and my own take on Sat...
Walked to the festival about 3:30, Delano Smith was having a great set. One
of the best I've heard from him. Charles webster was next, he gave a nice
set of beatdown stuff a la Theo or KDJ.Walked over to the Pyramid stage to
catch Rhythm and Sound. Bill is right, the system there was one of the best
I've ever heard. R&S start laying down as Bill says " a steady stream " of
groovin dub.
Went to check out AUX 88, and they were tearing it up! Tons of
favorites, and then going into several newer tracks.
we then walked back home to fill up the 'ol flask
get back to the festival to try and catch Shake, but some unknown guy is
spinning detroit classics? Good, but not great.
we hang out at the main stage ( underground) for King Britt for a while to
stay out of the rain. An unusual set for him with several detroit classics
and some acid thrown in, but he gets back to his basics towards the end
throwing in some Philly soul and some classic house tracks.
we braved the rain to go back to rhythm and sound to find that they are now
just tearing it up with three vocalists. Deep Mfs. Definately my highlight
of the day. Can't wait for the full download of their marathon session.
we catch some of Kerri Chandler in between R&S, and he is tearing it up,
classic after classic. Tight mixes, some live keys and tracks thrown in.
Really enjoyable.
then comes Moodymann...
starting late with no sound check, the first few tracks sound TERRIBLE! no
cohesive groove, and just bits of songs, then he invites a local guitarist
out to do a song, and this just clears the stage out! Maybe a couple hundred
left ( from a packed bowl ) and Amp Fiddler come out and tells everybody to
come down front so that we can get started. things get much better from this
point on, much better sound, good grooves etc... much of what we expect from
KDJ.
I hopw somebody got some videofootage....
who else would have a stripper pole and dancers ( KDJ gets several lapdances
midshow) , a five piece drum ensemble, and some bellydancers!
then we make our way up to SOUL SKATE. A really good time, but no alcohol,
no smoking, and not much in the way of music. Sounded like the rink dj to me
most of the time. no mixing, just some staight up rink classics to skate to.
and the sound sucked. but all in all a great party to lose your buzz at.
That's my saturday report
David Armin-Parcells
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.daimusic.com
> Well, I went to the DEMF/Movement festival today - it's the only day
> I'll be going and I thought today seemed like both the best lineup and
> the best fit for my schedule. Here's how my day went.
>
> 1:15PM - Arrived in downtown Detroit, park in the underground lot where
> I always park for the festival. It's $10 this year - seems like it
> wasn't that pricy before. Ah well.
>
> 1:20PM - Secure tickets. $26 for a one-day pass. Ouch! Again, more
> expensive than years past, but oh well.
>
> 1:30PM - Park myself directly in front of the stage in the Beatport tent
> and watch as Pole begins. His first two tracks pretty much melted my
> face. The bass was staggering, it sounded like the Pole of days past.
> After that, he veered into what sounded like his newer material, based
> on the bit I've heard. It was decent - nothing I'd seek out, but
> enjoyable. He played one track that sounded like Pole's take on
> west-coast rap instrumentals, with this sort of Moog-sounding synth
> part. That description might steer you a little off, but it's close, I
> guess. He finished up with some noisier dub pieces, and it was quite
> good. A great start to the day's music.
>
> 2:30PM - Watch as Sassmouth begins her set in the Beatport stage, and
> head out after 10 minutes or so. What I heard was fine, but I wanted to
> check out Higher Intelligence Agency, who was playing on the Pyramid
> Stage. I meet up with Jeff Kleine, and we head over together.
>
> 2:40PM - Oh my. The sound system at the Pyramid Stage is absolutely
> stunning. The high-frequency drivers literally looked like none I've
> ever seen before, and the sound is just unreal. Super crisp, clear,
> plenty loud, and the bass just envelopes you. Each side (left/right) has
> a front stack, two side stacks, and a rear stack. Standing in the middle
> is really the sweet spot - the bass hits, you get an awesome sense of
> the stereo imaging, and it really can't be beat. The music is a great
> compliment to the system - deep bass and kick drums, clean, clear synth
> parts, and even some nice field recording noises at times. Bobby Bird
> (HIA) looks like he's having the time of his life during his set, too.
> Jeff and I both really enjoy this set.
>
> 4:00PM - HIA finally wraps up, and Rhythm & Sound starts. This is one
> I've been anticipating, and there on the stage are two grizzled-looking
> Berliners, Mark Ernestus and Moritz Van Oswald, with a box of dub 7"s
> and a pair of turntables. A mic and Powerbook lay on the table next to
> them, awaiting the line-up of 3 toasters who will eventually accompany
> the pair in their selections. As the set progresses, it becomes clear
> that they're in no hurry (they have 6 HOURS on this stage, after all)
> and a steady stream of slow, grooving versions and vocal tracks get
played.
>
> 4:30PM - Some food is in order, so I skip over to the Ren Cen for an
> ATM, then back to the festival for a corn dog. Mmmmm, corn dog!
>
> 4:30PM - Back to Rhythm & Sound. The toasters are in full effect, though
> at times they're detracting from the experience - a bit too much banter
> about "rhythm & sound, the sound system, feel this experience, etc". I
> like the DJ role in all this, but I'm here to hear the selectors, too.
>
> 5:10PM - Over to the Beatport stage for Losoul. I saw him setting up
> while Pole finished, and he's got an interesting rig - Sequential
> Circuits Studio 440 (an ancient sampler that takes floppy disks and has
> analog filters), a Novation Remote 25 controller, and a laptop. I own a
> couple of Losoul records that I like, which have some zip and funk to
> them, but this set turned out to be fairly sterile. Lots of kick drum,
> synth noise, rinse, repeat. Ho hum.
>
> 5:30PM - Back to Rhythm & Sound. The vocalists seem better integrated
> now. Some nice songs. Nothing from the Burial Mix catalog (what I would
> give to hear "Ruff Way" or "Never Tell You"!), but a good dub vibe. Fred
> Heutte is here now, too, and we all vibe off R&S.
>
> 6:00PM - Over to the Real Detroit tent to hear Anthony "Shake" Shakir.
> Shake had kind of a rough set - his multiple sclerosis seems to have
> made a lot of the necessary energy and fine movements difficult, but
> there were glimpses of his stunning past DJ sets in this set, bits like
> finding the groove in doubles of Rob Hood's "internal empire" and
> working it, or dropping "Shades of Jae" at just the right time. It was
> great to see him really having fun, though there was also obvious
> frustration at times, too (partly due to what I think was an unfamiliar
> mixer, or possibly something wrong with it).
>
> I've said it in the past, and I'll say it again - I just love Shake, and
> I really enjoyed seeing him play. Shake, if you read this - you made my
> day playing your Frictional records today. You've been a huge
> inspiration to me musically. Keep it up!
>
> 7:00PM - As I walk back to the car, the rain starts to come down with
> slightly more force. It's held off all day, but is finally starting to
> rain, and I watch the lights, and the people, and hear the thud of kick
> drums gradually fade. It's time to go home.
>
> You can see pictures of all this at my Flickr site:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chromedecay/sets/72157600270169761/
>
> peace,
>
> bvl
>
> --
> bill van loo & j. schnable - raindays - now released!
> http://www.chromedecay.org/releases/cd004/
>
> http://www.chromedecay.org || http://www.billvanloo.com
>
