DAY ONE (Saturday)
I started off the day watching FRANCISCO MORA's band.
As you probably know he is the percussionist for
Innerzone Orchestra (and ex-Sun Ra Arkestra). Really
nice live set.
KIRK DEGIORGIO's dj set was next, decent stuff but it
didn't really excite me much. So I went over to see
AFRONAUGHT's dj set. He threw down some awesome West
London Broken Beats. I wasn't familiar with very many
of the tunes, pretty awesome stuff. I can't wait for
these to start filtering into the shops.
Next up was P'TAAH live, they had a really good "live"
sound...Latin percussion, jazz tangents, intricate
digital rhythms. Pretty tight.
I also cruise over to check out PREFUSE 73. I watched
about two songs and wasn't feelin it.
MARK DE CLIVE-LOWE's live set was probably my favorite
of the day. He had a band and a dj scratching. I
remember he played El Dia Perfecto and Melodius Funk.
Most of it was on the jazz trip hop vein, but one tune
sounded almost jungle in tempo. Great performance, I
wish they could have played for another hour! GREAT!
Next up I went to see KIT CLAYTON, although I have
liked some of his live sets in the past. I was not
into this one.
Next act I saw was TORTOISE. The first tune I heard
from them was absolutely awesome. So I stuck around
for the rest of their set. They had some really great
moments, and some that were a little boring. Overall
a pretty neat performance.
Next up I started watching JAZZANOVA and AUTECHRE.
Since I wanted to see both of them, I went back and
forth. The only criticism I have for DEMF is that
Autechre should have played in a much bigger area,
because there were so many people there for them.
What I heard of Autechre was really cool, and the
crowd was going nuts. I saw about a dozen people
jumping 12 feet down just to get down to the floor.
Security seemed worried that things were going to get
out of control. After a while I went back out to see
Jazzanova. There was a massive crowd out there
dancing in the rain. Jazzanova set was a lot of fun.
When they dropped UR's "Millenium To Millenium" the
crowd cheered and started to dance even harder.
Speaking of "Millenium To Millenium" I heard it played
so many times it seemed like the anthem of the event.
I should have stayed for Jay Denham's set, but I
rushed back to the hotel to get ready for the 7Th City
Afterhours party. At the 7th City party I saw a few
djs that I didn't know. I was excited to see Anthony
Shakir, Titonton Duvante and John Tejada. John's set
seemed way too short. Anthony Shakir set started off
with some problems someone accidentally cut the power
to his tables, Anthony seemed pissed and say "aww
your making me look like a novice dj, that doesn't
know what they're doing". Anthony then started
tearing up the decks, the highlight of his set was
when he mixed his tune "My Computer is An Optimist"
into Radiohead's "Idioteque". Titonton never got to
spin, and Dan Bell hit the decks.
_______________________________________________________
DAY TWO (Sunday)
I went out in the rain to check out OPTIC NERVE (Keith
Tucker). I think the moisture from the rain was
wreaking havoc on his computer so they had to
improvise. The people on stage were doing more funk
oriented stuff. It wasn't bad but it didn't keep my
interest either. So I went record shopping at the
Record Time Tent.
Later in the day I caught part of LAURENT GARNIER
"live" set. He had some pretty good moments
especially when he had a guy playing sax over his
music. Overall, his music sounded a little bland.
Not bad, but it didn't keep me entertained for very
long.
Next I saw TITONTON DUVANTE. His live set consisted
of a violin player, a drummer, a female vocalist, and
his gear. From start to finish it was absolutely
BRILLIANT!!! His set was by far the best thing I saw
at the DEMF. At least two of the tunes he played were
off his new CD "Selections For Intercourse" on
Residual. The first tune he played was called
"Intrigue" (which is only on the CD version of his
release), and he also played "Enterlude" (which is
both on the vinyl and CD). If you ever get a chance
to see him live, don't miss it!!
Next I went to see KENNY LARKIN spin. The crowd was
going nuts! He threw down some classic tunes by
Plastikman, and Lil Louis "French Kiss". I
unfortunately couldn't stay for too much of his set
because I wanted to catch SHAKE & STRAND from
Frictional Records. ANTHONY SHAKIR played a few
tunes I didn't recognize. The tunes that got everyone
pumped up was "The FloorFiller" and "With A Piece Of
Ice.." from his Da Sampla days. STRAND has a lot of
problems with their set up, but what I heard sounded
pretty cool.
I rushed over to see STACEY PULLEN, and he had the
crowd in a frenzy. He was very slamming and very
entertaining to watch. I watched his set for a while
but left early to get ready for the Planet E 10th year
anniversary party.
I should note that throughout both days a lot of the
performers were saying that they showed support for
Carl Craig, who had recently been fired from the DEMF
staff. There were tons of people wearing "We Support
Carl Craig" stickers and people wearing "Carl Was
Framed Shirts". There were even trucks driving around
afterparties with animated visuals that would flash we
support Carl Craig.
The Planet E 10th Year Anniversary party was
awesome!!! ORIN WALTERS (Afronaught) played a really
cool set. LAURENT GARNIER was good for a while, but
then I got bored. His set was way too long in my
opinion. After Laurent's set COMMON FACTOR took the
stage for a live performance. It was pretty
impressive set, very cool and quirky at times.
Finally sometime after 5am CARL CRAIG hit the decks.
He played an eclectic set, that was really great.
Even though it was after 6am when he finished, I
wished he would have played a little longer.
I missed DAY THREE of the DEMF because I had to fly
back to California. It was a really incredible two
days!!!! Massive respect to Carl Craig!!! Hopefully,
next year's event will have the same sort of vibe and
music integrity that this year has.
=====
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