[Melbourne, Australia. October 7, 2013] - A little vibe time in the new age with a Melbourne based wonder.♫ mlat96 - Andras Fox.mp3  Play You're currently based on Melbourne. Did you grow up there as well? Where does the vigorous musical talent and passion you host come from? I had a very typical suburban childhood, growing up in Melbourne. When I was about 5 years old, I became obsessed with a small Casio keyboard my parents had bought me. I taught myself to play the demo song note for note - that’s probably my earliest musical memory. I’m a relatively obsessive person - and music seems to be the healthiest and easiest of my perversions to satisfy. You did an interview some time ago talking about the (frequently occurring topic on the) "eternality of the vinyl medium," going on to describe how all the facets of its culture greatly helped you to discover music. What are some of your favorite and more memorable record stores, at home or abroad? There are some great shops in Melbourne including Licorice Pie, Round and Round, Northside Records - but my favorites are the one’s outside of the city that rarely get a visit. I’ve had a great time shopping in Budapest at Laci Baci’s, as my family is Hungarian and I have a thing for Eastern European LPs. Without doubt Japan is a great place for records (everything) and shops like Revelation Time and Rare Groove in Osaka are must visits. I’m also dying to get over to the NL to visit Red Light Records... In the same interview, you noted how robust Melbourne's current ("dance") music scene is, one that you seem to have been having a fun time in. What is it over there that has contributed to such a prosperous and vibrant culture of funk, jazz, and boogie? Here we are, at the end of the world, right at the southern tip, and we’re all obsessed with 90s nostalgic house music? I’m not sure why there’s such a good scene, but I think we’re all feeding each other and keeping the inspiration alive. There are good radio shows here, there’s good food and local produce, there’s good weather and great wilderness. If you eat well, feed the forest, hang out with friends you start to appreciate the finer sounds. Are these the scenes where you hooked up with the reality group Home Loan Records and Captain Ozone to house "Erskine Falls?" How exactly did that acquisition come to be? Ozone gets what Ozone wants. He approached me looking to do a 12” release and it happened very smoothly. We both have very strong aesthetics, so the release was a meeting of two raging rivers. That’s always where you find the nutrients. Could you talk a little bit about the Strange Holiday show? It seems to have given you a good platform to combine things where you might not have otherwise been able to. I’m not a very anonymous guy - I like the californian cult of personality and how that influenced such a wide variety of private issue new age music and similar genres in the 1970s and 1980s. Doing the radio show lets me talk, tell the story, reach people who live outside the very small niche that I occupy. As it is from 4-6pm on a Sunday afternoon, it encourages a lot more guitar based music, Balearic sounds, Dad music. What are the more personally important gigs you've been able to experience on tour this year? Aside from playing background music to boat-people on tropical islands, where have some of your favorite listeners been? I enjoyed touring with James Pants heaps - he’s a great guy and he’s turned me on to some excellent music over the years. Doing a handful of shows with Oscar Key Sung was also a highlight - we’re not exactly professional but we have a good time. Anything worth keeping the peepers open for the rest of this year? There’s a follow up LP to Embassy Cafe in the works - about 8 tracks recorded and tested on my car stereo. It will be called Cafe Romantica and should be out around the new year. There’s also a collection of new age demos that I’m looking to release but I’m going to take my time on that one. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Romie Singh - Dancing To Forget [CBS] 2. Barry Reynolds - Till The Doctor Gets Back [Island] 3. Akimbo - The Rap [Forward Sounds International] 4. Spike - Girl [Spike Records] 5. Social Climbers - Chris & Debbie [Hoboken Records] 6. Teddy Lasry - Krazy Kat [Sonimage] 7. Leon Lowman - Friends [Syntheseas Records / Music From Memory] 8. Ralph Mcdonald - Playpen [London] 9. Oliver's Planet - Cosmic Rain [Ariola] 10. New World Music - Intellectual Thinking [New World Music] 11. Benedek - Untitled [Forthcoming on P.P.U.] 12. Sasac - All Pleasures [Omega Supreme] 13. ???? - Unknown Russian track 14. Deux - Lassitude [Minimal Wave] 15. Beautiful Swimmers - Spezi [Future Times] 16. Yuji Toriyama - Maze [Agharta] 17. Kaine - Wisdom Rock [K-Star records]

[London, UK. October 24, 2013] - Provocative Cosmic RnB from a passionate, London based curator.♫ mlat97 - Throwing Shade.mp3  Play Nabihah Iqbal, the well versed music aficionado - radio DJ, insightful curator and producer stationed in London... what's your background and musical upbringing? Music has always been my favourite thing and I think the interest was initially prompted by Michael Jackson when I was about 2 years old. According to my parents, I watched a TV show about him and just got obsessed! They had to buy me a Michael Jackson video which I remember I used to watch everyday! He is my all-time musical hero. Indeed I am into all sorts of different music because there's just so much to appreciate and I couldn't imagine restricting myself to a handful of genres. Growing up, I played in orchestras and jazz bands, and I was also in a noise band for a while. I play the flute, piano, guitar and sitar. At university I studied Ethnomusicology and that really opened my eyes up to all the amazing and diverse music to be explored from all around the world. During that time I tried my hand at all sorts of instruments and I played in a Turkish ensemble, Balinese and Javanese gamelan ensembles, and a classical Thai ensemble. Discovering all these musical styles and cultures profoundly changed my perspective on questions about what we consider to be 'music', and also music as a socio-cultural construct. It is these kinds of ideas which I try to channel through on my NTS Radio show - playing things like Innuit eskimo throat-singing and challenging people's perceptions of what 'music' really is. How did you start with your NTS radio residency, and how long have you been involved? I first appeared on NTS Radio as a guest on Thristian's 'Global Roots' show. I was playing a bunch of my favourite field recordings and other tracks from all over the world, as well as chatting about them. It just so happened that Fergus, the NTS station manager happened to be tuned in at the time and he was really into it. I must have made a really good impression on him because as soon as we'd gone off air he called up to offer me my very own show on the station! And obviously I was extremely flattered by the proposition and accepted it wholeheartedly. I've been presenting my own monthly show on NTS since May 2013. What else do you involve yourself with besides the radio gig, and your undoubted thirst/search for varied music acquisition? I like to swim. What's the story behind how you hooked up with Kasse Mosse's Ominira to release your debut EP? A lot of people have been asking me how I've managed to get my music released on Kassem Mosse's Ominira label... He heard it on Soundcloud and approached me. Initially he contacted me under an alias but then when I found out who it really was it totally blew my mind! I'm still so starstruck about it because he's someone that I really look up to musically, and for him to love my music enough to want to release it on vinyl just gives me such an amazing feeling. I feel really honored. It's been really good working with him and he also played at my launch party which felt pretty surreal. How did you stumble upon the moniker, "Throwing Shade?" Like this. From what/where do you derive inspiration/impetus to produce music? Would you describe your sound as a particularly British vibe/aesthetic? If so, what exactly is that? It's hard for me to pinpoint one thing as my most inspiring musical influence. To be honest, I think that whatever influences me is quite subconscious. I don't usually have a specific influence in mind when I'm making music - I just do it and see what comes out. Afterwards, I always find it really interesting when people tell me what kind of influences they think they hear in my music because then it gets me thinking, "Oh yeah, maybe that's true! I never thought of it like that." I'm not really sure if there's a distinctly British aesthetic within my music - I guess that's something for the listener to make a judgment about. Having entered the game with such promising accolades, what do you hope to do in the coming years? I just want to make it as a guest on BBC Radio 4's 'Desert Island Discs' one day. That's my ultimate goal. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Throwing Shade - Blanx [Unreleased] 2. Throwing Shade - Lights [Ominira] 3. Throwing Shade - Lovers in a Scene [Unreleased] 4. Throwing Shade - Mystic Places [Ominira] 5. Throwing Shade - Ohhh [Unreleased] 6. Throwing Shade - We Belong Together [Unreleased] 7. Throwing Shade - Ohhh [Unreleased] 8. Throwing Shade - Daydream [Unreleased]

