Concertnight at Hertogenwald w/ Tussle,Publicist,...
As part of their European tour, San Francisco based band Tussle is coming to Eupen (their only stop in Belgium), accompanied by The Publicist (the solo project of Sebastian Thomson, drummer of Trans Am). DJ support comes from Herrmutt Lobby and Lalai Drama.
Tussle is a great live band, a polyrhythmic rhythm-machine that links to Krautrock and Post Punk, while adding a uniquely modern sense of experimentation and song writing craft. Their last album 'Cream Cuts' was universally lauded as an electronic pop music record that crosses boundaries between today's rock and dance music scenes. They have played and toured with bands like Hot Chip, Ratatat, Yacht, Cluster, Faust and Gang Gang Dance. With a throbbing bass sound and their disco-influenced drumming, they are now a mainstay on the underground music scene already, prone to becoming a household name in the ever expanding niche occupied by such bands as LCD Soundsystem and !!!. Tussle has released a total of three albums and a handful of 12 inches on labels like Smalltown Supersound, Troubleman Unlimited, Rong/DFA and Tomlab. A soundtrack for the summer or the summer that was, seeing Tussle play live is a must!!
Support act The Publicist concentrates on the beauty and magic of beats to create a warm, disco-drenched pop sound. Like listening to Funk from outer space, aimed at people with interplanetary ambitions themselves.
Eupen-based DJ Lalai Drama will provide a fitting mix of new and old records, coherent as well as surprising. Bretzel Zoo, the DJ project of Herrmutt Lobby, will close off the evening with a mix of Afrobeat, Hiphop, Dub and Electronica. They aim for the dancefloor and you should pitch them their coffee black, no sugar.
Visuals by Rüts DVD contributors Dirk Ignoul aka Zuper! and Kris Clijsters.
For the first time, meakusma curates the ‘Gospert 42’ open air stage, fully dedicated to electronic music in all possible shapes, at the Eupen Musik Marathon. From 2pm till 9.30pm, a select group of artists (many of them linked to the meakusma label) will make your ears buzz with their intense and intensely beautiful sounds on a state of the art Funktion One Soundsystem. At 10pm, there’s an after party at the Atlantic Restaurant, a nice restaurant/cocktail bar close to the Josephine Koch park.
[sic!] will be headlining the outdoor part to present their upcoming release on the meakusma label. This ‘young’ band can work up a Disco storm that goes far beyond retro kitsch or the immediate necessities of the dancefloor. Jules Etienne, Massimiliano Pagliara and Alessandro Tartari use analogue synths, drum machines and bass guitar to produce a sound that references sci-fi film music, the sound of the 80’s in the Paradise Garage and Italo Disco.
Juju and Jordash are forerunners when it comes to performing electronic music live. Echoing Detroit Techno, Dub, Jazz, Krautrock and Postrock, their performances have a Free Jazz feel, leaving options and solutions wide open. They have released on Psychostasia, Real Soon and Dekmantel, releases that have brought them worldwide acclaim and a big following, with fans digging their open minded approach towards music production and performance.
DJ Morpheus, a.k.a. Sammy Birnbach is a legend. In the 70’s and 80’s, he acquired notoriety as the singer of the seminal New Wave/Post Punk band Minimal Compact. In the 90’s, he worked as A&R man for SSR, where he was responsible for the essential Freezone Ambient Music compilations and also brought Carl Craig’s masterpiece More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art to the label’s roster. Still as vital and in tune as always, Morpheus still travels the world, spinning his inimitable brand of eclectic dance music aimed at your head and feet.
Madteo also releases on meakusma. His music is a subtle mixture of Hiphop, House and Electronica. Genre-bending and abstract, his releases have an understated feel that bring their message to you in fragments and whispers. Less is more for this New York resident, although his subtle approach can just as easily entrance an audience that is up for it.
Julian Jöckel hails from Darmstadt and has for years been one of the favourite DJ’s of the meakusma camp. As half of the Immer.Chic project, he has released on Altered Moods and meakusma and is going to release a track on the next Workshop compilation. His Midnight Opera mixes are full of rarities and weird finds and have gathered him a following of people looking further.
Sensu is an old school DJ not interested in old school things. As the son of a classical singer, he has always been surrounded by challenging music. His own DJ sets combine many different styles and genres that are or either feel electronic. He has been a resident in Recyclart, Café Belga, Wax Club and plays all over Belgium and sometimes abroad as well.
MEA003 // Terrence Dixon - Room 310 (incl Upperground Orchestra remixes ) // OUT NOW !!
A distinctly cosmic theme runs through Terrence Dixon's new outing for our label. The two original tracks are two deep space jams with and from a Detroit mindset, the remixes on the flipside by Upperground Orchestra take the 'Room 310' track into deep jazz territory. The original 'Room 310' has one filtered and repetitive synth melody at its core, Dixon's own voice marking a conflict between the reality of everyday life and the expanded reality of what he sees in the sky. The few poignant sounds around the center of the track filter in and out of focus, creating a melodic counterpart that on the one hand enhances the track and on the other hand makes it reflect upon itself. 'Who is That' explores the same territory. Equally repetitive, it sounds a bit more earthed, at once ironic only to blast beyond the rings of Saturn a moment later.
