Few artists come from as genuine and distinct a perspective as Finland’s Aki Latvamäki. In his bio he speaks of dirt, and in the following interview, he speaks of love. Working at the distant boundaries of what can only ostensibly be described as “tech-house,” Latvamäki (who also records as Artificial Latvamäki) offers up sounds that are more closely tied to experience than invention. Latvamäki’s esoterically titled tracks have appeared on Cocoon’s G compilation, Ellen Allien’s Fabric 34 mix; EPs for Trapez, Mezzotinto, and Budenzauber Recordings; as well as split recordings with LWE favorite Mark August and Dub Kult on Curle Recordings. Latvamäki is also a member of the “junk percussion” group Transistori, who have recently posted to Youtube a documentary of their live work, Transistori Play Toppilan Tehdas, at the factory of Toppila in Latvamäki’s home town of Oulu, Finland. What Latvamäki specializes in is a sound that combines melodic daring, dizzying introspection, and propulsive movement, and this talent is on display both here in this stunning exclusive “mixtape” of unreleased/forthcoming material.

LWE Podcast 23: Aki Latvamäki (51:12)

Tracklist:

01. Aki Latvamäki, “Straightforward” [Morse Recordings]
02. Aki Latvamäki, “We Had Our Good Moments” [*]
03. Aki Latvamäki, “Mandolin” [*]
04. Aki Latvamäki, “It Is Not Now Either” (live in Satiini, Helsinki 2008) [*]
05. Aki Latvamäki, “Bath Tub Of Full Mutated Bees” (live remix in Satiini) [*]
06. Aki Latvamäki, “Äkta Smak Och Sprödhet” (live remix) [*]
07. Aki Latvamäki ft. Eini Pesälä, “Kun Minä Unohduin Ja Se Olitkin Sinä” [*]
*Denotes unreleased track

How and when did you first become interested in making electronic dance music? What led you to start writing and producing tracks?

Aki Latvamäki: This is not the easiest question to answer for me, because it happened a long time ago and it seems I don’t have that a good memory. But I remember that somewhere around 1994-1995 I became interested in music with a steady danceable beat. It was my friend who introduced me to artists like Sven Väth, The Prodigy, The Shamen, Westbam, etc. I had previous experience with computer music making with tracker software, so it seemed to be quite easy to me to just change the samples to electronic and go with a techno beat. However this style of music quickly made way for IDM sounds, when I discovered Warp, Rephlex, and IDM in general. I started experimenting a lot and only went back to danceable stuff to amuse myself or my friends. After IDM I got obsessed with electro and computer game music for C64 and Amiga. There was a point when I only did stuff on the old, trustworthy Commodore 64. I also did electro for several years only to find that it was too hard for me to get sounding like I wanted it to be. At the same time I spent a lot of time playing in a junk percussion orchestra, Transistori, and I guess it made me like steady beats again. Also I had been listening to some good techno that was supplied by my friend who had an amazing vinyl collection, but I think it was upon hearing Donnacha Costello’s music when I started thinking that I could do that too. Very quickly I did a demo with five songs and sent the first ever demo CD out to labels. Riley from Trapez got in contact with me and asked to have three tracks from that demo, and that’s when the techno hell broke loose!

Tell me more about how your first releases came together. Your third release on your official discography is “Curle 001,” with Mark August. How did you get in touch with Mark to do that record, and what is your relationship with Curle Recordings?

“Mänty” was definitely the song which made me send the demos out, I just knew that it was better than anything I had previously done. The idea for the song came quite clearly into my head when I was out riding my bike on a hot summer day. While watching the big pine trees and I saw how the drought had made the grass all yellow under the trees. No rain would get to the ground, as the big trees would catch and drink the little water coming down. I remember telling my girlfriend, “Don’t you think it would be nice to be able to write a song about that yellow color and how it changes to green, just like you do when you are painting with oil colours? And tell a story of this huge pine tree that would need to take all the water and cause the plants underneath it to dry.” With this thought in mind I started writing the song. I took a quite riff-oriented approach to the song — wanting to do it in a way that the main synths would sound and behave a bit like guitars, then layer a psychedelic melody that would “cycle” with the main riff because of a weird time signature, on top of that. Maybe putting it in more metaphorical way: kind of like the riffs would be the tall trunk of the tree and on top of that there would be this huge green canopy with no simple structure or pattern. The vision for all this was so strong that the song was finished quickly. I remember watching out from the window, thinking “this is it!”, something that I had been looking for, I had found my style.

Some time after that, perhaps one and a half years or something, Tom from Curle recordings got in contact with me after hearing my first releases and told me about his idea for this split 12″ label. I thought it was a good idea and he paired me with Mark to do “Curle001.” The track was well received, though it was a huge effort from my part to get it together. At some point, I ditched almost everything what I had written and left only the main melody and some bass parts, which were all remixed to form the final output. Sometimes you just have to start from scratch and cut everything to tiny pieces to be able to work with it more. I’m very glad now, when hearing “(Song to the) Machine That Built The Sun”, that I did it in that way, because it turned out good. It’s basically a love song to the solar system for giving me the possibility to live with the greatest girl in the world. She would eventually leave me though, but she’s still close to me, and very propably the greatest girl in the world – still. You know, love, is also about letting go and allowing people to pursue their happiness elsewhere, without you. “(Song to the) Machine That Built The Sun” has a lot of important things inside it for me, something that everyone should find for themselves — I don’t want to spoil the fun of listening more than I already did!

Tell us more about your influences and your process. It appears that you stake out some musical territory between what’s going on in your heart and in your head, and I’d like to hear more about that. Is that a difficult balance for you?

Maintaining balance in life is always a little difficult. But as I say: “It isn’t life if it’s easy, and it’s not water if there’s no foam in it.” (I tend to like to ironise life with my little proverbs. They are something that make me laugh at everything around me, and in that way make it easier to go on.) Writing out of your heart is not very sustainable development as you never know where your heart is going, but it’s the only way to do it right. Music for me is mainly about getting my emotions out and into something you can analyze and dissect. People are my influence. Mostly my friends and loved ones. I would enjoy doing more music with the people I love, because I can’t think of a better way to feel and experience a person than to immerse into deep jam session with them, and feel as one.

Processes are bit harder to describe, because every song has their own unique process behind them. But I guess that goes for the composing process as well, that I cannot enjoy something of my own doing until I feel it gives a piece of me to the people listening to it. It’s very wearing, but so rewarding. To be able to stand behind what you have done, not in a way that everything should be sounding perfect, but on the contrary, everything should sound like it came from the moment it was made. Moments are the building pieces of music and the perfect song is a accurate and emotional encapsulation of one frozen moment in time. Time is our clay. Time is what we manipulate to create these stories. Musicians make little containers for people to store their own moments into. That’s the magic, that’s what every musician should pursue.

Your newest release, “Ratts” (Curle 015), has received a lot of great press. It is, for lack of a better word, a unique record, with interesting sounds on both sides. What was the process like for “Ratts,” from production to release?

How nice that you like it! It holds a quite bit of emotional content for me and it has also got quite interesting story behind it too. The musical year of 2007 for me was devoted to getting an album together. “Ratts Leaving The Sinking Ship In Nortt” and “Find The Way Into The Heads Completely Alone” were both going to the album. After a really long and consuming process Curle Recordings decided to cancel the album release, and instead picked two songs to be released. And so the “Ratts” 12″ was born. The weird and nice thing about this is that these two songs have been composed in very different moments, but they both deal with issues in a certain aforementioned relationship. And while it might seem that all of my songs draw their inspiration from this, it’s not true, these were the only ones from the new songs.

