We love music. We also love throwing parties at Folk, and those long, lazy days sat in the sun with a cold drink and lots of like minded people with nothing much else on their minds other than a forgotten melody drifting on the breeze…Our parties are relaxed affairs, although we do like dancing.
There’s no pressure at our parties. You don’t have to be fashionable or part of a scene. There’s no pressure on the DJs, they have the freedom to play whatever they want, when they want. We believe in a spirit of independence and individuality. We still believe in love.
Holding these values above the desire to make money has allowed us to experience some very special moments. If you share these values, let’s come together to create a magical experience at the very source of the original Balearic vibe. See you on the beach…
Folk up on the wrong side of the bed?
If the Manchester contingent of party starters and music lovers can keep the Balearic spirit alive in the grey north of England then surely in their spiritual home of Ibiza things will be proper buzzin’. The term Balearic is bandied around as all things to all men, carrying a sense of an eclectic but refined taste. The team from Folk have chosen a selection of locations around the island to host a mini-festival of sorts. Running from Thursday 22nd to Monday 26th of July in a diverse but kindred set of venues such as Boutique Hostal Salinas and Sunset Ashram. The folk from Folk will also be making appearance on our hallowed roof terrace, the Premier Etage on Sunday the 25th of July.
Folk me!
The night in question promises to be maybe just a little bit special, with Detroit natives Jeff Mills and Derrick May keeping things rolling in the Discoteca while the European contingent of Miss Kittin and Steve Lawler promise an epic back to back 5 hour set of deep and beautiful house music on La Terraza. There’s also “digital disco” vibes in El Salon from Matty J and his crew from Tirk Records. As for that roof terrace expect the likes of Balearic Mike, Lexx, Be and Naive Melody to be spinning bizarre things that aren’t getting played on the radio. You can check out some mixes they have kindly provided to us here, including a session by Phil Mison at the Cafe Del Mar way back in 1993 during his residency at the original sunset bar. We’ll leave you with this little video which seems to encapsulate crossing the Balearic spirit with something quintessentially English.
It’s not often we feature a single track on our blog. But today we make an exception to this hard and fast rule for our friends PBR Streetgang. Imagine an ambulance driven by Stevie Wonder while Leeds youths hurl tambourines and hi-hats at it (maybe Moodyman is in the passenger seat barking directions). The original is by Ron Basejam, a master of modern syntho-funk, spaced-electro and boogie-house whilst still capable of firing jazz missiles from the back burners. The track is currently riding high (that’ll be number one album and single on Juno Download) but for some daft reason the PBR mix is only available on the generally funky / US house website Traxsource. It’s already getting serious airplay from the likes of Greg Wilson and Giles Peterson, so grab it while it’s hot.
You can check out PBR Streetgang at We Love… Space June 20th, July 18th, August 15th and September 26th, be assured they will drop this! Check out the video below for some Yuletide fun with PBR Streetgang and Ron Basejam aka James Baron in Leeds, with pies.
Being an experimental art and media project, researching The Residents is one of the strangest but most interesting experiences you can have online. I don’t think we’ve even touched the the tip of the iceberg on this one. Their whole project appears to be at once a riddle, a hoax and some kind of high concept obscurantism. To quote from liner notes of the album below, “The Residents don’t support racism, Catholicism, fascism, Judaism, cynicism, realism or journalism.”
the brain-numbing catchiness of pop music is fascism in disguise
The Residents are an avant-garde music and visual arts group largely shrouded in mystery and myth. They formed in 1969 but after several decades in music business, and still actively creating and producing to this day, they have never revealed their names or faces. Their best known device for preserving their anonymity has been covering their heads with giant eyeballs tastefully accented with top hats and tuxedos. On trying to find names for the constituent members of the band you are met with a cryptic message of: ‘If the question is “what are the names the parents gave to the people making up The Residents,” then I would say that those names belong to individuals and not the group. The group doesn’t have names within its structure. If the question is the real “who,” meaning the philosophy and outlook, then that is all clearly stated in the work. I would find it difficult to summarize.’ However the same official website does helpfully surmise that the people who started the group are exactly the same as now although the number of people who have been in The Residents is probably over a hundred at this point and still growing. The FAQ of the website (how many bands have a frequently asked questions page?) explains the disguises and refusal to be subjected to interviews thus: ‘Say you have a tank of goldfish. Say you have given each goldfish a name. A stranger wanders into your house and sees your tank of goldfish and wants to know who they are. Considering that he is a stranger, you tell him it is a tank of goldfish.’
