After a summer of sun(days) stepping up to the plate as resident on the Space terrace for us from June to September, you might think Paul Woolford would rest on his tech-house laurels. But fear not, he has teamed up with Irish production duo Psycatron to help prove UK techno has not lost any of its energy or visionary power. From someone who saw every Woolford set at Space this year, I can say that terraza has definitely rubbed itself onto this piece of wax. Check the clips below…
With releases on Planet E and R&S respectively, Paul Woolford and Psycatron are continuing to prove their credentials with this release on Cocoon Recordings. There’s some spirited drumkit patterns, trademark Woolford triplets to enliven any dancefloor and a throbbing, rolling bassline on Thunder to boot. Cloud 9 steps back in a housier direction before building to an epic crescendo and breakdown to rave signals, sure to leave the floor in tatters. It’s out on 12″ on December 13th so get your pre-orders in now to avoid disappointment. Wooly even left the after-party early to catch a flight to Belfast to master this – so it must be good.
The next release from Paul Woolford’s stock will be Achilles / Tomorrow on C2′s Planet E with a re-work of Tomorrow from the man himself Carl Craig – expect it early 2011.
The end is nigh! There’s still time to book flights from wherever you may be for this party of epic proportion. The line-up speaks for itself, including an Ibiza debut from Aphex Twin in the Discoteca and a return to the venerated Terraza with Basement Jaxx. Big up to David Tazzyman. See you there! x
Due to their busy live summer tour schedule with Hot Chip, We Love… Space Ibiza will be the only place you can hear Felix & Al DJ this year, making their summer debut tomorrow night. Over the past few years they’ve really grown into the notoriously discerning Terraza and took to the Discoteca como pez en el agua. Through Hot Chip they’ve cultivated a balance between accessibility and high-concept pop music while through remixes and side projects kept a foot firmly planted in techno. Currently working on a number of projects, Felix & Al’s latest venture is Grown Men. It seems they will be using the moniker for their more rarefied 4/4 leanings. Their website is reassuringly sparse for a new undertaking as is their twitter, saying in the description: “Al Doyle and Felix Martin are Grown Men. We are DJs & producers who play techno and house music. We also play in Hot Chip.”
A recent aural highlight that has been on rotation on the office gramophone is Carl Craig’s remix of the title track from their latest album One Life Stand, check it here. It’s a genuine pleasure when high calibre artists from the We Love stable get together for a collaboration, especially when it’s as rolling, squelchy and punchy as this. One wonders how they met, maybe over a hierbas in El Salon…
You’ve got three opportunities to catch Felix & Al DJing anywhere in the world this year, and it just so happens they’re all in the hallowed walls of Space for We Love. They’re guaranteed to rock the house but the choice cut would probably be our opening party tomorrow on June 13th. They’ll be back on July 11th and September 5th incase you can’t make it to the white isle tomorrow.
Below you can check out a mix they’ve sent us to start the summer with and probably a good idea of what to expect on the terrace this year. Below the mix are Al’s answers to our 11 Questions.
Is there one book that you have read that has been life-changing for you?
And I can’t say the Bible, right? Ok, seriously not the Bible… Erm, well since me and Felix’s new project (coming late 2010 possibly) is called Lanark, then I should probably say the novel Lanark by Alasdair Gray, a pretty crazy book about a young artist in real and fantastical worlds.
Did your parents encourage you to work in music?
My mum bought a piano for the house when I was 4, so that was definitely an encouragement. She also told me not to become a teacher, so I kind of took that as the green light to try to make it in pop music.
How did you begin to work professionally in music?
I used to do workshops with kids in composition and music technology amongst other bits of work, and then when we got signed as Hot Chip I jacked in whatever various day jobs I had and started making music full time.
How do you apply your past experiences to what you do today?
Like any other learning machine I suppose… Coffee hot, don’t gulp down coffee straight away; Girl like nice smell, take shower before speak to girl; Ibiza people like when big bass drum go away then come back, take away bass drum then bring bass drum back.
Where is your current studio and what is it like?
Our current studio is near brick lane in east london, and it’s somewhere between a pro studio and a home studio – what Sound On Sound Magazine has taken to calling a “hybrid” studio. It’s dark and windowless, in classic studio style, and it is pretty much home to our engineer Tom Hopkins, who maintains our wide array of sonic toys. It’s basically one big room with loads of stuff in it.
How much have you had to consider marketing issues since embarking on your career and how has that affected your creativity?
Not much. We all have side projects to scratch the itch of our more esoteric musical leanings, and with the Hot Chip project we’ve been left alone by and large… I mean, when it comes to the album launches then there are various hoops we have to jump through, but that doesn’t really affect the music on the record, over which we have complete control.
