Check out the latest videos by our homies the Experimental Half Hour. Eva and Brock have been steadily documenting some of Portland's finest underground, weirdo art and music movement as of late. These two videos happen to feature some of the Ecstasy peeps Operative, Alexis, Finesse and Miracles Club.
Alexis Blair Penney's debut single 'Lonely Sea' is available as a 7" via HNYTRX and includes a remix by Honey Soundsystem. Also available as a digital ep with additional remixes by Ecstasy crew and Emotion II Emotion via Itunes Check it.
Alexis Blair Penney 'Lonely Sea (Emotion II Emotion Remix)'
Operative DJs curate Ecstasy at Valentine's this Friday. We're getting proto-, ur-, and meta- with a blend of the classic Ecstasy house-pulse flavored with techno and EBM.
Arnold Dreyblatt, the America-born, Germany-based Minimalist composer has got himself a Vimeo account. Dreyblatt's 80s and 90s works with the Orchestra of Excited Strings and his various other ensembles are notable for puting just-intonation tunings into some pretty novel rhythmic frameworks. When I first got turned on to this stuff I was rocking Otha Turner's drum and fife music pretty deep as well as Tony Conrad's Early Minimalism, so stumbling on to Dreyblatt via Matt Carlson was pretty serendipitous.
The vids' feature some of Dreyblatt's innovative instruments and playing methods including what appears to be a JI clavier you play with lil' mallets, lots of contrabass harmonics, a fucked looking high-hat, and a tympani-as-floor-tom deal for the drummer in the Bang on a Can performance. Not a lot of JI music you can get down to, even if it's more hoedown than house.
I caught up with westcoast techno pioneer Marijke Jorritsma aka BREEZY NIX after asking for an mp3 of her latest work. Marijke has always had a provocative and psychedelic edge to her music/art, and her newest offering is no exception. I asked her a few questions to give a backdrop to this recording, "JARRY". I wonder if it is named after the author of Pere Ubu? I wouldn't be surprised! It's a deal, BREEZY, we will take you to the river! Enjoy the summer jam and all these mixes she just rained on you. -Avalon
Why and How do you make electronic music?
Currently I'm making most of my music using Ableton Live (software and a computer), working mostly with soft synths and drum machines, samples. I occasionally record hardware jams with what I have lying around or borrow and cut that into samples to be used in my sets and songs. I've also been working on some remixes.
The why is a bit more difficult.... Why does anyone make any music or art?... to create something they wish existed, to partake in something they love, to celebrate with others who do too, to have a social alibi for being a complete weirdo... ah, I dunno.
What is it like making and mixing this kind of music in SF?
Well, I've actually only played one show in SF as Breezy Nix, my other shows have been in Barcelona, Berlin, and Oakland. But San Francisco is generally pretty fun, people want to dance, and if the sound is good and the stars are aligned it can be pretty awesome.
What is your favorite music right now?
Oy, so much. I've honestly been just listening to tons of mixes that I download from blogs. These are my top ten mixes of the moment:
With a broad musical sensibility and inspiring enthusiasm for House and Techno, Portland DJ/Producer/Electronic Musician Erik Hanson is more than deserving of an Ecstasy feature. A shining star in Portland's nightlife, Erik has been shining a torch on the path, so to speak, for some time now. Below is a dark and mesmerizing dub edit of a Japan tune for download. I was able to ask Erik some questions about context. Go dance with him this month and enjoy the dub! -Avalon
Why did you make this dub, how did it come about?
I love this song and have always wanted to effectively work this song
into a DJ set, but the mood of the song, to me, is full of a certain
heavy restlessness. It's beautiful at home, but I wanted to diffuse
the mood a bit for a club atmosphere. Plus, it's just fun to dissect
and mess around with the structures of songs that I like. For
instance, trying to isolate the vocals and set David Sylvian's voice
in an abandoned, frozen factory. I also wanted to add a mechanical
aspect to it as sort of an underline to the original's repeating drum
pattern. I made this one with DJing at Holocene in mind. I did it for
a particular night that I was booked to the DJ between bands. The time
between having the idea and the show itself was pretty short. It made
me have to be strategic about what I wanted to do it, in order to get
it done in time.
What music are you really inspired by right now?
There's a ton... Inspiration comes from all over. Inspiration drawn
directly from music is tricky to pinpoint for me because it is so
wrapped up in feeling. When I feel connected with a piece of music and
get that *zap* it has everything to do with how I'm feeling at the
time. I'm very inspired right now by the interviews in the book "The
Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries" by Bill Brewster and Frank
Broughton. I really admire the eclecticism that was embraced by DJ
pioneers such as David Mancuso, Afrika Bambaataa, Françios Kevorkian,
and Frankie Knuckles. These guys would pull records from many styles.
I would love be able to effectively combine a diverse variety of
danceable music, regardless of genre, into a night of dancing the way
that they have done.
What do you think of the dance/tech/house scene in Portland?
I think I've spent the past four days trying to type an adequate
answer this question for you, Avalon, and I am now opting for the
short response! :P
Currenty, for techno, DJs Folding and Ian Obe are keeping me on my
toes! (Their set from the last Various is excellent:
Miracles Club and Finesse get international makeovers today and they are looking fyne!
The first of which is The Whendays heady take on "The Light of Love".
The Whendays are a half Swedish half American duo based out of Stockholm that are making beautiful pop music that sounds to me lie somewhere between The Stone Roses and Al B Sure. Their take on "Light of Love" is a deep and provocative take on thee Original.
Check it.
Next is Prague's Sasha Nevolin and his DEEEEP remix of Finesse's "Elevate". Sasha tastefully strips "Elevate" down even further to just the bare necessities where he finds a hypnotic groove and rides it in to the sunrise. LOVE.
