Quick note to reply to a few things. First of all, Steve Eisner wrote in his
informative Seattle report: "I went through for a period - I found myself
listening to music that in net terms falls more under IDM than anything else, I
guess."
Goodness, me too. I'm having problems with being inspired by a lot of what is
falling for 'acid jazz' these days. There are many solid tracks being produced,
but not much innovation and long-standing newness. I'm putting less and less new
records in my crate every week, and the ones that I do put in don't really fall
under the discussion on this list. I'm afraid that the drum n bass stuff is what
is really inspiring me these days, which is sort of funny as I initially turned
my back on that music. Check out the Creative Source or Mystic Moods releases,
definitely. And- absolutely check out the Jacob's Optical Stairway record.
Wowie.
I'm sure some more 'acid jazzy' music will come along that will thrill me, and
I'll surely broadcast it here. Just seems like a dry spell right now. Hmmmm...
Steve also wrote: "I've been really impressed by New Breed's latest offerings,
including the BMF-mixed NB sampler volume 3."
New Breed, for all complaints against them, do stay true to what they set out to
do. There is still some excellent music being produced from that camp and
interestingly enough, it's getting a bit darker. Fat Jazzy Grooves 14 is mostly
darker Prunes-like tracks and is all the better for it. And speaking of DJ BMF
(who is now a Bad Mood employee!) he has an EP coming out on New Breed very
soon... and it is really really good (I guess I'm sort of biased as I had a hand
in the production... but be sure to check it anyway).
Steve also wrote: "My pick of the litter, though, was "The Darker Side of Jazz",
a City of Angels rerelease of the best of the Mephisto label releases. At
least two tracks should be familiar to listmembers! Because of Moonshine's
wide-spread distribution (they distribute CofA) you can finally walk into
your local Towering Record Store and pick up tracks by Pimp Daddy Nash and
QBurn's Abstract Message :) Congrats, Michael. BTW - keep an ear out for
the hidden track 13 - is this a new track or just a wack remix of Black
Dahlia? Hard to tell."
Track 13 is a Freaky Chakra mix of 'Black Dahlia'. The hidden track thing is a
pretty annoying practice, funny when it was done for the first time, now just
completely annoying. But- thanks for the complement... glad you like the track.
That is a crazy remix I did of the track... check out the original on the
Mephisto 12" which I personally prefer. The 12" also has a downtempo but HARD
hip hop mix of the Pimp Daddy Nash track as well. Also, for you folks overseas,
this compilation just came out on Crammed/SSR as 'The Subterranean Sound of San
Francisco' (funny- I didn't know I lived in San Francisco.).
I've got a new 12" coming soon on Mephisto for a track called "Enter/Other"
which will have remixes by Fluid Motion and Bahamut. Pretty club friendly, I
imagine, though I haven't heard the finished remixes yet. Pimp Daddy Nash also
has a 12" coming out on Mephisto called "2000 Zero Zero" with mixes by Dr.
Shrinker and DJ BMF. This will be a huge 12", as the mixes and original blend
all sort of elements into one tasty jazzy goo ready for club stomping. Pimp
Daddy + crew outdid themselves with this one!
(By the way- just so you know- you can reach Pimp Daddy, DJ BMF, and Gerard of
the Global Groove Summit at this e-mail address if you need to... we all share
the same office.)
Also Marc is curious about where to shop his material. The challenge was put
forth for on-line labels to enter input, including Eighth Dimension. Well, the
situation at Eighth Dimension is a lot like those of other small labels. We have
5 owners, and 4 of us make music. So that means we pretty much already have a
built in roster of artists. Not to mention we are pretty broke (distributors
often suck when it comes to paying on time or at all) so any release we put out
will certainly be from one of us. Hopefully this will change as we make more
bucks (and distributors pay us on time). Of course, we'll listen to any demo
sent and I'd be happy to make constructive comments....
As far as unsolicited demos go, I say go for it. You never know. It's good to
have an 'in there' first (meeting the owner through a DJ gig or internet or
whatever, giving a demo to one of the artists, having a friend of the owner that
you know give it to him/her) but sometimes random demos work. I have a few
things pending that resulted from unsolicited demos... but the fact that I have
had releases out that are sort of known helps. It would be the absolute best
move to put your own vinyl release out. A record company is much more impressed
if they see that you're serious enough to put something out yourself. Plus,
sending a vinyl record to a dance/AJ label assures that you will get listened to
as most of these owners are DJs and will spin your record. If they spin it, like
it, and get good crowd response, you're in there!
Okay- closing out- to all in central Florida and about.... DJ Smash will be at
Phat N Jazzy tonight (Tuesday). If you need information or directions call
myself, BMF, or John at Bad Mood at (407) 246-0072. PEACE!
Michael
Q-BURN'S ABSTRACT MESSAGE