Sunday night is an ungrateful time for partying. Well, Sundays are not problematic per se. But with three days of festival action already in your body, getting back in the game is challenging. I imagine that something along those lines ran through the heads of the majority of the crowd yesterday at Trailerpark; a crowd that was, admittedly, less impressive in numbers than in the past three days.
Still, I had no intentions of quitting Trailerpark early this year. After years of shameless fanboyism, I finally had an opportunity to see Motor City Drum Ensemble live. Danilo Plessow’s combination of groovy disco and warm deep house holds a special place in my heart, and with an impressively consistent back catalogue ranging from the sparse Raw Cuts series to his more ambitious recent DJ Kicks mix, I have hard time singling out a stronger producer and DJ in that realm.
When Plessow started playing, however, hardly more than 30 people were around the Outdoor stage. Not exactly the crowd you would expect a renowned act to pull at a festival like Trailerpark. Do not underestimate that Sunday effect… A slow, groovy beginning did attract a steady flow of people to the tent, yet Plessow seemed more interested in exploring his disco records than to force anybody out on the floor. That turned out to be a smart decision; while the grooves kept people coming, Loose Joints, Problèmes d’Amour, and L.O.V.E. marked the transition to a more straight up house sound that made them stick around.
And then, even for a Sunday night, things looked bright again. Hands in the air, even among the hippest of the hip. Without sacrificing the nerve of the set, Plessow kept up the pace and gradually built up tension, culminating in a weird combination of Windowlicker and All I Ever Do Is Think Of You. I may still be flying high on my first live encounter with Motor City Drum Ensemble, but wow, did it feel good.
Thanks for a great festival, beautiful art, and a ton of great music. I hope the past few days have been enough evidence that if you bring great music to Copenhagen, people will come. Let's do it again. Soon, preferably.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that attending a concert with fewer than 50 other people in the audience is the epitome of hipster fandom. Jokes aside, the fairly hipster Trailerpark crowd did not exactly crowd the tents for the early evening shows yesterday on the second day of the festival. The schedule provided plenty of excellent opportunities for musical explorations, among those a visit from UK born, Berlin-based, and occasional Berghain affiliate Emika.
With a dark sound falling somewhere between electronica, techno and dubstep, Emika seemed like the perfect fit for the Giana Factory and Trentemøller fans. The aforementioned sparse audience stayed at a safe distance, however, watching as she, dressed in all black, fought the tough conditions set by an early evening time slot. It is hard to judge the performance on yesterday’s terms, since Emika’s music lives in a world that seems radically different from the one we experienced her in yesterday. In any case, her concert made me eager to explore her back catalogue and catch her live again, should she get that late night spot that her music begs for.
It did get darker, though, as Hyetal got ready to take the stage. Broadcast didn’t do anything for me, but a little help from a beast of a Function One setup made the dynamics, and thus the whole experience, all the more exciting. Where I find the album’s search for an 80’s-heavy vibe somewhat dull, the added action in the live setup made both the peaks and the moments of subtlety more vivid.
Jam City had a hard time following this dramatic vibe, especially since the moments of (resident DJ-infused) dead air between the sets consistently clear the tent. Starting out with various flavors of UK bass proved a little too ambitious. However, the selection of house music towards the end of the set was beautiful. Sure, they were tried and tested tools, but any combination of DJ Sprinkles, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Levon Vincent, and Tony Lionni is enough to win me over.
Then, things got darker, meaner, and a whole lot heavier. Shed is, in my humble opinion, among this year’s best bookings, and I think a few people might agree with me on that one after his set. In a show deprived on any gimmicks apart from an impressive array of equipment, Pawlowitz stripped away everything but the bare essentials. Tight, precise, and expertly controlled, the set exemplified everything I love about the current Berlin techno scene. Seeing people (almost) losing it towards the warped climax in Boom Room, the set’s closing track, truly warmed my heart.
Only the hardcore (or, it seemed, ridiculously wasted) stuck around when Barker & Baumecker took the stage. With fewer mood swings and more unrelenting bass than Shed, the two embarked on a techno crusade. Watching Barker & Baumecker live, you cannot tell whether they are making it up as they go or if they have played the exact same set for the past 10 years. That might be the strangest compliment I have ever given, but seeing the wordless communication taking place between the two, that feeling was hard to let go.