The Upperground Orchestra remixes function in a different way, but aim to arrive at the same goal. Ra.H's jazz ensemble from Venice Italy re-interprets the track, but stays true to it's intentions. In fact, the two remixes function as one whole track, taking up 15 minutes. Continually changing and evolving, the track features off-key synth stabs on the Polysix (in true Detroit tradition), double-bass played by Seggi and a techno-y vibraphone played by Pasquale Mirra contributing melodic as well as rhythmical stabs. Tommaso Cappellato's gentle background drumming flows over the TR808. All this conjures up a 70's jazz feel that fits Dixon's albeit jazzy Detroit wanderings like a glove. Seemingly organic, the whole atmosphere in this jazz rework is equally cosmic and 'far out' as in the original tracks. Part two sees more live drumming step into the foreground. Here a feeling of the musicians jamming prevails, but still all musical information always nods back to the synthetic and only when the last note has been played, the voyage is over and the universe conquered. Cosmic insanity!
We return to Recyclart with an all-star line up of legends and new super talents.
Expect deep, relentless beats, grooves and textures that move forward, however still earthed in the rich tradition electronic club music has built up by now.
The collaborative effort between the legendary DJ Pete (of Scion, Substance and Chain Reaction fame) and Sleeparchive has been going strong for a few years already, but is now firmly moving into focus with a mind-blowing appearance at last yearís landmark Hardwax 20 party in Berlin. For the first time in Belgium, these two techno deities stand for a seductive and deep techno music that avoids the obvious and intents on further developing techno as a cutting edge genre.
Ra.H hails from Lebanon, but has been living in Italy where he started up his already seminal Morphine Records label in 2005. The Morphine sound uses a house music template but broadens it with subtle experimentalism, creating a deep and modern analogue sounding club music that is highly original and that breathed new life into a club scene dominated by made-to-measure minimal house or techno.
Kassem Mosseís sound is also based upon analogue synthesizers and drum machines. Call it techno, but he often surprises with sounds that seemingly do not fit into any category. Releases on Microdisko and especially on Workshop have cemented his reputation as on of the most original and daring producers around today.
Immer.Chic has had a few tracks released already. He warms up the night with an amalgam of stranger, deeper tracks, the result of years of crate-digging and looking for the unexpected.
Please don’t waste your time taking pictures. You can just dance and let us provide you with digitized memories. Our website will feature pictures of the event afterwards, for you to be used and abused.
meakusma starts a new series of special, limited releases. On 10inch vinyl and CD, a number of different artists will be contributing tracks, leftfield from the demands and expectations of any weekly release schedule.
Kicking off the series is Madteo, who already prickled initiated ears with his releases on Morphine and its sublabel Lanquid...
14.02.10 meakusma presents A/V Concerts at Anima Festival
This special event, curated by Meakusma, will take place in the beautiful Studio 1 in the Flagey building. It is a meakusma event outside of a club context, in which you can sit down, listen to the music and watch the visuals. Shackleton and Robert Seidel will perform some of their finest and unreleased work together for the first time. Yko will premier his new audio/visual show, especially for this opportunity. The evening kicks off with a lecture by Robert Seidel, guiding you into this audio/visual journey.
Also worth mentioning is that Herve Jungblut's (a.k.a. Ego) video for Bachel's Casualty 606 track off the rüts DVD compilation has been selected by the Anima Film Festival in the section 'National Competition - Panorama'.
Tickets can reserved by calling this number: +32/2/641.10.20.
A selection of music videos and short films from the rüts DVD will be screened at the Plateaux festival in Poland and the Cimatics festival in Brussels.
On Friday the 20th of November, the DVD will be presented in the cinemas of Torun and Bydgoszcz. One week later, on Friday the 27th of November, another
screening will take place during the Sound On/Off night at the Brigittines chapel in Brussels.
meakusma pres. Live Pa by Hieroglyphic Being "I LOVe U DanCer Dj edits" on samurai.fm
Is it strange to talk about space when you talk about Jamal Moss? Not space, mind you, in the sense of space travel or futuristic house music that aims at nothing else but being interstellar, at surpassing the rings around Saturn and going beyond the infinite. But simple, concrete space, space between beats, space between sounds. Jamal Moss' brand of urban, but equally de-urbanized house music has tons of space, which is perhaps a strange conclusion when thinking about his jacking, remorseless sound. But he can drop space into his music, his dj sets or his live sets. Space does not mean silence, for silence in his music is affected. It is not without consequence. It might be a drum computer that seems to not want to start a rhythm, but does so in the end, twisting expectations, but sounding just right. It might be a pause between two vocal snippets that are so strong, they push everything else to the background. Early house music and European new wave filtering through to America are two focal points in his music. He started his career producing experimental, industrial soundscapes for a club in Chicago and then moved on to innovate the basic rhythm of house music, looking hard at where he could take it, updating people's perception on what the possibilities are of a genre that is mostly associated with a sweaty dancefloor and some harmless feel-good fun with your friends. His productions as Hieroglyphic Being, The Sun God, IAMTHATIAM and under his own name are not harmless. They don't destroy, but they stand for an ongoing musical research. Jamal Moss is not a purist. His sources do not allow him. His music is as glorious as the magic and mystery of an unanswered question. "Rafael Severi"
This Live Pa gets you an idea what to expect from him on our event in collaboration with Sub-Scape in Antwerp on November 6th. For more info about the event with Surgeon and Jamal Moss please have a look here.
