hey there everyone!
Been taking a wee bit of a breather on the e-mail front as things
quieted a little after Pride and all the Jazz Fest action. Speaking of
the latter, props to all who made it out last month to catch Nicole
Willis + Jimi Tenor (and full band) at Una Mas. Wow!! is all I can say.
Easily one of the best live bands I've seen in some time, making me very
very happy to be part of that show. Thank-you to Shane Gerrard and his
Rhythmethod crew for all the wicked programming in the Downtown Jazz
Fest's Nightlife series (which also brought to Toronto: Jazzanova,
Osunlade, Fertile Ground, Bobby Matos and others). Sweet!
So it's been almost three weeks since the last update from my little
corner of the world. There's now lots (!!) to tell you about where
Mental Chatter, club gigs and the writing of reviews 'n articles are
concerned. Read on to find out more. As always, welcome to those of you
new to this e-list!
Here's what's goin' on. Look out for ticket giveaways, in the gigs
section:
RADIO:
Mental Chatter airs Mondays from 11am-2pm EST on Toronto's CKLN 88.1fm.
Tune in live via your radios or with CKLN's Real Audio hook-up for
super-fresh releases (including advance goodies), local and
international guests, community/gig info galore, and loads more.
Playlists: http://ckln.sac.ryerson.ca/html/chart/logdb/pl_3.html
Online Archives on www.beats.to: Now totally up to date! Follow the link
to listen to any number of archived shows...the playlists, guest and
Pick of the Week info is also all here so that you know what you'll be
hearing.
http://www.beats.to/cgi-bin/links/dclinks.cgi?action=view_category&category=Mental+Chatter
Recent Guests have included:
~ June 11: Lex from Legion of Green Men + Watershell
~ June 11: Nick Holder
~ June 18: Anna C. of Supporting Our Youth, DJ Wasabi, and DJ James
St. Bass in this Pride Week special
~ July 16: LA producer The Angel (this archive up for week's end)
Recent Picks of the Week have included:
- June 25: New Sector Movement's Download This (Main
Squeeze/People/Virgin) Oh my goodness! I expected good to great from
I.G. Culture and crew, but this album is nothing short of phenomenal.
"The Sun" lead-off single only scratches the surface of this beautiful,
moving and incredibly soulful full-length. There's been no doubt that
I.G. is an innovator, but this album places he and his crew of Kaidi
Tatham, Julie Dexter, Bembe Segue and others in a category all their
own. Absolute Top 10 of the year material! The album is being released
in the U.K. in early July. Hold tight for a Canadian release date via
Virgin. http://the-raft.com/nsm.html for more info.
- July 2: Carl Craigís Planet E label represents the DEMF flavour with a
totally solid compilation titled All Access. Commemorating his role as
the DEMF co-founder and creative music director (as he still should
be!), Carl has brought together a number of established and newer
artists from Detroit, and placed them alongside international heads such
as Aril Brikha and Windsorís Richie Hawtin who have long-standing
connections with the Motor City. Others included on this wide-ranging
comp include Inner City (a sweet Reese remix!), Recloose, Ibex, Black
Odyssey (aka Stacey Pullen), Theorem vs. Swayzak and more. An absolute
must-have, especially for those newer to the Detroit sound and
significance in electronic music history and future.
http://www.planet-e.net/
- July 9: David Axelrodís incredible, self-titled release, out now on
Moí Wax / Beggars Banquet. Wow. Iíve heard this manís name mentioned a
number of times, and knew that heíd been sampled by artists ranging
from Mosí Def and Tribe to DJ Shadow and Dr. Dre, but truthfully, I had
no idea. Here the LA-based producer, composer, musician, arranger, and
former Capitol Records A&R man revisits rhythm tracks originally
conceived in 1968 and puts a new spin on them. Thereís also a couple of
new works, "The Little Children" featuring rapper Ras Kass, and the
incredibly moving "Loved Boy," featuring the vocals of longtime
collaborator Lou Rawls. Solid liner notes by Josh Davis/DJ Shadow and
beautiful packaging make this one extra-special indeed. A must for fans
of soul, jazz, funk, fusion, orchestration and experimentation.
- July 16: the Poets of Rhythm Discern/Define (Quannum Projects / Ninja
Tune) This contemporary German funk band blew my mind with the
"Guiding Resolution" 7" single, but this entire album is incredible,
showing a deep and broad understanding of funk. Originally inspired by
the Meters, the band has been playing and recording since the early
'90s. According to the gushing intro and history that Quannum's Lyrics
Born provides, it sounds like the Poets have matured a great deal.
Beautiful music, that's all I can say. This is their first worldwide
release.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
WRITING:
Recently featured in my Eye weekly Extended Play column:
~ June 28: Jazzanova's Claas Brieler took some time out from working on
the new Jazzanova EP and forthcoming debut full-length.
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_06.28.01/thebeat/extended.html
~ July 5: Toronto techno producer and DJ Adam Marshall shares some info
'bout his Killer label and his ever-growing connections to Germany.
