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2010-05-26T13:16:00.004+01:00

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Happy Friday!

2010-04-30T18:24:00.004+01:00

The release date of our man James Holden's eagerly anticipated DJ Kicks compilation is slowly edging closer - perhaps painfully so as far as all of you real fanatics are concerned. We feel your pain.

But thankfully those good folk over at !K7 are here to help, by offering up the mp3 of Mr Holden's exclusive new DJ Kicks track Triangle Folds for free download to tide you over until the dramatic unveiling of the full mix CD. Simply click here: Happy Friday indeed!

Vinyl junkies need not feel left out, for the 'Triangle Folds' exclusive track (and bonus Holden-special alternative mix) will also see a proper vinyl release on May 24th alongside the full mix album, which you can pre-order here now. Just over 3 weeks to go!

Formula 1

2010-04-28T16:24:00.005+01:00

Any Londoners at a loose end next Friday would do well to drop in on new monthly club night Formula, kicking off at 10pm at a venue calling itself The Islington Metal Works at 7 Torrens Street - which seems to be a beloved place known better to me as the Electrowerkz going under another name (fellow golden oldies may remember Hooj Choons' amazing Elements parties that were the highlight of our clubbing calendar when we first moved to London). The rough-around-the-edges venue is a personal favourite, and the door tax is just five pounds (tickets available now from Resident Advisor), which grants access to the following entertainment:

For Border Commies it offers a welcome opportunity to snatch a sneak preview of krautling Luke Abbott's forthcoming debut album 'Holkham Drones' in its embryonic live set form, but Jori Hulkonnen-co-produced Finnish double act Villa Nah also promise to provide further fuel for our unshakeable synth-pop addiction. A live set from Tirk's Architeq and DJ sets from Ali Renault, occasional partner of Radio Slave Joel Martin (of their Quiet Village collaboration fame), Crispin Dior, Lauren Canyon and Andreas Presley should also ensure that the evening passes in a manner that is altogether pleasing to the ear. So I trust we will be seeing you? RSVP here.

Jack Etienne

2010-04-27T13:54:00.005+01:00

The White Heat mailout has just informed me that Mr Etienne Jaumet will be making a London stop-off at their Madame Jojo's night on June 8th (tickets on sale now via Ticketweb), which gives me the perfect excuse to share with you this live video we recently uncovered amongst the archives of the ambitious Grandcrew live concert filming site, captured at a Versatile Records party back in 2008:

Etienne Jaumet may just be the cutest nerd you are ever likely to see. One half of the also-awesome Zombie-Zombie synth-and-drum duo (which I suppose makes him a plain old Zombie), Etienne can also count himself amongst just a handful of current purveyors of dance music that our own ever-particular James Holden actually likes. And contrary to what you might have assumed from the Night Music recordings, we are not dealing with cheap saxophone samples here: a minute into opening track and Holden-favourite 'Repeat Again After Me' Etienne wheels out his own extraordinary live sax skills to complement his synth-love to jaw-dropping effect. Wow.

Dextrous movements

2010-04-23T12:38:00.003+01:00

It is always nice to get an update from sometime Border Community collaborator Dextro: the latest tells of forthcoming EP 'Zero Circle', which will see a limited-edition-of-200 12" release on his own 16k Records label on May 17th. As well as the uplifting original version of Ring Cycle (which will already be familiar to converts to his life-affirming Winded album) and a bonus live version, Dextro auteur Ewan has drafted in a trio of remix support in the form of Numbers' TVO, Socco Chico and Anticon's Alias (who takes on alternative 'Winded' track 'The Pacifist').

We're particularly taken with the accompanying video to Ring Cycle, where a simple mirroring effect transforms footage shot by Ewan's brother from the Tokyo monorail and "a very smooth bus" on the way to the airport into a series of magical otherworldly floating landscapes. The results are balletic, psychedelic, kaleidoscopic and hypnotic, one minute recalling expensive CGI, the next bringing to mind Fuck Buttons' signature artwork geometry. I could literally watch this stuff for hours:

Any Polish readers out there (you never know!) might be interested to know that Ewan is bringing his one-man-band Dextro live show to Poland this weekend, to the Bytomskie Centrum Kultury in Bytom this Saturday (25th April). But in the likely event that you can't make that particular show, Ewan has also made a host of previous live sets available to download for everyone everywhere from the Dextro website. And hopefully there will be more live dates to come that are a little closer to home, provided that Ewan's recently embarked upon PhD in Sociology doesn't get in the way...

Oddballs

2010-04-16T12:16:00.007+01:00

ODDSAC is the, well, odd name of the industrious Animal Collective's forthcoming new 54 minute long "visual album", where a brand new Animal Collective score is set against the dark and twisted visual imaginings of filmmaker Danny Perez. You may already be familiar with the work of Mr Perez from his intense video backdrops to complement the respective Black Dice and Panda Bear live experiences. If not, this short and definitely not sweet trailer should give you some idea of what to expect:

The DVD is slated for release "in the summer", but those impatient souls who can't wait that long can hunt down one of the many screening and Q&A combo deals featuring the director and members of Animal Collective, and maybe even a guest DJ after party to boot (lucky old Londoners get a DJ set from the Collective themselves). The full bumper list of American sessions is available on the ODDSAC website, whilst Europeans will have to hope they live near one of the locations below:

13th May: ICA, London, UK (18.30, 20.30, 22.30)
14th May: Mint Lounge, Manchester, UK (18.00, 20.00)
15th May: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK (15.00, 17.00)
18th May: Berlin Babylon (Rosa Luxembourg Str. 30) (21.00)
19th May: Uebel und Gefeahrlich, Hamburg, Germany (20.00)
21st May: Smart Space, Amsterdam, Netherlands (20.00)

Meanwhile, those of you eagerly awaiting a hard copy of the truly awesome new Panda Bear material unveiled at his recent date in London (and beyond) will be as disappointed as I was to read that Pitchfork reckons it won't be out until September (and Paw Tracks won't give us anything more specific than a will hopefully be released this year), on an album called 'Tomboy' (this much is true - and there are T-shirts to prove it). A couple of those songs in particular are just the thing that James has been looking for for his DJ sets; but I guess that he, like the rest of us, will just have to wait patiently until September, contenting ourselves with the ODDSAC Animal Collective visual fix in the meantime. Sometimes life is just not fair.

