Kyushu tour report

In Kyushu hotel

Amorphous

Kaki with Deltas

Fake Girl Nott

RIM

Kaki

Call And Response crew rocking Saizeriya

Jebiotto in Kokura

Kokura after party

Ian DJ-ing in the early hours of the night-Kumamoto after party

Telephone club

So what's new? I've been dragging my gear around Tokyo playing a bunch of shows and took a trip to Osaka as well. My personal highlight so far has been the birthday event in Koenji DOM, where Ian rounded up a bunch of awesome bands to celebrate his, mine and Zana's birthday (we all have them in the same 10 days, so we made one big party instead of 3 small ones). Now Koenji DOM isn't a proper live music venue, but a rehearsal studio for bands. That means that gigs are held back to back in two tiny practice rooms with just enough space in them to fit in a 5 member band. Add 20 more crazy audience members into the room and you have an amazing, sweaty, loud as fuck rock experience. Well, that is if the bands are good, which in this case, they were. It started off with a great performance by a band called KyuShoku, who played a heavy, noised out stoner-dub set that set the atmosphere for the night perfectly. The mysterious, ever-changing Kaki played a gig in pitch dark and started the dance-friendly part of the evening, it was great to see her play to such a cool audience. I missed a couple of bands while setting up my gear, then quickly found myself playing to a packed room of sweaty enthusiasts, which I realized is the best possible environment for me. Fuck big venues and festivals, give me a dark chamber with 20 head banging friends any day. After my gig I saw heated performances by LOVEBUYLOVE and my favorite band of the night Jebiotto. Jebiotto brought the event to an end with a show as fun and relaxed as their singer was drunk...everything seemed to be falling apart at the seams, mics falling to the ground, effects getting stepped on by the audience, cables pulled out, lyrics forgotten and the vocalists voice completely gone, but it all added up to a hell of a show. Can't remember having that much fun in ages. I say that a lot don't I?

Jebiotto doing their thing. The clip isn't from our event, but I think it sums up what they do nicely

The party was followed by another all night event the next day, with me playing live and Zana and Ian DJing in Shibuya Echo. All I can say is that we were moshing to Idoli at 5am, which pretty much sums up the absurdity of the event. All in all, last weekend was a pure win.
Which unfortunately wasn't the case in Osaka, where I also played in a similar rehearsal studio environment, but to a much more violent audience and with much shittier sound. Not to say that I didn't enjoy myself or even had a bad gig, but the atmosphere of the evening was kind of ruined by the violent outbursts of some of the people, and shards of broken glass flying through the room didn't help things out much. But anyway, I got to see my friends Praha Depart again, who were absolutely awesome in every way possible. Having seen them over 20 times I still lost my breath when they started playing an amazing new song.

Osaka

Praha Depart in IKOIKO, Osaka

KyuShoku

Jebiotto

Kaki

The fun doesn't stop there. The Call and Response Records team is taking the show on the road next weekend for a Kyushu tour! If you're in the area come check us out for live performances from N'toko, Jebiotto, Kaki and more!

Date: July 20th (Fri)

Place: Yakuin Utero (Fukuoka)

Event: Telephone Club Fukuoka, with live acts N'toko, Rim (a tribute band to unsung CAR legends Mir) and more, and DJs Emix and Ian Martin.

http://www.utero.jp/schedule_july.html 

Date: July 21st (Sat)

Place: Kokura UN (Kitakyushu)

Event: Live acts N'toko, Jebiotto! and more.

http://www.bloc.jp/navaro/ 

Date: July 22nd (Sun)

Place: Kumamoto Navaro

Event: Live acts N'toko, Jebiotto! and more.

http://jmn-co.jp/un-kokura/index.html

Shampoo Guy: Don

My evil bro Shampoo Guy has a new track up on Soundcloud. It's called Don and is inspired by the Bollywood movie staring Shah Rukh Khan. Check it out!

Fight Like A Girl - The new N'toko EP is out!