“Find The Way Into The Heads Completely Alone” tells a story about a moment, which must be quite familiar to many of us. The moment when talking and being open isn’t so easy anymore, but requires effort from us. When all the promises of openness and sincerity, that were given in the beginning, have been forgotten, and you almost have to be a mind reader to know what’s going on. But we were doing great! I remember recording an ambient track to warm up the sound a bit, so I had a microphone wired up to record the sound of my room and speakers (I loved that room’s sound!) when all of a sudden my girlfriend rushes into the room and starts talking about her day and how her former teacher has complimented on her paintings and so forth. She was really happy and energetic and she sounded so good! I kept listening to her story and after a while when the music stopped, I told her, “You made it into this song!” to which she replied “Oh no! I didn’t know you were recording! I am so sorry, did I spoil it?” “No. You just made it better,” I replied. I remember this like yesterday! If you listen very closely, in the second half of the track you can hear her in the ambiance. She did make it better, she gave the song a meaning for me and a soul. That’s what I love about music. The accidents that can happen truly make miracles. That’s why I use a lot of microphones and record a lot of sample libraries and ambiences. “Ratts Leaving The Sinking Ship In Nortt,” on the other hand, is about this relationship as well. The ending of it.

Without my knowing Curle Recordings had chosen a painting, portraying myself, which this same certain girl had painted, to be the cover artwork. And the fact that Curle Recordings picked JUST these two songs to be released! All this made it to be the theme record of the biggest relationship of my life! As you might imagine, it wasn’t too easy to do the post-processing work for these songs, as I had just started to get myself back up again after the break-up, which was also the reason that the record got delayed a bit, and the reason that Curle016 came out before “Ratts,” which was Curle015.

Witches brooms

It’s not often you hear about such a deep emotional connection between a techno producer and his work. I don’t think I’ll ever hear those tracks the same way again; thank you for sharing that story. Do you think any of the unreleased album material will be coming out, or is that project on hiatus? What are you working on now? What do you have lined up for the future?

The amount of unreleased material I have is vast. I’m sure 95% of that will never be coming out, unless I, in some weird mental state, decide to do some “Secret Tapes of Latvamäki” digital release or whatnot. I have played some [of them] in my live sets, but I prefer to give people some “hits” like “Se Tuli Aavikolta” and “Mänty” to dance and have fun to; I’m not really into being too mystical a performer. Playing live should always be fun and uplifting. And I like it when people who are more into 50s rock or something tell me in a bar that they don’t really understand what I did on stage but they liked it and have never heard such stuff before. It’s a rock’n'roll thing! Haha!

Back to the subject. Unreleased tracks are powerful when you need a new idea. You can take an old one and quickly just turn everything around and pick the best things combining them with the current feelings. Composing should always happen in a fast pace and the right state of mind. Too much sandpapering makes everything dull and meaningless; you need some spikes, some grain, noise, something wrong here and there, a little of “what the fuck was that”-feeling and some good old fashioned distortion. For me, mixing is more about leaving something unmixed than making things sound right. Always remember that perfection is imperfect. If you paint a portrait of a tree, never forget the witch’s brooms (the weird fungi that makes the branches grow wildly from one spot), because they are what make the tree AND the painting. Every time I see a tree with those, I think of music and I wonder if anyone else wants to do music because of them.

I just finished working on a three track 12″ for Morse Records, I guess it would be coming out in May or June 2009. And it’s going to be named “Mielikutitus EP.” This name was [provided by] by my lovely friend Karoliina. She told me she almost typoed the word “Mielikuvitus,” which means “imagination,” to “Mielikutitus,” which means something like “Mind Tickling.” With one letter of difference everything is turned around, just like in life, one day, or just one moment can change your perspective about everything including yourself for the rest of your life. I am also working on an EP with this girl who I need to spend time with because of therapeutically reasons, I guess. She’s doing the vocals and crazy sound design idea work and some composing, and I take care of the technical stuff; it’s going to be wild and weird. We don’t have a name for the project yet, and I’m not sure if we have the means for marketing it either, but it doesn’t matter. Music and being able to share it with someone else is much more important than getting it released.

I understand that you don’t often DJ, but you recently played out as a DJ. How did that go? What was the venue like? What tracks did you enjoy playing? Do you have many live appearances lined up, either as a DJ or doing your live set??

The DJ set went really well, I played a lot of diverse stuff ranging from older electro to new techno and even little shoegazing in the last moments. There’s no real club culture here, and perhaps because of that I don’t really play records that much. My favourite records… hmm… perhaps Mr. Velcro Fastener, “Laser Squad,” Dexter, “Intruder” and The Parallax Corporation, “Autistic Sync.” Older disco and electro I guess. Mauno Kalevi is an interesting artist coming from here, however I unfortunately do not have any of his records yet. Naturally there are a lot of important techno records for me as well. Artists on that front who I like to play include Mathew Jonson, Johannes Heil, Marc Houle, Sami Koivikko and Donnacha Costello. I also like to listen to bands like Red House Painters and Slowdive when I’m feeling down. And some black metal when I am eating fish that was freshly ice-fished, haha! I think my musical taste doesn’t have genre limitations. Except if you count “getting airtime on radio and TV” as a genre.

The city of Oulu, where I live in, is on the west coast of Finland and there are not so many people living here, a little under 140,000. But we have a strong music scene and a lot of great musicians, and I enjoy working with people who come from different musical surroundings. At the moment I am producing new music for Tuomas Henrikin Jeesuksen Kristuksen Bändi, and as you can hear it’s really different from what you expect me to do. Naturally there will be a lot of electronic things going on with the band in the future. I think what we are really doing is breaking a lot of genre boundaries and just having fun with being able to realize all our ideas — even the weirdest ones. I’ve only worked with them for about a week now, but we are off to a great start and a lot of visions have already emerged to be put into effect. At the moment my live appearances are closely linked to touring with the band, but I wouldn’t turn down a chance to play a techno set abroad. I just don’t really feel like promoting and booking myself. However I could say that “Mielikutitus EP” is coming out any time now on Morse Records.

Over the course of this interview, you’ve given me quite a lot to think about, and I’m sure for the readers, as well. Any parting thoughts you’d like to share?

It’s been an honour and a pleasure for me to do this interview with you. I have had to think about many important things quite thoroughly and perhaps quite emotionally because of the moment in time in which you reached me. I would like to thank everyone that has read the interview this far and encourage you to challenge everything you see around you and to break those boundaries. We are being controlled with fear to make us act in a certain way, yet deep in our hearts we already know what is the right way to go. Always stay open and throw yourself into the world around you without hesitation, you won’t break.

Perhaps it would be best to conclude the interview with words by The Unknown Writer, best known for me from the number one techno song in this world, which is of course “Transition” by Underground Resistance: “There will be people who say you can’t – you will. / There will be people who say you don’t mix this with that and you will say “watch me”. / There will be people who will say play it safe, that’s too risky – you will take that chance and have no fear. / You wont let these questions restrain or trouble you. / You will point yourself in the direction of your dreams. / You will find the strength in the sound and make your transition.” (interview by James Cardis)

LWE Podcast 23: Aki Latvamäki (51:12)

If you loved “Rushing to Paradise” by House of House as much as we did, you’re probably clamoring to hear a DJ set from these rising stars. But unless you live in NYC (or are able to get to Fabric this Saturday, where they’ll be playing this Saturday at Fabric alongside Villalobos, Patrice Scott, Slam and Holy Ghost et al.), your chances are probably slim. Thankfully, Fabric is teaming up with LWE to share the wealth and let the rest of us in on the duo’s eclectic tastes.