meakusma presents Upperground Orchestra live @ Elefante Rosso on samurai.fm
Elefante Rosso is the brand new music club in Venice,
mainly focused on the research and the development for
experimental music in the local area. Hosting many
international and local premium musicians, it's soon
becoming a crossing point for many cultural and musical
acts. Upperground Orchestra, appearing regularly at Elefante
Rosso, is formed by Rabih Beaini, Alvise Seggi, Max Bustreo
and Tommaso Cappellato, alongside guests and occasional
performers. On June 23 2009 the band hosted Pasquale Mirra,
an avant-garde and underground jazz vibraphonist, with a
totally improvised and free session publicly recorded.
Leading the band with electronic analog synths and drum
machines, Rabih Beaini aka Ra.H delivered cosmic deep beats
and spaced out sounds, joined by drummer Tommaso Cappellato
with raw drum jams and abstract patterns. Alvise Seggi
pushed the bass lines to the limits of sound creating a
psychedelic fusion with the key notes and pads of Max
Bustreo. Pasquale Mirra, first time with the band, made some
strong musical statements with space-jazz loops and chords,
creating unconventional effects and sounds with those steel
bars. The overall result is packed in a fusion between funk,
jazz and contemporary music, experiments and sound exploits,
keeping the jam solid and straight while being crafty
mental. The show was recorded on a 2-track recorder with no
post editing.
Check Upperground Orchestra "Solaris Eremit" on Morphine
Records, soon a (..) remix on our label.
Massimiliano Pagliara & Roger 23 // H-EA-L EP // mea001
Following up on the rüts compilation and DVD manifesto, comes our new release, a collaborative effort of Massimiliano Pagliara (Balihu, Rushhour, Live at Robert Johnson) and Roger 23 (Playhouse, Baud, Swayzak Soundsystem, 240 Volt). Two exceptional tracks, aimed directly at a demanding and sweaty dancefloor.
On the A-side, Berlin based band 'Sic!' (with Jules Etienne, Alessandro Tartari from gui.tar and Massimiliano Pagliara) have their track 'H-EA-L' remixed by Roger 23.A 10 minute, moody dub, this track pounds its way gracefully to the center of the dancefloor. Literally out of a thunderstorm, Alessandro Tartari's breathy voice emerges, sprurring on the track. Roaring subbass and an ever increasing amount of little chords, rhythmic elements and effects give the track a profound and dislocating spatial deepness. Right in its middle, the track reconsiders and breaks open into a warm, string-laden soundscape, restarts again but sounds as if reinvented. This is an epic piece of music fusing a relentless robotic structure with a warm sound production.
The track on the B-side sees Massimiliano Pagliara and Roger 23 offering an even more dislocating piece of dance music. Filled with contrast and contradiction, this is a disco house track for lovers of dub techno music, a slow motion house track for dj's not afraid to slow things down and take the dancefloor to the next level, a functional track for everyone willing to take it on and twist it around. The dub chords, which sound as if coming out of some gigantic echo chamber, the pounding bass and the piercing and catchy synth line are all mixed completely to the foreground. A track without physical heart that is all about heart. A beautiful contradiction.
Something special.
Another collaborative effort, this time between Sub-scape and meakusma, will take place in one of our favorite Belgian clubs, the Café Capital in Antwerp, on Friday November 6th.
After astonishing DJ sets at Recyclart and Katakomben in 2007 and 2008, we are pleased to again present Anthony Child, aka Surgeon, accompanied by Jamal Moss, aka Hieroglyphic Being.
Since exploding onto the Techno scene in 1995, DJ and producer Anthony Child has been remoulding his version of contemporary techno with a mind- and body-blowing discography of releases on his own Dynamic Tension and Counterbanlance imprints as well as leading techno labels Tresor and Downwards. Oblivious to current trends, his work continues to be deep and expressive, yet equally effective in a club environment. A perfect dynamic tension: balance and counterbalance. Surgeon will again play a DJ Set that will encompass his diverse range of musical styles and influences.
Jamal Moss has long been a part of the Chicago underground House/Techno scene as both a producer and DJ. Renowned for his unique raw sounding slow and rough, yet soulful, analogue acid house jams, he has recorded for respected labels such as International DJ Gigolo, Spectral, Crčme Oganization and Axis sublabel 6277. He has also worked closely with Techno legend Steve Poindexter and Chicago house pioneer Adonis. Jamal will perform a special live set, mixing analogue drum machines with his own re-edits and samples.
Dj support comes from Sub-scape's Escalators team as well as from meakusma soundsystem.
Some kind of impressionistic stance runs through the music and persona of Vakula. His releases on Quintessentials, Uzuri and Meakusma all shy away from explicit statement and subtly paint out patterns, textures and beats that are deceptively simple, but yet aim to arrive at the heart of any electronic music dancefloor. His take on house music is heavily influenced by the rich history of the genre, with subtle jazz influences floating about and gentle voices pulsing you on. There's more going on beneath the surface though, as Vakula brilliantly uses and abuses the expectation pattern of his audience and twists things around, almost inaudibly. This mix takes the same path and sees Vakula mixing a selection of recent highlights from some of the more adventurous house music producers. Tin Man's brilliant Wasteland track comes in as the second record here and it sets the mood perfectly for what is to come. This 'Narcotic House' masterpiece (where's the time that Chain Reaction releases were depicted as 'Heroin House') twists open the set with its ambiguous 'just relax man' vocal. "Just relax man, I'll get you in the end" Vakula seems to say and he achieves brilliantly.