Although I haven't released anything in a while, I have actually spent most of the last 6 months cooped up in my room making music. Unlike my usual work process when I decide on an album concept and then work on that until it's done, I wanted to just go with the flow and see what happens. Basically it was a period of learning for me since I'm still quite an amateur producer. Making tracks without a particular goal let me take my songwriting into many different directions. A lot of the uptempo electronic stuff I was satisfied with turned into my Shampoo Guy project, and I also made a bunch of vocal tracks that sound quite different from stuff that I've recorded in the past. I compiled a playlist of my songs that I feel work well together and decided to release them as an EP. It's basically me trying to make "real" hip hop, but the tempos are too fast and the lyrics are too weird and there's just too much going on, so it sounds more like, well, I'm not sure what it sounds like. The song "Snob" is a collaboration between me and Slovenian/Swiss producer duo Volatile, who made a hard-as-fuck minimal beat around the vocals I had sent them. Igor Vuk recorded the vocals and did all the postproduction. The resulting "Fight Like A Girl" EP is available for free download via Call and Response Records. I hope you enjoy it!

Čeprav že dolgo nisem ničesar izdal, sem zadnje pol leta naredil kar precej muzike. Pravzaprav sem večino časa preživel zaprt v sobi in delal beate, ali pa v studiu z DJ PlankTonom. Za razliko od mojega standardnega delovnega procesa, si tokrat nisem zadal kakega končnega cilja v obliki albuma, pač pa sem se prepustil filingu in dovolil komadom, da se razvijajo po svoje. Lahko bi rekel, da je šlo za obdobje učenja, izboljševanja svojih tehničnih in vokalnih sposobnosti. Ker nisem vnaprej določene glasbene smeri, me je delanje komadov peljalo v najrazličnejše žanre. Tako je nastalo precej uptempo, elektronsko obarvanega materiala, ki ga lahko slišite na Soundcloudu mojega novega alter ega Shampoo Guy-a, pa tudi precej vokalnih komadov, ki se razlikujejo od mojih prejšnjih albumov. Sestavil sem kompilacijo teh, ki mi dobro zvenijo skupaj, in se jih odločil izdati v obliki EP-ja. Na začetku sem mislil, da sem se nekako približal zvoku "real" hip hopa, vendar sem kmalu ugotovil, da so tempoti prehitri, besedila preveč čudna, in da se nasploh dogaja preveč. Na koncu se nisem mogel odločiti, kakšna glasbe je to, ampak mogoče je tako bolje. Pesem "Snob" je rezultat sodelovanja s slovensko/švicarsko producentsko navezo Volatile, ki sta okoli mojega vokala sestavila res brutalno temačen minimal beat. Igor Vuk je poskrbel za snemanje vokalov in postprodukcijo vseh komadov. Rezultat je "Fight Like A Girl EP", ki je že na voljo na Call and Response Records in ga lahko zloadate brezplačno.

Download here via Mediafire: http://www.mediafire.com/?pk4c1wkgtbd6c1x

N'toko - Fight Like A Girl EP (Call and Response Records 2012)

"To coincide with his return to Japan for the summer, Slovenian electro-hip hop musician N'toko has a new EP available for free download via Call And Response Records, featuring five new songs recorded over the past six months. The Fight Like a Girl EP evolved out of a series of experiments with new production ideas and the result is a work with a more laid-back sense of exploration and adventure, smearing his characteristic synth-based sound across the songs like Nutella over toast one moment, forcing it through brutally tight bottlenecks the next. As with most of N'toko's English-language work, the lyrics duck and weave, spinning through a chicane of stream-of-consciousness wordplay, sci-fi imagery and surreal collages of seemingly random images, all combined with a sense of wit and playful disregard for convention."

All music by N'toko, except "Snob" by Volatile. All vocal recording, mix and mastering by Igor Vuk, except "Snob" mixed by Volatile. Released by Call and Response Records.

Download the entire EP via Mediafire: http://www.mediafire.com/?pk4c1wkgtbd6c1x

http://car-records.blogspot.jp/

http://soundcloud.com/ntoko

https://www.facebook.com/ntokomc

https://twitter.com/ntokomc

Introducing Shampoo Guy!

