Tuesday it’s France independence day, (le 14 Juillet c’est la fête nationale) therefore there’s plenty of things to do in the capital the night before (as everybody has a day off) but of course you wouldn’t miss the “Wide Style” party @ Bellevilloise, organised by La Rafinerie and Rockers International. Did you see the line-up? Toshio, Shuya of Kyoto Jazz Massive, Eddy Meets Yannah from Croatia, Jazzanova, local hero Jazzamar and of course Gilles Peterson. Man, I might come down just for that, living one hour away from Paris by TGV, that shouldn’t be a problem right? See you there….maybe!
World renowned BBC Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson compiles a spectacular collage mix tape from the vaults of Far Out Recordings for this fifteenth anniversary celebration. A close friend to Joe Davis for 25 years, Gilles Peterson has been a constant supporter of the original and best UK based Brazilian record label.
The pair released the first ‘Brazilika’ compilation on Gilles’ Talking Loud label 15 years ago and now go full circle with the fourth installment in Far Out’s series, following block party mixes from Kenny Dope, 4 Hero and Andy Votel. Brazilian music aficionados Peterson and Davis introduced a new generation to the cream of Brazil’s bossa and post-bossa artists and here expertly blend the timeless with the new breed from Far Out’s monumental catalogue.
These 23 hand-picked tracks barely break the surface of the thousands recorded by Far Out over the years yet they provide the perfect introduction to and celebration of his enduring label. DJs, record collectors and record label owners, Gilles Peterson and Joe Davis are perhaps the two most influential UK figures breaking Brazilian music to the Western world over the past thirty years. This album is testament to their success and unending passion for bringing classic and innovative Brazilian music to the people. (www.faroutrecordings.com)
It’s coming out on July 13 on Far Out Recordings (of course!) and features fantastic artists such as Azymuth, Binario, Joyce and Grupo Batuque just to name a few. Go cop it.
Ps: It’s the most beautiful cover Gilles has ever had. Period!
For the nine to fivers visiting this blog on a regular basis, I decided to drop a 30 minute mix i did a while ago. It’s a good and smooth mix (I think) to listen to at work, in the car or in the walkman (a what?); enough said, here it is:
Wow, is this the end ? Is it the final day of the 2009 edition of the Worldwide Festival in Sète ? That’s the feeling I woke up with this morning… on my way back to Belgium on a Tgv from Montpellier, it should take another 5 hours to get home…
Yesterday was super nice. I left the hotel around 2pm and met the drum&bass legend that is DJ Suv outside, he’s amazing and a super friendly guy. Heading towards the beach where I had to deejay at 6.30pm. Enjoying the beautiful but too hot weather in the afternoon (chilled with Fulgeance, funny cat), had a crazy good steak at a crazy price (that’s when you know you’re in southern France) ; then checked out Shuya’s set of Kyoto Jazz Massive, very gentle guy I met a couple days ago, I love the jazz vibe he brings. Yanna and Eddy were next, from Croatia, she’s singing and he mixes, very interesting, at first I didn’t know she was singing, it sounded like a record, excellent.
Then came DJ Suv, expected him to play drum & bass but actually played more house and broken beat stuff, a nice set with a MJ tribute in the beginning… I had to tell him to slow it down a bit because he was going nuts on the beats haha…Gilles, luckily, introduced me so I could start from scratch. You know the deal, from hiphop and beats to soul, brazil, broken beat, house and more, in 60 minutes. Michael Rutten from Soulpatrol, Frankfurt Germany was up next and did a great set, really enjoyed his set. Too bad I wasn’t around for DJ Oil’s set… how was it ?
I was happy Gilles slowed it all down a bit, good downtempo music, heard the “Gentle Smilles” edit by DJ Day, Jill Scott, a beautiful Joey Negro record (tu me l’envoies patron?), you know, it feels good to hear something different than the usual boom boom of uptempo music haha. I mean, it’s not bad but diversity is cool sometimes. Earl Zinger was doing a hell of a job, on the mic (especially on that Jose x Joy Orbison track), he killed it…period ! Then Simbad took over and did a splendid set and gave the night another dimension by playing MJ’s “Thriller” as it was full moon last night, incredible. Next? Ow yeah we did a back to back session with Eddy, Michael, Shuya, Simbad and myself, very pleasant set, short but rich in music, different genres, different styles of mixing, interesting…
Homeboy Todd Terje was up next, you know how that goes, disco and what not, excellent. We had D.O.P. from France doing a live set, very nice band, uptempo, singing, going wild on stage… the guys are actually a bunch of friends who know each other for more than 15 years, all have the same tattoo on their arm, cool guys, a bit crazy though… Finally met the guy called Trus’Me, he makes very nice music and the label is going well (Prime Numbers), expect some good music coming your way in september and october, looking forward. I didn’t even hear his set, shame on me. And fuck my camera, it died after Gilles‘ set…
After him it was all family on the turntables, Suv killed it with a monumental drum&bass set, very very dope, mixing acappella’s from Kanye over the beats, man you killed it. Passed the headphones to The bPm who ripped it with that Babylon record, one of the only times I heard raggamuffin on the festival, I need that record Thristian.
