Four Things #20
Four Things #20..
On February 15th 2020, I played one of my favorite gigs of the past couple years at Berghain for a big Ilian Tape party. I spent so much time collecting music I wanted to play there, and made several tracks especially for that gig. When I play really well, it's almost as if I'm on auto-pilot. I get in the zone, completely absorbed by the music. I've compared it before to cooking a meal and having three or four pots on the stove simmering away and you're in full control, adding spices wherever you want, and at exactly the right time. That Berghain gig was definitely one of those, and yes I do miss that feeling, but like many I've stopped thinking about when gigs will come back. To be really honest, I think 'coming back' is probably the wrong way to phrase it anyway, as the musical landscape is so radically different from even 12 months ago, it will never come back in that way. I'm both very optimistic about the new sounds and new artists, upsetting the status quo artistically and socio-economically, and pessimistic about whether enough of our scene's pillars are able to reinvent themselves and survive in a new area. Regardless it'll be more of a rebirth than a comeback.
Your thoughts, observations and feedback are always appreciated! Feel free to pass on the link to your friends, or check out the archive right here https://tinyletter.com/Martyn-Deykers. Stay safe & healthy - Keep the Faith..
Martyn
February 19th, 2021
FIRST THING: GARAGE HOUR
When I was asked to do a mix for RinseFM's weekly Garage Hour show I remembered a folder with tunes on my desktop called "Sidney Vibes", that had been sitting there for years. The name was not in reference to the Australian city but to Sidney Dunbar a.k.a. dj Nubian - who in the late 90s early 00s was one of the main drum 'n bass dj's in Holland and owner of the Killa Cutz record shop in Amsterdam. Somewhere in 1998 I was fully immersed in the dnb world and found myself listening to a weekly mix show on the radio, it featured Nubian but playing a garage set. I hit record and have listened to that tape so often that I have caught myself once or twice subconsciously copying some of the mixes on it, that's how embedded that mix is in my musical DNA. I wanted to honor that era of garage, still strictly 4x4, musical, soulful, super syncopated, just broken away from its US counterpart. Click here for the sounds of Tuff Jam, James Lavonz, Anthill Mob, Dem2 etc.
SECOND THING: 8142 LAUREL VIEW DRIVE
The 1926-built former residence of Marlon Brando in the Hollywood Hills is for sale for $4,295,000. It has a beautiful view on the Sunset Strip and various other amazing architectural works (incl a Frank Lloyd Wright house). You could live here for a mortgage of about 15k - that is a lot of Spotify streaming. I did have to google if this was the mansion where Brando's son Christian shot daughter Cheyenne's boyfriend, but that was 10mins up the road on Mulholland Drive, so hopefully for the lucky buyer this house will only have good vibrations. More beautiful photos here. If you like Zillowgazing follow here.
THIRD THING: CLYDE SEMMOH
In ancient civilizations and all the way up to the Enlightenment, being a scholar or a 'learned' man meant that you were a specialist in not just one, but many different disciplines of science and art. The most famous example of a polymath is without doubt Leonardo da Vinci, who was an inventor, painter, civil engineer, writer, medical specialist and much more ; the original Renaissance Man. The city of Amsterdam sadly lost a pivotal behind-the-scenes renaissance man to Covid last week, Clyde Semmoh. He was part of the very first generation of Dutch (pro) skaters in the late 80s, moved on to open his own skate shop Vibes in Amsterdam, which then became a hub for a younger generation of skaters. Fully invested in the culture in the broadest sense of the word he made hiphop/funk/soul mixtapes and DJ'd as Uncle Clyde, promoted his own nights at Club Up and became a street wear stylist/icon playfully combining over- and underground fashion. He also helped pave the way for brands like Patta, worked for Esquire Magazine and was a judge for Holland's Best Dressed Man (!). If you've been reading my Four Things for a while, you may know I have an affection for influential creative 'millipedes', there are plenty of them that don't get the shine they deserve, and usually only when they have left us. Clyde was 52 years old - let's celebrate all his amazing work: here, here & here as a skating style master, listen to his last mix tape here or check out his project highlighting black artists You Caught Me Smiling here. (photo: Amaury Miller)
FOURTH THING: WHEN WILL THE DAY COME
Rasa's "When Will the Day Come" from 1978 came on my radar through a Kerri Chandler DJ Kicks mix, and it's almost a truly perfect slice of jazz funk, tiptoeing the fine line between ultra sweet soul and just the right amount of chords and changes to be legit for the jazz heads. Reading up on Rasa's back story makes this track and Rasa's only album "Everything You See Is Me" even more special. Rasa were the two Californian brothers Chris and London McDaniels, who at 16 and 17 (!) used their music business connected parents to put together a really nice band of seasoned session musicians to record this album. After attending an event hosted by the 'International Society for Krishna Consciousness' (aka the Hare Krishna movement) they were asked to spread the message of Krishna through music. Many musicians at the time were part of the Hare Krishna movement (George Harrison, Alice Coltrane) and some adapted Krishna chanting into their work, but a pure jazz funk album that lyrically was completely devoted to Krishna was a novel idea. Although the entire album is fillled with jams, 'When Will the Day Come' stands out and has been sampled by several hiphop artists over the years, check it out!
See u next time!