[Los Angeles, USA. October 31, 2013] - One of the Mount Analog bosses - Zane Landreth - shows off his world famous record shop for Halloween 2013.♫ mlat98 - Mount Analog.mp3  Play How did Mount Analog come together and how long have you been in business? Could you outline its history and how you settled on its name? My partner Mahssa and I had been discussing opening up a place that represented both of our shared interests for quite a while, she is a record store veteran of 15+ years and runs the US arm of Finders Keepers Records, and I have been working in various aspects of music management and touring for as long as I can remember. In addition to that, we were both throwing parties in LA, hers a global psych night and mine was more of a Minimal Synth / Cold Wave party. We felt there was a gap that needed to be filled, a place where all of our interests could be showcased and giving the attention they deserve. Our parties were doing well and people were interested in what we were doing and we wanted to make Mount Analog a place where those ideas could be shared with everyone... to build sort of a clubhouse and create a home for that community - like how record stores felt when we were growing up; a place where you could go and get turned on to a ton of new stuff and interact with others who are interested and excited about the same things. We came up with the concept and put began to put everything in motion roughly 2 years ago, and we opened our doors on July 14th 2012. The name was Mahssa's idea, it is an Americanized version of Mount Analogue, the title of a French novel by Rene Daumal, which was also one of the main influences for Jodorowsky's film, The Holy Mountain. We found it fitting for a record store, both in the literal Analog aspect of it, but also our shop and the book have many many similarities... What is your own history with music, curation, design, and such? I have always been around music. My high school had a radio station which I ran, I went to college at Emerson to study audio, and I dropped out to tour as a sound engineer. I was a professional sound engineer / tour manager for about 8 years, and left life on the road, settled down in Los Angeles and worked on the management side of things, which I still do in the back office of the shop. For me, it has always been about showing people good music, if that was on the radio, by working in the studio and making good bands sound good, by touring and making them sound good live, working in management to get the bands I love in front of as many people as possible... and now at Mount Analog where I'm selling records to people. It is really what I've done all along in some form or another is turn people on to good shit... or try to at least. The shop is currently located just outside mainland LA on the fringes of Pasadena in Highland Park. What have been the pro and cons to being stationing there? When we were looking for locations to open the shop, Highland Park was at the top of our list. Mahssa had lived in the neighborhood before, and we both have many friends who currently live, or are moving here. The location we found was right next to our good friend's art gallery which was doing really well, on a street that was / is beginning to see a lot of growth and cool things move in. Since we moved in, we have a vintage clothing store, a cafe, and another gallery that have all opened or are opening on our block. Also in the Highland Park neighborhood there are at least 4 other record stores which all specialize in different things, and we all help each other out, pointing folks in the direction of the other shops, which is fun and makes a real solid day if you are looking to hit a bunch of different shops. Also, I believe that LA is destinational by nature. It is such a massively spread out city, that you have to make a conscious effort to go anywhere or do anything. You can't (for the most part) stumble out of your front door, and run into everyone you know, and have all the stuff you want to do at your fingertips - you have to try a little harder to get it all. So being a little outside the beaten path, I don't think hurts us that much; I think it makes the trip more special... if you're coming out here, you want to come here. You recently played a major part in Cassette Store Day, hosting some pretty exciting exclusives from artists like Torn Hawk and Timothy J. Fairplay. How does that genesis of acquisitions like that play out, and how did this year's event end up going? When we saw that Cassette Store Day was happening, we thought it was a fun idea, and like Record Store Day this past April, we thought it would be fun to do something special for it. A friend of ours gave us a cassette duper as an opening present, so we reached out to a bunch of our friends and people we respect, and asked it they wanted to make a small run tape with us, most people thought it was a fun idea so we ended up making tapes for Silent Servant, Torn Hawk, Drumcell, Pan Records, Delroy Edwards out of the shop, and getting tapes from Timothy J. Fairplay and Ascetic House records and we worked with Self Titled magazine to put out a mix cassette from Andy Votel... I think there were a couple others as well... Cassette Store Day went really well actually! We had a cassette deck DJ set up and had a bunch of different people come in and DJ using tapes, and people were really excited about all of the releases. Mount Analog also recently started flirting with its own record imprint and runs a series of its own parties. How well does Los Angeles support and nurture these tertiary endeavors? I see us putting out records, tapes and throwing parties as really part of Mount Analog and what we do. It all really fits in to the bigger idea of really turning people on to great things. We are a highly curated shop where every record, film, book or anything else in here, is in here for a reason. The things we release we do because we stand behind them and want to share them with other people. The Nuit Noire events we are doing are an opportunity to bring out different artists we are excited about and build great interesting shows that are exciting from start to finish. We put a lot of time, energy and thought into them, as we want them to be more than just "a party" and people understand that which is great. I think people look forward to our events because they can rely on us to present them with a progressive line up that is unique and exciting... and there is usually something pretty special about it as well. Taking that one step further, how have the challenges of the ebbing and flowing of the buyers market for specially curated obscure rarities played out for the shop? So far this hasn't been an issue for us. Our growth has continued pretty steadily from day one, as more and more people find out about the shop. Word of mouth has done wonders for us, there are lots of people coming in from out of town who have us at the top of their list of places to go, people on tour are constantly coming in and helping to spread the word, and our online shop, and social media presence have really helped push us forward as well. Could you talk a little bit about this mix and its track selection? I thought of a bunch of different ways to go about this mix... I started out thinking that I could put together a sound collage of spooking sounds and noises, and sprinkle in some classic soundtrack stuff like Goblin and John Carpenter and their disciples... then I thought that would be too obvious. I ended up making a little narrative for this mix and then using records we have in the shop to score it, and tell the story. I wanted this mix to be one part Cruising, one part Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, and one part Maniac. Its a fun night, dancing and having a good time, the protagonist leaves the club and walks home alone, and a bad guy follows them. Things get creepy, the follower captures the protagonist, tortures them, and it ends with the protagonist being suffocated by a black plastic bag from the follower who is wearing leather gloves.... I really liked the image of the black plastic bag and the black leather gloves. I think that the songs flowed together really well, and tell the tale. It starts with fun (but dark) house music, noise and terror in the middle, and I tried to make the ending as claustrophobic as possible. And if anyone makes that movie they better let me be the music supervisor!!! What are you Halloween plans for 2013? I'm not sure exactly, but I hope there is blood involved... lots and lots of blood. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Heinrich Dressel - Thru the Fog [Cyber Dance Records] 2. Section 25 - Looking from a Hilltop (Megamix) [Factory] 3. Black Merlin - 22.05 [World Unknown] 4. Cabin Fever - Dr. Beat [RKDS] 5. Innerspace Halflife - Exosuit [Skudge White] 6. Squadra Blanco - The Night Must Fall [Holosynthesis] 7. Stone Edge - Untitled [SUB] 8. Demdike Stare - Dyslogy [Modern Love] 9. Shapednoise - Information On The Individual Sensoriality [Opal Tapes] 10. Concrete Fence - Industrial Disease [Pan] 11. Drumcell - Disturbance (Tommy Four Seven Remix) [CLR] 12. Paula Temple - Colonized (Perc Metal Mix) [R & S] 13. Shxcxchcxsh - Rsrrctn (Shftd Rcnstrctn) [Avian] 14. The Analogue Cops feat. Blawan - Light Reduction [Restoration Records] 15. AnD - Not A Sheep [Inner Surface Music] 16. Violetshaped - cX310 (JK Flesh Reshape) [Violet Poison]

[London, UK. November 11, 2013] - A glorious projection from one of the celestial Scots standing in for the Land of Light project.♫ mlat99 - Land of Light.mp3  Play With a solid debut LP and a couple elegant retouches over the past year, how has the project been so far? It's been good thanks! Y'know Jonny and I were well into recording the land of light album before George and I did the Spectral Empire mix for Made Like a Tree so that's how long back it goes! It's been fun though and it's always nice to work with friends on music, both Jonny and George. The reaction to land of light has been pretty positive though and it's a privilege to be a part of it! How did you and Jonny Nash cross paths and begin working together? George Thompson (Black Merlin) introduced us. Jonny had just returned from living in Japan and lived really close to me in North London. We just started hanging out and working on stuff. Any particular reason for the moniker the two of you have chosen to use? We are both Scottish and its a nod to our roots! It's taken from List of Lights. You were semi-recently on tour for the project. How did things play out? Good! We've played a lot of gigs over the course of the last year, many countries and met many cool inspiring people but it's taken a lot if time away from the studio work. Time to lock the studio door for the winter and come up with new music!! Does the Spectral Empire project (with George Thompson) and its ethos live on? Aside from the recently celebrated Brain Machine remixes, any plans to keep that alive? Always alive! George and I are very close friends and Spectral Empire is the result of us hanging out making music together. We have loads of unreleased tracks on the hard drive too that should probably surface into the public domain. Well some of them anyway!! How about continuing to branch out and collaborate with others? Any recent projects worth being excited about, or at least things happening around you that you've found particularly inspiring? Well, where do I start!! As I touched on earlier the music I make is mostly a result of hanging out with like minded friends but there isn't enough hours in the day to have projects with everybody unfortunately! There are a couple of other things though, I've just done a remix for Forgotten Corners Records under a solo project I've started called Cassini Division. Track is called Tattoine Moons and is supposed to be out before the end of the year. I'm also working on more tracks for the project with what little spare time I have. It all came about when I was listening to old forgotten tracks and sonic experiments on my hard drive and I realized that I had the beginnings of an album or at least a couple of 12s with quite a cohesive sound and vision to it. I'll try and finish that over the winter. Also there is the Spirit Bear Mezcal Ensemble record just out on LN-CC recordings. That's where LN-CC in London assemble a collection of performers and record an improvised session in front of a crowd in their club space. A couple of 10 minute sections are put onto vinyl but the whole performance is like 4 or 5 hours each time. There's another one coming soon too!! Check LN-CC's website for details on these! Another thing that came about after that is the Kommune project with Jonny Nash and George Thompson. That is where we hook up sequencers, synths, drum machines and effects and make an improvised live performance. We did one a couple of weeks ago in London but have another outing in Hamburg's Golden Puddel club in February. I think my late father played in the same venue in the 60's so it will be special for me! And then how about your plans through the end of the year? Like I say, time to hibernate in the studio!! Time to get some more music done!! Try and fine tune the live set ready for next summer!! 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Ad City - Easing [unknown] 2. Maricopa - Interstate [Tusk Wax] 3. Karou Inoue - The Secret Field [Mule Musiq] 4. TNT Subhead - The Story of the Eye [Groovement] 5. Voices from the Lake - In Giova [Prologue] 6. Musiccargo - Ich Ggeh Den Weg Mit Dir [Amontillado Music] 7. The Cheapers - The Black Bell [BAR25] 8. Âme - Erkki [Rush Hour] 9. Andreas Reihse - Bahia Knife [M=Minimal] 10. Tullio di Piscopo - Stop Bajon (Primavera) [ZYX Records] 11. Jan Akkermann - Streetwalker [Atlantic] 12. Om Buschman - Die Sanfte Funf [High-Fine Music] 13. Vangelis Katsoulis - Overdrive [Utopia] 14. Finis Africae - Hybla [EM Records]

