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:
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!
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...
Our return to Corsica Studiosthis 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!:
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?
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...
You've always had my support, even though there can be VERY long between updates (here or anywhere) that has to do with stuff that isn't UK live performances/gigs etc. (I live in Denmark). I have absolutely no clue about what James are doing (if he's doing anything at all?) - his homepage is never updated and stuff like charts, dj-sets and other inspiring stuff is practically impossible to find anywhere. Really frustrating, as James' music and (usually) the stuff he's inspired by is insiring me a lot as an artist. Anyway, I'm definitely a follower.
5000 is a large brigade of geek beaters considering the bc started out as just a fire team. looking back, shit was volatile in the beginning. much like the formation of a planet, raids on the goo (global underground) or 4four were akin to pumping oxygen into a molten cauldron of scene. sparks flew. smoke cleared. grass started to grow and facebooks were created in honor of that which just said no to the status quo.
Thomas, be inspired by the moment he performes. Enough inspiration for at least a couple of weeks! That means, if you want to keep being inspired, you have to travel the world.. sounds good :)
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."
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.
i think the term is 'melt faces'. "O+S - Permanent Scar" is a good example too of genre ligase needed to fix the okasaki gaps in the code between the dance and not dance dna.
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!
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...
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!
i really wish james could of joined the balance party at wmc/miami (flyer: http://rizo.ws/misc/listed_balance.jpg ) but understand back to back north america travels are not the most fun...
hopefully james makes north america stop again soon. crossing my fingers for los angeles again and maybe san francisco :-)
i saw the dj kicks thing too. sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. i used to be so up on the tunes holden spins but now i have literally no idea what he's doing, so will be good to hear (and see the tracklisting).
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 1) Avus – Little Adventures 2) Jared Wilson – Last Two 3) NathanFake – 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!
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...
Just waking up from the Trouw Club party in Amsterdam, I can only say I had the perfect night. I was 1 hour early to get at least one of the 300 doorsale tickets, assuming there would be some queue allready. On the contrary, I got in as the first guest and even for free, met James himself for a brief chat'n hug! If it wasn't perfect enough allready, I got more and more into the dancing mood because of Jom Liefdeshuis' great intro performance, whereafter I could really burst into the feeling when James started to mash up and finally explode the audience for over 2 hours (4 hours of pure joy). Dancing on top of the speakers @ the DJ booth was definitely a highlight, but it wouldn't be so much without the "unanimously happy and enthausiastic" audience. Once again thank you all so much for this evening, it's been a highlight in my dancing career (hobby).
Yrs, Sjors "Yellowsleeve'd dancer"
p.s. If you wrote that XX on my hand, I'm still looking for you (find me: Sjors Doedens on facebk)!!
James at the Catwalk in Rotterdam was also brilliant. Thanks for giving me and my girlfriend an amazing night. I was standing right infront of the dj-booth most of the time enjoying the music and your skills. We will definatly be there when you are in our country again!
This is good stuff. Carbon based life. Adenosine triphosphates. All these different levels of reactions. Sound. People. Atmospheric Pressure. Gravity. Laws. Logic. Math. Serendipity. Synchronicity. Mystery. Myths. Language. Places. Coordinates in space. Exchanges. Beginnings, endings and new beginnings. Fear of Death. Intra-species and inter-species competition. Existentialism. Suffering. Dancing. Overcoming. Put the Nazis down and keep them down. Real people can run the show without interference from the right. Be good to each other, be loyal, and marginalize the alpha types. Read Zinn and Chomsky. Watch Fox News. Know what the right is doing. Keep them in your field of vision. Lock the doors of the theater on them and burn the motherfucking place down. Then smoke a joint, strum a guitar, and go for a nice walk on a sunny spring day after a hard winter.
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?