Rough and raw; the second day of Trailerpark was exactly what I had been longing for. Also, hearing Your Love in the Jäger bus before leaving the site was a beautiful ending to a great evening. Whoever decided to put that on, you have my undying love.
Things were buzzing around Vesterbro yesterday. After months of planning, teasing and preparing, the Artrebels crew was finally ready to open the gates and kick off Trailerpark Festival 2011. Attending Trailerpark is not just like attending any other festival. Sure, festivals across the globe do what they can to combine music, art, and installations to create a richer experience, but in most cases the integration seems like an afterthought rather than a defining asset. That is not the case with Trailerpark.
Upon entering the site at and around Copenhagen Skatepark, visitors were greeted with numerous minutely decorated caravans, a wooden firetruck, and a plethora of other creative installations. Even the three stages had been spiced up, allowing for concert experiences among the skate ramps with a sea of wooden hands (Rebel), in what seemed to be a fusion between a summer house and a festival tent (Outdoor), or in the skatepark’s street area with Dark Matters-curated visuals (Main, see photo below).
Once again, my plans to catch Walls didn’t turn out as I had hoped, which, on a brighter note, gave me some time to explore the area. Chateau Marmont, the first act I caught as seen above, were a little too bland for my taste. I have to say, they are the most German-looking French band I have ever seen, and I do mean that with the warmest possible Berlin hipster-connotations. Still, their show was a little too stale to grab the crowd’s attention, where people seemed more eager to pass through the room to get to the bar than to actually pay attention.
My highlight of the night, however, was without a shadow of a doubt the incredible visuals projected onto the layered backdrop. When it comes to creative visual experiences, Dark Matters are in a league of their own. The combination of bouncing, colorful rocks, trippy Windows screensaver-ish graphs, dots, lines, and worms sounds atrocious, but they were everything but that.
At this point, a quick stop at the Rebel Stage was definitely a good idea. Here, Najaaraq & Rosenstand played a set of thumping house, keeping things under control without ever letting them go completely off the hook. Also, Jamie Jones’s remix of I’ll Be Your Friend was definitely a welcome addition to my Thursday night.
Considering that the Outdoor stage seems to be the smallest of the three stages at Trailerpark, placing local heroes T.O.M. & Trentemøller in front of a crowd that couldn’t possibly (and safely) be larger than a few hundreds was borderline naive. I don’t know whether the Trailerpark crowd is too hipster to bother showing up for a show like that, but much to my surprise there was more than enough room for everybody even when the two took the stage.
If you arrived with hopes for a pulsating Trentemøller-style DJ-set, however, disappointment was right around the corner. The duo played an eclectic set ranging from the nostalgic (Bowie’s Ashes To Ashes and Rebel Rebel) over the indie rocker pleasing (Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out) to the just plain corny (Sound of Da Police and Intergalactic, most notably), all while seeming wholly unconcerned with details like consistency or mixing. I guess it was entertaining in its own twisted way. After all, slapping on some tech house and calling it a day would have been the easiest thing to do. The duo’s willingness to explore and aim for the unexpected was admirable, but perhaps not as effective you could have hoped on this night.
Despite some mixed feelings after the first day, I’m stoked to get back tonight. The lineup looks even better and I can only assume that more people will drop by since the weekend is coming and ticket sales have, apparently, tripled compared to last year. With a beautiful festival site, incredible music, and a crowd that seems eager to get started, the 2011 edition of Trailerpark is looking good already.
It’s that time again. This weekend, Copenhagen will once again be hosting one of the finer music festivals around when the art and music extravaganza that is Trailerpark Festival takes over Vesterbro. Last year, the lineup was solid but seemed to lack that extra oomph that made you rush out to get that ticket. This year, however, Trailerpark has, at least in my opinion, the best lineup of all the Danish summer festivals. Along with the finest Danish acts, some of the best artists in electronic music will playing sets during the four days. To help you navigate the lineup, here is the Going Other Places guide to Trailerpark 2011.
