Demdike Stare in der Zukunft
Demdike Stare is the occult new project from Miles Whittaker and Sean Canty. Miles is probably better known as Modern Love’s DJ MLZ or as 0.5 of Pendle Coven. Sean Canty is the dedicated digger behind the Haxan events and a member of the hugely respected Finders Keepers crew of vinyl vultures. Their collaborative project tracks the sonic leylines of cult soundtracks, Arabesque dubs and psychotomimetic ephemera with a proper Lancastrian twist….. ..
Fr 02.03.2012 24:00
Club Zukunft Zürich
Ost & Kjex im Hinterhof
With a sound that straddles electro, funk, disco and house, Oslo based duo Ost & Kjex return with their second long-player ‘Cajun Lunch’ on Hamburg based imprint, Diynamic. Having released their cheese fixated (and indeed sampled) debut album ‘Some Cheese but not all Cheese comes from the Moon’ in 2004 the food obsessed Norwegian pair have released a multitude of EPs and remixes on labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Planetnoise, Modular, Snick Snack, Punkt, Dialect and now Diynamic Music and played in venues and festivals all over the world including Fabric (UK), Panorama Bar (DE), Moog (ES), Fusion Festival (DE), Hove Festival (NO), Nu Music (NO) and Noveau Casino (France) to name a few.
The debut album, to their big surprise awarded them a nomination for best electronica album at the Norwegian Grammys and the pair continued to develop their sound on releases such as ‘More Songs About Cheese And Revolutionary Tarts’, ‘How Not To Be A Biscuit’ and ‘Boston Food Strangler’.
Since then the food boys have awoken, got their hands on some serious sounds and started shredding out tunes aimed at the dance floor. In the summer of 2008 they stumbled upon Hamburg based Croatian Solomun, resulting in a collaboration track called “Federgewicht” (Featherweight) and the beginning of their association with Diynamic whilst only last summer the pair contributed vocals on the dance floor hit ‘Summertime’ by UK producer Jamie Jones.
In between live shows and remixing the busy food geeks have now prepared their second course for your delectation. As the title suggests ‘Cajun Lunch’ mixes elements of delta blues and bayou basslines into their organic house sound, especially on the guitar filled ‘Bluecheeseblues Parts 1 and 2’ but also in the general laidback atmosphere that envelopes every track. From the opening sun-kissed grooves of ‘Mosambiquetravelplan’ featuring Bugge Wesseltoft on piano to the sexed-up funk of ‘Continental Lover’ and the deep house tones of ‘The Yellow Man’ the boys continue to conspire with the album’s guest vocalist, Tracee Meyn.
Providing a juxtaposition to the pairs’ house foundation and Mr. Ost’s falsetto lead vocals, Tracee becomes an integral part of ‘Cajun Lunch’s funk filled sound giving it that extra spice to their production relish. On the darker and minimal edged ‘A New Deal’ and bassline driven ‘Seraphine’ Tracee is further assisted by members of her gospel choir who combine to give ‘Cajun Lunch’ a fuller, more rounded sound whilst tracks like ‘We Got Ticket To Moon’ and ‘Bluebird’ see the guys strip everything down to the bare essentials and groove with their machines, taking their house sound into dark, sweat filled boxes the world over.
‘Cajun Lunch’ is house music but not as we know it (and certainly with more cheeses). Whilst ‘The Yellow Man’ spins a shimmering groove that sees Tracee sparring with Mr. Ost’s lovelorn delivery we also find the duo’s production dexterity in full bloom on the closing ‘Lets Set The Time’ which takes a slo-mo house groove into deep dub territory with Mr. Ost providing a dreamlike vocal over the top, lulling us in to a chilled, hammock-strewn slumber.
Ost & Kjex’s love for electronic music still takes the boys wherever the cheese is fresh and the beats are crunchy: from the Reggiano Parmesan factory in Verona to your local watering hole, churning out theatrical performances or fucked-up live sets for the dance floor. This summer will be no exception as you will find them gigging in clubs, live venues and festivals across the world both as a duo and also featuring “The Traces” gospel choir.
Fr 09.03.2012 22.00
Hinterhof Basel
Ben Klock im Cabaret
Berlin born DJ, producer and label owner Ben Klock is without a doubt one of the most significant characters in techno’s recent history. A resident at Berghain since its opening in 2004, he has been able to leave his mark on the club’s unique sound, in turn the special space influenced Klock’s approach as a DJ and producer as well.
Playing techno sets full of hypnotic, deep and heavy grooves, releasing records on Ostgut Ton and last but not least the aesthetics of his own label Klockworks (founded in 2006), have earned him an excellent international reputation over the last few years. Supported by stringent and enthralling tracks, remixes for such diverse artists as Kerri Chandler, Martyn or Depeche Mode, the revered debut album “One” on Ostgut Ton and his Berghain mix, Ben Klock’s name is synonymous with the vitalization of an essential definition of techno.