DJ-Kicks right through the night

2010-04-15T17:48:00.005+01:00

As the release date of James Holden's eagerly-anticipated DJ-Kicks compilation edges ever closer (May 24th on !K7, in case you were wondering), James is also readying himself to bring the physical DJ-Kicks experience to the people with an extensive programme of worldwide dates throughout May, June and July. As well as some more frequently visited favourite destinations in the UK, Europe and Japan, James will also be making a long-awaited return to Australia (his first since 2006). A comprehensive trip round the US is also on the cards, as he makes good on the first stage of a new commitment to twice-yearly residencies at New York's Cielo and LA's King King.

The full ball-busting tour schedule runs as follows, so with a bit of luck Mr Holden will be passing by your way very soon:

May 2010
21st Lux, Lisbon, Portugal (DJ-Kicks)
22nd Silo, Leuven, Belgium (DJ-Kicks)
27th Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands (DJ-Kicks)
28th Liquid Lounge Club, Cork, Ireland (DJ-Kicks)
29th Alter Ego, Verona (DJ-Kicks)

June 2010
4th Übel & Gefährlich, Hamburg, Germany (DJ-Kicks)
5th We love Sonique @ Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France (DJ-Kicks)
11th Village Underground, London, UK (DJ-Kicks)
12th Watergate, Berlin, Germany (DJ-Kicks)
18th The Loft, Barcelona, Spain (DJ Kicks)
19th Fabrik, Madrid, Spain (DJ-Kicks)
26th Awakenings Festival 10 years anniversary, Amsterdam, Netherlands

July 2010
1st Supperclub, San Francisco, USA (DJ-Kicks)
2nd King King, Los Angeles, USA (DJ-Kicks)
3rd Neumo's, Seattle, USA (DJ-Kicks)
8th Cielo, New York, USA (DJ-Kicks)
9th Smart Bar, Chicago, USA (DJ-Kicks)
10th The Vault, El Paso, USA (DJ-Kicks)
17th Womb, Tokyo, Japan (DJ-Kicks)
18th Triangle, Osaka, Japan (DJ-Kicks)
19th Mago Club, Nagoya, Japan (DJ-Kicks)
23rd Villa, Perth, Australia (DJ-Kicks)
24th Chinese Laundry, Sydney, Australia (DJ-Kicks)
25th Lot 33, Canberra, Australia (DJ-Kicks)
26th Revolver, Melbourne, Australia (DJ-Kicks)
30th Nachtdigital # 13 Festival, Olganitz, Germany
31st Field Day, London, UK

Peace Offering

2010-04-14T13:07:00.003+01:00

Describing PEACE as "the first music atlas in the net" is definitely underselling it: what it actually is is a bumper selection of 180 mp3s collected from across the globe and available for as-good-as-free download in return for a very modest (€5 - €25) donation to the Catalan wing of Amnesty International.

And these aren't just any old mp3s either, as coordinators Buffet Libre have managed to coax contributions out of a seriously impressive selection of international names. Donators of particular note include the truly mighty Mogwai, future electrician Dan Deacon, fun-personified in the form of Stereo Total, the delicate textures of Austria's Fennesz and his Japanese mate Ryuchi Sakamoto, old Hefner-man Darren Hayman, the glossy electro-pop of Greek birds Marsheaux, Belgium's new wave legends The Neon Judgement and France's own dabblers in the same direction Black Strobe, our own friends from Catalunya The Requesters and Undo, the polite twinkles of Finland's Jori Hulkonnen, beat poet for the computer generation AGF/Delay, Brazilian nut jobs Bonde Do Role and the naive electro-rave of South Africa's Mujava feat Nonsense. Not to mention the USA's Micah P. Hinson And The Pioneer Saboteurs, Marissa Nadler, A Place To Bury Strangers, Asobi Seksu, The Spinto Band feat. The Beast Pageant, Dent May & Cowboy Maloney's Electric City and Jeffrey Lewis; Canada's Buck 65 and Malajube; Venezuela's Kid606 feat. Barbara Panther; the UK's Marc Almond, 4hero, Patrick Wolf, Dubstar, Si Begg, Gyratory System, Cicada and The Boy Least Likely To; Norway's Ane Brun; Germany's Ascii.Disko, Console and Jeans Team; France's Tahiti 80, The Toxic Avenger and Amélie-les-crayons; Italy's Dusty Kid; Iceland's Amiina & Kippi Kaninus; Sweden's I'm From Barcelona; Netherlands' Don Diablo; Switzerland's Heidi Happy feat. Paul Niehaus (Calexico) and Low Motion Disco; Israel's Nico Teen; and Australia's Operator Please.