I've been messing around with electronic music for a while now, not just making beats to rap over but also stuff that I could play when DJ-ing in a club. A ton of tracks have piled up on my computer in the last two years, some of which are shit and some that I find quite interesting. Although I know that I'm far from being a serious electronic producer or DJ, I feel that the time has come to share some of this music before I become one of those weird introverted producers who spend years cooped up in home studios and never let anyone hear what they're doing. I'm also aware of the fact that 99% of listeners could care less about dance tracks produced by rappers, and that the phenomenon of pop artists turning into DJs is becoming more and more annoying with each new addition to the list. I've been rapping for over a decade and have put a lot of time and effort into it, something that I have yet to do in the field of electronic music. I want to do it properly, so in this aspect, I feel like I'm at the beginning of my career again. 

Since I'm involved in so many different projects at once, people often get things confused and it's hard to know what to expect when coming to my show. I'm going to try and make things more simple by splitting my vocal hip hop stuff and my instrumental production into two different things. 

So without further delay, ladies and gentlemen, I give you my evil twin brother:

Shampoo Guy!

N'toko is the MC, Shampoo Guy is the DJ. N'toko does hip hop, Shampoo Guy does electro. Simple as that.

So if you're interested, check out the little introductory mix I made. It's a bunch of stuff I've been working on in the past year, plus a track that I did with Kaki, and something from N'toko's upcoming  EP. All the songs were mixed and mastered by Igor Vuk, who has really gone out of his way to help me with production and has thought me a lot.

I'll be posting new songs regularly on the Shampoo Guy Soundcloud page, keep up with everything on Twitter. For starters, you can download the "Shampoo Anthem" for free. 

And in more N'toko related news, a bunch of new songs will be available within the next few days, so stay tuned!

Back in Tokyo

Hey everyone, I'm back in Tokyo for the summer! The first night was exciting as always, meeting up with friends in my favorite place, the wall to wall vinyl restaurant Bamii, and ending up DJ-ing in Koenji One. The next day I was free and we went to see the awesome Milla and the Geeks playing live, and on Sunday I had my first show. I was lucky to play to an awesome audience at the Uhnellys album release party in Shibuya Lush with Uhnellys and Yolz in the sky, two bands that I really like a lot. 

Since then it's been rainy as fuck and I experienced my first typhoon as well. Me and Zana are settling into our new home for the summer and I'm finalizing the new releases I've got planned for the near future. There's a ton of gigs I've got coming up and even more gigs I want to see, so you can expect a bunch of concert reports and videos of my favorite Japanese bands on the blog.

Here's a clip from my gig in Shibuya. I played some new stuff and I felt it went down well:

If you're in Japan there's a bunch of my gigs coming up:
30.6.-Tokyo, Shibuya Module
6.7.-Tokyo, Koenji One (DJ set)
7.7.-Osaka, IKOIKO
13.7.-Tokyo, Koenji DOM
14.7.-Tokyo, Shibuya Echo
20.7.-Fukuoka, Utero
21.7.-Kokura, UN
22.7.-Kumamoto, Navaro
30.8.-Tokyo, Koenji 20000V
31.8.-Tokyo, Shibuya Ruby Room 

Summer

Hey guys, I'm happy to have a bunch of exciting announcements for the following weeks... I'm really lucky to be able to play the amazing UF festival in Križanke this coming Tuesday (June 12th), and it seems my gig is scheduled right between Crystal Castles and the Ting Tings! Really looking forward to seeing Willie Moon, and we all know New Wave Syria and Barely Modern are going to be awesome. 

For more event information check: https://www.facebook.com/events/207039566073393/

A day after the festival I'll be heading off to Japan, where I plan to spend the summer. I've got quite a few nice Tokyo gigs scheduled, as well as Osaka and a tour of Kyushu. It will be great to get back on stage and play some events with my favorite bands Uhnellys, Jebiotto and Praha Depart. Here's the first batch of gigs, and I'll be posting more details soon.

17.6.-Tokyo, Shibuya Lush

6.7.-Tokyo, Koenji One (DJ set)

7.7.-Osaka, IKOIKO

13.7.-Tokyo, Koenji DOM

14.7.-Tokyo, Shibuya Echo

20.7.-Fukuoka, Utero

21.7.-Kokura, UN

22.7.-Kumamoto, Navaro

I've mostly been playing gigs and organizing events these past few months, but I've also been working on tons of music which I'm going to put out shortly. There's a brand new hip hop EP, as well as a new electronic project in the making, so please stay tuned for more info!

See you around!