Meet The Residents
Like any artist there is early work. However, they consider anything released prior to 1974 as not being by The Residents, but by people who later became The Residents. They claim some older, unfinished and experimental recordings were stolen from studios and a demo tape sent to Warner Brothers was stolen and bootlegged (and now easy to find on the internet). Legend has it that the group sent this reel-to-reel tape to an acquaintance of Captain Beefheart at Warner Brothers, which was sent back with a rejection letter to “the residents” of the house (giving the band their name). As is true for all artists not just The Residents, they prefer not to release stuff that is unsatisfactory or they feel does not represent them. However, the band obviously appreciate the flaws for the beauty they might contain as they still offer many pre-1974 recordings for sale.
Intermission
Historically, one of The Residents primary obsessions has been the creation of “alternative worlds”. This is usually accomplished with sound, often with live performance and sometimes with video. Their most renowned video project is the world of Vileness Fats. The unfinished film consists of a village, a cave, a desert and a nightclub, populated by one armed midgets. The group spent four years between 1972 and 1976 shooting most of the feature length video. As the project headed towards the final stages of production they suddenly abandoned its “all time underground masterpiece”. The dissolution of the production was put down to internal conflicts, technological challenges and post-production problems. Others point to the fact that, since there were no distribution channels for half inch black and white video in 1976, the group’s original naiveté was finally overcome by reality. There are two versions of the unfinished picture Whatever Happened to Vilenes Fats? and Vileness Fats (Concentrate). Both come across as artifacts from some sort of hellish yet mildly amusing nightmare
Demons dance alone
Much of The Residents work can be challenging but a few titles are particularly so. Their early albums have been compared to Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa’s more conceptual and experimental albums as well as the work of Steve Reich. The music consists of deconstructions of countless rock and non-rock styles which are grafted together to create chaotic and formless compositions. You can download The Third Reich ‘n’ Roll here. It is their second (officially) released album and is a parody of 60s pop music and commercials. The album generated much controversy due to its cover (seen above) featuring a popular TV entertainer of the day (Dick Clark, presenter of American Bandstand – the first US national rock program) dressed in Nazi regalia holding a carrot while surrounded by swastikas and pictures of Adolf Hitler in both male and female dress. The German version of the album was marketed in the 1980s which heavily censored the cover art by covering every Nazi reference with the word “zensiert”. The original album contained only two tracks of intense, deconstructed versions of hits of the day. The band found themselves isolated from mainstream bland radio friendly rock, and soon concluded they had created an album about fascism and in particular, the fascism of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s bizarre collection that will appeal to adventurous listeners who are interested in Picasso’s dictum that all artists kill their aesthetic fathers. Find more outsider music here.
I found her crying in the morning
Sitting in a chair
She was wrapping something up
And wrapping it with care
I did not mean to hurt her
When I fell asleep last night
I was just exhausted
From the act of being polite
Yes, I was just exhausted
From the act of being polite
Over the years the We Love… Space PR position has become the holy grail for the Ibiza worker. Not naming names but some of our past staff have gone on to become a tour manager to one of the biggest names in the game, an international press agent, a superstar DJ, a We Love Space resident, a globe trotting socialite, an international media mogul and an ink cartridge telesales man.
This year we’re starting our recruitment drive a little early and online, so if you’re interested download the application form here and see if you can impress us.
