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KENNY LARKIN
Planet E, Art of Dance, USA
www.myspace.com/kennylarkin <http://www.myspace.com/kennylarkin>
NEW ALBUM KEYS, STRINGS, TAMBOURINES
*PLANET E Communications*
*CD/Digital *
*Release Date : July 1st 2008*
It's been a few years since Carl Craig's Detroit based independent label
Planet E Communications has released an artist full-length and Craig
hasn't chosen just any album for his label's return to releasing full
lengths. This is a very special record from his fellow Detroiter, former
neighbor and long-term close friend Kenny Larkin who also happens to be
one of the most original producers to emerge from Detroit.
Kenny Larkin's last album "Funkfaker" was released in France in 2004.
Dropped under his Dark Comedy moniker it was much more of a deep
exploration into a new kind of funk. It was a step away from his
electronic roots, and a more experimental work when considered in the
body of his musical work. “Keys, Strings and Tambourines” however goes
back to where Larkin started - back to his days as a youngster going to
The Shelter and Music Institute in Detroit. "Inspiration for this album
simply came from the love of electronic music" says Kenny.
What's clear is that the playfully titled “Keys, Strings and
Tambourines” just also happens to in the creators own words - "my most
dance floor oriented album to date." This makes great sense right now.
In terms of electronic music we are at a crossroads where people feel
the need either to go Pop or feed the dance floor. Larkin manages to do
the latter with fine skill but in typical Larkin and Planet E style this
is no ordinary simple dance floor album.
Take the first single from the album "You Are" which is based in part on
the phenomena of "The Secret" - Kenny's vocal here is something that
wouldn't have been featured on earlier Larkin albums prior to
"Funkfaker." It's a track that sees him expanding beyond the dance floor
into some kind of new twisted song territory that most definitively
isn't pop - it's electronic, it's Detroit, it's twisted. Perhaps he's
just taking in his now very Los Angeles lifestyle (he moved there in the
early '00s) which sees him hiking the Hollywood hills and spending his
non-music time doing stand-up comedy and learning how to act in and
shoot independent films and productions of his own and others. In April
2008, he helped produce, shoot, and act in a TV sitcom pilot also
featuring Hollywood bad boy actor Tom Sizemore.
“Keys, Strings and Tambourines” does reflects Larkin’s cinematic
interest. It's a record with a sense of drama - pounding pulsations of
dramatic energy inform many of the tracks. This is Techno with a pulse
and heart that reminds us again that many of the best ideas in
electronic music started right here in America and that America is still
producing top-level material. Techno isn’t, as some would have you
believe, only still alive and creative in Germany.
Larkin's favorite track on the album is a prime example - called "Glob
Glob" Kenny says "I wrote it on my last tour in Australia in a hotel in
Sydney – a very nice mental place to write music, and that song came
out. I love it. Usually when an artist picks a favorite, it goes over
most people's heads. I don't know why .. I associate a lot of good
things with writing that song in Sydney, probably due to the success of
the tour itself." Simply put the track is simply one highlight on an
album full of them. “Keys, Strings and Tambourines” isn't the kind of
record that it's easy to pull favorites from. It works as a total work.
Discussing the rest of the album, which includes an upcoming bumping
second single "Bass Mode" Kenny reveals that "The majority of the album
was written at my home in LA, but I flew to Detroit a few times to work
in Carl's studio which did wonders for my inspiration. Nothing can top
the type of inspiration I get from being in a proper studio environment
in Detroit. I stayed in Carl's studio and worked for days!." Perhaps
it's the massive club like bass bins in that Detroit studio that
impacted the bass feeling on the record, or maybe it was just that Kenny
was back home in the D. The town that gave him an award in 1995 as "Best
Techno Artist."