N'toko

Going out with a bang

I played a gig last night in Gala Hala with BeatMyth, where we were the closing act of the Kapa Records festival. There were several bands on the bill that I was really interested in seeing and I certainly wasn’t disappointed. After great performances by the guys from Coma Stereo, Ewok, and Ludovik Material (I’ll admit that I’m not really a huge fan of old the school punk stuff by Buldogi) I felt really lucky to be able to play with such great bands, and it’s nice seeing that Slovenia still has a kick ass alternative scene. There’s probably less audience and less money than ever before, but the bands are playing harder and giving less of a fuck about what anybody thinks about them. 

Včeraj sem z BeatMyth nastopal v Gali Hali na Kapa Records festivalu. Nastopalo je kar nekaj bendov, ki me zelo zanimajo, in vsi so presegli moja pričakovanja. Coma Stereo (ravnokar so izdali odličen album), Ewok (nenapovedani nastop je bil njihov prvi odkar obstajajo, a so zveneli kot že popolnoma izpiljen bend), in Ludovik Material (ti so iz sebe iztisnili še zadnje atome energije po naporni turneji, iz katere so se vrnili boljši kot kadarkoli prej), so mi dali jasno vedeti, da gre slovenski alternativni sceni zelo dobro. Publike in denarja je manj kot prej, a so zato bendi toliko bolj odločni in se ne ozirajo na mnenja drugih. 

Ewok palyinga at Kapa fest is Gala Hala

When we started organizing our own monthly Safari events with Igor and Zana, it was mainly to give ourselves an opportunity to deejay more regularly, but as the event developed it turned into a chance to work with musicians, bands and DJs that we really respect, while our deejaying has also become a presentation of our own production. We had no real vision of who we were going to book at the beginning (the list of Slovenian live electronic musicians seemed quite short), but as it turned out, new and new names kept popping up, along with the veterans who have been on the scene for a while and new acts that haven’t even played live yet. So after 8 months of hosting our favorite artists we have quite a list of people we still want to bring to our event. I think next season is going to be a lot of fun! 

Ko smo lani z Igorjem in Zano začeli organizirati mesečne Safari evente, smo si želeli le bolj pogosto rolati. Dogodek pa se je razvijal po svoje in na koncu je postal predvsem priložnost za sodelovanje z glasbeniki, didžeji in bendi, ki jih res spoštujemo, naše didžejanje pa je postalo tudi predstavitev lastne produkcije. Najprej nismo imeli najbolj jasne vizije, koga vse bomo poklicali, saj se je zdel seznam slovenskih elektronskih glasbenikov, ki nastopajo v živo, precej kratek. Vendar so se poleg že uveljavljenih imen začela pojavljati vedno nova, celo takšna, ki še niso nastopala prej. Po osmih mesecih gostovanja naših najljubših izvajalcev nam je ostal še dolg seznam actov, ki jih hočemo povabiti. Mislim, da bo naslednja sezona zelo zabavna!

Flyer for next month's Safari

That said, I must announce this season’s final Safari line-up before Zana and I split to Japan for the summer. Last month was one of my personal favorite events, because it was a great honor to host the first ever show of Napravi Mi Dete in Ljubljana. This month we have a brand new act coming to Gromka again, and I’m super excited to see them play live. The band is called Ewok, they’re basically a trio of my favorite Slovenian musicians. My bandmate from Moveknowledgement Miha Šajina has been making great electro/techno influenced music for a while now and I really like his ideas as a musician and producer. He’s joined forces with the oddball vocalist Milan from Intimn Frizurn, who are still one of my all time favorite Slovenian bands, and kick ass drummer Luka Kuhar from Na Lepem Prijazni. They played a short surprise gig in Gala Hala last night and we were all pretty much blown away. These guys are possibly already the best live band around, and their studio stuff sounds brilliant as well. And they’re a totally fun band to watch! Do.Not.Miss.This.Show.

Oh, and let’s not forget, the lovely Svemir Mango (aka Eva and Kukla from Napravi Mi Dete) will be joining us behind the decks with their brilliantly hilarious mix of everything that’s fun in dance music. Me, Zana and PlankTon are also determined to finish the season with no holds barred dj sets!

