for the rest of your life.

Another birthday

It's been two full years. I'd like to thank all of you for your continuing support and interest (which is the only reason I keep doing this, by the way). It's a good thing to know that some of you manage to find the time to pass by every day and care enough to leave a comment or something, even yet more to reply to other people's requests. An humane touch is something rare these days... aahh... (OK, next time I 'll just post a record and shut up).

This is one of the tracks that made me a DJ; that make me never want to stop.

Ian Pooley - Celtic Cross

Terror is the name of the game

Please read this one. It just started, but it's going to get bigger.
Stop Police Violence blog.

A (mostly) valid source of info is Indymedia Athens, while many many videos can be found in TVXS (TeleVision Without Borders)- use the Translate tool, then switch back to select the link you're interested in. I had no time to search for foreign sources of info; most of the major news' networks have reports, however biased they may be. The same applies to anarchists' sources, they're much more accurate though.

BTW, another schoolboy (age 16) was shot by 'unknowns' last night. 'Someone' aimed at a group of about ten boys sitting outside their (occupied) school's yard from a distance long enough so that accurate aiming was impossible (more than 50 m/ 150 feet). Luckily, he had his hands in his pockets and the bullet was caught in his wrist instead of blasting his liver, though it could easily have had his head blown off.

The city is in constant turmoil. The pigs hit, teargas and torture at the police stations little kids and their supporting teachers, mostly participating on sitting protests and other peaceful demonstrations, trying to scare them off the streets. Meanwhile, the media are covering up the whole case big time; the National Broadcasters' Council 'suggested' to the TV channel owners and journalists they shouldn't 'promote acts of violence' by screening the riots, so now all TV cameras are gone from the streets and the pigs can do their job unobstructed by the foul menace of evidence, while all TV focus on are burned-down christmas trees and propaganda footage of attacks on policemen from the national channels. Mostly, though, TV shows films and series and crap as if nothing happens. Without the internet we'd be lost.

The other day ended the trial of eight policemen that beat a student's face into pulp in a demo two years ago. At first they had said the kid fell and hit a plant-pot... then an amateur video surfaced. They were pronounced guilty; the judge charged half of them with thirty six months in prison, the other four with eighteen, yet gave them all the right to buy off their time for 5 euros per day. That is, with 5475 euros each they walk.

The forensic reports on the bullet that inflicted the fatal wound on Alexis Grigoropoulos suggest that it 'ricocheted' somewhere, ergo the cop wasn't planning to kill the kid after all (in spite of the dozen eye witnesses that say that he aimed directly at him, he fired three shots and then left the crime scene cool and calm). As it seems, certain substances were found on the bullet, indicating it first hit a wall.
The last drop for me was something I read in certain free-thinkers' fora and blogs: policemen learn that before certain 'difficult' assignments or patrols it's practical to rub bullets in a wall before loading them. That way the bullet's surface keeps some traces of the above mentioned substances, so it's easy to forge a 'ricochet' in case of an 'accident' (=an unplanned or otherwise uncomfortable fatality, aka murder).

Is anyone of you at least interested in the above? If yes, how about a protest demo to the greek embassy or consulate of your country? Or just spreading the news a bit? I'm not interested in comments of sympathy. Just do a small thing, anything. For your sake, most of all, for practice. Soon you'll have to do more than this.

This shit is coming your way too.

The sequel

Well, it's actually rather early to talk about the aftermath of the situation described in the last post, when most of the major cities of Greece (especially Athens and Salonica) are still in turmoil. Things got completely out of hand, the city's downtown is burning every night. The pigs kept back long enough so that many buildings were destroyed by fire, creating infernal snapshots and shot angles for the media, then with a quick sweep they cornered the rioters inside the universities. The destruction that took place will cost millions to the state (especially after they announced financial help to everyone affected by the riots on a scale they cannot afford), the market is frozen out of insecurity and lack of cash and all politicians try to exploit the situation on their behalf.
On the other hand, the pigs hired one of the 'best' lawyers in Greece (the worst weasel around) and with no remorse at all still claim it was 'an accident', even though there are about 30-40 eye witnesses that insist the boy was shot and abandoned. If they continue on this defensive scenario or use the temporary insanity plea, the cities will burn again.

There's nothing more accurate to describe the current situation than an old old saying:

He who sows wind will harvest storms.

I'm too freaked out to post anything. For the desperate, check again next week or start trying the links (and their links as well).

