LA MUSIQUE

Music that makes my world go round…

WHO: Lawrence a.k.a Peter M. Kersten

WHAT: hazy, abstract, deep, beat driven ambience, melancholic but never oblique.

WHERE: Germany

WHEN: 2009

WHY: “Until Then Goodbye,” follows up Kersten’s previous more techno-ey stuff created under the pseudonym “Sten.” Here he reverts back to the beautiful minimalism of older releases such as 2005’s “The Night Will Last Forever,” to provide us with the melancholic and unpredictable sounds which we have come to know and love him for.

LISTEN OUT FOR: “Grey Light” – a musical sounds-cape that beautifuly & soulfully  reflects Hamburg the “rainy city,” that Kersten calls home. A good example of the randomized chord shifts and melancholic beats that characterize Lawrence’s sound.

WHO: DJ Sprinkles a.k.a. Terre Thaemlitz

WHAT: piano splashed, authentic, deep house, loaded with social connotation

WHERE: U.S.A

WHEN: April 2009

WHY: Terre Thaemlitz whitnessed the birth of deep-house when (s)he started DJing in the gay & transsexual clubs of Manhattan in the mid 1980s.  20 years down the line the term “house,” has expanded and broadened immesurably to become decontextualised and de-sexualised. The monologues that Sprinkles lays over his(her) tracks on the album are an engrossing insight into the commercialized trajectory of the history of house music.  Sound and lyrical content combined, the album exists as a bold testament to House music untouched, in its authentic & revered state.

LISTEN OUT FOR: “Ball’r (MADONNA FREE ZONE.)” A provocative track that lyrically confronts Madonna’s commercial dissolvement of NYC’s underground Voguing culture in the 1980s.  “Brendas $20 Dilema,” great title. A tune with ethereal flow that conjures cocktails at sunset and flirtations with the dancefloor.

WHO: Virgo a.k.a Eric Lewis & Merwyn Sanders

WHAT: Deep Chicago House with luscious synths and irresistible grooves

WHERE: Chicago

WHEN: Originally released as two separate EP’s in 1989 one under the name Virgo and the other as M.E, another alias the duo record under.

WHY: Remastered and reissued this year in order to obtain some much deserved recognition – considered by many connoisseurs to be one of the best House albums ever made.

LISTEN OUT FOR: “Do You Know Who You Are?” is an obvious hit. “Ride,” and “School Hall,” are slightly darker with a techno edge.

WHO:  British producer Trus’Me with guest appearences by; Amp Fiddler, Dam Funk, Paul Randolf, Piranahead & Colin Steel (on trumpet)

WHAT: The sound is rooted in reggae, soul, disco and funk. The first half of the album is made up of covers of songs by soul singers such as Bill Withers and West Phillips and accordingly has a distinctive 70s feel about it. Trus’me then takes us on a fascinatingly organic journey and we end up in the realms of Deep House.

WHERE: Manchester

WHEN: Released December 2009 as a follow up to Trus’ Me’s seminal debut “Working Nights.”

WHY: Because “Working Nights” was so good we needed more

LISTEN OUT FOR: “Sucker For A Pretty Face,” pure funk, love it…(taken out of context sounds like it could fit in an episode of Flight Of The Conchords.)

“Sweet Mother,” a big tune, very smooth, very sexual and very summery.

WHO: Hans Peter Lindstrom and Christabelle Sandoo

WHAT: A modern take on 1980s Pop funk. This is Cosmic-disco, Psychedelic Dance with  a dash of woozy strangeness

WHERE: Norway

WHEN: “Real Life is No Cool,” was released this year as Lindstrom’s follow up to 2008’s “Where You Go I Go Too.” This is his first collaborative album with Christabelle.

WHY: Having bonded over Motown, Grace Jones and Eighties Soul, Lindstrom and Christabelle decided to see where their combined creative juices would take them…this is the beautiful result.

LISTEN OUT FOR: “Lets Practise” it screams Donna Summer, “Baby Can’t Stop,” sounds similar to the late MJ’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” and Aeroplane do a great remix. “Music (In My Mind,)” is also great, watch out for the Prins Thomas remix of this one.

Madonna-Free Zone; Malcolm did it first

I’ve had a couple of recent revelations that I would like to share.

The other day it was pointed out to me that the fruit I had believed to be a pomegramate for the twenty-four years of my existence, is actually called a pomegranate. How this passed me by for almost a quarter of a century I do not know, however until yesterday a good (and slightly older) friend of mine thought Sherlock Holmes was a historically accurate figure, which makes me feel way better. Another thing that I have discovered is that contrary to popular belief, Madonna did not invent the vogue, Malcolm McLaren did it first.

In fact neither Madonna nor Malcolm can be credited for the actual invention of the Vogue, which was born from the U.S inner city gay club scene in the late 1980s. However in 1989 Mclaren, whose previous accomplishments included shacking up with Vivienne Westwood to provide the world with Punk, released Deep in Vogue, a song that reached no.1 on the Billboard Dance Chart and whose masterfully crafted, highly stylized but understated video introduced the underground Voguing culture to the mainstream.

Madonna’s Vogue, which was released in, and reached no.1 A YEAR LATER, features an uncannily similar montage of hand gestures, body poses and movements to Deep in Vogue. Beat, baseline and general groove; it’s all a rip off. Whereas McLaren provides an uncomplicated insight into underground culture by maintaining and expressing the raw identity of the Vogue,  Madonna’s version by comparison stands as the self indulgent romp of a manufactured pop icon.

Contrary to what history has evolved to suggest,  the triangle titted Queen of pop should neither be credited for creating, nor masterminding the mainstream emergence of  the Vogue. Pop star she may be, but revolutionary, trend setting legend she is not. Well done Malcolm.

It appears that I am not the only one who Madonna has agitated with her glory stealing. On his album Midtown 120 Blues (voted no.1 dance album of 2009 by Resident Advisor) DJ Sprinkles reveals his own distain for Madonna’s underhand Voguing tactics. In his aptly titled track Ball’r (Madonna Free Zone,) Sprinkles says:

“When Madonna came out with her hit Vogue you knew it was over. She had taken a very specifically queer, transgendered, Latino and African-American phenomenon and totally erased that context with her lyrics, “It makes no difference if you’re black or white, if you’re a boy or girl.” Madonna was taking in tons of money, while the Queen who actually taught her how to Vogue sat before me in the club, strung out, depressed and broke. So if anybody requested Vogue or any other Madonna track, I told them, “No, this is a Madonna free zone! And as long as I’m DJ-ing you will not be allowed to Vogue to the decontextualized, reified, corporatlized, liberalized, neutralized, asexualized, re-genderized, pop reflection of this dancefloor’s reality!”