I was really excited to hear that Brisbane band Step It Up had a new EP, "Push", out in 2011 on Zyl Records, as I'd loved their earlier work on their self titled album released in 1996 and I'd seen them perform in Brisbane when I lived there in 2000/2001 or so. The new EP has different versions of the song "Push"—which includes a sample from their popular song "Flex" with mixes by Obese Bass Beast and Unison Sound System. There's also a new song called "Nudge" by Blunted Stylus (aka Geoff "Jigzaw" Blunted/ex Resin Dogs/Hydrofunk). The musical lineup has changed slightly over the years, but there's still a range of music styles and techniques explored on this release—from house, to jazz, to drum'n'bass, to bass-music and beats'n'squelch styles. All in all, it's a pleasure to listen to and I'm looking forward to hearing their future sounds, as well as the cache of songs yet to be released. Des Reid was kind enough to answer a few questions about the band and its future directions. Keep an ear to the ground for their live gigs in Brisbane and elsewhere—you'll be in for a treat from these talented musicians!
>> for the "borrowed moog and juno mix", song #1 on Push—what's the story here? who'd you borrow the moog and juno from and can you keep them for a while?
> The Moog Prodigy belonged to Manny, our old keys player. I should have bought it when he sold it. The Juno 60 was DJ Damage's. They're both killer synths. I've since acquired a Juno 60 and JX-3p.
>> are there any favourite gigs, or memories of them that you'd like to share?
> The "Vibes on A Summer Day" festivals were always great. They were before festivals became commercial and unaffordable. Bondi Pavilion was a great venue. It's always nice to see a thousand people jumping up and down to your music in the sun from the stage.
>> for your live set: "Their new show has wide variety from instrumental hip-hop through Asian and Arabic influences to banging house". can you talk about some of these influences? particularly, the Asian and Arabic ones
> I have been learning some Arabic music and playing with some great oud players. We have an unreleased track called "Ïntefada" and a new one called "Free Gaza". I've always been interested in Indian music since seeing the Mahavishnu Orchestra, although I haven't studied it thoroughly and authentically. One of our best new tunes is an Indian groove tune called "Only One I know". That's partly because it's the only raga I know properly! Rohan plays in proper Indian ensembles in recitals at the Hindu temple in Virginia up here in Brisbane.
>> who are the band members of Step It Up?
> We've had some fantastic players in the past who have left town like Craig Hanicek, Darren MacPherson and Gavin Manikus on sax, Godoy and Steve Falk on percussion and DJ Frenzie. Terepai recorded the drums on "Flex" for us too.
The current line up is :
Steve Francis—drums
Steve is a great drummer and is in great demand in Brisbane. He tours with James Morrison too.
Neil Wickham is our great new sax player. He has a brilliant fusion type sound. The sax can't be too mellow in this type of music or it loses the edge and blands it out a bit.
Rohan Somasekaran is on keys. He is an awesome piano player and leads his own straight-ahead jazz outfit too. We're adding more synth to the live sound too.
I [Des Reid] play bass mostly live, but also a bit of guitar and guitar synth. I want to start contributing to the percussion too, but only in a support role—I'm only a simple player.
DJ Damage does the cuts on the EP. He's also in Terntable Jediz and The Optimen. He's one of the best turntablists I've ever seen.
Roger Gonzalez is our percussionist. He is a conga and cahon specialist, and a fantastic groove player. Marcelo, who played on the "Push" EP moved to Canberra unfortunately. We have loads of percussion recorded by him in the vaults though. Also heaps by his brother, Luis Schiavi—a killer timbales player.
Overall we have a giant backlog of tracks which we will be finishing and releasing soon. Although we haven't been playing out as often over the last few years, we never stopped writing and recording. We're sitting on a few albums really. The new label—Zyl Records will be our outlet now that we're organized.
>> do you improvise during the live sets too?
> There is a lot of improvising live. We follow the jazz tradition of arranged head—improvisation—head. We try to keep some tightly arranged sections too. One big feature of our sets is the breakdowns. We don't just have horn or keys solos—we have big sections where the drums, percussion and DJ are improvising together, feeding off each other. According to Cuban tradition, when two or more percussive players are resonating, that's when the spirits come. We're a bit tribal really.
This is a general call for contributions to Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture. Entering a new era with a new and expanded editorial and production team, Dancecult is extending its deadline on submissions for its next edition.
New deadline - December 20, 2010.