If you are off from work or just feel like wrecking your Friday, Thursday is where you want to start your festival. Although the lineup is not as impressive as the next couple of days, there should be enough music to get you started. Thursday may, for instance, be the time to find out whether the Rebel Stage lives up to its name. This is the place to check out the Scandinavian talent represented at the festival, and Thursday presents sets from Finn of Tomland, Najaaraq & Rosenstand, and the iconoclastic DJ Er Du Dum Eller Hvad among others.
My picks for the day, however, are crowded around the Outdoor Stage, where the weather will hopefully allow for some memorable moments (it was 15 C and rainy here yesterday, so I think my worries are justified). Rain or no rain, Walls, whose performance at Roskilde I missed due to an insurmountable need of sleep, take the stage at 8 pm followed by a set from two of Denmark’s grand old men in the DJ-business, T.O.M & Trentemøller.
Later that night, YACHT brings the psychedelic action to the Main Stage - where the lineup seems, somewhat surprisingly, to be less impressive than the Outdoor Stage, but I guess swapping names would make things confusing - at 2 am. Trentemøller always delivers and has probably left your body in a sorry state, but if you can muster the energy, YACHT is where it’s at.
On Friday, things get real. The double whammy of Emika and Hyetal already makes my mouth water (especially since Broadcast largely left me cold, but there just has to be more than hype to him). Later, I simply cannot think of an excuse for missing Berghain hero Shed - oh my am I looking forward to seeing him live - who takes the stage to bring us all up to speed on what the German powerhouse has been up to.
If that wasn’t enough Berghain for you, Shed is followed by Barker & Baumecker at 2 am on the Outdoor stage, where more pulsating techno in the dark seems inevitable. At 4 am, however, there’s a good chance that you will get a chance to dance in the sunrise as Trailerpark marches on. Really, it’s a toss-up between Kenton Slash Demon and Psimono depending on whether you’re betting on warm house played live or Psimono’s selection of the finest that the UK has to offer.
Saturday gives you an opportunity to show your love for Regnsky, arguably the finest Danish music blog, who will be spinning at the Rebel Stage at 4:40 pm. Later that evening, I am planning on seeing whether the aspiring youngsters in Averos live up to the hype before the grand old man of the festival, Alexander Robotnick, brings the disco vibes to the Outdoor Stage.
Moving from Italy to Germany, Isolée takes over where Robotnick leaves off, but Saturday’s real scoop is Kassem Mosse’s appearance on the Main Stage. Mosse is on a roll, and from what I’ve heard his live sets are well worth catching. On Saturday, you have the chance to decide for yourself. If Mosse is not your kind of guy, Blawan is a compelling alternative at 3 am on the Rebel Stage. Should you still have any energy left, Kink & Neville Watson close Saturday’s activities with a set at an hour where Saturday has blurred well into Sunday.
Once you’ve recovered, slept in, and regained control of yourself, Motor City Drum Ensemble should be more than enough motivation to bring you back to Trailerpark. For reasons I don’t yet understand, I have yet to see Danillo Plessow in action. Needless to say I’m stoked to finally get to do that. Other offerings on the last day of the festival include a karaoke show from Peaches and the classic closing set from TP Allstars consisting of Djuna Barnes, Kenneth Bager, and Le Gammeltoft. Not the worst way to close your festival.
As I already mentioned, this year’s Trailerpark Festival looks more promising than ever. If you are a regular reader, there is a good chance that you are drooling just as badly as I am. That’s okay, though. If a lineup like this doesn’t get you excited for four days of fun in Copenhagen, I don’t know what tools we’ll need. If you do end up going, have a great festival!
Trailerpark is going down from July 28 - 31 in Copenhagen Skatepark, Vesterbo, Copenhagen. Grab your tickets here.
"So, this is my first post ever, and I wanted to start with something special."
Exactly three years ago I embarked on my first blog post ever with those words. I don't know where all that time went or how those more than 600 posts came into being. It's been a fun ride, though.
I don't want to come up with any big words, but I do want to take the opportunity to thank you for reading this. Whether it's your first, your 100th or, hell, your last visit to Going Other Places, I want to thank you for stopping by. I write all of this mainly for my own sake to get the creative juices flowing and to keep up with all the great music out there. Thanks for bearing with me.
Although this last year has been more hectic than anything I have ever experienced, I feel more motivated about blogging than I have in a long time. I hope that will translate into some enjoyable post and some interesting music, so if you want to stay on board, I will be more than happy to take command of the wonderful ship that is Going Other Places.
