hi everyone
[this was supposed to go out yesterday .... ]
I applaud the crew of the Jason's [Huveare, Clark, Simon -- are there
any more?] and Chuck Flask and the rest of the Paxahau crew for giving
it a go. After going to all but one of the DEMFs, I am happy to say that
I was at the fest -- for support of them and the music in general. I
don't know if the programming [or diversity of it] worked for some of
us, especially those of us playing at or hitting the numerous after
parties [Carl Craig opening on Sunday? Adam Marshall from 2-3? I slept
til 5 on Monday.] Considering Paxahau's history dating back to 1993
[1217, anyone?], we can't expect much else that speaks to this kind of
lineup -- with Richie closing the night and half of Germany on the
lineup. They brought some true gems and surprises to the weekend with
The Orb and Nitzer Ebb [playing to a backup tape like they did when I
last saw them in 1990, right?]
Anyone in their position is going to be unbiased with their choices of
artists + programming [much of it has to do with coordinating
after parties around acts that will already be in town for the fest,
which, of course, Paxahau has a vested interest in]. When it was in the
hands of Derrick, Carl, or Kevin, it ended up echoing their musical
tastes and preferences [albeit a bit wider in scope than this year's
lineup].
We all have our wishlists of talent to be heard at the festival -- while
some were amped to see Photek or the Orb on the lineup, others would
have been excited see something more avant or no-wave in nature such as
Tortoise or Liquid Liquid [nice ones]. Somewhat household name hip hop
acts like the Roots, Slum Village, Mos Def, etc. always seem to bring
together the factions of deep soul and sterile techno somehow when
presented in the lineup [deny it or not, they have a lot do with one
another than you might admit]. A main stage performance by someone of
this size might have helped balance the sound, diversity, and attendance
for this year. There were moments [Saturday night] where we would go
from stage to stage searching for something OTHER than minimal techno
[and I've been making the sh*t for years!]... sometimes you just have to
let go....
I am happy to hear the Jason + the crew of Paxahau will be signing
another contract for producing next year's fest. I hope that they do a
little more digging in the local talent pool, and also expand their
scope to include more aspects of electronic music [afro house, no wave,
disco / electro house, etc... ] in the future.
ps. nice meeting some of you there [Tom] and seeing you again [Minto,
Fred H + G, etc.]
next year!
+odd
--
Thomas D. Cox, Jr. wrote:
On 6/1/06, Tristan Watkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
True, but to attribute the emptyness at DEMF to a lack of foreign
travel is
a bit wrong me thinks. IIRC the demographics have never attributed
more than
10% to foreign travellers in past years (unless you count the
Canadians, who
obviously don't count ;).
i wasnt just implying that it was the people from
europe/uk/australia/asia(i didnt see hardly any japanese cats, and i
see lots of those guys every year!) but anyone from outside of the
detroit area. it seems like paxahau has the detroit region's minimal
techno scene on lock. those guys dont care about seeing detroit
people, they want to see out of town deejays and artists. the people
from out of town want to see detroit artists. POTD are on tour
constantly, why drive to detroit to see them when you can just wait
till they show up in your town?
tom
--
Todd Sines
director
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