Thoroughly enjoyed the set of Shanghai based DJ & Producer Ceezy yesterday at the Purple Soul Album Launch. I had forgotten about his talents on the decks and his acute skill in his own productions. But after checking his soundcloud again today, I was reminded of his aptitude for producing quality music.
‘Winter of Soul’ is one of my favourite tracks. Sampling Gil Scott-Heron (R.I.P.), Ceezy forms a delightfully jazzy journey into chilled beat production and provides the perfect come down from last night.
Far East Coast Hip Hop
Chinese Hip Hop trio Purple Soul are having their debut album launch party tonight at Shelter (10pm) so we thought we would put some of our favourite tracks from the East & Far East Coasts together to get you warmed up for the main event.
Purple Soul - WTF
Jemini The Gifted One - Funk Soul Sensation
I.N.I feat. Pete Rock - Fakin Jax
Ed O.G and the Bull Dogs - I Gotta Have It
Main Source - Fakin’ The Funk
P.s Sorry if you get some youku adverts before the tracks, T.I.C! Would recommend loading all the tracks on mute and then enjoying the music.
LQE015: Ahu Karimi
LQE015: Ahu Karimi by Lqe Collective on Mixcloud
LQE015 introduces Iranian artist Ahu Karimi. We know him from his time under moniker DDrhode and his tracks released on UNOIKI. His productions under this new guise are no less impressive. The mix is an exhibition of his works, with the exception of the first track from Lenta. It shows the depth of his creativity and variety in producing that he can produce a wonderfully expressive mix from his own works.
Starting with Lenta’s ‘Born Again’ the ambient piano piece folds away into gentle swaying techno (the track loop6). Some beautiful piano melodies follow in ‘Ghoroob’ before getting more industrial (‘Shoone Beh Sar’). The mix’s centre point of ‘Tears (Beside the Window)’ takes a more chilled approach but opens into a remix of ‘Ghoroob’ catapulting the mix into a much darker place. The final two tracks lighten the mix as they bring it to a close with some nice vocals and a more melodic vibe.
The photo for the artwork was also contributed by Lenta. Enjoy this mix in the sun!
Starting with Lenta’s ‘Born Again’ the ambient piano piece folds away into gentle swaying techno (the track loop6). Some beautiful piano melodies follow in ‘Ghoroob’ before getting more industrial (‘Shoone Beh Sar’). The mix’s centre point of ‘Tears (Beside the Window)’ takes a more chilled approach but opens into a remix of ‘Ghoroob’ catapulting the mix into a much darker place. The final two tracks lighten the mix as they bring it to a close with some nice vocals and a more melodic vibe.
The photo for the artwork was also contributed by Lenta. Enjoy this mix in the sun!
Deep Sea House
Un peu de house dans ce monde de brutes.
Mix 1: Eric Cloutier - Driftwood Records
Mix 2: Nicholas - RA293 Podcast
Fumiya Tanaka at Shelter, Shanghai
Present on the global electronic music scene since the early 1990s, Japanese techno legend Fumiya Tanaka recently graced us with his presence at Shelter, playing for ONE with support from Ben Huang & Don Wong. Fumiya Tanaka’s releases span across a variety of prominent independent and commercial labels, such as Torema (founded by the man himself in 1993), Perlon, Trésor, and Sony (with eclectic releases such as the Mix-Up and Unknown Possibility series). His sound has something almost characteristic of electronic producers from his home country, with the use of avant-garde filters and atypical tones shared by many of his peers. In Fumiya’s case, his productions make use of odd quirky bits and blips that complement deep minimal beats, itself somewhat more characteristic of the oh-so-saught after ‘Berlin Sound’ that many German DJs fail to produce. In addition, his frequent associations with the Chilean-born ‘Don’ of minimal techno Ricardo Villalobos is a testament to an extraordinary – and somewhat overlooked on the global scene – producer and DJ.
