VOTEL-JAZZMAN-DANTE-CHERRYSTONES-DAVID HOLMES
mahssappeal
3 Posts
r, DJ, remixer, label head, film buff, butcher, baker, candlestick maker. But, regardless of the sideswiping of jealous souls with only one egg and one basket, Andy Votel does all of these things. It's important to recognize that he also does them well." Although, former Hacienda DJ and journalist John McCready did forget to mention writer, teacher, and a swell boozer. Doing all, again, quite well. So who the F is this dude, as you're probably wondering. Fair enough. Meet Andrew Shallcross, better known as Andy V.O.T.E.L, from Manchester, England. And his pursuit of 'looking for the perfect beat' began over 15 years ago, as MC, producer and vandal in his self-pinned 'Violaters Of The English Language' crew. Yes, it was hip hop at its most romantic and archetypical, until the affection started to corkscrew deeper along the fantastically mad avenue into leftfield zoo, highlighted by weekly visits to local flea markets to begin his hypnotic affair with the Vertigo swirl label, shelving the now-rarities amidst his slowly-spawning wayward cultural-cosmic variety of jazz, funk, and kraut records. Appeal turned into severe addiction of the most wonderful kind, and 15 years later manifested into a commission to mix up the vintage 70's British catalog (which includes Black Sabbath, Marsha Hunt, Colosseum, and Aphrodite's Child) --- in what became the quintessential 'hairy funk-rock party jam' Vertigo Mixed CD, and the unveiling of Votel's continuing 'mix-tape' series for Manc-based hip hop label Fat City. The highly acclaimed planetary symphonies, Music To Watch Girls Cry and Songs In the Key of Death are an edged, radically indulgent meditation and culture-genre-fuck of deliciously ill tunes, a continuous head-swimming jam of global fuzz, beats, breaks and bassisms, with the b-boy in mind. And perhaps it is the hip hop kid at the end of the crates, er, day, that embraces the diversity that music has to offer. Though it takes a genuine passion, bent, and fervor to dismantle the literal vinyl-bear-hug in the name of sharing. Andy's latest venture with his Manchester via London, Paris, and New York based B-Music vinyl-vulture collective has evolved to embrace the unholy trinity of labels specializing in the vintage-rare-beat-aesthete, music compiled from twice 'round the globe (Finders Keepers Records and Delay 68) and off kilter new-music (Twisted Nerve) along with a wacked affinity for bugged-out cinema, design and literature: encompassing all elements of offbeat counter-culture.Dante Carfagna [/b][Chicago IL / Memphix / Wax Poetics]The most prolific member of Memphix is Chicago turntablist Dante Carfagna. A relative unknown outside DJ circles, Carfagna personifies the Funk 45 phenomenon - a modern day Spider Harrison to DJ Shadow's James Brown - and those who have dug deep enough already know that he's released some of the sweetest instrumental hip hop over the past five years. Carfagna cut his teeth back in 1992, scratching and producing on a few Professor Griff solo albums after the outspoken Minister of Information was booted from Public Enemy in 1989. Carfagna's love for long forgotten funk led him to befriend Josh Davis, with whom he blew minds at Brainfreeze in 2000, and then later during the Product Placement tour. Dante Carfagna also possessed the dusty fingers behind the much acclaimed Chains and Black Exhaust compilation. While the mainstream press has spotlighted Shadow ever since he dropped Endtroducing in 1996, and deservedly so, Carfagna remains the pride of insiders, like readers of Wax Poetics, of which Carfagna is a contributing editor, and those fortunate enough to hear him spin the first Wednesday of each month at Danny's in Chicago. Precious little material was released for public consumption - just a few of the aforementioned Memphix 7's - as Carfagna spent the majority of his time digging around in crates with his fans. Carfagna spent so much time discovering lost classics that he's now considered among the most knowledgeable in the field, along with Davis and Eothan "Egon" Alapatt, who assembled and released the heralded The Funky 16 Corners compilation on his own Stones Throw imprint. Carfagna is currently working in cahoots with Davis to compile a comprehensive discography of 45's from 1965-75. No word on when the book will be completed, but Carfagna's other long-term project, his debut full-length for Memphix, has finally