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DECEMBER 11 - DECEMBER 22
Earplug is a biweekly email newsletter, delivering a handpicked
selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features for the
international electronic music community.
Yes, it's that time of year again — without a moment to spare — the annual Winter Music Conference has finally released the dates for Miami. Their conference runs from March 6-10, 2004. And for the fifth year in a row, David J. Prince and Flavorpill Productions — the creators of Earplug — will present the most complete and accurate guide to all of the parties and events happening in South Beach and the Miami area during the entire week.
The list, formerly called the Miami Master List, has been rechristened as the M3 Masterlist. In addition, M3 will unveil a new music and technology summit, which will take place from March 5-9, 2004 in Miami Beach, Florida. Featuring a two-day executive summit and four nights of artist showcases, we've created M3 with the belief that the current state of the music industry offers tremendous opportunities for innovation and growth to those willing to embrace the challenge. Stay on the lookout for more details coming soon.
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Grammy Nominations Announced
The 2004 Grammy Awards nominations were announced last week, and once again dance and electronic music is represented in two different categories. The finalists for the year's best remixer (official titled the "Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical" category) include Chicago house pioneer Maurice Joshua; Orlando, Florida-based producer Bill Hamel; 1999 winner Peter Rauhofer; the production duo of Martin Buttrich and Timo Maas; and three-time nominees Masters at Work (see story below). The category was introduced in 1997, and other past honorees have included Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, and last year's winner Roger Sanchez. The nominees for this year's Best Dance Recording, traditionally a chart-oriented category, include songs by Cher, Madonna, and Kylie Minogue, as well as Groove Armada's "Easy" and Telepopmusik's "Breathe," which may follow in the footsteps of last year's winner, Dirty Vegas, just as it did in those ubiquitous Mitsubishi commercials. Ballots are being mailed to voting members of the recording Academy next week and the polls close on January 7 — the winners will be announced February 8 in conjunction with the Grammy Awards broadcast from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (DJP)
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Masters Working Overtime
2004 is already shaping up to be one of the busiest years ever for Masters At Work, the New Jersey-based musical and production duo of Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. In addition to receiving their third Grammy nomination, for their chart-topping remix of the Latin Project's "Lei Lo Lai," Vega's long-awaited debut solo record, Elements of Life, is set for an early March release — it's the first full-length CD to be released, marketed, and promoted entirely on Vega Records (an offshoot of MAW Records), with Studio Distribution just getting the music into the stores. "I wanted to take the step and have everything come directly from me," said Vega. The album features a huge cast of noted musicians and vocalists including Blaze, Raúl Midón, and Anané. A two-week national tour will kick off at the annual MAW party in Miami. Vega also has a slew of mix CDs out and in the pipeline including the double CD Soul Heaven on suSu; an edition of the Choice series on Azuli; a set for BPM magazine; a series of Dance Ritual mixes on R2 celebrating the party's six-year run in New York; and a Japanese-only MAW Records retrospective for the duo's longtime Tokyo label partner Cutting Edge. At the same time, Gonzalez is putting the finishing touches on his solo album, an as-yet-untitled set for his imprint Dope Wax including guest performances from V and ATOJ's Raheem. His Defected in the House mix CD was released earlier this year. The two are returning to the studio together in January to commence work on their MAW Electronic project (they'll be debuting rough mixes in Miami), which is "not as organic as Nuyorican Soul — lots of keyboards and drum machines — giving you a little bit of history and a little bit of the future," says Vega.