And that is just the artists I have heard of: the hard-drive filling bumper stash also includes plenty of random play surprises you didn't realise you liked yet hailing from pretty much all over the world - Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Columbia, Bolivia, Argentina, Greenland, Denmark, Ireland, Hungary, Serbia, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Tibet, China, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, India, Iraq, Palestine, Thailand, Singapore, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, Mali, Uganda, Bikya, Mozambique, Congo and New Zealand. There ought to be something amongst that lot to expand even the broadest of musical horizons, so set the downloading and unzipping marathon in motion here.

The Buffet Libre team who have put together this mammoth undertaking have their fingers in many pies, mainly mp3 flavoured: the multi-platform site includes the Spanish language mp3 blog Continental Breakfast, a 150-strong series of downloadable cover versions in their Rewind division, and the typically ambitious remix competition project Batidora which gives access to remouldable parts from the likes of Cut Copy, Shitdisco, The Go! Team, Holy Fuck, The Bravery, Ladyhawke, The Teenagers, Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Passion Pit, The Mae Shi, Infadels, The Rumble Strips, Dragonette, Wolf Gang, Stereo MCs, Don Diablo, Munk and Frankmusik. That ought to keep you busy for a while.

Sonique Boom

2010-04-09T15:38:00.009+01:00

With lighting technology getting cleverer, cheaper and ever more accessible, it is clearly time for live performers to up their game. And it seems that everyone is at it: our own new recruit Kate Wax is currently readying her new light-and-sound set-up for its Mapping Festival debut in Geneva (May 7th), the ever-adventurous Caribou's new live show has an advanced new visual component (as previously reported here), and latest Crosstown Rebels addition Deniz Kurtel comes from a full-blown light-and-art installation background.

Our old friends We Love Art (previous hosts of the lovely We Love Border Community summer extravaganza) are predictably right behind these evolutions in technology, commiting to a pair of forward-thinking light presentations sandwiched either end of this year's Villette Sonique festival in Paris. The main festival runs between 31st May and 6th June and features performances from Joanna Newsom, Owen Pallett, Young Marble Giants, Atlas Sound, Manuel Gottsching, Oneohtrix Point Never, Acid Mothers Temple, Wolf Eyes, Growing, Fuck Buttons, Oneida, Washed Out and Blues Control.

Proceedings are officially launched by the We Love Art crew on May 8th with the only French outing for Richie Hawtin's much-hyped new Plastikman multimedia live show, supported by usual suspects and Minus cohorts Magda, Troy Pierce and Marc Houle. The whole light and sound extravaganza is complemented by a special Plastikman iPhone app called SYNK, which links up with the live visuals and a camera showing what Richie can see, and probably explains why so many people are waving their phones about in this sneak preview clip from the Timewarp festival a couple of weekends ago. For a moment there we thought perhaps someone had invented a lighters-in-the-air app for the iPhone (they have, as it happens - 16 of them!).

And then on June 5th the series of events draws towards a close with homegrown hero Vitalic's own take on cutting edge live electronic performance, using a system of LED screens and mirrors put together by "stage design architects" 1024 to seemingly epic effect:

The bonus here is that the support team at this particular happening also comprises our own James Holden (on the promotional trail for his new DJ Kicks compilation), with Danton Eeprom and Cassius providing some extra French weight.

Claiming to present the future of the live electronic music show, both ambitious We Love Sonique events take place in the impressive Grande Halle de la Villette: get your tickets now (priced at €29,50 each, or €48,50 for a pass giving entry to both events) from Digitick.

Wax and Wane

2010-04-06T18:07:00.004+01:00

Exciting news to announce today: as the observant may already have guessed, the supremely talented Kate Wax has now officially joined the family here at Border Community, as she puts the finishing touches to her vocally exhilarating second album 'Dust Collision' (slated for release in late 2010).

Kate Wax is the alter ego of Aisha Devi Enz, the Swiss-born, half-Tibetan, totally-driven, self-producing avant-garde singer-songwriter that gifted the world with her Reflections of the Dark Heat debut album via Switzerland's ambassadors of cool Mental Groove back in 2006. And now, after a natural break for baby-making and subsequent months spent holed up with her beloved machines in her cosy studio cave, Aisha finds herself ready to dust off her Kate Wax persona and return to the dancefloor fray to unveil a bold new collection of dark, unconventional electronic post-pop going by the name of 'Dust Collision'.

But before all of that, the reincarnation of the Kate Wax live presence is set to take place on May 7th at Geneva's La Parfumerie, when Aisha is set to resume the stage at the city's VJ culture-promoting Mapping Festival in her native Switzerland, complete with three-piece band line-up and an impressive new complementary light show that promises to give a fleeting, pulsing visual presence to her fully-formed dark poetic visions. A uniquely physical fusion of her machine-loving electronic mastery and her soaring free-soprano vocal flights, the added intensity of this new light (and shadow) component serves to advance the Kate Wax live experience to a whole new level of fully-immersive performance art that befits the refined and mature, abstract yet fully cohesive nature of her new material.

The Mapping Festival is an international visual and audio festival based in Geneva, Switzerland, which this year runs between May 6th and May 16th 2010. The festival was formed in 2005 around the goal of promoting the VJ medium, its culture and its connection to electronic music. Since then it has evolved to also present related projects in contemporary art such as audiovisual performances and interactive installations, as well as including workshops and lectures that further emphasize the aspect of community that is a strong component of the VJ movement. This year's event also features performances and showcases from Skream, DFuse, Chicks on Speed present “Monsters of Tech”, Dat Politics, Hijak, Otto Von Schirach, Gangpol und mit, Nosaj Thing & Fair Enough and Sinner DC.

