Clubbing In Boston for Resident Advisor*

It's hard to believe that I haven't visited Boston in nearly a year, though. I lived there from February 2006 - November 2008, and really grew into a new version of myself in New England. I discovered my undying love for the region, and a seed of desire to move back in my later years was planted. I miss many people who are still living there, and the most recent Clubbing In feature on Resident Advisor explores facets that were such an important part of my life during that time.

Grateful to have been a part of it, Forward Management is mentioned towards the end in conjunction with Lauren DeVain and her skilled efforts in Berlin with her own Carousel PR.

You can read the feature in its entirety, posted here: Clubbing in Boston
*Unlike most links posted on THD, I did not write this.

Jeff Mills for Resident Advisor & Fuck The Facts for NoiseCreep

One of my highest priorities is to post my writings right about the time they're published, but from time to time it's difficult to stay on point. I'm still living on a fantasy summer island, but have been keeping myself plugged into my two favorite genres: metal and techno. Before I left for Fire Island, I spent my final, epic weekend with a string of memorable nights. On Wednesday, my friend Mattis and I drove up to Boston for a RBMA Thomas Oberheim workshop and Le Loup at Midweek Techno. Thursday was Raster-Noton at Make It New, and Friday - the day the up button broke on my car stereo's volume - we drove back to Brooklyn with a full car for Bunker, which featured R-N and Insideout (I think Grant is my new hero) and an epic 6hour tagteam between Jan Krueger and Derek Plaslaiko. The following night was Jeff Mills at the Sullivan Room, topped with a Cadenza party on the Bar 13 rooftop the following afternoon. Easily one of the best (and longest) weekends of my life. My review of Mills was a feat - making sense of one night amongst all of that can be difficult when you consider how much one event will blend into another. It was truly a weekend of loving life, and Mills' set (especially when he played "The Bells") was the opposite of a heartbreak.

True love?

Secondly, I'm on the verge of digging into new metal, and I have big plans with NoiseCreep that hit on a very personal level in the near future. Still, we wanted to know what Fuck The Facts couldn't leave home without - aside from, of course, instruments and merch - because they are just an awesome band. Please go see them if they're coming to your town.

You can read the reviews, posted here:
Jeff Mills @ Sullivan Room for Resident Advisor
Fuck the Facts Hit the Road With Five Essential Items

Voodeux - "The Paranormal" for Resident Advisor

This was an exceptionally challenging review for me. While I've been writing about music for a long time, I can't say that writing about techno is one of my older trades. Facing any genre is difficult, but while I've spent many years as a lover of electronic music I've only been personally invested - and fairly dedicated - to techno for about two years. There's so much more at risk, much like a romantic relationship you truly stand behind because you believe in it.

Mothership is one of my favorite record labels. Resident Advisor is one of my favorite sources of music journalism. Tanner Ross, who comprises one half of Voodeux, is a producer and DJ from the Boston scene, and I've had the pleasure to watch this particular project cook slowly. The end result is the forthcoming release of The Paranormal and Voo's debut live performance, which just kicked off my DEMF experience at the C-Pop Gallery in Detroit. You can imagine there was a lot riding on this - it only helped that after several sit-down meals of ingesting the entirety of the album I found a copious amount of positive reflections to put in order.

I'd only be repeating myself to say more, but I'm particularly proud of this, so I hope you enjoy it. Purchasing the Voodeux album is highly recommended, and they have a pretty sweet deal going on.

You can read the review, posted here: Voodeux - The Paranormal

A New England Recharge + Upcoming Projects

I'm happy to announce that since the review of DJ Hell in Brooklyn went live on Resident Advisor, Hell himself released Teufelswerk on his own International Deejay Gigolos label as of this week. Furthermore, his website got a complete makeover, and the overall design moved away from the N. Y. Muscle theme to something more suited for the new record. The RA review is featured on the front page, and you can imagine the audible gasp of joy when I saw my own name in large font on his website. No matter how long I do this, that sort of recognition never gets old. The man is a legend, and this album just happens to be contending for my favorite of the year. Succinctly put, it's an honor.

In other news, I traveled to Boston last weekend for the first time in quite a while. I saw sQuare Production's Speaking In Code documentary in a proper theater, heard some of my favorite local DJs at Make It New, Solid!, Circus, Bassic and the Basstown monthly residency, which featured Lazer Sword. On the dubstep front, Clouds' DJ Tommy did a beautiful set on Sunday, but I was most impressed by Moldy - a Portland DJ I'd heard about in my time living with Pandai'a as one of the best East coast producers of the genre. It's absolutely true. His presence and his mixing and some of the original tracks he dropped were just perfect. All of the elements were in place, and with the Good Life's soundsystem I left with proper cerebral vibrations.

Being back in my old haunts encouraged all of us at Basstown to light a mighty flame under our collective asses with the website. For weeks, we've been doing a great job of keeping it up to date, but my personal goal is to have more community involvement, more mp3's & album reviews and more news that would be useful to both DJs and intrigued techno lovers. In three weeks, I'll be headed to Detroit with Volvox for our first foray into DEMF and all that Detroit - the closest I can get to Berlin - has to offer, and Resident Advisor will be the outlet for all of my reactions and musings.

Lastly, the wheels are picking up at NoiseCreep, where I'm thrilled to have joined on. You can expect to see more of my words there in the coming weeks, and I hope that everyone enjoys my rambles on metal as much as they do techno. Cheers!

Kode 9 Interview For Boston's Weekly Dig

Continuing my recent words on dubstep, I also had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Goodman, who is better known as Kode 9 in the music world. His credits include: DJ, producer, college professor, academic writer and record label owner. In most of these fields, he is renowned for his ability to carve a unique niche, and establishing himself as a creative artist whose art - be it music or the written word - stands out on its own.

Bassic, the dubstep night in Boston, which I've seen grow and grow over the last year, celebrates another month of projected success by booking Kode 9 at the Good Life this Wednesday. One of its resident DJs, Pandai'a - the first female to play Dub War (NYC) and a fierce personality for the burgeoning presence of women in dubstep - also commented on the healthy community in New England, and reflects on how the subculture has rapidly expanded over the last year or so.

Last but not least is the Weekly Dig, an independently owned alternative weekly newspaper for which I still have a very great affinity. I've had the pleasure of working there, and can vouch for the passionate staff that run the operation. Perhaps one of my most missed facets of being a former Bostonian, I'm happy to remain a contributor to their weekly pages.

You can read the interview in this week's issue, or posted here: Kode 9 Interview For Boston's Weekly Dig