Tracklist:

01. D’Pac with Terrence FM, “Wouldn’t Lie” (Wouldn’t Mix) [Vicious Music]
02. Full Swing, “Choices” (Vocal Mix) [Colors]
03. Colourblind, “Nothing Better” [Ore Music]
04. Frozen Border, “Frozen Border 2″ [Frozen Border]
05. Turnstyle ft. Althea McQueen, “Reachin’ Higher” [Strictly Rhythm]
06. Levon Vincent, “Early Reflections” [Novel Sound]
07. Dennis Ferrer, “Sinfonia Della Notte” [Strictly Rhythm]
08. Intrusion, “Intrusion” (Phase 90 Reshape) [echospace [detroit]]
09. JC Freaks, “Source” [wandering]
10. Erick Morillo, “Feeling Hot” [Strictly Rhythm]
11. Robin S, “Show Me Love” (Kerri’s Madhouse Mix) [Champion]

Rotterdam’s Joris Voorn has been spinning and producing house and techno for over ten years now, with no shortage of accolades along the way. His debut EP, “Muted Trax pt. 1,” was tipped by Carl Craig and Laurent Garnier, and By 2004′s “Lost Memories pt. 2,” the fervor around Voorn had become virtually unavoidable. After founding the Green label the following year, Voorn landed a gig mixing the fourth CD in the Fuse series. Taking the Ableton Live brochure to task, he blended, layered, and combined forty-odd tracks for the mix. We were impressed, but Voorn figured he could do one better, which brings us to 2009′s hundred-track Balance mix. Easily one of the most discussed dance-music releases of the past year, Little White Earbuds had plenty of questions and Mr. Voorn was gracious enough to explain how one undertakes a project as ominous and daunting as Balance 14. (Interview by Chris Burkhalter)

You’ve talked about Balance 14 – and certainly a lot of other people are talking about it too – in terms of pushing technical and musical boundaries for yourself. Was the project this ambitious at the outset? Or, at a certain point in the process of mixing, did you decide to see how far you could stretch things?

Joris Voorn: It wasn’t really planned to go as far as I did. I started off in a more conventional way, mixing the beginning of one track with the end of another, but I wasn’t satisfied with the result I was getting, so I started getting more into editing the tracks. Finally I used samples of tracks and loops to fill in the gaps and create my own tracks out in between.

Listening to the CDs, it’s blindingly clear that you’ve really toiled over the editing. Did you set out to mix of a set of particular songs? Or was it a question of choosing elements for an indivisible whole?

The approach of mixing came along while I was working. I found so much fun in editing and combining tracks and different elements that I pushed boundary after boundary, combining genres and different bpm’s into something new instead of just using a single track each time.

One thing people are talking a lot about is the 102 songs spread over two discs. How did EQ react when you proposed a tracklist of such exhaustive length?

It wasn’t done in one go, I gave them the tracks I was using along the way, so in the end it came up to that many. But, the 102 are the ones that I featured in the final mix only, so they don’t include the parts and tracks that I decided not to use. So I think they must have worked on a few more tracks for licensing than this. EQ was fine though, they are very open for whatever the artist is doing, and they fully trusted me!

Given the sheer quantity of tracks involved, there were surely some licensing hitches. Were there any portions of the mix that had to be scrapped or overhauled as a result of such problems?

I believe I gave them a tracklist based on my first attempts to do the mixes, but then I’d change the whole thing again using lots of different tracks. There were no parts I had to scrap because of licensing issues. The guys from EQ are very professional and were able to get everything I wanted. The Aloof’s guitar sample was difficult though, as the record label was a major and they were probably too lazy to deal with it, but in the end we did it anyway.

This mix brought on a deafening volume of discussion before it was even available to hear. Did you expect such a level of discussion just based on the tracklist?

I didn’t count the tracks as I was working on the CD, it only occurred to me when I read the label’s press release. It was a natural process for me to do the mixes, but it’s funny how people reacted, as if I was trying to break the Guinness book of records, while I was just trying to create a nice piece of music.

Photo by Krijn Van Noordwijk

Flying Lotus, Carl Craig, Cobblestone Jazz, Len Faki, Goldie, Robert Babicz, Tigerskin, Quiet Village… You’ve talked before about finding complementary melodies and compatible grooves, but where does this start? I can imagine the pool of potential material becoming completely unwieldy. How did you go about narrowing the scope?

I ran through my music library, trying to remember what parts I could use, or by being surprised with what I found in there, then making a few different playlists based on how I would use the songs and tracks. I knew there were some albums with interesting parts, like The Aloof’s guitar intro which I used. They were long playlists, and I’d randomly skip through them to find matching elements and parts.

Could you talk a little about how you combined these disparate songs? How do you “break down” the tracks to layer them? How long does this process take?

It’s like having the mix playing in Ableton, and skipping through my iTunes playlists in search of a matching sound or track. I didn’t break down all the tracks, but some yes. If something would match I’d drag it into the Ableton file and try to make it fit, maybe adjusting speed or pitch, loop it or not loop it. Something like that.

How have you incorporated these technical and stylistic practices into your live sets?

As a DJ I play with a laptop as well these days, and I can skip through tracks in real-time on stage, combine different elements, loops, samples, a cappella’s and tracks with each other. So that’s how close it gets to the studio editing, only in a more simple way as it’s all done live on the spot.

Now that you’re through the learning process, do you see yourself incorporating elements from other contemporary favorites into your own tracks any time in the future?

Ha… That’s a delicate question. As sampling is a big part of electronic music, everybody is taking parts of everybody, but mostly unrecognizable, and crossing genres to avoid originality issues. But no, I think making music should be about creating something by yourself, it’s done with a different intention than a so called “DJ-mix.”

Taken as a whole, Balance plays like a who’s-who, or a “this is who we are” proclamation. The trade-off is that it looks more like an iTunes folder than a short stack of records sitting on top of your stereo. What would we hear if we hung out for an afternoon at your place?

Is that a question of what I’d listen to myself? I just got Mocky’s new album from iTunes, great stuff, very DIY, very lively and organic with lots of details and sweet melodies. I’m very much into these kinds of sounds nowadays, especially in this digital age where everything can easily sound very plastic and clean if music comes just from a computer. I also really enjoy PJ Harvey’s new album, and then there’s an artist called Andrew Bird who I really like. All of these are fragile albums; no power sounds, but made with an ear for detail and lots of soul!

In an interview with Laptop Rockers, you mused that “it’s easier to work on a remix for an average track… so you don’t feel the pressure to outperform the original.” Going back in time a bit, how was it approaching a canonized classic like Kevin Saunderson’s “Bassline” for your “07 Remix”?