[Seattle, USA. November 11, 2013] - Alas, we must depart. A few final heartfelt selections from a good friend...♫ mlat100 - The farewell....mp3  Play Songs Oriented Towards Departure - by Terry Miller (DJ TROUBLE) One day, before I was born, my mother sat on a couch at home, resting, with a pair of giant 60’s headphones placed over her large stomach. She was nervous. I was “late,” and she was huge. She wondered how on earth she was going to give birth to such a large child. She was scared. To settle her nerves she loaded a tape of classical music on her reel-to-reel. Speaker port A through her large home stereo speakers. Speaker port B hooked into the headphones placed on her belly so that I could listen. I suppose all that music made my home inside my mother quite cozy, because I stayed there for another two weeks. During that time my mother's continued to play music—through the speakers for her, through the headphones for me. When I finally came into the world I had a full head of blonde hair and two front teeth. Breastfeeding was out of the question. I have always been fascinated by the aural stimulation my mother provided to me when I was still in her womb. Did it influence my love of music? Is it the reason that I still spend nearly my whole day, every day, playing or making music? Is it the reason I obsessively unpack, clean, and drop the needle on records I must to listen to? The very first records I owned belonged to my parents. When my mother and father stopped listening to music on vinyl their collection of classic folk singers—Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte Marie, Pete Seeger, Carolyn Hester—became mine. This was the music of my childhood. I still enjoy a good story woven around a song. In fact nothing makes me happier than a murder ballad. I love old folk music. (Joan and Buffy would go on to make seminal electronic/folk albums that would mesh with my newfound love of Vangelis and Kitaro on the Cosmos soundtrack—a planetary stew of distorted psychedelic folk/disco.) As DJs, we are curators. We open the doors of our own sound museums, anxious to share our discoveries with our listeners—hoping to weave the songs we love into the fabric of their lives—while closing our doors to music we deem unworthy of a night out on the town with friends. In interviews old guard DJs like Larry Levan and Nicky Siano talk about creating sets that tell stories. Mostly about love: Two people meet. Kiss. Fall in love. They get married. Somebody cheats. Somebody lies. Two people break up. “I will survive!” And repeat…. There is so much great music out there about love and ecstasy and betrayal and heartbreak. In clubs around the world DJs are telling stories on dance floors. Strung together, mixed together, these songs become long-form ballads for all the groovers out there. People dance to them as they commune with new lovers or while escaping the pain of a love that didn’t make it. DJs are balladeers. We are today’s folk singers. Our instruments are turntables, cdjs, and mixing boards. Our songs are the records that we have collected over the years. Vinyl, MP3, CDs and flashdrives; Serato, Traktor. We travel from city to city, from bar to bar, telling stories on dance floors. I used to joke about creating a mix of folk music—but all murder ballads. I attempted it a couple times but it never came together. The murder ballad edits I created never sounded as clever as the ones that I could hear in my head. Maybe it was because I didn’t use all the available technology. But I feel that if you push a song too far using “DJ tools,” you run the risk of stripping the soul out of it. As a vinyl guy, I didn’t feel comfortable pushing old tunes to the point where they lost their essence. My original idea—a murder ballad mix—felt out of reach. So I dropped it. Recently Made Like A Tree told me that the end was nigh. The site was slowly coming to the last mixes in the series. I mentioned the fact that I was never able to finish my folk music mix. “There’s still time,” Made Like A Tree coyly replied. “I haven’t assigned the final mix. Would you like to give it a try?” Thematically we discussed how we wanted the final mix to reflect on the idea of departure. Sad, right? I thought about the word “departure.” It usually means “leave-taking” but it can also mean renewal. Some of the most exciting moments of my life required a departure. I would be leaving something behind, yes, but that meant something new was coming. There is always an unexpected journey in front of us. That’s frightening and exciting. It’s exhilarating. So here is Made Like A Tree Mix 100. This is the song—a song made of songs—that I want to sing for you. Here are ballads, literal and figurative, that I hope will ease our departure and inspire our renewal. We can't stay in one place forever. We have to leave this world and come into new ones. Now is our time to kiss. Fall in love. “I will survive!” And repeat… 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. James Yorkston & Reporter - Woozy With Cider [Domino] 2. Jürgen Paape - So Weit Wie Noch Nie [Kompakt] 3. Maxxxi Soundsystem - His Hat Was His Home [Kojak Giant Sounds] 4. Patrick Cowley - Primitive World [Rams Horn Records] 5. Les Bon Vivants - Old Time Lover [Disco Soul Records] 6. Susumu Yakota - Re: Disco [Ghostly International ] 7. Heiko Voss - Sitting In My Song [Firm] 8. Skatebård - Kosmos (Njaal Remix) [Digitalo Enterprises] 9. Bonar Bradberry - 3two5 [Needwant Recordings] 10. John Martyn - I'd Rather Be The Devil [Simply Vinyl] 11. Psychemagik - Beauty and the Bass [Psychemagik] 12. David Rubato - Circuit (Aeroplane Remix) [nstitubes] 13. Los Amigos Invisibles & Dimitri From Paris - Glad To Know You [Gomma] 14. Bonar Bradberry - Suila Grande (Pete Herbert Remix) [Needwant Recordings] 15. Low Motion Disco - Love Love Love (Solomun Edit) [Watergate] 16. Akufen - My Way (Data 80 Remix) [unknown] 17. Brynjolfur - I Love You (Pharao Black Magic Remix) [Eskimo Recordings] 18. Sohight & Cheevy - 80's Never Go Back (In Flagranti Remix) [Hello Shitty] 19. Dubtribe Sound System - Sunshine's Theme [Organico] 20. Trespassers William - Vapour Trail [Bella Union]

[Seattle, USA / Orissaare, Estonia. November 24, 2013] - The last mix from the Made Like a Tree series... one thats takes us into the horizon.♫ mlat101 - A reprise by Uku Kuut.mp3  Play Up, up, and away we go. - words by T.s. Flock - mix by Uku Kuut “There are no final acts for musicians these days, are there?” A friend of mine said this rhetorically a few months ago in reference to Bowie’s new album. At first I balked: “He’s doing what he loves, so I don’t see why it’s an issue.” He then clarified that the issue was not continued performance, but rather a constant reinvention that many pop artists (young or old, overhyped or avant-garde) must undergo to stay “fresh.” It seemed exhausting to him, and I agreed. When I began to consider how that sort of reinvention must feel for performers, I had to think about music writ large, how it transcends so many divides, how it will really never end. In a recording, the performance and the performer are fixed, which is part of the magic. The listener may come to associate a time and place and a complex sense of who they were when they first heard it and this may never change throughout one’s lifetime. Elder patients suffering from degenerative memory loss have been observed to come alive when they hear music of their era. It’s as if the song exists outside of time, and even if one doesn’t have those strong associations, a truly well constructed song will age well, even as tastes may change. Time is less forgiving to performers. The medium is the message, and to perform means to be the medium. In some genres of music, it isn’t so much about technique as it is image, the creation of spectacle in a performance. Hence, we have the idea of the has-been, whose age is no longer compatible with songs of youthful self-indulgence and sensuality... but we also have the icon, who always finds a way to adapt as he or she ages, even if they make a few mediocre albums along the way. In the most authentic examples, this adaptation means acceptance of change and exploration of one’s character, not another face lift. (Though a face-lift will probably pay dividends, too.) Some adapt to new styles, and some set them. In classical music and jazz (among others), the chance to be part of a tradition and extend it is its own reward, while others have a sort of niche and stick to it, however humble it may be considered. And let us not neglect to mention those who never “make it big,” who perform only in private or for small audiences. For some, the lack of affirmation may be stifling, but hopefully the true joy will always be in the act and not the accolades. In all cases, in the face of cynicism and doubt it is difficult, soul-searching work to keep moving in a thoughtful direction, but it would be more difficult to stand still. The world of music is as big as the world itself, and an ecumenical approach has been taken in this podcast series, incorporating as many elements as possible through its talented, varied participants. Some were well-known and others were obscure, allowing listeners to find new voices and talents and also hearing familiar songs and sounds in new ways. Even with 100 installments, there was a lengthy wish list that was growing by the day. Fortunately, there are always new opportunities and new avenues and I look forward to seeing and hearing what those wishes will form in formats to come. One wish was answered just at the close of the series, inspiring this reprise. (Also, we like the palindrome of 101 and that it is a prime number. The 26th prime, in fact. And so really, you might say that this is the Z of the series. And you know, a 101 course in school is the most basic, so the number 101 is also a beginning, too.) Where was I? Oh, yes...wishes! Just as the series was being wrapped, Uku Kuut sent over a mix tape, which is quite a feat under the circumstances. For those who don’t know, Kuut’s prolific career as a DJ and producer was cut short by the progression of neuro-lyme disease, which has left him all but paralyzed. It’s a melancholy thing to receive Kuut’s gift just as the series closes, but who could make a better reprise and prove there are no final acts these days? I hope sincerely that Kuut always finds a way to share his gifts in spite of the obstacles before him. It’s quite the inspiration. 101 courses may be the most basic, but podcast 101 by Uku Kuut is a master class in fundamental groove from recent decades, including several voices no longer with us (Aaliyah for one) and production that only the most jaded can call dated. These are well-crafted dance tracks with solid, boisterous vocals - a real party and reprise to the series. Many thanks to Kuut, to all the participants in the MLAT podcast series, and to all the listeners. May you always have music even after the curtain falls. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Al B. Sure! ‎- Nite And Day [Warner Bros. Records] 2. Uku Kuut - Ufo Planet Drum (feat. Sofia Rubina) [Big Tree Records] 3. Aaliyah ‎- Rock The Boat [Virgin] 4. Cherrelle w/ Alexander O'Neal ‎– Saturday Love [Tabu] 5. Àngela Winbush ‎– The Real Thing [Mercury] 6. Angie Stone - Pop Pop [Stax] 7. Stanley Clarke - I Wanna Play for You [Nemperor Records] 8. Zapp & Roger - Slow And Easy [Reprise Records] 9. Chaka Khan - One For All Time [Megafan Records] 10. Gap Band - Outstanding (12" Version) [Total Experience Records] 11. George Benson - Breezin' [Warner Bros. Records] 12. Quincy Jones - Tell Me A Bedtime Story [A&M Records] 13. Sofian Rubina - Funky Funky [unknown] 14. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass ‎- What Now My Love [A&M Records] 15. Herbie Hancock ‎– Just Around The Corner [CBS]

