what follows is part ONE of a TWO part series. . .
it's cliche as hell but. . .i got some good news and some bad news
this part will include all the good news. . .i'll give up the bad
news after i get sorted, er, get it sorted out this weekend ;)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
New York City. . .Wednesday 20 July. . .10:30pm
it's hotter than Hades here in the big apple. i'm stealing a smoke
pipe. . .my cherry cavendish masks the stench of rancid meat coming
from the shipping stalls. . .we persist between 9th and 10th to
the club they call THE COOLER. . .a nice little underground bar
and soundstage packed with the older types. . .the wiffle is in
terre thaemlitz is heading down the black wax highway with his
high beams on. . .that's right his eyeglasses have been fitted
with those adorable flood lights (orbitalesque!). . .i slip
unnoticed right up next to a bin (home sweet home!). . .a raincry
god within sticker on the table crate and +8 slimmats assure me
that i am on the idm trail. . .
terre is from the *trickle down* school of ambient mixing. . .
heavy on the *pure* noise. . .light on the drumbeats. . .
sections of records are divided and sent constantly outward
the needle gets repeated return action into bassy grooves
the door to the orb blue room creaks open and to my surprise
mixmaster morris walks in on cosmic cue. . .the door closes
and the orb leave as quick as they came. . .the sound is
loose electronic garble and i peek at the label to find my
old friend Seastones, by ned lagin building up a little
suspense. . .terre smiles at me as if to say *thanks for the
tip on this little gem*. . . and boooom!. . .bass drops bump up
the bar crowd comes in to see what's going down. . .oh my
guitar harmonics and ethereal female vocals bend backwards
a quick scan of the set up shows tracks are coming in from
disc, DAT, and wax. . .wow this *main* track appears to be
coming in off DAT. . .i hope so. . .it's beautiful in a halcyon
way. . .know what i mean? (terre, what is this track?)
right about now Tetsuo (sp?) appears behind terre, he takes
controll of one line and starts to jam the box. . .ambient stylee
live sonic seasonings. . .terre's still dropping tops but something
is brewing. . .Tetsuo overtakes table two and starts wheeling up
backwards. . .yes! so nice to see a little hand drive!. . .four
hands now rule the mixer. . .a marionette sound battle. . .good lord!
11:30pm and Morris takes over and starts immediately dropping bombs
mad bombs. . .THIS is a dj to look up to. . .he often reels in the
beats live. . .preferring not to bury his ears in cue and leave
them free to enjoy the toonage. . .he bends, bobs and weaves. . .SHIT!
he's ruffed up the crossfader twice already and we're not even into
his third track yet. . .he darts around the tables having a blast
funky rockin melodies put a big smile on his elfin face. . .mixmaster!
(here's a little trick i picked up from having the luxury to *see*
his every move. . .this may be his *secret* to those soft edged
gated segments you hear so often fluttering in his tracks. . .with
one hand acting as a physical line compressor he fires the levels
rapidly up and down to the beat. . .ambient transforming. . .ahhh!
right about now he's become my new hero. . .my thoughts of leaving
this bliss to head to the VELVET evaporate with every glorious
electrobeat he tosses out. . .but my spidersense is tingling like
mental and the thought of missing reload prevails. . .when morris
lies into pure ambient bedding i leap 10 blocks down the street
with a superspring in my step to the VELVET
a quick survey of the guestlist finds the words *Teep +1* written
down under the name *global communications* (thank you benny boi!)
sure enough my spidersense was ON. . .i walk into the bassheavy
club soundsystem. . .the big budjet sound of reload presses up
against my heart. . .it's a pure ambient 12am mix. . .heavenly!
high up on the soundstage tom and mark stand busy behind a futball
banner bearing the *G.C.* script. . .tom peers into an ENORMOUS
monitor (at least 18" perhaps 25"!!). . .he works facing the crowd
and occasionally speaks into a microphone. . .but we of course only
hear the insides of an effects processor. . .breathy reload deepness
and delayed piano spiral around the transfixed patrons is this
the enlightenment?. . .pinch me. . .no, something more like the
first few minutes of alpha phase. . .i'm not sure . . .but i'm smiling
mark works to the back right a bit. . .their distinct separateness
leads me to believe that we're getting this all live. . .i hold my
breath in expectation. . .a skanky trap and bass combo ticks off
time with the sound of a metronome. . .yikes!. . .this sounds a bit
like the Link track. . .arcadian. . .with less phlange and more trap
YES! this evolves into a more jazzy jam. . .things are going to take
OFF!. . .but 45 minutes into the biz an unreloadian swinging 4/4
starts creeping up and into the mix. . .good god! josh wink has
wrestled controll of the sound. . .crap!. . .mark and tom start
packin it up. . .i watch Frankie behind Josh suck down a fattie
and plan my approach to mr middleton. . .lock on target ;)
i burst up to the stage and nip toms ear. . .big smiles erupt as the
introductions pan out. . .a firm handshake confirms my confidence
*Teep, it's great to meet you!. . .I feel like I already know you!*
hot shit!. . .i rip off a few heartfelt compliments on the fine
music heard tonight and pop the beggin question. . .are you touring?
*next year* tom saiz. . .put that down as a strong possibility as
quality sustains itself i can only see the global community of
reload fans increasing. . .we discuss the *big budget* sound and
i explain that this has nothing to do with money but rather a sound
that lends itself well to comparisons to soundtrack music. . .
tom agrees and imparts his desire to score a movie in the future
i ask about the new single. . .more primero material on side one
but what the hell is that on side two?? *morse code* saiz tom
with a grin. . .haul out those walkie talkies kids and get cracking!
after a short chat in which he assures me that i'll get a promo soon
i hand him my homemade bizness card (one of three i brought)
the kids from reload and crew are heading to see lil louie vega at
the soundfactory bar. . .this of course only prompts more discussion
as the masters names come flying out. . .each earning high praise
from both tom and me. . .the praise peaks with the name Todd Terry
tom explodes *ohhh yea!!* i mention the blackjack ep and toms eyes
get wild. . .*that man is brilliant!*
after a quick lesson i give up the reload handshake (pop your fists
together like a highfive turned to highknuckles) my desire to hear
mike kandel keeps me at the velvet till 4:30am. . .and as you'll
find out in part two of this report. . .i should have taken up toms
offer to go to see louie. . .but i'll save that stroy for monday
here's a peek at what to expect. . .no magic mike. . .just casper
the drunken ghost of techno past. . .a little domina and of course
a lot of dave clarke. . .and a nightfull of masterblaster knockoffs
..... .....
... . . ...
......TP......
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... ...
.... .... Teep (aran@mitvmc.mit.edu)
noPGPkey justcrypticashell