His music is free of crippling nostalgia and rather wins you over with consistency, tension, and dynamics and time and time again with a sensibility, one would usually expect from house music. In this vein, Klock pursues an unexacting fusion of quantum jumps and tradition – including effortless melodies or hook lines. Being able to harmonize this method of industrial austerity, natural musicality and an impressive physicality is Ben Klock’s great art and skill.
And of course his monthly marathon sets at Berghain that escort all what’s being said with pure sound and consistently motivate Ben Klock to skip the trapdoor called routine.
Fr 23.03.2012 23:00
Cabaret Club Zürich
Lone in der Zukunft
Over the past year, Nottingham-based producer Lone (a.k.a. Matt Cutler) has undertaken quite the reinvention, leaving behind the hip-hop flavored abstraction and hazy beatscapes of his notable Ecstasy & Friends and Lemurian albums for a quicker-paced sound that’s much better suited for the dance floor.
Last summer’s “Pineapple Crush” single was the first demonstration of Cutler’s new-found love affair with Detroit techno and classic rave, but with his new mini-album, Emerald Fantasy Tracks, the transformation just might be complete as he showcases upbeat vibes, warm synths, hands-in-the-air moments, unbridled energy and glowing enthusiasm that is simultaneously naive and self-aware in its ‘I’m just dancing with my eyes closed, but isn’t it so much fun?’ motif. We sincerely hope Lone’s dance party never stops!!
Sa 14.04.2012 24:00
Club Zukunft Zürich
Monkey Maffia im Hinterhof
The most club swarms usually receive Sören Bodner aka Monkey Maffia as half of the DJ-duo, which for 17 years brought the most eclectic exaltations to the dancers of the world. The Wighnom-y-lotion of classy techno is History!
One is the magic number, twice – a man to a twin–sized bed is the custom. As an operator of the Freude am Tanzen/Musikkrause workshop and record store founder (Fatplastics) he loves the luminosity of the coarse and fevered dance music in every cubic centimeter of his soul. Vinyl is his daily bread, what pumps in his veins. Monkey belongs to the early 90’s as one of the tireless torch carriers whom bass drums provided the pace for his free spirit-sidekick the most club abstract. Peppered with a grotesque, lovely madness with a wink of the eye included.
Essentially he is an anarchistic selector with a sharp sense for the particular and distinguished note of a genre which has no name. Drilling through with his genre straddling style the borders of house and techno. Thereby he detected the often strict formalism of many a dance floor with a joyful stringency for surprise pickled with intensity with a dash of dramatics. Sounds seasoned as a real beat cuisine. Sometimes he seduces soft and sensitive – allowing the soul of this millennium to come on, and then he comes with a slap on the posterior.
Monkey Maffia – A real cosmopolitan with a deep love for his home, a gentleman in a bear suit, and a free thinker as opposed to a drone is known as one of the most creative distribution centers of electronic music. Explosiveness bound together with a deepness as his modus operandi. Tirelessly he spins on the controllers as if they were wheels, thereby a determined focus on the dance floor is brought forth which is then unfolded. With an ardor, the warmth can be heard as a thread through his interpreted design majesty. A richness of ideas yes, obsessive compulsive no – here the life is lived, not compelled!
Sa 25.02.2012 23:00
Hinterhof Basel
Dario Zenker im Sedel
Dario Zenker has grown in the course of the time into an inherent part in matter of innovative, electronic music. The inhabitant of Munich is active in the scene for many years and a full blood musician. What confused us in the legendary and musically pedagogic „Green Room“ of Munichs Ultraschall years ago, the modern artist packs it up stimulatingly, unconventionally and brings it on the floor. Whether live played or mixed, Dario is feeling his audience. His sets are very multisided, sometimes more technoid and sometimes more housy, but always with a lot of sense for the crowd and an unique groove. All together with a laxity as if the 27 year old has nothing else on his mind. No wonder it all ended up like this. Since his childhood he was obsessed with music. At the age of 13 he met Dj’s from all over the world which were playing at Ultraschall and found accomodation in his old flat of his step dad Christoph Zenker. Cessation is not an option for him. Techno becomes his passion and for that he lives meanwhile up to a 100%. Since 2006 he’s resident at Harry Klein and as expected the first releases came out the same year. Since 2008 he’s an inherent part of the Vakant crew. His inspiration is life and everything around him, hence, his sound is also enormously many-sided. Together with his brother he runs the labels Ilian Tape and Harry Klein Records.
Sa 31.03.2012 23:00
Sedel Luzern
Roman Flügel im Hinterhof
It all started with one of these Chicago Trax compilations on DM/STREETSOUNDS. As a reaction to his thirsting for more of these crazed beats from overseas and with a view to his tight budget, the greatest hits of these expensive imported 12” singles were soon released in the form of a compendium.
