Planet Notion - Music - Features

Home

Music

Live

Lifestyle

My Planet

Who the f**k?

60 seconds

Features

Albums

Downloads

Change Background

You are here -> Music / Features

Thursday, 29 July, 2010

RSS FEEDS

Subscribe Feeds

PLANETNOTION TELEVISION!

INFO

You are browsing our Features, they're long so get comfy cos it's a long time till you get your summer ice cream kid-o.

Guru: Return to the true school

Guru: Return to the true school

It’s a galling experience, coming face to face with a legend. One utterance could completely destroy the deific image you’ve carefully constructed. They could turn out to be boring, arrogant or pretty damn depressing. Over a pile of salt ‘n vinegar crisps and grapes sits Guru – the OG rapper who achieved legend status as one half of NYC’s Gang Starr with DJ Premier, and the first man to marry jazz and hip hop. After rummaging in a bag while Solar, his producer and 7 Grand Records co-owner, starts the discussion, he’s finally ready to chat. He adjusts his cap. And smiles, while firmly shaking my hand. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to report that he’s a lovely man. Gracious, eloquent, charismatic with the requisite dose of braggadocio to keep him coolly aloof. ‘Hip hop in its pure form is living and breathing through people like Solar and 7 Grand Records,’ he says – the monotonous gravel tones bringing back memories of late-night Gang Starr rap-a-longs. ‘People are saying it’s dead, people are saying it’s dying, and we’re here as a rescue squad, so to speak.’ Solar interjects in a tag-team approach they continue throughout the conversation. ‘It’s not dead – it’s just been kidnapped. Tied up on the staircase.’ They concur with a nod that errs slightly on the self-congratulatory. Freed from major-label shackles, Guru is evidently happy to be running his own self-styled boutique label, with a man he touts as being the best producer on the block. Their fourth release together, ‘Guru 8.0 Lost and Found,’ is slated for release in March, and early signs are that it’s a departure from the classic Jazzmatazz sound, where jazz-infused production meets conscious lyrics. Guru’s keen to big up the intrigue, revealing very little. ‘It’s 19 banging tracks with mostly just us and our immediate family,’ says Guru. DJ Doo Wop is on there, and Solar does both production and emceeing. ‘The music is very adventurous. We’re charting new territory. This album is truly a remarkable piece of work in its diversity,’ says Solar. Guru’s no stranger to repping the new shit. In 1993, he broke from the sample-based mould and hooked up with jazz musicians create some live instrumentation over which he’d rap. ‘Everyone was sampling jazz at the time and I was like, “Let’s take it to the next level and get some of those guys to jam live over some hip hop beats,’ and that’s how Jazzmatazz started. ‘The first person I talked to was Donald Byrd, who became like a mentor to me. He put the word out in the jazz community that Guru was the go-to man for this new concept. It was groundbreaking and has influenced many of the things that have come after – other scenes like acid jazz, neo-soul, and projects like Carlos Santana.’ He went on to collaborate with artists including Roy Ayers, Ramsey Lewis, Branford Marsalis and Jamiroquai. While Guru was building Jazzmatazz, his work with Premo aka DJ Premier cemented his notoriety in the rap game. Their creative chemistry was magic, and Guru’s often sycophantic adulation of Solar smacks of a similar quest. ‘I’m the type that likes to work with one producer. Now I have the best producer in the game – a visionary who I’m running a label with, so it’s a whole other level now. But it’s a level we control now, and not one that’s controlled by a major label,’ he says. ‘7 Grand as a musical entity can bring a more intelligent light to the musical palette,’ continues Solar, ‘and we’re doing it in a way that stimulates the young crowd, we’re keeping the old fanbase happy – those who’ve followed Guru’s career for a while. We’re the best at hip hop jazz on the planet right now.’ It’s a bold statement. So how does this stand up in a world where much of hip hop has mutated into a tinny commodity for the ringtone generation? ‘You got a situation where the audience is more intelligent than the major labels see them as,’ says Solar. ‘We know they’re more intelligent, so we’re creating music that they’re looking for; they find, and they enjoy.’ They cite a gig in Mexico where the average age was 17 – ‘People were pulling out Street Scripture t-shirts!’ says Solar, referring to Guru’s 2005 solo album that he produced. Guru sits forward in his chair after musing on the memory; his hand stroking his chin. ‘We stay accessible. There’s no entourage around us – we don’t pull up in a Rolls Royce.’ There may not be an entourage but there is a posse of haters who decry Solar stepping into Premo’s space behind the tables. I mention the latter and their glory days as Gang Starr but Guru doesn’t bite. He once again extols the virtues of his current ‘super-producer’ and his excitement about 7 Grand’s creative autonomy. There’s a rich seam ready to be mined here, but the door is firmly shut. Instead we congratulate the US’s new black president-elect, Barack Obama, and his quest for change. Both voice their support. ‘We’re men of the people, so we’re always gonna be in there, fighting for what’s right – through our music, of course,’ says Guru. Critics might accuse the man of losing his fighting spirit in his verbals, rehashing lyrics and making questionable production calls, but his focus and confidence are still very much intact. Let’s see how this translates in the future. Words: Helene Dancer Guru’s new record will be out soon (7 Grand). Feature extracted from Notion Magazine 38. To subscribe to Notion Magazine CLICK HERE .

tags: | guru | guru news | guru latest | guru feature | guru review | guru hip hop | more...