Pred nami je še en zadnji Safari preden se z Zano čez poletje odpraviva na Japonsko. Prejšnji mesec je bil meni osebno en najljubših eventov doslej, saj smo imeli čast gostiti odlične Napravi Mi Dete na njihovem prvem ljubljanskem koncertu, tokrat pa v Gromko prihaja še en čisto svež bend, ki se ga noro veselim. Ewok so projekt, ki ga sestavljajo trije resnično nadarjeni glasbeniki. Moj “sodelavec” iz Moveknowledgement Miha Šajina že dolgo ustvarja svojo lastno muziko pod vplivom tehna in elektra, njegove glasbene in produkcijske ideje pa so mi zelo blizu. Zdaj je združil moči s karizmatičnim odbitim vokalistom Milanom iz nekdanjih Intimn Frizurn in odličnim bobnarjem Luko Kuharjem iz Na lepem prijazni. V petek so odigrali kratek koncert kot gostje presenečenja na Kapa Festivalu v Gali Hali in mislim, da smo vsi po špilu ostali bolj ali manj brez besed. Že zdaj so eden najboljših live actov daleč naokoli, njihov studijski material pa tudi zelo veliko obeta. In ne pozabimo še eno pomembno dejstvo: delajo zelo zabavno muziko! Ne zamudit tega špila!

Tudi dj sekcija se bo potrudila slediti energiji Ewokov. Z nami bodo za mešalko nepredvidljive Svemir Mango, ki jih nekateri poznate kot Evo in Kuklo iz Napravi Mi Dete, z Zano in PlankTonom pa bomo prav tako dali vse od sebe, da zaključimo sezono v stilu!

Event info: https://www.facebook.com/events/398326393546108/

SAFARI VOL.8- Thursday 24.5.2012  
starts 22:30
LiVe:
EWOK
Moveknowledgement+Intimn Frizurn+Na lepem prijazni=
pop, kakršnega lahko le sanjamo
(http://soundcloud.com/ewokband)

DjS:
PlankTon (www.facebook.com/DjPlankTon)
N'toko (www.soundcloud.com/ntoko)
Zana (www.soundcloud.com/zanacaroline)
Svemir Mango (www.facebook.com/pages/NAPRAVI-MI-DETE/167374023303920)


VisualS:
Koala™(Jet Jam) (www.jetjam.net)

Gromka. 24.5.2012. ob 22:30
Vstopnina: 3evre

NAPRAVI MI DETE

I don’t often get the opportunity to write about new Slovenian bands, even though I’m constantly on the lookout for them. So I’m really really excited about seeing Napravi Mi Dete play for the first time tonight at Safari. They combine a series of things I have a soft spot for in music: weirdness, enthusiasm, originality, synths, guitars, drum machines. And they’re good at it. And they hate mountains, just like me.

Čeprav poskušam imeti ves čas odprte oči za nove zanimive slovenske bende, imam le malokrat priložnost pisati o njih. Zato sem precej na trnih, ker bom prvič videl live nastop Napravi Mi Dete nocoj na Safariju. Bend namreč poseduje kar nekaj stvari, ki me pri glasbi privlači: originalnost, entuziazem, čudaštvo, igrivost, sinte, kitare in ritem mašine. In vse to jim gre dobro od rok. In sovražijo gore, prav tako kot jaz.

If you don't know what to expect from them live after seeing the videos, don't worry, neither do I. But if you're curious then come check them out tonight in Gromka!


Če po ogledu videov niste ravno prepričani, kaj od njih pričakovati v živo, vas lahko potolažim, da tudi sam nimam pojma. Me pa zelo zanima. Pridite pogledat v Gromko!

LiVe:

Napravi mi dete

"Verjetno najbolj posrečeno mutirani muzikalni stvor zahodno od Tokia."

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NAPRAVI-MI-DETE/167374023303920

DjS:

Mr.Gucci (Smetnjak) (www.soundcloud.com/mr_gucci)

PlankTon (www.facebook.com/DjPlankTon)

N'toko (www.soundcloud.com/ntoko)

Zana (www.soundcloud.com/zanacaroline)

VisualS:

Koala™(Trajna) (www.eurocrem.co.cc)

Gromka. 19.4.2012. ob 22:30

Vstopnina: 3evre

Fashion Crisis Ljubljana!