That was an exception to the above rule, it was quite easy, as the parts were nice and simple and easy to play around with, and also old enough to create something new and contemporary with. The structure was done very quickly, and the mixing stage was also pretty easy; so overall not too much sweat to create the “Bassline” remix

Welcome to the fourth edition of our series of interviews and mixes affectionately titled Talking Shopcast. The majority of media and fan attention gets showered on the artists who create the music we love to listen to/DJ with/dance to, and for good reasons. But without the hard work, keen ears and business savvy of label staff, we’d be stuck only streaming tracks on their websites. Number four brings us to the eclectic and far-reaching Diamonds & Pearls Music, a distributor, record label and production studio in one. DnP has taken its time releasing records, selecting a coterie of top notch producers to fill its diverse slabs, such as Henrik Schwarz, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Matthew Styles, tobias., Efdemin and more. DnP is also responsible for getting records from Mikrodisko, Beatstreet, Contentismissing, Enliven Music, Pastamusik and many more in shops around the world. All three of DnP’s founders were gracious enough to answer our questions; and although they insisted on relative anonymity, it didn’t stop them from giving us one of our best Talking Shopcasts yet. To top things off, Efdemin crafted an exceptional exclusive mix (available below) that might make it difficult to sit still long enough to read the interview.

Please tell me about the beginning of Diamonds & Pearls. Why and how did you start out? How did you decide on the name Diamonds & Pearls?

E: I wasn’t with the guys… I think I was hospitalized.
A: I can’t remember when we started the whole thing.
J: We founded DnP in 2003. The idea was to make a small distribution for house and techno music. We just wanted to do something meaningful with our time. It never was about making money, but at that time I thought the market couldn’t go any lower and that it could be good for the whole process of learning how the business works to start in a difficult situation.
A: We all know this was an mis-estimation, wasn’t it?
J: Sure it was, but I would do it again.
A: Me too.
J: As a kid you may want to be an engine-driver or a fireman, but as a youngster many people want to do something with music. It isn’t the worst thing to combine what you like with what you have to do everyday. I didn’t have the talent to be a musician by myself, but I knew a little bit about running a business and I knew that my friend A. was making music for years without even thinking about releasing something, so it was a good combination.
A: Yeah, why not. Doing something you like is definitely worth fighting for. Besides, art is one of the few political correct things to do, or a least it should be.
E: Why did you guys named the thing Diamonds and Pearls? I never get this!
A: We just wanted a “KLF styled” name, you know, a simple name everybody can remember. It was meant to be, I don’t know, I didn’t want it to be pretentious.
J: This has been accomplished and I still like the name.

How did you select the artists for the Diamonds & Pearls roster?

J: First of all, the music has to be good.
A: That’s right.
E: Hmm…
A: I do care a bit about the artists’ character too…
E: No, you don’t.
J: It’s not so bad if the artists are friends or at least could become friends, but we don’t check the people or something like this. There is a lot of intuition in the process of deciding whether we want to work with somebody or not.
A: And we should not forget that every kind of art is strongly related to the artist. I can barely imagine a total idiot who creates something we like.
E: Hmm… For example: Louis Ferdinand Céline was an anti-Semite and a fascist, and I wouldn’t want to be in the same room with the guy; nevertheless, he wrote one of the greatest books ever written “Voyage au bout de la nuit.”
A: Yeah. Many geniuses are weird and “different” …some are idiots, too. So… you are right.
E: They are scary. I’m afraid to meet one… although it could be fascinating.
A: There is only a small chance to meet a genius, most of them are dead.
E: O.K. That’s good. By the way, would you guys release an awesome track made by a total jerk?
J: Yes.
A: No. I definitely wouldn’t, would you?
E: Yes.

Do you get many demos? What are some qualities you look for when sorting through them?

E: I sometimes have the spooky feeling we are getting billions of horrible demos.
J: No. We are getting around 50 demos a month.
E: And 49 are horrible.
A: I guess the important thing is that you notice a kind of attempt to work things out. It’s not enough to use preset sounds and lots of delay and FX. It’s very easy today to make complex tracks with for example Ableton Live or a modern MPC. Anybody can easily learn this tools very fast. On the other side the process to develop your own style and your own ideas will take some time.
J: There are some good tracks coming with the demos.
E: I can’t remember a single one and I don’t think we ever released something from a demo on our own label.
J: That’s true. Mostly we ask other artists we like for tracks, maybe you can call this demos too. Often they give us very different tracks.
A: These tracks are always good. But remember! We distribute some labels which send us really good demos of their 1st release.
J: I wish there would be more nice stuff among the demos.
E: I really hope that we get a demo from a genius one day.
A: And if he comes visiting us, you are hiding in the attic.

What is one of your favorite releases on your own label? Why?

E: My favorite is “Shipbuilders Vol.1.” I am really proud on that one. It’s so orchestral. I always thought we’ll become famous with this one.
J: But in terms of money it has become our greatest flop.
A: That’s so sad. We all love this record and all of our artist friends too. But anyway it was a good example for the wrong time and place for this release. I think we are getting better every record.
E: Well, I’m not sure I want to be famous anymore, but who knows.
A: I love our first release too. The record became some kind of classic. And lots of people think both sides are produced by Henrik. I think we tried to create something different on every DnP release yet… and that is not so easy. I might have listened too much to my solo releases, but the others are great!
J: I love all our records.
A: You do? Your words are pleasing my ears.
J: Sure, I’m serious, I think they’re all great. That sounds a little boring, but it’s true.

According to many doomsayers, running a record label isn’t one of the “smartest” fiscal things to do. How do you keep Diamonds & Pearls running with sales “as they are”? How has the closure of many distributors affected Diamonds & Pearls?

E: I get 15 cents an hour, maybe that’s how it still works.
J: We learned to think economical, to focus on keeping DnP alive by always choosing the cheapest possibility without making the project lose its power.
A: The content is what we care about first. So we try to stay small and to do almost everything by ourselves. We don’t employ clerks which gamble the whole day.
J: No, we rather gamble ourselves. Wait, it’s my turn… click.
A: As we do everything by ourselves we don’t have to pay for expensive artwork or advertising.
E: Why the hell don’t we do advertising?
A: I hate commercials. Advertisement kills the arts. Besides it’s hard to find somebody who is doing a really good job.
J: To return to the question: Sometimes I think it’s not so bad that the market is thinning out a bit.
A: There are way too many labels…
E: Which suck…
A: Don’t say that. It sounds arrogant.
E: Sorry, you are right.

Do you think blogs like LWE help or hurt the music industry? Do you think blogs have a role in the future of dance music promotion?

J: I think everything made with heart is good for the arts.
E: I don’t do any blogs and I sure don’t need the music industry.
A: You don’t even know what a blog is and you don’t know anything about the music industry, don’t you E.?
J: Yeah, but to be serious, I really like what you do. Everything is well selected and nothing you do can hurt anybody. I don’t see why blogs shouldn’t have a role in music promotion. Everything new and forward is good for this crappy industry.
A: And most of the music critics or journalists are very traditional, they still have the same kind of language they used in the sixties.
E: Yes and this is strange, because everything changed but them.
J: Yes. Please go on with what you do, we need this.

There is no shortage of labels in dance music. What does Diamonds & Pearls do to stand out from the crowd?

A: We are just trying to waste nobody’s time and to bother nobody. Of course this isn’t as easy as it sounds, because most of the time it means low income if you try to do something different. Most people don’t really like to be surprised nor do they like something exceptional.
J: You have to find a way to be different and to satisfy the listener. It makes no sense to release something that doesn’t have anything never heard.
E: …and we have an outstanding quality control.
A: Do we?
J: Sure. You!
E: Evolution will do its work and erase all the bad music from the surface of this earth.
J: That will never happen.
E: I know, but it makes me happy to say it.
A: It makes me happy to hear it.
J: Yeah.

As technology advances further, vinyl is moving closer to becoming obsolete to many DJs. What are your feelings on this? Do you think the end of vinyl is in sight?