reached fruition. Under the moniker Express Rising, Carfagna's self-titled foray into the world of 12's (and compact discs!) is an expertly crafted, understated exercise in hip hop semantics. Like its creator, the album thrives on subtlety, patience, and an assortment of mean breaks. Cherrystones [/b][London UK / B-Music / Poptones] For Cherrystones, it is creation not curation that makes whatever he does exciting. Cherrystones 'Word' follows the trend set by his previous compilation Cherrystones 'Rocks' and 'Hidden Charms' (on David Holmes' label) with a dexterity comes from not following trends and leading, not being swayed by whatever is trendy or cool as demonstrated by his 2003 compilation Cherrystones Rocks which pre-empted a lot of things that are held in high regard now, like Hungarian psych, Turkish psych and tropicalia or tracks from Hidden Charms being used on the Ocean's Twelve soundtrack.This is a beat-digger for the heads. And yet, it is not a trainspotter guide for the record geek, the compilations flow like some random radio from planet dada. From the garage punk, French ye-ye rock, folk, psychedelia, soundtracks, Italian prog-horror-rock and the righteous kraut-rock. Duane [/b][NYC / Negroclash / Other Music]As one third and main-man guerilla protagonist for NYCs Negroclash, Duane's skills as DJ and historian has fore-fronted the movement for the New Black Anthem 30 some years later out of the New York disco and house scene: Soul Is the Message and Duane's genre-defying and game-breaking vision has made its mark across dancefloors and amongst audiences globally. Duane has thrown down alongside a mixed bag of world-class artists such as Maurice Fulton, Charlie Dark, Peanut Butter Wolf, Theo Parrish, and Andy Smith along with monthly Negroclash party guests (highlighting electronic sounds in Black music) including: Afrika Bambaataa, Mantronix, Fab 5 Freddy, Red Alert, and Larry Heard AKA Mr. Fingers amongst many others. Duane's deep-rooted vision has extended off the dancefloor and onto Marc Jacobs and Zac Posen runways, into remixes and production credits in collaborations with Animal Collective to Jennifer Lopez, and onto the salesfloor of one of the worlds greatest record shops and in the consulting world as one of the most trustworthy tastemakers in the business. These impressive affiliations are somewhat spontaneous and don't bear any real weight to the consistency, experience and innovatory style Duane emanates if anything they are the magnetic result of the vision and passion of a strong individual with a drive that naturally attracts those who possess the same. And finding power in diversity to translate into Unity --- now that is truth and progression, and wholly what Duane along with his Negroclash crew have to share, latent in those bangin tunes of course. Koushik [/b][Vermont-Toronto / Stones Throw]Accolades for 'Be With:' Koushik specializes in making that hazy, hip-hop-based downbeat sh*t that you could easily compare to contemporaries such as Four Tet (who released Koushik's first single on his Text label), RJD2, and DJ Shadow. What sets Koushik apart from the others is a beautiful '60s psych-pop element that tends to pervade throughout. It shows itself in the spacious panned strings, acoustic guitars, and harpsichords that fal
l in and out of each other; and the beats have a harder regimented classic true school hip-hop sound, that Fourtet and Prefuse tend to stray away from. But what I truly love about this record is Koushik's voice. His singing is soft and mixed way down in the center of the track, sounding like the voice choirs you'd hear on one of those old Percy Faith or 101 Guitars from the late-'60s. If you're a fan of any of the aforementioned artists, you need this record. West Coast Deities...[/b] Daedelus [/b][dublab.com]For a brief few years he been releasing records and remixes under one moniker, Daedelus, or with friends as either Adventure Time (with Frosty) or soon enough The Long Lost (with Laura Darling). The labels He has graced are; Plug Research, Ninja Tune, Mush, Eastern Developments, Laboratory Instinct, Phthalo, Merek, Big Dada, Soul Jazz, Distill, Hefty, Bit Of Heaven, Temporary Whatever, and in a more distant fashion Virgin, Stones Throw, and Warp. Nobody [/b][dublab.com]Nobody, the Pacific Drifter... A veteran of the LA underground, Nobody came up making beat tapes and pushing his product at legendary hip hop spots like Project Blowed. He eventually