5 Questions with Rags #33 - DOUBLE BILL w/ MARTEN HØRGER & Funkanomics!

People often say that I’m lucky, but it’s really just a matter of trying. I’ve been trying to hook this up with Marten Horger for awhile now, and as luck would have it he’s on the road in my wonderful home country of Canada and he’s touring with another favourite of mine, the appropriately and greatly monikered Funkanomics. And because they’re both apparently very rad people, we got answers from both for this very special edition of the 5 Questions!

Both of these cats bring the funky goodness but both feed different needs in my bass diet. My nights dancing in my girlfriend’s laundry room start with the lighter, groovy Funkanomics aesthetic and when it gets late Marten Horger is there to bring that slightly more menacing Punks music aesthetic. Guy is a straight up killer. His Beats. Vol.3 Mix was one of my most played mixes of 2015 and the Funkanomics Chillax mixes rank among my most played mixes of all-time.

Go catch them on their Canadian tour if you get a chance. The good homeys in SkiiTour are also helping them out on this. If you like dancing, this is not a show to be missed.

----------------

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?
Marten Horger: Yes, it was Michael Jackson – Dangerous. It was #1 in Germany at the time. That cover was so damn good and the riff of “Black or White” was just epic.

FxFarmer aka Dan of Funkanmoics: My first album was AC/DC Flick of the Switch on Vinyl, yes I still own this record and I listend to it over 1000 times!!

Read More
More info

5 Questions with Rags #32 - Neon Steve

I’ve written about Neon Steve extensively over the last couple of years (Basically, since my first Shambhala – an inspiration we share) because the guy just keeps hitting home runs. In a world of clones, ol’ Neon Steve has carved out his own unique place in the thriving West Coast electronic scene. His taste is impeccable, his scratching ability is evident and his production is top-notch. While dude can rock the party like few can, it’s not all balls-to-the-wall action. His Pleasensations mixes are goldmines of groovy relaxitude that work chilling in the bath, getting through a shift at work or getting down in the sheets with whoever you’re into that with. (Try other activities while listening to these mixes and come up with your own winning combination!) I’ve been hoping to get my fellow Victoria on here for awhile and I caught up with him during some rare downtime to talk about the terror of space travel, getting inspired in Fractal Forest and one of the best places to play on Vancouver Island. (Hint: It’s the Waverley, in Cumberland.)

And, for your listening pleasure, as chosen by the man himself, the first of two Neon Steve essentials.

-----------------------------------

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Yeah, I do. It was Eminem’s album, one of the first ones, Slimy Shady LP. I tricked my parents into buying it on their Columbia House account. They found out what it was after they gave it to me and took it away.

Did you ever get it back?

No, I don’t think so. I was super young at the time so it was a no-go.

Do you still ever listen to anything off that record?

No, definitely not. <laugh>

Read More
More info

5 Questions with Rags #31 - DJ Roast Beatz

Ghetto Funk was my way into the vast world of electronic music. A few years in and I’m still sold on the easy grooving sounds that the label/genre has spawned. You can imagine my giddiness when the Ghetto Funk Podcast started showing up on their soundcloud page early last year. In this case, a podcast worked like it was supposed to and I sought out the maker of the ‘cast. Well, the man behind that wonderful funky document is DJ Roast Beatz and man, this guy knows what’s up. Steeped in hip-hop goodness, Roast Beatz’ mixes and tracks reside in that lovely middle-ground that all party-goers can agree on. It’s taken nearly a year for this little chat to see the light of day, but now, I present to you dear friends, DJ ROAST BEATZ.

“The only thing I’d say about any music is just keep it funky, with meaning. That’s what makes us dance, nod our heads, learn things about life, come to terms with things and sing the tune the next day. Whether your using a drum kit or a drum machine, synth or trumpet, if it’s funky people will get down to it.”

---------------------------------------

Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? Fav track? Does it still hold up?

With my own money? Either a Jacko album or 3 Feet High and Rising. They were both on tape. My first vinyl was Fugees’ The Score. Favourite track is a tough one. I haven’t bumped much Jacko lately, would either be “Smooth Criminal” or “Bille Jean.” These days I’m more of a Jackson 5 kind of guy! 3 Feet High and Rising, is too hard to pick. De La had a massive impact on my life, especially De La Soul is Dead. That album got me through some really hard times as a kid. I’ve only just started to grasp the albums importance in my life as I’ve got older and faced a lot of shit from the past. 

Favourite from 3 Feet though? Either “Buddy,” “Change in Speak,” “Eye know” or “Say No Go.” “Buddy” is more for the remix, “Change in Speak” for the Cymande sample. “Eye Know” always reminds me of Daewon songs skate section in World Industries New World order. And “Say No Go” is just an absolute banger! I still play all the De La songs regularly in my sets.

