Don't change the basic channel

In the mid-1990s, a band of Berlin outsiders, centered around the record store Hard Wax and studio Dubplates & Mastering, began reducing sonic pressure to pure grayscale essence. The labels Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, Main Street, Burial Mix and Rhythm & Sound tossed Detroit techno, Chicago house and roots dub beats in a compression chamber and squeezed out something entirely other. Two of the key people in the scene, René Löwe and Peter Kuschnereit, returned to Detroit to perform live (as Scion) and spin individual DJ sets. Tasty textures guaranteed. Support from Detroit's Patrick Russell and Drew Pompa of Blank Artists, your hosts for the evening. Friday, Nov. 13. Doors at 10 p.m. at Bohemian National Home, 3009 Tillman St., Detroit; $10.

In the mood for Ghostly

Ann Arbor-based Ghostly International has just released an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Called Ghostly Discovery, the application works as a mood-reading jukebox containing Ghostly's and sister label's Spectral Sound's catalogs, allowing users to create space-age playlists for what they want to listen to based on their emo(tional) state and digital (or) organic preference. After setting your own parameters, you get the option of reading artist bios and purchasing MP3s. Ghostly Discovery is free at the iTunes Store. Download it now, we say. Get it and find Dykehouse's 'Chain Smoking.' You'll want to hug it, guaranteed.

Ghostly Discovery was developed in a partnership with Royal Oak design firm o2 Creative Solutions, which previously worked with Ghostly to create projections for Matthew Dear's Big Hands Band North American tour.

Good work all round by Ghostly/Spectral, o2 and, of course, Apple.  

Movement '09: revisited, recycled

The numbers keep going up for Paxahau and its three days of electronic love on the Detroit riverfront.

In a press statement released this week, the Ferndale-based promotions group said that 83,322 people visited Hart Plaza during the three-day Memorial Day Weekend for Movement, the annual electronic music festival that featured nearly 100 performances on four stages.
 
“Movement 2009 was an overwhelming success on so many levels,” said festival producer Jason Huvaere. “People loved the lineup of performances we were able to put together this year. Our sponsors and vendors really stepped up this year despite the tough economy. The recycling program surpassed last year’s totals for collected items. And we had great weather the entire weekend, which definitely contributed to the record breaking turnout. As far as events like this go, in our eyes it could not have gone any better.”
 
Since Paxahau began producing Movement in 2006 attendance at the festival has steadily increased each year. An estimated crowd of a little more than 40,000 people attended in 2006 and nearly 45,000 attended in 2007. In 2008 nearly 78,000 attended and for the first time ever festival attendance was tracked using turnstiles. This year hand-held clickers were used to count attendance.   
 
Electronic Music fans in attendance at Movement 2009 proved to be an environmentally-friendly group. Four tons or 8,000 pounds of recyclable materials were collected over the course of the three-day festival. This year’s total surpassed 2008 totals by 5,000 pounds.
 
Paxahau partnered again with Recycle Detroit, a non-profit organization founded by Detroiter Sarah Kubik. The hard-working non-profit had a team of 100 volunteers, utilized 40 recycling stations and successfully convinced nearly 2,500 people to commit to be more environmentally conscious.
 
“We were very pleased to have Sarah and her Recycle Detroit volunteers be apart of Movement again this year,” said Huvaere. “They have single-handedly taken the festival’s recycling program to the next level.  Recycle Detroit is a great organization.”

Paxahau assembled an exciting lineup of local, national and international performers, but it was the announcement of Techno Music legend Carl Craig being named Creative Director for Movement 2010 that dominated the conversation on blogs and among groups of festival-goers all weekend long.
 
“We have received nothing but positive feedback from the announcement about Carl,” said Huvaere. “His involvement will strengthen the future of the Movement festival in Detroit. Carl is a musical visionary whose ambassadorship is unparalleled.  We are extremely excited to have him involved at this level.”
 
In his new role Craig will be involved in various creative aspects of Movement and serve as an ambassador for the Movement festival as he travels the world performing for throngs of electronic music enthusiasts.
 
The new partnership between Movement Detroit and Movement Torino officially started as Movement 2009 ended. Together they hosted the festival’s closing party at Capital Square in downtown Detroit.
 
The two groups will work together to promote each other’s festivals. Movement Torino, which takes place in October, was being promoted at this year’s festival with flyers and the Movement Detroit closing party. Check out the web site at: http://www.movement.it. Once the Torino festival has concluded, the group from Italy will begin to promote Movement 2010 in Detroit ... and up, up and away we go again.

Odds & Ends

I wish I knew her real name. I don't want to call her Grandma Techno.


Surreal speakers in the sky.


Flying Lotus tearing it up.


Cybergoth kids raving by the Noguchi Fountain.


Mr. Nice Guy playing Alice Cooper songs on Roland Micro Cubes.

MONDAY

Clark Warner



Kero



Flying Lotus



Lee Curtiss



Carl Craig

SUNDAY

John R.



Michael Geiger @ Family Funktion



Brian Gillespie @ Family Funktion



Brendan Gillen @ No Way Back

High drama in Corktown

I dont know if it's a combo of lack of sleep along with the relentless crush of constant 4/4 beats amplified at ungodly sound levels, but my house guests are freaking out on themselves. One has lost her ID. The other thinks I hate her. All I want to do now that I have no more gigs scheduled is to relax, enjoy some beats and soak up what's left of this year's festival. will I be able to do that?

Just went to the will call line for the I'm on a Boat Event. DENIED. My name's not down; I'm not goin' in. So that means, Night Moves and YES, the Old Miami. Here I come.

KEVIN REYNOLDS: SATURDAY

CHEZ DAMIER @ 1515 Broadway: SATURDAY

Ryan Elliott: SATURDAY

LISTENING TO LIZ COPELAND: SATURDAY

The Subterraneans

November 2009

July 2009

June 2009

May 2009

March 2009