The Pondering Blonde

Villalobos Goes to War on RA

Here’s a question; does Electronic Dance Music have a common stance on global politics and current issues? At the risk of sounding like an age old hippie, yes, and it rests on the far side of ‘make love and not war’ in all instances, surely? Even if you’re dancing to Industrial Trance (yikes!) isn’t it all about celebrating life, love, peace and unity? Oh, and the fact that somehow our brains made us like Dance music and not Heavy Metal; a reason to celebrate every weekend if you ask me!

An interesting article featuring Ricardo Villalobos on the Resident Advisor website on April 1^st sparked much controversy when it casually announced Minimal Superstar DJ, Ricardo Villalobos, was booked to play to US troops in Iraq at the end of the month. Although claiming he still had ‘personal’ issues with the Bush and Chaney department; “The soldiers over there are just doing their job. And after all, at the afterhours we’re all on the same side anyway.” Villalobos was quoted as saying. The RA online forum went red hot with debate, sparking some techno-cal controversy before someone coined they were being taken for a techno soundtracked ride; Happy April Fool’s!

There must have been some ‘Lobos fanatic’s in quite a spin; having to decide whether to rationalize his quest into the midst of it all, loaded with his techno weapons of dancefloor destruction, or voice disagreement at this statement-making voyage. Forming opinions on Electronic Music and global politics in the same forum is quite a heavy one on the brain indeed, and something most dance music lovers would not have had to consider before. The humour was generally found when all was revealed (we’re a pretty liberal bunch after all) and the thought of soldiers piping Fabric 36 through their iPod’s in between missions is definitely worth a laugh!

It goes without saying the situation in Iraq is serious in its own terms, and RA certainly sets the precedent for extra-cheeky beats per minute here, but let’s keep it about the Politics of Dancing on our front. Well, that’s what I advise anyway!

Little Lexi x

Call Me Angello, Steve Angello

There’s been a bit of buzz about Steve Angello since the Winter Music Conference in Miami a few weeks ago, after he and Paris Hilton bumped heads and scored a press worthy incident. If you didn’t hear about it, it went something like this: Paris Hilton and entourage walk into club. Paris Hilton tells club owner she doesn’t like the music (Place ‘shock horror’ here). Owner tells Paris to tell the DJ herself and he’ll probably change the music to whatever she likes. Club owner is so wrong. Paris tells DJ to play some Bob Sinclair. DJ turns out to be Steve Angello and he’s not having it. A scuffle breaks out (I would love to have seen how this happened). Paris Hilton scratches a nail, bouncers appear and beefy flavoured words are thrown around. Steve Angello is still the DJ.

There’s no denying Angello would have won some DJ of the Conference award if they gave those out- while he certainly got quite a bit of press following the palava- there’s no mistaking what the Swedish House Mafia dj looks like now!- he also got props from the dj community for holding his ground. The story spread like electronic wildfire and dj’s as well as and dedicated dance lovers around the world rejoiced at hearing Paris, who’s known and certainly not relished for her pretentious club authority antics,  finally had a day of justice!

Paris went on to blog on Myspace, (there’s no humility in pop princess justice, so you know!) that the dj must have been pissed that he’s not as good as Bob Sinclair and that’s why he got angry with her. Unfortunately, there was no commentary from Bob Sinclair (that would have been even more fun!), but one’s thing’s for sure- Paris Hilton’s career as a dj, (oh it was coming, I wouldn’t put it past her!), is well and truly over! God forbid she should ever stumble into a serious rave- never mind that she’d blend in with the glow sticks!

But in the meantime, Angello’s impeccable respect for his music- his way- has inspired a spawn of industry banter about defending the dj and ridding the ‘travelling jukebox’ theory those not so in the know seem to presume. Here’s an article from Beatportal that’s good for a laugh. Happy uninterrupted mixing!

10 Excuses to avoid DJ Requests

Little Lexi

SAFFA Fingers On The London Pulse

BPM Magazine 2009

Some say they’re the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels but mostly, they’re the ones with the twin steel balls that took themselves out of their perfect sun-shiny South African existence to throw themselves with all abandon into the bottom of the Big Smoke party pit.

This is London; the dance music deity that got the globe started on Acid House, The Hacienda, M25 Raves and still owns the forefront today with the likes of cutting-edge super clubs, record labels and sub music genres. Think Fabric, Ministry of Sound and Garage – erm, scratch that last one – and switch off your beeper!

For many Dj’s and producers, this is where its at; the epicenter of all that goes bump in the night, the diversity driven melting pot of people, music, fashion, music, culture, music, lifestyle and music! Shane Watcha, Clint Lee, Sahin Meyer, Paul Bingham, Dave Impact, 2 Phunked Up, Sleazy G, Little Leigh, Hayley Hunter, Anton Kingsize and the Live Tech Rebelz are just some of the names you’ve heard making sound waves on the international EDM scene. They have no respect for the status quo; they’re the ones who saw things differently, followed the UV light and gave it all up for music and La La London land!

An amalgamation of sound in themselves, getting this bunch into a small dark room wouldn’t have been as easy as you’d think – they’d all want to be the bloody Dj! – so with a little digital word play, I picked their master-mixing minds to see if they really felt United in the Kingdom

Where to begin? It was agreed; no matter how big they were back home, when their two-step first hit the streets of London, they became the musical equivalent of a double size 0. It requires immense passion, dedication obsession – to keep up with the electronic rat pack in Europe. Its bigger, better and way uglier – you should see some of these people! And they attest to the notion that it’s all about who you know, as there are no hand-outs here. They’ve been nauseous from networking, even more so from not enough, been overbooked and way underpaid. They’ve burnt their ears, lost girlfriends, jobs and lots of sleep – they’ve even lost themselves deep within this avant-garde music anarchy and twisted in turmoil at the decadent choice of direction to tune into.