[Missoula, USA. November 29th, 2009] - The all-around heavy weight champion of the Pacific Northwest's electronic dance music circuit stops by for a few.♫ mlat10 - Kris Moon.mp3  Play You used to live in Seattle but have since moved to Montana. How have things been since? I'm from Montana, so it was actually a move home. I took a year off to work on music and now I'm in Missoula, DJing and selling wax. For those who are not as familiar, what were you involved in when you were living in Seattle? I pretty much dedicated my time in Seattle to the local electronic music community. From the Laptop Battle to Decibel, Zion's Gate to the Division List, Robotrash to the Ableton User Group. I'm not the only one. Seattle has such a strong electronic community because there are a group of people who have devoted their life to music. What are you currently involved in? For one, I know you have found a nice record store to call your own in Missoula that helps to fuel your "Moon Bass" radio broadcasts. Have you been able to get behind anything else important to you in Missoula? I'm running the online side of Earcandy records. We're on Ebay and Discogs. Poring over new releases has definitely kept my appetite for new music satiated. krismoon.com is up with over 30 mixes from my weekly radio show "Moon Bass". DJing has taken the front seat, with my production work mainly focused on the back end, sound design and post-production. I'm playing every Saturday at Absolutely, which has filled the gap for a residency. I'm really enjoying the crowd out here, i feel less obligated to stick to the script, and feel like I'm taking Serato to a next level of DJing for me. Could you tell us about this mix you did here for our podcast series? This is an "opening" slot mix. I imagined a nice club slowing filling up with all of my friends. I had a chance to listen to it all the way through and found it to hit right through heart of the concept/sensibilities that Made Like a Tree was originally founded. Would you say this mix is inspired or guided by this project, or did it come to be by some other means? Well, I'm defiantly guilty of listening to and trainspotting from the Made Like a Tree mixes. Unlike the Moon Bass shows, which are really spontaneous, i had some time to think about and plot out this session. I'm using MIDI controllers with Serato to cue and loop the cuts, which i do several times in this mix. As a deejay/producer these days, where is your current head-space? What are some major factors in your life that contribute to what you listen to, make and play? I'm in a never ending quest for music. it's an obsession really. I think that part of it is the emotion that music produces. I count on new music to surprise me, old music to comfort. I run with a soundtrack for as much of the waking hours as possible. I also geek out on tracks or producers and repeat them until I drive everyone mad. Ultimately it's got to play a role in the plot of a mix. It might be a mix to make breakfast to, but it's still part of the story. When are you going to move back to Seattle? Ha! 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Kris Moon - Kinetic [unreleased] 2. Linkwood Family - miles Away (Intrusion Dub) [Firecracker] 3. Move D - Lush Summer Rain [Shanti Records] 4. Brock Van Way - A Chance To Start Over (Intrusion's Under The Starlit Sky Mix) [echospace [detroit]] 5. Appleblim – Within [not on label] 6. Kris Moon - Spare 3.0 [unreleased] 7. Blue Daisy Feat. LaNote - Space Ex [Black Acre] 8. Deadbeat - Public Inspiration [Intr_version Records] 9. Deepchord - Ocean of Emptiness [Modern Love] 10. Andy Stott - Brief Encounter [Modern Love] 11. Claude Vonstroke – Aundy [Dirty Bird] 12. Cavalier - Deep Rider [Drumpoet Community] 13. DJ Koze - Lets Love [IRR] 14. Jesse Rose - Itchy Dog [Dubsided] 15. Karizma - Tech This Out Pt 2 [R2] 16. Moodymann - Hello2morrow [KDJ] 17. Smith N' Hack – Frederick [Smith N Hack] 18. Bruce Ivery - A1 [Stilove4music] 19. Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes - You Can't Go (Prince Language Edit) [Editions Disco] 20. Loose Joints - Tell You Today [West End] 21. Eli Escobar - Good Time [Top Billin Music]

[Tokyo/Fukuoka, JAPAN. November 18, 2009] - A mixtape steeped in a fantastic musical ethos that spans organic rhythms and futuristic beats.♫ mlat09 - Juzu aka Moochy.mp3  Play Tell us a little bit about what you grew up around in Tokyo. What sort of childhood memories do you have? I was born in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and I was influenced by Punk, Hip-Hop, and skateboarding. I also enjoyed listening to Bossanova, jazz, Latin music, noise, techno, and reggae as well. I was just hungry for music and tried to listen to whatever I could. Life in Tokyo was always stressful. Insanely packed trains, traffic jams, ridiculously high rent for a tiny apartment... But night life in Tokyo never got old. I think I was lucky to be surrounded by different kinds of music all the time. Where do you currently live, and how is it working out for you? I am currently living in Fukuoka. Every weekend, I travel by plane or train to deejay and perform live music, but otherwise I spendmy time in my studio at home to create music. I also enjoy growing veggies in the garden. As a musician, what type of gear and/or instruments do you like to use? What is the setup like in your studio? My music experience started originally as a guitar player, and I also sang. I got my turntable later and started sampling and using a PC. I also play the base, the shamisen, and the piano. I like to try to play any musical instruments. I mainly create music with a PC and also use an outboard. When you tour, do you usually deejay or play live? Mostly I'm invited as a deejay, but I do also perform live music actively. Who are your favorite producers at this time? What about your favorite record labels? Gee. I have so many of them, but if I have to choose my friend, Joe Claussell's Sacred Rhythm is really cool. As far as this podcast goes, what is the concept for it? What inspired you to play it out in this way? This is a recording from a party I performed in Osaka and Tokyo. It was inspired by the atmosphere (the "time and place") of the party. Could you tell us a little bit about your musical upbringing? Did you grow up playing any instruments and/or in any bands? And specifically, who are some of your musical influences when growing up? My parents were more or less into music when they were young, and they had a bunch of records like The Beatles, Boss Nova, film music, folk, classical etc.　I listened to those records as I grew up. I learned the piano a little because of my mom, and I started teaching myself the guitar when I was 12. Later, when I was 15, I started an alternative/hard core punk band. I've never got into one particular genre of music, so I’d say I was influenced by different kinds of music. But the music I respected at that time was Japanese Hard Core. I have really been meaning to ask you about the different aliases that you use. What is the significance of “Juzu aka Moochy” and “Jakam” for you? Could you tell us why you chose these? Juzu is my street nickname, and I got the name Moochy when I was joking around with my friends in school. JAKAM is an abbreviation of "Juzu A.K.A. Moochy.' For me though, JAKAM is the difference between those 2 names.... Juzu aka Moochy's music is more like organic sounds, and JAKAM’s is rather metallic/futuristic sounds. What is the single most important thing you think you’ve done so far in 2009? The recording in Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was very memorable. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS No tracklist available.

[New York, USA. November 7th, 2009] - A far reaching, passionate mixtape from a vinyl purist.♫ mlat08 - Reade Truth.mp3  Play What is your background and what would you say are your artistic influences? Help us to get a sense of where Reade Truth comes from. I am part of the beginning of the techno scene in New York. I was already djing regularly industrial and EBM parties at clubs like Limelight and The Building around '90-91. The music started to crossover and split up into either rock or techno styles. I went electronic. Soon afterwards I met up with Frankie Bones, Adam X and the Brooklyn Crew and we immediately began throwing underground parties all over Brooklyn. We did very good events like Electronic Underground, Mental, etc. It got to the point where we would say nothing on the flyer and hundreds of people would somehow find out exactly where to go. The love for the music was so strong back then. At this time I got hired by Mute records to work the NovaMute catalogue including Tresor II and Plastikman releases, afterwards... I did more promotion for Antler-Subway and then on my own, as Truthink. In 96 Adam X decided to move Bones and his record shop into Manhattan, and it became "Sonic Groove". He convinced me to come on and I worked for 6 great years. It was the centre for techno in Manhattan. Our store was known as the best. I had been working on music all along, but the first release arrived via Jimmy Crash's Direct Drive label in 1994. Since then, I have done a lot of tracks and always a little under the radar. I have to say I’m pretty sick of that, its time that people hear my productions because they are some of the best, there's no question. And this year Carl Craig of Planet E took notice, and he put out the "Crimen Excepta EP" which I’m very, very proud of. Its very original and different sounding, some fresh ideas for our genre. Naturally it turned quite a lot of heads and I'm happy to say things are rolling now - There will be some other really nice EP's coming up soon, on my new imprint "White Label" and also on Roy Dank's "Wurst Music." "I only spin VINYL. I resent mp3s for destroying an entire subculture of record shops, record stores, etc. - my friends all over have suffered because of this." I think this all started with my bloodline. My Grandad was a trumpet player in the 20's. My dad played professional baseball for the Yankees in the 70's but he had this side-hobby : collecting jazz. He liked some of the more Avant-garde stuff like George duke, Miles Davis, weather report, passport and parliament, and oh yeah Jean-Luc Ponty. He would be jammin' out to these sounds when we would drive to the stadium. I got really turned on to the synths in this music, they just reached inside me and grabbed my attention. Could you name off who some of the more important musicians to you are, and why? The Police, Depeche Mode, Cabaret Voltaire, Severed Heads, Throbbing Gristle. Skinny Puppy. Johnny Cash. The Doors and Mauritz Von Oswald too for defining the sound later on. The Police was really the first band I ever liked. I went to the concert with my older sister when I was 11 and it changed my life. I knew music was what I wanted to do. Depeche Mode was the band that made me a collector. Their crazy catalogue made me have to have every limited release, obscure remix, whatever ca,me out! Hahah. Now, for the sounds -- Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle really opened my mind up. These were the bands that influenced me most to start my own productions. Severed Heads, Carl Craig compared me to them. And I really appreciate that. They always had this do what you want to do attitude that I think the minimal and techno scene sometimes lacks. Artists like Johnny Cash and Jim Morrison I get a certain feeling from their productions. I see them as similar souls trying to express something greater with their music, which is what I am trying to do - its more than just dance music. I want to leave something memorable behind. So I try to describe what I am feeling and seeing in a unique way and in my own style. It’s a question of perception.... And success is, it’s like being immortal. So that’s part of this. By the way, speaking of Johnny Cash, I think I found a "June Carter" equivalent! This project will be arriving very fast in 2010. What is your deejay setup like? You are known for these energetic mixes that range from 1-6 hours or more. I only spin VINYL. I resent mp3s for destroying an entire subculture of record shops, record stores, etc. these equated to behind the scenes jobs - my friends all over the world have suffered because of this. Yeah sure it’s functional. but... vinyl works for me. At the end of a day of using computers and a mouse, the last thing I do is want to use one when I am behind the decks. DJing is the best thing in the world. I love it. Its absolutely when I am the happiest. I play a lot of newer records because I think this is a fast moving scene focused on what’s happening now so its important to be current and represent what’s in our producers' minds right now. But there should always be a nod to the past, of course, so I throw in a lot of classics and obscure rarities here and there. I love turning people on to stuff they didn't know before.. If I personally know some of the people who are gonna be out than I will often bring stuff that I know they like, so they will snap when they hear it and it just adds to the fun. Its all about getting everyone on the same vibe. Yes, I am a blender through and through. I pride myself on long mixes where the tracks just flow together smooth as smooth. I enjoy long sets. The longer the better. I think it takes an hour or so for the DJ to get comfortable with the setup and equipment and then more time to test out the crowd and get an idea of what are the boundaries. Once all that is settled it gets to be really spiritual, one groove for all minds. Its the best thing you can experience. A room of people smiling, dancing, letting go. To make that happen is very special. Your podcast is versatile, keeping the mode incredibly upbeat and cohesive. Is this representative of how you get down live? Yes. Absolutely! I hate all the nouns. The music styles got way too carried away with labeling things and made adjectives way too important. I am equally into house and techno and I always try to give the crowd a mix of both. In the end it’s sometimes hard for me to define what I do and thank god for that, because it would be boring if I could be easily labeled a "minimal" or "house" type DJ. There is so much music out there and I would prefer to be known as that kick ass DJ who you really need to go out and live. What are some of the best parties you've played at in the last 5 years? Of all time? That’s hard. So many good times. I was living in Vienna for 4 years so a lot of the recent memories are from Wien. One of my best friends is Rainer Klang. He is the best, easily one of the coolest promoter / DJs in Vienna. My goodbye Vienna party was at the Sass nightclub and I decided to rock some serious old school New York gems and it was just... ridiculous. New York is for real you know our producers are solid gold. And our DJs are a cut above (you know the ones who actually came from here, not the one's who come here and try to front). Another time would be of course a few years ago at the Flexx that sound system is awesome. I was also on tour with DJ Denard on the Sonic Warriors Tour in Germany and we had an incredible time It peaked mostly in East Germany: Leipzig, Halle, and the Maria Club in Berlin. Germans know how to party. I absolutely love them. "I am a blender through and through. I pride myself on long mixes where the tracks just flow together smooth as smooth. I enjoy long sets. The longer the better. I think it takes an hour or so for the DJ to get comfortable with the setup." As for the best party in my life it was probably the Mental / Sonic Groove party in 1994. The lineup was Frankie Bones, Adam X, Heather Heart, Carlos Tera, Abe Duque, Patrick Pulsinger and me. Police showed up and we locked them out of the warehouse. They were banging on the door trying to get in and eventually - haaha - they gave up! We made it twice as loud afterwards! I can also remember a live show I did under the Brooklyn Bridge in 2000 or so. Neil Landstrumm also played live and he tripped over the power cord and knocked out all my gear right before I went on. I had to improvise and redo everything on the fly.... just broken up with a serious girlfriend and those emotions, well they just saturated the place! Bones told me later it was the most intense things he ever heard me do. I like that a lot because I was able to define a raw emotion of mine and transmit it to an audience. Of all the music being released, is there anything that particularly stands out to you? Do you have any favorite artists? Well I am buying a lot of records all the time. But the past 2 years have especially been great! Buying vinyl feels like it did in 1992 or 1993. Lets see: Levon Vincent, Dave Function, Dinky, Brennan Green, Lerosa, Motor City Drum Ensemble and Guillaume and the Coutu Dumonts. Every release with the latter. I just really feel what it is he is saying. I caught him live at Panorama Bar / Berghain. it was truly perfect. Also awesome is Richard Hinge and my vocalist Natasha Matria. I absoutely love her and what she is doing. You will soon hear. What are your plans for the next 5 years? Do you ever look this far ahead, or at all? God no, one day at a time. I only know I want to get to the top. And to play for as many people as possible. And for sure I also know I will DJ until my dying breath! 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Classic Flowers - Whichflower [Four Roses Recordings] 2. Efdemin - Sun [Naif] 3. Sascha Dive - Punte Duro [Raum... Musik] 4. Session Victim - Out on Love [Retreat] 5. 2 Armadillos - Hawthorne's Theme (Babies From Gong Rmx) [Bangbang!] 6. Candi Staton - mpt2 [bootleg] 7. Monobrain - Tin Tin Tin [Kurbits] 8. Reade Truth - Evidence - [white label rwl 002] 9. Hooved - Between the Evil (Mollono Bass Rmx) [Boquet Music] 10. A Work in Progress - Moment of Truth [Yore] 11. Tuccillo - Panorama [Delusions of Grandeur] 12. Prosumer & Murat Tepeli - The Jam [Ostgut Tonträger] 13. Seth Troxler - Panic Stop Repeat [Ghostly International] 14. Dinky - Butterfly [Wagon Repair] 15. Ali Nasser - Ooof [Soweso] 16. Frick Brauer Brandt - Iron Man [Tartelet] 17. The Mountain People - Mountain008 [Mountain People] 18. Mod Civil - Ghost [Rotary Cocktail] 19. Wah-Chu-Ku - T Times Too [Drumpoet Community] 20. Andre Lodemann - Vehemence of Silence (MCDE Rmx) [Room With a View] 21. Kai Alce - Polyester Static (KZR's Reshocked Mix) [Real Soon] 22. Ali Kuru - No Name Maddoxx [8bit] 23. D. Diggler - Signals [Level Non Zero] 24. Silent Servant - Negative Fascinations [Sandwell District] 25. Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts - Les Gans [Musique Risquee] 26. Nicone & Sascha Braemer - Nur Mal Kurz (Philip Bader Rmx) [BAR25] 27. Jacuzzi Boys - Guindillas Picante [Below] 28. Soulphiction & Move D - The Limelight [Philpot]