Ricardo Villalobos & Fumiya Tanaka - Fumiyandric Pt. 1
Ricardo Villalobos & Fumiya Tanaka - Fumiyandric Pt. 2
In recent years Fumiya Tanaka has also focused more on touring, playing at legendary venues and festivals such as the Berghain, Unit, Womb, Wire Festival, Soundwaves and Awakenings. And recently, Shelter.
That night, Ben Huang opened for Tanaka with a deep and groovy minimal set, mixing techno, deep and tech house. A favorite from his set was one of his last tracks, 2000 and One’s Work (Late Night NYC edit). Huang has created quite the name for himself in the last few years, and we’ve already seen him mixing quite the variety of genres – from Nu-Disco, to House, to banging techno – both locally and abroad. We’re not sure how well his mixing skills translated to a mainly minimal set: the transitions were sometimes a bit too hasty, when one would expect them to be longer and smoother. But the track selection was great, and this made for a more-than-decent opening set.
Tanaka came on at about 1AM, playing on three turntables and 2CDJs. I’m not even sure how that works (what if one of them goes out of beat, how can he keep track of that?) – but it was obvious he knew exactly what he was doing: spot-on mixing. The set’s backbone formed a narrative on the drone of a steady, rolling minimal beat, with haunting (yet beautiful) piano and vocal backups. Around 3AM the mix took an even deeper and darker tone, with gorgeous vocals from the legendary Gil Scott-Heron harmoniously complementing the droning minimal techno. Apart from some drunk ass occasionally leaning into the booth with a flashing camera right into our man’s face, Tanaka aptly managed to entrance the crowd, proving with all the sublety of an experienced DJ that the power of techno does not necessarily lie in heavy basslines and violent drops. “It’s all about what you don’t hear”, I’ve heard someone say once about Jazz music – perhaps that applies to good minimal techno too?
For your enjoyment, we’ve selected a couple mixes by Fumiya Tanaka we’ve really loved over the years, and really look forward to seeing him play again.
LQE014: Shanghai Ultra on Mixcloud
For LQE’s 14th installment, we’re glad to present a great local name in the Chinese techno scene, Shanghai Ultra from Void. Shanghai Ultra’s mix blends industrial, techno and 80’s vibes, wrapped up in an eclectic and compelling hour and a half set. Great, haunting pads and synths are present in different tracks throughout the mix: with great deep (!) and dubby techno tracks like Rhythm & Sound’s “Smile”.
Void rarely fails to deliver intense, quality techno nights, with great German bookings in Shanghai last year, namely Sandwell District’s Rrose and Ancient Methods. For any of you who are passing by, make sure you drop by Shelter on Yongfu lu if you can catch a Void night.
You can get news from the collective on their own website: http://www.void-shanghai.com/ or on their Facebook page.
To be savored at late o’clock.
Recorded on a fast train from Shanghai to Beijing, with a title that translates to “Do you want to touch my mother f***ng dick?” in Chinese.
We don’t know much else about this guy except he makes some pretty cool, driving, grimy techno and from his soundcloud I guess he travels a lot and likes to record music along the way.
Listen with headphones as the artist suggests and you’ll be able to hear the familiar sounds of the Chinese train voice over and a cheeky little “我操你妈“ to finish off.
You can hear more of his works here.
‘Forms’ (featured), North Sea’s latest production since his Night Drifts EP, hits all the right notes as it takes you ever deeper into ambient oceans. As the ultimate track of the ‘Exits’ pair, it further expands on the themes touched in ‘Exits’ including relative tone and distances and to great effect.
The track starts as wave-like sounds, a darker more eerie bass and that signal sound of a lighthouse beacon form into line one by one to build for an atmospheric crescendo. This cacophony of sounds slowly unravels layer by layer until the track is at its simplest form with still waters and the lone sound of the lighthouse beacon.
We will keep you posted as to future release dates for this collection. In the meantime, here is the first track in the pair to stream and enjoy, ‘Exits’.