It all ended with Simbad and myself, and the crowd singing to the vibes of Laos’ “something beautiful” ; the crowd was fantastic during the festival, big up, we need you guys to spread the message, spread the music and the good vibes. Worldwide Festival baby, Freshly Cut crew, GP until next time… Merci !
Yizzerrrrrrr! Gilles took to the decks for an early set at ACD keeping things nice and relaxed. Joints from the new Havana Cultura album (more on that soon- watch this space) sounded heavy, and it wasn’t long before booties were shaking left, right and centre. Back to the villa for a power nap before heading to Theatre de la Mer where Mocky showcased some snazzy headwear and even snazzier grooves before Jimi Tenor and family wiled out, inducing the same crowd reaction reserved for Soil & “PIMP” Sessions on Friday night ie. some serious body movin’ at the front of the stage.
Over at the lighthouse, homie Pierre Fulgeance attacked his MPCs with vigour and 2000 heads bobbed enthusiastically. He impressed a lot of people I think, like his mate Dorian Concept on Friday. His beats definitely sounded chunky on the system – gotta love the old Akai compressors – BOOM! With the sound crew running around like lunatics trying to set up Laurent Garnier’s equipment, Alex Barck from Jazzanova stepped up to the decks and worked the crowd with a typically deep and groovy set. Then it was the turn of Laurent Garnier to showcase his live set, featuring keys, trumpet, saxophone, and nuff fx and computer jiggery pokery from Laurent. The crowd lapped it up, which is no surprise given Laurent’s godlike status. Anyways, enough chat – see for yourself…
It all started at the “acd beach”; Da Vince & Aline were killin’ it with a nice blend of afrobeats, hiphop and funky music. I was happy to hear that kind of music at the beach, really. The bPm took over for another 30 minutes of beautiful music, someone was playing congas and flute, a deadly combination when used over a beat. Alex Barck came in, was happy to see the man again, he told me half of his stuff didn’t arrive and that it could be a problem for his set tonite…wow; Strange, I heard the same thing about Laurent Garnier’s gear, his music should come in around 10.30pm by plane, let’s hope it will all come to a good end.
Time to go to the beautiul Théâtre de la Mer where Mocky and Jimi Tenor had to perform. Had a nice dinner with some Sète traditional food, was pretty good, don’t ask me what it was though and met the guy from Fulgeance, a dope act on two Akai Mpc’s, this guy rocks, if you don’t know the music make sure to check it out. Mocky Live was very entertaining, funny dudes on stage, beautiful music, all that in a beautiful environment, what else do you need? A couch…. The whistle song was very nice and I definitely have to check out this album. Then came Jimi Tenor, always dressed up, reminding me Sun Ra, and his drummer reminded me of Rick James (biiiiitch!); a nice set, better than the one I saw couple of months ago, going uptempo all the way, you could see Jimi loved it and so did the crowd, again standing right in the front like yesterday. Let’s go to the lighthouse…
Went to the lighthouse with Fulgeance and Simbad, beautiful Mpc set up, I really wanted to play for a minute on the samplers with such a soundsystem, aah next time maybe… Son of Kick was on the decks right before while the whole Laurent Garnier crew got in, telling us the gear, actually the cables for the gear didn’t make it at all. Can you feel the kind of stress it is for an organisation? Knowing there’s a crowd of 2200 people in the front expecting Laurent to come on stage and kill it… Daaamn! Meanwhile, Fulgeance was killin’ it on the samplers and also using the effects of the Pioneer mixer. Using the effects so much that at a certain point he just lost it… thinking that the mixer was tripping…haha, he had to start it all over again. While the crew was calling everybody in Sète for cables it was Alex Barck’s moment of shine. He ripped it, I don’t even know if he had all his music with him in the end but he did a superb set, the crowd enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, it wasn’t too deep, just the way I love it. Alex, merci!