[Seattle/LA, USA. October 28th, 2009] - Seattle Techno deejay and promoter mainstay relays a few of his favorites. {audio=http://files.madelikeatree.com/Audio/podcasts/mlat07 - Spirals.mp3} You recently moved up to Seattle after growing up and spending the majority of your life in Los Angeles. How do you feel about your new digs here in the Pacific Northwest? I like the climate in Seattle much more, cleaner, greener and cooler. Culturally i have to be honest, L.A. is a major city in the way NYC, Paris, London, (etc) are and Seattle seems to me behind L.A. in terms of being culturally relevant. What were the biggest musical influences on you while growing up, and how would you differentiate between the art/music cultures of Seattle and Los Angeles? I grew up on hardcore punk. I have always been a very angry, sarcastic, cynical individual. L.A. birthed American Hardcore. Black Flag, The Germs, the Circle Jerks, X, flipper all started in L.A.; similarly the lowbrow art phenomenon (Mark Ryden, Camille Rose Garcia, Tim Biskup, The Clayton Brothers, Jeff Soto, etc.) started in L.A. I guess I'd say L.A. is grittier, dirtier, angrier, sicker, more decayed and more conscious of it all. I think Seattle is a lot softer, more hippy-dippy and insulated, smug. I know it sounds mean, but if you ask I'm gonna say how I feel. The mix you did here is comprised of deep, vibrant and well varied strains of techno. As of today, would you say this is representative of your head space and taste for dance music? That mix is a pretty accurate reflection of where my head is at, but a little 'nicer'. I generally go a little darker and more evil but I need to resist being a one-dimensional dj cos a mix consisting of 100% industrialesque, very rhythmic (no melody) techno starts to make people tune out. Tell us a little bit about the DIY “Resilient” zine that has been circulating around Seattle. Why do that, and what are you hoping to personally accomplish? The resilient zine is my way of saying basically, 'if you give me 20 minutes of your attention I promise not to waste your time, I think you will find this worthy of a read/view' there was a band in the very early 90's called 'born against' (who later would become 'men's recovery project') who did a fantastic zine that was an accompiniment to their music releases and I was deeply impressed by it and always wanted to do something like that. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Joey Beltram - Scorpio [Permanent Records] 2. Sleeparchive - Elephant Island LP (track 3) [Sleeparchive] 3. Jeff Mills - Actual LP (Untitled) [Axis] 4. Monolake - Plumbicon (Sleeparchive Interpretation) [Monolake/ICM] 5. Monolake - Cern [Monolake/ICM] 6. Jeff Mills - As Soon As [Axis] 7. Surgeon - Ice [Tresor] 8. O/V/R - Interior [Blueprint] 9. Silent Servant - Discipline [Sandwell District] 10. Oscar Mulero - Mr. Sys (Love Reborn Remix) [Warm Up Recordings] 11. Soulwatcher - Timewarping [Primevil] 12. Planetary Assault Systems - Whoodoo [Ostgut Tonträger] 13. Regis - Thirst [Downwards] 14. Surgeon - Prowler [Counterbalance] 15. Surgeon - East Light EP (Untitled) [Dynamic Tension Records] 16. 65d Mavericks - Wire Tap [Dust Science] 17. The Advent - Armageden [Internal] 18. James Ruskin - Prevention Beyond Cause (Untitled) [Blueprint] 19. BMB - All the Saints Have Been Hung (Title Track) [Counterbalance] 20. Funk D'Void - Diabla (Kevin Saunderson Mix) [Soma] 21. Funk D'Void - Diabla (Funk D'Void's Heavenly Mix) [Soma]