Na kratko bi vam rad predstavil Fashion Crisis, tokijski event, ki bo naslednji teden doživel svojo prvo slovensko izvedbo. Kaj je sploh ta Fashion Crisis in kaj za vraga počne v Ljubljani?

Ko sva se z Zano pred tremi leti prvič selila na Japonsko, je bil to prvi dogodek, na katerem sva se počutila res domače. Prve tri tedne sva preživela v iskanju dobrih koncertov in klubov, kjer bi lahko morda nastopal. Koncertov je bilo seveda na pretek, a so bili vedno v nekih sterilnih okoljih in zaznamovani z resnobnostjo, da o visokih cenah sploh ne govorim, kljub vsemu trudu pa nisem uspel prepričati niti enega organizatorja, da me bukira. Sčasoma sva začela obupavati in počutila sva se povsem izgubljena v velikem mestu. Nek večer sva se iz dolgčasa odpravila na naključni event, ki je bil zastonj in čisto blizu najinega doma v Koenjiju. Znašla sva se v prazni podzemni luknji, ki se ji reče “Koenji One” in bila sva prva gosta. Organizator, prijazni anglež Ian, naju je seveda ogovoril in hitro se je razvila živahna debata, kjer smo ugotovili, da imamo povsem ista zanimanja in tudi podobne poglede na glasbo. Ko so v klub začeli kapljati njegovi prijatelji, smo ugotovili isto, vsi so bili glasbeniki, glasbeni navdušenci, glasbeni novinarji in lokalni posebneži (največkrat kar vse v eni osebi). Ian je medtem vrtel bizarno mešanico najrazličnejše muzike, kjer so se melodije Davida Bowie-ja mirno prelivale v melodije japonskih tehno pop ikon, kot bi ves čas skakal iz preteklosti v prihodnost in nazaj. Nato sta oder zavzela duo “Candles” in naju popolnoma očarala z najbolj očarljivim, sladkobnim tehno pop-om kar sem ga kdaj slišal. Začuden sem bil nad navdušenjem publike, saj nisem še nikoli videl glasbenih geekov iz hardcore in noise bendov tako uživati v popu... Ozračje je bilo res sproščeno, neobremenjeno in predvsem smešno, saj dogajanju na odru in izboru glasbe, ki so jo vrteli didžeji, ni vladala nobena logika. vseskupaj bi lahko opisal kot zabavni kaos. Odšla sva domov popolnoma prevzeta, Ian je od takrat postal najin guide po tokijskemu underground dogajanju, Fashion Crisis pa dogodek, ki ga nikoli več nisva zamudila. 

Skozi čas smo z Ianom in njegovo založbo Call and Response Records postali tesni sodelavci, saj sva z Zano postala redna gosta na Fashion Crisisu, izdal je moj album Ex Shanti/Future Shanti, jaz pa sem sodeloval pri izidu albuma in evropski turneji skupine Praha Depart. Zahvaljujoč se njemu sem spoznal svoje najljubše japonske bende in s številnimi izmed njih tudi nastopal (Hyacca, Uhnellys, Praha Depart, The Mornings, Jebiotto, Zibanchinka, (m)otocompo, Andersens, She Talks Silence...). 

Tako sva se znašla pred dilemo, kaj storiti ob obisku Iana in njegove žene Kaname v Sloveniji? S čim se lahko v Ljubljani kosamo eklektično bizarnemu dogajanju v Koenjiju. Mislim, da imamo na Metelkovi vse pogoje za pravo vzdušje, podobno mislečih ljudi pa tudi ne manjka. Okoli ljubljanskega Fashion Crisis-a se je tako nabrala pestra ekipa didžejev, ki bodo povedali svojo lastno glasbeno zgodbo. Ian nam bo zavrtel najbolj zabavne stvari, ki jih ima ponuditi Japonska, Kaname nam je napovedala “girl’s rock and pop” set, Svemir Mango (aka Kukla in Eva iz skupine Napravi Mi Dete) prvič napadata mešalko s svojim izborom vesoljske ghetto elektronike, ko smo že pri vesoljski elektroniki pa ne pozabimo na eno in edino Saturno, misteriozno starleto, ki jo poznate iz njenih Synth Odyssey dogodkov v Channel 0. Bravo Urška bo verjetno prva v K-pop didžejka v Sloveniji, Zano bo tokrat zamenjala njena Hindu dvojnica Shanti Priya in zavrtela novosti iz Bollywooda, jaz pa bom javnosti prvič predstavil Shampoo Guy-a, novi alter ego, ki se čedalje večkrat prebudi v meni in zahteva vse več pozornosti.

