Posted +++ 17h54 +++ 23 Jan 2012 +++
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'Over There' aka 'Despatches From The Far Side (of Kreuzberg)' aka 'Are You There God? It's Me, Spencer.' The first in a new series of unreliable blogs from our new nightlife correspondent, Spencer Parker.
So, here it is. My first column for the mighty Buzzin' Fly website. I wasn't quite sure what to call my column so I named it thrice. One of these names may stick, maybe none of them will. Maybe I'll come up with a different name for it each month in a similar manner to which the Ol' Dirty Bastard would happily morph from Ol' Dirty into Osiris into Dirt McGurt. Other columns may simply have one title, or at the very most, a title and a sub-heading, but mine has three (count 'em) yes, THREE! And that's exactly the kind of value for money that I'm committed to giving you, each and every month (or until they cancel me). Simply think of me as the Netto or Aldi of columnists - it's not very good, I know that, you know that - but it's cheap (actually it's free!) - and there's a fair bit of it.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, I have been given the remit to write about "anything I like" and to simply "give a 'Spencer' eye view" of what I've been up to over the last month or so, so, even before I've began to think about the subjects I could maybe cover, the possibilities of civil or criminal prosecution of some kind, are already looming deep in the back of my mind. But we'll save all that for column no. 2. The format for this column is going to be like a selection pack of exquisitely made, hand crafted German chocolates, or, more likely, like a not-so-nice, knock-off box from Aldi/Netto (see above). So simply choose one you like the look of (read the header of the section), sniff it a bit (optional), bite into it a bit (read the first couple of sentences) and then continue to eat (read the rest) or simply blurt out "THAT is awful" (stop reading). And repeat, until the box is empty/you pass out (you come to the end of the column). If you don't like this system then stop reading now as I can't be arsed to come up with another one and this just seemed the easiest way to get this shit done in the shortest amount of time - so it's staying. It also reminds me of one of my favourite jokes : "Why is a club like a box of chocolates?" "Because it's always the ones filled with booze, in the corners, that are left at the end." Boom-tish, I'm here all week etc ...
MY DETOX (BURGER) OF THE MONTH
I'm currently in the midst of a (miserable) self-induced detox for the whole of January, that will see me not take a drink until February 1st and has already included a 5 day fast! If you ever want to really appreciate your food then believe me, a five-day stretch with no food whatsoever will certainly do the trick for you! During this time I masochistically found myself Googling images, information and reviews of London's best burgers in preparation for my next trip back to the Motherland, and, as well as the Googling, I was also booking a table at the place that undoubtedly serves the best burger I've had in Berlin, The Bird. Which is where I went tonight. Knowing that I was gonna write this column, I even did the unforgivable DJ thing of PHOTOGRAPHING MY FOOD! Because if I've found one thing to be DEFINITELY true, it's this - if someone works a pretty shitty job, maybe doesn't have that much expendable cash, but kindly chooses to spend some of it on your records or to see you play in a club, then they will undoubtedly want to be constantly reminded that you are having the best Sashimi of your life in Tokyo or chowing down at Noma in Copenhagen, right? Anyway, back to my heinous crime of photographing food 'The Bird' is the spot for burgers in my adopted home city, so check it out if you ever make it to B Town!