The 6th of December, 2008

The Athens district of Exarchia is a hangout for artists, students and junkies and traditionally the refuge of the various counter-culture movements in the last three decades. Interestingly, it's also the place with a minimum of violent crimes against person and property downtown (except against policemen). In contrast with many European cities or the USA, no one carries a gun and even knives are extremely uncommon (not even junk dealers use them). Surrounding this area are universities, museums, the main commercial district and government buildings.
During the last years the conflicts between the cops and locals have escalated. People occasionally throw rocks at passing police cars; then an hour later dozens of fully-armed squads troop the bars and cafes, gather as many people as they like as 'suspects' and put them behind bars for a process called 'identification', which gives them the right to hold you in a police station all night to 'check your criminal record' until the officer in charge comes in the morning to release you (or charge you with something). During all these hours they have the right to 'search physically' (=undress and humiliate) everyone, looking for 'guns', drugs or whatnot. Of course, 99.9% of the people there go in Exarchia for recreation or work, mostly naive students and rock fans that like to get away from the expensive bars and poser 'cool' places in the nearby areas. Things are coming to a head, as a wise man used to say.
It's Saturday night, about 9.00 PM and people are gathering around the local cafes. Just a few minutes before , a police car went by and some people (it's not sure who they were) swear and threw a couple of stones at them. The cops park the car a little further on and try to drag into the 'conflict' a SWAT squad. When they fail, they return to the place they were 'attacked' and verbally provoke a small group of kids to fight with them, giving them the finger and shouting insults in front of dozens of witnesses. When the kids fail to respond in a 'suitable' way (that is to throw some things or make a move towards them so they can have an excuse), the cops take their guns out, one of them throws a sound bomb and the other aims and shoots three times towards them, the last bullet hitting one of the group in the chest. Having their job done, they calmly walk away and mingle with the SWAT squad mentioned before a few yards away. The boy shot is dead on the spot, his friends in shock. As a direct result, minutes after the 'incident' riots break up in all major Greek cities (yes, news like that travel really fast). Police stations, banks and (unfortunately) cars and stores are attacked, often totally destroyed. The city is in turmoil since, roads blocked all over, schools closed, universities occupied (they provide asylum, no policeman may enter their premises), streets destroyed.

The cops claim the group initially attacked them with clubs and stones, even with Molotov cocktails ready, so they had to fire warning shots. As is usual in these cases, one of them hit something (the asphalt ground...) and ricocheted towards the direction of the kid. The Ministry of Internal Affairs cover them up and press releases are sent to the BBC (and other networks). This is a report written after it became widely known and indisputable that the cops killed the kid in cold blood. It still focuses on the riots. Thankfully, others check their sources better.
Bad luck for them; it was a 15 years old kid from a good family out with his friends they shot. Not a military radical, not a drug user that no one will care for. Just a fucking kid, 15 years old. And with many witnesses in line of sight, as well as an (indistinct) video, showing the cops calmly leaving the scene after they're done (check here, upper right corner).

Some photos and reports from Sky here: (*, *, *).

A lot of people die because of police brutality. Police has always been a serpent's nest, a haven for fascists, psychopaths, or the spiritually deficient but physically gifted. And lots of people died, were injured or humiliated because a freak happens to own a uniform and has the power to fuck with the lives of his/hers fellow citizens. It's not something new, a lot of cases are recorded where cops shoot and kill people, then never get fittingly prosecuted and punished. Yet I didn't sleep well these nights. Most of the people around me walk in silent shock and cannot really believe what happened. It could be their fucking kid dead that night. I can believe what's happening, yet it cripples me in a emotional level so deep that I'm constantly ready to break in tears. Don't believe what you read, we don't live in a Democracy. It's a Police State. It's a war and we are the side casualties. Fuck my house and fuck my couch and fuck this shit.

MAKE PIGS PAY

Many, many thoughts

This post is following the thread that started in the last post's comments. My reply got too big, so I'll take it from there.

A lot of good music is indeed published today, as it always was. I don't believe there has ever been a Golden Age of electronic music on global terms. There were creative outbreaks here and there during specific periods, but not for the whole world at the same time and they were always surpassed very soon by the next wave. So I am not gonna go crying about the end of it or something. It's just that I have an idea, a concept, something I'd like to share. I hope that through my DJ sets, my writings and my everyday attitude I have a tiny chance of influencing the world around me, even for a little while, even for a night. On a level, every creative person does that, 'artistic' or not. We all are here shaping the music scene for the next big change and everybody is pushing towards where it feels better for him. (And that's why I don't keep my mouth shut anymore, I've done it for a long time and it now feels stupid.)

It's obvious to me that a great change signifying a new era has happened about five years ago when vinyl distributors started closing down one by one (EFA was the first big one), dragging down great labels with them (Force Inc./ Mille Plateaux, for example). I don't feel it's a coincidence that at the same time specialist e-shops like Decks.de conquered the European scene, lowering the purchase cost while putting local vinyl shops out of work. People learned to buy vinyl through the net, even though they might live in a big city and had direct access to stores. Since then the constantly growing digital market became stronger and stronger, as it makes better use of (and has more direct influence on) the media. Profits for the e-shops (not the artists or the labels) are bigger than ever, with apparently very small cost (promotion, mainly). Overthrowing the previous distributors' trusts, they've grown to be cartels, whether we like it or not. That's the story, as far as I'm concerned.

Whining about 'Minimal', 'electro house' and related commercial genres has not much to do with the music itself (which I can easily ignore). But it has a lot to do with what it represents, as well as with the people who promote that music. The above mentioned businessmen, who define the future of music as it was only done before the rise of indie labels, usind the same strategies the big corporations used. Or the opportunist producers, who constantly jump on someone else's train as the old guy used to say, while forerunners and pioneers are drowned in this media directed digi-flood of releases and superficial info. They are re-designing modern culture through the distorted prism of commercial success, cashing on the DIY network and the 'underground' credentials they so easily abandoned when they finally had the chance. Good for their pocket, not for our souls, but we are letting them do it.