J: I don’t see why vinyl shouldn’t be even greater in future.
A: We don’t sell almost the half of the records we sold 3 years ago.
J: Yeah, yeah, but a baker doesn’t sell half the buns he sold half a year ago.
A: And…?
J: I mean, everybody struggles, that has nothing to do with the fact that vinyl will always have a glamorous sex appeal no other medium can provide.
A: That’s true. Maybe vinyl becomes less important for DJs but not for music lovers. You know I am really a computer geek but I started a vinyl distribution.
J: We know many music lovers…
A: …and do they store their music on hard disks?
J: No, they don’t.
E: I heard they sell more of alternative rock vinyls in the U.S. again.
A: Yes, it comes back.
J: Let’s hope so, by goodness!

What are a few other labels you respect/revere most?

E: I don’t know any labels, but I like the guys who are making reissues of ESG records or weird theme compilations.
J: You know the labels we distribute, and you mean Soul Jazz Records.
E: Yeah, Soul Jazz, great.
A: I’m listening to lots of different styles of music… stuff from which I could learn something new. Classical music, experimental, house, techno, jazz, punk rock, alternative music… anything. Apart from the labels we work with and to drop some other names: I like many releases on Rephlex and Warp as well as from Tigersushi from France or Sähkö Recordings from Finland. Just to name a few. Actually, I have respect for everybody who is releasing good music nowadays and we should not forget that there is lot of very good music out there. It is only harder to find something outstanding and new in the flood of trash released every month.
E: Many people are doing better than we do.
A: Yes, of course. That is a fine thing and an encouragement for us to try even harder! I have a lot of respect for big players, but I don’t know if I want to be one of them.
J: There are so many really great labels and artists that it is difficult to name them all. I think the most influence on me and our own label came through the music on classic labels from Detroit and Chicago.
A: I remember us listening to lots of cool house and techno records even before thinking about Diamonds and Pearls.
J: Yeah. I love the classic stuff! But you know that I like lots of different music too! For example I really enjoy listening to football and riot related punk bands like Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer and The Oppressed.
E: Yes I know. You are really a fan of… Oi Oi Oi!
A: Me too. Especially drinking songs!

What can we expect from Diamonds & Pearls in the next year or so?

J: The next big thing is our second compilation, featuring such great artists as Efdemin, tobias., Dinky and Matthew Styles, Pier Bucci, EAT, Prosumer & Tama Sumo and Marcel Dettmann. The first 12″ by Efdemin and tobias. is coming next month and will be followed by three 12″ with the other artists. It’s a huge project we are very proud of.
A: We got a really weird artwork for the compilation. I don’t want to say too much…
E: If you have all four 12″ you can put them together for a picture of a bunch of mad dudes doing mad things.
J: I thought the dudes were just standing around.
E: Sure, standing around and looking crazy.
A: Yes and we have to finish that ASAP, do you remember?
E: Sure. Lots of stuff has to be finished first.
J: We will have some new Anscorm releases on DnP. DNP 10 is nearly finished.
A: Almost.
J: We also have some promising projects with Eve White, Eliot Orphan, XDB and Quietpoint on our small beloved sub-label, Ballad Inc., in the pipeline.
A: The tracks I’ve already heard are really hot shit.
E: I heard that EAT will finish some great stuff for DnP, too.
J: Yeah that would be great. I hope all these things work out in 2009 and that our artists and friends all survive the economic pressure in hard times like these.
A: Where there’s a will there’s a way.
E: Oh god. I think I have to puke…

Talking Shopcast 04: Efdemin (72:46)

Tracklist:

01. Ferdinand Kriwet, “Voice of America” [Edition RZ]
02. Thriller, “Hubble” [Thriller]
03. Loco Dice, “Black Truffles In The Snow” (Mike Huckaby’s The Jazzed Out S Y N T H remix) [Desolat]
04. Vera, “Hooked Up With Da Drums” [Moon Harbour Recordings]
05. The Godson, “Magic Water” (Saint Jean remix) [Still Music]
06. Dplay, “Tschaka” [Running Back]
07. Rennie Foster, “Little Dandelion” [Futago Traxx]
08. Josh Brent, “A Question of Timing” [Schatrax]
09. Boris Horel, “Close To Me” [Eklo]
10. Studio 1, “Gelb 2″ [Studio 1]
11. Protectorate Collective, “Nm” [Protectorate Collective]
12. Norm Talley, “The Journey” [Nouveau Riche Entertainment]
13. Protectorate Collective, “Be” [Protectorate Collective]
14. STL, “Silent State” [Smallville Records]
15. Sian, “Red Cloud” (Minilogue remix) [Aus Music]
16. Eliot Orphan, “Twelve” [Ballad Inc.]

Although Detroit revivalism is presently en vogue, Europe’s techno artists have long drawn inspiration from the Motor City’s creative geniuses. Two hardcore enthusiasts, Chris Callahan and John J. Matze, have fused their love for America’s techno roots and their own spacious vision in their music as Duplex since 1997. The Rotterdam-based duo is perhaps the most underrated members of the Clone family, with several spots (including an album) in its catalog and those of its Djak-Up-Bitch and Frantic Flowers sub-labels. Though the pair has been relatively quiet since 2007, our 15th podcast, an exclusive hour of spectacular techno cuts, is about shatter that silence in fine fashion. We haven’t had a DJ mix on repeat for so long in ages, and we suspect this will keep you coming back for more, too.

LWE Podcast 15: Duplex (60:44)

Tracklist:

01. Carl Craig, “Angel” (Japanese Mix) [Planet E]
02. James Kumo, “Fluid” [Ann Aimee]
03. DJ Qu, “Air’s Force” [Strength Music]
04. Henrik Schwarz, “Leave My Head Alone Brain (Mix 3)” [Sunday Music]
05. Aardvarck, “Kutparra” [Rush Hour Recordings]
06. Morgan Geist, “Detroit” (C2 remix 2) [Environ]
07. Omar S, “Psychotic Photosynthesis” [FXHE Records]
08. E-Dancer, “Heavenly” (Juan Atkins remix) [Planet E]
09. Terrence Dixon, “Cycling” [Diggarama]
10. Saturn V, “[Kontrol] Your Mind” [Relief Records]
11. Infiniti, “Game One” [Metroplex]
12. Shop, “Nitwit” [Planet E]
13. Underground Resistance, “The Final Frontier” [Underground Resistance]
14. Snoop Dogg, “Duplexual Seduction” (Callahan edit) [unreleased]

Check out our interview with Duplex after the jump.

When and where was the mix made?

Chris Callahan: Late last year, at home using turntables and Ableton.

What’s the concept behind the mix?

Basically just a nice mix of old(er) tracks you don’t hear that much with some of my all time favorites and newish stuff that really grabbed me. And a little re-edit thingie of my own at the end, of course.

Who are a few of your favorite DJs past and present? Why?

I-F: He is probably my all-time favorite DJ. He always has a great flow and amazing track selection. I’ve seen him DJ from the early nineties on and he has never ceased to amaze me, whatever phase he went through. Although I never really cared for his all Italo sets, sorry. Not a big fan of the genre.

Dimitri (from Amsterdam): One of the first guys to play the early Detroit records in the Netherlands. He had loads of vinyls given to him by Derrick May and Carl Craig (who lived in Amsterdam shortly at that time), so it was always a treat to hear him play. Sadly he got swayed to the dark side later on.

Derrick May: What can you say about Derrick… I’ve never seen a guy put so much energy in to DJing. He might not play much to my tastes these days, but you still have got to respect the man.

