Ivan Smagghe & Tim Paris made a rare appearance under their It’s A Fine Line guise at We Love Space on September 4th. We’ve cut a cheeky bootleg hour and a half from that set. It’s dark, alluring and uplifting in true Smagghe style, give it a listen below. There’s no tracklist because they’re mysterious like that. Download here.
We’ve given you something to do if you’re down south this weekend, so now something for north of the border. It’s become cliche to say but Glasgow has established itself as one of the musical capitals of Europe if not the world in recent years. A heady mix of innovators such as Slam / Soma duo Stuart Mc Millan and Orde Meikle and forward thinking venues from warehouse spaces to stalwarts such as Subclub along with a passionate and receptive audience has made the Glasgow scene what it is today. Most touring artists would declare it a must play location and there are few venues more suited to electronic music than The Arches. Our good pals Slam are bringing Mathew Jonson, Heidi and Ivan Smagghe to Pressure for their 12th birthday celebrations.
You can buy tickets direct from the venue here. Check out the video below for some insight into the world of selling records from Slam themselves…
Find Slam on facebook, myspace and soundcloud.
…play on! The importance of sustenance at home, rations on the road and the dreaded promoters dinner. Culinary memories of Kraft macaroni and slaughtering your own meal with Ivan Smagghe, Simian Mobile Disco, Deepgroove, Shaun Reeves, Bones and Heidi.
Featuring performances from 2020Soundsystem live at We Love – Ministry of Sound London, Ivan Smagghe in the Discoteca for We Love Space and DJ Hell in London also.
Kill the DJ
This friday (29th Jan) sees a We Love… favourite appearing at another of manchester’s true success stories, Naive Melody. Having just celebrated their 4th birthday with Andrew Weatherall they continue to push the boat out with an appearance from Ivan Smagghe. Naive Melody, if you don’t already know, throw monthly parties at the 200 capacity Chinese Karaoke bar Charlies just off Portland Street. Over the course of their 4 year history they have brought in some fantastic names to this super-intimate venue, this coupled with a loyal following and good sound system has lead to some fantastic parties. Highlights have included sets from Alexander Robotonick, Bill Brewster and Krikor to name a few. If you’re ever in the area make sure you check it out.
We Love… Ibiza 2009 Episode 10 – Part 2 from We Love on Vimeo.
You may have noticed a lack of specific music reviews on the blog so far. This is because they are generally completely superfluous and can infact malign the actual enjoyment of music. So please understand the following is a recommendation: Night Music – a Steve Reich-inspired, five-track album of “loops and hypnotism” performed by Etienne Jaumet and produced by none other than Carl Craig.
Cascading compositions
It may look like the ultimate safe bet, Carl Craig being one of the very few unshakable pillars in modern electronic music making, but Carl did a lot more than simply mix the album. He based his work on a common musical culture. Long talks with Etienne about Liaisons Dangereuses proved once again that Craig is the most European of all the Detroit producers. He ripped the heart of the record to bring it to its full Electronic and Psychedelic life. Without adding anything but magic, Carl Craig took what Night Music was already was and enhanced it. – Ivan Smagghe
One half of French horror-disco outfit Zombie Zombie has joined iconic techno producer Carl Craig for a collaboration that may at first seem unlikely. However, anyone who has witnessed any of Carl’s galacticly epic sets this summer at We Love… Space in Ibiza may not be so surprised. This collaboration between Etienne Jaumet and Carl Craig indulges in their jointly held passion for synthscapes in a pinnacle of elegant Paris meets Detroit electronica. The opening track “For Falling Asleep” takes 20 minutes to reach its goal – a climax of astral proportion. The joy Jaumet’s exploration in this journey takes, with wistful saxophone and gentle but insistent machine rhythms “directed and imagined” by Carl Craig. This deceptively minimal epic subtly informs the listener of what is to come over the next 4 songs – tightly wound but seemingly infinite in their scope. There is a patient process at work in the construction of each track. Jaumet’s writhing, eerie synths are warped and manipulated between what sounds like bagpipes and Middle Eastern strings and horns. The autobahn-ready metronomy of the pulsing dance groove provided by Carl Craig gives way to melodic noise and anthemic classical sections with ominous significance. There are also peaceful acoustic touches which are soon swallowed up by crashing waves of sound. On the whole, it is a dark but enchanting piece of work.