A genuine part of the We Love… family, a child of acid house and a man who’s been busy with beats since genres were but a twinkle in clubland’s eye. He is an electronic artist who defies generic boundaries ever since his days organising the now infamous raves underneath the M42 motorway in the UK. As an artist his releases and remixes have been signed to some of the world’s most established labels such as R&S, Drumcode, Rekids, Cocoon and of course his own imprint VIVa Music. As a label manager Steve has quickly given VIVa a reputation for breaking new talent and has featured music from the likes of Reboot, Audiofly, Peace Division, Livio & Roby as well as Lawler himself receiving heavy patronage by many house and techno luminaires.
Dynamic, driven and drastically obsessed with performing – Steve’s passion for electronica has seen a career spanning almost two decades, from the aforementioned illegal raves to residency at superclub Cream throughout the 90s and of course his residency at We Love… Space in Ibiza. By pushing boundaries, technically and creatively as both artist and businessman – we’re left in no doubt as to why We Love… Steve Lawler.
Steve has kindly provided a mix from a recent “after after-hours” session in a Moscow nightclub, something he rightly predicted we would personally love. He explains it thus: “On the Sunday night after two days no sleep in a very small, very strange, low lit, sleazy restaurant called ‘Ketamina’ – honestly. The decor is made for being out your mind, everyone sits on top of or under giant mushrooms… Anyway, I played there, I played very deep, trippy, slow, beautiful house music… and this mix is an hour of it…” Download it here.
No not at all, quite the opposite actually, I constantly heard the sentence ‘Get a proper job!’ I dont hear that any more.
How did you begin to work professionally in music?
My first job really I suppose was playing some records on pirate radio although I never got paid, and promoting illegal party’s, they cost me money.
How do you apply your past experiences to what you do today?
The main past experience from my life that I constantly apply is atmosphere, and dare I say it, it’s not all about the music. I grew up in a time when things blew you away – not just that they would suffice. I started DJing when it wasn’t about DJs it wasn’t just about the music, it was about the party, the vibe, the sound, the lights, the friendliness, the ‘atmosphere’ and this is something that I always apply when DJing. This is why its more than just playing a selection of records, you have to play them in such a way you bring and experience.
Where is your current studio and what is it like?
I have two studio spaces, one is in my basement at my house where I write and compose most of what I do and also where I generally put idea’s together. The other studio is a room at Abbot Street Studios in East London. I share this room with my engineer, this is where we finish projects most of the time.
Long arm of the Lawler
How much have you had to consider marketing issues since embarking on your career and how has that affected your creativity?
Unfortunately it’s a big part of a DJ’s career now, something that has been abused by certain people and used to almost even create a career, which I dont agree with. But it’s part of the game now, some for more than others. However this isnt something that we as DJ’s get massively involved in, this is what managers are for, so in answer to your question no it doesnt effect my creativity.
How would you describe your work?
Not really a question I can answer. I dont want to sit here and big my self up or put my self down. My work is my life long love and passion. My work is my life.
Who were your teachers?
No one, there are no such things in music I don’t think. I had influences like everyone else, Doors, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Scott Walker.
Your home is burgled but fortunately the culprits are caught and your possessions returned to you. What would you deem a suitable punishment for the burglars?
It depends on the circumstance of the culprits in question. Are they scum, aggressive thieves or are they desperate people caught in a bad time with no help. I think everything in life should be judged with integrity and acted upon in the same way.
You have to make one species of animal extinct. Excluding insects, which species would that be?
Lizards without a doubt, and this whole thing about they eat mosquito’s… well they don’t eat enough of them! Not in ibiza anyway.
If you could spend one week in any period of history, which period would you choose?
Without a doubt the 60′s… the birth of new.
Many thanks to the Steve for taking time out of his ridiculously busy schedule to answer our 11 Questions, you can check out our other artists who have answered here. Don’t forget to download the live mix and have a look at the video below to see Lawler an interview with Lawler at our closing party from 2009…
The sun is shining, temperature hitting the mid-twenties and the party spirit definitely hotting up with openings, birthday parties and summer arrivals. Looks like KD enjoyed her time on PDB while DP‘s B’day at BHS was a night to be remembered!