Read More
More info

The Big Work - I continue to tell you to listen to Dan Bern Pt. 2 - the EPs

I like EPs. They're always nice quick listens - really good for trying to get a feel for an artist. But the obvious complaint that EPs get is that they are often showcases for one or two really good songs, then a couple tracks of filler, just enough to get a proper release. There are obvious exceptions to the rule but there isn't an artist who releases those exceptions at the rate of Dan Bern. His EPs are mini highlight reels, with song after song after high quality song. Minus one or two minor missteps that we'll discuss here, picking up any of Bern's EPs is sure to reward you with a deep, rich listening experience, inside of a nice compact listening time. For all your feeling needs, on the go!

Dog Boy Van (1997)

Jerusalem is on here. We glossed over it in part 1, but it looms so large in the world of Dan Bern, its inclusion on Dog Boy Van (Released prior to Dan Bern) warrants a little more discussion. It's a beautiful, funny song. It's like the Big Lebowski of songs, rewarding you with something new every time you take it in. I'm sure it's an amazing feeling to have a song that touches so many people, but, Dan Bern fans, I think we should make a pact to stop yelling out requests for it at live shows. In a catalogue of hundreds of songs anyone would be proud to call their own, let us collectively stop asking for the one that the man has undoubtedly played at least two thousand times. *Ahem*

"Hannibal," my second favourite set of Bern lyrics (First belongs to "Fly Away" from Fleeting Days), is thoughtful and vicious. Bern once told me that it's all in the tuning. Some of it might be there in the tuning, but he's hitting the guitar with a very specific kind of righteous violence. I'm desperate to put a sample of the lyrics here but I can't pick a part, so just check the whole thing out. I've heard both "Kurt" and "Live Another Day" countless times and I still feel that lump in my throat every time I hear them. "Oklahoma" is like the great sad movie that you can only watch once or twice. It's the last song and the easiest one to not hear when I put the album on. It's a song of tremendous feeling and power and I skip it every time.

Read More
More info

5 Questions with Rags #30 - DJ Jimi Needles (w/ Exclusive Remix!)

As I’ve ventured further into the world of electronic music, more pointedly – BASS MUSIC – I’ve noticed an incredible gap between the accessible and the challenging. It seems the entry-level stuff gets discarded quickly in favour of darker, harder-on-the-ear music. The artists that newbies and vets can agree on get further and further away from one another. Sometimes though there are artists, DJs, who dwell in that vast chasm, building tiny bridges so friends on either side of the divide can find each other once again. Jimi Needles is one of these DJs. His mixes and mixtapes are places where people who aren’t familiar with the increasingly large world of bass music can sit comfortably with the ones who need the harder stuff after years of the easy shit. His soundcloud has become an invaluable tool in my life for finding a quick solution as to what to put on when the downtime in a group comes, or even better, when trying to listen to something new with people who have less clue than I and still want their electronic music rooted in the comfortable rhythms and grooves of real life. This is all a long way of saying Jimi Needles makes bass music that everyone can love. If you’re having a party and need to get asses shaking, I promise, you can’t go wrong.

--------------------------------------------------

1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?

Fatboy Slim, You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby. That album was fucking sick and it’s still the sickest thing ever.

What’s your favourite track on there?

One is “Praise You.” I don’t know about you, but you know when you get older and you just want to investigate where the DNA of these songs comes from? For instance, you go onto Who Samples and type in any song and it’ll tell you who and what was sampled. As a 10 year old I had never had anything like that and now it really appeals to me. I was kind of aware of hip-hop at the time because I had a CD I was given around 1996, it had Public Enemy and stuff on it and I was just like, “Whoa, what the fuck is this?” It was a compilation disc and I thought it was completely sick. I could make the correlation that I really liked the funky beats and aggressive lyrics then I heard Fatboy Slim and thought, “Okay, I still like this but it’s not hip-hop.” I didn’t even know what it was called. I mean, it’s breaks, but when I was a kid I didn’t know what the fuck it was. But that album, when you take samples and arrange them, you still can’t make it the same as it is on the album. It’s absolutely mental how someone does that. It takes the most extensive musical mind to pull that off. And Norman Cook, Fatboy Slim, paved the way. There was also scratching on there and scratching was something I was aware of but not being cool or a DJ, I had no fucking idea what it was really was. So, there’s “Praise You” and there’s also a track on there called “Fucking in Heaven,” that I used play really loud. My parents would come upstairs and say, “What the fuck is this?”

Read More
More info