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Music 2.0
The future's so bright, the music industry's gotta wear shades. Or at least that was the rosy picture painted at this week's Music 2.0 Digital Music Summit in Los Angeles, CA. With the fat-trimming continuing in the majors with Time Warner's sale of its music unit, the explosion in competitive download services and deep catalog offerings, the RIAA's "education" of consumers helping to convince millions to download music legally, and more new ways for consumers to listen to Internet music anywhere (even pubs), predictions for 2004 were downright bullish. All agreed that the old industry models no longer work, and that progress has been made toward developing new models that will draw greater profits from the digital marketplace. Panelists suggested labels will license deeper catalog offerings for online distribution (and encouraged rights-holders to be more cooperative in allowing this), and will offer more songs exclusively by download. Albums will be shorter, release dates will be bumped up to beat the pirates to the market, and aging rock stars will obtain knighthoods and turn into Howard Dean delegates. The battle's not over, but the fun has just begun. (CW)
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MORE HEADLINES
Beyond Discovery
Daft Punk start new album more »
CD prices drop
But finding the deals proves difficult more »
Minister of Funk
James Brown gets diplomatic post more »
Funk Rock
P-Funk's George Clinton arrested more »
BBC Coke Deal
Who knew what, and when? more »
Weird Science
Research findings on effects of Ecstacy retracted more »
Sorry Ms. Parks
OutKast lawsuit proceeds more »
Round 3
New filesharing lawsuits filed more »
Do Lawsuits Work?
RIAA actions getting mixed results
more »
Don't Answer the Door
ATF director to join the RIAA's anti-piracy squad more »
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Artist: |
Tiki Obmar |
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| Album: |
High School Confidential |
| Label: |
Merck |
| Release: |
September 26 |
Tiki Obmar, a Minneapolis-based trio of instrumentalists, fuse live drums, bass, guitar, and keys with electronic ambience. Creating songs built around guitar-generated themes and solid, sometimes jazzy drum patterns and loops, they groove like Tortoise — their improvisational, organic elements blend evenly with the samples, effects, and added electronics. Midtempo head-bobbing rhythms carry most songs, including "Blips" — which indeed contains blips, but hooks hard with a couple down-home Midwestern guitar riffs. "Ankeny, Iowa" provides rhythmic respite with 16 minutes of dreamy ambience. (AM)
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Artist: |
The Karminsky Experience |
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| Album: |
The Power of Suggestion |
| Label: |
ESL |
| Release: |
November 12 |
Leave it up to DC's Eighteenth Street Lounge (captained by refined beatsmiths Thievery Corporation), one of the most dedicated and skilled domestic downtempo labels, to have the good sense to nab British DJ/production duo the Karminsky Experience. It's not just the tight drum programming and expert instrumentation that add to the record's undeniable seductiveness, it's also the passion the duo exude for a genre that has years of evolution in front of it, despite currently being swamped with mediocre music by unenthused producers. String flourishes, near-Eastern percussion, and a healthy nod to precursors like Burt Bacharach and Sounds Orchestral as well as contemporaries like Ursula 1000 and Boozoo Bajou make this the welcome warmer you'll need to get through the winter. (SM)
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Artist: |
Le Coeur |
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| Album: |
Suddenly |
| Label: |
Mental Groove |
| Release: |
November 10 |
You might say that Geneva's Le Coeur, aka Natanahel Mounir, wears his heart on his sleeve: like so many downtempo artists, he's prone to brooding, pensiveness, and tentative wisps of emotion that go up in clouds of delay. But this is a reversible garment, and hidden in its folds is a much more subtle sensibility that escapes the trap of its influences. So while the lounge signifiers are all here — brushed samba rhythms, echoes of Afrobeat, springy tables, buoyant pads, and even (lord help us) samples of croaking frogs and twittering birds — the end result is far more surprising, even disconcerting, as tentative glockenspiel melodies patter away like the memory of something long forgotten. (PS)
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Artist: |
Silicon Soul |
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| Album: |
Pouti |
| Label: |
Disko B |
| Release: |
November 21 |
Just when you think all the crates have been dug and all the dusty archives licensed, another gem appears out of the ether. Silicon Soul (not to be confused with Soma house producers Silicone Soul) had an underground dance hit with 1981's "Who Needs Sleep Tonight," which paired spongy keyboards with sultry female vocals — half Arthur Russell, half Siouxsie Sioux. A decade later DJ Hell resuscitated the tune, pairing it with his own remix as the debut release on Disko B; now, finally, the unreleased album sees the light of day. With elements of Italo-disco, breakbeat dub, torch songs, and creaky drum-machine programming, the disc sounds unlike anything else coming out of the era, making it an especially captivating find in a year of cookie-cutter funk-punk. (PS)
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Artist: |
BNegão & Os Seletores de Frequência |
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| Album: |
Enxugando Gelo |
| Label: |
Net Records Brazil |
| Release: |
November 2003 |
On his debut solo disc, Bernado Bnegão serves up an intriguing Brazilian stew, mixing a handful of the hip musical elements circulating 'round the country right now — hip hop, samba, mangue-beat, funk, funk carioca — with a dash of punk-metal and a healthy serving of dub. In fact, it's dub that dominates this record, no doubt due to the participation of ace São Paulo production team Instituto. "Enxugando Gelo" has a sliding bassline, Jamaican horn stabs, and funky break; "Dorobo" is the first posthumous release featuring the tragically murdered São Paulo rapper Sabotage; and "VV" features percussionist Marcos Suzano, who provides some samba swing and creates the track Manu Chao might record if he lived in Copacabana. The CD is being sold on the Web and in newsdealers with a free glossy magazine haranguing major labels and the mainstream media — with 60% of CD sales in Brazil being pirate copies, the independents are providing a real alternative. (AC)
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Artist: |
Tim Deluxe |
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| Album: |
The Little Ginger Club Kid |
| Label: |
Underwater |
| Release: |
September 29 |
Tim Deluxe has been kicking out top notch tracks and remixes for almost
a decade, but it was the Miami 2002 breakout success of his single "It Just Won't Do" that established him as a chart-topping maker of good-time party anthems. His debut album for Darren Emerson's Underwater label, The Little Ginger Club Kid, is chock-full of equally catchy, irresistible tunes — from the opening "Heavy Weather" and the sun-drenched "Less Talk More Action" to the tongue-in-cheek "2 Kool 4 Skool" and the Underworld-stylee album closer "Choose Something Like a Star." Deluxe plays to the strengths of his vocalists and never let's the pace slow down — except on the stoned dub-out "Amsterdam (What a Life)." the album is the soundtrack to an endless summer. (DJP)
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EARPLUG FAVES
Gift of Gab, Fourth Dimensional Rocketship Going Up (Quannum)
Chungking, We Travel Fast (Tummy Touch)
J's Pool, The Wave Machine (Nature)
Various, Colores Volumen 1 (Mil Records)
Frederico Aubele, Granhotelbuenosaires (ESL)
Air, Talkie Walkie (Astralwerks)
Various, Barcelona in Dub (Decoder Muzique)
Kevin Saunderson (mix), Deep Space Techno (Trust the DJ)
Daddy Kev, Cell Three (Myutopia)
Wakal, Pop/Street Sound (iDEa/Konfort)
Red Snapper, Redone (Lo Recordings)
Various, Music for Children (Bruchstuecke)
Luke Vibert, Kerrier District (Rephlex)
Echo & the Bunnymen, Ocean Rain (Remastered) (Warner)
Various, What Was It Like Before I Got Into Electricity? (Süd)
Daniel Bell, Blip, Blurp, Bleep (Logistic)
Luomo, The Present Lover (Kinetic)
Circlesquare, Pre-Earthquake Anthem (Output)
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Recap: WOMEX
October 22-26
Sevilla, Spain
WOMEX (World Music Expo) annually brings together professionals representing the full spectrum of musical styles — from roots to global electronica. Launched in 1994 as a meeting of European festival producers, and held in Germany and another European country on alternate years, WOMEX is a four-day forum for artists and labels to showcase their work and interact with presenters from festivals, concert halls, and clubs around the world. This year's edition, boasting 2000 attendees, was held concurrently with the World Flamenco Fair, which was open to all WOMEX attendees. Some of the Expo's highlights were performances by the Nuevo Flamenco ensemble Ojos de Brujo, a Barcelona-based collective that melds flamenco with hip hop, turntablism, and electronics; the mystic African-Indian Sufi group Sidi Goma; electric bluesmen Tinariwen from Mali, Africa; and Brazil's DJ Dolores' spinning drum 'n bass. (JQ)