This special early showcase of Kate Wax's new material and accompanying light show offers a unique sneak preview at the delights to come when new album 'Dust Collision' hits the shelves later this year. In the meantime, whilst she puts the finishing touch to this second longplayer, the Kate Wax three-person-plus-light-show live production is ready and available for further opportunities to showcase her evolving new material in the live arena. Aisha is also keen to now reconnect with the dancefloor by showcasing her own idiosyncratic taste in the form of a highly-recommended Kate Wax DJ set, an upfront example of which has just been unveiled over on our good friends Allez-Allez' blog, going by the intriguing name of Carl Jung & Me.

Watch this space for further release information and live / DJ dates; promoters should direct their requests to the lovely Katja at Border Booking.

North American Hum

2010-04-01T12:22:00.003+01:00

Montreal's dedicated festival of electronics Mutek have just added our own travelling technologist Nathan Fake (amongst a host of illustrious others) to the line-up for this year's event (their 11th so far), which takes place in a series of venues across the city between 2nd and 6th of June. Nathan will round off a showcase featuring recipients of the Krautrock baton Mouse On Mars, Domino's composer for the 21st century Jon Hopkins and local boys Jedi Electro at the Metropolis venue on Thursday 3rd June, where we can count on him to deliver on the festival brief of compelling live electronic performance.

Early bird passports giving access to the whole five day festival are on sale now for the special price of $195 (in Canadian money), which will also give you access to performances from Matmos, Matias Aguayo (featuring the excellently-named Original Hamster), Nurse With Wound, Ikonika, Actress, Jacek Sienkiewicz, Pepe Braddock, Moritz Von Oswald Trio and Theo Parrish. Saturday 5th is the biggie, when our favourite DJ Koze joins Paul Kalkbrenner and Sweden's Minilogue for their North American live debut at one of the festivals two highly-recommended outdoor MUTEK//Piknics in the day time, before moving on to the brutal audio experiments of Carl Michael Von Hausswolff, Tim Hecker, Ben Frost and Vadislav Delay in the evening, or alternatively the deeper musings of Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts, Henrik Schwarz and Dixon over in the Metropolis.

And of course there are more names still to come, so I would keep checking the Mutek website for details, particularly around April 13th when the complete line-up for the full five days will be unveiled.

I need excitement oh I need it bad

2010-03-30T13:03:00.007+01:00

As promised a few weeks back on this very blog, I can now finally bring you the eagerly anticipated announcement of James Holden's next musical step. Taking his place in an illustrious line of previous pioneers, James will deliver the next installment in !K7's definitive mix album series DJ Kicks on May 24th (May 25th if you are in the US):

And now that the mix is signed, sealed and delivered in all of its primal, rhythmic glory, I am also allowed to unveil the tracklisting. Which may seem a bit like spoiling the surprise, but you know as well as I do that even if you do manage to track down all of the records below, noone can put them together quite like our man Holden:

1) Piano Magic - Wintersport / Cross-Country
2) Grackle - Disco (Musiccargo Remix)
3) Mordant Music - Olde Wobbly
4) Maserati - No More Sages
5) Caribou - Lemon Yoghourt
6) Luke Abbott - Soft Attacks
7) Mogwai - The Sun Smells Too Loud (Holden Remix)
8) Kieran Hebden / Steve Reid - Departure
9) Ursula Bogner - Punkte
10) Eric Copeland - Auto Dimmer
11) Mit - Rauch (Luke Abbott Remix)
12) ARP - Potentialities
13) Lucky Dragons - Open Melody
14) Holden - Triangle Folds (DJ-KiCKS)
15) James Ruskin - Definition Of
16) Legowelt - Flight of the Jupiter
17) Walls - Gaberdine
18) Lukas Nystrand - Never Fail (Vocal)
19) Didier Paquette - Arwen, Namarie
20) SS Pyramid Snake - Catacomb City

Much might be made of the tracklisting's eclectic nature, but let me say unequivocally that this is most definitely music-for-dancing-to that enraptures our most basic instincts to do so, even if it doesn't come pre-stamped with the term "dance music". You'll see.

And more than just his latest mix CD installment, the DJ Kicks formula also provides a vehicle for some new original Holden music, in the form of new single 'Triangle Folds', which will emerge in two lascivious alternative versions on an accompanying vinyl release. The eagle-eyed will also note the presence of a certain previously-unreleased Holden remix of our teenage heroes Mogwai, which will also finally be available for your own DJing pleasure on the downright essential DJ-Kicks double vinyl package, along with the hitherto unavailable on vinyl Luke Abbott remix of Mit's 'Rauch' and an exclusive preview of 'Soft Attacks' from the same Luke Abbott's forthcoming Border Community album 'Holkham Drones' - and many more goodies besides. Exciting times we live in, no?

Caribooooooooooooooou!!!!

2010-03-25T15:49:00.003Z

The music-for-dancing-to movement is fast gathering pace, as it prepares to advance another album for admission to the cannon on April 20th when the new installment from Caribou (Swim) hits the shops.

Like his good friend (and major proponent of the movement to get gig crowds dancing again) Kieran Hebden, the artist formerly known as Manitoba (aka Danitoba or Danibou, as he is more commonly known round these parts) has recently explored a growing interest in that unique multicellular organism of the dancefloor via guest DJ spots for the likes of Four Tet and our good selves. And it seems that this notion of a new loose, organic form of music-for-dancing-to is key to the sound of this latest Caribou album (which comes highly recommended from what our own Nathan Fake and James Holden have heard so far), as Dan explains:

"I got excited by the idea of making dance music that's liquid in the way it flows back and forth, the sounds slosh around in pitch, timbre, pan... Dance music that sounds like it's made out of water, rather than made out of metallic stuff like most dance music does."