Da pa bo stvar še malo bolj internacionalna, bo Fashion Crisis na isti dan potekal tudi v Tokiu!

In zakaj ime Fashion Crisis? Ian pravi, da je fashion crisis tisti moment, ko bi rad izgledal kul, ampak že ful zamujaš ven in na koncu nepremišljeno oblečeš ravno najbolj neprimerne stvari. Transcendenca dobrega okusa?

I want to say a few things about the Fashion Crisis event, which is debuting in Slovenia next week...what exactly is it about and how did it find it’s way to Ljubljana?

Well, my part of the story starts in Tokyo a few years back, when me and Zana first moved there and were looking for gigs to go to and events I could possibly play. Needless to say there was no shortage of gigs, but we were disappointed at the snobbish atmosphere at many of them (not to mention shocked at the ticket prices). And despite all my best efforts I couldn’t convince a single organizer to book my show. A couple weeks into our stay we were beginning to feel lost and out of place. One day we made a random visit to a venue close to our house in Koenji, just out of sheer boredom and the fact that there was a free event going on that night. We ended up being the first guests in the dimly lit underground hole which is Koenji One, and organizer Ian Martin came to greet us and find out who these new people were... We ended up in a long conversation, finding out that we  share similar views on music and just about everything else as well. When his friends started coming in the conversations continued and we finally found ourselves in the company of like-minded people, musicians, music geeks, music journalists, and freaky people from the neighborhood (often all rolled into one person). Ian was deejaying tracks from every corner of time and space, jumping from past to future and melting David Bowie’s melodies with those of pop icons Perfume. Later on in the night, boy/girl duo “Candles” took the stage and played the most enchantingly sweet, energetic techno pop music I’d ever heard. I was taken aback by how the crowd of music geeks, many of whom play in hardcore or noise bands, enjoyed the bubblegum pop show. The atmosphere was relaxed, unpretentious and above all, fun. There seemed to be no logic behind what the deejays were playing and no need for it either. We left the event completely fulfilled. Since then, Ian became our guide to Tokyo’s underground wonders, and Fashion Crisis the event we never missed again.

In time we cooperated more and more, with me and Zana playing regularly at the Fashion Crisis events, Ian releasing my album Ex Shanti/Future Shanti through his label Call and Response Records, and me helping with the album release and Europe tour of Praha Depart. Thanks to him I met and played with many of my favorite Japanese artists (Hyacca, Uhnellys, Praha Depart, The Mornings, Jebiotto, Zibanchinka, (m)otocompo, Andersens, She Talks Silence...).

So the question arose, how can Ljubljana match up to the eclectic bizarreness of Tokyo’s Fashion Crisis? Personally I feel that Metelkova has a very appropriate atmosphere, and we also don’t lack like-minded music geeks. A team of very left-field deejays was recruited and I think that every one of them has a great musical story to tell. Our guest Ian will play everything fun that Japan has to offer, his wife Kaname has told us to expect a “girl’s rock and pop” set, Svemir Mango (aka Kukla in Eva from the awesome group Napravi Mi Dete) will bring their own blend of spaced out ghetto electronica, and speaking of spaced out, we’re really happy to have the mysterious cosmic presence of Saturna of Synth Odyssey fame on the list. Bravo Urška is possibly the first K-Pop DJ in Slovenia, Zana will be replaced by her Hindu twin sister Shanti Priya, while I myself will morph into my newest alter ego Shampoo Guy, who demands and increasing amount of attention.

Oh, and to make it more international, the event will be held in Tokyo on the same day!

Why call it Fashion Crisis? In Ian’s words, a fashion crisis is what you have when you’re really late heading out, but also want to look cool, resulting in terrible last minute judgements, picking out the most miss- matched combination of clothes possible. A transcendence of good taste?