MY RECORD OF THE MONTH
Nyra 'Nam Pla' (Never Learnt)
I've been playing this whole ep solidly for the last three months or so and while 'Nam Pla' is undoubtedly my favourite, I've also played the other two tracks a fair few times too. At the last Rekids party held at Panorama Bar, Radio Slave also played two different tracks, so it's obviously not just me that's crazy about this EP. Never Learnt is a new label from the UK and one that seems typical of new labels springing up at the moment. Unknown, or little known artists producing straight up house and techno-esque tracks that simply sound great in a club. No more, no less. This is NOT your generic loop based shit that appears to dominate Beatport et al, but rather something a little better, done by people who know how and made for DJs that still play clubs with turntables in them (one's that actually work too). Oh, and it's vinyl ONLY! Similar releases and labels that I've noticed popping up over the last year or so include the awesome Italo Johnson 12's as well as the It's Not Over label and the excellent Stablo series. I particularly like the Stablo releases as each one is purportedly done by a different producer and, as yet, no one seems to really know who is behind any of them. In this era of constant information overload, I find this a pretty cool and refreshing approach, and, although a cliché, it really does sell on the basis of the music alone. And the music must be pretty good as every Stablo release thus far, has sold out immediately, with most going on to fetch silly prices on e-Bay just a couple of weeks after release. But back to Nyra and his bright and sparkly debut release on this lovely new label - if you like proper house music, go to a record shop (real or virtual) and buy it the moment it comes out!
MY REMIX OF THE MONTH
Intruder 'Amame' (Radio Slave Remix) (Defected)
The boys are back in town! Possibly one of my favourite production partnerships ever have revived their Intruder (remember 'You Got Me'?) moniker to present some of their first work in a while, and it's pretty damn good! I've been playing the original of this track for most of last year and received loads of comments when I put it on a mix last February, and, while the limited vinyl release made some waves over the Ibiza season, the remixes have now arrived to blow it up all over again. The only one I've heard/played thus far is the excellent Radio Slave interpretation, which takes the track in a super deep and trippy, techno-esque direction. Pitched down vocals and a utterly hypnotic backing track combine to expose this track to a whole new audience while, I'm sure, a lot of the fans of the original will dig it too. Undoubtedly there will be other remixes added to the package to appeal to as wide a range of different people as possible, but, for me, the original mixes and this great remix are all you need. Seek it out on Defected !
MY RESIDENT OF THE MONTH
Molly, Rex Club, Pairs
Aaaah, the residents. Why do they never get the props they deserve? All you (very often) see, is the same merry go round of big names playing the main set, while the resident warms up, or maybe, sometimes, closes the night. Their names are in a lower-sized font on the artwork, they don't get the same drinks rider as the venerated guest, and they sure as hell dont get the same fee. So, I thought it would be nice to throw the spotlight on the residents for once. And we start with the excellent resident of my favourite Parisian club, the legendary Rex. Molly (pic above) has been playing there for a few years now and over the years I've seen her start the night in a cool, intelligent way, as well as close it with a sophisticated bang. I've also seen her play as the chosen guest of Tobi Neumann at his Weekend residency here in Berlin and I can say with confidence that she's equally as adept at being the guest, as she is the resident. At the moment she is concentrating her efforts on her own bi-montly party at the Rex, titled Doowee, where she is further demonstrating her underground chops by booking quality names such as Marc Schneider, Margaret Dygas, Dan Andrei and Jan Kruger and moving slowly into production too. It's here I have to declare and interest, as she kindly remixed my 'The Improvised Minotaur"' track for Rekids last year and did a phenomenal job. Out soon at all good record shops etc etc. I'm a huge fan of Molly stylistically as she can do it all, she's equally at home playing subtle deep house as she is at pumping out some glacially cool Klock/Dettman type techno and she does it all with her own personality, style and air - something that's painfully lacking in a hell of a lot of DJs at the moment. If you get the chance, check Molly out at her residency, or at one of her rapidly increasing number of international shows. You won't regret it.
MY BLATANT SELF PROMOTION OF THE MONTH
What?!?! you think I just wrote all that shit for FUN?!?!?!?! I did a new mix it's here. I'm currently remixing Miss Kittin, but I haven't finished it yet. My next 12" on Rekids features remixes from D'Julz and Molly. Out soon. Both mixes are ridiculously good! In the studio tomorrow with Mr Ian Pooley to record new tracks for Ovum and Cabin Fever Playing this weekend at the excellent Balsaal in Hamburg with Marc Schneider and Saturday here in B Town with Josh Wink at Watergate. That's all I can think of. Bye!
STILL bored?!?!?! Really? Want to read even more rubbish about me? Go here.