Young, Gifted and GaGa

Young, Gifted and GaGa

The following interview was extracted from Notion Magazine, issue 37. Having taken place September 2008, it was the first interview with Lady GaGa to be printed in a UK publication. Lady GaGa has since gone on to have a number one single (Just Dance) and album success with her debut, The Fame. The photographs accompanying the following interview have been edited from an exclusive photo-shoot as printed in Notion Magazine. For her photo-shoot with Notion, Lady GaGa dons two homespun outfits that cast her as D.I.Y dominatrix and noughties Virgin Mary consecutively, exhibiting exactly the firm creative control, commanding identity, wit and passionate vision we like from our future icons. Voguing for the camera like a veteran, and merrily readjusting her makeshift bin-bag hood, here is a girl who knows exactly what she’s after. Notion takes a taxi with Lady Gaga to her hotel, where she is to relax those hyper-active vocal chords – that naughty ‘Playboy mouth,’ - before firing up a London Fashion Week bash later in the evening. At the start of your mini promo video, ‘The Fame,’ the message, ‘POP MUSIC WILL NEVER BE LOW BROW’ flashes up on your sunglasses… Well my show is supposed to be an installation experience… I made those glasses out of i-pods and they’re compatible with i-pod software… the House Of GaGa! I make money as a (song)writer for other artists, and instead of buying a house and a car and going on vacation, I make technology, and fashion, because I’m a total nerd! So I made these glasses, and it’s me taking a vow about my work; putting pop music on the top of the table, as opposed to how people brush it underneath. It’s me as a commercial artist wanting to make commercial pop art that is considered high-brow, and fine… What makes you a ‘performance-art pop-star,’ and does this detract from the actual tunes? I think it makes it better, more fun, like a whole lifestyle. You can download a song, but you can’t download the clothes; the feeling; the excitement. All the work I put into the clothes, the visuals and the installation of the performance, that’s what makes it believable, and liveable and loveable… And so much more than anything that’s out right now. Do you reckon that your music and your ideas might actually be more conservative, had you not attended the Convent of Sacred Heart school in Manhattan? Yes and no… I was slightly exposed to things when I was younger, because I used to rebel. You know, ‘I’m going to the East Village tonight!’ I wasn’t inspired by my life in private school, that was not what made me tick. But I do think my education has made me a better artist – the mixture of the discipline, with the rebelliousness of me. Even though I’m singing about fashion and money, and getting drunk and making pop art, and fame as something self-determined, the way I do it is very smart. I use interesting lyrics with excellent references, the fashion is not typical, it’s fashion-forward, and very graphic. On stage, I’m creating certain shapes that I’ve really thought about. Like, ‘I want to make an upside-down triangle,’ and I do! On myspace you only list your male equivalents – ‘Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Boy George and a cross-dressing John Lennon at Studio 54.’ Are you just bored by other female pop icons? Brunette, I was Cher, right? Now that I’m a blonde, I’m Madonna; I’m Britney; I’m Christina Aguilera; I’m Gwen… What about Blondie? Dale Bozzio from Missing Persons? What about… what about… Twiggy? If I get onto the ‘Worst Dressed’ list in An American tabloid, I’m like, ‘What fucking twenty-five year-old jackass in a Juicy Couture sweatsuit wrote that?’ I’m a bit arrogant about my work, I’m like, ‘Who’s reviewing it?’ It’s my way of asking people to look at me and everybody else in a different way. Don’t look at me as a woman! Look at me as an artist! We put Britney, Christina Aguilera and Madonna in a room. You can collaborate with one on a song, go partying with another, and push the remaining one off a podium… Oh God! Well, I’ve already written a track for Britney… I’d love to write a track for Madonna – for all three of them, and go partying them all! The whole ‘Put me in the ring with a super-star’ thing, I’m not really looking at them. It’s not that I don’t see myself in that arena, because I do, that’s how I expect I will exist… I don’t wear the scenester patch on my sleeve, like, ‘Oh, I’m an indie pop artist, emerging from this group of electro-pop…’ Whaaa-da-whaa-da, it’s just so boring, and it’s so like, ‘What scene?’ There isn’t a scene. When someone comes up next to me, I’m not sizing them up, I’m like, ‘Hi! How you doing? Keep going!’ You pass echelons of artists, and then before you know it, you’re standing next to Christina and Britney and Madonna, and you’re still looking straight ahead. Which elements are needed to make a perfect pop song? Well, it’s gotta be a hit! And catchy! You’ve gotta be able to play it anywhere, to any kind of person, and it has to really hit them… I try to write stuff that’s meaningful: I want to make important art; important music; important fashion… Whether it’s a bunch of London paparazzi clapping, or Americans going, ‘What the fuck with the glasses and the stick? She’s so weird but I just can’t stop watching it!’ That is great too! Those articles are so pissed – ‘Why the fuck is she on ‘So You Think You Can Dance’?’ I’ve gone on with serious technology, serious electronics, a light sabre, with these insane, fashion, extreme glasses, and I’m like, I’m doing it! Which male pop artist has the most desirable disco-stick? Like, who would I like to shag? Oh, I was actually singing about an English guy in (‘Love Games’), but he’d be too embarrassed! It was pretty off-the-cuff; you know, I was having a real lusty moment as a girl, and I was like, ‘Eeergh! That’s fucking funny!’ Right? But I would probably say Sean Connery, when he was playing James Bond… Most of your tunes seem to have been written in a state either of intoxication, or arousal, or both. Do you write tunes for the Generation of Excess? (Laughs and claps effusively…) Well, that is what we are! That is my lifestyle; what inspires me as a twenty-two year-old blonde who likes to date rock-stars… I think I’ll always, always, always sing about fashion. I’ll always make music that could be played on a runway… Last year you toured your provocative ‘Lollapalooza’ show with Lady Starlight – do you get off on the power pulling sexy moves with another woman has to make men weak? Honestly, I’m not ever thinking about how to get the guys hard – I couldn’t care less. And I don’t have a real conventional beauty, but I am very sexy. My friends used to say, you have this dripping sexuality; you just always look like you’ve just been fucked – always! The show I did with Starlight was like a-maz-ing, but fucking weird! We played the ‘Clockwork Orange’ tune as a disco-ball dropped; there were turntables; we go-goed to Black Sabbath; set hairspray on fire, and we did very synchronised, Vanity 6-style dance moves – it was fucking special. I used to hump my piano, I mean it was like, super campy! Guys wouldn’t voluntarily see Mandy Moore, even though she’s very sexy, very pretty, but they will come to my show – straight guys too, rockers! I think that says something about what I do, it’s provocative, but it’s not really about the sex, it’s hitting them in a new way about girls. Would you say your songs express a mixed and modern kind of sexuality, where anything goes, or are these more typical girl-on-boy pop tunes? Do I look completely straight to you? Do I not look a little bit sideways? I think it’s a bit of both; I’m a very free spirit. That’s sort of the nature of our society right now, but I am careful – I don’t like when artists use the gay community to get like, edgy attention, that’s lame. I don’t want my sexuality to be what makes me edgy - to me, that’s not interesting. If we were to engineer the perfect bionic body with you, which female body parts and which male body parts would you use? That’s a fucking great question! Honestly, I’m seeing a bald woman’s head… Her eyes blocked out with like a strip across, a very pouty mouth, and I see creamy white… All the limbs are detachable, and black here (gestures around the face and chest)… I see nothing on the crotch; not vagina and not dick, not even a hole, just… skin. Boobs, but not like, Playboy boobs, functional boobs, something really alien-esque. The shoulders are high, and kind of triangular… I see a giant prosthetic that’s in a permanent position of couture, and, she’s definitely on her toes… ‘Just Dance’ is a call to keep raving in the club, whether you’ve lost your phone or you can’t see straight – can you tell us your most shambolic clubbing tale? One tale? Yes, I can! I have it on film. It was at Rated-X, a party in New York at Luke & Leroy. It was the after-party to my performance with Semi-Precious Weapons. I smoked some weed in the dressing room and it must have had something sprinkled in it, ‘cos I went crazy! I drank fucking red wine like you’ve never seen… My boyfriend at the time – I’m single right now and I’m not interested – was like, ‘Babe, did you take fucking pills?’ I was like, ‘N-nno, yeah, er…’ Then me and Starlight, we started rolling around on the dancefloor with our legs up – I just remember the floor felt so fucking good! I have this giant disco ball that we travel with, and I was throwing it at people, like totally belligerent… Which couture show would you most like to work the runway for? Chanel. I would have to compose something special for it though, see the clothes. But for now, I’ve gotta say (Maison Martin) Margiela, ‘cos I wear it all the time – I wouldn’t wear Margiela if it didn’t speak to the records… Have you visited many fetish clubs in New York? I have! This guy was wrapped in a carpet underneath the bar, and it said, ‘To order a drink, step on this carpet.’ So I got up there, and then I realised that he was really aroused! You say you’re here to ‘try to change the world one sequin at a time’… I’m changing the world with what I do, but there’s a sense of humour about it. I’m not singing about politics or saving the environment – I believe in saving the world with happiness; with joy; with a good time – that’s where the sequins come in! ‘Dirty Rich’ describes a world where club kids are polished to perfection, yet also ‘wrecked’ and struggling for money; would you agree that this contradiction between style and substance is one of the foundations and great complexes of pop culture? Truthfully, that record - we all spent all our money on drugs. But we looked fucking great and we were all so high that we thought we were famous as shit, right? It’s really our fault; it’s not because pop music suppresses us and our music doesn’t make it into the mainstream and nobody knows what real art is… No, it’s because we’re lazy, and we were really fucking high, right? I’m a smart girl and I happen to make really great music, and that’s the substance, right? But on the surface, ‘The Fame,’ it’s not about being famous; it’s about everybody wanting to know who you are… I’ve been con-arting my way into celebrity bashes and nightclubs and getting my photo taken since I was fifteen! Anybody can do it, any fucking person, but it’s uneffective (sic) if you don’t have substance, it will only go so far… Interview: Lucy Wilson. ‘The Fame’ is out now (Interscope). To subscribe to Notion Magazine CLICK HERE .