I hate to say I told you so! Actually, I love it.

With this new album comes the obligatory tour marathon, which will see the already impressive four man Caribou live set up evolve into a cutting edge technological interplay between visuals, electronics and the human players, as Kraftwerk's fabled man-machine moves a step closer to its extremely belated realisation. You really have to be there, but if you weren't quite quick enough to bag tickets for the truly hot sold out line-up of Caribou, Gold Panda, Hounds of Hate and Kieran Hebden at Corsica Studios on April 20th, there is still a chance to take part in the happening when Caribou returns to London on June 16th for another Heaven live extravaganza: the full supporting cast has yet to be announced, but I'd get those advance tickets now anyway to be sure.

Or there is always Field Day on July 31st (tickets here), when Dan joins our own James Holden and many more for an outdoor session; and since setting seems particularly well-matched to sound here, this might well be the ultimate way to take in the Caribou experience.

Experts in the Field

2010-03-18T17:50:00.005Z

Advance tickets for this year's edition of the annual Victoria Park takeover Field Day on 31st July are already on sale, and since our own James Holden has been mentioned amongst the early release of names, you may want to ensure your attendance by securing yours well upfront here for the bizarre price of £33.33 (which I must warn you actually comes out at closer to 40 quid once you factor in booking fees...).

By now, the Field Day country-fete themed extravaganza has become a welcome mainstay of London's summer outdoor party scene, and the best thing about this festival is that you get to go home and sleep in your own bed at the end of it. The line-up is still being added to all the time, but so far the likes of Silver Apples, Caribou, Gold Panda, Max Tundra, No Age, Hudson Mohawke, Joker, Andrew Weatherall, Phoenix, Chilly Gonzalez, Mouse On Mars, The Fall, Simian Mobile Disco, These New Puritans, Esben and the Witch, Pantha Du Prince and Lightspeed Champion offer a good additional incentive to join us. In fact, such a fan am I of the mythical Simeon that I think that the presence of Silver Apples alone makes up for having to cut short our adventures in Germany (more about which will appear in this space very soon...).

An Englishman, an Irishman and Scott went to Mexico

2010-03-18T14:54:00.003Z

It might sound like the beginning of a joke, but I am afraid you will have to write your own punchline, for actually this is a little plug for Border Community's impending Mexico excursion. This morning James Holden and Avus (the Scott of my headline!) set off for Mexico via Amsterdam, where they will join up with their exuberant Border Booking comrade Phil Kieran (from Belfast) for the journey onwards to play at their first stop-off, Mexico City's H2o club tonight (18th March).

James used to be a regular visitor to Mexico a few years back, and became a bit of a local hero; the feeling was reciprocated by James, who became quite a fan of the country's laid back attitude, as well as their Queso Fundido. But now several years have passed since his last visit (I think maybe it was as long ago as 2007?), which makes this latest tour long overdue. Monterey will be the second port of call for our intrepid trio tomorrow evening (19th), where they play together at the AM Club.

Then finally it is on to Juarez on Saturday 20th, the real-life border community that lies at a crossing point between Mexico and the USA, which unfortunately has recently hit the international headlines for all of the wrong reasons. Juarez (care of the Hardpop and Pastilla Digital crew) in particular was the place in Mexico that took most readily to James' sound, and their Germanic-themed club has played host to some wild nights with James at the helm, as well as a whole host of the rest of our Border Community crew. Life has been tough in the city of Juarez in more recent years, but on Saturday it is hoped that the loyal Holden-fans will feel ready to come out and play again:

Residents just over the border in Juarez' Texas counterpart El Paso may be wondering what happened to the previously advertised Sunday evening show at The Vault that has now mysteriously vanished from James' calendar: due to visa considerations this particular date has been moved back to July, when James will be back for a long-awaited full US tour. As ever, watch this space for details, and until then you can relax safe in the knowledge that you will get your Holden-fix eventually!

On Cloud 9

2010-03-05T15:51:00.004Z

As tonight's Corsica Studios shakedown dawns, I undoubtedly have better things to be doing than updating my blog (now I see why they invented Twitter!). But I thought some of you may appreciate some set-times in advance, so I feel duty-bound:

Room 1:
10 - 10.45 Avus
10.45 - 11.30 Falling From Cloud 9 (live)
11.30 - 1.30 Fuck Buttons
1.30 - 3.30 Avus
3.30 - 6 James Holden

Room Two:
11 - 1 Kate Wax
1 - 2 Ed Chamberlain (live)
2 - 4 Petter

I also have a sad announcement to make: the Tombola has been cancelled this time, on account of a lack of effort on my part. But if anyone finds themselves too traumatised by this devastating news, I will be offering my counselling services on the evening. Hey, maybe next time?

Hopefully the Kraut-tinged live set from Falling From Cloud 9 will offer enough incentive to get yourself down there early (check his Myspace and the Avus guest mix for a sneak preview); fans of a certain other Border Community artist on tonights bill should pay particular attention to the Falling From Cloud 9 set for a special guitar-based re-interpretation of something very familiar!

And beyond that there lies the magical mystery tour of a Kate Wax DJ set, Fuck Buttons' Andrew Hung's taming of the dancefloor, Avus' mainroom big guns, Ed Chamberlain's extremely BC twinkles, the long-awaited revelation of wherever it is that Petter' head is at nowadays, and of course, our old faithful golden Holden. I can't wait!

The Twits

2010-03-02T20:17:00.004Z

We did it: after last week's blog dedicated to the enthusiastic fans behind our Facebook presence, the user-generated group effortlessly topped 5000 members over the weekend. Big thanks go to Jason Ruff for first setting the chain reaction in motion.