[New York, USA. October 16th, 2009] - The raw house lays down his own rendition of chopped up beats.♫ mlat06 - DJ Qu.mp3  Play In any interview that blows the door open into an artist’s sensibilities (no one has yet taken the time to sit you down and pick your brain, and post the discussion), I of course wanted to ask you about your influences. How would you describe your “musical context?” Things such as, where and what did you grow up around? Well, I was born and raised in New Jersey. Been living there all my life. Jersey is what I know. Musically, Jersey has been the home of alot of great talents. There has been great producers even in the music we call “House”. A lot that NJ has contributed to the music generally gets credited to the whole NY scene but that’s sort of a misconception. You have producers and djs like Tony Humphries, Blaze, Kerri Chandler and the list goes on. When I was a younger growing up in Jersey, I was into sports (Baseball especially). Hangin out was playing Baseball or Basketball after school. There was an institution around my way named the “Boys Club”that created different recreational activities for the youth to keep them off the streets since it was so easy to get caught up in the wrong surroundings at the time. Hip-Hop was the sound of the culture and House Music started creepin in at the end of the 80’s. House started replacing Hip-Hop to the point that it was all you heard everywhere you went. We listen to a lot of tracks coming out of Chicago and then started hearing tracks from different NY/NJ and Detroitproducers. All the Deep House and what they consider Techno today since we even called Techno – Deep House back then influnced me in my sound and even the way I lived my life. Once House got a grip of me—it’s like it never let go of me til this day. It’s definitely not like that today but hopefully the era will relive again. Gotta keep putting the work in! I have read a few references mentioning (and have seen your 12” collaborations) with Joey Anderson. You and Joey have always big dancers, having taught classes and even traveled around the world performing. Could you talk more about you and dancing, the communities in which your engagement with dance flowers, and what sort of creative inspiration that you draw from physically engaging/interpreting music? Yeah. I did the Dance thing for many years in the NJ/NY house clubs With a good friend of mine named Dominique. It was our hobby. It’s what we did for fun but had a lot of love for it. Coming up in the club scene is where I met Joey Anderson. It was apparent that we shared the same passion. We danced in the same club scene for years before we actually met. We both also came up and learned from other great Dancers by the name of Brian Footwork green, Shan S.Caleaf, Ejoe, Sekou, Marjory... and the list goes on. In the early 2000’s, Joey was a big influencer when it came to the house club dance scene. He had many people diggin and tryin to learn his style. He has a very large Japanese market. Joey Came up under Caleaf and then developed a very unigue way of movement that inspired a lot of heads. Everyone did it for the love but then the asian market stepped in(mostly from Japan) and the Underground House/Hip-Hop dance scene took off to the point that today, It is a global thing. There’s been many different styles of dance all across the U.S when it came to House but the NY House dance scene definitely surpassed all other states as far as a global influence. Big respect to the ny dance scene! As far as production goes, you have really established a nice run of releases over the past year. While moody and groovy, cerebral, deep and vibrant like so many quality house tunes are, your recent productions have had a very advanced sound signature. There are complex rhythmic syncopations, layerings, and a lively variance. I was just curious if you were aware of any particular “headspace” that you step into when making tunes. A song like “Rainy Dayz” is a good example (and an indicative title) for some of the gems you have put out. Or like in “The Zones,” “Be Who You Want,” and a few others, there is this pittering and pattering of hi-hats and chords, along with subtle, thunderous basslines, and a retracting into these depths that you build. Nah, not really aware of any head space. I basically creat my tracks from feeling and influences of the past music and even some new music that I encounter or certain situations that life brings. There is also thinking involed but feeling comes first. If I’m not feeling a session- than the session must come to an end but if I am feeling a session then that allows for some thinking room. I can listen to the feeling I created and then think about what direction I want the composition to go. There’s really not much more than that except for learning how to use different functions on what I choose to create with that day or practice different musical patterns. Where is the main vocal on “Be Who You Want” come from? The main extended male vocal is actually the voice of the great NYHouse producer “Basil”. If your not familiar with Basil then theres another artist you can search or maybe interview cause I’m sure he has a lot of stories to tell about this music and he’s my elder when it comes to the ny dance scene. Basil’s history in the clubs go back to the Garage and the Loft. I was way to young for those clubs. NY has of course started to be re-recognized as an epicenter for dance music, currently housing some of the most provocative minds in production. Aside from you Underground Quality teammates, is there anything/anyone that you are particularly proud of or intrigued by at home or abroad? Defintely. You got the whole Exchange Place crew that I’m excited about. There’s still members who’s music is still in the cluthches waitin to be heard! Looking forward, what have you been working on lately and what would you like to see have happen in the near/distant future? Right now, just working on different releases and remixes for other labels. Also, working on the next few releases on Strength Music Recordings. We have The “Secret Place” ep which is a solo release on Strength along with the “Semesters2” ep. And look out for the next “Exchange Place” release ready to drop and Hopefully… A DJ QU album. Defintely a lot of things happening! Big Love to the whole UQ family! 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Still Phill - Bey un Bey (Mkl vs. Soysos remix) [Natural Resources] 2. DJ QU - Untitled [Unreleased] 3. Leron Carson - The Unknown (with special Qu-apella) [Sound Signature] 4. Joey Anderson - The Analysis [Strength Music] 5. Nicuri - Untitled [Unreleased] 6. Sin Palabras - Yemaya (Krills remix) [Yoruba] 7. Theo Parrish - Space Station [Sound Signature] 8. Ron Trent - Intoxicate [Future Vision] 9. Nina Kraviz – Free [Underground Quality] 10. Africans with Mainframes - Zodiac Rhythms [Mathematics] 11. DJ Bone - Change [Subject Detroit]

[Konotop, UKRAINE. October 10th, 2009] - "Ukrainian house music," by one of the 2000's more foremost analog poets.♫ mlat05 - Vakula.mp3  Play What does the name “Vakula” mean (or refer to), and why have you chosen it as your alias? One could say that Vakula is the national hero of Ukraine. It’s a character from a Nikolay Vasilievich Gogol book [Night Before Christmas] (a Russian and Ukrainian classic). I chose this alias because of the feelings I have toward traditional Ukrainian literature. You’ve mentioned before that the Ukraine can be an oppressive place. Have you ever thought about moving to another part of the world? What do you think are the reasons (and possible benefits) of remaining there? During my first visit to Europe I saw how people lived and I wanted to see what the quality of life was like in my Father Land. I often think about packing up and heading to Europe or to the States, but then realize that I would need to study the language of that country to live there. This isn’t the only reason why I remain in the Ukraine though. What would I do for work if I were to leave here? I must say that I have a small fear of the unknown. I would say that the older we get, the more afraid we become. =) When I was 18 and lived in Konotop, I had no fear to go to Moscow. I had a sort of naïve view of it at the time, (I only knew what I saw on TV and from stories that I had heard from others). Do you look inward to your own cultural roots (for example, Ukrainian traditional art/ideology) for inspiration when you produce something artistic? Could you explain anything particular about your own music that represents where you come from, and the circumstances in which you live? Yes, I do look inward to my roots. I get inspired when I imagine the old Ukraine, read classic Ukrainian literature and watch Ukrainian movies based on classic literature. I care a lot about the word “MUSIC,” because I am not a musician. I get inspiration walking in my hometown, it fills me. I don't have very many friends where I live, and this isolation helps me to plunge into the atmosphere of nature. My best friends in Konotop are trees, fields, rivers. Is music a profession for you, or is it more of a hobby? I would love to make money from producing, but… =) Could you tell us about the graphic designer “crab” who has done several of your event posters? Also, do you do anything else creative besides music? I have seen a couple pictures on your website with your name attached to them. Crabe Eugene – I met him on Myspace. He wrote me couple of comments, I liked his sincerity and we became friends after that. Eugene makes perfect music and is a good designer. He is very talented. Besides music I like designer’s work. I do almost all the flyers for the events I play at. I also plan on studying video programs – I want to know how to make movies from pictures or home video that I make by myself. It can be very easy to get distracted and make your style to meet other peoples’ expectations. Would you say that you have any particular philosophy or set of guidelines that help to provide you with a good foundation? I like people who aim for spiritual development. I love to bring happiness in this world and I am trying to fix all my negative sides – this is my philosophy of living and art. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Vakula - Dirty Intro [Unreleased] 2. Vakula - Lone Beat [Unreleased] 3. Vakula - ...too home [Nuearth Kitchen]] 4. Vakula - Down by Law [Nuearth Kitchen] 5. Vakula - holliwood NIGA [Nuearth Kitchen] 6. Vakula - NY [Nuearth Kitchen] 7. Vakula - Tape Beat 02 [Unreleased] 8. Vakula - TB [Nuearth Kitchen] 9. Vakula - Tape Beat [Nuearth Kitchen] 10. Vakula - HH Beat [Unreleased] 11. Vakula - Remix [Unreleased] 12. Vakula - Beat El [Unreleased] 13. Vakula - Podgen from Dubinin [Unreleased] 14. Vakula - 79-02 [Nuearth Kitchen] 15 . Vakula - Kid Couger [Unreleased]

[Seattle, USA. September 28th, 2009] - Fabulous deep house vibes from a frequent attender of MLAT events of yesteryear.♫ mlat04 - Alternegro.mp3  Play Tell us a little bit about your musical experience(s). Where does "Alternegro" come from musically and ideologically? That's a broad question. I'll answer it within the parameters of my musical roots and how I've applied them as a DJ producer while in Seattle. I grew up listening to EVERYTHING. I was first exposed to my parent's vinyl, which of course was all things musically black. Music connoisseurs know what this means, so I wont go into the almost infinite minutiae there. I also grew up in the black church, which I feel is what influences me the most musically. I started listening to classical and contemporary classical music by age 9 or 10, and joined orchestra, wind-ensemble, and the jazz and marching bands, dabbling in a few intruments which I never fully mastered. Yes, I was very much a band geek. Growing up in New Jersey, no matter what, you couldn't get away from the rock/punk/hard-core scenes either. A lot of white folk be there so, you gonna be exposed to those genres as well. So, then, as a DJ, I seek hearty, meaty, deep, spiritual, and soulful music for inclusion to my vinyl collection. To not seek this in music is simply retarded because music by its very nature is spiritual. We were making music when were walking around in loin cloths communicating more closely with the Creator. I look for music that honors this and try humbly to attempt this in my own productions. Alterneeeeeegro, NOT AlterNAYgro (as so many pronouce it) is simply a play on words. I thought of it years ago as a joke mainly. It stuck when I told a friend and he said it sounded dope. Instead of Alterego, I thought but I'm that "nigga in tha alley," but I wanted to keep it quasi-clean so I just combined the two. Yes, I have an "alterego" per se, but what the name reflects is that musically, you just can't really tell where I'm coming from unless I tell you. My musical motives are hidden. How about a few words on the that you have offered up. I tried to tell a story about my relationship with Seattle. I chose Amy Helm's "Own Way Home," to basically talk about the "split-up." Seattle was good in the beginning but ultimately I had to go and get back to where I belong. I've always met Germans and had friendships with them. When I was there I felt a strong pull to the city. So that track for me was simply reflecting what I needed to do. Norma Jean Bell has a song called "I'm The Baddest Bitch", but in the Bassino dub remix of the track he takes her reason for being the baddest bitch "...'cause you belong to me", and echoes this throughout the remix as "...belong to me." This represented the unrelenting energy I've felt from Seattle in its reluctance to let me go. I could get real deep with that explanation, but I'll leave it there. The rest of the mix just tells the story of the relationship, the ups and downs, the good times and the bad times. "Golden Days" relates the good times I had here as I recount to Seattle that it wasn't all bad. Same is true for "Love Affair." Two very important tracks in this mix for me was about me reasoning with Seattle. "Artifacts" was me attempting to show that we must learn to love. And “Life Starts Today,” was both myself and Seattle coming to terms with moving on and starting my life elsewhere. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Paul Williams - Das Energi (Alternegro Vocal Intro) [unreleased] 2. Amy Helm - Own Way Home [Hipbone] 3. Norma Jean Bell - I'm the Baddest Bitch [F-Comm] 4. Pascal Rioux - Golden Days [Rotax] 5. Joseph Davis - Love Affair [Home Recordings] 6. Sushi King + Cadillac Chris - Artifacts [Soul Circuit] 7. Alex Omar Smith - Always There [FXHE] 8. Righteous Men - When Love Comes Down [Kiff SM] 9. Ian Friday - Life Starts Today [Tea Party Music]