tags: | lady gaga | lady gaga news | lady gaga interview | interview with lady gaga | more...

Rex The Dog interview

Rex The Dog interview

‘Hi, this is Rex, he is my dog, and together we make electronic music…’ So runs the opening statement on Rex The Dog’s cartoon strip-come-press release. Man and dog; dog and man – it’s quite a simple concept. On the eve of the release of ‘The Rex The Dog Show,’ an electro-pop joyride featuring blistering re-rubs of The Knife and The Sounds, we chew a bone or two with the latest dude extending a long tradition of canine-human production projects. That’s right, mates and mutts, we had to go see a man about a dog, innit? So how did Rex come to be your best friend? Well, we’ve been together since he was a puppy. He came from a traveller camp, but they didn’t want him so he came home with me. People often assume he doesn’t exist, because he only appears as a puppet or as a drawing. But he does exist! Did you have to spend time training Rex, or is he a self-governing mutt? Ha ha! I tried but it turns out it’s impossible. He does what he wants, when he wants, where he wants. It is best to give up on this side of things really. We know that Rex can play the keyboard, cook, type and talk, but has he learnt to drive any better these days? It could be pretty handy to get picked up by him after playing out late in clubs… He can’t actually do most of that stuff! When I draw him or present him as a puppet he can tackle most tasks but in reality he will sit around, and generally just expect to be waited on. I think to have Rex really behind the wheel of the car would be the worst thing from a nightmare. Has Rex accompanied you to any festivals? There are always plenty of sticks, pigeons and smelly stuff about… Noooo, most festivals have a strict ‘no dogs’ policy and it’s a shame. I think he would love a big festival, the stink and the bits of discarded food definitely. And going in people’s tents. And getting attention. He loves that for sure. How does your album ‘The Rex The Dog Show’ bear the paw-prints of Rex? Hmmm, this is a tricky one, because he doesn’t do too much physical work when we make a track, but for sure we are making it together. Something of his spirit is there I guess, I think when he’s there it is much easier to be creative and to enjoy yourself. And also when an idea is not really working and I’m playing it over and over, or an idea is too corny, I feel a tug on my ankle and I know it’s time to rethink. Rex says that the Drop The Lime remix of ‘I Can See You, Can You See Me?’ made his ‘tummy go poopy because of all the sub bass’ – is this an element that you’ll carefully avoid from now on in your music? Ha ha, poopy! Yes, there is a ton of sub bass in that mix, but that’s a really good thing! There’s such a mega surge of bass it’s almost like it’s showing off, like it’s doing a stunt. We don’t really use too much sub bass ourselves, which is why it’s nice to have these things show up in remixes. It disturbed Rex momentarily, but I think he also felt some awe. Typewriter noises, snooker balls, ping pong balls, rubbed balloons, beetles and tadpoles apparently feature on Oliver Huntemann’s remix of the same tune; sharp, staccato noises cutting in-and-out, in the minimal way. Do you prefer to carve fuller, more booming soundscapes, or is this a direction you might take your music into? That Oliver Huntemann remix is great, when we first listened to it over a good sound system is was amazing. It is so beautifully programmed and precisely machined, but at the same time, some of the noises are just plain funny and we like that juxtaposition a lot. We like some minimal approaches for sure, but for us I think our strengths lie in other areas, so again it’s great to have a remix with these qualities. Has Rex ever buried any of your records underground, or indeed a piece of equipment from the studio? If only Rex did bury things. His problem is that he chews things, ruins them and leaves them in bits all around the place. He breaks a lot of things very often. And this is annoying. You’re playing a load of European festivals this summer and Notion first saw you at 2007’s Fort Dance in Russia. Why do you think Europeans – Germans, Spanish, Italians etc – are so heavily into their electronic music? What we do notice is that people are a little more prepared to cut loose and party hard in places like Spain, Macedonia, Ukraine. There is just a little more emphasis on staying out late and really partying. Which is your favourite country, festival or club to DJ in? Hmmm, that is hard, we have a few that are special. We liked Nag Nag Nag and Boombox in London, but these are sadly not happening anymore. In Spain we like Low Club in Madrid and The Loft in Barcelona. Really good people, and lots of fun. Mr. Scruff is similar to you as an artist in that he keeps press to a minimum, draws his own visuals to accompany his DJ sets, and has engineered a whole creative world about his music. His tune ‘Donkey Ride’ is loads of model ponies drinking in a bar, playing the piano and stuff – ‘proper party animals!’ How familiar are you with his work and would you like to disagree with this comparison? We are not familiar with his work at all so it’s difficult to make a comparison. This thing with toy ponies, is it a video? It sounds really good! You brought your first three records, ‘Maximize,’ ‘Frequency’ and ‘Prototype,’ out on uber-cool German label, KOMPAKT – have the electronic sounds of the German scene influenced you in any way? Well KOMPAKT is based in Cologne, and the label and its whole ethos was very inspiring for us when we started. We found a record called ‘Homogen’ by Justus Köhncke, and another called ‘Yes Sir I Can Hardcore’ which were both on KOMPAKT. There was something about them that was special, they were experimental but also entertaining at the same time. This was very appealing and so we made it our plan to approach KOMPAKT somehow. What do you think of the Bpitch Controller and recent Notion cover star, Ellen Allien? She’s coooool! Ellen Allien is somebody who we were listening to a lot when we started making Rex records. We had this track ‘Trashscapes’ which had a wicked vocoder line and a great Anthony Rother remix too, with a super electronic bassline. We put this in our Annie Mac mini-mix way back when… A few months back you told Pop Justice that you were ‘trying to make something that is not headed directly for the trash can’ – did you achieve this? Ha! That’s not for us to say! But maybe the trash can is a nice place? Rex would probably consider the trash can to be some kind of gourmet experience. Ha ha…But hmmm, seriously, for us we like what we made, and we don’t have it in our own personal trashcan… Will you always draw cartoon strips as a substitute for press releases, and is this part of some plan to have as much fun and be as creative as possible whilst making music? For us it’s just how we want to present ourselves. We just try to do that side of things a little different. Plus, making artwork and animations and stuff has always been part of what we do, or I do anyway - Rex tends to destroy artwork rather than create. Now that you’re becoming a superstar DJ on the world stage, will you still spend as much time throwing sticks and putting dog poo in tiny plastic bags? Would you ever buy a robot to perform these tasks when you’re too busy, or, if you really hit the big time, would you employ an assistant to look after you both, drive you about etc? A robot assistant would be the ultimate achievement. To bring bacon sandwiches as well? And take us to the airport and stuff? If you know where to get one please tell us! And when we really hit the big time, we would like a whole robot team please, skippering our big robotic yacht to Robo-Ibiza. I have a cat called (Prince) Aslan, who is ever so pretty (pure white, one eye blue; one eye brown) and good-natured, and loves to play with dogs – do you think there’s a chance Rex would make friends with Aslan? Let me check, hold on…. erm… sorry, apparently that’s not going to happen. How does the fact that Rex’s hearing is far more developed and sensitive than yours (he can hear higher frequencies and at longer distances; he has an inner ear that scans like a radar, and he can move his ears in all directions to pick up the exact origin of the sound) affect the music you make together? I don’t think it makes much difference because we’re not (as far as I can tell) working in those ultrasonic frequency ranges, and the audience for our records is mostly human. Any fancy ultrasonic trickery would be lost on pretty much everybody. Including me. And really Rex isn’t that smart… Do you think you will mainly stick to using a Korg 700S synthesiser on future records, or might you try incorporating more equipment? We used the Korg very heavily at the beginning, and ‘Prototype’ is made only with the Korg, but since then we’ve brought in other synths that are equally inspiring for us. The Arp 2600 is from the very early 70s, and