Motor City Drum Ensemble - L.O.V.E.
[audio:http://c225881.r81.cf1.rackcdn.com/MotorCityLove.mp3]
For a while, things have been quiet in Stuttgart. 2010 saw Danilo Plessow reworking already proven jams, most notably for Caribou and NUfrequency, but original material never surfaced. Now, however, we no longer have to wait for warm and sample-heavy deep house, since Plessow is supporting the recent release of his DJ-Kicks mix with a brand new single. You have probably already heard the rumble of excitement around the blogosphere. If this buzz didn’t already get you excited for L.O.V.E., please let me do my best to correct that.
First, do not expect any surprises. Plessow is not exploring new ground, but, honestly, did you ever want him to? Soundwise, you can easily tell that the track isn’t an extension of Raw Cuts, yet L.O.V.E. works because it explores the same boundaries. In that sense, Plessow’s biggest accomplishments remains his ability to deliver exactly what you want to hear without ever seeming trite.
Initially, the samples on L.O.V.E. seem vaguely familiar, yet as you get to know them they develop that kind of character that made them worth sampling in the first place. Not in a clever, gimmicky way, but in a way that should be used to persuade your last remaining “sampling isn’t real music”-friend (assuming that those still exist in 2011) that sampling is more subtle than just dropping some vocals on your well-established four already precent on the floor.
In fact, I would be ready to argue that this attention to detail in his sampling is what makes Plessow’s tracks so memorable. He has an impressive ability to strike a balance between a deep, pulsating bass line and distant transistor radio-vocals, between throwback nostalgia and a truly modern sound. Excelling in any one of these aspects is no trick. Balancing them is.
Graphic high five via Jonas Lindström
So, how was it? With all the disclaimers from my guide in mind, you might already have guessed that Roskilde didn’t exactly blow me away in terms of music. Their decision to (practically) ban all major electronic music camps in the camping area - camps, mind you, who cared enough about Roskilde to invest thousands of dollars professional sound and lighting - didn’t help either. Although the latter was a major blow to the warm-up festivities, it is still the former that keeps tens of thousands of people coming back year after year. With a lineup that seemed to receive harsh words from every angle - a scenario that, to be fair, is fairly common - how did the festival hold up?
The concerts that I did experience were great. I was stoked to see Nicolas Jaar in action, and he didn’t disappoint. With live renditions of the tracks from ”Space Is Only Noise” he took the Roskilde crowd to an extremely chilled out place, even for an early friday afternoon. The help from sexy-sax-guy-with-Matrix-sunglasses was a bonus, too. Even for an avid Jaar fan, most of the set sounded foreign. There were hints of his released material, but they never became more than sketches, gradually molded by the four on stage. When Jaar returned for a 15 minute DJ encore, the crowd went all in until the reworked version of Space Is Only Noise let us out again. Jaar is still a talented guy, and if you weren’t convinced before this show, I’m sure you are by now.
Matthew Dear was loud. Loud and intense. And sort of gone by the time you had realized what he was up to.
Magnetic Man who, admittedly, aren’t what you would expect to read about on here, delivered one massive performance. I was reminded just how much the Danes like their dubstep when 20.000 people showed up and went absolutely nuts for the full three hours. Katy B and SBTRKT were there, too, in case you wanted more bass. With the newly-released Magnetic Man material hitting the mainstream airwaves over here, I was worried that their performance would lack the edge that normally sets them apart from the rest of the pack. While it didn’t top their performance in Vega last spring (honestly, what could?), Benga and Artwork (Skream was MIA) delivered a solid performance, plenty of bass and all the party you could ask for on a Friday night.
I had seen James Blake before, but seeing him with (at least) 8.000 Danish friends was magnificent. It couldn’t top his San Francisco performance in terms of intensity, but it made up plenty for that with massive sing-a-longs throughout. I’m not sure Blake is stadium-material, but hearing an entire tent losing it whenever he played anything off his debut album was beautiful. I think even Blake himself was a overwhelmed. Also, major kudos for playing both Anti-War Dub and especially CMYK. That live rendition blew me away.