made his official debut with the solo album Soulmates (Ubiquity) in 2000. Around that time, he connected with a group of like-minded music connoisseurs to create Dublab, an outlet for the avant-garde in Los Angeles. In addition to two more full length albums (Pacific Drift & And Everything Else), Nobody has produced and remixed a slew of singles for artists as varied as his extensive record collection. He's also laid it down around the world as a DJ, sharing the stage with the likes of Tortoise, Prefuse 73, Lee Perry and the Mars Volta. Few cats can compare with Nobody's hip hop, jazz and psychedelic rock sound. The Gaslamp Killer[/b] [MHE / RE:UP]Willow, the Gaslamp Killa... Over the course of the last year, Willow has established a reputation for rockin' the real heads and has earned the respect of heavyweight players in the process. This nomadic West Coaster has steadily smashed the scene from San Diego to Los Angeles to San Francisco. He is a RE:UP Magazine representative and Sound In Color collaborator. Bear witness to his bugged out set and see what the buzz is all about. Kutmah[/b] [dublab.com / Sketch Book / Firecracker]Kutmah AKA Ramone Romantiko... born in Brighton, England the son of an Egyptian woman and a Scotsman. Kutmah came to the states in '88 and started playing records in '96. As a Los Angeles local, he has held down residencies at well-established institutions like Firecracker and Sketchbook, his signature event. He is also a long standing DJ of the Dublab family. Now an up and coming producer, Kutmah is set to release his first ten-inch on Poo-Bah Records. Flying Lotus[/b] [plug research]Los Angeles resident Flying Lotus brings beats with a cinematic flare: "I see these tracks as little short films that play in my head." Flying Lotus is a free spirit: "I have this beautiful lemon tree in my backyard, and on a sunny day the light shines through. Little things like that inspire me." Flying Lotus is a Coltrane: "My greatest influences are my family, I'm lucky to have been around so many accomplished musicians." And most importantly, Flying Lotus is a visionary; get ready to meet your favorite new producer.From note one, there is a feeling of something new and exciting at play here. Keyboards wobble and wiggle with mutated funk, skewed rhythms grind underneath, warped samples play hide-and-seek with the beat- in other words, that "next level shit" artists are always talking about? This is it. Haycock [/b][Ubiquity Records / Do Over]You may know Chris from the famed Do-Over party alongside Aloe Blacc and Jamie Strong, as Creative Director at Ubiquity records, or perhaps from his involvement with under the radar sound providers Jhramatic Sound. This year marks the lucky 13th as a DJ whos been holding true to his own mixture of dance floor beats and deep moods. From Afro-bombs, Brazilian boogie, Puerto Rican poppers to hip hop favorites, classic disco rockers and smoothed out soul melded with broken percussions of new, you will be exposed to a unique set each time that should leave you wondering. Celebrating another year on the LA scene, Chris previously was a main fixture in the Bay Area scene as resident to many influential events that still exist to this day, not to mention a very long list of notables hes shared the stage with in countries near and far. Jamie Strong [/b][Stones Throw / Do Over]From 1999-2005, Jamie Strong held the role of being the "Minister of Information" for acclaimed Indie Label - Ubiquity Records overseeing the Sales & Marketing. However, the start of 2006 saw Strong sport the same hat & responsibilities, but this time around for the almighty Stones Throw label which he now calls home. When he's not Ministering Information, he can be found holding it down at the summertime Do-Over jammy which he co-founded w/ Chris Haycock. Musically, his sound cannot be categorized and is best referred to as urban eclectic playing all styles and all smiles including Funk, Latin, Afro-Beat, Hip-Hop, Broken Beat, & House. Ren The Vinyl Archaeologist[/b] [True Skool]"Ren has blown up big-time with his roving club, True Skool, to become one of the Bay's foremost curators of hip-hop culture, scoring umpteen legendary artists to appear at his events... He mines his crates for crafty gems, rocking solid gold and soulful academics into mixes aimed to spark your thoughts and move your feet." - SF Guardian (2/9/05) "DJ Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist's hip-hop night, True