This opened Pandora’s box, for very young Roman Flügel, too. Innocently given to him by his elder brother as a present (“He probably had no idea what he was about to unleash and just wanted to give me some new music”), the dazzle of the unrefined and feverish dance music, furnished with just a few drum machines and inexpensive synthesizers, turned the whole world upside down for the cultivated music pupil from Darmstadt. After several evenings at Sven Väth’s renowned Omen club, few kilometres further up north, and his mind was made up. Memories of the atmosphere at the legendary Warp or Underground Resistance label nights has put a smile on Flügel’s delicate face ever since – a man who would also make a fine figure as a literature lecturer, poet or thinker. “LFO’s bass, once they had set up their massive range of equipment, was unbelievable,” he says laughing.
It didn’t take long before the well-trained ear tried out more than just classical melodies. Little by little, he collected a vast array of equipment, bringing forth his first sound experiments and enough courage to give a demo tape to indie fan (that’s what music magazines like Zillo used to call people like that back then) Jörn Elling Wuttke. The latter was a well-known face in Darmstadt’s music scene and often enthused about new electronic music. In him he had found the right partner and Wuttke could hardly believe his spellbound ears.
DJs und Delirium record sellers Ata and Heiko MSO from Frankfurt felt the same. At first they thought someone was making fun of them. It sounded too authentic and unique. The music Flügel and Wuttke had presented to their label Ongaku and Klang Elektronik as Acid Jesus or, rather, Alter Ego, couldn’t possibly come from the little neighbouring town Darmstadt. In Frankfurt, that kind of sound made people think of Detroit. The rest is history and forged an almost holy alliance. Speaking of holy: a humid summer’s day, a crate of beer and a studio in a garage sufficed to found a new label by the name of Playhouse for Holy Garage and to create that certain “surprise” which still excites house clubs today. Comrades-in-arms such as Isolée, Don Disco alias Losoul and Ricardo Villalobos made the label the number one address.
So they went on, history was written and the nineties flew by in a jiffy. His degree course in music was in the way: “It seemed obsolete somehow, just to be analyzing church sonatas all day when there were so many interesting things going on around me. When, on top of that, the only semester on modern music was cancelled that year, I decided to leave the university.” Luckily for us all, actually. The electronic intellectual’s productivity is virtually unparalleled and Roman Flügel, the producer, DJ and label co-owner of Ongaku/Klang/Playhouse has meanwhile become a gentle giant in the German electro scene. With his own personal style and the privilege of being independent from the usual constraints of the music industry. A free spirit instead of a sheep. His solo project as Soylent Green (see the latest “La Forca Del Destino” compendium) is just as much of a must as his Alter Ego project with Wuttke, rigorously affirming techno down to the very last detail. He and Wuttke also count as techno Teuton Sven Väth’s favourite producers, who booked the team to produce a series of his own music. Roman’s work as Eight Miles High and Ro 70 show his quieter side, while the remixes (e.g. for Daft Punk, The Human League, Primal Scream, Pet Shop Boys, Kylie Minogue) and tracks under his own name (just think of the Arcade rave of “Geht’s Noch”) are light dancefloor affirmations.
Roman also champions the cause of this in his job as an entertainer. Tried and tested by the stadium and pop hit “Rocker”, Flügel and Wuttke can be proud of being able to set any auditorium in the world on fire with their live set. DJ Roman Flügel can say the same of himself. Be it his sets at Offenbach’s Robert-Johnson, Amnesia on Ibiza or Berlin’s Tollhaus Berghain/Panorama Bar: instead of disappearing in trivial and meaningless elevator clicks, he prefers to make his way through 20 years of “rave”. Contemporary music that includes bleeping house or quirky techno meets futuristic Italo-disco and electronica devoid of all provenance. There was a time when you’d call that kind of sound acid house, released cheaper by the dozen on compilations. It all turns full circle again.
Fr 17.02.2012 23:00
Hinterhof Basel
André Galluzzi im Hive
André is born in Frankfurt in 1973. When he is 14, he works in a Club behind the bar – the DJ falls ill one day and André gets the chance to fill in behind the decks, an experience that will change the course of his life… In the beginning of the nineties he has become a regular in a variety of clubs, e.g. the „M“ in Mainz or the legendary Berlin „Bunker“. Not long after, he’s already quite popular as a DJ in and around Frankfurt and in Berlin and as a consequence is given a residency in the „Parkcafé“ in Wiesbaden. In 1994 he starts to work for the renowned record distributor Neuton, where he meets Paul Brtschitsch. In 1995, André and Paul found the label TAKSI and – the heyday in their young career – Sven Väth plays their first production in the famous Frankfurt radio show „HR3 Clubnight“.