Chris Cunningham was gross, disgusting, and utterly brilliant. Of all the concerts I’ve seen and random experiences I’ve had over the past week, Cunningham’s hour of audiovisual glory on Saturday has been the one that has stuck with me most vividly. Sure, it was the most terrifying thing I’ve seen in a while, but it wasn’t just gross for the sake of being gross or clever for the sake of being clever. If you were there, I’m confident his videos are still haunting you.
In terms concerts worth blogging about (on here, at least) that was it. Check out my reviews on Soundvenue if you’re Danish and curious. This year turned out to be another fun year at Roskilde, although not particularly memorable. No, it is not an electronic music festival. But really, what kind of festival is it? The Roskilde staff seems determined to convince us that Roskilde isn’t anybody’s festival, but their attempt to please everybody undermined that statement. Many of the headliners seemed to be past their peak, and I didn’t realize until after I came home that I hadn’t seen a single from the Orange stage, the festival’s biggest.
With so many smaller acts on so many smaller stages, I can’t say I missed the company of 59.999 others at any time. Still, it feels like Roskilde should aim for a lineup that leaves the middle of the road. Sure, the lineup contains acts from a vast array of genres. But Roskilde only scratches the surface within each of those. With an audience that, arguably, becomes increasingly music-savvy, I hope Roskilde continues to aim for unique experiences within every niche. The festival argues that the surprises are what makes Roskilde what it is, but as much as I love bumping into a random Roma rap act, I would strongly prefer a handful of acts from Coachella or Sonar. Roskilde has the clout to attract the acts and experiences that otherwise would not even consider coming to Denmark. Whatever happens, I hope the festival doesn’t underestimate its power. You can be old, or unfashionable, but please don’t become boring.
My blogging hiatus has been longer than what I initially planned. I wish I could say that I was out exploring the festival circuit. Sipping drinks at Primavera, bouncing around at Sonar, enjoying the sun at Coachella. Sadly, I didn’t do any of those. But then again, finishing my exams and moving most of my stuff back to Denmark for the summer probably counts as a legitimate excuse.
Excuses aside, I’m ready to embark on a few months of festival fun. While I missed this year’s Distortion extravaganza (which was, apparently, extravagant in every sense of the word), there are still plenty of opportunities to experience quality music over the summer. As the festival season gets going, I will do my best to help you mix cheap temptations with great music for one hell of a festival experience. First up, the best indicator that summer has arrived in Denmark; Roskilde.
Admittedly, Roskilde is not a festival for electronic music. You go because everybody else goes, because it’s a great place to be if the weather behaves alright, and because you - despite your impressive white label collection - want to see The Strokes. It took me a couple of years to realize this, but much to my surprise, this epiphany made the festival all the more enjoyable. As plenty of more dedicated electronic music festivals emerge, Roskilde becomes less and less important as a venue for just that. A sad development, considering that Roskilde is one of the few Danish institutions that has the clout to attract the big league names (… and no, Deadmau5 is not what I have in mind).
But, enough ramblings, what about the music? Well, the lineup for Thursday is pretty meager to say the least. I will probably see what Foals are up to, but I have never listened to Chase and Status who seem to be your only other semi-electronic option, and I don’t think that is going to happen at Roskilde either.
Contrasted with Thursday, Friday is all the more exciting. There is no excuse not to see what Nicolas Jaar has been up to, adapting Space Is Only Noise to a live setting. From what I have heard (which is extensively founded on the collective wisdom of RA’s users), his live appearances are excellent, and after waiting for ages to finally see him in action, I’m stoked to see what he will bring to Cosmopol.
Other acts worth catching on Friday include Matthew Dear whose Black City album I never really felt, but where the promise of a live band seems somewhat reassuring. The coolest teenage duo around, who until recently called themselves Electrojuice, delivered a tight set last year and once Tomas Barfod joins them, and the three become Jatoma, I have a strong feeling that all things snapback will converge towards Cosmopol, and with good reason. That is, of course, unless you, like me, are intrigued to see how Tom Krell will pull off his modern day pop diva show as How To Dress Well over at the new Gloria stage.