As a special extra, Vakula has come up with a mix of unreleased tracks all produced by himself. Notably more upbeat than the first mix, the same aesthetic applies to it though. Slowly seductive, pristine tracks shuffle in and out of focus. A distinct eclecticism runs through it all, with the voices used, on the one hand, echoing his influences and, on the other hand, giving the mix a strange dislocated multicultural feel.
Together with the drummer of Dizzy Ventilators, Daniel Jodocy, meakusma returns, once again, to their common home turf. Presenting another "party-embedded concert" at esscobar on September 18, Dj support comes from no other then legendary Dj Morpheus.
Dizzy Ventilators is the brainchild of Yusuke Yamamoto and Daniel Jodocy. Yamamoto, on keys and dub, is known as one of NYC's finest multinstrumentalists. Jodocy, on drums, is the inventor of the "musical suitcases", built from materials found on the streets of New York, that make the Dizzy Ventilators sound so inimitable. The suitcases have also been featured by John Zorn's finger pocket concierto as well as recorded for Zadic with Kenny Wollesen's band Wollesonic. With their debut album, Service Check In, Dizzy Ventilators are making a name for themselves as a duo both abstract and simple, extraordinary and the same. There is no real genre of music that can define what they play, because each track is composed of many different textures.
Morpheus was the lead singer of cult band Minimal Compact, producing a string of 12"s that became anthems in underground clubs in Europe and the United States. In 1994, he took on his Morpheus moniker and started compiling the Freezone series, while also being responsible for projects on SSR such as Carl Craig's legendary More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art album, the Telex remix album, etc. Almost by surprise, he started his DJ career in 1995 when he was invited to play at a big R&S party in Ghent. Since then, Morpheus has been playing major clubs, fashion parties, festivals around Europe and has staged a successful reunion with Minimal Compact. He has built himself a reputation as an eclectic DJ and crate digger, highly respected in many different scenes and subgenres of the electronic music world and beyond.
Also, we took inspiration from a Forwart event in Hasselt, where a painter painted live to the music. At esscobar, former flyer painter from "Jazz im Foyer", Boris Nyssen, will be drawing his lines, projected via an overhead projector. Not to be missed!!
meakusma pres. DJ Morpheus “Summer Chillout Mix” at samurai.fm
Legendary Belgian DJ Morpheus contributes a summery mix to the meakusma Samurai roster, referencing his acclaimed Freezone series on SSR both in spirit and selection. Next to compiling this series of electronic listening music in the nineties, Morpheus was the lead singer of cult band Minimal Compact, producing a string of 12\"s that became anthems in underground clubs in Europe and the United States. In 1994, he took on his Morpheus moniker and started compiling the aforementioned Freezone series, while also being responsible for projects on SSR such as Carl Craig's legendary More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art album, the Telex remix album, etc. Almost by surprise, he started his DJ career in 1995 when he was invited to play at a big R&S party in Ghent. Since then, Morpheus has been playing major clubs, fashion parties and festivals around Europe, has staged a successful reunion with Minimal Compact and has built himself a reputation as an eclectic DJ and crate digger, highly respected in many different scenes and subgenres of the electronic music world and beyond. This is his selection for the summer. Open your window.
Mark the first of August in your calendars, write down 'Midsummer Madness', because that is exactly what manna, our collaborative effort with plain and
forwart, is going to offer you with the Belgian debut of Levon Vincent, straight from New York, and our favourite starchild Roger 23.
Once again, not to be missed.
DJ'ing since 1993, Levon Vincent has had his big break in 2008 with his unique, pumping techno sound. His Invisible Bitchslap EP, released in
November 2008, contained about the catchiest bassline techno has seen in a long time. This record is typical for the Levon Vincent sound. It is
intense, merciless, it explicitly references techno, but Levon leaves room for interpretation and play, resulting in a sound palette that is
open-ended, malleable and edgy. He also runs the Novel Sound label and co-runs the Deconstruct imprint and has recently contributed a mix to the
Resident Advisor site. A future classic!
Roger 23 needs no introduction. He has played in some of the most famous and cutting edge clubs around Europe, is the tour DJ for Swayzak and has
released records and tracks on Playhouse, Volt Musik and Baud. His DJ sets are ecletic, incorporating house, techno and weird 80's stuff. He is a true
craftsman when it comes to Dj'ing, having an amazing talent to 'feel' the dancefloor, mixing in stuff from leftfield, being able to always surprise
his audience, without ever losing the groove, although the groove in Roger's hands is totally his own unique voice.
As a small, special treat, manna members and residents MCK and Sensu will do a ping pong warm up set. Can you dig it?
