Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Riga in Berlin


I'm already selecting records for the Riga Night in Berlin, which will take place at ZUR Moebelfabrik this Friday (April 25). Other DJs from Riga are Ivars Mednis, DV5 and ZeDmitri, but VJ Linards Kulless will be in charge of videos. Besides, the line-up includes the resident DJ Jackie Treehorn and a live performance by Oskar Offermann from White label. Last but no least - thanks Ivonna N. for making it happen!

In da box & playlist: March - April


Here we go again with a round-up of important/played/bought/listened tunes lately.



> The House Vectorz - We Bring U Muzik [M>O>S]

What a wonderful acid house gem! Makes me think of Larry Heard's and Mr. White's megahit The Sun Can't Compare.

> Martin Zadak - Zahara [White]

Deep and hypnotic tech-house with interesting voice samples. First I heard it in the set of Till von Sein at Space:garage. I'm looking forward meeting the guys from White label in Berlin this w-end.

> Jahcoozi - Ali McBills (Robert Johnson 6am X Ray Italo Rework) [Careless]

Well, this is not a new thing, but I've descovered this amazing remix just recently (thanks to Ewan Pearson). It's an unconventional blend of grimey dub sound, on one hand, and italo-disco, on another hand.

> Marcus Meinhardt - Jerry Lee (Marek Hemmann Remix) [Upon.You]

Marek Hemmann phunks and bleeps the original up, and the result is pleasantly rocking!

> Move D feat. Fragment - Untitled [Workshop]

Workshop 004 contains a brilliant deep and funky house cut by the legendary Move D. Excellent groove and work with vocal samples!

> Liviu Groza - Samedi Aprés-Midi EP [Minimood]

Although maybe not a dancefloor rocker exactly, all 3 tracks are subtle and beautiful.

> Holger Zilske - Bees [Playhouse]

Yes, yes, this is that famous record with artwork by our fella Dmitri Zagga. However, it's not the artwork which made me include the record in this list - both sides are excellent examples of stripped down electronic dance music with some nice chords on top. Holger definetely knows how to produce.

> Kabale Und Lauhaus - Shaved Monkey [Remote Area]

Apart from interesting sample, the A side doesn't impress me, however, there is a very fine minimal track on the flip-side: deep, dubby, yet groovy.

> Contra Communem Opinionem - Tired Feet EP [Mathematics]

Mathematics imprint is based in Chicago and is known for releasing very original house, techno and electro tracks, keeping that underground spirit alive. The latest release contains non-standard, even weird (we love weird stuff!) compositions with killing basslines and sweet melodies.

> Exercise One - Intensity [Mobilee]

Mobilee used to be one of my favorite labels in 2006, but lately their releases don't surprise me so much any more. Don't get me wrong, it is still good stuff, but somehow less extraordinary. However, the latest 12" by Excercise One is very nice. Intensity sets a vibrant drive full of unexpected twists and noises, whereas the B side is more laid-back track with a warm ambient lushness.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

La musique noire : Dark star mix


Traditionally darkness is associated with evil, perilousness and other negative and depressing things - and don't ask me why, because there is no direct reason why dark should equal negative. On the contrary, dark could be beautiful, true and deep, it can be mystic and tempting. Thus dark colours are elegant, for instance, and techno music is sombre in general. And there's nothing wrong with that.

I've completed a new mix, which was my reflection on several aspects of the current state of (minimal) techno. As you can see from the intro above, it contains the element of darkness, although just to certain extent. There are some tracks representing the trend of dubstep influenced techno - massive bass, sharp percussions, echoes, sci-fi themes... No wonder that this sound comes mostly from british producers/labels. One of the best examples is Emptyset who hails from Bristol and is involved in the dubstep scene too. However, even more accesible producers like Matt Edwards aka Radio Slave have some of such elements.

Then Leftroom's funky, bleepy and phrenetic tracks are present in the mix, as well as some darkish tunes with italo disco references from the Careless camp, and my usual companions - melodic and percussive abstractness a la Cadenza and some deeeper shades of house and techo music.

As always, the mix is accessible via Zshare for a limited period of time:

DJ Heyncha : Dark Star mix

The tracklist:

1. Jesse Rose alongside Henrik Schwarz - Stop, Look & Listen (Henrik's Version) [Front Room]
2. Alejandro Vivanco - Madre Tierra (Digital Downmix) [Cadenza]
3. Martin Zadak - Zahara [White]
4. Marc Ashken - Sock Puppet [Leftroom]
5. Matt O'Brien - Serotone (Radio Slave remix) [Rekids]
6. Minilogue - Ghost [Mule]
7. The Man Who Can - Copy And Paste [Leftroom]
8. Emptyset - Seclusion [Future Days]
9. Jahcoozi - Ali McBills (Robert Johnson 6am X Ray Italo Rework) [Careless]
10. Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonds - Can't Cheat With Concrete [Musique Risquée]
11. Gui.tar - Push In The Bush [Careless]
12. Dusty Kid - Luna [Bpitch Control]
13. Emptyset - Achupase [Future Days]
14. Claro Intelecto - Nodrex [Modern Love]
15. Jackmate - Buccaneer [Phil e]