we used that a lot on our remix for ‘Girls’ by The Prodigy, and also on ‘Maximize’. We also have a Sequential Pro1 and Roland SH1 which we use a lot. It’s all vintage stuff though, so I guess we’re not branching into software or digital just yet. Using these vintage synths and drawing the visuals for your sets, it’s like you’re a traditionalist at heart, with you and Rex favouring old-school sounds, equipment and techniques. It goes against the bleaker, higher-tech, futuristic feel of most techno – why are you drawn to these elements more? I think we just prefer a particular kind of nerd approach. Wanting to make things organically, and not necessarily in the same way that everyone else does it. We prefer to draw with a pencil, and we prefer to use relatively primitive equipment, but this approach can be much more inspiring for us than using the latest software. Which was the weirdest or funniest sample you managed to slip into ‘The Rex The Dog Show’? Hmmm, well we had trouble with a lot of the samples. There was a really good one which we took from a ‘Snoopy’ movie. In the movie, for some reason they had started to call Snoopy ‘Rex’ and it was perfect. But we were advised in no uncertain terms to remove it. There are some other nice (we think) samples in there, but the one we like the most is the vocal on ‘Gecko.’ One of the guys who wrote the original song had disappeared, and for months and months we couldn’t get permission. In the end we messaged him through a youtube account and he replied in 5 minutes saying, ‘Sure!’ Do you still drop ‘Fight For Your Right (To Party)’ by the Beastie Boys at the end of your sets – this was a pretty hot crowd-pleaser at Fort Dance! Yes! We keep thinking we should stop playing it and move on, but promoters keep sidling up to us towards the end saying, ‘You are going to play Beastie Boys, right?’ There are some more characters in your crew with Rex – Punk Monkey, who likes to bop about in sunglasses, dress up as Goldfrapp and generally cause mischief, and a dude who looks like a fridge, who says, ‘Drop biscuits not bombs’ on the back of the cover for your current single, ‘I Can See You, Can You See Me,’ – how do these characters change the dynamics of ‘The Rex The Dog Show’? It’s good to have a crew, although sometimes I think Punk Monkey is a little more trouble than he’s worth. For instance, Rex and I don’t ask for much when we play a gig (some water and some red bull). But Punk Monkey is coming on his first trip to Japan next month, and he wants 6 bottles of Jack Daniels, a hooker and 2 business class seats! Which tunes did you and Rex sing on from the album? Um, Rex yelps a bit on ‘Maximize’ and also at the beginning of ‘Italian Skyline’, and I do a bit of singing on ‘Heartsong’, ‘Italian Skyline’ and ‘I Can See You, Can You See Me?’ What is the favourite cartoon you and Rex like to watch? Well, not watch, so much as read, but we love Tintin. There is so much labour and love in the TIntin books, they are such an inspiration. Actually there’s a documentary about Hergé called ‘Tintin Et Moi,’ and it tells the story of Tintin’s inception and Hergé’s troubled life. That kind of thing we like to watch! If an electro producer called Rod The Pigeon suddenly came onto the scene, how would Rex react? He’d bite its frickin’ head off! What doesn’t Rex like about the cowbells you sneak into tunes? Ha ha! I said this once, because I was putting extra cowbells into our remix of ‘Tony The Beat’ by The Sounds, and Rex kept growling until I took them out again. In hindsight, those cowbells were too cheesy, so there’s the partnership in action! Describe your music for Notion readers, without talking about any genres… Without genres? Errrrrr… for dancing to and playing in the car and in the nightclub, and always trying to not be too boring, and always full of electronic sounds, and sometimes melody. What’s the maddest thing that’s ever happened at one of your shows? Actually, at a festival we just played in Spain, there was a real backstage fight between Johnny Rotten and Kele Okereke from Bloc Party. It was even on the news in UK! What they forgot to mention on the news was that the backstage area was closed off by security, and I wasn’t allowed to go to my dressing room, even though I had sandwiches in there. What is your best tip for looking after a dog? Don’t bother, they’re too much trouble! ‘THE REX THE DOG SHOW’ IS OUT NOW (HUNDEHAUS RECORDS) Feature extracted from Notion Magazine 36. Words and interview: Lucy Wilson.