'A dance is the devil's procession, and he that entereth into a dance, entereth into his possession.' St Francis de Sales (as found in 'Turn the Beat Around', Peter Shapiro's excellent book on Disco)
Massimiliano Pagliara is a future star, no doubt about it. Few people these days manage to be stellar from the get go, but his first release on Balihu was just that. A perfect mix of everything that moves him, whether disco, house, techno or electro. Call it house perhaps, but Massimiliano has the talent to make his tracks sound futuristic and deep, influenced by elements from the past, while updating them with the present and the future. Digging into pure sound and clubbing at the same time, he has a good shot at arriving once again at the dark side of the moog, or any other tool he might use. The dj-set here is at times melancolic, atmospheric and nostalgic, but never loses forward momentum. Electronic music, and house music in particular, is at its best when it suggests something outerworldly, almost glossy, while keeping in with an underground desire to keep the groove going and to change or update it at the same time. Listen to this dj-mix and find out for yourself that club music can be the most beautiful contradiction.
Manna, our collaborative project with forwart and plain, ventures into the night again with guests DJ Sprinkles, aka Terre Thaemlitz, Madteo and Massimiliano Pagliara.
DJ Sprinkles is the nom de plume of Terre Thaemlitz, one of the most prolific artists, producers, cultural entrepeneurs, etc, to ever rise from the electronic music underground. His brand a deep and politically charged house music, his releases on Comatonse, Mule Musiq and Mille Plateaux are all classics. Essential!! Massimiliano Pagliara, born in Italy, but these days residing in Berlin, is a star in the making. With a record on Balihu in 2008, an EP on Live at Robert Johnson, Rushhour and an upcoming collaboration with Roger 23 on meakusma, Massimiliano’s first visit to Belgium will be a memorable one. Madteo’s debut album Memoria was released on Morphine Records in 2008 to great critical acclaim. His sound is a fusion of hiphop and the deep end of house. Unique, deep and beautiful, futuristic stuff, that nods to the past.
After last year's promising edition with Shackleton, we are again going back to nature for another music marathon at the unique and intimate bunker location in the heart of the Ardennes, next to the border with Luxembourg.
With, amongst many others, special guest Madteo playing his first show in Belgium, one week before his show at the Bota Bar in Brussels. With his Memoria album on Morphine in 2008 and his upcoming release on meakusma, New York based Madteo takes references of Disco, Jazz, Dub, Noise, HipHop and even Detroit Techno to exciting and new extremes.
Herrmutt Lobby will present one of their rare & phat electro-hop DJ-sets with scratch and controller madness at its best! The Hague based Walrus, originally from Brussels, is part of the prolific 54kolaktiv stable and is presenting one of his first live shows. Expect an electic mix of Dubstep infected tripping Techno.
If the weatherís good, Brussels Manna, Plain and Café Belga resident DJ Sensu will close down the inside part of the night with one of his eclectic, surprising and intense DJ sets.
We'll then continue the party outside.
During the whole night (and perhaps day as well), a special outside soundsystem will host long DJ sets by Lamadameaveclechien's SoFa, Lalai Drama & Lari Fari, next to Load and Clear's Foton and meakusma soundsystem.
There's a lot of camping space, so bring your tent. This is the event to kickstart the summer!!!
Back to nature - burning bodies in the sun
Back to nature - just like lemmings, every one
Back to nature - capitalist aircraft fill the air
Back to nature - aerosol sun breaks on air
meakusma pres. Madteo w/ Sensational “Naughtica Live set” at samurai.fm
'I'm a bit of a straight kickdrum and bass slut.'
Playing around with obvious and less obvious influences, mixing hiphop, house and techno, Madteo delivers a live set of downright future hiphop. Together with MC and his "brother from another mother" Sensational, on the wonky hiphop tracks featured in this set, he uses understatement as his artistic means of expression. Sensational and I go back from when, in the mid 90s, I used to be the one doing the (boring) mailings with his very first few solo LPs from my days helping out at the Wordsound offices in Williamsurg, BK...then he fell into some hard times, a young broken hearted uniquely talented MC with no place to sleep who wandered the streets of NYC 24/7 on the hustle for about 5-6 or even 7 years.....so for a period of a few years he ended up sleeping on my couch a lot and that's how our music collaborations jumpstarted.
With a basic set-up, without too much technological trickery, layering or anything like that, he focuses on the few sounds that he thinks work and then indeed makes them work. His acclaimed debut Memoria on Morphine Records is an essential record for anyone interested in the future of club music (we're all supposed to be, aren't we).
A self-confessed straight kickdrum and bass slut, this Madteo live set sounds like the past, integrated in some glorious future.
On Saturday 14 March 2009, meakusma returns to Recyclart, presenting their uncompromising take on electronic music.
Amsterdam based Newworldaquarium stands for grooves without end, slowly changing colour and shape, sneaking their way into your head. His 2008 ‘The Dead Bears’ was hailed as a landmark album by top dj/producers and journalists alike. Newworldaquarium uses the Detroit legacy and gently twists it around, using records, samples, loops and beats to conjure up a low-tempo, deep and subtle disco-like groove.
Of Finnish descent, but born and raised in California, Tin Man has two major musical passions: fragile, deep electronica and acid house. With acclaimed releases on the Finnish record label Sähkö/Keys of Life, Cheap Records from Vienna and his own imprint, Global A, his most recent ‘Wasteland’ E.P. is his most bold so far, fusing chicago house with an opiated version of European electronica and indietronica. This is his first set in Belgium, not to be missed.