[San Francisco, USA. September 7th, 2009] - Originally hailing from San Francisco, this talent continues a mission to “rescue dance music from the blahs.” ♫ mlat03 - Dave Aju.mp3  Play In LWE and RA, you have been asked a good deal about your musical past and influences. What about your musical present? Aside from Dave Aju being a full time thing, what other musical ventures are you involved? There are a few side projects I'm working on and I still make hip hop beats for my friends in the south bay where I grew up. And the DJ outfit you mentioned, The Magnificent Seven, is a lot fun and takes up a fair amount of time and energy as well. It's basically seven dudes from different music scene backgrounds that come together and throw down guilty pleasures and crate treasures for the masses. It's always a good time, and provides a perfect break from the seriousness of the industry. And how about your musical future? Aside from things like upcoming releases, where exactly do you see yourself going? Could you speculate how you see yourself being situated in 10 years? I'm not the best at planning, but know that music production will forever be a part of my life. I imagine a natural progression toward mellower, more listening-oriented composition. Maybe some soundtrack or foley work to help feed the kids etc. I also aim to have a label eventually, and release some of my own stuff. Your father was a graphic designer. What kind of work did he do, and how (in any way) did this influence you as a artist? It sounds like you do a bit of graphic design here and there yourself -- how so? Who did the Dave Aju collage graphic that you have used? Yeah, my dad kept a good balance between playing music and working as a graphic designer. He started out as an engraver in the pre-computer days and just evolved with the technology into desktop publishing and graphic work. I always drew as a kid and eventually worked for his firm while I was in high school. It was a good influence in learning how to focus and get the message across. I still do some visual artwork from time to time, but have a bit of an issue with how visually reliant society tends to be, so chose to spend more time on sound. I made that collage out of some blue note album covers as a kind of tribute to Reid Miles and Romare Bearden, two of my favorite artists. My girlfriend is a talented painter and re-rendered it on canvas, it became a perfect avatar. The MLAT podcast you did is steeped in this nu-Boogie sound (Firecracker, Prime Numbers, DC) that has really started to be the new thing. What is some of your favorite material currently being released? Yeah, the boogie trend is cool, especially in how it helps narrow the gap between what some hip hop and house DJs are playing again. It's great to see folks, like the labels you mentioned, reaffirming the roots of the music they do. I was fortunate enough to grow up hearing that stuff the first time around in my brother's mixes, and a friend actually made a crack the other day that he's never heard me not drop a Cameo track, and that's probably true. As for favorite current material, Dam Funk is doing a great job evangelizing modern funk, and from what I've heard so far, the upcoming Linkwood album sounds like an amazing set of boogie-influenced cuts. I've also always liked the electro and techno producers that incorporate those roots in their work, like Stinkworx and of course Drexciya / The Other People Place. Included below is the "Dave Aju 7-Point Manifesto" that you relayed to Phillip Sherburne in XLR8R over a year ago when he was bumming over the music industry. Does this manifesto still hold up, or do you have any additions or amendments? 7-Step Dance Music Production Honor System: 1. Try to emphasize content over form. 2. Challenge yourself. If it seems too easy, it is questionable at best. 3. Personalize all sounds, effects, and arrangements wherever possible. 4. Refrain from releasing or submitting any track that: a. sounds like it could be the work of another producer, b. sounds redundantly like other works of your own, or c. only evokes the emotion of being in a club. 5. Treat every track as you would a loved one; support and encourage its individuality, and never misguide or manipulate it for popularity purposes. 6. Study and consider the history of dance music and make every attempt possible to carry on its creative and positive traditions while respectfully avoiding mimicking, re-treading, or capitalizing on its origins for content. 7. Honestly question your motivation and objective, particularly if your interest in dancing and dance music is a result of certain chemical experiences. I'm glad you brought that up, it was an interesting scenario. I actually made a more humorous/ironic one first, but then thought about it and decided plenty other folks would do that, and went for a strict and sincere approach. Some people weren't so happy with it, I had some close friends and high-profile peers asking "wow man, you really mean that!?" Like Phil, I too was in a funk for awhile about the state of the music industry, and wanted to call out lazy and derivative producers and those who make technically pristine tracks that are more or less empty. Things have changed for me. My dad passed at the end of last year, and it's helped remind me to lighten up and take things a little easier. So for amendments, I'd rephrase number 2 and 5 to "challenge yourself by trying something new in each production" and "allow each track to be itself, in both good and bad ways," put numbers 1, 6 and especially 7 in boldface and rename it "Seven Steps to Production Heaven." 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Linkwood - Hear The Sun [Firecracker] 2. Soulphiction - Prison Song [Sonar Kollektiv] 3. Curtis Mayfield - Love Me Now [RSO] 4. Unknown Artist - Who Is To Blame [Moxie] 5. Dave Aju - Crazy Place [Circus Company] 6. Losoul - Soul Down [Playhouse] 7. Arch_Typ - Love In Slow Motion [Raw Fusion] 8. Kelley Polar - Rosenband (Magic Tim mix) [Environ] 9. Cameo - Back And Forth [Mercury] 10. Fudge Fingas - DinDins4Dada [Prime Numbers] 11. $tinkworx - Raise Up [Delsin] 12. The Other People Place - It's Your Love [Warp] 13. Dam Funk - Galactic Fun [Stones Throw] 14. Nick Straker Band - Little Bit of Jazz [Prelude] 15. Nebraska - Vicarious Disco [Down Low] 16. Arken - Arken 10 [Sonar Kollektiv] 17. Oasis - Oasis #9 [FXHE]

[Seattle, USA. August 1st, 2009] - A powerhouse talent widdling behind a mountain of production software and a plethora of VSTs.♫ mlat02 - Jon McMillion.mp3  Play First of all, where have you been and what have you been up to? I've been hanging out, enjoying the summer, and trying to keep busy. Did a bit of traveling earlier this summer. Went to Japan and visited relatives which was great, and I've been doing a lot of outdoor activities as of late. As far as music goes I recently started entertaining the idea of playing out live again. I figured doing this podcast would be a great way to test things out. From what we talked about during the genesis of your podcast, you were formulating a lot of material that you were really proud of. Can you talk a little bit about what you have put together here? Sure, for this project I decided to approach things as If I were doing a live set, and in this case I decided to create most of the parts from scratch. During the production of this set I focused in on trying to create the vibe of a live gig, and bringing a lot of idea's that I've had out to folks to groove with. I hope people dig it. To you, what do you think distinguishes a studio production from a live performance (whether it be a continuous set or a track, etc)? You must have a varying ethos in your handling when engaging in either one. Maybe you can elaborate on your two approaches. To me they can often be the same thing. I build my live sets pretty much the same way I create a studio track. Most of the time the tool set is identical. In the past when I've created sets for live performance, I've always tried to bring something out that represented what I've been working on in the studio or a feeling/idea that I've had in mind at the time. Obviously with this type of music getting people to dance has got to be on the agenda, but I also strive to get folks thinking as well. I know you as someone who has a wide range of musical tastes; spanning pop (Michael Jackson [rip], Italo Disco), intricate electronica (Atom Heart) and more tricky, heady minimal techno (like Bruno Pronsanto). Could you shed a little light on where you get your inspiration to produce your own music? Oh man that's a tough one. To be honest I can find inspiration in almost anything. There's no doubt that I'm inspired by a lot of the music I listen to, but its not always that simple. I think people and my surroundings inspire me the most. My interactions with the world around me, the sounds and feelings I have in those interactions get me inspired the most. After the success of this podcast, what's next for you? I'm hoping that this podcast will create some new connections with folks in and out of town. I'd like to get some new material out later and play some gigs to support it. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS No tracklist available.