And in another unconnected outburst of fan devotion, the Twitter.com/bordercommunity lot was also recently reserved by a well-meaning disciple in the face of our own tardiness, and has since slumbered dormant and followerless - until today! For now the log-in has kindly been passed up the chain to BC HQ, allowing us to finally provide the obligatory feed for those who prefer to receive their news in 140-character-short tweet form. (Long form fans are presumably already reading this here blog and our news feed).

I only have one follower so far, so at the moment it does feel a little like pissing in the wind; but I trust that the Twitter converts out there will join up with me in due course, with their mouths wide open ready for a bite-size digest of what is currently going on around these more verbose parts...

Pushing the Buttons

2010-03-01T18:41:00.004Z

Our return to Corsica Studios this Friday night (5th March) is fast approaching, as I am sure you are aware. But as if you needed any more inducement to attend, those crafty devils over at We Fear Silence have come up with the goods, in the form of this Fuck Buttons DJ set that they have just uploaded to their Soundcloud page, and having previously directed all of my internet expertise towards trying to track one of these down, I do believe that this is an internet exclusive, so well done them!:

Fuck Buttons - We Fear Silence Border Community Mix - Feb 2010 by wefearsilence

Everyone knows that the best producers have the best taste, as this half of the Fuck Buttons' guest mix neatly demonstrates (and Transitions seems particularly topical!). And there will be plenty more where that came from this Friday night, when the electronically-minded Andrew Hung (representing the Fuck Buttons) joins our own James Holden, Avus (listen to his own guest mix over on Mixcloud!) and Petter, and special guests Ed Chamberlain, Kate Wax and Falling From Cloud 9, for another Corsica love-in. Get your advance tickets here, and invite all of your mates here. It is going to be great!

Then if you are still standing on Saturday evening, I propose that we reconvene in the slightly more fraught surroundings of a Free Saturday at Cargo, hosted this week by the dedicated Upset The Rhythm. Kria Brekkan, former member of Iceland's Mum and current wife of Animal Collective's Avey Tare, headlines in support of her charmingly titled Uterus Water EP, whilst Walls, the exciting new Kompakt-endorsed project from Sam Allez-Allez and Alessio Banjo Or Freakout, provides the intriguing and able support. Say you'll be there?

Community Support Officers

2010-02-17T17:33:00.003Z

Our fans are nothing if they aren't dedicated, and at times I am truly amazed at the level of devotion to this cult of Border Community that we have unintentionally created.

Take Facebook for example: back in 2006, an eager fan stepped in to fill the void left by the lack of our own Facebook group and set up this fan-run Border Community group, which to date has amassed over 4700 members, entirely of its own accord. So I thought that it really was about time that we publicly acknowledged its existence and made the affiliation a bit more official: on the off-chance that you haven't joined already, you are invited to do so here. Lets top the 5000 mark together!

The group may now have our endorsement and the accompanying overlooking admins from BC HQ, but I would like to assure any concerned members that we want this to remain a fan-run group, created by the fans, for the fans. We might use the wall to pass on the odd newsworthy item (releases, parties, videos, mixes - the kind of goodness that everyone likes), but other than be sure that it remains your group, to carry on, as you were. Only now there may be yet more members in tow...

The Prince of Walls

2010-02-17T14:37:00.004Z

We're heading out of town this weekend to meet the macaques, but if you are sticking around, it would probably be worth trying to build a visit to Cargo into your Saturday night festivities. Entry to the Eat Your Own Ears promoted event on the 20th is free before 11, and onstage at 9pm will be the debut live appearance from Walls, the new collaboration between our mate Sam from Allez-Allez and his mate Alessio from Banjo or Freakout. The industrious duo will be releasing an album on Kompakt later this year, and from what we have heard so far it should be a goody, so I'd fix that live show into your agenda even if you do have to rush off elsewhere later on...

But if you can handle a whole night in Cargo, later in the evening the Pantha du Prince album promotion train will be pulling into its London stop off. New album Black Noise sees the Prince's prestigious new home Rough Trade dabbling in the electronic arts with some Dial-esque chuggy twinkles and a much-hyped Panda Bear guest appearance. I think it comes across a bit like a less warm and snuggly version of our own old romantic Fairmont, whereas Rough Trade had this to say about it:

"On his new album, Pantha du Prince claims: music slumbers in all matter; any sound, even silence, is already music. The mission, then, must be to render audible what is unheard and unheard of: 'Black Noise', a frequency that is inaudible to man. 'Black noise' often presages natural disasters, earthquakes or floods; only some animals perceive this calm before the storm. 'black noise' is something archaic and earthy. His music balances precariously on the slippery threshold between art and nature, between techno and folklore, which lends it a certain spectral and intangible aspect."

Listen online and make up your own mind.

Primal Scream

2010-02-16T17:05:00.007Z

The submerged Fisher Price screaming buried in the wall of noise of Fuck Buttons' Colours Move has the power to divide audiences, or at least the sort of people who leave comments on Youtube:

I love it, of course, but then, as those who know me can testify, I am not averse to the odd bout of shrieking myself: as well as the elephant noises that came with Andre Kraml's original parts, the breakdown of James Holden's remix of Safari (out on Crosstown Rebels back in 2004, so it might take some tracking down) also features additional monkey noises provided by my good self, animal impersonator extraordinaire. In the end I didn't get my credit on the vinyl (I will have to take that up with my agent, I suppose), but Mr Luke Abbott has hinted that he may have cause to call on my services in the near future, so it looks like my career in animal impersonation isn't over just yet...