Maybe it's just that he was away from his usual LA distractions, which
include regular slots as a stand-up comedian. He says that he now spends
around 40% of his time on comedy and other acting interests In LA. The
other 60% is spend working on music and traveling. Right now he's also
busy developing a new live show for a tour of Europe this summer. Does
he consider himself a comedian who makes music or a musician who does
comedy? " I would like to be considered as both equally." So don't be
surprised if you see this Techno man on your TV soon.
Larkin prefers working on "proper synthesizers," and "mixing on a mixing
desk with proper outboard gear." You can hear this impact the quality of
the music - this sounds tougher and rounder than the newer minimal
glitch ridden output of the German crowd, there's a warmth here, like
that of the California sun and a grit here like that of the Detroit
streets.
So there we have it - "You Are" in on "the secret" now. Kenny Larkin is
back. Planet E is releasing albums again. Techno with Detroit roots is
firmly alive and well.
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*KENNY LARKIN : TIMELINE*
* 1985: At High School Terence Parker introduces him to House Music.
* 1986-1988: serves two years in the U.S. Air Force repairing computers.
* 1990: Buys first piece of equipment, a Roland SH10.
* 1990: Meets Richie Hawtin at the Shelter and releases first Kenny
Larkin EP on Hawtin's fledgling Plus 8 label. Starts hanging out at The
Music Institute club.
* 1992: releases debut Dark Comedy EP, featuring War of the Worlds, his
first big hit on Derrick May's Transmat label
* 1992: starts Art of Dance label, records under alias' Dark Comedy,
Lark, Pod and Yennek.
* 1993: appears on ground-breaking techno compilation "Virtual Sex" [Buzz]
* 1994: releases debut album Azimuth on UK label Warp
* 1995: releases sophomore album Metaphor
* 1995: Wins Best Techno Artist in Detroit's Metro Times 13th Annual
Music Awards
* 2001: moves to Los Angeles to pursue Comedy career
* 2004: releases funk album "Funkfaker Music Saves My Soul" and
electronic blues album "The Narcissist"
* 2006: Amsterdam's Rush Hour release 5 EPs of classic Larkin material
recorded between 1992-97
* 2008: Worked on his first pilot sitcom as producer, camera operator
and actor
* 2008: Debut album for Carl Craig's Planet E imprint
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*KENNY LARKIN : DISCOGRAPHY*
* Select Albums
Kenny Larkin: Azimuth [Warp] UK,1994
Kenny Larkin: Metaphor [R&S] R&S, Belgium, 1995
Dark Comedy: Seven Days [Elypsia] Belgium, 1997
Kenny Larkin: The Narcissist [Peacefrog] UK, 2004
Dark Comedy: Funkfaker Music Saves My Soul [Poussez!] France, 2004
* Select Singles
Kenny Larkin: We Shall Overcome [Plus 8] Detroit/Windsor, 1990
Kenny Larkin: Integration [Plus 8] Detroit/Windsor, 1991
Dark Comedy: Corbomite Maneuver [Transmat] Detroit, 1992
Yennek: Panic In Detroit [Buzz] Belgium, 1992
Sade bootleg "Surrender", 1995
Kenny Larkin: Let Me Think [Peacefrog] UK, 2004
Kenny Larkin: Five EPs [Rush Hour], Amsterdam, 2006
* Remixes for
Inner City, Carl Craig, Silent Phase, Charm Farm, Slam and others
[EMAIL PROTECTED] schreef:
New Kenny Larkin coming before the end of the month! On Planet E
too!(hands up who hasn't bought many of the recent Planet E
releases???? Yeah, thought so!)
PLE65300-1
Artist: Kenny Larkin
Side A:
1.You are....(Original Mix)
2. You are...dark
All tracks, written and produced by Kenny Larkin
From the forthcoming album "Keys, Strings, Tambourines"
Side B:
1. Bassmode (12 inch mix)
Mix: Carl Craig for Planet E Communications, Inc
Engineered by Collin Dupuis
All tracks, written and produced by Kenny Larkin
From the forthcoming album "Keys, Strings, Tambourines"