I'm going to disagree with the view that good stuff floats (mostly shit does). It doesn't, unless it has marketing behind it. For example, watch Get Physical. Good music (not ground-breaking at first) made by professional producers/ sound engineers (Booka Shade), spread by good DJs (M.A.N.D.Y.), backed by the maturity of DJ T, a DJ for 20 years and Groove editor for 15 years. And they have a full company, managers, publishers, accountants and all. They had the media by their side from the beginning. They have the potential to succeed, but they also have the power to do it. They're pros. Same with the BPitch Control posse, same with Cocoon, for me the ultimate example of non-commercial music having success through commercial tactics.

Now imagine a techno freak, some half-crazed trash making music in bedroom with two synths and a drum machine or a humble PC, living on dreams/ drugs/ noodles/ inspiration/ thin air. If s/he happens to write the best techno track ever, will YOU be able to listen to it? It might be out there in a net label, buried under tons of uninteresting stuff. It's the label's A&R man work to find it, but it might be lost in a small label. Big ones sign mostly famous names to keep their sales up, very few dare to try new shit. It's also the media man's job to find the next good one, but he has to listen to this year's 182nd release from the current hip Mini Label and its Beatport exclusive remix. Techno is mainstream in many places, taken over by pros to replace euro-trance and progressive house in the commercial scene.

All we need is a break.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The only way to cancel this mediocracy crap is to stop supporting it. Stop listening to stuff you find average, it's shaping your mindset. Fully support what you really like and spread the word. Most artists give up because they feel that what they do doesn't have any effect on people because some clown sells more than them. Go to gigs, communicate with the artists, buy from the labels directly if you can and say 'thank you'... Show that you care.

We shall overcome.


P.S. I should be a motivational speaker. Do this. Do that...
I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party.

Minus 61 in Detroit

I always hate that in every presentation or review I read lately, I find the same cliche expressions like "sure floorfiller", "a real burner", etc. Mostly they apply for tracks that you couldn't stand to listen unless you've blown a least half a g of ketamine, obsolete by next month. Which mentally brings me to the reason I started avoiding clubbing per se (the empty-eyed, self-entangled 'dancers').
Well, to borrow, this is a real slow burner from 1995. It goes for 9'22'', which used to be an enormous amount of time then but now is rather typical, so don't you dare press the pause button until it's finished.

David Holmes - minus 61 in Detroit


Few days ago I played in a small yet very friendly club, where I've been a customer and guest DJ of old. Due to the imminent rain I thought nobody would show up, yet at about 2-3 am it was packed and we kept it up till morning. Mostly over thirty years old, people were drawn in by and surely danced to the more modern stuff but again went crazy over some older classics with which I sticked to after 5 am. I even dropped 'Acid Trax', some BC, 'Amnesia' and old Cologne stuff and the point is, they had better fun with them than with the adorably perfect productions and almost scientific percussive trickery of the new school of rave music. Instinctively companies started to mingle and people started dancing with other people instead of next to other people. Very few drugs were going around, so I know it was the fun (and not the drug) factor that moved and kept them there.
And I remembered the time when through the unholy combination of many nice people, some open space, unprescribed medication and good music (in whatever amount one would choose to sample them) I sometimes felt that yes, the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts.

Recently I was informed that in Switzerland good old acid is used again in medical research, concerning its therapeutic uses, trying to decide if a (slightly bigger than) normal dose will effect more profoundly some patients than the 1/10th of it that they now take as a test (it will).
By the way, read this.

I'd finally like to grab the opportunity to strongly recommend to everyone into DJing or clubbing to read Jeff Noon's 'DJNA' story from the infamous 'Disco Biscuits' compilation, both an allegory of the late '90s UK scene as well as a sadly prophetic vision of the future to come (the one we're living in).

Anti-musings

From time to time I spend some- no, a lot of time wandering aimlessly around the net, as I'm sure you all do. Occasionally I come upon something really good which I instantly bookmark and then forget for some months, until I finally come back checking what it was that I spotted and liked in the first place and if it's still there.
I spent last month trying to gather a disco and italo set for a special occasion I happened to DJ to and I was approximating at least 12 hours per day going through CDs and hard disks, listening to tracks (some I even didn't knew I had them), organizing everything, etc. It was really fun but I had nowhere to practice, still it went rather well. But I got tired.
The thing is, I'm bored of music now ("HERESY!!! HERESY!!!"). It's only dub and some ambient stuff I can tolerate at low volume. So I'm looking for books as well as films, clips, visual stuff in general. Whenever I find something exciting, instead of dumping it in my bookmarks I'll just drop the link here. I still have some posts half-ready, by the time I finish with them and post them I hope I'll be able to cope with music again.

Take a break

I have lots of things ready to post but no time to do it right, it's mayhem offline... So I'm thinking I'll just post the files and fill in some proper info later on.

I'll also be gone for about two weeks, trying to clear my head for a change, so have fun in the meantime and we'll be in touch soon.