For the second time, Swayzak Soundsystem’s renowned DJ, producer and musical magician Roger 23 comes to Recyclart with his sophisticated, spontaneous and energetic mix of electro, house, techno and futuristic ear candy. His magic touch will, yet again, transform the dancefloor into an intergalactic musical adventure.
Last but not least, Brussels’ finest & first electro DJ, Surreal Sound founder, producer for labels such as Nature & Roulette and a resident at the Fuse club's first season, Joost de Lijser will warm up the night with a 3 hour set of rare acid house records.
Visuals by Rüts DVD contributors Zuper! and Kris Klijsters.
Be there and be early!
Note: we will make sure there's a photographer around, covering the event with a set of pictures. These will be made available through our website. Contrary to today's trend of posting pictures on Facebook and other networking websites, we would like to ask you not to bother taking too many pictures and just enjoy the party. Posting pictures on Facebook has the averse effect of people being afraid of an embarrassing picture showing up somewhere. A party can be like a cocoon, protected from the outside, drowned, for a couple of hours, in futuristic music, not futuristic gadgets. Let's party!
Resonance Ghent 2009 ::: Day 2 ::: in collaboration with meakusma
On Saturday 28 February, we are teaming up with Resonance in Ghent to bring you performances and dj sets by Efdemin, Claro Intelecto & Andy Stott, Peter Van Hoesen, Move D & Benjamin Brunn. On this second night of the three day Resonance festival, in the ballroom of Voouit, we will also focus on our recently released audiovisual rüts DVD, a collaboration with Scottish music collective Ampoule. It features video's and short films with music by Peter Van Hoesen, Move D, Benjamin Brunn and many others. This event is a collaborative effort of two collectives, presented as a performance night co-hosted by meakusma.
After the three rüts vinyl mini compilations, comes the first meakusma DVD. True to the collective's spirit, it functions as a mini-compendium of established artists and debutants of whom many have already been featured on the vinyl releases. 23 tracks by Move D & Benjamin Brunn, Kate Simko, Pub, Subjex, Terrence Dixon, Herrmutt Lobby, Roger 23, Kinora Viewer, Roebin de Freitas, Peter Van Hoesen, Immer.Chic, Trifonic, Rony & Suzy,... get a visual interpretation by, amongst others, man vs magnet, Chris Parks, Defasten, Kris Clijsters, Les agents Myop, Scott Pagano, institut Goetze, Humanstudio, ego, miH, Ewo, Dirk Ignoul... The visual contributions range in style from more straightforward digital visual design to cut-up pieces to short movies, whilst still having a distinctly understated feel. Trying to establish networks between musicians and visual artists, the results are often subtly surprising. The visual artists have been given total freedom in the development of their pieces and in their interpretation of the music. Created with the kind help of the Youth Education & Culture project and compiled together with the Ampoule collective from Scotland (still to become absolutely notorious for their high quality electronic music output), meakusma has chosen quality over shock effect.
As bonus you can drag & drop all tracks as wav-files them to your hard drive. The record is distributed by several distributors and can be found in selected physical and digital recordshops around the world, on the ampoule website and in our own webshop. More info and individual snippets can be found in the release section.
You can get the DVD here
First of all we want to thank all volunteers, artists and guests for two fantastic events at Katakomben & Recyclart! It was a blast!
As little Christmas gift you can find in the media section one hour of Surgeon's more then excellent DJ set at Katakomben, as well as Aardvarck's refreshing, suprising and polarising set and Bachel's very fine close down at Recyclart! Special thanks to all of them!
Watch out for more exciting events, releases, Samurai shows,... in the next year.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
13.12.08
manna & meakusma at faro/recyclart
Saturday the 13th of December, meakusma continues the party at Recyclart. A manna event in the afternoon at Faro will give the whole an even more festive feel. The night part at Recyclart promises to be nothing more than spectacular with the debut performance in Belgium of techno and electronica legend T++, new techno deity Shed also debuting live in Belgium, Holland's answer to Detroit Aardvarck, Bachel of the Ampoule collective and Will O'Brien, the man behind Sub-Scape.
Manna at Faro, in the afternoon, once again plunges into leftfield electronica. Pub & Pliiant head things here with their unbridled take on hiphop and electronica. Pliiant will also do a solo live set. Ukraine's Vakula is debuting in Belgium, just as Immer.Chic, mixing things up in an unusually eclectic way. Manna, Plain and Cafe Belga resident Sensu kicks things off in his distinct style.
At the manna event, the 'ruets' DVD will also be screened.
meakusma returns to this unique basement location, where many things started for them 10 years ago. For this night, celebrating the 'rüts' compilation, created with the kind help of the Youth Education & Culture project, we aim to spoil you with 2 rooms, a stellar line up and the state of the art Funktion One soundsytem.
From 8 pm till 11 pm, there will also be an exhibition featuring the work of Hervé Jungblut (ego) and Benjamin Rondia. Next to that, there´s selected screenings of videos from the DVD planned and, also, the rüts DVD will be available for a special price for people with a presale ticket.
The third part of the rüts vinyl mini compilation series features 4 tracks, searching for common and less common grounds between functionality and abstraction.