tags: | rex the dog | rex the dog interview | rex the dog news | rex the dog latest | more...

Bassline High: Red Bull Music Academy 2008

Bassline High: Red Bull Music Academy 2008

The Red Bull crew like to apply their ‘Gives you wings’ mantra with some serious style. If they’re not daring motocross pros to swap steel for donkey power in the dazzling Greek countryside, then they’re face-lifting a warehouse to turn it into a pop-up studio wonderland, a veritable dream factory, for the globe’s freshest musical talent. For the big 08, Red Bull Music Academy, or, as Notion likes to dub it, Bassline High, took root in an old cotton-reel factory in Barcelona. The iconic Red Bull logo has acquired a festive crotchet-note, and been fashioned in gigantic form out of salvaged red and yellow cotton reels, to be hung above the sofa where the likes of Public Enemy’s Chuck D have sat, to deliver wisdom and serve up laughs. ‘I’m gonna be really sad to leave here,’ GoldieLocks admits to Notion in a rare moment of tenderness, as we sit in the canteen at RBMA Barcelona. ‘It’s like you don’t even have to think for yourself! The bus picks you up, you get fed, you make beats… and then it’s back to crappy Croydon. I don’t wanna have to think about what time the train comes! I don’t wanna cook!’ Luckily such creature comforts haven’t quashed our Goldie’s trademark cut-throat lyrical wit, nor sweetened her demonic, dub-wise beats. ‘Fuck you and your sheepish ways,’ runs the chorus to the tune GoldieLocks has penned during her stay, all industrial bass crashes and minor melodies. We join GoldieLocks and her twenty-nine other cohorts for the last two days of the second term of this year’s almighty RMBA. (The Academy takes place over two terms each year, with 30 participants in each leg). On Friday everyone gathers to taste the fortnight’s musical fruits: a hardcore listening session where the tunes the RBMA students have created seem to largely fall into two camps. Some pretty studied forays into house and techno aside, the tricksy, nomadic electronica of Flying Lotus makes its fidgety spirit felt in creations GoldieLocks describes as ‘hip hop where you can’t find the beat.’ Otherwise, a large number of the tracks salute the nu-soul school, courtesy of vocalist Fatima, a feisty lady from Hackney who sports outsize golden hoops and says she makes ‘vibey stuff.’ Such achingly cool kids are the attendees bringing their skills and their stories and their passion to RBMA. Cue a parade of carefully-chosen trainers, the odd pair of geek-chic specs and a handful of hip-as-hell haircuts. And you thought that band practice at school or being an Ents Officer at uni was/will be the pinnacle of your pre-career career? Just as our rosy college memories take on a chargrilled hue, curling reproachfully around the edges, and ruined once compared to the beat-laden shenanigans of these lucky RBMA students, we offer the Notion version of the academy’s prospectus to give you the skinny on the fattest finishing school on this planet. Now that’s what we call an education! THE ACADEMY RBMA fellows open the academy’s hallowed doors to ‘ anyone with a strong yen for music and a desire to be involved in its evolution.’ Each year, only the fiercest sonic whizzkids will be selected to hone their craft, collaborate with fellow beat maestros and attend lectures delivered by musical luminaries. Allowing for optimum nocturnal activity, the academy kicks off each day with a lecture at 1pm, followed by another at 4pm. ‘Studiozeit’ follows, where RMBA participants work their own magic with state-of-the-art equipment, making tunes into the night, until a shuttle arrives, destined for whichever sweat-box has been selected for the Red Bull crew to tear down that evening. TUTORS In which other institution would you be able to take a dubstep master-class with Skream, and be privy to Benga’s seminal lecture, ‘Diary of an Afro Wobbler’? Or listen to DJ Toomp’s story, learning how to make the switch from bedroom beats to engineering bumpetty-bass for Mariah Carey and Kanye West? How about a lesson in ketamine-fuelled, falling-off-the-speaker antics from Mario Caldato Jr, producer and mascot of the Beastie Boys? Leave ‘The Structure Of Popular Music’ lectures behind and get some real wisdom from hand-picked musical legends, heads who have made their dent in the industry and will coach you to do the same. ALUMNI Warp’s favourite wonderkid, Flying Lotus, is a fine example of an RBMA success story. His track from the academy scored over 20,000 downloads before that year’s Various Assets compilation had even been released. A certain Mr Hudson began to blend ska and folk whilst at the RMBA, while winner of the South African Music Award for Best Dance Album in 2006, Blackcoffee, also clearly made good use of his time at RBMA. FACILITIES RBMA trots the globe, setting up a different station year-on-year, wherever the right beat culture calls. Sao Paulo, Cape Town, Toronto and Rome are just some of the cities the academy has visited, hooking up with local creatives, promoters and taste-makers to transform a warehouse space into a veritable wonderland, and book up the right clubs for evening activities. A lecture theatre, a radio broadcasting suite, supreme pop-up studios, a session room for live recording, a generous equipment room and chill-out areas are all custom-built, just for the fortnight. DESIGN RMBA matches sonic extraordinariness with visual treats and optimum physical comfort. Cotch on low sofas in the lecture theatre; ogle at tits-n-ass in the porn-rag-decorated studio; enjoy the academy warehouse as a fully-integrated gallery, where local artists are invited to display their work, and even the tables and chairs are crafted from recycled goods. CANTEEN Swap Pot Noodle and standard-issue student gruel for hearty RBMA canteen fare. Hangover-easing breakfasts, barbeques, donut-popcorn snacks, gazpachio shots… After-dark, beer and wine flow freely, while Red Bull, the oh-so-necessary wing-juice, is of course at all times on tap. Schwiiing! EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY Interactive art installations, electronic beat-making games and mammoth Gute-Touch etch-a-sketch screens are happy diversions from the studio. Each evening, stand by to represent in the hottest clubs, spinning a set, supporting your comrades as they take to the decks, or just raving the hours away. Wings required! MISSION STATEMENT To support burgeoning musical talent worldwide, bringing characters and cultures together for a celebration of bad-man beatery - and a blindingly good time. APPLICATIONS PROCEEDURE Keep a check on www.redbullmusicacademy.com for updates on how to apply for the big 09!

tags: | red bull | red bull news | red bull latest | red bull music academy | more...

PN's guide to: MTV Liverpool Music Week 2008!

PN's guide to: MTV Liverpool Music Week 2008!