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'Over There' aka 'Despatches From The Far Side (of Kreuzberg)' aka 'Are You There God? It's Me, Spencer.' The first in a new series of unreliable blogs from our new nightlife correspondent, Spencer Parker.
So, here it is. My first column for the mighty Buzzin' Fly website. I wasn't quite sure what to call my column so I named it thrice. One of these names may stick, maybe none of them will. Maybe I'll come up with a different name for it each month in a similar manner to which the Ol' Dirty Bastard would happily morph from Ol' Dirty into Osiris into Dirt McGurt. Other columns may simply have one title, or at the very most, a title and a sub-heading, but mine has three (count 'em) yes, THREE! And that's exactly the kind of value for money that I'm committed to giving you, each and every month (or until they cancel me). Simply think of me as the Netto or Aldi of columnists - it's not very good, I know that, you know that - but it's cheap (actually it's free!) - and there's a fair bit of it.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, I have been given the remit to write about "anything I like" and to simply "give a 'Spencer' eye view" of what I've been up to over the last month or so, so, even before I've began to think about the subjects I could maybe cover, the possibilities of civil or criminal prosecution of some kind, are already looming deep in the back of my mind. But we'll save all that for column no. 2. The format for this column is going to be like a selection pack of exquisitely made, hand crafted German chocolates, or, more likely, like a not-so-nice, knock-off box from Aldi/Netto (see above). So simply choose one you like the look of (read the header of the section), sniff it a bit (optional), bite into it a bit (read the first couple of sentences) and then continue to eat (read the rest) or simply blurt out "THAT is awful" (stop reading). And repeat, until the box is empty/you pass out (you come to the end of the column). If you don't like this system then stop reading now as I can't be arsed to come up with another one and this just seemed the easiest way to get this shit done in the shortest amount of time - so it's staying. It also reminds me of one of my favourite jokes : "Why is a club like a box of chocolates?" "Because it's always the ones filled with booze, in the corners, that are left at the end." Boom-tish, I'm here all week etc ...
MY DETOX (BURGER) OF THE MONTH
I'm currently in the midst of a (miserable) self-induced detox for the whole of January, that will see me not take a drink until February 1st and has already included a 5 day fast! If you ever want to really appreciate your food then believe me, a five-day stretch with no food whatsoever will certainly do the trick for you! During this time I masochistically found myself Googling images, information and reviews of London's best burgers in preparation for my next trip back to the Motherland, and, as well as the Googling, I was also booking a table at the place that undoubtedly serves the best burger I've had in Berlin, The Bird. Which is where I went tonight. Knowing that I was gonna write this column, I even did the unforgivable DJ thing of PHOTOGRAPHING MY FOOD! Because if I've found one thing to be DEFINITELY true, it's this - if someone works a pretty shitty job, maybe doesn't have that much expendable cash, but kindly chooses to spend some of it on your records or to see you play in a club, then they will undoubtedly want to be constantly reminded that you are having the best Sashimi of your life in Tokyo or chowing down at Noma in Copenhagen, right? Anyway, back to my heinous crime of photographing food 'The Bird' is the spot for burgers in my adopted home city, so check it out if you ever make it to B Town!
MY RECORD OF THE MONTH
Nyra 'Nam Pla' (Never Learnt)
I've been playing this whole ep solidly for the last three months or so and while 'Nam Pla' is undoubtedly my favourite, I've also played the other two tracks a fair few times too. At the last Rekids party held at Panorama Bar, Radio Slave also played two different tracks, so it's obviously not just me that's crazy about this EP. Never Learnt is a new label from the UK and one that seems typical of new labels springing up at the moment. Unknown, or little known artists producing straight up house and techno-esque tracks that simply sound great in a club. No more, no less. This is NOT your generic loop based shit that appears to dominate Beatport et al, but rather something a little better, done by people who know how and made for DJs that still play clubs with turntables in them (one's that actually work too). Oh, and it's vinyl ONLY! Similar releases and labels that I've noticed popping up over the last year or so include the awesome Italo Johnson 12's as well as the It's Not Over label and the excellent Stablo series. I particularly like the Stablo releases as each one is purportedly done by a different producer and, as yet, no one seems to really know who is behind any of them. In this era of constant information overload, I find this a pretty cool and refreshing approach, and, although a cliché, it really does sell on the basis of the music alone. And the music must be pretty good as every Stablo release thus far, has sold out immediately, with most going on to fetch silly prices on e-Bay just a couple of weeks after release. But back to Nyra and his bright and sparkly debut release on this lovely new label - if you like proper house music, go to a record shop (real or virtual) and buy it the moment it comes out!