Immer.Chic kicks things off with a genuine techno trip called «The End Of Eternity». A dark and futuristic track, with a stumbling groove that stands out because of its atmos¬pheric density and its unconventional sound design.
Vakula is a man of rhythm, musically raised by his grandmother, who introduced him to african american soul and jazz music. This education has had its consequences, as is shown on «We Shall Dance». Basically an amalgam of jittering and spacy sounds, Vakula layers different grooves and soulful samples over a house rhythm that directly aims for the legs.
On the B-side, two more established producers step into the limelight. Paul David Rollmann is a man of many trades. Here, under his Even Tuell moniker, he delivers an easy but also unsettled track. «Thanden Strakk» is a mid-tempo shoegazer of a house track. Softly tapping beats, an organ playing chords in the background as well as a light but dissonant synth chord form the framework of this psycho-trip of a track.
Move D & Benjmin Brunn are clearly soulmates. After superb releases on Smallville and Bine, they are featured here with a track that fully exploits the possibilities of stereo. A wonderful piece that communicates a spatial deepness, echoing Basic Channel.
Part two of the rüts compilation again subtly touches upon different ends of the electronic music spectrum, with atmosphere and density right in the center of its throbbing heart.
The a-side features two new talents. Morthen Kiang kicks things off with a driving beat, full of groove and dub elements.
Rezenio Kariem, a.k.a. Rezkar, is a young guy from South Africa. Over a varied house beat, Rezkar layers an abundance of strings-laden sounds, making for a fl uid, almost plasma-like feel.
The b-side dives head first into more experimental territory. Belgian techno producer Valyom° surprises with a surreal and dream-like track. On «Mermaids», metres-high waves of sound collide with a bumpy beat, creating a throbbing surface.The final statement comes from Roger 23. «No Movement In A Cycle» truely is a dark and chordish thunderstorm of a track that moves incessantly forward. Powerful and dystopian, no beats, with just a shimmer of light at the end of its tunnel.
This special event on the 28th of November is presented within the collaboration we worked out with Ampoule over the last 20 months. With the kind help of the "Youth education & culture" project, we managed to establish a label platform with our first 12" vinyl mini compilations and a DVD including 25 music videos, 6 short movies and 1 poster. From 9pm onwards, one of the most legendary locations in Scotland called 'Club 69', with the support of Rubadub, will be host to an Ampoule and meakusma label night featuring Pub, Peter van Hoesen & Hermutt Lobby, accompanied by dj-sets by Martin & Euan from Rubadub.
So in case you are around, please come say hello and dance your socks off.
A selection of clips from the forthcoming rüts DVD are previewed at SMartival in Brussels on the 28th November 2008. The DVD has been compiled in collaboration with Ampoule records from Glasgow and contains musicvideos and short films from artists such as Move D & Benjamin Brunn, Pub, Chris Parks, Terrence Dixon, Roger 23, Kate Simko, man vs magnet, Peter Van Hoesen, Visual Kitchen, Les Agents Myop, Scott Pagano, Nick Bax, Ego, Herrmutt Lobby, Subjex, Roebin de Freitas, miH, Trifonic, Rony & Suzy, Ewo, Dirk Ignoul etc. It will be released on meakusma at the end of this year. After the screening, Ego (Ambivalence, Lmalc - BE) will be available to answer some questions
We are very sorry to have to announce that Monolake can not play a live set at our December event at Recyclart due to a mistake by his booking agency.
Luckily, we have found the perfect replacement in Berlin's Shed, presenting his new album 'Shedding the Past' for the first time in Belgium! Shedding the Past is without exaggeration the best electronic dance music album of 2008 so far, fluidly taking in influences of Techno, Dubstep, Electronica and Minimal and was released on the prestigious OstGut imprint, Berghain's very own label.
We are trying our very best to present Monolake in the near future and hopefully, after some years of trying, it will finally happen next year!!
Café Belga & manna pres an early nuit blanche event
This new edition of Manna cheats a bit on the concept of the 'White Night'. From 8 p.m. till 1 a.m., the exquisite Café Belga will host an early evening party featuring artists Kate Simko, Katrien Klausing and the Manna residents Sensu, MCK and Molte.
Part of one of Nuit Blanche's 'Off' events, this Manna once again focuses on the unknown and the unexpected. Chicago-based Kate Simko makes her debut appearance in Belgium. With a classical music background, Kate has been defining her electronic musical stance on labels such as Spectral Sound, Traum, and Kupei Musika. Her music plays with genre borders, textures, delicate melodies and a solid groove underneath.
Next to Kate, Manna has invited one of the biggest names of the Belgian ambient scene of the nineties. Katrien Klausing has an impressive track record working for labels like R&S, Mute, Tommy Boy, etc and touring with artists such as Biosphere, Aphex Twin, Derrick May, Carl Craig, and many more. Truly one of the great ladies of Belgian electronic music, Katrien's set is not to be missed.
Manna stays focused on featuring artists that sound different without preaching any revolutions. No hypes, just quality music: the unknown and the unexpected, as was said before. See you soon.
Before releasing the rüts DVD in collaboration with ampoule records, we are happy to present the first of three 12" vinyl releases titled rüts.