Skool, has transformed the SF club landscape from mundane to magic as it presents the cream of international rhyme sayers and beat-slangers." - XLR8R Magazine (Oct. 2002) Cool Chris AKA the Groove Merchant[/b]Owner and keeper of the Groove Merchant record store in San Francisco on lower haight street. Chris is a DJ and crate digger extraordinaire. We often take our visiting acts on field trips to Chris's shop and they always leave clutching stacks of vinyl, getting rare gems from the man behind the counter. Chris is the digger behind the digger, dusting off records with the likes of Cut Chemist and DJ Spinna to mention a few...Azul 213 [/b][ Firecracker / Descarga / Bridges ]Straight from Boriqua Bronx, Azul has been a guest and resident at some of LA's most popular nights past and present. This local favorite ignites dance floors throughout Los Angeles on a regular. MC, DJ, Producer,and photo wizard extraordinaire.. a true veteran of the Los Angeles Music Movement, not to mention a main piece of the puzzle that keeps the world famous Firecracker party building. Behind It All...[/b] Hit + Run[/b]Screenprinted images on clothing are a familiar sight, yet the process remains a mystery to most. HIT+ RUN was conceived in 2005 by Southern California natives Mike Crivello and Brandy Flower to bring live t-shir
t screenprinting to the public. For each event, six different artists create exclusive designs that are made into silkscreens. Attendees can purchase blank shirts to customize with their own combination and placement of the images. The designs are only available during the one-night exhibitions, turning each shirt into a limited edition piece of wearable art. The Do-Over, Sonic Youth's Record Release Party, dublab's Community Record Fair, Stones Throw's Big Party at Coachella and the "Wonder-full" party in downtown L.A. have all hosted HIT+RUN events. The crew just returned from a six-city national tour sponsored by Red Stripe Beer and have big plans in the upcoming months. Don't miss your chance to collaborate with the HIT+RUN artists, and check the website for news and upcoming events. www.thehitandrun.com This month:[/b] Parliament-Funkadelic can hardly be summed up in a few sentences. Wax Poetics digs deep to trace the sprawling history of this supergroup, from its doo-wop roots to its freaked-out, drug-laden rock sessions, and finally onto the best-known (and best-selling) period of space boogie.Contents Include:[/b] Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, and Fuzzy Haskins of the Parliaments, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins, Re:Discovery, Yo Gotti, Memphis Underground, Obituary, Ed Motta, A Parliament-Funkadelic Primer, Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?, Comic Genius, The Cincinnati Connection, Trap Music, Hit Man, Bop Art, Brother from Another Planet, and Audio Heritage. B-MUSIC MANIFESTO[/b]B-Music is an independent collective of DJs, musicians, and music lovers dedicated to the obsessive and painstaking pursuit of obscure, obsolete, exquisitely obnoxious, unbelievable, underexposed and undeniably delectable discs of experimental pop music from the psyched out 60's and 70's and beyond. Centered around a global eponymous traveling club and a home base residency in Manchester UK (spearheaded by Andy Votel and Dominic Thomas) with a newfound habitat in NYC and slowly embracing all funky corners of the globe (building residencies in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris, and beyond) leaving no psychedelic pebble unturned: B-Music has evolved to embrace the triple-label aesthete of the Finders Keepers, Delay 68, and Twisted Nerve labels while representing a passionate, un-blinkered approach to the culmination of way-out sounds, bugged-out cinema, design and literature; encompassing all elements of off-kilter counter-culture.
Comments
Pretty fucking lame dude. Folks weren't really feeling anything so they switched it up to a rap show. Luckily they had a setup outside in the smoking area and dude was killing it with a psych funk set. I didn't go back inside after Chris's set. Did Dante even get to play?
No, Dante, Gerald, Holmes and other heavy hitters did not play. prefuse was like the biggest name who dropped a set.
dante blessed us with a mesmerizing four turntable throwdown and introduced the "ohio scratch" upon the masses of staggering hipsters moshing to and fro
is the "ohio scratch" performed with or by the prolific member?