The Vain Collective is a fashion blog and resource of the chicest order. Curated by friend of the family Kellydeene Skerritt based in London. The concept is vain vs pain i.e. good veers bad. It’s full of cult labels as well as the more well known designers. There’s also a couple of articles on home-made fashion which can teach you how to customize some basic one-we-made-earlier type pieces. There’s even some fashion analysis of pop music videos to peruse too.
This science lesson we celebrate the half century life of one of the most important inventions of the modern world. Already 50 years old the laser still evokes an air of the futuristic. Vitally important for the industry in which we operate not only does the laser take sound from CDs, read barcodes on tickets and illuminate the Discoteca every sunday but pretty much the whole communications world on which we rely so much is indebted to the use of lasers.
First Ever
On 16 May 1960 the first ever laser was operated by it’s designer and creator Theodore Maiman. A Ruby entwined within the coils of a photographer’s lamp stimulated by its flash released a pulse of pure red light. Because the beam was powerful enough to drill holes in razor blades, physicists measured its power in gillettes, or the number of blades penetrated.
Laser as a Weapon
As soon as the laser became real, military agencies and writers of fiction alike saw the comic-book ray gun made real and began to work on laser weapons. In 1964 arch-villain Auric Goldfinger threatened to saw James Bond in half with this “industrial” laser, at the time pure science fiction. Now with the US and China both with their fingers ready at the trigger of laser defense systems set up to protect against Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles the initial flights of fantasy have been way surpassed by today’s realities.
The Endless Blade
In industry, lasers are the saws and drills that never get dull. The first lasers to earn a wage did so by machining very hard materials, such as diamonds, or very soft ones, for example baby-bottle teats. Low-power lasers can cut and weld plastics; higher-power lasers can cut and weld metals. Early industrial lasers had to be big to be powerful, but new solid-state lasers are impressively small: today a length of thin optical fibre or a poker-chip-sized disc just a fraction of a millimetre thick can generate kilowatts, enough to slice a metal sheet a couple of centimetres thick.
We Love... Grace Jones' Lasers
To begin with, the laser palette was rather limited; the ubiquitous red beams produced using helium-neon and ruby lasers were only accompanied by those producing invisible infrared light for quite some time. The first to emit the rest of the rainbow were ion lasers, which used argon or krypton. Argon emitted blue and green light, krypton several other colours, and mixing the two gases made a laser that could emit across the visible spectrum. From this the laser light show was born evidenced spetaculalry by Grace Jones last year at We Love… Space.
The Ultimate Laser
The most powerful laser ever built comprises of a 192 beam system which when combined can create an energy pulse of a megajoule in a few billionths of a second. Designed to compress and heat nuggets of hydrogen isotopes the National Ignition Facility laser is heading the race for clean energy generation via controlled nuclear fusion.
So to end on a pun… In light of this anniversary lets focus on this video… Sorry.
Our theme of soundtrack reviews continues with a film perhaps as equally well known for it’s soundtrack as it is for it’s alluring cinematography and quirky direction. Amélie is a French film from 2001, which brought largely unknown actress Audrey Tatou to the world’s attention. It depicts a whimsical Parisian lifestyle which is underlined by it’s score. So give it a listen, and read our review below…
Blossoming love
Legend has it that director Jean-Pierre Jeunet happened upon the music of Yann Tiersen while driving with an assistant who put on a CD while considering composer Michael Nyman for the role of scoring his film. To see how well Nyman’s music can work for the cinéaste, do watch James Marsh’s fascinating documentary Man On Wire. So the origin of the film’s soundtrack mirrors it’s theme of serendipity itself! Described as a comic fable, the picture swaggers with a Gallic charm complemented wonderfully by Yann Tiersen’s warmly inviting score. The film is as idiosyncratic as it’s musical accompaniment, matching the melodic subtlety with themes of blossoming love. The Parisian street accordion is a starting point and familiar motif throughout.