On the A-side Peter Van Hoesen delivers another energetic and hypnotic techno track while ampoule-head Pub comes up with one of his darker electronica tracks. On the B-side you can find an un-released vintage Clatterbox track which can be seen as a continuation of the downtempo styles fondly remembered by Clear and Clatterbox fans; and another tripping masterpiece of old-breed Detroit-based producer Terrence Dixon.
The record is distributed exclusively by Rubadub and can be found in selected physical and digital recordshops around the world, on the ampoule website (www.ampoulerecords.com) and in our own webshop. More info and snippets can be found in the release section!
Septic Heart live (Skull Disco - UK), Roebin de Freitas live (Curle - BE), Cupp Cave live (aka Kingfishberg - BE), Solariumface dj (Lamadameaveclechien - BE), Phoenetics dj (54Kolaktiv - BE), Lari Fari dj (Lamadamaveclechien - BE), Beatnologistz dj (Lamdameaveclechien - BE)
After a couple of months of delay, many discussions and hard work, we are happy to announce you the launch of our new website.
By browsing through the different sections, you will discover lots of new goodies such as the media section with audio/video streams and downloads from our past events.
Please also have a look in our releases section where you will discover our long expected output very soon.
So, in case you like what you see, please grab our RSS feeds, bookmark us, subscribe to our newsletter or just have fun by browsing through the site while listening to some excellent live performances of former events in the media section.
Thanks to Jo for your programming ideas and help !
Cheers
Sinister Ministers is now available for download on almost every known digital download site
FACT mix 106: Surgeon 07.12.09
Fact Magazine UK is hosting a Dj Mix from Surgeon recorded live on our collaborative event with Sub Scape at Café Capital Antwerp. "If you want to know what techno is really about - download this mix now. "
Defasten announce STRANGE DAYS, his first solo exhibit and retrospective of his video work, including "Vorhaus" which he produced for the rüts DVD. The exhibit wil be held at Le Cube in Paris, and runs from September 27 to January 16 2010
The music video "Webs Made Of Nylon" from the rüts compilation will be screened at the furthcoming Pictoplasma festival 2009 in Berlin during the Psychedelic Midnight Mix on the 20th March.
Peter Van Hoesen on Mind The Gap Volume 78 09.03.09
Peter van Hoesen's track "Lto Mess" from the rüts compilation is featured in a digifile with Gonzo (circus) magazine issue #91, March/April 2009. Check!
meakusma presents Immer.Chic 'Midnight Opera 4' mix at samurai.fm 20.01.09
The 4th mix in our serie at samurai.fm is presented by Immer.Chic .Midnight Opera Four is not a mix to dance to in the first instance,. Immer.Chic's aim is to move your mind. With this mix he tried to trace his memories of the first time he watched the Russian "fairy tail movie" 'Skazka stranstviy'. It is a very impressing dark and melancholic movie. As dark as the book of Hieronymus Bosch's Collected Works' his parents owned back then. It was always kept in the near of their piano. Hence there has always been a connection between his music and these disturbing but at the same time fascinating pictures. In these times he also learned about the outer space and he mused a lot about things like infinity and the proportions of planets and galaxies. In the nights he would fantasize a lot about all these ascendancies in his dreams.
meakusma presents Tin Man 'Wasteland' mix at samurai.fm 21.11.08
meakusma's third samurai.fm show features a mix by Tin Man. His unusual acidic tracks have been released on Sähkö's sublabel Keys of Life, Cheap records and his own Global A Recordings. His latest and masterful mini-album 'Wasteland' features heavily here. This very unique mixture of dark and tripping drones, opiated vocals, electronica and Chicago house is quickly proving to be essential in every music lover's frame of reference. Run to your local record shop, but first indulge in this exclusive mix
On the 5th of December mck is playing a dj set alongside Berghain's Ben Klock, Peter van Hoesen and Adriaan Vankeerbergen in one of Brussels most promising venues of the moment, Congres Station. This night features a state-of-the-art soundsystem - Funktion One !!
The 2nd mix for our radio show at Samurai.fm is finally online! This time, Peter van Hoesen delivers 45min of fine Berlin Dubtechno, classic Neo-Detroit & one of his own goodies released on t2x. Check!
Katrien Klausing, one of the biggest names of Belgian ambient scene of the nineties while working for labels such us R&S, Mute & Tommy Boy ,kindly allowed us to stream her very nice Dj set recorded at our manna event at Brussels Café Belga last Saturday. 2 hours of classic Ambient, Afromusic, Classic Detroit Techno, Dub & beyond - check it out!
Freedom of Speech, the short film of our graphic head 'Yko' in collaboration with Anders Eideberg is nominated for this years Imago Film Festival in Portugal in the competition "Under 25"
On 2nd of October, meakusma soundsystem is accompanying Benjamin Rondia's " NOT ART, JUST A FUNNY GAME " exposition at Centre Culturel de Waremme from 6.30-10.00 pm. Fore more info, please visit:
meakusma pres. Roger 23 "Return to the Planet" at samurai.fm 07.07.08
For our first monthly Radio Show at Tokyo/London-based Samurai.fm, we are proud to present an exclusive broadcast-mix from Roger23, who tells a story from super rare and forgotten 80’s Electronic Punk to Deep House, Detroit-Electro to beaten technoid tracks like Berlin-based artist Dynamo.We guarantee massive pleasure for power, technology and your head !