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_07.05.01/thebeat/extended.html
~ July 12: Funky, wide-ranging Orlando-based producer and DJ Q-Burns
Abstract Message gives us the scoop on his newest LP and more.
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_07.12.01/thebeat/extended.html
~ July 19: Former Montrealer Bettina Costanzo, better known as
West-London dwelling 'n creating Bougie Soliterre gives us the scoop on
her development as a producer. This woman knows no limits!
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_07.19.01/thebeat/extended.html
....and, in the current (July) issue of nationally-adored Exclaim
magazine, there's lots of great reading. Follow this link for an
in-depth feature story I wrote about LA producer The Angel (aka 60
Channels, one third of Jaz Klash etc.) and her 'extended family' of
collaborators, including Mystic, Navigator, Pharcyde's Tre Hardson and
others.
http://www.exclaim.ca/common/display.php3?articleid=706
Also check the ish for reviews I've written of Micatone: Nine Songs
(Sonar Kollektiv), Tom Tyler: Singles Collection 1998-99 (DC Recordings)
and Block 16: Morning Sun (Nuphonic)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLUB GIGS:
glide Wednesdays with DJ's Denise Benson + Andrew Allsgood
weekly at Gypsy Co-op ~ 817 Queen St. West ~ main floor 416.703.5069
lounge. dance. chill. do what'cha like. no cover. just great music.
Andrew and I can be found in the Gypsy lounge, each 'n every Wednesday,
bringing the musical goods straight from our hearts to yours. No cover.
No attitude. No worries. Just great music and great music.
dub. downtempo. nu jazz. deep house. beats. soul. hip hop + more
plus.....
The Angel with Denise Benson
Friday July 20 ~ the Orange Room, 132 Queen's Quay E.
$8 at the door
As you can tell from all the mentions above, I'm a big fan of producer
The Angel. I've been following her since some of her early remixes for
people like Pharcyde, DJ Food and Donald Byrd and totally have
appreciated getting to know both her and her music via projects such as
60 Channels and jazzy drum & bassers Jaz Klash (the Angel with Bristol's
More Rockers). Personally, I think that the Angel's new album, No
Gravity, is her best work to date. For more info, read the piece I wrote
for this month's Exclaim (link above) and/or the articles in this week's
Eye and Now weeklies respectively. I'll be warming up the decks, playing
from 10pm to midnight, then Angel takes over. Should be fun, funky,
eclectic mixes from both of us...dub, reggae, hip hop, beats, d&b and
more...
I have 3 pairs of tickets to offer up to the first 3 people to e me
requesting them. I'll e you back if you're one of the three to win!
Other upcoming DJ appearances:
- WEDNESDAY AUGUST 1: I'll be stepping away from the Gypsy Co-op 'tables
just long enough to head on over to Tonic (117 Peter St.) for the weekly
club sensation For Those Who Know. I'll be dropping a pure house set,
from deep and soulful to percussive and funky, from 10pm - 12:30am,
until the one 'n only Matt C. enters the house. Check the next e-letter
from me for guest list giveaway action!
- SATURDAY AUGUST 4 and SUNDAY AUGUST 5: I'll be in Montreal,
participating once again in that city's incredible Pride experience,
Divers/Cité! Saturday night is Lesbo/Monde, a wicked annual party for
women and friends. I played this one all night last year and had a
blast! This one should be even better, taking place in three rooms at
the Cabaret space on St. Laurent. I'll be spinning from 10pm-2am, then
do it up a little differently on Sunday, the main parade day, when I
spin from 4-6pm on the 'Les Girlz' outdoor stage. Check the Divers/Cité
web site for the full scoop on the entire week of festivities:
http://www.diverscite.org
- SATURDAY AUGUST 11: The full details aren't in on this one as yet, but
here's the advance scoop on what I know about MARK GRANT's date in
Toronto. The sweet, soulful, Chicago-based producer is on tour in
support of the forthcoming Sounds of OM 2 compilation that he's mixed.
I'll be joining him for his Toronto date, as will be Nick Holder, Ali
Black, and Joe Rizla + Trini. Kool Haus, 1 Jarvis St. More concrete
details as I get'em.
There's more to tell you, but I'll leave it at that for this round.
Thanks for reading, caring and supporting. Enjoy your summer!
As always...if you would prefer not to be on this mailing list, just
lemme know and off your name shall go! Thanks!
-db-
-- -denise benson-Radio & Club DJ: 'Mental Chatter' ï Mondays 11am-2pm, CKLN 88.1FM (Toronto) (playlists & live RealAudio: http://ckln.sac.ryerson.ca Archives: http://www.beats.to) 'Glide' ï Wednesdays @ Gypsy Co-op, 817 Queen St. W.
Writer: Eye Weekly ï 'Extended Play' and 'Beats Per Week' ï http://www.eye.net Exclaim Magazine ï features & reviews ï http://www.exclaim.ca
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jul 20 2001 - 05:39:02 CEST