How would you describe your work?
Pop music.
Who were your teachers?
Brian Eno, John Cale, Carl Craig, Dominik Eulberg, John Tejada, Leonard Cohen, Devo, Demis Roussos, John Dahlback, Jamie Principle, J.S. Bach, Robert Wyatt.
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?
Burglars round my area? I think the crack withdrawal will be punishment enough…
You have to make one species of animal extinct. Excluding insects, which species would that be?
Obviously humans, but if not us then it’s gotta be wasps. Just don’t need wasps.
If you could spend one week in any period of history, which period would you choose?
Ancient Egypt, as long as I was Pharaoh.
Many thanks to Al Doyle for the words and both Felix and Al for the mix, check out their new website here. You will find links to their blog, soundcloud, facebook and all that jazz. The tracklist for the mix above is as follows:
Nicolas Jaar – Mi Mujer
Santos Resiak – Carnival
Aki Bergen – Freak Out / Rescue Me
Pol On – Poloniusz Style
Mark Broom – Supersnout
Butch – Joy
Adultnapper & Mr C – Keep Off (Wighnomy Brothers)
Filthy Rich – Deeper
Sascha Braemer – Dirty Talk
[e]rik_Mnml – Lump
Alex Celler – Isolade
Makam – Hide You
Dimitri Andreas – Snickerz (Santos Guardingo Remix)
Walls – Burnt Sienna
As always we love to spread the love. This summer a free compilation album will be handed out to visitors in around our venue to showcase talent and tunes from the formidably enduring label 2020Vision. Based in Leeds, owned and operated by Ralph Lawson, his team of dedicated and genuine music lovers have shaped the imprint into one of the most respected house labels in the world. Since it’s inaugural pressing in 1995 the label has achieved it’s status of quality and consistency from the point of view of both artists and the record buying public alike. At We Love we are delighted to have not only a talent such as Ralph, with a label so prestigious as 2020Vision at our disposal to compile this compilation – but also from a promotional point of view being able to provide you, our patrons, an objet d’art at no cost to yourselves is such a simple but effective way to give something back. As Mark says: “Simply the best promotional tool we have used in years, a back page advert in popular monthly music press is around £4000 and 10,000 fully finished CDs costs around £3500 delivered. Do the math.”
Ralph will be playing for We Love on the renowned Space Terrace in Ibiza on June 20th, July 25th and September 12th. There will also be a special appearance from Ralph’s live project when he will roll into Space along with Danny Ward, Fernando Pulichino and Julian Sanza in the form of 2020Soundsystem on the 22nd of August. Their album Falling released last year struck the demanding task of a cross-over electronic album being a clear picture, a representation of the artists involved, a “thing-in-itself” and balancing that with enough dancey, trackey elements for the underground to fall in love with it. We’ll leave it to Ralph to explain how the We Love 2020Vision mix came about and his thought process behind the selection…
“The label mix album came about as an idea from Mark Broadbent from We Love last year with the first one featuring Steve Lawler and Viva. It worked out well for everyone as it profiles the DJ who mixes, their label and also provides clubbers with a soundtrack to their night at Space as a present. I have worked for We Love for many years but in the last couple of years it has really started to click for me on the Terrace. I think firstly there was a move towards my style of House music in recent years and secondly I have enough experience under my belt now to know how to play it and get it going off. It is always a high pressure gig playing at We Love and it takes quite a few attempts to learn how to do it right.
Label compilations are very very hard mixes to do. For a start there are fewer tracks to choose from on a normal mix and also you have to represent as many of your artists as possible which further tightens the selection. Then they have to be put together into a smooth flowing mix! Not an easy challenge. I also wanted it to be as fresh as possible so I chased up producers for exclusive up front material. I also had the idea to include a couple of my favourite remixes from Blaze and Layo & Bushwacka so I had to ask permission for those. As 2020Vision is all about having ‘perfect vision’ we include many styles on the label and I needed to highlight this. The CD starts with Nu Disco from 2020Soundsystem and Crazy P which is actually much slower than House so I worked in tempo changes. It then picks up the pace into House and some more techier moments before leaving people with ‘Lovelee Dae’ by Blaze as a kind of happy last tune to go home on.
