SECURE SHOPPING
Carl Craig will play his seminal 69 material live at this year’s Field Day festival in East London.
Carl Craig, Michael Mayer, Faust and Jamie xx are among the names today confirmed for this year’s Field Day festival, set to take place in East London’s Victoria Park on August 6.
If ever there was a time for Carl Craig to sit back and reflect on his frankly dazzling career, it would be now. Planet E, the label he birthed as an aspiring producer in Detroit, turns 20 this year. As part of Detroit’s lauded second wave, Craig followed in the footsteps of techno forefathers Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, and came to prominence around the same time as the likes of Richie Hawtin and Jeff Mills.
From sweaty 10 hour basement sets to live jazz-techno performances at opera halls across Europe, Craig has seen and done it all before, and for this interview we honed in on the bridges he has built from his home city of Detroit to other musical styles and genres. Few can lay claim to have facilitated cross pollination between genres as much as him – from his seminal work in bringing an artful and jazzy element to techno, to re-editing and remixing artists affiliated to afrobeat, reggae, broken beat and indie, to his Innerzone Orchestra project, which served as a catalyst and inspiration for a nascent UK drum and bass scene in the 90s.
Planet E has been used both as a conduit for Craig’s own productions under various pseudonyms, and a platform for a raft of other talent from Detroit and beyond. To celebrate two decades of releasing records, Craig will be taking Planet E on the road in 2011 – a simultaneous valedictory tour honoring the label’s past and a showcase to promote its future. The tour kicks off this Friday night (March 4) in the auspicious surroundings of Berghain in Berlin, with the London showcase taking place the following evening.
Read the rest of this entry »
You may have heard that this Carl Craig character is celebrating two decades of running a reasonably successful label called Planet E.
Interesting developments over the weekend as Carl Craig responded to the uncredited usage of one of his productions on a mysterious twelve inch by re-editing the track in question and distributing it for free via his Soundcloud page.
|  |
Everything Ramadanman touches at the moment invariably becomes a must have for DJs, be it a remix – his Burial beating Woon effort for example – or original production such as the recent contribution to Soul Jazz’s Future Bass compilation. Simply put the (still very) young man is a genius, constantly pulling from various genres to keep his work new and exciting yet somehow retains a large amount of consistency and class. This release sees the Leeds based producer return to Will Saul’s classy Aus imprint for a second time, on a collaborative effort with Skull Disco founder and Apple Pips head honcho Appleblim.
Together, Ram and Blim deliver a monster of a track in “Void 23”, which carries your senses on a journey down a deep dark tunnel of thumping basslines pressured against snares that collapse on top of the galloping percussion. It’s pitch black, 4am techno. It’s also heavily full of vibes and clocks in at a little over nine minutes. This alone is reason enough to purchase the 12” but Aus deliver a real treat in securing the services of golden era techno don Carl Craig to provide an edited version on the flip.
On his re-edit, the Detroit producer gives the track just the right amount of tweaks, using all his knowledge of how to build a groove and maintain the vibe. The little changes Craig implements in the rhythmic structure succeed in embellishing the overall feel with more urgency. This is yet another chapter in the bulging scrapbook of brilliance that has documented Craig’s career as a producer and demonstrates his consistent importance amongst the DJ community. The release marks another A+ outing from Aus Music as well as Ramadanman and Appleblim, which effortlessly joins the canon of music that will be played in clubs for many years to come.
Markus Garcia
Turbo impresario Tiga will round off his ambitious remix project for 2009 album Ciao! with a 12″ boasting two remixes from Detroit don Carl Craig.
The upcoming Appleblim & Ramadanman single on Aus Music will feature a re-edit from venerable Detroit producer Carl Craig.
Carl Craig will play a 6-hour set in the intimate surroundings of London’s Plastic People in November.
Richie Hawtin, Carl Craig, Goldie (pictured above) and Flying Lotus are among the names announced to perform at this year’s Warehouse Project, which should keep everyone warm this winter.
Many of those lucky enough to be in attendance at the Red Bull Music Academy’s electronic extravaganza at the Royal Festival Hall last weekend would readily agree Henrik Schwarz and Bugge Wesseltoft stole the show.
Read the rest of this entry »
Artist: DJ Hell feat. Bryan Ferry
Title: U Can Dance
Label: Gigolo Germany
Genre: Electro house/Electroclash
Format: 7″, 12″, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download
What happens when two legends from different music scenes come together? “U Can Dance” is the interesting result of the long awaited collaboration between DJ Hell and Bryan Ferry. The two men who have been supplying us with a variety of music for a couple of decades make a golden team: Bryan Ferry, best known as the singer of Roxy Music and responsible for many pop songs that have been listed in the UK Charts since the seventies, turns out to be an unexpected fan of dance music. It is also surprising that DJ Hell, who has been supplying us with many tunes and club bangers since the eighties, has chosen to work with Ferry, whose unique voice might seem more suitable for pop songs than dance music.
The result is a 10 minute mellow track that has a subtle build up and climaxes nicely. Bryan Ferry’s voice might take some getting used to on a track like “U Can Dance”, but it undeniably grows on you. He is accompanied by well mixed female vocals as well.
Contrary to what the title suggests, the original song is not designed for the dancefloor but the single comes with five different remixes that definitely are. Two of them are by Detroit producer Carl Craig, who mixes in a subtle beat that makes you want to move. Former (or so we are to believe) DFA man Tim Goldsworthy has also carved out something nice from the original, adding a swinging electronic drumbeat and eighties synths. London-based duo Simian Mobile Disco have proven themselves to be true masters of mixing yet again, turning “U Can Dance” into a pulsating peak time tune.
Review: Janna Willems
   |
We have teamed up with the Red Bull Music Academy to bring you the opportunity to win two free tickets to one of the year’s most intriguing events.
Roller discos with Moodymann, workshopping with Drums of Death and performances by a slew of international musical luminaries: all this and more features in the Red Bull Music Academy’s plans for London in 2010.
HELL FEATURING BRYAN FERRY ‘U CAN DANCE’ from Gigolo Records on Vimeo.
Check out Hell’s new single “U Can Dance” featuring Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, to be released on February 8, 2010. The video is directed by Jo Apps (whose previous work includes the clip to Simain Mobile Disco’s “Audacity of Huge”) and styled by Nova Dando of La Roux fame.
Where to begin? Christmas is looming fast, and the usual slew of quality releases came through the Juno doors this week.