The tireless Upset The Rhythm certainly know how to bring a smile to my face: just spotted amongst their latest listings is the return of the inimitable Lucky Dragons to London on March 13th. I've been lucky enough to catch them on each of their recent UTR visits, but just incase anyone was worried that more of the same might start to seem less exciting, this time the Dragons will be bringing their funtastic Sumi Ink Club drawing club concept with them, for a special afternoon session starting at 3pm in the Auto-Italia art space in Peckham. From what I can gather, the frankly unmissable Sumi Ink Club session involves placing a large sheet of paper in the middle of the group for participants to fill in with a collage melange of intricate doodles that come out looking something like this:
Or, as they put it themselves:
"Sumi Ink Club is a Los Angeles-based drawing collective founded in 2005 by Sarah Anderson and Luke Fischbeck. The group holds regular open meetings to execute topsy-turvy, detailed, collaborative drawings using ink on paper. In each of its permutations, Sumi Ink Club uses group drawings as a means to open and fortify social interactions that bleed into everyday life. Sumi Ink Club is non-hierarchical: all ages, all humans, all styles."
So you see, you simply must join us by getting your £5 tickets here.
In other Upset The Rhythm news, the sighting of Holden favourites Xeno & Oaklander's names amongst their listings yesterday sent quite a flurry of excitement through the ranks of our local Wierd-os. Our tickets for their appearance alongside labelmates Led Er Est at Barden's Boudoir on 13th April are now secured, and I expect that you will be wanting to do the same here. Excited is not the word. And the Wierd through and through might also be interested to know that sometime Wierdite Carlos Giffoni's excellently-named No Fun Acid project is also set to make an Upset The Rhythm appearance on 18th March at The Grosvenor (which means yet more tickets for you, here).
Everyone loves a bit of free music, especially when it is a free remix by Mr Nathan Fake. New Ninja Tune signing Grasscut's new single Muppet is officially out on March 1st, but the good news is that Nathan's accompanying rework is already available for free download from the Ninja Tunes site. Grasscut's take on computer rock lends itself well to a Fake remake, as faint echoes of Drowning In A Sea Of Love's swoony guitars shimmer through the latest post-Hard Islands incarnation of Nathan's unstoppable updated loud and warm dancefloor beatdown.
Brighton's Grasscut have a full album coming on Ninja Tunes later in the year, but in the meantime you can watch the video for their more fiddly, skittery, dressed-up original version of 'Muppet' here:
This is something I have been meaning to do for a while: a list of some of our favourite podcasts to fill a rainy day downloading, as I do my bit to spread the word by way of thanks for all the fantastic music they have deposited on our server. I just hope your bandwidth can take it!
Marvin Suicide Marvin Suicide's half hour weekly show for London's wonderful Resonance FM is also available as a collectible take-home podcast; but what is most amazing about each top-notch tune-packed dispatch is that all of the music featured has been found for free and legal download on the internet (from netlabels and the like), without ever having to compromise on quality. Marvin has a funny farmer-voice too, although I suspect that he might be putting that on for the radio...
One of my favorites is Tycho's http://blog.iso50.com/ Not so much a pod casting blog but the Scott & crew posts some really great music along with its daily design posts.
Bleep's weekly mailout informs me that we only have seven more days to take advantage of their handy 100-tracks-for-£30 Best of 2009 promotion, an offer which anyone passionate about new music would be foolish to pass up. That works out at just 30p a track, maths fans, which just about matches Amazon's 29p mp3 bargain bin, and even if you already have a few of the tracks (Mr Fake's 'Basic Mountain', for example) it still works out at pretty good value.
Thankfully thin on the minimal front, may I therefore present this hand-selected Bleep guide to the year gone by as supporting evidence to my thesis that (contrary to popular belief) music is just getting exciting again. And as witnesses, I would like to call upon the following upstanding members of the musical community: Agoria, Animal Collective, Bernard Fevre, Bibio, Born Ruffians, Broadcast, Bullion, Clark, Debruit, Dirty Projectors, Falty DL, Floating Points, Flying Lotus, Fuck Buttons, Gang Gang Dance, Glass Candy, Grizzly Bear, Gui Boratto, Harmonic 313, Hudson Mowhawke, John Tejada, Jon Hopkins, Klaxons, Lone, Luke Vibert, Lusine, Matias Aguayo, Moderat, Mordant Music, Mum, Nathan Fake, Nosaj Thing, Plaid, Robert Hood, Rustie, The Black Dog, Tim Hecker, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Krazy Baldhead, Four Tet, TV on the Radio and Autechre. Any objections?
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