Thanks to Argentine Airdrop Records for a whole host of free loveliness today. They’ve been booking and producing greats since the label and agency were started in 2006, including launching the mighty Soul Clap (so glad to see Rock the Boat is included in the giveaway below), and we’ve had the pleasure of EPs from Sergio Santos, Tanner Ross and Franco Cinelli, as well as regular Airpod podcasts from the likes of Fritz & Lang, Crazy Larry, Martin Eyerer and Nicolas Jaar.
Phonica is 8! And to celebrate tomorrow they’re commandeering our favourite car park, Great Suffolk Street, with a lineup that defies belief; Heidi, Soul Clap, Matt Tolfrey, Joy Orbison, Waifs & Strays, Benoit & Sergio live, and not to forget the mighty Visionquest. Obviously we’ll be the ones down the front screaming like idiots. If that hasn’t broken you there’s an after-party at Cable until 1pm on Sunday hosted by Jaded.
The sun is upon us at last, so perfect timing to head to Peckham tonight for the closing party of Bold Tendencies on the roof of the multiplex car park, with the obligatory Bussey Building after party, with Horse Meat Disco and the Off Modern crew.
Miguel Migs has always been someone I’ve relied on to soundtrack my warm-up and cool-down, and he’s been providing sexy pre-club beats this summer with Everybody, released in July and with a remix package including a take from the mighty Soul Clap. It turns out there’s more where that came from, as he’s been in the studio to make Outside The Skyline, the forthcoming album to be released on OM Records in September.
The album is a collaborative effort, featuring disco vocals from Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King, reggae legends Capleton, Half-Pint and Freddie McGregor, Berlin based singer Georg Levin and bossa nova phenomenon Bebel Gilberto. The result is an overwhelming essense of funk and smooth disco, full-blooded and really very pretty.
Shonky‘s a name I’ve been hearing a lot on the grapevine recently, and he popped up again this month with a release on Culprit with the Oasis EP, made even more fabulous by the addition of a Jozif remix of the title track.
He’s also responsible for the clean beats remix of Maya Jane Coles‘s What They Say, and you can see his name alongside other talked-about artists Dyed Soundroom, on a remix of Lee Foss’s Your Turn Girl.
Olivier Ducreux’s early influences were mainly soul music, alongside house greats like Gemini and Kerri Chandler (his Michael Jackson Rock With You sample on 2010′s Cluborama combines the two genres pretty perfectly). He grew up on the Parisien club scene, frequenting Batofar, where he met Dan Ghenacia, label-boss of Freak N’ Chic, which led to a signing in 2005 for Let Me Ask U.
After a move to Berlin to discover minimal techno, Shonky honed his sound into a mixture of bleepy yet deep house, which lends itself extremely well to the open air, afternoon sorts of parties that we all love over the Summer. In fact Shonky’s a frequent fixture at the legendary Culprit Sessions parties on the roof of the Standard in L.A. (alongside regulars Soul Clap, Hot Natured, Heidi and Damien Lazarus). He also graces the industrial hallways of Berlin’s Panorama Bar once in a while, often playing the sunset session as the blinds are raised to reveal the view.
You’ll have to travel over the Summer to see Shonky play though, with dates lined up in Ibiza, Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam. Iconic locations with a vibe that compliments deep and soulful house: might be worth getting your passport out.
Well pinch-punch-first-of-the-month, which as usual means that there are way too many good nights and not enough time. And as for you with the birthdays, there are DJs to see!
So, tonight, go old school with Marshall Jefferson at Fairchild (car park rave), or go see Waifs & Strays for free at That Mixmag Thing #15 at Queen of Hoxton. Oooh and I’ve just noticed Sishi Rösch is playing at the Horse and Groom for Coconut Ritz. Miguel Puente drew my attention to him and together they’re pretty unstoppable (more dates for both of them in London please!). To give you an example, here’s a little video from one of their Sonar appearances. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to post this as it sounds sweeeeeeet, and I’d pretty much kill to see either and both of them play anywhere at the moment.
I always tell myself I’m going to get out of the city in July as much as possible, and it never happens, simply because the July line ups are ridiculous for the whole month every single year. 2011 is heading that way too, with Nicolas Jaar coming live two days in a row at Fabric at the end of the month, Lovebox bringing everyone I love into Victoria Park, and The Nest continuing a fantastic booking job, with Julio Bashmore and Riton next weekend. Bloody good work London.
We just can’t get enough of Miguel Puente. He’s one of those people you hear about, download all his mixes, can’t get enough of them, and feel a little bit like you’ve discovered him yourself, only to find everyone else in the know feels exactly the same as you.