Magnetic Man have arguably gotten less interesting since their last appearance at Roskilde (which was not their much-rumored nonappearance last year), where every bone in my body was thoroughly rattled through by their massive setup. Still, with SBTRKT stopping by for a DJ set, it might be worth stopping by. If your ears aren’t ringing enough by then, drag yourself back to Cosmopol for a DJ set by DJ Koze. Yes, I’m ridiculously excited to see him live (for the first time). As perhaps the only straight up house music producers at the festival, Koze is a no-brainer to check out if you’ve made it this far into my ramblings.
Wow, you may think, what is he complaining about with all those interesting acts stopping by Roskilde this year? Am I just being a spoilt little brat? Well, the problem is that the fun is over almost before it starts. Saturday is again a somewhat disappointing experience. This makes it all the more compelling to check out James Blake, whose concert in San Francisco was one of the only ones that I made it to this year (we need to work on that whole 21+ thing…). Just stop hating and start appreciating the guy’s obvious talent. His show was a beautiful mixture of straightforward piano pieces and a thunderous array of bass music. Mesmerizing.
Later that night, Chris Cunningham has been given the keys to the Arena stage, which he will be using for god knows what. Roskilde describes it as ”audiovisual total theater,” and if you aren’t intrigued (and slightly terrified) of what that means with Cunningham as the puppet master, you should probably stay at a safe distance. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Walls will deliver the soundtrack to the imminent sunrise when they take over Cosmopol at 3 (AM, that is).
If you managed to catch Walls early Sunday morning, you will be delighted to see that the lineup gives you a good chance to catch up on your sleep debt. Until Gold Panda takes the stage at Gloria, there honestly isn’t much to experience. Gold Panda should, however, deliver a solid performance and I’ve found myself falling more and more in love with his debut album. I know he played here in Copenhagen earlier this year, but I’m still playing catchup here, ok? To round off the festival, stop by Arena to catch a glimpse of Battles’ show. While it seems unlikely that they will top their concert from a few years back now that Tyondai Braxton has left, seeing some real craftsmanship should be all the more rewarding after a few days of laptop noodling.
Although I managed to squeeze out a good 900 words on this year’s lineup, Roskilde doesn’t seem to carry the same promise of extraordinary electronic music as many of the smaller summer festivals do. But hey, we always complain about the lineup and nevertheless end up thoroughly enjoying ourselves, right? At least we have more musically interesting options coming up right around the corner. But more about those later. For now (and kudos to you if you are still with me), let me know in the comments if I have overlooked anything, whether Nicolas Jaar is as good as I’ve heard, or where that delicious brunch place near Odeon went. Have a great festival!
”In many ways, I miss the good old days.”
I have always liked this Strokes bit. But then again, from a band consisting of twenty-something New Yorkers, how profound could this longing ever be? I am not arguing that you have to earn the right to nostalgia. After all, where would that leave a 19 year old kid with a love for old school house music? Rather, there seems to be a disconnect between any specific instance of nostalgia and the general belief that everything used to be better. The first is an entitled opinion, while the second is just plain ridiculous.
Hunee - A Leaf For Hand In Hand
[audio:http://c209891.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/HandInHand.mp3]
But then again how seriously could you ever take this, when it comes from someone who is hardly old enough to set foot inside any club, for whom the Berlin party scene remains some elusive destination - currently halfway across the globe - and whose vinyl collection would hardly fill a one hour set? If this is what you are thinking, you are asking the wrong question.
There is a point to all of this - I know you doubted it for a second - and I think it is an important one. Prosumer’s third mix in the Panorama Bar series made me check the price of a Berlin plane ticket, but it also made a deeper impression on me. While I appreciate the dedication that surrounds the house music scene, it has a certain feeling of snobbery to it. This is, admittedly, not a problem that is unique to this genre. There is, however, a distinction between the do’s and the do not’s that sometimes comes off as particularly arbitrary.
In this dichotomy, Prosumer’s mix stands out. The flow is not abandoned in order to show off the depth of the crates or the level of skill. It’s just an enjoyable mix. Berghain may be a club that takes pride in secluding itself from the outside world. Still, Prosumer’s mix reaches outwards rather than inwards. It is an invitation to enjoy the music as it is presented right here, right now, yet only seems to scratch the surface of what he could have pulled off. This is not to say that the mix is a lesser effort; it merely testaments to Prosumer’s talent for uniting a wide range of musical input.