Friday, April 18, 2008

white is white


The story goes like this. Some time ago Till von Sein had a great set at Space:Garage (as I've already mentioned that in one of my previous posts). One of the tracks he played was Zahara by Martin Zadak - it's the 2nd release on Berlin's label White. Actually I indentified it later when going through new releases on decks.de. A nice track, I thought, however I didn't realised that it's a name of an actual label, because I took it for an anonimous white label - one of those releases with a white apple and without proper information, you know.

At the same time Ivonna Neikšāne - one of our connections in Berlin - was organising two exchange parties in Riga and Berlin. While Riga is represented by FFF associates, on Berlin's side there are ZUR Moebelfabrik and White. Just when I saw who would actually play in Riga, I realised that that's the same White label which has released Zadak's track. Good surprise.

So, the bottom line is that this Friday (that's tonight) there will be a showcase of the new and promising White label at Space:Garage, and I strongly recommend seeing them.

The line-up:

LIVE: Oskar Offermann (White)
Dj’s: Tristen (White)
Kotelett (White)
Jackie Treehorn (ZMF)
Visuals: Pixelfestival (ZMF)

After a week - Friday April 25 - Riga will strike back in Berlin.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Happy birthday, Garage!


Today is the anniversary of Space:Garage club, it's becoming just a year old, but during this short span it has achieved so much. It's our own little Paradise Garage - one and truly, located in our beloved city of Riga, on the bank of the river Daugava. That's a special place connecting to the space.

On this special case there's gonna be a proper party tonight, with the man of many talents who doesn't need an introduction - DJ Koze!

It's a shame that I won't be able to be there, but I bet you'll celebrate it properly. On this occasion, I would like to express my respect to Dmitri, Kirill and all the crew - well done, guys, and keep it going! Keep in mind that there are reasons for celebration - the club was a pure success story, after all. So I shout: Happy Birthday, Mrs. Space:Garage! Priekā un uz veselību!

Labels: Leftroom & Careless


Recently these two labels have been of my particular interest.

Leftroom imprint comes from Nottingham, UK. Its sound is a sort of bleepy, funky and raw minimalism with a feel that I call "analogue" - imagine Minus gone funkier. Even if not all of their records I would play as a DJ, Leftroom's style is truly original and interesting therefore. It's releasing music from such artists as Marc Ashken, Matt Tolfrey (who's the owner of the label), [a]ppendics.shuffle, Alexi Delano & Xpansul among others.

The Berlin based Careless is another discovery for me. It goes for quite melodic, uplifting and neatly produced melange of minimal, house music and italo, a kind of Ibiza sound in a good way. Its most known project should be Gui.tar. Another highlight is the remixes for the grime/glitch-hop queen Jahcoozi, from which the dubby Ata's & Sasse's version stands out.

In brief: Till Von Sein, Bees & Berlin


Hello folks! Hope you're allright. I'm fine, thanks!

It's been some time since last writing here (as always :)). Meanwhile I've been in Riga again, where had a chance to spin at Space:Garage along with Till Von Sein and the local resident jocks. That was a hell good party, the atmosphere was vibrant and uplifting, Till's music - deep and driving. It's rare to see a proper Berlin's DJ using CDs instead of the "black beauty" or its digital sister, that is FinalScratch/Serato. Nevertheless, who cares about the medium if mixing skills are so excellent as Till's got. But as they say - it's better to hear once rather than read about that a million times, so here and here you can listen to his mix that night at the Garage (thanks NoRest for recording and hosting it!). Enjoy!

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During last month or so, I've bought a considerable amount of new records, and now hardly waiting to test them on a dancefloor. Regarding records, I'll draw up a new chart soon.

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Last week-end, when I was shopping at Dr.Vinyl record store in Brussels, I was pleasently surprised finding Holger Zilske's From Birds And Bees in the pile of records, which was kindly selected by a guy that works there. Both tracks are great, I'm telling you, but its artwork was the particular reason of my delight, because it is designed by Dmitri - a friend of mine who is running the Space:Garage club in Riga. So, it was almost like meeting him in persona.

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I'm heading to Berlin, where I will take part (behind the decks) in the Riga Night. Other DJ's from Riga are ZeDmitri (yes, that's the same guy) and Ivars Mednis. The event will be animated by our own VJ Linards Kulless, and we also expect a bunch of supporters from Riga. More or less, all these people could be associated with Space:garage/FuckForFriendship concepts, and will do our best to represent Riga and Andrejsala. The flyer and more detailed information will follow soon.

Stay tuned in!