Jozif and J Phlip have praised his mixes and productions, his Serious Compassion track featured on Soul Clap‘s Social Experiment 002, and Lee Foss obviously agrees, as he’s signed the next Miguel Puente EP to Hot Creations. What I love most is that there seems to be so many productions in the pipeline – my favourite tracks on his mixes are his own and soon to be released, so expect lots more from Miguel Puente this year.
He’s based in Barcelona, and I’m not even sure how to describe the excitement brewing as One From The Vaults are off to see the boy-wonder (and a few other people besides) play on- and off- Sonar next week. We caught up with him for a few party tips and a delve into his ‘futuristic gangsta club’ sound.
So first things first – can you introduce yourself for our readers? How did it all begin and how would you characterise your sound?
Regarding electronic music, it began in Montreal in 2005 when I was living there for about 7 months. Back in Monterrey (my home city) if you wanted to listen to electronic music there was basically only one place to go, so I was never very attached because it was just the same music all the time. So Montreal showed me a lot; so many options to listen to, and all of them good, plus I was really lucky to always have friends who could tell me a thing or two, let me use their turntables or give me tips for my productions later on.
As for my sound if you come up with a description let me know, because I really don’t have a tag for it, but I like to call it “futuristic gangsta club” if I should call it anything… Futuristic because even though it has quite a few different influences it sounds so fresh to me that as I said I don’t know what to call it, gangsta because it always makes you lean back, and club because I don’t really like to use the terms house or techno, so this way it tells you it’s for the dace floor while being a bit forward-thinking…
You’re based in Barcelona, what’s the kind of sound that characterises the Barcelona clubbing scene?
I would have to say cave man’s techno…
Berlin’s deep and minimal house and that bouncy Dirtybird sound is really taking off in the US. Where else would you work if it wasn’t in Barcelona?
If by work you mean by djing, I can DJ wherever- I love going to new places and showing my sound to new people. But if you mean work as in where I have my studio it definitely has to be a place with good weather! I really like Berlin but I couldn’t live there in the Winter… I feel really good right now in Barcelona, it gets better with time. I guess if I was in America I would be in Mexico because I don’t have to worry about a visa, plus great food and beaches, and you’re just right next to the US.
Where can we see you play?
Barcelona most of the time, Sonar is coming and I will be playing in the One Illusion party at the Hotel W on Thursday 16th, and also in the Culprit vs Leftroom on Sunday 19th at Catalonia Plaza hotel. I work with some friends organising events and parties over here under the name Digital Delight, and we have a party on Friday 17th with S.A.S, Jay Shepheard, Daniel Maloso, Death On The Balcony,Miguel Campbell and few others in a really cool outdoor venue with a pool. I’m not playing on this one but worked a lot to make it happen.
Also, I’m really happy to be playing my UK debut on 30 July in Leeds with the guys from Nest!
We’re heading over for Sonar and catching you play alongside Maceo Plex, Robert James and Rob Mello. How does the city change during Sonar festival? What’s your best Sonar memory?
Yes I’m really excited about this party as well: massive line up, awsome venue, everything you see there is just the perfect combination… The city changes a lot as its the best week of the year fo’ shoo its awesome!!! and for some reason my memory when it comes down to Sonar is really blurry…
What are your ‘must-sees’ for Sonar 2011?
Daniel Maloso doing a different live act to his normal show, he will be with another guy that will be playing drums live. He’s an exclusive at the Digital Delight/Struments party on Sonar Week, keep an eye on him!!
How did the releases come about – were you DJ-then-producer or always both? How did the labels first get hold of your stuff?
Yes, I was DJing before I started doing music so the flow just developed naturally. I have just been sending tracks to the people I’ve been meeting lately, no special tricks…
I first noticed your Proton Radio show when J Phlip commented on it on Soundcloud. Do you find that you are getting lots of feedback from other DJs?
Well not lots but I’m definitely getting more feedback then before, some of it by people that I’m being influenced at the moment or have been influenced by…
Any collaborations in the pipeline?
The only collaboration I’m doing right now is with my mate Sishi Rösch, half Guatemalan half Italian and one of my best friends here in Barcelona. I help him with the parties we are doing as Digital Delight but apart from the parties its also his label. He also has another label (Sultry Vibes) which we just released a hip hop EP on, with 2 west coast tracks that I really love … so right now its the only serious collaboration I’m working on.
What’s the next project or release for 2011?
Well i got a few tracks signed by Hot Creations and No.19 so hopefully the EPs will come out this year but I have no dates on any of them still.
Miguel Puente’s latest EP West Coast Feel with Sishi Rösch came out last week – buy it on Beatport here.