QX-1 - Love Injection (Inject Me Lve Mixx)
[audio:http://c209891.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/Injection.mp3]
Therefore, it is hard to point to any highlight. It is hard to pinpoint a standout track. Instead, the mix works as a unit, taking the right turns at the right time. ”But have you seen my records!” exclaims James Murphy towards the end of ”Losing My Edge,” hoping that credibility is a currency best measured in white labels. That might still be the case, but the true art lies in knowing when you dig and when you don’t.
Tracklist
01. Steffi – Sadness
02. DJ Duke - Heard
03. Hunee - A Leaf For Hand In Hand
04. Soundso – Untitled
05.Theo Parrish - Twin Cities
06. Morgan Geist - Current
07. Romanthony - The House O' God
08. Circulation - Sincerely (Creation Mix)
09. Lil Silva - Pulse vs. Flex
10. Soundstore - Take U
11. J.T.Melody presents Tina René - Prove It (Instrumental)
12. Fingers Inc - Music Take Me Up
13. Oracy - Bass Mood
14. i - L.T.B.C.Y.B.
15.T.S.O.S - Over And Over
16. Servo Unique - Let's Swing It
17. QX-1 - Love Injection (Inject Me Love Mixx)
graphic high five via Wie Tentakeln
By now, you have had over a week to pick up Art Department's debut album, The Drawing Board. If you have not done so yet, what are you still doing here?
I fell in love with this album early on, and, in my humble opinion, it is easily one of the best house releases this year. Crosstown Rebels is on a roll, which always helps, but the Art Department album takes everything that the label embodies to a new level. It's heartfelt, melancholic, longing, and strikes the right balance between melodic and adventurous.
The vocals, which could probably be the most compelling reason to hate this act, have not changed at all since Without You, which I don't particularly mind. You may argue that they are flat and soulless. I would say that they are so anti-house and anti-glamour that they turn the glorified (but hollow) clubbing experience on its head.
Aren't those big words? Sure. But in an age with so much generic house music, why not turn our attention towards something that has a purpose that lasts longer than the track itself. There is something about The Drawing Board that draws you in, and more so that your regular dosis of house music would do. It is not meta-music, yet it plays on the stereotypes that surround the genre. This is not a blank placeholder for genuine emotions. This is music that looks you in the eye, and does not wince when the lights turn on.
Go pick up the album at your favorite music pusher. I doubt you will regret it.
Graphic high five via thisisdisplay.org
Sunday night is an ungrateful time for partying. Well, Sundays are not problematic per se. But with three days of festival action already in your body, getting back in the game is challenging. I imagine that something along those lines ran through the heads of the majority of the crowd yesterday at Trailerpark; a crowd that was, admittedly, less impressive in numbers than in the past three days.
Still, I had no intentions of quitting Trailerpark early this year. After years of shameless fanboyism, I finally had an opportunity to see Motor City Drum Ensemble live. Danilo Plessow’s combination of groovy disco and warm deep house holds a special place in my heart, and with an impressively consistent back catalogue ranging from the sparse Raw Cuts series to his more ambitious recent DJ Kicks mix, I have hard time singling out a stronger producer and DJ in that realm.
When Plessow started playing, however, hardly more than 30 people were around the Outdoor stage. Not exactly the crowd you would expect a renowned act to pull at a festival like Trailerpark. Do not underestimate that Sunday effect… A slow, groovy beginning did attract a steady flow of people to the tent, yet Plessow seemed more interested in exploring his disco records than to force anybody out on the floor. That turned out to be a smart decision; while the grooves kept people coming, Loose Joints, Problèmes d’Amour, and L.O.V.E. marked the transition to a more straight up house sound that made them stick around.
And then, even for a Sunday night, things looked bright again. Hands in the air, even among the hippest of the hip. Without sacrificing the nerve of the set, Plessow kept up the pace and gradually built up tension, culminating in a weird combination of Windowlicker and All I Ever Do Is Think Of You. I may still be flying high on my first live encounter with Motor City Drum Ensemble, but wow, did it feel good.
Thanks for a great festival, beautiful art, and a ton of great music. I hope the past few days have been enough evidence that if you bring great music to Copenhagen, people will come. Let's do it again. Soon, preferably. 