That was from the label perspective. I also needed to keep an eye on what works for We Love so I had a rule that all the tracks had to be playable at Space on Sundays. I picked a couple from the last year or so that were big for me on the Terrace last year such as Art Of Tones – Call The Shots and Mark Broom – People. Then I included ones I know I will be busting this year that aren’t out yet like Audiojack – Motion Sickness and Simon Baker – The Trick. I Imagined arriving at Space and heading upstairs to the top floor for a drink on the roof before where I could hear a tracks like ‘Ocean’ and then ‘Love on the line’ before heading down to the covered Terrace as the House starts to thump. A big turning point in the mix is the Radioslave track which is an epic production under his Panorama Garage moniker. As I was mixing the album I visited Berlin with Mark and Sarah Broadbent and we went to Panorama and Berghain. As luck would have it Matt Edwards (Radioslave) delivered his track for the album as I came back to the hotel and I put it straight on the headphones in my hotel room. After a night at the infamous club it totally hit the spot and I listened to it about 5 times in a row enjoying it more each time. Of course it had to go the CD and it marks the moment at a night at Space when the crowd is now ready to go and needs the beats tougher. The strings give a classic feel to the mix and really stand out.
I have a rule that I have to DJ my mixes live. I just feel they are more spontaneous and have a more natural feel that way. I can always tell when they have been pieced together one track at a time. I used Traktor Scratch pro to try mixes and then used Ableton on an Allen and Heath 4D to do the final mix but on the jam page so I could still DJ it. I did it like that so I could edit afterwards. It was recorded at 2020HQ in Leeds.” Ralph Lawson
In 2008 theorists predicted the year of the Blevins was on the cards for 2009. Having placed a small wager on this, these theorists are now multi-millionaires. These same theorists are now banking on 2010 being a stellar year for Blevins, and in a boiler-room kind of way are advising you to do the same. Starting his 2009 in the sun soaked Australia, Ian’s gigs took a festival twist playing at one of Australia’s most talked about events, Playground Weekender. Alongside this Ian played at a host of Sydney’s top venues including Ladylux, Favella, and The Loft, including playing on the same bill as Norman Jay and the Unabombers for the Good Times weekend. On top of this Ian was responsible for warming up for Crazy Penis on their Australian tour. Not a bad start by anyone’s standards. Although a good start to the year, the bookies at which theorists had placed there bets would still not concede this to be a true “year of the Blevins”. With this in mind, after a string of hugely successful UK gigs, Ian headed to Ibiza, a place Ian knew he could prove the theorists correct. It didn’t take him long. A residency at We Love… taking in The Premier Etage, the main Terraza and a very special session in El Salon cemented his status as a fine purveyor of eclectic-electronica and earned his backers thousands of Pesetas. With 2009 in the bag Ian’s Ibiza summer was given a proverbial cherry on the top: one of the most coveted sets in Ibiza and hence the world – Space Closing Fiesta, La Terraza. With over 16000 people attending the party, Ian’s set to a capacity room remains a highlight of the event cited by everyone from Resident Advisor to his cat Nyron. With a tour of Asia and Australia about to commence Ian plans to follow the sun down under and we can only hope it brings him back round to us here in Ibiza next summer. The sensible money is on 2010 – Blevins for president of the world.
Ian has kindly provided a mix which he describes as: “I’ve condensed alot of my favourite tunes from this summer that hold special memories of me or more people dancing a little more like a maniac than usual, on beds in beach bars and other interesting locations.” Download it here.
Is there one book that you have read that has been life-changing for you?
I don’t think one book has totally changed my look at life although I do think that each book I’ve read leaves me a little more wiser than before. As far as music is concerned I recommend, “Love Saves The Day” by Tim Lawrence, or “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” by Bill Brewster.
Blevasaurus
Did your parents encourage you to work in music?
No. Im still encouraged to get a “proper” job in fact.
How did you begin to work professionally in music?
I began by dishing out flyers.
How do you apply your past experiences to what you do today?
Learn and grow.
Where is your current studio and what is it like?
My current studio is my laptop, and is pretty basic. The aim is to expand.
How much have you had to consider marketing issues since embarking on your career and how has that affected your creativity?
I’ve had to consider marketing, which is one of the reasons I built my website and try to keep it updated. This acts a good point for anyone to find about myself, mixes, gigs, photo’s etc.
I don’t think I personally have had my creativity affected too much by it [marketing], though it does often take time away from learning further music related subjects etc.
How would you describe your work?
If by this you mean DJing in general. There is not a better job.
Who were your teachers?
Anyone I’ve met with something worth listening to.
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?
Eaten alive by ants.
You have to make one species of animal extinct. Excluding insects, which species would you make extinct?
Leprechauns or left-handed badgers.
If you could spend one week in any period of history, which period would you choose?
The early seventies at the beginning of “disco” music or back in a decent dinosaur period. Jurassic or Cretaceous. Dinosaurs, plants, trees, huge land masses still joined together. That’s worth a week of anyones time. Nothing longer though.