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Recap: MUTEK @ Mexico
November 28 - December 6
Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Tijuana
Considering themselves virtual Latin Americans of a sort, the crew behind Montreal's MUTEK festival has spent several years encouraging dialog across the Americas, featuring Latin American artists at the annual Canadian event, and staging one-offs in Chile and Brazil. MUTEK @ Mexico represented the festival's most comprehensive southern undertaking yet, bringing a dozen Montreal artists including Akufen, Crackhaus, Egg, the Mole, and A/V duo Skoltz Kogen to play eight dates across three cities alongside some 40 Mexican artists. The latter ranged from known names such as Fax, Murcof, and the Nortec Collective to electro-acoustic artists from Igloo and the 19-year-old up-and-comer Plug, whose bristly minimal techno recalls Perlon-styled pinging (not the drill-and-bass Luke Vibert recorded under the same name). Guest spots from San Francisco's Sutekh and Buenos Aires' Leandro Fresco — on a break from his stadium tour backing up Argentina's mega-platinum Soda Stereo frontman Gustavo Certuti — rounded out the Pan-American conceit, while panels on Latin American electronica and improvised collaborative jams thumbed their nose at any kind of borders, national or musical. (PS)
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Real Player required for these streams.
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Mark Wilkinson, Right Side of Tough mix, November 2003
Mark Wilkinson is a busy man — between releasing new singles and remixes, climbing the charts, and lining up gigs well into 2004, he still had time to put this mix up on the Kidology site. Fantastic house music from the Problem Kid.
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Freeburning Crew, Haile Selassie I mix, October 2000
Freeburning is LA's premier underground junglist outpost — a record store, label, and DJ crew specializing in hardstep d 'n b, raga jungle, and tons more. For this mix, they deliver an amazing mash up of ragga tracks praising Haile Selassie I. Note there is a bit of a hum in the beginning but then the bass comes and washes it all away. "I and I shall witness the day that Babylon shall fall..."
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Sidewinder, live mix, September 10, 2003
Glasgow-based Alan Bryden (aka Sidewinder) released Resolution earlier this year, and the album has found its way into many people's A-lists for 2003. Check out this carefully crafted brokenbeat live mix — Sidewinder is on his way to cementing his place in the pantheon of greats.
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Larry Heard (Mr. Fingers), October 4, 2003
Chicago's Larry Heard is a house music pioneer and legend who continues to innovate nearly 20 years after helping to invent his hometown sound. On this recent mix, he comes correct with a deep house selection that will leave you breathless.
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John B, live in Nashville, TN, June 6, 2003
Straight outta the Nashville, TN jungle underground comes DJ John B and this decidedly ethereal and progressive drum 'n bass set. As an added bonus there is accompanying video footage of the dance floor — watch them go wild!
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Tipper and Freq Nasty, Beta Lounge mix, September 2003
While others follow, Tipper and Freq Nasty lead the field of nu-breaks artists into uncharted orchestral territory. Hot on the heels of the release of his album Bring Me the Head of Freq Nasty, listen in as they take you on a voyage in the Betalounge SF studios.
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Djinxx, Session 1
Producer and remixer Djinxx' tracks have been the secret weapons of jocks around the globe, earning the praise of everyone from Laurent Garnier and David Duriez to Stacey Pullen and John Tejada. For this mix, Djinxx steps behind the decks to warm it up with some soulful tech-house.
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Bad Passion, I Love ZYX mix
ZYX Records was a breeding ground for early freestyle, electro, and rave tracks — this mix is a tribute to some its greatest Italo-freestyle-electro cuts.
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Looking for more hot mix sets and fresh new tracks? Check out Blentwell for an ongoing document of the evolution of blended music online.