MY REMIX OF THE MONTH
Intruder 'Amame' (Radio Slave Remix) (Defected)
The boys are back in town! Possibly one of my favourite production partnerships ever have revived their Intruder (remember 'You Got Me'?) moniker to present some of their first work in a while, and it's pretty damn good! I've been playing the original of this track for most of last year and received loads of comments when I put it on a mix last February, and, while the limited vinyl release made some waves over the Ibiza season, the remixes have now arrived to blow it up all over again. The only one I've heard/played thus far is the excellent Radio Slave interpretation, which takes the track in a super deep and trippy, techno-esque direction. Pitched down vocals and a utterly hypnotic backing track combine to expose this track to a whole new audience while, I'm sure, a lot of the fans of the original will dig it too. Undoubtedly there will be other remixes added to the package to appeal to as wide a range of different people as possible, but, for me, the original mixes and this great remix are all you need. Seek it out on Defected !
MY RESIDENT OF THE MONTH
Molly, Rex Club, Pairs
Aaaah, the residents. Why do they never get the props they deserve? All you (very often) see, is the same merry go round of big names playing the main set, while the resident warms up, or maybe, sometimes, closes the night. Their names are in a lower-sized font on the artwork, they don't get the same drinks rider as the venerated guest, and they sure as hell dont get the same fee. So, I thought it would be nice to throw the spotlight on the residents for once. And we start with the excellent resident of my favourite Parisian club, the legendary Rex. Molly (pic above) has been playing there for a few years now and over the years I've seen her start the night in a cool, intelligent way, as well as close it with a sophisticated bang. I've also seen her play as the chosen guest of Tobi Neumann at his Weekend residency here in Berlin and I can say with confidence that she's equally as adept at being the guest, as she is the resident. At the moment she is concentrating her efforts on her own bi-montly party at the Rex, titled Doowee, where she is further demonstrating her underground chops by booking quality names such as Marc Schneider, Margaret Dygas, Dan Andrei and Jan Kruger and moving slowly into production too. It's here I have to declare and interest, as she kindly remixed my 'The Improvised Minotaur"' track for Rekids last year and did a phenomenal job. Out soon at all good record shops etc etc. I'm a huge fan of Molly stylistically as she can do it all, she's equally at home playing subtle deep house as she is at pumping out some glacially cool Klock/Dettman type techno and she does it all with her own personality, style and air - something that's painfully lacking in a hell of a lot of DJs at the moment. If you get the chance, check Molly out at her residency, or at one of her rapidly increasing number of international shows. You won't regret it.
MY BLATANT SELF PROMOTION OF THE MONTH
What?!?! you think I just wrote all that shit for FUN?!?!?!?! I did a new mix it's here. I'm currently remixing Miss Kittin, but I haven't finished it yet. My next 12" on Rekids features remixes from D'Julz and Molly. Out soon. Both mixes are ridiculously good! In the studio tomorrow with Mr Ian Pooley to record new tracks for Ovum and Cabin Fever Playing this weekend at the excellent Balsaal in Hamburg with Marc Schneider and Saturday here in B Town with Josh Wink at Watergate. That's all I can think of. Bye!
STILL bored?!?!?! Really? Want to read even more rubbish about me? Go here.
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