And there’s lots of local guys who are amazing DJs. Clone’s own Serge always has a trainspotter moment in his sets. And Pametex also has impeccable taste in music.

What’s coming up from Duplex in 2009?

First thing will be a remix we did for the classic Wladimir M. track “Evil” on Eevolute. It’s a remix compilation for the first two Eevolute’s by Florence and Wladimir M. For the rest [of the year] we are working on new material. We recently rebuilt our studios and are in the process of getting used to working with a combination of new technology and old fashioned hardware. But we’re getting there, so heads up for new material in the future.

LWE Podcast 15: Duplex (60:44)

If house were a nation and LWE its president, Terre Thaemlitz is the first person we would look to when filling our cabinet. It would be difficult to decide where to put her, though, as his abundant talents make him perfect for many roles. As a top notch producer whose roots are tangled in the history of house, she’d make an excellent minister of culture; as a great thinker who elucidates hidden truths in media, gender, sexuality and our interactions with them all, he’d fit well as secretary of the interior of our heads. Midtown 120 Blues, his first album delivered under his disc jockey alias, DJ Sprinkles, brings these departments together, recontextualizing house music to the tune of sumptuous deep-house (easily nabbing the #3 spot in our top albums of 2008 list). So we’re very pleased to have Thaemlitz curating LWE’s 14th podcast, which is actually a live DJ mix from his Deeperama series.

LWE Podcast 14: DJ Sprinkles (73:35)

Where did the name DJ Sprinkles come from?

Terre Thaemlitz: It’s a combination of a lot of stupid things. I started DJing in a very Queer environment, dealing with a lot of safer-sex education outreach in clubs, some of which were sex-worker hang outs. I wanted a name that was totally anti-macho to go against the whole “bad boys behind the wheels of steel” thing. This was around ’87 or so, I was living in NY’s East Village and the hip-house boom was going on, and a key phrase was “it’s in the mix.” By coincidence, Pillsbury or somebody was putting out a cake mix with candy sprinkles for the frosting, and their TV commercial’s slogan was “Sprinkles in the mix!” I thought to myself, “That is so fucking gay!” Of course, the sex-work performance artist Annie Sprinkles was a kind of landmark in the East Village, so the name also conjured associations with sex work, golden showers, etc… So “DJ Sprinkles’ Deeperama” was born. These mistakes stick with us. (laughs)

Do you by chance remember much about the night this mix was recorded?

It was my first time in Fukuoka, May 2nd 2007. A few months earlier, the organizer at the club Decadent Deluxe had sent me some really nice DJ mixes to explain his event, so I was glad to be there. It was a mid-sized club, maybe a little on the small side — that’s something else I like. I don’t like big parties — those ones where packs of people come in super-hyped to hear somebody, and will scream and whoop it up regardless of what music is actually being played. I understand the social function of that kind of event, but it’s not my interest as a DJ or producer. I like small events where the audience consists of people who know what they came to listen to, as well as people who are wondering what the hell they stepped into. It was raining — it almost always rains when I DJ. The weather was a bit cool. I liked the sound, although I think there was some problem with some frequency or other – I forget exactly. Some brilliant contractor decided to build a condominium for the current wave of baby boomers near the club, so they were having problems with noise complaints.

I got a chance to listen to half of it today. Honestly, I was a bit surprised it wasn’t more… mixed, but I liked the selections.

No, I play tracks from start to finish. I guess some call that “Loft style.” I’ll use delay effects or something within a track, and keep mixing two copies of the same track to extend it (like in this mix I did it with “The Key”), but I’m not uptight about fade outs and silence on the dance floor. Part of it is that, as a producer, I’m interested in the way others structure their music in the studio. Every track has a certain structure, and when you edit that out as a DJ you also edit out that climax or anti-climax intended by the original producer. Also, I love long tracks — 10 minutes or longer. Especially when you do long sets of 4 hours or more, you have to allow for a different sense of time. Let the music create the moment. As a DJ, I don’t like the idea of the moment being about “me” or my mixing or whatnot. I’m interested in the music, and I prefer the audience be more interested in the music than in the DJ. I think it also has to do with frequenting roller disco rinks during elementary school in the ’70s, and then being a teen in the early ’80s, when mixers were not common. If you went to a “dance” (not to a “club”) you had pauses between cuts, maybe every fifth song was a slow jam which was always so exciting and depressing at the same time, ha ha! And before today’s style of record distribution, record shop selection was really poor – especially in the Midwest. DJ’s spun from a wide selection of genres.

Even when I first moved to New York in ’86 there were no genre-consistent “House Parties.” House Music was not a genre, it was the records owned by the club — by the House — and that meant a lot of old disco and other things collected over the years. J.M. Silk’s “I Can’t Turn Around” and LL Cool J’s “Rock The Bells” were two of the biggest house hits when I arrived in NYC, and I doubt anyone would mix those in the same set today, the tempos are all wrong, the genres are wrong…. LL Cool J as house? But yes, in that moment, it was. That’s how my ears were trained, I guess. There are some things that really are generational. Like, there are many young Japanese DJs in their late 20′s with amazing collections of classic NY deep house from the late ’80s and early ’90s — much better than my own record collection in that sense — but they are missing the LOSER TRACKS! The embarrassing tracks that SUCK SHIT! Reality was not going to a club and hearing classics all night. Reality was hearing that one fucking amazing cut in the middle of hours of shit. I try to bring that dynamic to all of my sets.

Who are a few of your favorite DJs, past and present, and why?

Although he is not really a DJ, I really loved the few sets I heard by Kuniyuki (aka Koss) from Sapporo. His sets are totally different from his releases on Mule. Very deep and soulful, but a bit dark. Also, DJ “Napalm” Tadokoro in Kyoto is brilliant — always very eclectic, yet somehow classic and deep. He organizes the Deepa-Licious events I play at in Kyoto, which are deliberately small and off-center. He’s a really interesting guy, very cross-genre. DJ Primula in Tokyo is really good for and ’80s techno-pop-ish kind of lounge setting. I used to try to get him to play at the Deeperama parties in Tokyo whenever possible. I really like DJs who share their collections with people — I prefer this kind of intimacy of selection over slick mixing skills.

What can we expect from you for the rest of the year?

2008? Well, I hope to finish the MP3 archive of everything I’ve ever released, called the “Dead Stock Archive.” It includes over 400 tracks in about as many genres, spanning two data DVD-ROMs. And in 2009 I hope to finish a new electro-acoustic album called “Soulnessless,” which will be a two-disc set. Disc 1 is a 30 hour piano solo written as a single 4GB MP3 file — the world’s first “full length” MP3 album. Disc 2 is a video DVD of separate materials because these days a 30 hour album is never enough. The idea of putting out an album you cannot immediately play in a CD player or home stereo is calling into question the relationships between media formats and the album format. In effect, the links between performance duration and media duration have been severed, so what does this mean for producers? Not only compositionally, but also financially, if we must produce increasingly longer albums for smaller advances and royalties? These days everyone feels ripped off if they buy a 36 minute CD album, but that length was the standard from the ’30s through the ’80s because vinyl can hold about 18 minutes of audio before the grooves get too close and the sound quality degrades. We’re now producing “double albums” for less and less money than old “single albums.” Oh, and b_books in Berlin is supposed to finally come out with a bilingual English/German compendium of my writings to date, called “Nuisance: Writings on Identity Jamming and Digital Audio Production.”