As the issue is hosting a special section on The Love Parade, submissions on this theme will be welcome, in both From the Floor and Feature article categories.
Auraltered State
dualpLOVER and Performance Space
Sat 20 February & Sat 6 March, 8pm
{TRACK 12}
FREE
Performance Space in association with dualpLOVER invites you to Auraltered State #1 the first of eight free performances to be conducted across 2010 focusing on the music of New South Wales as heard through the ears of Lucas Abela. The performances will cross a wide spectrum of music from the state with a focus on some of our more entertaining, innovative, unusual and new thought artists. All shows will be held at the new Performance Space ClubHouse which has a limited capacity of 100 patrons so please come early. This series has been kindly supported by Arts NSW.
Submitted by Malina Hamilton... on Sun, 2009-03-01 10:23
A SHIMMY SHAKIN' NIGHT OF LIVE ELECTRO/DANCE-POP WITH SUPER MASSIVE & YEN
Award winning Sydney dance/rock band Super Massive team with fellow electro-funksters Yen for a very special night of electro/dance-pop at the Excelsior Hotel Surry Hills on Saturday 7th March. Newcomers Life Bitter Soul support.
The night showcases three of Sydney's best up and coming electronic/dance rock bands. With all bands on the bill sharing a love of deep rhythm, shimmering synths, poetic pop, not to mention lights and lasers, it's set to be a spectacular, shimmy-shakin' night, if not an outright dancing frenzy, if both Super Massive and Yen's previous shows are anything to go by.
The show is at the Excelsior Hotel, 64 Foveaux St, Surry Hills. The night starts at 8pm. Tickets are $10- at the door.
Trambience transforms a Christchurch Tram carriage into a small mobile music venue, in which the audience and performers trundle together through the city streets. From inside the tram musicians create an improvised soundtrack that blends with the sounds of the streets outside and the rumbling and rattling of the tram itself. Trambience is a celebration of the shared journeys of public transport.
greg jenkins composes directly with the inherent musicality of sounds, making harmony, melody and rhythm subservient to sonic texture and spatiality. He will often extrapolate sonic minutiae into whole compositions for example by "zooming in" on a tiny fragment of recorded voice then using this as the basis of a droning musical weft.
greg also likes to hit things; things such as suspended arrays of inverted flower pots; things such as beer kegs; and things such as midi percussion controllers which allow him to subversively remap non-percussive sound objects to percussive performance gestures. He frequently makes use of "micro-gestures" - subtle physical manipulations of computer hardware which control software synthesis engines allowing him to perform directly on the software in real time. greg is also known as "cactusman" due to his penchant for using a cactus as an amplified acoustic instrument.
ENZYME 8 - Friday January 30th 2009 @ Blue Velvet - 60 Smith Street Collingwood featuring EYE / DJ Citizen (Canberra), sig.int, Manticle, BasticH, Cassandra's Myth, DJ Infectious Unease.
EYE are releasing the long-delayed "Propaganda Machine Vol.1" CD "Post-Industrial Music for an Information-Age" on the night! read more or visit ENZYME website for more details
Submitted by Stream Collective on Thu, 2008-02-14 14:52
LIVE FEEDING is a one-night occurrence of audio-visual performance and installation under the stars. The Old Melbourne Gaol exercise yard will become a site of convergence for local AV practitioners and merry makers. To kick the evening off, we would like to invite you to play with our overhead projectors, get acquainted over drinks and enjoy a BBQ until the sun sets, when the performance and installation programs will come to life!
genre:
Electronic, techno, experimental, glitch, hip hop, house, IDM, disco
Australian artist / project?:
Yes
are you a currently active artist / project?:
yes
releases / projects:
Original Melbourne (Australia) electronic music label IF? Records was set up in this city in 1995, and relocated to Tokyo, Japan, in 2001 - see IF? Records @ Wikipedia
Mashed up & glitch songs, combining different pop songs and distorting them has become popular of late and one of Australia's most well-known artist is DSICO and the label SPASTICATED RECORDS. On today's briz:b:e:a:t:s we highlight some of the tracks that have been cut-up by the artists, including some from the infamous "Ministry of Shit" release which has caused quite a stir with the legal department of UK's Ministry of Sound. Just goes to show how far a small-run independant release can go. Artists featured on the label include Girl Talk, DSICO, AC/3P, Mark N, 7u?, DJ Smallcock, Toecutter, Ascdi, Wobbly, Skkatter, Knifehandchop & Kevin Blechdom, DSP Wanker and Trotters. listen to this showMashed up & glitch songs, combining different pop songs and distorting them has become popular of late and one of Australia's most well-known artist is DSICO and the label SPASTICATED RECORDS. On today's briz:b:e:a:t:s we highlight some of the tracks that have been cut-up by the artists, including some from the infamous "Ministry of Shit" release which has caused quite a stir with the legal department of UK's Ministry of Sound. Just goes to show how far a small-run independant release can go. Artists featured on the label include Girl Talk, DSICO, AC/3P, Mark N, 7u?, DJ Smallcock, Toecutter, Ascdi, Wobbly, Skkatter, Knifehandchop & Kevin Blechdom, DSP Wanker and Trotters.