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watch » |
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Dot Syntax
There is satisfaction in finding the next big thing and letting the public in on the secret. The UK's onedotzero obviously delight in this feeling and, since 1999, the multifaceted cross-media production company has helped provide a unique public platform for fans of digital media through its tireless touring exhibitions, DVDs, and international network of events. Like North America's brilliant RESFEST, onedotzero is best represented by its traveling show, which is replete with some of the most important names emerging in digital media — Shynola, unit 9, d-fuse, and Ed Holdsworth included. The current tour, onedotzero 7, includes over ten different programs and is currently hitting the UK after stops in Berlin, Rome, Lisbon, and many other European destinations. Supported by the Arts Council of England, the organization is not only involved with short film production and distribution but has helped produce multimedia projects such as the Light Surgeons' incredible "All Points Between" and the ten-minute video "Voyage of Emotion," a historic product launch presentation for Sony's Playstation2. (SM)
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You Say Tomato
In our quest to track the convergence of electronic music and digital imagery, Earplug scours the underground for inspiring new work. Unfortunately, we should have affixed our gaze instead to the Underworld, who have grown a modest media empire in that nutrient-rich UK soil. Like the Lemon Jelly-associated Airside studio, the Tomato design collective, counting among its members Rick Smith and Karl Hyde of the aforementioned electronica legends, are responsible not only for the groups branding and packaging, but for work ranging from creating live visuals at Barcelona's prestigious Sonar festival to designing a new corporate identity for Japan's TV Asahi. While splitting projects both creative and commercial (they are responsible for an Australian Nescafé TV campaign), Tomato has found time to contribute to the seminal Gasbook series, release a DVD (Onyx Pearls), and host workshops where creatives can work side by side with Tomato professionals in a challenging production environment. Socially conscious and creatively adventurous (see three of their amazing shorts here), Tomato will soon transcend the underground and underworld as they continue to grow upward. (SM)
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Moog Movie on the Move
Next year marks the 70th birthday of maverick electronic musical instrument inventor Robert Moog, and part of the celebration will include the theatrical release of Moog, a feature-length documentary film exploring his life and work. Moog has been creating music instruments for 50 years — he first started manufacturing theremins in 1954, and a decade later he revolutionized electronic music production with his invention of the synthesizer. Director Hans Fjellestad and producer Ryan Page (who are also responsible for 2002's documentary on Tijuana Frontier Life) are wrapping up shots on location in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, and Moog's workshop in the mountains of western North Carolina, where he remains committed to inventing timeless electronic musical instruments with soul. "The film is very much focused on Bob's ideas about creativity, interactivity, spirituality, as well as the raft of stories in the man's head," explains Fjellestad. "This is very much an 'in Bob's own words' piece." Stereolab, the Neptunes, Devo, Meat Beat Manifesto, Tortoise, DJ Spooky, the Cure, Money Mark, Luke Vibert, and many other musicians and Moog fans contributed original music, all produced on Moog instruments, for the film's soundtrack, which is also due to be released next year. Moog himself recently returned from Cape Town, South Africa, where he was a guest lecturer at this year's Red Bull Music Academy. (DJP)
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Header Design:
Chris Jimenez
Mailer Design:
Keats
Editors:
David J. Prince
Philip Sherburne
Sascha Lewis
Christopher N. Hampton
Cyrus Wadia
Jon Spooner
Steve Marchese
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Production:
Mark Mangan
Anjuli Ayer
William Pierce
Sander-Martijn Milks
Husani Oakley
Gray Sevilla
Contributors:
Andy Cumming
Aaron Miles
James Quinlan
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Submissions/Feedback |
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Tell us what you think is exciting and worth including in Earplug by dropping us an email at tips. Writers interested in getting even more involved should reach us at contribute. And if what you want to do is criticize, praise, or generally comment on this publication, please send an email to feedback.
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Header Design |
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We have an open call to create the headers that run at the top of each issue. If you would like to submit a design, please email us at design and we'll send you the necessary specs.
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About Us |
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Earplug is an email newsletter dedicated to electronic music and its
many dynamic styles and influences. Published every two weeks, it features a
handpicked selection of music news, cultural spotlights, tip sheets, CD
reviews, original reporting, and music festival previews and reviews.
Earplug offers only pure editorial and unbiased news — no money is
accepted from any artists, labels, promoters, or companies seeking
mention.
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