La jeune Amélie
Amelie, an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love. Although the casting (especially the charming lead role of Audrey Tatou) and Jeunet’s direction are superb, the music is an essential ingredient in the mix. Some tracks are from existing Tiersen albums while others are composed especially for the film. Amelie is well-liked in her community and develops an ambition to help others, the enigma however is whether she willing to face her own problems. It may sound serious, but it is deftly directed with a lot of humor. “Amelie’s Waltz” is the main character’s theme, featured in three different versions in varying degrees of intensity and is central to the film. Arranged for accordion by Tiersen, the instrument features prominently throughout, giving a distinctly French feel to the film. Waltzes feature prominently throughout the soundtrack and can range in style from moody minimalism to a laid-back, bittersweet intensity. This gives a merry-go-round feel, accentuating the characters experience of the whirlwind of life.
Regard!
There are a number of “oldies” throughout the soundtrack. Guilty is a romantic song from 1931, sung in English and complete with original “old-record” sound and minor scratches. The first of two oldies on the soundtrack it emphasises the timeless quality of the movie which feels to be set several decades ago despite containing modern cars and gadgets like mobile phones. The director has created a fantastical world of dreams in which Amelie’s adventures can unfold. Her failed writer, hypochondriac father suppressed her childhood by his mistaken concerns of a heart-defect. After returning a long-lost childhood treasure to a former occupant of her apartment, she sets out on a mission to become “godmother of the rejected”, anonymously helping her various acquaintances using fantasy and little tricks. When Amelie finds and album of photos of an intriguing collector that collects rejected photos from photo-booths, she seeks him out and falls in love.
Effronté
There are some melancholic modern classical pieces which fit well with the story of the shy waitress, who although changes the lives of others around her, must struggle with her own isolation. Multi-instrumentalist Tiersen’s work has encompassed everything from classical to pop and rock genres and it shows through throughout the soundtrack which is generally fun in mood, but tinged with sadness and with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure. It ends up being a perfect mix of modern European classical and experimental music, but maintains a pastoral and definitely French feeling throughout. The waltzes would fit well in any period film, which compliments well because Audrey Tatou looks like an old movie star put into a post-modern film, in fact it should be noted that Tatou’s influence and impact on the success of this film.
Répertoire
The music of the soundtrack enhances the movie by clarifying a line on the spectrum between melancholy and carefree. Even the sadder moments are tinged with a kind of Gallic acceptance, c’est la vie! Without a doubt, the director Jean-Pierre Jeunet did a spectacular job of movie making but without the music of Yann Tiersen, it would never have been as powerful. The soundtrack is highly recommend as something quite original in the world of movie scores. It’s a must-see film and once you do you will want the music. Download it here. If you want to see (or hear) his other work, check out the film Goodbye Lenin which he has also scored. Below is a video from Tuning Spork records – Jay Haze reconstructing one of Tiersen’s compositions. Lovely stuff, enjoy.
Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger to his friends) had to contend with not being the only famous son / daughter of Germany in Torino, Italy last weekend. In conjunction with our friends at Savana Potente; Ellen Allien, Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock flew in from Berlin to sample local cuisine and indulge in a techno marathon taking place over two clubs in the historic city. Here is a taster of the film we’ve made of the night (and day) with some screen shots to whet your appetite…
Like all good nights in Italy, it began with fine food
Queue in the park outside Chalet Del Valentino
Marcel Dettmann in the mix
Smiles everywhere!
Dania questioning Marcel Dettmann
Love from the crowd for Ellen Allien
Location for the after hours...
Ben Klock plays at the after party by the river
Have a look at this short video created to promote the event online. The soundtrack is composed exclusively and originally by Jozif to complement the visuals. The musical brief was to make something that sounds like Star Trek on drugs yet is fluffy and acidic and with something four-to-the-floor for “the heads”.