[Seattle, USA. July 17th, 2009] - Yet another dj/producer vibrating Cascadia with bassline pressure.♫ mlat01 - Whitsitt.mp3  Play Can you describe a little bit about where you grew up and about your introduction to dance music? What were the major influences by the physical and social landscape of that time? I grew up in East Texas, then moved to a small town in the Mojave desert in California right before high school. Though both of those places had a profound influence on me, I mostly felt at odds with the surrounding social landscape. Music has always been like a ray of energy leading me on to a more satisfying emotional life. My earliest memory is of my mom spinning me around our living room and singing “Getting To Know You” (from the musical “The King And I”) when she brought me home from the hospital. I blame that first happy moment for imprinting me with the need for song and movement (as if they weren't already fundamental to life). My main source of music as a kid was the little AM radio my dad kept on top of our fridge. Radio in the 70s was a lot more mixed than it is today. The Supreme's “You Can't Hurry Love” was one of the first songs that really touched me. The slightly older neighbor girl across the street played the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack for me on her dad's much bigger stereo, and that beat was a thing too. When I got old enough to have a few bucks and start collecting music myself, I was mostly into metal, then punk. I was a typical angry teenage skate punk, and always looking for harder music. Discovering Metallica was the satisfying culmination of a years long search for music that lived up to the promise of what I thought metal should be. At the same time, I was into bands like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, etc. The guitarist in my crappy punk band gave me his copy of Ministry's “Land Of Rape And Honey,” on account of he hated it and figured I'd be the only person in town who could appreciate it. Industrial music brought together my love of intensity, bass, and repetition. I also discovered New Order while watching 120 Minutes on MTV with my mom (the video for “Bizzare Love Triangle”). That led me to Joy division and Factory records. I bought a Factory cassette sampler that featured an early Happy Mondays track. Went out and got the “Hallelujah” ep, and realized something very different was going on here. My earliest memory is of my mom spinning me around our living room and singing “Getting To Know You” (from the musical “The King And I”) when she brought me home from the hospital. I blame that first happy moment for imprinting me with the need for song and movement (as if they weren't already fundamental to life). I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley. That first winter break back home, I ran into one of the cats I used to work with writing record reviews for our school paper. We started having the “so, what are you listening to now?” conversation. He interrupted me, with this crazy gleam in his eye, and starts telling me about *these parties!* in LA that he'd gone to, and that I had to find the same thing in the Bay Area. Nine months of fruitless searching later, me and my buddy Jacob were going to catch a movie with his sister and her friend. First we had to drop the friend's mom off at a party in Oakland, so we could borrow her car. When they showed up at the house, my preconceptions were blown away. Mom is a drop dead gorgeous Irish lady wearing a sexy black dress cut down to her waist. The visor of her beat up VW bug is covered in yellow smiley face buttons, many also proclaiming “ACID,” which is what she played on her tape deck. Turns out she was working the coat check for the 1991 Labor Day weekender at Mr. Floppy's Flophouse. Well, we ditched our movie plans, mom scored us some e's, and I finally felt like I'd come home for the first time. The social environment at that time was really special. The rave scene in SF most immediately came out of the gay club scene, but wasn't strictly gay. There were also all the UK immigrants bringing it back to the US. But really, you could trace it all the way back through disco to the acid tests of the 60s (some of the same light show folks from then worked the raves, and things were definitely psychedelic.) You'd see all sorts of very different people relating (like drag queens and East Oakland thugs), this basic assumption that simply showing up was reason enough to know you belonged, and just cutting through all the usual crap and getting to the business at hand, which was getting down to some amazing music. The fashions were quite androgynous, the smoke and lights were disorienting, and we were fairly off our heads, so it was hard to make any kind of assumptions about anyone's identity. Instead of the usual nightclub role playing, you had to relate to people as individuals. It was all fairly new to everyone, we were all figuring it out together, and we all knew that we had discovered something really precious. My move from just taking it all in to playing records took place the next summer. I lived in a notorious student coop in Berkeley, and my roommate made his living selling herb off the back porch. We'd spend our days smoking and listening to his dancehall mix tapes, then go out raving at night (they often played dancehall and hip hop in the side rooms of raves in Oakland). I was always trying to find EDM that he'd dig, and he kept trying to find reggae that I'd love, which ended up being a Mad Professor tape. The intersection of dub and dance music was my original mission as a dj, and has been the connecting thread through ragga hardcore, deep house, jungle, minimal techno (discovering the Maurizio records had the same impact as discovering “Master Of Puppets” those many years earlier), and finally dubstep. You use to live in Seattle, but recently moved to Eugene where you find yourself quite well settled in. Can you describe how this transition has affected you musically? The bigger musical transition was moving to Seattle from Colorado in 2003 to start grad school for acupuncture. I went from playing out most weekends with long term friends to playing in my bedroom and not really having any friends around (big up Greg Skidmore for reaching out at a Twine show back when). That really decoupled my listening and buying habits from the expectations of the dance floor audience. I also started to spend less money on records and more on building a studio. Mail ordering cuts isn't nearly as satisfying as going down to the shop to talk shit and browse every week. Moving to Eugene has been a continuation of that same process. There's definitely an electronic dance music culture here, but not much of a nightclub “scene,” which suits me just fine. I'd rather play up in the mountains or in someone's basement anyway. I also feel like I've had a good run with party culture and now I'm more focused on getting the rest of the week right. I'm really into being domestic. We've got our garden and chickens, a sweet back deck for sipping tea and watching the local birds and deer. My home listening has moved further away from dance music, and more into other areas. I've re-discovered metal in a big way, particularly doom, drone, and black metal (I think that the most creative fronts of popular music today are in dubstep and experimental metal). Walking to work along Amazon creek in the early misty morning with Wolves In The Throne Room in my headphones really resonates with my love of this land... Free Cascadia! At home we listen to a lot of jazz and experimental/psychedelic rock, which is partly my wife's influence. I've got a tape deck set up next to the kitchen so I can rock old mixtapes while I'm cooking. In the car we bounce between the college station and the classical station, cause the tape deck is broken. I still haven't heard the right bluegrass yet, which hopefully will happen soon, since there's so much of that around here. Finally, I've been getting back into playing bass and joined a band to play house music with “real” instruments. I've still got a living room full of old records. Digging into my collection and rediscovering some dusty grooves has been a great source of enjoyment. What things are you involved in Eugene that you are currently proud of and/or excited about? The biggest thing is the community acupuncture clinic where I work (Acupuncture for the People). In many ways it parallels the same kind of social transformations I saw taking place at those early raves, just way more chill. Acupuncture helps people get in touch with their bodies and their feelings. It seems to break through barriers, inspire people to live more in touch with their true desires, and tap into their inner strength, not to mention simply relieving suffering. I love my work intensely. We treat people in comfy recliners in a big room together, and folks pay what they want on a sliding scale of $15-35. Breaking down the class barrier to healthcare is fundamental to creating the sort of space where you'll find a retired grandma napping peacefully next to a 20-something recovering opiate addict. Our clinic is part of an international movement to make acupuncture accessible to everyone. For those of you in Seattle (or anywhere, really) check out the “Locate a Clinic” feature to find your own neighborhood acupunks. Could you tell us a little bit about your musical ethos? Anything from your sense of musicianship to your social outlook... Ethos? Man, that makes it sound like I think I know what I'm doing. There's no master plan to market myself. I'm just an old dude who keeps mixing cuts cause I don't know how to stop. The only rule of thumb is to play music that makes me feel something. Any time I've felt like I was finally getting a formula down, I've ended up going in the opposite direction, so I don't really bother trying to figure it out anymore. I just want to spread love, promote freedom, and wreck a few heads from time to time. I used to think that organizing free outdoor parties would change the world, bring us all together, usher in a golden age of endless festivity, and all that idealistic hippy crap. I mean, the most effective social transformations I've witnessed have been on dancefloors and around DIY anarchists with solid work ethics to back up their hedonism. I think there is a revolutionary praxis to be found in dance culture, but after watching generations of party people get caught up in substance abuse, terminal snobbishness, hype chasing, and all the other pitfalls of the slide back into nite klubbing, not to mention the backlash of the RAVE Act, Criminal Justice Bill, etc., I kinda gave that up (but I've still got a bit of a torch burning, just in case). You also play under the monikers “Whitsitt” and “DJ Place.” Please tell us a little bit about these two, what they are influenced by and what the difference/contrast is between them. Whitsitt is just my given name, which comes from my father's people. My grandfather's grandfather's last name was Whitsitt, which is a version from the Welsh name “Gwydsedd” (pretty obvious why they changed it). Way back when, a bunch of Welsh folks came to Alabama to work the mines, and some of them escaped from there to colonize and occupy central Texas. The original Welsh apparently means “seat in the woods.” “Seat” in the sense of a seat of government, like a county seat, or like a church pew, and “woods” as either the actual forest, or even the existential notion of wilderness. My folks didn't know that when they named me, but I think it suits me just fine. Also, next time someone asks me, I can just point them here instead of having to repeat all that again! Most of my time djing has just been under my own name, simple enough. When I started making and releasing my own music, and playing out again, I decided to go with a made up name, partly because I was tired of trying to tell folks what you just read above while in front of a noisy soundsystem, and partly because I love the whole tradition of faceless techno. I picked Place because it is simple, includes a good audible pun (“plays”), and rhymes with words like “bass” and “space” (just want to make it easy for the mcs). Coming from organizing dances on public lands, I'm acutely aware of the need for physical space in which to manifest culture. I also want to emphasize physicality, the needs of the body and the landbase, and environmental concerns (besides having a deep love of ambience in music). When I picked that name, I was active on the Derrick Jensen discussion email list. He talks a lot about how important it is to relate intimately with the specific part of the natural world you live in, and his writing has really helped me get clear about how destructive civilization is to all life. I know that probably sounds like a big contradiction for someone making electronic music, but I'd happily give up all these slave-labor produced toxic gadgets in a heart beat if it would bring us a social order based on equality, respect for the entire community of life, and more salmon swimming upstream every year instead of less. In spite of the claims of green consumerism, however, the destructiveness of our culture isn't driven by consumer choice, and making minor lifestyle changes isn't going to stop it. Not that we shouldn't make conscious choices about how we live, but I'm not a purist. The most effective social transformations I've witnessed have been on dancefloors and around DIY anarchists with solid work ethics to back up their hedonism. I think there is a revolutionary praxis to be found in dance culture, but after watching generations of party people get caught up in substance abuse, terminal snobbishness, hype chasing, and all the other pitfalls of the slide back into nite klubbing, not to mention the backlash of the RAVE Act, Criminal Justice Bill, etc., I kinda gave that up (but I've still got a bit of a torch burning). Aside from all that environmental stuff, it's pretty obvious that the most interesting innovations in dance culture have come out of particular places and communities of people – I think house sounds the way it does because of Chicago. If you go there, the city *feels* like house music... all those solid square brick buildings and solid midwestern people, generally friendly but kinda raw (compared to my West Coast sensibilities). Same with Detroit and techno... that mixture of melancholy and longing for a promised future that will never come to pass; a few shiny sky scrapers and a lot of burned out houses. I've never been to London, but reading Blackdown's blog has convinced me that the same case can be made for dubstep and that city, with the mashup of people from all over the world bringing their own flavors to the mix. What with the internet abstracting cultural artifacts into some timeless, bodiless nowever, I just want to point back to where we actually are. If there's any difference between the two monikers, it's that Place is for my own (dubstep) productions, and Whitsitt is grounded in selecting house/techno/whatever cuts. I never really meant to be “DJ” Place, but that's how it worked out when I was selecting dubstep. In as much as I make dubstep that's very much influenced by gay house music (just to help all those roughneck suburban ganstas keep an open mind), and recently did a remix of a house track that is basically dark broken garage at 115bpm (soon come on Dope Recordings), it really all blends together. When MLAT used to play out, you on occasion joined in as DJ Place. Will you ever be able to make it up to Seattle again to play? I'm available for your wedding, prom, bar mitzvah, bbq, block party, or red light basement session. Rates are reasonable, and I work hard to bring the best to you. Seriously though, it looks like I'll be coming through in August to jam out with some friends. I'd welcome any other opportunities to share my weird take on this thing with y'all. 1. Right-click + save a copy of this podcast 2. Follow what we do via Facebook 3. Subscribe in iTunes / RSS 1. Instant Funk - I Got My Mind Made Up [RCA] 2. U.B.'s Return - Body II Body [Electric Souls] 3. Tony Allen - Moyege (Mark's Disco Dub) [Honest Jon’s Records] 4. Lion Soul Band - Chicago Bus Stop [Salsoul Records] 5. Montana Sextet - Heavy Vibes (Club Mix) [Virgin] 6. Gwen Guthrie - Seventh Heaven [Garage Records] 7. Raw Silk - Do It To The Music [Barclay] 8. Joey Negro - Do It, Believe It (Urban Mix) [Nu Groove Records] 9. Chic - Good Times [Atlantic] 10. Idjut Boys and Laj – Staeb [U-Star Records] 11. Amplified Orchestra - Funk Force 1 [Clone] 12. Kelley Polar - Rosenband (Magic Tim's Instrumental Version) [Environ] 13. Spandau Ballet - Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) (US Remix) [Chrysalis] 14. Interfearence - All Day [FFRR] 15. Dinosaur L - Go Bang [City Beat] 16. Atmosfear versus Idjut Boys - Alternative II [Chemical Discs] 17. Metro Area - Proton Candy [Environ] 18. Donna Summer - Our Love [Casablanca Records] 19. Phuture - Acid Trax [Trax]