Dropping a Fuck Buttons track in a club DJ set can be a similarly divisive act, so no surprises that our man Holden has made something of a habit of doing just that ('The Lisbon Maru', Surf Solar, 'Rough Steez', or Bright Tomorrow, perhaps, but thus far no 'Colours Move' - now that really would melt some heads!). But does there really have to be this great chasm between "dance" and "not dance"? And if such a fault line even exists, then collectively I think we ought to do all that we can to narrow it.

Edging towards us from the other side of the canyon is Fuck Button's own Andrew Hung, whose acquaintance we finally made at Four Tet's funnest-ever club-concert mash-up at the Tufnell Park Village Hall (I mean the Dome). And just how snugly the tectonic plates are rubbing up against one other will be revealed at our next Border Community night on 5th March, when the Buttons' electronic troubador will steer the Corsica Studios main room through his own danceable territory, which I have a feeling we may find looks rather similar to the landscape of Holden country (a bit like Scotland and New Zealand, if you will).

Captain James Holden, Avus, Petter, Kate Wax, Ed Chamberlain and Falling From Cloud 9 will also be joining us for the trip, so book your tickets here, and don't forget your advance check in here. Your holiday reading list will follow forthwith.

The Adventurous Four Tet

2010-02-12T15:14:00.011Z

The more organised amongst you will have locked down your tickets for tonights Four Tet show at The Dome in Tufnell Park well in advance, and like me and James will now be getting increasingly excited as the remaining hours of this Friday afternoon tick by.

But if you were a little slower on the uptake and are now kicking yourself, you could try consoling yourself by downloading the Essential Mix that Kieran recorded a couple of weeks ago and has now shoved up on his burgeoning Soundcloud profile, confirming his status (along with new album There Is Love In You) as a bona fide dancefloor man. And if you are lucky enough to be going tonight, what better way to put you in the mood!

Essential mix (January 2010) by Four Tet

Fans of Soundcloud's trademark timed comments should pay particular attention at the 1.23 mark, when the lush layered vocals of our own deep house guru Avus' rework of One Little Plane's Lotus Flower (out now on Kieran's own Text Records label) come drifting in. And Hebden homie Avus' own recent promo mix has also just been added to the We Fear Silence Soundcloud profile to propagate yet further across the internet...

Other Four Tet favourite Nathan Fake meanwhile is currently readying himself to leave for the US, where the Four Tet / Nathan Fake roadtrip tour begins in style at New York's sold out Le Poisson Rouge next Wednesday 17th February (further dates on the Four Tet website). Now fully equipped with a North-American-winter-proof new coat, if we're lucky Nathan might even bring us back some photos documenting his two-week-long crash course in US touring, which I will be sure to share with you here...

The Four Tet tour then continues back on home turf in March, where availability is also looking increasingly tight. Tickets for the second London show at Village Underground on 10th April are now also out of the question, so it looks like you might have to nip down to Brighton's Concorde on March 17th instead, where they are also throwing in Mr Fake and the hypnotic Rocketnumbernine as extremely able supporting extras (get your tickets here or forever hold your peace). And Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Birmingham and Bristol might also still be worth a try...

BREAKING NEWS: Just seconds after I hit publish, James wandered into my office with the news that poor old Joy Orbison has been struck down with food poisoning, so won't be playing tonight after all. A couple of phone calls from Kieran later, and the ready, willing and able Nathan Fake has been drafted in as a hasty last minute substitution, and as we speak is now building himself up to deliver the next collection in his new line in DJing later on this evening. Stop the press! Hold the front page! etc...

Balance and Control

2010-02-10T14:14:00.005Z

March 15th is a date to mark in your diary, for that is the release date of the new mix CD from our favourite French cult cutie Agoria, who has delivered the latest installment in the Balance series. I haven't heard it yet, but needless to say this release is eagerly anticipated around these parts. Although I do wonder if that is even really Agoria under all that packaging detritus? (But I am sure it is actually him "in the mix"!).

You hopefully remember our boy James Holden's own early contribution to the Balance series (the fifth compilation in the series, and the first from a non-Aussie). It was also James who then kicked off the At The Controls mix CD series, which Agoria also chipped in on with the fourth and final volume. With Agoria now climbing aboard the Balance train I could be tempted to make some kind of joke about him mirroring James' career, only in reverse, but that really wouldn't be fair: the Balance series has gone from strength to strength following James' participation, and with Agoria's addition is about to notch up its sixteenth release. The At The Controls series meanwhile sadly no longer exists, following the Resist label's unfortunate bankruptcy, although the back catalogue can still be snapped up at bargain prices from Amazon.

All this talk of Agoria is all very well, but if you are wondering where James himself is headed next on his own mix CD odyssey, do watch this space for an exciting announcement coming very soon!