Event information: https://www.facebook.com/events/166320113488160/

New BeatMyth album coming out this week

I've been going on and on about this BeatMyth release party next week but haven't actually taken the time to explain who and what BeatMyth even is. It's basically the project of two producers, DJ PlankTon and Mike Preeters, which started out as a breakbeat thing but has in my opinion integrated many different musical influences in recent years, from electro-house, dubsteb, techno and hiphop. I've been working with DJ PlankTon for years, he was actually a part time member of Moveknowledgement when we started playing gigs around the year 2000, and we used to do drum n' bass parties together after the gigs. We played quite a lot as a drum n' bass DJ/MC duo in those years and even did some big festivals like Exit in Serbia. After a while we both got tired of the drum n' bass scene and concentrated more on our own music. I went on to do my solo hip hop/experimental stuff and he got into breakbeat, forming BeatMyth with his roommate Mike Preeters. We would get together occasionally in the studio and I recorded some raps for them, which resulted in the album "Your Own Two Heads" (self released a year ago and available for free download here). That was the time when PlankTon decided to start DJing again and we played a live set together for the first time in many years. One thing led to another and together with Zana we started organizing our regular monthly DJ event called Safari with live acts and bands playing every time. 

That's the short history of it all, but the reason I'm writing about all this is that BeatMyth will be releasing their second album "Questionable Image" on Kapa Records next week, and Safari will be the release party! I recorded vocals for several tracks and I think there's some really nice stuff on the record, so please check it out. I'm really looking forward to next Thursday, besides doing our regular DJ sets with special guest Felis Catus from the like minded DJ crew Don't Make New People, me and PlankTon will perform most of the new BeatMyth material live. Hope to see you in Gromka!

Zadnje dni veliko govorim o projektu BeatMyth, ne da bi si vzel čas razložiti za kaj sploh gre. BeatMyth je projekt dveh producentov, Mike Preetersa in DJ PlankTona, v osnovi breakbeatovska muzika pa je skozi leta vase posrkala najrazličnejše vplive, od electrohouse-a do dubstepa, techna in hiphopa. Sam sem s PlankTonom sodeloval že dolgo časa, saj je bil na začetku celo občasni član Moveknowledgementov in po koncertih sva delala drum n' bass partije, ter veliko nastopala kot DJ/Mc duo (imela sva celo nekaj večjih festivalskih nastopov kot recimo na srbskem Exitu). Čez nekaj časa sva se oba naveličala drum n' bass scene ter se posvetila vsak svojim projektom, jaz sem snemal solo albume, on pa je s takratnim cimrom Mike Preetersom začel BeatMyth. Kljub prenehanju nastopanja pa smo še vedno sodelovali in občasno smo se dobivali v studiu, kjer sem posnel nekaj vokalov na njune inštrumentale. Tako je nastal album "Your Own Two Heads" (ta je izšel lani v samozaložbi in je na voljo brezplačno tukaj), s PlankTonom pa sva se po dolgem času spet odločila skupaj nastopiti in predstaviti naše pesmi. Čez nekaj časa smo skupaj z Zano začeli sanjariti o našem lastnem mesečnem dj eventu z live acti in tako je nastal Safari. 

To je kratka zgodovina tega, kako je prišlo do tega sodelovanja, novica pa je ta, da naslednji četrtek pri Kapa Records izide novi album BeatMythov z naslovom "Questionable Image".  Tudi na tem albumu sem gostoval na številnih komadih in vesel sem, da bodo končno ugledali luč sveta. Četrtkov Safari bomo ob tej priložnosti spremenili v release party, s PlankTonom bova v živo predstavila nov material, kot dj pa se nam bo pridružil Felis Catus iz odlične ekipe Don't Make New People. Upam, da se vidimo v Gromki!

Heres the first single off the new record, and you can download it for free until Thursday:

SAFARI VOL.6
LiVe:
BeatMyth (http://beatmyth.blogspot.com/)
DjS:
Felis Catus (Don't make new people) (www.mixcloud.com/FelisCatus)
PlankTon (www.facebook.com/DjPlankTon)
N'toko (www.soundcloud.com/ntoko)
Zana (www.soundcloud.com/zanacaroline)

VisualS:
Koala™(Trajna) (www.eurocrem.co.cc)

Gromka. 22.3.2012. ob 22:30
Vstopnina: 3evre