Shortly after receiving a residency in Berlin’s famous „Tresor“ in 1996, André moves to the capital, where he joins the agency „Good Groove Booking“. After that, his engagements as a DJ become more international, he plays in Sweden, Canada, Holland, Turkey, Switzerland. His productions are released on labels such as TAKSI, Ongaku or Force Inc. He spins at radio stations like Kiss FM, HR XXL, Sputnik or Fritz; his sessions at Berlin’s „Ostgut“ are legendary. Richie Hawtin licenses his TAKSI track „Schneesturm“ for his label Plus 8 and adds a remix. In 2003, André mixes the successful compilation „Galluzzi im Garten“ for the „Ostgut“, produces the track „Maskenball“ with Paul Brtschitsch for the Cocoon Compilation C, and for Ongaku the album „Night on Earth II“.
By now, he has become quite infamous for his intoxicating 10 hour sets; he plays all around the globe and has another residency in Berlin’s „Berghain“. However arduous his working schedule may be, there is still time for creatitivity – he works in the studio with musicians such as John Selway, Guido Schneider or Dana Ruh and has released his third mix compilation for the „Airport“ in Wuerzburg.
Sa 26.05.2012 23:00
Hive Zürich
Sven Väth in der Reithalle
Since his beginnings in the Frankfurt club scene in 1982, when Sven Väth attracted interest with DJ sets of several hours and a completely new understanding of club culture, his name has not only stood for the constant development of this art form called Electronic Music: with his platform Cocoon, he has also revealed a real dedication in the support of young musical talent showing his passion for bringing great music to the fore.
He has his fans in the most important clubs across the globe as well as at the world’s biggest festivals, he toured South America and played in the Thai jungle, and he is cultural ambassador of the German Goethe Institute. On the dance floor, he unites thirty-five-year-olds with fifteen-year-olds. The reader’s polls of the big magazines regularly see him in top ranks in every important category, and his tours lead him to more than seventy cities and numerous festivals on four continents, practically the whole year through. However, besides his own career, the advancement of electronic music as such is of high importance to Sven. His Cocoon network is home to the booking agency Cocoon Artist Booking, the event agency Cocoon Events and the record label Cocoon Recordings – three very important components of the electronic music scene that are both innovative and independent.
In Ibiza, the Cocoon events belong to the most successful parties for years, due to their sharp musical and artistic profile. In the year 2004, six years after the closing of the ground-breaking Omen club (whose artistic motor Sven Väth had been), he started a new era of club-life in Germany and opened the cocoonclub in Frankfurt, setting new standards in design, conception and music. Two restaurants, a Michelin-star awarded chef and the elite of the international DJ guild guarantee a high-class entertainment experience.
Sa 19.05.2012 22:00
Reitschule Bern
Chris Liebing im Hive
Chris Liebing had his first Residency as a DJ in a small club called “Red Brick” 1991 in Giessen, near Frankfurt. There he was playing all sorts of music from Soul, Hip Hop and Pop to House. In 1993, buying his records at Downtown Records in Giessen, he discovered the more electronic side of music, and one year later, he decided to open up a Techno Club, called “Spinclub”.
Already beginning of 1995 the club had to close down and Chris began working for Eye-Q Records in Frankfurt. During that period, he met his friend and partner Andre Walter. Together they started to built up a studio and worked on music. Later that year, the first record on Global Ambition was released. Also together with Tommy Bingel from Downtown Records and Toni Rios, they founded the house Label SOAP.
Various Records and Remixes were released, like Traveller on Harthouse, Noosa Heads and E.H.R. on Soap, Strictly Ryth, and others.
In November 1995, Chris had a chance to play at the OMEN in Frankfurt and shortly after became Resident DJ. About a year later, influenced by his DJ-ing, he created “fine Audio Recordings” together with Under Cover Music Group. Chris gained first worldwide recognition with releases like Audio 07 and Audio 11.
Between 1978 and 1999 he hosted his weekly radioshow on Evosonic Radio. Very much happened then in 1999, Chris played the first time for the U60311 and started his Residency every first Friday of a month with ” Es ist Freitagaaabend…!”, playing along with his favourite DJ´s and Live Acts from around the world.
He joined the Cocoon Agency in Frankfurt to take care of his growing Booking Schedule and also in that same year, he moved on with his Labelwork and created his own Recordcompany “CLR”. From then on the Labels CLR, Clretry, CLAU, Stigmata and Soap were distributed by Prime in England.
Since August 2000 you can hear Chris and Pauli Steinbach in their “Pitch Control” on HR XXL every Thursday night.
In may 2001 he mixed this double CD and started working on his Album for CLR which will hopefully bereleased within the following year.
In 2002 he left Cocoon Booking to manage the Booking Schedule by himself. From now CLR is taking care also of his bookings.
Sa 11.02.2012 23:00
Hive Zürich
