faking it.

i know i know. corny title.

but, border community artist, nathan fake's newest album hard islands has left me quite speechless.

as border community is a label that really generally does not disappoint -fake's newest release kept with the label's trend of interesting and distinct sounds. not only a departure from the comfortable and fun listener@home type of album, this album begs for listeners with an ear -and a will- for a night out. that is, it begs if you can sit down for a touch longer than half an hour (around 33 minutes to be more exact) to hear some delightfully dark beats/tunes/whistles from fake's second "mini" lp. fake has clearly changed gears a bit since his last release drowning in a sea of love, which was much prettier, lighter and playful. drowning gets played from my tunes when i need something in the category of 'play for a good time with a small-ish group of folks' -electronic lovers or otherwise.

however, hard islands is more unique, less non-electronic music lover friendly and a fantastic experiment in blips, drums, and loops (or to borrow from a friend: bleeps, bloops, and thuds). the inclusion of a little flitting (keyword) break-up in the form of 1:17 minute long "the curlew" is an interesting move due to the intense buildup formation of the following track "narrier." essentially, i'm in love with the structure, sound, and synthesis of this album from fake. i wish it was longer only for selfishly personal listening desires...the album is compact and well done as is.

personally, half an hour of fresh sounds played whilst running errands, unpacking lives, or just internet researching-out makes each of my most recent day-to-day tasks more akin to those delightful listening nights out that i'm currently missing here at home. i've been pumping hard islands at all hours for a jostle of energy, a reminisce of bygone nights, and everything else it could possibly inspire...

to check out a quick interview with nathan fake on beatportal, direct yourself here.

to listen to hard islands on juno download, direct yourself here.

a very minimal fix.

though not so much minimal but techno...the make it new @ middlesex lounge this past thursday 9 january was a spectacular treat.

showing up around 10:30 might have been a mistake...

as a friend, the boy, and i walked in to the small but satisfying space, the music was pumping. and the pumping was good. in the mood for dance, local dj, volvox, definitely played to those needs better than your average run of the mill freshwater alga [excuse the silly reference]. i've definitely been around to hear while she's in the booth but this thursday was something special. she really put together a fantastic set for thursday night that made my little group forget about the cold and

dancedancedancedancedancedance

she did a bang up job and has definitely improved to my liking from the past nights i've seen her. the friendies agreed.

however it was berlin dj, marcel dettmann [MDR, Ostgut Ton] that really drew us in [and got us there on a cold night in the first place].

it is a really hard thing to live in boston and have a musical taste that centers on electronic music. there is a very very small scene here whose appetite is rarely fulfilled by touring djs...really ever. however, when we do receive special guest appearances they are interesting and wonderful and all that they need to be. in november, paco osuna and ewan pearson both played at little old phoenix landing for midweek techno nights which were fantastic. this marcel dettmann set was so wonderfully wonderfully wonderful.

techno is really fun to listen to alone or on the train or cleaning your room or hanging out
but
it is even better blaring out of nicer than home speakers
[unless of course you happen to be my friend alex who has delightful monitors for his own musical makings]
^that is the way techno is best heard:::
loud, entrancing, and hard to resist
because. it. makes. you. dance.

at the beginning of his set i was wondering how he was going to follow up the energetic volvox set, but dettmann, resident at the infamous berghain club in berlin, took that energy from the previous set and went with it. the set started off with one attention catching, pumping beat that melded so well in to the next that it was hard to tell if he was even spinning at all. at times he would drop a few easily recognizable samples, but the set was more berlin sounds and feeling than this town has danced to in a while.

thanks. so. much.

ps...if you want a nice hour long taste of marcel dettmann's sound...download the resident advisor podcast from 29 december that he mixed.