But what makes it all worth fist fighting their way upstream – another unanimous nod is being able to see their well-hung heroes live and in the flesh on a regular basis; there is no better inspiration! Being at touching distance from the likes of Steve Bug, Sven Vath and Loco Dice is right up there with owning the stage themselves – well, almost!- and so they’re quite content to watch from the dance-floor or lurk with a long eyeball from across the room.

Then there’s the actual clubs. There is said to be – but I haven’t quite counted yet – over 300 clubs and bars that drop a decent beat and with that in mind, consider the party-people patronage! There is a sound for every situation and an audience to appreciate it and feed their fanatical frenzy, on any given day of the week. Clubs heave even on Monday night, Tuesday night, Sunday morning and all afternoon – and you know, there’s nothing quite like a Sunday session of light-footing it to make you feel alive! This kind of scene support allows Dj’s to be creative and play exactly what they want! Between the lot they can pool an impressive playing alongside list which includes Axwell, The Swedish House Mafia, Brian Cross, Paul Van Dyk, Mr C, Booka Shade and then some, which proves they’re making some serious treads!

What about home? Some have long lost the will to look back, totally locked into their London lives – but they all miss that special South African flavour- it’s like Aromat, I’m telling you – and the incredible character of our county’s people. They’re happy to see the club scene is healthy and growing, the influx of young blood – dj’s and producers – making waves, as well as fresh sounds gripping deck space, which should give SA more recognition on the dance music map. They want to keep up with and be part of it as they are very much representing this side of the pond!

They’ve formed this intense and unbelievably bonded community of like-minded music lovers, who loudly follow and rally around their music mission and rather than see each other as nail-biting competition, they all for one in making name and give each other leg-ups all the way. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, glorify or vilify them. But about the only thing you cannot do is ignore them – the only way they’re going is up! Support your Dj’s in London, your country needs them!

DJ Etiquette- Lesson 1: No requests, Trust the DJ

BPM Magazine 2007

Did you know: If you spend an average of 10 hours per week dancing in clubs, every week for a whole year, you would have spent 21 days in total of that year shaking your bod non-stop? How awesome!? –And you only need two 9pm-2am benders each week to full fill this quota- not bad eh? And to think; people say our generation is lazy! Tsk tsk!

Keeping nocturnal hours like these, whilst working out from my pole position on the dancefloor- that’s front-right of the DJ box- I’ve had much time to study (and by this I mean “suss out” before dropping suave moves to the left, to the left!) what I’ve come to extensively term “DJ Etiquette”.

Friends laugh at my peculiar invention and obsession with the “Science of DJ and Dance Culture”- although; house heads and DJ’s alike will nod in recognition at the respect and decorum one must dutifully give the man mixing the music. As much as he- or she- is “living the dream” and to the untrained ear, is just banging out the tunes, a DJ’s mix is a creative process that cannot be interrupted!

But it so often is; time and again I’ve seen people, and yes, they are mostly giggling girls, descend on the DJ box with the intention of requesting a song. (I mean seriously… is this happening?) The DJ can probably feel their breath on his hands as they yell “Please can you play Rock Your Body by Bob Sinclair next?” or something just as ridiculous! Their timing normally coincides with the pivotal point of his demonically creative possession: as he’s mixing in the next track, thus providing the perfect moment for what can only be described as a total fuck up! They grin and bat their eyelids expectantly for an equally excited response, maybe; “Sure babe! Hey, should I play Heaven by DJ Sammy after that?”

They don’t even realise they’ve interrupted an artist at work! But the DJ, who has an Etiquette all of his own, says nothing. He may smile weakly in return, but for all they know, they may as well have dumped his entire vinyl bag on the floor and taken turns jumping on his prized collection. I can literally see his heart sink as he’s yanked out the zone, a fireball of eclectic energy dissolving into the thin and smoky air of the club, never to be known or felt by the aching souls and feet on the dancefloor. I can feel his pain- talk about Buzzkill!

If you watch closely, a DJ’s set, while somewhat preplanned, simmers and sizzles accordingly to the vibe of the venue and the eloquent “buckness” of the crowd. The challenge of successfully dropping that one track that makes the entire dancefloor heave in unison is the only confirmation a DJ needs to know that he has rocked the house- and what a moment it is to view from the front row! -And to experience, uninterrupted!

He builds up the ante as he prepares to drop the beat; you can see he’s feeling it! His head is bopping wildly; his hands are flying, patting the vinyl and tweaking the knobs with passionate deliberation. Right before it happens, the sound scatters and whines, and the dancefloor almost halts in anticipation of “something big” about to go down! You know that moment; where the music is almost stagnating as it’s become so teasingly slow? You can hear the voices of the floor inhabitants around you and they’re starting to wonder if something went wrong with the sound system. The DJ holds a mysterious grin… Ah yes, only he knows what’s coming… People, the artist is about to deliver his masterpiece; a mere moment in time, etched into the souls of your ears for eternity: Priceless!

What then becomes thee track of the evening rips through the ebbing beat of the previous one, an edgy but smooth transition that creates an eruption of euphoria throughout the club. It’s amazing to stand back and watch the crowd go wild- no conscience, no problems, no concept of time. Nothing but you, and your body’s uncontrollable distortion. This is what I live for: that moment where I feel there is nowhere in the world I’d rather be than right here! And you must be one hell of an artist to create that kind of satisfaction!

Roger Goode’s husky nurse says it best: “No Requests- Trust the DJ”.

Trust the DJ, take the ride his way and be transported 21 days away from living another average year of your life!