Finally, after a thousand calls, asking artists backstage, the crew, all sweaty, found every single cable necessary to connect Laurent Garnier’s music, what a relief! Gilles explained the whole situation to the crowd, I love that, it gives the show another dimension… 2200 people into it, for some it was a really crazy show, for others it wasn’t that great, I dunno, I just think it wasn’t my thing but good for what it is… can’t really judge. But what I’m sure about is that a majority in the crowd really loved his set, and his greatest hits at the end of the show (which I liked better haha…). Anyway, props to the whole crew for finding those cables, you guys did a hell of a job. I’m going to bed now… Tomorrow it’s a whole dj line-up at the beach. Word!
Amazing second day at the WWF 2009 in Sete. Elan Mehler and Adam McBride-Smith wowed the audience at the Theatre de la Mer, featuring a double cameo from Soil & “PIMP” drummer Midorin and Akita Goldman on upright bass. The Pimps then comprehensively KILLED it – one of the finest gigs I’ve ever witnessed – they just seem to get better and better. Over at the lighthouse, Dorian Concept impressed a lot of people despite heavy rain interrupting play. Big ups to Lefto and Frank for keeping his microkorg dry – haha! Martyn’s set was impeccable. Deep funky/techno grooves all the way – Donaeo’s ‘Devil In A Blue Dress’ instrumental was the highlight for me. HUGE! Last but by no means least, Carl Craig finished the night off with consummate ease – the crowd was eating out of his hand from the get-go.
Woke up at 1pm and went to sleep around 8am after a good breakfast at the hotel with Simbad; it was really necessary. Was the first awake as usual, the other one still dreaming and me ichatting with the bPm who was definitely not ready to bounce to the beach. Finally, 2 hours later we arrive at the Acd beach where Son Of Kick is playing heavy tunes for the crowd, took some time to chill with my Italian buddies. I heard Fuzati (isn’t he from Le Klub des 7?) did a great job playing jazz and related stuff, too bad I didn’t see his set. I think it’s better to play it smooth at the beach, let the people breath for a minute… Everybody was in the water, muscles, hot sun and nice bodies laying on the sand. Acd beach, a nice spot where we all playing on sunday on a bigger soundsystem, should be nice.
At night it was all about food and nice music. Went to le “Grand Bleu” restaurant with my girl, for the suggestion of the day, grilled fish, grilled potato and a salad…delicious! Soil & Pimp was about to start at the “Theatre de la Mer” and I didn’t want to miss that because I knew it would be something legendary in there, an amphitheater by the beach where other artists like Fela Kuti performed back in the days. I saw the last song of Sebastien Schuller, that song was nice, dunno about the rest, where you there? Then Soil & Pimp, it was time for a mad session; after two songs the band asked the crowd to show them how they dance, damn, the whole place started dancing in front of the stage, a pretty crazy view but oh so beautiful. Like I told Gilles, we need Japanese people around us, they are so special and different, you gotta love ‘em. Soil & Pimp Ichiban.
At the lighthouse it was Grfld warming-up the crowd with a nice set, right before Dorian Concept’s set. A set that would become one of the craziest sets Dorian ever did. It all began smoothly, but then came the lightning and then the rain started falling down the sky. It would’ve been a horrible thing if we hadn’t those plastic things to put over the gear and Dorian’s computer. Me & Franck were keeping that plastic over Dorian’s gear for 30 minutes, Simbad came to help too, we were dancing in the rain and Dorian tried to keep his shit dry, a computer, microkorg etc… shit’s no joke! I’m sure we’ll remember this for a long time. If that wasn’t not bad enough, boom! no electricity anymore. Try to explain a crowd without mic that it will take 5 minutes haha, but Gilles had it under control, check it out in the video. Then came Martyn, cool guy with a very nice album and dutchman, feels good to speak dutch with that cat, he did a splendid set, probably one of the best sets so far, big up! Then, finally, the master arrived, el maestro, Carl Craig… what can I say, he’s a big man in the world of music, always something to see someone with his status, he ripped it, raving like the love parade in Berlin, I think the bPm is still dancing on his music right now haha. That was the perfect time for me to leave the building, in the car with Martyn back to the hotel and here I am, writing at 6am. Goodnight.