I figured with it being MTV Liverpool Music Week from October 30th to November 6th, I’d bring you a day to day guide of which act you should probably see before any other. Thursday 30th October: O god, here comes the brainwork. The Fall or Vampire Weekend? Balls. I’ll opt for Vampire Weekend, simply because The Fall seem to tour over here quite often and Vampire Weekend are from across the pond. But then The Fall has that lyric: “ I'm telling you now / and I'm telling you this /Life can be a downward chip.” It’s true; try working at Planet Notion. Pick of the Night: The Fall at Nation. Tickets: Available on the door (video below) Other Highlights: Vampire Weekend atCarling Academy. Tickets: Sold out, but CLICK HERE to win tickets to see Vampire Weekend (thanks to Planet Notion) Friday 31st October: Halloween. That means a barrage of eggs at windows, kids letting off fireworks, that kind of crap. It’s hard to muster up any enthusiasm for the day. But the show must go on, and the highlight on the 31st has to be Damien Dempsey. Damien sings about the brutal realities of life, of the shit-steaming humdrum of it all instead of seeing a girl in Safeway and your eyes meeting in the cold meat section. Pick of the Night: Damien Dempsey at The Picket. Tickets: CLICK HERE ! (video below) Other Highlights: Bestival Reunion Tour at Nation. Tickets: Available on the door. Best fancy dress wins 2 tickets to Bestival 2009. To read an interview about the Bestival Reunion Tour, with the big daddy of Bestival Rob da Bank, CLICK HERE ! Saturday 1st November: I saw the cocknbullkid on Jools Holland, one of the only shining stars in a week of crap television and never-ending lethargy. At first I wasn’t so sure about the cocknbullkid. Bit pretentious to start your name without a capital letter, plus she was dressed like a god damn Christmas bauble. But I was kind of mesmerised by the performance, which is pretty rare when it comes to electronic pop. Pick of the Night: cocknbullkid at Bumper. Tickets: Free Entry (video below) Other Highlights: Solas at The Picket. Tickets: CLICK HERE ! Sunday 2nd November: It’s 2008, and when I tell people that I don’t like hip-hop, I sometimes get strange looks. People look at me as if to say “GOD DAMN, ITS 2008 NOT 1964. WHAT ARE YOU, SOME KIND OF FREAK?” So I never really had a love for Dizzee Rascal; until I heard his last song. I think it was his last song. Actually, love is a bit of a strong word. Let’s just say it was a good song. Pick of the Night: Dizzee Rascal at Liverpool University. Tickets: Sold Out (video below) Other Highlights: Heads of State atThe Caledonian. Tickets: Free Entry! Monday 3rd November: Man, I’ve never been a fan of dance music unless my mind's truly beyond repair. Then again, I wouldn’t really class Bastardcunt as dance music; I reckon it'd probably fall into the category of noise. I had a strange dream once after a particularly long weekend where I actually thought a fox was eating my elbow; I woke-up sweating and holding my elbow because it seemed so fucking real! This is the kind of music that you’d listen to in an equally bad condition. Pick of the Night: Bastardcunt at Titos (MEME). Tickets: Free! Other Highlights: Wiley at Alma de Cuba. Tickets: Free (video below) Tuesday 4th November: I didn’t know who to pick, so I went for Ogo. Maybe because his name intrigued me, it’s the same spelt backwards as it is forwards. But I checked him out on MySpace and kind of liked what I was hearing. Sometimes you think you’re hearing Seal, and then you’ll hear this kind of folk guitar. It’s nice music to listen to when you’re trying to pick up a hot bit of arse. Pick of the Night: Ogo at Hannah’s Bar. Tickets: Free! Other Highlights: Johnny Foreigner at Bumper. Tickets: Free (video below) Wednesday 5th November: So we’re getting towards the end now. Don’t know a lot about Cushfoot, but I know they’re a jazz band and there’s nothing quite like ordering a whole bottle of bourbon, smoking a fat cigar and listening to some jazz. Ah, perfection. Except of course they brought the god damn smoking ban in so you can’t smoke the cigars anymore. Bang goes that dream. Pick of the Night: Cushfoot at Hannah’s Bar. Tickets: Free! Other Highlights: Sway at Alma da Cuba. Tickets: Free (video below) Thursday 6th November: Hell, it’s a long day ahead and already I’m feeling tired. But as soon as I saw Sonny J was going to be at Liverpool Music Week, I figured I’d go onto his MySpace. I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of hope. I suddenly thought that things aren’t so bad after all. That the crowded trains, the money and the routine of it all, that they’re a lot less worse than losing the ability to ejaculate. Thanks Sonny. Pick of the Night: Sonny J at Bumper. Tickets: Free (video below) Other Highlights: Cold Ones at Korova. Tickets: Free! For full line-ups, tickets and further information about MTV Liverpool Music Week, visit liverpoolmusicweek.com

tags: | liverpool music week bastardcunt | wiley news | wiley latest | wiley tickets | more...

4