A Load of Cobblers

2010-02-09T14:12:00.005Z

The countdown to our next Corsica Studios shindig on 5th March has begun (line up: James Holden, Fuck Buttons (DJ set), Avus, Falling From Cloud 9 (live), Ed Chamberlain, Kate Wax and Petter - phew!), which means that it is also time for us to coax another guest mix from one of our crew. Kindly soul Avus has obliged: his dependable warm-up sets were a permanent fixture of the End mainroom during our old residency, so it is about time we invited him and his future Moog anthems from his upcoming Border Community EP to grace the hallowed Corsica decks. And what better way to celebrate than by uploading a new mix to Mixcloud, in which Avus wheels out his mainroom big guns in preparation:

Avus - We Fear Silence Mix February 2010 by Border Community on Mixcloud

Avus - We Fear Silence Mix February 2010
1) Avus – Little Adventures
2) Jared Wilson – Last Two
3) Nathan Fake – Fentiger
4) Paul Bennett – Backbreaker
5) Falling From Cloud Nine – 80
6) Luke Abbott – Whitebox Stereo
7) Agoria – Magnolia
8) Craig Loftis – Yes it’s right
9) Avus – Poppy
10) Entro Seenestre – Glazed
11) Ratsnake – When It’s Late
12) Regis – Ital
13) Surgeon – Screw The Roses
14) Four Tet - Love Cry

As well as a sneak peak at some of the gems contained within Avus' precious forthcoming 'Poppy EP', you may also have spotted a taster of what to expect from the early doors live set from the mysterious Falling From Cloud 9, aka Northampton's Luke Print, friend and musical cohort of our own Northampton man Avus. We can vouch that Luke's one-man live show is of a decidedly kraut-tinged, danceable bent having previously caught him in his hometown, and naturally we'd advise you to get down to Corsica early to see for yourself, not least because a special Border Community-related surprise that ought not to be missed is apparently also in the works...

And as well as the Northampton massive, and our own James Holden, we have yet more guests to offer the humble Corsica visitor on 5th March: topping the bill comes Andrew Hung of the mighty Fuck Buttons with a rare club DJ set showcasing his exemplary musical taste. Whilst one Button (Mr Benjamin John Power) grew up on a diet of Mogwai, the other (our on-call DJ Andrew) apparently travelled a more electronic path through Aphex-ville (this scenario sounds familiar...). Last week we managed to catch him in his more typical between-bands setting at Eat Your Own Ears' Esben & The Witch show, and I can confirm that his taste is indeed extremely "on message", right down to Holdy-Holden's 'Idiot' played at the right (slow) speed!

Meanwhile, over in the other room, we have nailed down our elusive techno wanderer Petter for a family reunion, dragging him off the Swedish party train to play room host for the evening: and it is about time that we all caught up on whatever it is he has been up to lately! We're also extremely excited to welcome Switzerland's Kate Wax into the fold (for the evening, and beyond!) with another rare DJ set outing, as she swaps the studio for the club, taking some time out from the preparations for her vocally-exhilirating new album. And last but by no means least, my beloved British electronica underground is also represented by Avus-fave Ed Chamberlain, he of the twinkle-encrusted electro-breaks as heard at the yearly BLOC workouts.

And no Corsica shakedown would be complete without a visit from the inimitable An'Unexpectacle, who I believe is currently plotting around a glove customisation theme, whilst my not-at-all-confusing Community Cast-Off Tombola will also be returning for a refined second run featuring yet more thrilling prizes on a Border Community (and guests!) tip for those early birds. Those advance tickets are available now from Ticketweb for just £10, or more on the door: so get thee there!

High Fidelity

2010-02-04T15:55:00.006Z

I have just packed our boy James Holden off to the airport for his weekend ride on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Wuppertal express: first stop is Pixel at Amsterdam's Trouw club tonight (4th February), which occupies the former newspaper printing warehouse of the Dutch national newspaper Trouw until the end of 2010 as one of those multi-functional restaurant / club / art spaces that the Dutch do so well. The last 300 tickets are still available to buy on the door, so I would get yourself down there early to avoid disappointment:

And in a coincidence that I can only describe as blogworthy, an installation by LA-based artist Richard Wearn (titled simply Trouw) that recently opened at Crisp London has a little more to illuminate about this special party location to the unwitting foreigner (me!). Focusing on the building's sign as the sun sets and the sign is turned on, his 30 minute long dual screen rear projection video (video art - how very Dutch!) is concerned with the traces of utopian mythologies that exist within our urban environment: the word "trouw" means "fidelity", and the newspaper was initially extablished during WWII to counter the Nazi occupation and extermination of Holland's Jewish population.

And just as Wearn is occupied with seeking and highlighting the clues and submerged meanings that exist within the buildings around us, the techno scene too traditionally loves a venue with a bit of history whenever it can get its hands on one, even if the signifigance of that location ends up being lost on a large proportion of their footfall. But thanks to the Wearn installation, James at least has been made aware of the Trouw story in advance of his appearance, lending that little extra spark to proceedings later on tonight...

Fentigers

2010-02-04T11:38:00.006Z

Homecoming king Nathan Fake went back to his roots this weekend, with his first proper hometown gig in Norwich's distinctive Arts Centre last Friday. James and I had a prior engagement in Paris so couldn't be there to witness this momentous occasion, but fortunately my glamorous assistant Rosana did make it along, with camera in tow, to bring us a taste of what we all missed (below).

Extremely able support on the night came from fellow Norfucker and Border Community brother Luke Abbott, whilst adopted son Dan Tombs pitched in on visual duties. Luke even spotted someone in the crowd who had plumped for a pair of wellies for their gig-going attire: only in Norfolk, one might think, but I'm guessing it probably had something to do with the recent return of the snows...

Norwich Arts Centre: from the outside it may look like a church, but if you chose to venture inside last Friday night you would have been greeted with this:

Luke making lot of amazing noise while Dan plays with his colours. I wonder if all Friday nights are like this in Norwich?

Nathan on stage, back to his roots and loving it!

This Spectro night that hosted our boys is a new regular bi-monthly Arts Centre occurence: the next session on March 26th invites DC Recordings' Kelpe, with support from the afore-mentioned Grasscut and mates-of-Luke Mat Riviere and his beloved The Owl Box. Lucky old Norwich.

And finally, no trip to Norfolk would be complete without a beautiful sunset shot to round things off: