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573 DJMAG.COM

LIVING & BREATHING ! DJMAG.COM

EVERYBODY IN THE PLACE! HOLD TIGHT WITH THE OLD SKOOL ORIGINALS CREDIT TO THE EDIT 50 YEARS OF CUT & PASTE RUNNING * MUSIC BACK WITH TONY HUMPHRIES * CLUBS MIDLAND’S PERFECT MIX * TECHNOLOGY tINI & HER GANG TAKE *

SHARAM BACK TO THE UNDERGROUND BATTLE OF THE DECKS! INDUSTRY-STANDARD PLAYERS GO HEAD-TO-HEAD

Charlotte ALL THE NOMINEES PROFILED!

September 2017 £4.95 £4.95 No. 573 de Witte ’s next-gen superstar VOTE NOW!

No.573 September 2017 £4.95

JULIA GOVOR, MARTIN SOLVEIG, JAY CLARKE, WALKER & ROYCE, DOC DANEEKA, BLONDES PLUS: HOUSEKEEPING, , GERD JANSON, HAUSCHKA, NOSAJ THING & MORE

cover_1.indd 1 18/08/2017 14:02 THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT WWW.AFROJACK.COM

Untitled-1 1 16/06/2017 12:40 DJMag2017_UK-1_v1.indd 1 16-06-17 10:17 CONTENTS

026 BORN IDENTITY Since adopting her real name, Charlotte de Witte has become the new face of techno. We head to Brussels to fi nd out what makes her tick...

Cover shot: MARIE WYNANTS

FEATURES 120 ELECTRIC CASTLE 119 FARR FESTIVAL 032 PART OF THE GANG! We catch up with tINI to get the low- down on all things Ibiza...

036 COOL RUNNINGS Legendary DJ, Tony Humphries, chats about his new Running Back comp...

042 TO THE EDIT 50 years deep and the edit scene is bigger than ever, DJ Mag investigates...

049 PITCH PERFECT 036 TONY HUMPHRIES Graded boss Midland chats self- acceptance and living up to the hype...

055 BACK TO THE ROOTS discusses the ever-changing industry and his own career moves...

062 EVERYBODY IN THE PLACE! We catch up with a host of hardcore legends to examine why the genre is still going strong...

071 ATYPICAL BLONDES DJ Mag discovers why Brooklyn duo Blondes aren’t your usual techno act... 062 ALTERN-8 081 TECH AWARDS The DJ Mag Tech Awards are back for another year, and the nominees are... 006 COMIN’ UP Jay Clarke, Housekeeping, Mark Reeder, Walker & Royce, Skeleton Recordings... 110 ON THE FLOOR Let It Roll revisited, Houghton raises the bar, Romania’s Electric Castle is buzzing... 141 MUSIC REVIEWS S t e f fi ,Bicep , LCD Soundstystem, Zed Bias, Lee Gamble, DJ Stingray... 166 TECH Julia Govor, Hauschka, Denon SC5000, 032 TINI 081 TECH AWARDS Radius 4 Rotary, Apogee Element...

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DJ573.Intro-Contents.indd 3 21/08/2017 17:29 DJ Magazine Ltd PO Box 71897 N1P 1HH 020 7686 6545 Pic: MARIE WYNANTS

NEXT ISSUE OUT

LIVING & BREATHING DANCE MUSIC! 28.09.17.

Editorial Editor Carl Loben [email protected]

Deputy Editor Adam Saville [email protected]

Art Editor Martin Brown [email protected]

Design Chris Royle [email protected]

Clubs Editor Ben Hindle [email protected]

Tech Editor Mick Wilson [email protected]

Fashion Editor Helene Stokes [email protected]

Albums Editor Felicity Martin [email protected]

USA Editor Sarah Polonsky [email protected]

Listings Editor Martin Guttridge-Hewitt [email protected]

Digital Digital / Ibiza Editor Charlotte Lucy Cijffers [email protected]

Deputy Digital Editor Rob McCallum [email protected]

Head Of Digital Media Simon Kelly [email protected]

Digital Media Exec Euan McGraw [email protected]

Digital Media Asst Jon Dommett [email protected]

Contributors Paul Clarke, Ben Murphy, Claire Hughes, Neil Kulkarni, Sherman, Ian McQuaid, Joe Roberts, Richard Brophy, Found Sounds, Dan Reid, Zara Wladawsky, Larry Rostant, Oli Marlow, Ben Arnold, Kristan J Caryl, Luke Pepper, Ben Osborne, Tim Stark, Kutski, Jonathan Burnip, Reiss A STAR IS BORN De Bruin, Marc Rowlands, Sunil Chauhan, Leon Clarkson, Whisky Kicks, Ashley Zlatopolsky, Our fascination with Charlotte de Witte began when she Chris Davison, Stephen Flynn, Erin Sharoni, Dani Deahl, Anna Wall, Angus Thomas Paterson, showed up to our London offices to launch our DJ Mag Kirsty Allison, Morgan Jones, Chandler Shortlidge, Emma Gillett, Sirin Kale... HQ live stream project. Shy, mild-mannered and affable — dressed in a grey t-shirt, lip-ring and tousled hair — she Advertising hypnotically laid down layer upon layer of steely metallic Sales & Marketing Director Heath Holmes [email protected] textures moodily before building into more driving, Sales Manager Chris Blackhall [email protected] slamming techno — as if lost in a trance behind the decks. Advertising Manager Iain McGoldrick [email protected] We weren’t the only ones who noticed. Engagement on our Facebook feed snowballed into the hundreds of Managerial thousands as people at home were transfixed by her Publisher James Robertson exceptional ability to dovetail muscular beats with Managing Director Martin Carvell pulsating rhythms seamlessly. Accounts Patricia Jordan [email protected] What happened next saw this correspondent hop on a Eurostar to Brussels one Wednesday to witness this local Events heroine take over Fuse, the city’s most famous club, all Head of Events Adam Saville [email protected] night long for her first ever time. Not only did she pack Events Booker Alex Donald [email protected] out the 1200-capacity club — one of Europe’s most Events Manager Alex Anderson [email protected] discerning — she gave us all an education. Joey Beltram, Perc, Dubspeeka, Recondite, Regal... this is proper, I Subscriptions thought. Dark, sinister, absorbing: a far cry from a bunch Email [email protected] of beefed-up blokes in Hawaiian shirts calling meat-and- Telephone +44 20 7684 4881 potatoes tech-house “techno”. Online subscribe.djmag.com Off the back of her biggest summer yet, which saw her hit an impressive 20 festivals already (including London’s DJ COMPETITION RULES: To enter a competition you can send your answer by post to [name of competition], DJ Magazine Ltd, PO Box 71897, London, N1P 1HH or email [email protected] to be received on or before the closing date. By sending your entry you agree to these competition rules and you confirm you are happy to receive details of future offers and promotions from DJmag. Junction 2), now is the time for Charlotte de Witte to really com ltd.The winner will be notified within 28 days of the closing date. Competitions are only open to UK residents. No employees of DJmag.com ltd. or any of its group companies or the employees of any entity which has been involved with the administration of this shine. After changing from the male-sounding Raving competition or any member of their households may enter this competition. No responsibility is accepted for entries delayed or lost in the post. of postage will not be accepted as proof of receipt. The prize is as stated and no cash alternative is available. The provider of the prize reserves the right to substitute the prize for one of equivalent value. Thrust Publishing Ltd. is not responsible George moniker to take ownership of her own name — whatsoever for any failure by a third party to provide the prize on time or at all or for any loss, damage, costs, expenses, or personal injury caused by the prize. If you have any query or complaint in relation to the prize, you should contact the provider. If you are a and as a result embrace her true musical identity — she’s winner of the competition you accept that Thrust Publishing Ltd. has the right (without additional payment or seeking permission) to use your name, address and likeness for the purpose of announcing the winner of the competition and for related promotional techno’s newest, purest star: a true icon. And our latest purposes. All entries must be received by the closing date. No purchase necessary. Details of the winning entry will be available at any time on or after the closing date by written request from DJ Magazine Ltd, PO Box 71897, London, N1P 1HH. SEND POSTAL ENTRIES TO: cover star too. (Name of Competition), DJ Magazine Ltd, PO Box 71897, London, N1P 1HH

SEND EMAIL ENTRIES TO: ADAM SAVILLE [email protected] Deputy Editor THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE THOSE OF INDIVIDUALS AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY SHARED BY DJ MAGAZINE.

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Untitled-1 1 21/08/2017 16:30 Comin’ Up Upbeat updates - all the stuff you need to know!

NEW LAW LOOKS TO CAP IBIZA TOURISM Less beds mean higher rates…

A NEW Ibiza tourism law seeks to cap the number of be payable if rules are broken. to ban drinking on planes into Ibiza, and recently beds available for international visitors to the White International authorities are perplexed on the enforced new local licensing laws on beachfront Isle. The legislation is in response to locals’ claims ruling. “It’s very strange for islands like Ibiza and venues in San José. that tourism numbers have impacted rental rates. Majorca to come up with anti-tourism laws when The proposed cap on Ibiza tourism is perhaps As tourism to the island continues to rise, partially it is vital to their economy,” said Tom Jenkins, unlikely to be upheld, however. When clubs due to terrorist fears in Egypt and Tunisia, the local chief executive of the European Tour Operators and businesses make representations to the authorities have placed a cap on tourist beds at Association. “Political parties appear to be using authorities detailing the harm this could bring to 623,624. The Times newspaper reported that this tourism to further their political agenda.” their companies, the proposed cap will surely be number will be reduced by an additional 120,000 in rescinded. the coming years. This new ruling is a continuation of ongoing Rental rates are unlikely to decrease with a cap Airbnb and HomeAway users are also affected by the legislation to curb the Spanish island’s party anyway. What Ibiza probably needs is an injection ruling. The services will soon be further regulated atmosphere. Over the last two summer seasons, of funds for affordable housing so that locals aren’t by obligatory licenses. A fi ne of up to €400,000 may authorities have adjusted decibel levels, attempted priced out of the rented sector.

FORBES has revealed its World’s Highest CALVIN HARRIS NAMED RICHEST DJ (AGAIN!) Paid DJs list with acts including Calvin Forbes reveals World’s Highest Paid DJ list for 2017... Harris, Tiesto and (once again) all making the annual ranking. The respected business magazine has been Forbes’ World’s Highest running the list since 2012, with Calvin Paid DJs list.... Harris coming in at number one for the 01. Calvin Harris ($48,500,000) fi fth year straight in 2017 with a whopping 02. Tiesto ($39,000,000) $48.5 million in earnings. 03. The Chainsmokers ($38,000,000) Dutch superstar Tiesto comes in second 04. Skrillex ($30,000,000) with a cool $39m, whilst new entry The 05. Steve Aoki ($29,500,000) Chainsmokers clock in third on $38m. From 06. Diplo ($28,500,000) there it’s the usual list of EDM headliners, 07. David Guetta ($25,000,000) including cake-lover Steve Aoki and chart- 08. Marshmello ($21,000,000) topper David Guetta, alongside crossover 09. Martin Garrix ($19,500,000) acts like Zedd and DJ Mag’s very own Top 10. Zedd ($19,000,000) 100 DJs 2016 winner Martin Garrix. According to Forbes, they tabulated each DJ’s earnings from June 2016 to June 2017 for the list, gleaning stats from Nielsen, Pollstar, Bandsintown and Songkick. The magazine also offers up some light analysis from the stats, including pointing out the obvious lack of diversity (not one woman made this year’s rankings), so check their website for more info.forbes.com

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DJ573.CominUp-CU1_start.indd 6 21/08/2017 17:02 COMIN’ UP INCOMING MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE has been announced as XOYO’s next resident (13th October to 15th December). Full line-up coming soon... KÖLSCH has revealed the third and fi nal instalment Motor City Drum Ensemble of his album series is called ‘1989’ and is out on Kompakt on 22nd September... CATZ N DOGZ have remixed the legendary soul vocals of Marlena Shaw (‘Woman Of The Ghetto’) — think St Germain ‘Rose Rouge’ — into a slamming slice of percussive house... is back on form with ‘Weak’/’Werk’, an EP via Skint/I AMSTERDAM DANCE EVENT MOVES Am Me, taken VENUES FOR 2017 from her new LP ‘Take Flight’, ADE to be held in new complex near the legendary Melkweg venue and featuring 2017’S Amsterdam Dance Event will take place at a new venue this year whilst the event’s usual home, Felix her distinctive Meritis (pictured above), is renovated. vocals and This year’s ADE — which features a week of panels, workshops, talks and club shows — will now take place at exquisitely dense the DeLaMar Theater. production... For the last 16 years, ADE’s headquarters at the much-loved Felix Meritis on Amsterdam’s Keizersgracht has GROOVE ARMADA been a key meeting-point for attendees and also hosts ADE’s world-famous panels, workshops and talks. Maya Jane Coles have dropped The new venue, DeLaMar, is ideally situated next to the Leidseplein and De Melkweg, and will also allow the ‘Keep Rock In’ on event to bring previously separately-housed events such as ADE Dance & Brands under one roof. Weapons and it’s exactly that: a massive “Having been sold out for the last seven years, plus with more delegates coming from an ever greater house weapon... ’s acid pioneer DJ number of countries — including Korea, China, Africa, India and South America — the renovation of the PIERRE has joined in the fun of HEIDI’s Felix Meritis offers us an opportunity to try a different venue,” said ADE director Richard Zijlma. Jackathon Jams with a jackin’ phat beat and “We are excited and optimistic about the new conferencing and networking possibilities that the Nieuwe there’s a TUFF CITY KIDS , which is DeLaMar Theater offers, and we’re confi dent that delegates will fi nd it a spectacular and inspiring space.” ever more acid-y than the original... KIWI’s ADE 2017 takes place from 18th October to 22nd October. More info here: amsterdam-dance-event.nl new one ‘Rabbit Hole’ is on Moda Black and it’s a chugging, soot-slathered slice of industrial with sleazy vocals from Cactus Sauna... Dutch label DIRT CREW will release a compilation of unmixed, unreleased tracks this month (25th September), featuring juicy cuts from NACHTBRAKER, Call Super PONTY MYTHON NOT LONG LEFT TO VOTE IN THE TOP and M.ONO, among others... CALL 100 DJS POLL SUPER has prepped his sophomore LP for Awards party announced for during ADE in October at AFAS Live, Houndstooth. It’s called ‘Arpo’, is out in November and, boy, is it dreamy... ARTS formerly the Heineken Music Hall boss EMMANUEL prepares to fry brains with rough-cut techno on new THERE are still two weeks left to vote in the Top 100 DJs 2017 poll. Voting closes on Wednesday album ‘ Culture’... GERRA & STONE 13th September, after which all the ballots will be counted and verifi ed and the DJ Mag team will be ready their debut album ‘Polarism’ for Leeds contacting all the DJs who’ve been voted into the Top 100 for interviews. drum & bass outlet Dispatch Recordings... The headline partner for this year’s Top 100 DJs awards is Unicef, the global children’s organisation. You Things sound very Diffrent indeed as can help Unicef, and also potentially yourself, by donating to them via the FYBE:ONE breaks 160bpm on his ‘New Soul omaze.com/top100djs link on the Top 100 voting page. By donating, you’re entered into a prize draw, Music’ EP... LONDON MODULAR ALLIANCE for which the grand prize is VIP passes for the Top 100 awards show, free ADE passes, VIP passes for the turn out electro fi ve-tracker ‘Wolves’ for Amsterdam , some DJ equipment, and lots more. By entering, you’re helping Unicef to do Gerra & Stone Hypercolour... their work around the world protecting children in danger. ’s Durkle Disco lines up the The Top 100 DJs results will be announced at our huge awards party on Wednesday 18th October during four-track ‘Dead & ADE. The show is once again taking place at the big Heineken Music Hall venue, which has recently had Bury’ EP from label a name-change and is now called AFAS Live. This is where 2017’s No.1 DJ will be crowned, and assorted stalwart UNKEY... other winners and high climbers will pick up gongs and play sets. Klockworks DJ Mag will be present in full force during ADE. As well as reporting on the panels and parties, we’ll also marks 20 releases be live-streaming some top-notch DJs from Nova Club on the 19th and 20th October, and doing a stream with a 20-track in association with headphone specialists Urbanears on Saturday 21st October. compilation... djmag.com djmag.com 007

DJ573.CominUp-CU1_start.indd 7 21/08/2017 17:02 HYPE CHARTS This month’s biggest tracks, as determined by early sales data analysis from BPTOPTRACKER. These hype cuts are predicted to smash the Beatport charts soon. Listen to the tracks at bptoptracker.com

HOUSE TECHNO DISCO

01. DARIO D'ATTIS 01. VICTOR RUIZ 01. RED AXES Sunshine People Defected Voyage Suara Sun My Sweet Sun (Fango Goes To Bollywood Remix) Permanent Vacation 02. RED AXES 02. PATRICE BAUMEL 02. TIGA Sun My Sweet Sun (Konstantin Sibold Afro Tech Mix) Permanent Vacation Sorcery Kompakt Woke Turbo Recordings 03. CORNUCOPIA 03. DENSE & PIKA 03. RED AXES Letter For Poly Tale & Tone Suki Drumcode Sun My Sweet Sun (Red Axes Alternate Version) Permanent Vacation 04. CORNUCOPIA 04. GABE AGULLO 04. RED AXES The Story Of Us Tale & Tone Interlude Hungry Koala Records Sun My Sweet Sun (Fango Goes To Bollywood Beat Mix) Permanent Vacation 05. HUXLEY 05. DENSE & PIKA 05. BROOKLYN EXPRESS Careo Moon Harbour Recordings Little Sun Drumcode Change Position (88) (Dr Packer Edit) Z Records 06. LATMUN 06. VICTOR RUIZ 06. SUPERPITCHER Groove Tool Repopulate Mars Stardust Suara Andy Hippie Dance 07. DAVID KENO, MAT.JOE 07. WILL ANDERSON, NICK O'BREE 07. SUPERPITCHER Like Us Relief Records Collapse Psymal Records Yves Hippie Dance 08. LATMUN 08. SLAM 08. RABO & SNOB Off Repopulate Mars Like This Soma Records Let You Know Whiskey Disco 09. MUSUMECI, LEHAR 09. ORKESTRATED 09. ALEX MILLS, PURPLE DISCO MACHINE Lotus Endless Sanity Darksound Recordings Where We Belong feat. Alex Mills Milk & Sugar 10. CLAUDE VONSTROKE, WILL CLARKE, SEBASTIEN V (BE) 10. NOHA 10. TERR Tiny Tambourine dirtybird Cat (Archie Hamilton Remix) Moss Co. Midnight Hotfl ush Recordings

BASS EDM TRANCE

01. 01. VICTOR RUIZ 01. , WARRIORS Biterz Never Say Die Records Dying Of The Light Suara Becoming Insane (Remix) Liquid Recordings (Spinnin) 02. RIOT TEN, RICO ACT 02. HI-LO, ALOK 02. FACTOR B, THE NOBLE SIX Rail Breaker (feat. Rico Act) Dim Mak Records Alien Technology Heldeep Records Origins FSOE 03. KATO, ZOMBOY 03. DELAYERS, SLVR 03. SKAZI Young & Dangerous Ft. Kato (EP Version) Never Say Die Records Bass Code DOORN (Spinnin) Acelera (Blastoyz Remix) Nutek Records 04. DUBLOADZ 04. WILL SPARKS, PRIYANKA CHOPRA 04. SONIC SPECIES, IMAGINE MARS Fight Music 2017 Disciple Recordings Young and Free feat. Priyanka Chopra Ultra Fly Machine Sacred Technology 05. FED-UP 05. SUPACOOKS 05. JOONAS HAHMO, K-SYSTEM Showdem Kannibalen Records Aftermath Parquet Recordings Manana Statement! 06. KRYPTOMEDIC, AKOV 06. AFFKT 06. STEPHEN KIRKWOOD Deus Ex Eatbrain Sunday Ghost ( Remix) Selador Ragdoll Kearnage Recordings 07. MINIMONSTER 07. TRILUCID 07. CHRIS METCALFE, MIKE SANDERS Rebel Forces Kawaii Records Endless Moment (Martin Roth Remix) Perspectives Digital Right Here, Right Now Grotesque 08. RENE LAVICE 08. FOX STEVENSON 08. SHUGZ Back RAM Records Arigatou Spinnin Records All Systems Go Subculture 09. FUNTCASE, DUBLOADZ 09. MORTTAGUA, GABY ENDO 09. ABOVE & BEYOND, MARTY LONGSTAFF Weapon X Disciple Recordings Urania (Danito & Athina Remix) Timeless Moment Tightrope feat. Marty Longstaff (Above & Beyond Club Mix) Anjunabeats 10. BANDLEZ 10. THROTTLE 10. BREEDER Bing Bong Firepower Records Baddest Behaviour Spinnin Records Twilo Thunder (Greg Downey Remix) Skullduggery

OFFICE PLAYLIST DJ MAG LIVE STREAM PICKS... What’s on the DJ Mag offi ce stereo? • Gerd Janson & Shan • Juju & Jordash Surrender Sis-boom-bah Regraded Dekmantel

• Ben Sun • Gerry Read Strange Roads At Night New Junk City Voyeurhythm RAMP Recordings

• AYBEE • Mount Kimbie Nexus EP Love What Survives RVD COMING UP!. • Folamour • Various Artists CATCH UP! Umami Tribute To Disc Shop Zero THE MARTINEZ Moonrise Hill Material Idle Hands BROTHERS ROGER SANCHEZ LIVE FROM THE SOCIAL FESTIVAL, MAIDSTONE LIVE FROM BOARDMASTERS • Radioslave • Mark Broom FRIDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER WATCH NOW! King EP Feel The Same LP youtube.com/DJMAGTV. youtube.com/DJMAGTV Rekids EPMmusic

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DJ573.CominUp-HypeChart.indd 8 21/08/2017 15:22 IN:MOTION SERIES - PHASE TWO -

- TICKETS ON SALE NOW -

ANDREA OLIVA / ADAM BEYER / ALAN FITZPATRICK / AVALON EMERSON / B TRAITS / BICEP[LIVE] CHRIS LORENZO / CLAPTONE / CONGO NATTY / DJ HARVEY / DUB PHIZIX & STRATEGY / FRED V & GRAFIX[LIVE] GEORGE FITZGERALD / GILLES PETERSON / / HOLY GOOF / IDA ENGBERG / / JOHN O’CALLAGHAN JULIO BASHMORE / [LIVE] / KURUPT FM / LEON VYNEHALL MEFJUS / METRONOMY [LIVE] / MK / MOUNT KIMBIE[LIVE] MY NU LENG / MANO LE TOUGH / MIND AGAINST / MONIKA KRUSE MOUNT KIMBIE[LIVE] / PAUL KALKBRENNER[LIVE] / ROMARE[LIVE] / RØDHÅD / SHY FX / STEFFI / SHADOW CHILD THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS / TQD[ROYAL-T,DJ Q,] TALE OF US / VIRGINIA / / MUCH MORE bristolinmotion.coM

Untitled-1 1 BRISTOLINMOTION.COM 21/08/2017 13:24 KILLERS This month’s promos destined to destroy the dancefl oor... Kerri Chandler ‘Checkmate’ Stone Cold Watergate KILLER NEW Jersey house demi-god Kerri Chandler returns to Watergate since dropping his memorable mix in 2014. Built of typically grand keys, jazzy organs and absorbing synth-strings, ‘Checkmate’ layers an unctuous analogue bottom-line over a chunky two-step. Rather than reinvent a wheel he created in the ‘90s though, instead he nails it like no-one else can. Cinthe strips it back on the remix, while Steve Rachmad gets techy on the fl ip, but it’s the Madhouse maestro who amazes us most here.

Austin Ato ‘Music Will Save The Day’ Futureboogie

‘MUSIC Will Save The Day’ is the latest from Austin Ato, aka Colin Bailey (Drums Of Death, Coba, Frankie Dreams). Dropped a few times by Futureboogie’s Dave Harvey in Croatia and by on Radio 1 recently, it’s the title track that’s already setting dancefl oors alight — an absolute summertime bombshell with a warm, cuddly , pulsating Balearic and a twinkling Afrobeat top-line. Magic!

Octo Octa BufoBufo ‘Adrift ’ ‘What’s That Noise?’ Honey Soundsystem Ritual Poison Records GOOGLE tells us Bufo ONE half of Genius Of Bufo is the scientifi c Time, Dorisburg, has name for the Common reworked the eerie techno of Octo Octa’s ‘Adrift’ Toad, but rather than leave you hospitalised, into a sinister cloak-and-dagger sneak into this enigmatic new producer’s particular post-apocalyptic guerrilla warfare. Cavernous poison will have you on a b-line for the nearest Fort Romeau industrial pipes meet metal-spike drum patterns dancefl oor. On offer here are three electro and weird, wild jungle noises, while the devil cuts, chock-a-block with slick, gnarly synths, ‘Emulators EP’ lurks in the details. Avalon Emerson’s ‘Furiously yet playful in their application of genre tropes, Running Back Awake Version’ meanwhile does exactly that — with percussion that edges more towards house wakes up — when it explodes into a barrage of on the title-track and smokey number ‘Spider GERD JANSON’S Running Back is on fi re this clattering hardcore… Amen to that! Fortress’, while staying traditionally punchy on month. They’re celebrating 15 years with an ‘Parasol’. Lovely jubbly! excellent Tony Humphries mix this month (see page 42) and there’s also this. Cin Cin boss Fort Romeau has a knack for dreamy Etch Tim Tama technoid disco and he’s delivered his best ‘Chemotaxis’ ‘Still Waters Run work yet with the ‘Emulators EP’. Sneaker Social Club Deep’ ‘Emu’ is big, euphoric Italo-disco with huge Self-released pads, rising laser synths and an irresistibly HOW do you like your bouncy robo-bassline. Pristinely produced breaks in the morning? THE rise of French and with a hair-raising build and drop, use Wait… in the morning? producer I Hate Models this bombshell wisely! Bit hectic, no? Not when they come in the has paved the way for a new wave of industrial Essentially an extended part to A1 (because form of Etch’s gorgeous lazy, hazy helping, techno producers who value the light just as one version is not enough!), ‘Emu II’ is ‘Chemotaxis’. Lunch and dinner are catered much as the dark. Enter Dutchman Tim Tama similarly beefy and deliciously arpeggiated, for too by muscular junglist efforts ‘What Lies with his latest EP — as the name suggests, while ‘Emu III’ is deep and lush with a steely, Beyond’ and ‘Green Park’. And there’s even a behind the serene opening to fi rst track ‘Scarlet’ harmonic Palms Trax vibe. There’s a ‘Birdy headache remedy for the next day in the delicate lies a hidden menace, as a driving beat is Bonus Beat’ too — a cool groove track with a trip-hop “revision” of his ‘Prismatic’ collab with unleashed. Things get heavier still on the other load of bongos — while digital bonus ‘Emu Third Person Lurkin. Originally out in 2014, three tracks where slamming EBM, acid and IV’ distills it down to a Nordic twist. This EP props to Sneaker Social Club for picking this up breaks are introduced to the fold, yet all with has it all — and then some. for a re-release. angelic, contrasting pads. B-e-a-utiful!

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DJ573.CominUp-Killers.indd 10 21/08/2017 17:10 HOT SEAT We throw a few curveball questions the way of... MARTIN SOLVEIG Words: JOE ROBERTS

When we speak to Martin Solveig, he’s in the middle of what he calls a “huge washing machine of a tour”. Over half-way through the third season of his My House party at Pacha Ibiza, which this year boasts A-Trak, MK, Mark Ronson, Boys Noize and Vitalic amongst its guests, he’s also just released one of the feelgood hits of the summer — ‘All Stars’, featuring Finnish singer ALMA (out now).

Following on from the huge ‘Places’, voiced by Norwegian Ina Wroldsen and guest starring model Arizona Muse in the video, which dropped at of last year, ‘All Stars’ is a similarly rousing slice of electronic pop, this time exchanging infectious melancholia for anthemic festival vibes.

Having earned a reputation for putting as much thought into his accompanying videos, ‘All Stars’ is no exception. Set against various colourful morphing backgrounds, Martin and ALMA sing, dance and interact with everyday objects, from a radish to cotton buds, like it ain’t no thing. We asked him what the hell is going on...

Some YouTubers have imagined that you gave drugs to the director before he filmed ‘All Stars’. It’s pretty surreal. What was your brief? “To cut a long story short, I’ve never done drugs. The vibe of ‘All Stars’ is very poppy, especially the top-line, and really was meant to be quite universal with its message. It’s also happy and positive, so I wanted something happy, positive and pop for the video. To me, there always has to be a twist, otherwise it’s boring. I thought who I knew who could do that, and that’s when I came up with Thomas Lélu, the French photographer and Art Director from Paris. It’s also very French, I have to apologise for this! The whole distortion, of using very common objects in a different GEMMA PARKER

context, is definitely his big thing and I thought Pic: it would fit the track really well. I’m really happy, it’s the first video that he’s directed.” at a show. Most of the time when we play it’s the but the place that I stay the most is Ibiza. I really night, so that’s how I came up with the black have my my house there, it’s not just the name of You collaborate with vocalists a lot. How does sun thing. Of course, you could also argue it’s an the party. I also live in Los Angeles and London. that process work? eclipse (laughs).” During the winter I also take some off moments. “It’s always different depending on the artist I like to go to the French or Swiss Alps and stay I collaborate with. For ‘Places’, we really Talking about the crowd being the star, your there for a few weeks, sometimes months, to worked from scratch with Ina from a very basic previous video to ‘Places’ featured the Pacha refresh and be surrounded by music, and work on instrumental loop and made a song out of it in a dancers. It also has two Spanish guys suddenly my . Then London and LA are the studio in Norway for a couple of days. Then I built just singing over the track in the middle. places that I’m in the studio with other artists. the rest of the instruments and the arrangement What’s the story? Then back in the summer I’m in Ibiza.” from this. On ‘All Stars’ I had the main theme of “The director for ‘Places’ wanted something the top-line, the vocal, and the instrumental. We extremely organic, very real. So he took a small Bob Sinclar also has a party at Pacha. Do you finished the writing and the vocal in the studio team and just followed me during my shows in two still play tennis together, like in the video with ALMA when we had the chance to meet this Ibiza, then we did the same with Arizona, the to ‘Hello’? winter in London.” main character in the video, who was on vacation “It’s difficult to align our schedules, which are on the island. He didn’t tell us much about very busy during the summer, but yes we both So you came up with the lyrics? Technically we what he was going to film or not film. It wasn’t play a lot of tennis every week. We plan to have are all stars, since that’s where the chemical really scripted, it was just some moments stolen another match soon.” building blocks of life are formed. However, from the reality of the island. And this is a real “We light up the sky like a black sun” — isn’t a moment, it was probably 6am in front of Pacha, Who is the best? black sun actually an eclipse? some guys who had been inside and obviously “I’m not sure... We have very opposite styles of “It’s a good point! My idea behind the black partied quite a lot!” play. He’s more regular, but I’m more of an attack sun was that the song was written as a festival player. I’ll update you on the result.” sing-a-long that could apply to a crowd. I always You clearly travel a lot, so where is your house? think the crowd is the bigger star than the artist “I technically live in three or four places a year,

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DJ573.CominUp-HotSeat.indd 11 14/08/2017 16:10 GET TO KNOW

JAY CLARKE FROM: ESSEX, UK

SOUNDS LIKE: REBEKAH, DVS1, MATRIXXMAN

THREE TRACKS: ‘ENTITY’, ‘DRIFT’, ‘NIGHT CITY’

NEXT GIG: KLOCKWORKS @ , LONDON — SATURDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER

LONDON’S techno scene is thriving at the moment, with enough parties that every week tough decisions must be made on where to go. Of course, all the events in the world would mean nothing without the DJs and producers to back it up, however, and Essex-born, Big Smoke-based Jay Clarke is one of the city’s fi nest. First discovering dance music through classic albums like ’s ‘’ and ‘Surrender’ by , Jay got his fi rst set of decks aged 15, and although admitting he’s usually the type to ditch a new hobby after fi ve minutes, he’s happy to say “music seems to be one of those things that actually has longevity”. After discovering techno while in college, Jay went to study in Epsom, but actually went to live far over the other side of London in Cambridge. His DJing career offi cially kicked off with a gig at local night, The Priory, “but it wasn’t until I started making music that I realised that this is the new thing that I wanted to do,” he tells DJ Mag. “I never really thought I could get anywhere with it. As a kid I used to like building crazy things, so I guess this is kind of a continuation of that — I just enjoy the process of making things.” Attention really started coming Jay’s way when he sent out a demo called ‘Entity’ — later released on his own BLACKAXON label. It wasn’t long before Jay’s ability to turn his hand to both slamming and more melodic techno had genre kingpin Ben Klock knocking at the door, and in 2016 Jay scored his fi rst release on his exclusive Klockworks imprint. “Klockworks hasn’t released a lot of music but the music it does release is of a certain quality,” says Jay. “When Ben really loves something you know about it straight away. Last time I played , Ben was closing and he played a couple of tracks I’d given him the week before, and you still act like a child when he plays them,” he laughs, “like ‘Oh my God, he’s playing my music!’ And that’s a really nice feeling because it’s so honest. Ben plays it because he likes it, not because he has to.” This year, Jay has made strides once again, being named as a new regular by London institution Fabric, and lining up his third BLACKAXON release ‘Night City’, an EP of four heady club cuts. And if we have him pegged right, Jay Clarke is still just getting started… BEN HINDLE

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of the summer, the new on the site of Enemy’ on his Friday night session on Radio 1 over HOUSEKEEPING Space run by the folks from Ushuaïa, rubbing the summer. shoulders with the likes of , Joris “Things have started to create great momentum,” FROM? LONDON, USA, SWEDEN Voorn, Luciano and Nic Fanciulli. he says. “Hopefully we can continue to do a decent job. Things are very exciting right now. SOUNDS LIKE? HOT CREATIONS, A gent with some pretty serious high society We’re being pulled in every direction.” VISIONQUEST, MOON HARBOUR connections, Jacobi has been in the hospitality Quickly moving from Mayfair to running glam and events business (and if you read the society parties at the much larger Koko in Camden (three THREE TUNES? ‘BEST FRIEND, WORST pages, as a fi nancier in the City too) for some more are confi rmed before the end of this year), ENEMY’ ‘ONE EYE’, ‘RA RUMU’ years, running the London outpost of Parisian the crew scored a residency at Ibiza’s upscale Blue club Le Baron, and latterly the owner of exclusive Marlin, also throwing memorable parties with private member’s club Tape. Now he’s focused and Jamie Jones at the Crane Hotel COMPRISING Taylor McWilliams (a Texan via New on taking Housekeeping, formed six years ago, — situated in an actual shipyard crane — at the York), Carl Waxberg (a Swede), and childhood pals up a notch, both in terms of its lavish parties Amsterdam Dance Event. Sebastian Macdonald-Hall and Jacobi Anstruther, and its burgeoning , which, as well “It’s been a dream, how well we’ve been received,” four-man collective Housekeeping have found as featuring productions from the Housekeeping he goes on. “We couldn’t be happier. I remember themselves moving from the rarifi ed confi nes of crew itself, is also bringing in tracks from the likes Taylor and I were at the opening of Ushuaïa six Mayfair to Ibiza, , , Copenhagen, of the Badin Brothers from Paris, and Newcastle’s years ago, and thinking it would be amazing to Tulum and beyond in recent years. Already this William Noble. No lesser jock than Pete Tong was play that stage one day.” As things are going, it’s year they’ve been face down at Hï most weekends found dropping Jacobi’s track ‘Best Friend, Worst not beyond the realms of possibility. BEN ARNOLD djmag.com djmag.com 013

DJ573.CominUp-GetToKnow.indd 13 14/08/2017 16:08 TAKE TEN

Sam Walker: 01. & DJ Die ‘11.55 (Roll Out Mix)’ “Holy shit, I love these types of questions cos I get to go dig into my old Walker & Royce favourites!! ’11.55’ is the fi rst drum & bass record I ever heard and it became On the eve of the release of their debut album on an instant classic for me and my friends. It was so minimal and bass-heavy and edgy-sounding, it was a turning point for me musically.” Dirtybird, off-kilter house duo Walker & Royce tell us about the tracks that helped shape them into 02. Raff N Freddy ‘Deep Progress’ (along with the rest of Sasha ‘GU Ibiza’ Disc 1) who they are today… “The second time I ever went to a club, it was Sasha and at Twilo. It changed my life forever, and this mix, particularly the fi rst few tracks, is insanely good. The whole thing was like a club-night on tape, and I keep coming back to it even now. There are too many Sasha or John Digweed mixes which I treasure to list here.”

03. Junior Boys ‘Like A Child” “We’re skipping way ahead here since in the time between when progressive got stale and when this track was released, I wasn’t really happy with where music was pushing me. I shed minimal and techno and got into rock and pop and found a ton of great stuff. Junior Boys’ spartan, effi cient, precise production and emotional songwriting was a big infl uence on my own.”

04. ‘Your Style’ “After Gavin and I started working together, he introduced me to Maceo Plex. I had already heard Maetrik tracks from when I was into techno a few years prior but this was a new sound, it was deep house but it was drenched in sex and the production was impossibly intricate. Maceo Plex makes me rethink what is possible in the studio.”

05. Eats Everything ‘Entrance Song’ “’Entrance Song’ is the perfect name for this track. It put Eats Everything on my radar, as well as Pets and, in turn, Dirtybird. I was of course already familiar with Catz n Dogz from our comp on Nurvous, and Dirtybird because of Claude VonStroke. But at this point in my music life, having distanced myself from house and techno in general, it wasn’t really what I had been paying attention to and it caught my imagination and brought me back.” Gavin Royce: 06. Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ “What can I say? I was obsessed with MJ as a child, and it started with this track. I had two different coloured Thriller jackets, an MJ record player and I dressed as him from the video three Halloweens in a row. More than just liking MJ, this song and album has stood the test of time and still holds up today. It really shaped the type of music I have always listened to and searched for — funky that you can really move to.”

07. Aly-Us ‘Follow Me’ “This song was on the radio a bunch when I was in high school, it would play during the ‘club hour’ on the hip-hop station every Friday night. To me, it embodies everything that is . The vocals are very positive and uplifting, and the music is jazzy but not too over the top, with a great arrangement. I still get the same feeling from this song that I did all those years ago, it’s amazing! It made me pay attention to house really early on.” avin Walker and Sam Royce knew each other from the New York club scene for a few years before they teamed up as production partners in 08. Justin Martin & Sammy D ‘Cats & Dogs’ 2011. One of their earliest remixes — of SAARID’s ‘Future Lately’ on “This is a pre-Dirtybird Justin Martin track, he used to do a bunch of stuff Nervous Records — was heard by the keen A&R ears of Damian with Sammy D who is now in PillowTalk. When I fi rst heard it, I thought it G was too crazy with all the strange noises and animal sounds. After a while, I Lazarus, and he immediately signed them to Crosstown Rebels for the ‘You’re Not Welcome’ EP. became obsessed with it. Justin and Sammy showed that you can make very Around the same time they released ‘Connected’ on Andre Crom’s OFF Recordings, unconventional sounds work on a dancefl oor. I think this track really helped and this became a bit of an anthem for big DJs like . Their ’Sister’ release set up what would become the Dirtybird sound. You can even check out on Jaymo & Andy George’s Moda Black was picked out by Pete Tong from BBC bossman VonStroke’s own edit of this track, it’s so good.” Radio 1 as an Essential New Tune, and then they started releasing on Claude VonStroke’s Dirtybird and ’s Relief. 09. Gino Soccio ‘Dancer’ Now they’re releasing their debut album, ‘Self Help’, on Dirtybird — and it’s a “This is one of my favourite all-time tracks. It’s a disco banger that came out triumph. Conscious of the album format, they’ve used a lot of vocals on the in 1979 but I didn’t discover it until about 2007-8 at the height of my disco long-player, chiefl y involving their NYC rapper pal Dances With White Girls. He obsession. You can hear us drop it at the end of a lot of sets, it’s a big go-to brings a -type sass to velveteen lead track ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ and also track for us. What I love about it the most is the pressure that it builds — the ‘Love & Marriage’, which could be Green Velvet ‘doing’ Tiga on a rolling blip house tension is so thick, I feel like you can touch it. It’s a hard track to get in and ditty. out of in a DJ set but it’s worth it, it always goes off and has the right vibe.” Elsewhere, bulbous basslines and boompty bizness rule the roost — from the Herbert-style micro-house cut ’Reaching’ with Sue Yenn, through a robo-funky 10. Danny Daze feat. Louisahhh ‘Your Everything’ ’Role Models’ with OnCue, and into a stripped-back, sample-tastic ‘Why Tho’. The “I think this record marked a sort of turning point in dance music. I don’t whole album has shades of a classic Classic Records release — quirky, boompty, think it was the fi rst of its kind, but it made the most impact. It also cheeky, a bit jackin’, while still doing it on the dancefl oor. It’s certain to catapult established Hot Creations as the label of the moment. We don’t play this Walker & Royce into the big league. Here are the tracks that have infl uenced sound much now, but this came at a time when house and techno was getting them most over they years… a bit boring. It set a tone for the next few years and really shook things up. Louisahhh being on there was also awesome, she is a homie and the coolest!”

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DJ573.CominUp-Take10.indd 14 14/08/2017 16:11 Untitled-4 1 18/08/2017 14:27 CHEEKY BUBBLERS Fresh acts rising to the top...

BONZAI Future R&B for right now

CASSIA O’REILLY aka Bonzai’s talents were first spotted by ‘Love$ick’ producer Mura Masa. After moving to London and singing backing vocals for singer/ NAO, she quickly moved into the limelight after her debut single ‘KBG’ caught some serious heat back in 2015. Her soulful tones and playful delivery are infectious and EPs such as ‘Lunacy’ followed with the same success. Her stage presence has led to performances at some major festivals including Wild Life, Forbidden Fruit and Spring Altitude, and a European tour supporting Flume. Her latest single ‘I Feel Alright’ is a rock -led anthem, with crunked up percussion, designed for the main stage.

SOUNDS LIKE? M.I.A., Santigold, Diplo

FOLAMOUR Daydreaming of Disco

THIS FINE French export named Folamour is head honcho of For Use Only Records; much like its name, the label stands by the vibe of ethereal house music for DJs and dreamers alike. Together with compadres Ethyene, Kaffa Crème and St Paul, he heads up the label Moonrise Hill Material, known for its glimmering feel-good house and disco. His own solo work sits in perfect harmony, with his latest EP for Defected’s Glitterbox ‘The Power and The Blessing Of Unity EP’ bringing blissful ‘70s inspired synths and retro melodies reminiscent of the legends that have already set this summer alight. This could be the future of classic disco.

SOUNDS LIKE? Dimitri From Paris, Metro Area, 6th Borough Project

HEARTLESS Modular mayhem

THE INCREASED popularity of modular synthesis over the past few years has been most noticeable through the well-established producers that’ve fallen in love with the medium: Surgeon, Mumdance, Boddika — you get the picture. But there’s a new kid on the hardware-heavy block who’s not only got himself signed to Steve Bicknell’s new 6dimensions imprint, but has the backing of names like Ben Klock, Function and Slam too. Having honed his expert ears through resident DJ, promo and sound engineer work around Cardiff, Bobby James Pike — aka Heartless — was inspired to step out of the shadows by the richly textured sounds of modular. Praise the techno gods he did! While Pike’s kicks hit like a B-2 bomber, the real winning element in his tracks is his imaginative use of warped, enveloping synth lines. Heavily layered, from sludgy bass to cutting acidic leads and subtle, bleepy earworms, together they form an enveloping mesh of sound, like being balled-up in the very mass of wires used to create them. We can’t wait for the next instalment…

SOUNDS LIKE? Karenn, Neil Landstrumm, Surgeon

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MINIMAL VIOLENCE Killer tunes

LIDA PAWLIUK and Ashlee Luk are the Canadian duo with a serious penchant for techno, getting kudos across the globe for their dusty drum-laden beats and high energy live shows. They are currently riding the vinyl stacks with releases on 1080pm, USA’s Jungle Gym, Ireland’s First Second and a sterling remix of Space Dimension Controller on the legendary R&S. Their latest EP on Lobster Theremin includes ‘HMV 94’, taking inspiration from the 90’s rave and breakbeat era, while ‘Acid Lakes’ stays true to its name with a subtle Roland 303 bassline weaving throughout. Classic sounding synths, low-fi drums and high rolling BPMs are the order of the day and we’re hooked.

SOUNDS LIKE? Palms Trax, Juju & Jordash, DJ Zozi

JAMES WELSH Go west!

SUCCESSFUL in his attempt to obscure fl edgling releases by adopting the alias Kamera in 2015, James Welsh debuted on Erol Alkan’s Phantasy Sound with the simply stunning ‘ARC’ EP. Having truly found his own sound using that name, he has now stepped out of the shadows to continue work for the label using his own. An analogue chameleon referencing rave and Artifi cial Intelligence-era Warp, his productions range from degraded four-four techno to blissed out . April 2017’s ‘Standing’/’Slip’ was truly a game of two halves, a lo-fi take on bleep techno backed with his most Aphex-esque outing to date. New release ‘Thread’/’North’ is even better. On the former an ominous techno track suddenly erupts into Welsh’s singular take on Hi-NRG, the latter sounds like a reverb-drenched shoegaze remix of Boards Of Canada. Vital and very exciting.

SOUNDS LIKE? Claro Intelecto, Telefon Tel Aviv, Chris & Cosey

KAREN GWYER Intelligent design

MICHIGAN-BORN but based in London for over a decade, Karen Gwyer has carved a space all of her own within . Early releases via the capital’s own No Pain In Pop label saw her hover in the misty wastes between ambient electronica and leftfi eld techno, playing with oddball beat patterns and dense soundscapes. Gwyer’s latest effort — her debut LP for Don’t Be Afraid (and second overall), ‘Rembo’ — fi nds her trending further towards the dancefl oor, composed primarily of hypnotic cuts with solid percussive backbones. The album combines elements of prog, electro and dusty techno, with harder drumwork in tracks such as ‘The Workers Are On Strike’ and ‘He’s Been Teaching Me To Drive’ offset by twinkling, dreamlike atmospherics. Gwyer’s talent for building heady, evolving rollers stems from her live performances, during which she’ll develop productions over the course of several shows. As such, whether it’s in the club or on record, Karen Gwyer is an essential pick for any discerning muso!

SOUNDS LIKE? Call Super, MGUN, Bruce

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MAKCIM Makcim-um minimal tech

MAKCIM IS the Moscow-born, Amsterdam-based DJ/producer making classy stripped-back tech-house which has seen release on labels including Apollonia, Lazare Hoche and Raum…Musik. A regular at Berlin’s Club der Visionaere, Hoppetosse and Arena club, this year has seen him spin at Slapfunk’s afterhours party in Amsterdam, and land a spot at the planned Fuse London x VBX showcase at London’s Village Underground in September. Real name Makcim Donskoi, he regularly works alongside studio partner Levi Verspeek as Makcim & Levi, who together were responsible for ‘1055ML’, which has been simply huge this summer. ‘Blorpflap’, from the pair’s recent release on the VBX label, is a perfect summation of what the duo can do too — floor-focused tech that’s fast becoming a favourite of discerning selectors on the minimal circuit.

SOUNDS LIKE? Diego Krause, Lazare Hoche, Brawther

RAXON Raxon, rax off

HAVING CONQUERED the less recognised rave area just to the east of the Mediterranean, in his move to Barcelona Egyptian born DJ/producer Raxon now seems intent on taking on the region to the west. Short of 10 years into his career it’s a bold move, but no less bold than his initial decision to quit architecture in pursuit of this dream. A statement of both intent and a growing proficiency, his productions have sonically shifted up in gear of late. Recent remixes of Noir & Olivier Giacomotto’s ‘Reste’ and, perhaps even better, Oliver Huntemann’s ‘Rotlicht’ have confidently reined in the originals’ exuberance, following instead a darker, full-bodied approach. New EP ‘Delta’ on Gardens Of God’s ‘Sodai’ is a confident shift again, into uncompromising, Chicago-tinged techno.

SOUNDS LIKE? Maceo Plex, Tale Of Us, Solomun

EARL GREY Bow down to the Earl

FOLLOWING A few years dropping on a plethora of releases across the likes of Subtle Audio, Plush Recordings and Heresy Beats, beatmaker Earl Grey found a home on Inperspective Records last year with a two-track 12”, titled ‘Dorsiflexion’/‘Karmic Sprain’. For 2017, Grey is back with his debut album ‘Headwinds’ — his most defining work to date. Building upon the percussion-heavy style laid down in previous efforts, the LP showcases just how exquisite Grey’s drumwork can be. Harnessing the energy of organic-sounding beats, arranged in intricate, rolling but madcap formations, and contrasted by floaty pads, Grey weaves order out of chaos, creating tracks that are both intriguing and sublime. With the album offering hard Amenist slammers and chin-stroking drum workouts, plus featuring a number of skits at different tempos, Grey’s versatility and raw talent is impossible to deny — get to know him ASAP!

SOUNDS LIKE? , LTJ Bukem,

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WWW.EDENIBIZA.COM @EDEN_IBIZA EDEN_IBIZA /EDENIBIZAOFFICIAL

Untitled-1 1 21/08/2017 13:23 Delia Derbyshire

GAME CHANGER Seminal cuts that altered dance music forever

Art Of Noise made one of the fi rst proper sample-based hits and helped introduce industrial sounds to pop music. So they owed their existence to prog rockers Yes, ‘80s pop act , and manager Malcolm Mclaren?

For any band — let alone one that never really “The story goes that myself, JJ and Ann were existed — Art Of Noise achieved more than all in Trevor’s posse. He had a band called The their fair share of game changers. Buggles that had run its course. It was a studio They were a “virtual” band before , band that allowed Trevor to experiment. So pioneered multiple remixes on 12-inch before when that fi nished he’d lost his studio toys.” house and techno, and used samples to create chart hits while everyone else was still working FAIRLIGHT out why samplers existed. Gary and Trevor were working on Yes’s ‘90125’ Consisting of producer , pianist LP, and at the end of the session there was Ann Dudley, journalist , and two an unfi nished track. After the band left, founding members, Gary Langen and JJ Gary played the drums back. “They sounded Jeczalik, the band, surreally, began life as a absolutely incredible,” he says. “They were just discarded drum track recorded by prog rockers too good to leave.” Yes... So after buying the drum track, he moved onto When DJ Mag catches up with Gary and JJ, other jobs. “We ended up at SARM West (Trevor ART OF NOISE they’re as busy as ever in the studio. We’re Horn’s newly acquired studio), and they had ‘BEAT BOX’/’CLOSE (TO THE EDIT)’ here to talk about ‘Beat Box’, the track which just bought a Fairlight.” mutated into ‘Close To The Edit’. A release that, Introduced in 1979, the Fairlight was the fi rst (ZTT, 1983) like Soulsonic Force and ‘Planet Rock’, is up screen-equipped digital sampler. “It was early there in the early days of electro. days, so we were fooling around with it and in Naturally our fi rst question is whether it all the back of my mind there was the Yes drum really started with a discarded drum track. track. So when we got to the end one day “It’s completely true,” Gary affi rms. “It came and had a bit of time left, I asked JJ to stick from something was playing and Yes around. were never going to use. So we took the beats “I said I wanted to put the drum track into and paid him a session fee. the Fairlight. JJ said it had only been used for

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doing snare and kick-drums so far, and I said: Art Of Noise. There were lots of cross references the media. “Paul suggested ‘Art Of Noises’ as a ‘Exactly, let’s make a mono mix of the whole kit between ‘Buffalo Girls’ and Art Of Noise,” says name,” says Gary. “So JJ said ‘Let’s just drop the and see what happens!’” Gary. “I learned to distinguish between ‘can’t’ ‘s’ at the end’. And that’s how we became Art Of Crunching the whole drum-kit into a size its and ‘won’t’ from Malcolm. Most people say ‘You Noise.” memory could handle, the Fairlight turned the can’t do that’, but they mean they ‘Won’t do drum sounds into a fully fl edged proto-electro that’,” Gary continues. “So we were like, ‘Why ART OF NAMES break. can’t you have industrial sounds against a drum The name Morley had chosen couldn’t have “It only gave us half a bar that we could use. But sound?’” been more appropriate. It was taken from Luigi that was one-and-a-half seconds — in those days Russolo’s 1913 polemic, ‘A Manifesto For An Art a feat in itself! It gave us something we could cut With their fi rst track complete, they mixed a Of Noises’, in which Russolo predicted music in and paste — in other words, loop!” says Gary, the demo onto cassette. “A week later I was driving the future would sound like machines. excitement still audible in his voice. with Trevor on the way to master ‘Buffalo Girls’. Apart from Paul, the band had little previous “Back in the early 1980s there was nothing Trevor was looking down, so I asked him what knowledge of Russolo or any other artist using else like it. It was like fl ying to the moon — a the matter was. He said he’d lost The Buggles. So tape loops and making industrial or electronic computer that could record, cut, copy and paste. I told him I had a confession to make, and told music. You couldn’t ever do that before.” him about JJ and me staying behind and making “Personally I wasn’t aware of Russolo,” confi rms “For me, being able to assign a start point was a a track. Rather than rebuking Gary, Trevor said: JJ, “but I was aware of Steve Reich — that style of major thing,” says JJ, taking up the story. ‘Come on then, play it to me’. music. I’d been to see Kraftwerk when they were “Reversing and choosing where to start the “So I got the cassette and played it and he said on at the Hammersmith Odeon, but the next week playback was big. Being able to see a sample ‘That’s amazing’,” recalls Gary. Horn was so I went to see Weather Report, the -fusion on screen meant you could play the middle of impressed he asked to keep the tape — at the combo. Both were interesting to me musically, a sound, and turn it around. So with our track time the only copy. “This was on Thursday and but that was it.” ‘Paranoid’, for example, I selected a random bit on Friday he gave it to Chris Blackwell,” the And, as Gary explains, it was diffi cult to pin any of a sound, spun the middle around and ended up legendary head of . guiding principles on Art Of Noise. “The band was with ‘paranor-ma-ma’.” At this point, Trevor was just starting his own so eclectic. You had me as producer/engineer. JJ It sounds rudimentary now, but then it was a label, ZTT, and Island Records had agreed to was a programmer, Ann was a classically trained gateway to unknown possibilities. “The Fairlight’s distribute it — an unsurprising choice given The pianist...” visual representation of audio sounds was Buggles had delivered Island its fi rst UK number revolutionary and marked a step-change. The one single. But by adopting the name the band had taken Fairlight’s graphic display gave you a pretty good “Trevor wasn’t sure if it was a piece of genius or on an identity, and assumed the appearance of idea of what was going on in the guts of the a load of rubbish. So he gave it to Blackwell and a unifi ed entity. Ironically, this also gave them a machine.” Blackwell took it to New York, because he was front that allowed them to remain anonymous, “And JJ had these car noises — of a car starting playing a couple of clubs that weekend,” says while also turning anonymity into a stage act, — so we added those into the Fairlight,” chips in Gary. long before Gorillaz and various techno artists Gary. This was a risk, as it was still the only copy. But do today. JJ’s industrial sounds were also a chance by- Blackwell wanted to see the reaction in New York “It wasn’t a thought-out thing, it was product from another bit of kit. “I’d go about with clubs. “He played the track straight from the desperation,” jokes JJ. “We looked around the a little Walkman that had a pair of microphones cassette,” he adds. “It was at Danceteria, Lime room and thought ‘None of us are going to be in on it — which sounded incredible. Anything I Light or Milk Bar... the big clubs at the time. At the photographs’.” heard and liked, I recorded. any rate, it went down well. He came back from “Again, it was wanting to be the fi rst. No one “It amused me when I later read that Keith New York and within days Art Of Noise was the had really done the anonymous thing before,” Richards had got the guitar riff for ‘Satisfaction’ fi rst act signed to ZTT.” says Gary. “Everyone else wanted to be seen. So by playing it through a cassette player. We were we thought we’d make ourselves unseen to be reversing that. Using the cassette player as an As well as signing them, Trevor made them his different. You have to remember that none of us instrument. It did its own thing and had this new studio band and began bringing in other had ever thought about being an artist and this magic processor. So it wasn’t at all pure, and members. “It was Trevor’s idea that we needed all came out of a mistake — doing a demo and added effects onto everything.” a melody on top,” explains Gary. “So he phoned playing it to someone who wanted a studio band Ann and said, ‘You have to come down and help again.” Via the Fairlight and a Walkman, Gary and JJ these two out’. She came and put melodies over “It all revolves around the end-product for me,” were taking electronic music into a new era. Not the top of these mad rhythm tracks. And she did adds JJ. “We were doing so many diverse things that either of them knew it — they were simply it fi rst take. She’s a genius. There isn’t another and people would say ‘What is it?’. And we would responding to the limits of their equipment. Ann on this planet.” say, ‘It is what it is’. It was just Art Of Noise.” “It became very apparent to me that the Fairlight While Ann layered musicality onto Art Of Noise, was not good at recording instruments,” says JJ. the fi nal element in the band’s line-up had little •Art Of Noise’s China Records catalogue “In fact, it was pretty bad. I recorded a trombone to do with sound. In an unusual step, Trevor is currently being re-released by Warner, with Paul McCartney and he started playing invited his journalist friend, Paul Morley, to give beginning with a deluxe edition of ‘IN VISIBLE chords on it. It sounded terrible. the band a name and identity they could take to SILENCE’ — in shops now. “Paul said, ‘Well that didn’t sound like a horn section’ and I said ‘No, that’s because it’s not a horn section’. And it was at that moment I realised there’s no point in trying to record instruments. The point was to do things you couldn’t do any other way. That was when I started getting other interesting sounds. It was all Paul McCartney’s fault,” laughs JJ, “most things are... “So we started doing what worked and avoiding what didn’t work. People spent sessions trying to make a guitar sound. It was clear that it wasn’t going to work. That wasn’t what it was good at. But the Fairlight was our lead-singer.” CAN’T COOK, WON’T COOK The following factor that infl uenced JJ and Gary was working on Malcolm Mclaren’s ‘Buffalo Girls’. “If we hadn’t been doing Malcolm’s album, we wouldn’t have pushed our brains and started the djmag.com djmag.com 021

DJ573.CominUp-Game Changer.indd 21 14/08/2017 16:06 OFF THE FLOOR Books, art, movies, etc... Words: KIRSTY ALLISON Tear down the walls Off The Floor chats to culture vulture MARK REEDER, the Manchester-born Berlin resident who documented 1980s Berlin — before the fall of The Wall The Tube - Berlin Special with Muriel Grey, 1983 — with the B-Movie film, and is With leader of the new New Order, now in production of his new documentary, E-Movie...

MARK REEDER is one of the unsung war heroes of New Order, a pioneer of trance, and is partly responsible for pulling down the with the power of music — if you stretch your B-Movie still - performing in imagination somewhat. The military uniform East Berlin, fetishist introduced Bernard Sumner to the 1988 sounds that created 'Blue Monday' when working as ' rep in Berlin, starting over there as promoter of in the late '70s. He’s lived there, on the whole, ever since. Putting on gigs in East Berlin churches when The Wall was still up, he also fed the pirate radio stations with music which encouraged East German to demand the right to get to record shops. Once The Wall was down, bored by techno and wanting a more emotional sound, he helped pioneer trance, launching the career of in the process. More recently, he did parties all over the world with Corvin Dalek, Wet N Wild, bringing sex back into a scene overtaken by consumer behaviour. He created the B-Movie film, which is now on the German school curriculum, explaining the essential role of subculture in Berlin from 1989-1999. Now, he is in production of E-Movie, which — as you may imagine — has a more euphoric vibe...

Mark, tells us about your new album, 'Mauderstadt'... “It means Walled City — the idea was that we’re back in times of division. After the Berlin Wall of “Berlin was pretty dark and grim. the '60s to the '80s causing so much division, Kurfürstendamm was glitz with all these glossy Trump’s putting a wall up. Imminent nuclear shops, but the rest of it was crumbling, and holocaust is a topic again, it’s unnerving. bullet-riddled — winter-times were grey, with “The album started off as a collaboration, with outside toilets. It was coal oven heaters and Echoes, and Queens Of Hearts — and I met this outside heaters, and people would go to clubs band called the KGB, who are from and and bars cos it was warm there, you didn’t want to live here, and a few from Manchester that Dave West meets East lug two bags of coal up two floors to your flat, so Haslam introduced me to. I did two New Order everyone went to clubs and bars, to meet people, tracks for the album, and Inspiral Carpets, and the message trip home, and get these huge guys and take drugs — it was all free.” a girl from Sweden, it wasn’t a concept album, crying. It’s very orchestratal, and it became the it became that later… I work with the new New idea for these concerts at the Sydney Opera House The drugs were free? Order, I remixed 'Singularity', and they used that we did last year — it was born from the mix of “I bake biscuits, and stuff, give them away for B-Movie as their video for that song.” 'The Game'. They said, 'We’ll do that as a special free... we all hung around the same places.” in Australia', I was just going to do one song, but What’s the other New Order track? as I had a chamber orchestra, I thought we might So you promoted gigs over in East Berlin? “'The Game' — I thought it was a bit cluttered as well do the entire set, so that was born from “No, no, no, no, no. I arranged a concert in East on their album, and the message didn’t come that. And this recent Manchester festival was an Berlin, and no-one would lend the synthesiser through, but it’s poignant. When I’ve played my extension of that — instead of an orchestra, we — if our gig got raided, they’d confiscate the remix out, I’ve had people cry on the dancefloor had 12 synths...” gear. So I was sound engineer to Die Toten — it’s not really a dance-y track, it doesn’t have a Hosen, which used and drums, so one pounding groove, you can listen to it like a song. We’ve all got to listen to that one, then. You’re guy — who later became Rammstein — lent us an Even the bouncers in China. Ex-convicts. Big guys. always in the present, but you’ve got legacy amp, and it all went through that. It was a secret Chinese people like the emotional stuff, and my — 1978 rep for Factory Records in Berlin, after gig — not like waiting for Prince to arrive with music’s like that, it’s all a bit up and down, and having a band with , the Frantic an entourage, this was covert operations, we I play it at the end of my sets usually, to make Elevators. What was Berlin like then? invited 30 people only, and I said to my friends,

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was taking drugs, no-one different, it was a revelation. It wasn’t like Sound could be bothered to that you see in Christiane F. where they play take a big camera into Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, — in a club like that. You’d Metropole they played totally underground music, take a camera to a gig, and after Ian [Curtis] died, I took Bernard, and or to film on the street, that was what I said to Bernard — 'You should but you wouldn’t take it be doing music like this'. That was what led to to this place, that’s for 'Tempation', and eventually 'Blue Monday'... sure. There are no photos. There were no selfies. •Part Two of this amazing insight into Berlin And Super-8 film was too and the world of Mark Reeder will run next expensive — lug around month. the camera all night not to take footage, you go there to dance and take drugs, The Tube - Berlin Special and that was it. There with Muriel Grey, 1983 was nothing like that in With leader of the new New Order, 'We’ll go to prison if we get caught', so we said, Manchester, I don’t think there was anything like Bernard Sumner 'Let’s risk it'. Five years later we did another that even in London, it was '78, '79, and it was gig, also in a church — they were like protective bubbles. I thought it happened every week, using the churches, but they didn’t, punks didn’t MOON DOGS understand, and throughout the whole of East all these punks started using churches Although not strictly an electronic artist, for gigs after that first one. Anton Newcombe is a rare innovator — if you’ve “Y’know, there was only one religion in East never seen DIG!, it’s this editor’s fave rock doc Berlin, and that was communism. In evvvvver. In some fluke of the gods, or perhaps they tolerated churches, not like Romania where the sway of writers Irvine Welsh and Dean they put padlocks on the doors. The concert we Cavanagh, he’s ended up working with a tri-celt production about innocence, and the loss of it. did later, in 1988, was disguised as a concert Directed by Philip John, who worked on 2007’s Wedding Belles, and written by a pair of Glaswegian for starving Romanian orphans, and we invited writers, Derek Boyle and Raymond Friel, MOON DOGS is released on the 1st of September. It’s a 30 people, and about 600 kids turned up — and story about two step-brothers, and a wild-child. It features several rites of passage, with piercings, that’s what you see in B-Movie, in the garden, escapes on boats, motorbikes and lorries, and stars Irvine Welsh’s wonderful long-time muse, yeah? Because by that time I’d befriended an Tam Dean Burn, and the very adaptable face of Tara Lee as the sexually unapologetic bringer American soldier who was allowed to drive of experience. Using the Shetland Islands as the face of restricted innocence, with a real wild through West to East, and we smuggled the undercurrent, and the target of as the place for freeform depravity, it’s a gentle but kinda guitars in and a video camera.” gross and contemporary road trip of vengeance.

So, tell us more about the role of pirate radio? “The main radio DJ was , without a doubt, his radio show was listened to by Eastern ALSO THIS MONTH: Europe, so they could listen clandestinely to the Eureka Entertainment release the most famous German film of BBC World Service on medium wave — but the all time — Fritz Lang’s silent, sci-fi masterpiece, METROPOLIS ones in Berlin had two shows a week; John Peel’s — as a boxset this September. Described by Luis Buñuel as show on British Forces’ Radio, and the one on “a captivating symphony of movement”, its depiction of a the British World Service in Berlin. They recorded dystopian future puts the simplicity of Mad Max’s Fury Road to every show John Peel did, on the tape recorders, shame. It features Giorgio Moroder’s 1984 re-imagining, and and in a sense it was the driving force to the fall the original 2001 restoration that was considered the definitive of the Berlin Wall because people wanted to buy version of the film before the discovery of additional footage the records they heard on the John Peel show, it which brought the film significantly closer to Lang’s original was the precursor. vision. “My friend Monika Dietl had a show, and I’ve known her since the 1980s, when I was asked to promote Joy Division’s first record, 'An Ideal For Living'. They’d just released the 12-inch, and INCOMING... If you never saw the 1996 Basquiat movie there were a few people worthy of having this — try to. Tying in with the opening of the UK’s first landmark Jean-Michel record, and she was the only one who responded Basquiat exhibition at the Barbican (which opens on the 21st September), to me, and I kept in touch. She had a show on Warhol’s fave street artist has inspired a heap of wraparound events, notably SFB, which means Radio Free Berlin, and I was the nitroBEAT Pit Party in the Suckerpunch Boom Suite on the 30th of into dance music, and the one thing we don’t September, with a wide programme of performers working with all kinds of live have in B-Movie is the dance music thing, and free-psych-jazz-hop. Director Diane Morgan curates an evening that celebrates that’s only because no-one filmed anything, freedom of expression through contemporary black culture, cross-fertilisation, right? Like there was the Metropole discotecque, liberation and inclusivity... off Nordenplatz, in this big old theatre, centre Also booking at the Barbican for December is Unsound Dislocations, of the Jewish community, which then became a presenting avant-garde electronica. There’s also the Jane Birkin-curated cinema in the '60s, then the biggest gay disco in Gainsbourg Symphonic event, which looks pretty hip... Europe, and I went every weekend. It wasn’t like Meanwhile, one of London’s most radical artspaces, the Red Gallery, is trialling Jacob Thompson-Bell Tina Charles, it was American, very underground a Bladerunner-inspired video bar from October. Gotta see it to believe it... disco music, and it Another London festival at the forefront of bleeps and emo-soundscapes is was like nothing else Leigh Bit-Phlanx’s 22rpm on October 7th at the beautiful St John’s Bethnal in Europe. I was like, Green. Valgeir Sigurðsson, BOLA, Ash Koosha, Coppe, Scanner, Ulrich 'I’ve got to get Bernard Schnauss, Plaid, B12, Digitonal and Derek Piotr are all involved... to see this' — it was Outside of London, Off The Floor recommends Jacob Thompson-Bell’s tour different, and no-one of new music for keyboard/piano, with visuals that get adapted to each filmed, or took a performance space “in response to the venue architecture and instruments camera. they have available. So it’s something that evolves each time.” Dates in “Everyone was Manchester, Leeds, Brighton, London and more. jacobthompsonbell.com dancing, everyone djmag.com djmag.com 023

DJ573.CominUp-OffTheFloor.indd 23 21/08/2017 17:26 VITAL LABEL

SKELETON RECORDINGS

DJ MONITA Q&A How did Skeleton Recordings come about? “In 1992, a good friend of mine introduced me to a guy who had a little studio setup. I took some vinyl and CDs around there for a ORIGINALLY launched by DJ Monita back in 1992 edge of jungle, with releases from some of the couple of sessions and ended up producing with two-tracker ‘Luv Ta Luv Ya’/’System Crashed’ modern scene’s most hyped producers, such as Tim ‘System Crashed’ [and] ‘Luv Ta Luv Ya’. I (produced under the moniker Skeleton Krew), Reaper, Ricky Force and Sicknote. decided to enquire about getting a small Skeleton Recordings spent the early ‘90s dropping run of vinyl pressed, initially as a white a fl urry of singles and EPs from the likes of K-Rox, September marks the beginning of Skeleton’s 25th label, but then had a change of mind and DJ Exodus and DJ Monk. Monita bowed out to raise anniversary celebrations, as the fi rst in a series decided to put a name to it.” his family in ‘94, putting out a few more records via of fi ve compilation vinyls hits the shelves. The Moving Shadow under the alias Current Affairs — a ‘Skeleton XXV Project’ brings together 20 tracks What does it sound like? joint project with Dom & Roland — throughout the in a stylised package that’ll be a must-have for “Skeleton isn’t all about Amens. The sound decade. collectors and headz alike. With a return to the club I like to play is quite hard, industrial and circuit also making the imprint’s presence felt once dark, but it doesn’t have to be heavy all the It wasn’t until 2014 that he revived the label with again in the wider world, Skeleton Recordings has time.” a series of remixes of Skeleton classics, and since well-and-truly risen from the dead to take drum & then the imprint has been fi xed fi rmly at the cutting bass by storm… Who have you released? “Since the relaunch in 2014, I have had releases from some very highly respected GIMME 5 producers in our scene. These include Steve C & DJ Monita early version in the car on the mSdoS, Coolhand Flex, Threshold, Tim ‘The Razors Edge (mSdoS 2014 way home from Threshold’s and Reaper, Sicknote, Future and Ricky Force.” Re-Work)’ straight away the hair on my “One of my favourite releases arms stood up.” Who’s playing it? that I originally produced. “The releases are played on a lot of stations If it wasn’t for Danny Bukem Tim Reaper by the likes of Trax and Djinn. A few of letting me know there was this ‘Lake Volta’ the bigger names that have really been ‘unoffi cial’ remix done by mSdoS “Tim Reaper is one of the fi rst supporting are Bailey, Ray Keith and then I don’t think Skeleton guys that I started to chat Storm.” would’ve been re-launched.” online to when I got back into the scene. ‘Lake Volta’ Proudest Skeleton moment? DJ Monita is something else. The tribal “There’s been many good moments for me, ‘Nightmares 2014 (Ricky Force sounding drums, the half- but I think at the moment I’m probably Remix)’ time feel, the perfect vibe and the proudest that I’ve ever been with it “‘Nightmares’ was my fi rst mixdown. I’ve heard this really all. I’ve put a lot of hours and hard work in credited solo work and to get damage some dancefl oors.” over the past three years and now everyday Ricky to actually want to put his I’m getting messages of support from fans touch to it was an honour. I’m Future of the label, which really does make it all debating whether or not to do a ‘Time & Space’ worthwhile.” little vinyl run of this, as it only “Gary is someone who I’ve ever got a digital release.” only recently got to know, but What’s next? we used to play on the same “Next up is a big project that I’ve been Threshold pirate station, Trance FM, back working in for the past 12 months, the ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’ in ’92/’93. This track was a ‘Skeleton XXV Project’. Twenty tracks on fi ve “One of my all time best must have when I fi rst heard vinyl releases. The covers of the fi rst four Skeleton tracks. Everything it. A proper roller with a nice volumes will make up a nice bit of artwork about it is just perfect. I breakdown and a serious second when all pieced together (like the Moving remember fi rst hearing the drop!” Shadow ‘2on1’ series), and the fi nal volume is a picture disc.”

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