Download: LWE Podcast 14: DJ Sprinkles (73:35)

Listening to and judging over 35 mix submissions was something of a life-consuming task, but one which exposed us to a number of incredibly enticing sets that left us quite proud of our readers. A hearty thanks to each of you who put your time, effort and taste into these mixes. This is our last post of 2008, so happy New Year in advance. We’ll be back to a regular posting schedule on January 5th, 2009.

And now, the time has come for us to announce the winner of our first annual podcast mix competition… after the jump.

Congratulations, Andrey Radovski, your excellent mix received the highest score as rated by our panel of seven judges and you are our 12th podcast curator. In second place, Hendrick Mitchell, aka Thelonious Funk; third place goes to DJ L’embrouille. Each will receive a prize pack courtesy of NRK Sound Division. So let’s move on to LWE Podcast 12:

We’re proud to introduce the 12th LWE podcast — the last one of 2008 and winner of our competition. This mix comes to us from Andrey Radovski — a Minsk, Belarus native and current Brooklyn, NYC resident. Radovski is a resident DJ of the Funimal House monthly at Monkey Town in Williamsburg. His set, entitled “Crack Is Destiny,” impressed us with its deft pacing and technique, natural transitions and arrangements, and deep and relevant selections. Slinking across Detroit house, Spanish grooves, tribal rhythms and closing with the mind-elevating sounds of Kerri Chandler, Radovski’s mix exemplifies what we were looking for in this competition. Better still, it keeps us coming back for more even after we’d overdosed on mixes. Kudos to Andrey; check him out live if you have the chance.

LWE Podcast 12: Andrey Radovski (46:38)

Tracklist:

01. DJ Minx, “Crack’d House” [Women On Wax Recordings]
02. Fusiphorm, “Housed” (Nicholas Sauser remix) [Goosehound]
03. Prompt, “Elephant” [7noise]
04. Masomenos, “CotCot” [Welcome To Masomenos]
05. Dimitri Andreas, “Run and Hide” (Dangerously Remixed by Guido Schneider)
[Systematic]
06. Damián Schwartz, “Lo Que Sube, Baja” [Net28]
07. Matthew Styles, “Palladium” [Horizontal]
08. Lee Van Dowski & Quenum, “Lady Bug” [Schatten Records]
09. Leif, “Practically Family” [Morris Audio Citysport Edition]
10. Kerri Chandler, “Time is Destiny” [Large Records]

LWE Podcast 12: Andrey Radovski (46:38)

Simon Flower placed himself into DJing exile a number of years ago to hone his production techniques; and now with releases popping up on Poker Flat, Moon Harbour and Curl Curl that hard work is paying off. His tracks often have more parts packed into them than you could feasibly number and possess a style that provides a simultaneous contrast of light and dark elements. Having lived with Simon for a number of years and DJed alongside him at various clubs in New Zealand, I have long been aware of his faultless DJ style, so he seemed like an obvious choice for an exclusive LWE podcast. It didn’t take much coaxing to get him to put together this mix entitled “Act Natural,” which stitches together a selection of recent house and techno picks with a few older classics all assembled in his kinetic, fluid manner. (interview by Per Bojsen-Moller)

LWE Podcast 11: Simon Flower (54:37)

Tracklist:

01. [a]pendics.shuffle, “Mas Lines” (Mikael Stravostrand remix)
[Ransom Note Footnote]
02. Tom Ellis, “bAd SoN” [Floppy Funk]
03. DOP, “I’m Just a Man” [Eklo]
04. D Dub, “Deep Blue” (Stimming remix) [Takt]
05. The Armaberokay, “The Hype” (Marc Schneider & Ralf Schmidt remix) [Einmaleins Musik]
06. Alexi Delano, “What Is Control” (Adultnapper’s What’s The Point remix) [Audiomatique Recordings]
07. Antonio Pocai, “14-12″ [M_nus]
08. Solid Gold Playaz, “Le Soul Afrique” [Kanzleramt]
09. Mathias Kaden, “Masai Mara” [Mutek_Rec]
10. Kerri Chandler, “Bar A Thym” [NRK Sound Division]
11. Robert Hood, “And Then We Planned Our Escape” [Music Man Records]
12. Gregor Tresher, “Break New Soil” [Moon Harbour Recordings]
13. Shed, “Selection One” [Soloaction Records]
14. Chiapet, “Westworld” [Yoshitoshi Recordings]
15. Daniel Stefanik, “Liquid” [Moon Harbour Recordings]

Check out an interview with Simon Flower after the jump.

The diligent trainspotters out there will be aware of you under a previous guise as Peak:shift. You kind of resurfaced after what seemed like a bit of a break from releasing, but now under your real name (if Simon Flower is your real name). Why the name change?

Simon Flower: Well sure, “Flower” would be a great stage name if this was 1968! So it couldn’t be anything but my real name. Not quite sure why I stopped using Peak:shift, just seemed to feel right at the time. I think I first started using Peak:shift when I was about 20 years old, which is a while ago now… although I guess in my mind I also connect it to the deeper music I made at that time, so it’ll definitely come out again sometime soon.

Your style has really changed, or perhaps one would say evolved from your earlier work, which was much deeper. You tend to go for more of a dance floor feel these days. What’s moved you to go in this direction?

Nothing momentous really, I think I just got better at it! Writing deeper or more melancholy music comes pretty naturally, and is still my true love. I’ve always loved and DJed more upfront dance music, especially techno, but never thought my own output was good enough. I’ve certainly worked at it. Even so, I think in most of my tracks that have been released over the last couple of years I’ve managed to sneak some deep tones in there, especially with my sometimes obsessively annoying penchant for strings.

People are usually incredulous that you produce everything solely in Reason. Tell us about your special affinity with this software, and whether you’re curious to try out any other DAW’s.

Haha, yeah, I get this a lot! Even more so when people see me using it to play live — which honestly I don’t really get. Reason is surely is the most “live” of all the DAWs, in that it is simply a virtual hardware studio and runs as such. As for the others, I think all DAWs are amazing; Reaktor and Ableton are stunning, but like any instrument you have to find the one which suits you most, and for me it simply comes down to work flow. Coming from a background growing up in the immediacy of a hardware studio, I connect pretty seamlessly with Reason. I don’t need to spend much time mucking around with the “computer” side of things.

You’re releasing mostly on German labels, but are currently residing in New Zealand. Are you tempted to join the Berlin camp of immigrant producers?

Yep, certainly have been tempted; and if I didn’t have the chance I currently have to play regularly throughout Europe then I would probably consider it much more seriously. But I think at heart I’m happiest here living a pretty chill life and making tunes. Also, sometimes making music far removed from any big music scene can have it’s advantages (or at least I tell myself that when I’m feeling jealous).

You’ve been focusing mainly on producing for the last five years or so, but have been a DJ for a long time previously. How was it putting the mix together and what did you use to do it?

Yeah, I hadn’t really DJed for years, and my last mix CD was actually from about 2002. But I’ve really had the bug back in the last 6 months or so. Really buzzing on doing stupidly long mixes, and tried to get some of that into this mix. For example, the creative spark for this mix really came about from how much I loved how Hood’s and Treshor’s tracks could rock together for such a long time. I did it in Traktor with two decks using my Edirol controller keyboard to control things — nothing tricky (just volume and high pass filter) — and with as smooth mixes as possible, as I wanted the focus to be completely on all these amazing tracks.

Who are your favorite producers and recent discoveries right now? Actually, care to make us a top 10?