Picture the scene: it’s the first warm day of the year, your limbs feel like they’re moving properly for the first time in months, and you’re walking through tree-dappled sunshine early in the morning when there’s no-one around. A suitable soundtrack to that is the icing on the cake, and it happened to me when contentedly listening to Soul Clap‘s Social Experiment 002 compilation and Benoit & Sergio‘s Principles came filtering through.
I recognised the characteristically chilled sounds from another gem that Emily and I had been enjoying earlier in the month, the equally lovely Walk and Talk, with the unforgettable vocal My Baby Takes K All Day…
Anyway, a little bit of background. Benoit Simone and Sergio Giorgini are based in Washington D.C and Berlin (who isn’t dual-homed these days?), having grown up Benoit in Paris and Sergio in Iowa, and then meeting at a party in Washington in 2008. It didn’t take them long to produce something excellent, with their first EP release in 2009: What I’ve Lost, on Bruno Pronsato’s thesongsays label. This was followed on Spectral Sound with Midnight People. They then had the honour of the launch EP (Where The Freaks, including Walk and Talk, in February this year) for the IMMENSE Visionquest label (started by none other than Seth Troxler, Shaun Reeves, Lee Curtiss and Ryan Crosson). They released pretty quickly after that on DFA, with Boy Trouble at the end of February.
Sergio’s also one half of NDF, a member of Birds & Souls, and has been releasing on Wolf + Lamb since 2007, so the pair have most definitely earnt their stripes in the dance production world.
If you want to try-before-you-buy here’s a little podcast from Benoit & Sergio on XLR8R this January. I’ve read often of these two being called ‘storytellers’ in their records, and this mix is a definite genre-journey through their likes and influences. The first two records are Principles and Walk and Talk respectively, so you can see just what I mean as you walk around in this beautiful sunshine.
Friday hangover part four; stemming from over-excitement at Minnie’s excellent disco-fuelled summer warm up set at Bungalow 8 last night; well worth the headache and hopefully the first of many this year.
The party season is well and truly upon us and unbeatable line-ups continue to pose a threat to our sleep patterns. This weekend marks the start of the build-up to the debauched long bank holidays ahead of us…
Tonight we highly recommend getting out and about in this weather to see our friends at You Again! presenting Saved wonder Jordon Peak, alongside residents Scott Cooper, Joe Roberts and Nick Trumble at The Horse & Groom. These boys throw a mean party, and one not to be missed. You can also catch Russ Yallop taking the reigns at Cargo, and over on the other side of the river, Julio Bashmore & Justin Martin keep Trouble Vision‘s flag flying high at Corsica Studios.
I should have posted this vinyl-only essential mix at the weekend, but I particularly enjoyed it this morning on a sunny walk to work. Composed ‘at 2pm on a sticky Miami afternoon at our favorite club in America, the Electric Pickle…’ Oh how we miss sticky Miami afternoons, and oh how we miss the Electric Pickle.
2009 was incredibly easy to pick a favourite record, it was without doubt the A-Trak remix of Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This year, largely due to writing this blog I think there’s been a lot of chopping and changing my allegiances between sub-genres, and so my top tracks list has to be quite long. As always, there’ve been a lot of records that have had huge associations for places like the Miami Winter Music Conference. Imagine Aeroplane playing Crave You by the pool as the sun set….
Here’s a my top 20 of 2010′s shining stars which had to be very heavily edited down from the shortlist of 45, and a mix by one of the stars of 2011 – our friend Sylvester, recorded at the Mews Sessions.
Minnie’s Top 20 2010
Flight Facilities – Crave You
Azai & III – Reckless With Your Love
Crookers – Cooler Couleur (Junkie XL remix)
Breakbot – Baby I’m Yours
Justin Martin and Ardalan – Mr Spock
Round Table Knights – Cut to the Top
Cassius – I Love You So
Chromeo – Don’t Turn The Lights On
New Young Pony Club – Chaos (Rory Phillips remix)
Groove Armada – History
Massive Attack – Paradise Circus (Gui Boratto Remix)
Tensnake – Coma Cat
Black Van – Yearning
Marcos Cabral & Shux – Lifetime Groove
Soul Clap – Extravaganza
Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know
Nicolas Jaar – El Bandido
LCD Soundsystem – Dance Yourself Clean
Blamma! Blamma! – Beyond 17
The Revenge – Night Flight
Thanks to Argentine Airdrop Records for a whole host of free loveliness today. They’ve been booking and producing greats since the label and agency were started in 2006, including launching the mighty Soul Clap (so glad to see Rock the Boat is included in the giveaway below), and we’ve had the pleasure of EPs from Sergio Santos, Tanner Ross and Franco Cinelli, as well as regular Airpod podcasts from the likes of Fritz & Lang, Crazy Larry, Martin Eyerer and Nicolas Jaar.