Tune in to listen to Spasticated Records original songs plus the infamous versions of tracks by artists such as Nelly, Beyonce, Kylie, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Nirvana, J.Lo + more
On today's show I'll be featuring The Bird's album 'Music for Reset People'. Their newest album, 'Audible Inventions' has just been released. These guys are best seen live as their percussive drumming skills are second to none and crowds are guaranteed an energetic performance from them. Also, Brisbane band Point & Click Symphony's album "Harmonic Bong" will be featuredOn today's show I'll be featuring The Bird's album 'Music for Reset People'. Their newest album, 'Audible Inventions' has just been released. These guys are best seen live as their percussive drumming skills are second to none and crowds are guaranteed an energetic performance from them.
Electronic music has developed rapidly in the last 30 years, for the limitations are few and the possibilities are still being discovered. When live meets the electronic, new realms of dance music emerge.
Over the last 6 years The Bird have established a solid reputation as one of Australia's finest live electronic dance outfits, and in the studio have continued to push musical boundaries. Their 4th official release ' Audible Inventions' out now through Creative Vibes, is the next step in the evolution of this electronic duo. Co-produced with Dave Atkins (Resin Dogs), and featuring many guest performances from their Collective, The Bird have taken live studio recordings, re worked them on their home computers and spent time in northern NSW producing and mixing them to come up with a fine mix of hip hop beats, some drum'n'bass treats, asian flavas and some deep, deep dub grooves
The Bird are Simon Durrington (keyboards) & Ben Walsh (drums) who are joined by a Collective of some of this country's finest artists, including Indian Tabla player Bobby Singh (Dha, Gondwanaland), double bass player Barry Hill (Amphibian) & turntablist Dave Atkins (Resin Dogs). As musicians, The Bird have sought an organic interpretation of computer-generated forms of music, combing live drum'n'bass breakbeats and electro synth lines, with sounds from the Asian Underground, and some serious dub vibes. The Bird's music is a journey through these numerous influences and stylistics, executed in a funkafied soulful electronica sound that is their trademark style.
The Bird have toured the country and overseas extensively, playing at many venues and festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Livid Festival, Falls Festival, Adelaide Fringe, Woodford Festival, Two Tribes, the Opera House Studios, Home Nightclub, and Earthcore to name a few.
'Audible Inventions' is in shops now. Also in stores is The Bird's debut album 'The Sound Of No Sound' and the mini LP 'Music for Reset People'.
Tune in to briz:b:e:a:t:s on www.pulseradio.net this Sunday 7th May between 12-2pm for your weekly supply of ambient / chilled / ninja tunes. Special guest this week is Katherine Poteri : she'll be taking us on a journey through the last decade of techno, revising the origins and trends in Detroit, Europe and the rest of the world. This weeks Australian feature release is the fantastic new one from edgecore records (http://www.edgecore.com.au) : Junkbeats:UnionTune in to briz:b:e:a:t:s on www.pulseradio.net this Sunday 7th May between 12-2pm for your weekly supply of ambient/chilled/ninja tunes.
Special guest this week is Katherine Poteri : she'll be taking us on
a journey through the last decade of techno, revising the origins and
trends in Detroit, Europe and the rest of the world.
This weeks Australian feature release is the fantastic new one from
ENZYME 8 - Friday January 30th 2009 @ Blue Velvet - 60 Smith Street Collingwood featuring 
LIVE FEEDING is a one-night occurrence of audio-visual performance and installation under the stars. The Old Melbourne Gaol exercise yard will become a site of convergence for local AV practitioners and merry makers. To kick the evening off, we would like to invite you to play with our overhead projectors, get acquainted over drinks and enjoy a BBQ until the sun sets, when the performance and installation programs will come to life!