I think like a lot of other people I’m pretty much enamored with the sound of Berghain/Ostgut Ton related artists at the moment, especially Shed, Marcel Dettmann, Radio Slave etc. For an old school techno head like me this is an exciting development in the sound, to my ears equal parts referential, emotive and forward thinking. Apart from this, there are really are just loads of artists. To my ears there is more great music surfacing now than I’ve heard in years. Anyhoo, here’s a current top 10, tracks in no particular order.

Andi Numan, “Glass Roots” [Curl Curl]
Wax, “100001_2″ [Wax]
Guillaume & the Coutu Dumonts, “Strange Place of Mind” [Raum…musik]
Kenny Larkin, “Glob” [Planet E]
EQD, “A” [Equalized]
Scuba, “Poppies” (Substance Dub) [Hotflush]
Detroit People Mover, “Elicit Emissions” [Sixonesix]
Delta Funktionen, “Nebula” [Ann Aimee]
Brothers’ Vibe, “The Difference” [Nervous]
Colin Hobbs, “Ocean Trench” (Scuba remix) [White Noise Recordings]

What can we expect from Simon Flower over the next year?

I have another Poker Flat EP out in the new year, and beyond that who knows.

LWE Podcast 11: Simon Flower

Andreas Wiegand didn’t have much to say when answering our interview questions, but critics and clubbers alike have been quite noisy in their appreciation for his music as Andomat 3000. Retooling his career after years as DJ Mahatma, Wiegand (and Jan) turned heads with the massive “L Delay” for Cadenza, and he’s only gotten better since. His barbed and tightly laced “Cognitive Dissonance” helped propel Cécille Records into the spotlight before splashing his tracky, jazz-influenced aesthetic across releases and remixes for Four:Twenty, Platzhirsch Schallplatten, Poker Flat, Einmaleins Musik, REKIDS, and Cocoon, among others. For our 10th podcast, Wiegand opted for an exclusive live set crafted solely with unreleased tracks, offering a spectacular keyhole view into the future sounds of Andomat 3000. Given the nature of this beast the tracklist is necessarily sketchy, but few will have time to care when the irresistible, pumping rhythms draw you far from your computer.

LWE Podcast 10: Andomat 3000 (65:39)

Tracklist:

01. Andomat 3000, “1-2-3″
02. Andomat 3000, “Gjjh” (LWE version)
03. Andomat 3000, “Yeah” (LWE version)
04. Andomat 3000, “Heinzland Jazz”
05. Andomat 3000, “Miles Motel” (live version)
06. Andomat 3000, “Lyambiko” (LWE version)
07. Andomat 3000, “Maxwell”
08. Andomat 3000, can’t remember1 (Ableton improvisation)
09. Andomat 3000, “Reverse Dizko”
10. Andomat 3000, can’t remember2 (Ableton improvisation)
10.5. some beats from the live act
11. Andomat 3000 & Sven UK, “Scheisslied nr. 2″
12. Andomat 3000, unreleased remix I did for Material series
13. Andomat 3000, “Ode to DBX”
14. Andomat 3000, track I did 1,000 years ago
15. Andomat 3000, another track I did 1,000 years ago

Check out an interview with Andomat 3000 after the jump.

When and where did you make the mix?

Andomat 3000: I recorded it at home last week.

What’s the concept behind the mix?

I had no concept beside that it would all be unreleased tracks. I tried to make no mistakes in mixing but didn’t succeed.

Who are a few of your favorite DJs and why?

I really don’t know.

What can we expect from you for the rest of the year?

I’m gonna do some live gigs and prepare some releases, as I was not producing much recently.

LWE Podcast 10: Andomat 3000

As owner of the record shop Illegal Stockholm, Pär Grindvik established himself as a pillar of Sweden’s techno scene in the 90′s; the next step was making releases to appear on its shelves. His stark, rhythmically-focused productions cloud the air with delightfully malicious tension that only his breakdowns can resolve, fitting in well on Drumcode, Spectral Sound, Syndikaat Records and Truesoul. Grindvik also owns, operates and releases on Stockhold Ltd and Isles & Islets, home to Staffan Linzatti, Van Rivers, Hardcell and his own alias, The Hollow. For his exclusive new mix for LWE, Grindvik whisks listeners away to a murky, uncertain and largely unreleased world governed by drums and deep pools of delay. Grab a torch and take the plunge.

LWE Podcast 09: Pär Grindvik (62:00)

Tracklisting:

01. Roll the Dice, “The New Black” [*]
02. Maus & Stolle, “Taxi” [Klang Elektronik]
03. Mood II Swing, “Move Me” (Dub) [Earth, Sun & Moon]
04. MLZ, “OneState” [Modern Love]
05. Gadgets, “Be Real” [Gadgets]
06. Bluetrain, “Factory Dubs” [Bluetrain]
07. Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid, “Simple As That” [Islands & Islets*]
08. Aberrant, “Kirkbride’s Dungeon” [REKIDS*]
09. Van Rivers, “Tough Life” [Islands & Islets*]
10. Van Rivers, “Steelpan” (S. Linzatti Remix Sketch) [Islands & Islets*]
11. Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid, “Super Sladd” [Islands & Islets*]
12. S. Linzatti, “Saisaisai Tool” [*]
13. Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search, “Metheor” [Outland Records]
14. Senor Coconut, “Chocolatina” (Mirco Violi remix) [Be Chosen]
15. Kerri Chandler, “Pong” (Ben Klock remix) [Deeply Rooted House]
16. Pär Grindvik, “I’ll Give” [Truesoul]

* = presently unreleased

Read an interview with Pär Grindvik after the jump.

When and where did you make the mix?

Pär Grindvik: I recorded this mix in our combine bed/work/studio room in Berlin.

What’s the concept behind the mix?

I meant to come up with a well carved concept for this mix, as LWE and its podcast section means a lot to me! But suddenly time was gone and I just recorded it on the fly, grabbing some older favorites from the shelter that I’ve been thinking of lately and upon that I tried out new music that I received recently from some of the artists on our labels. I think that it turned out great and I would say that it continues a collection of music that inspire me right now, that’s why it’s called “Inspiration Take I” That and the fact that “Inspiration Take” sounds so Jamaican and dub. just as this mix turned out — bass, drums and a huge amount of reverbs and delays.

Who are a few of your favorite DJs and why?

These are favorites right now:
Seth Troxler: It feels like he is the new Lil’ Louis. Romance and faith, love the way he collects gems from past and plays them with future sound of Seth. Cassy, Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, actually everybody at Berghain I would say. Having a coffee or a shot listening to any of the residents is a great start for a Sunday. Otherwise I love listening to podcasts like LWE, Beats In Space, Lazpod and the Bunker Podcast from New York.

What can we expect from you for the rest of the year?

I will try to get some studio time in between all the traveling and label work. However, I have some remixes in the pipe line, one interpretation of Seth Troxler’s masterpiece “Love Never Sleeps” on Crosstown Rebels, the original is easily one of my favorite songs this year. Then I have one remix that I’ve done for a Swedish rock/pop artist called Tiger Lou. Not to forget, I will release a new record under my alias The Hollow on Stockholm LTD called “Treat Me Bad” which will continue where the last one “We Want It Bad” ended. People has asked me about this subject and I thought it would take ages before I went back recoding new The Hollow material, but then it just happened. And also I’m super excited about all new releases coming out on my labels Stockholm LTD and Islands and Islets.

LWE Podcast 09: Pär Grindvik