13. May 2008 by Emmett.

I caught Jamie Lidell at the Admiralspalast here in Berlin on Saturday, and it was quite an experience. I’ve seen some Youtube clips of his previous live shows, which he did with a laptop rig and a microphone, but this time he brought a full band along to do about half the songs with him. There’s a slapstick comedy element to it, as he is obviously playing around with the music, the band, and the audience. Catch him on tour this summer if you can.

Here’s a video I took of his loopy beatbox version of “A Little Bit More”:

And “Figured Me Out” with the full band this time:

Download: Jamie Lidell - Figured Me Out (album version)

That one is my favourite track off the new album Jim, which you should go pick up at your favourite music shop.

Posted in Music, Berlin | 1 Comment »

10. May 2008 by Emmett.

Just put this together, with the alternate soundclash vocal…you probably haven’t heard this one.

Download: Collie Buddz + Turbulence - Blind To You/Notorious (DJ Emmett blend)

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9. May 2008 by Emmett.

Another night out in the city…

I don’t listen to a lot of Baile stuff, but DJ Edgar from Rio played some really nice tunes and had some skills. You gotta hear that stuff loud, even if it does sample the Indiana Jones theme.

Diplo ripped it up, playing a pretty ravey set of baltimore, techno, electro, baile, and hip hop. I was in real good spirits until someone at the bar took a 50 and gave me back change for a 10. Sigh.

Anyway, here’s a bit of video I caught:

I heard this Dead Prez remix last night, sounded great on a big system:
Download (via Mad Decent): Dead Prez - Hip Hop (Diplo thing)

Also, don’t leave your go-kart outside a nightclub where drunk Americans hang out.

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7. May 2008 by Emmett.

Wow, this feels a little strange to be writing about a show in Calgary. Guess I better get used to it! I’m headed back on the 4th/5th, and this show will be a perfect homecoming bash.

Featuring one of my favourite DJs, BRETT JOHNSON (Classic Recordings/Aesoteric - Seattle), the hometown hero NEIGHBOUR, GREG SAINT (Edmonton), and of course Yours Truly.

211 12th Ave S.W.
8 euros….errr, $12 cover
9pm - til they kick us out

Flyer coming soon…in the meantime, you can get a feel for Brett’s taste in bleeps and bloops on his mixes page.

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5. May 2008 by Emmett.

I managed to catch Roy Ayers Ubiquity on Friday night, and it was definitely worth it. Dude was having fun with it, letting the band loose, and rocking a dope t-shirt. Not bad considering his first show in Germany was back in 1966 (!!!).

“We Live In Brooklyn, Baby”

“Everybody Loves The Sunshine”

Right after the concert wrapped up, I headed back across town to my neighbourhood and stopped into Tape Club. I’ve never seen the lineup so long before, but there was a concession truck outside, and people were having fun in the warm weather.

Inside the club was radically different- a giant hall served as the main room, which I’d never seen before, and the old coatcheck room was now a side lounge:

The lineup was mostly dubstep (Kode 9 & Spaceape, 2562, Pinch) and electro (Modeselektor, Sick Girls, Housemeister). The place was packed.

A shot of the very hot, very dark 2nd room:

Plus some video of the main hall, with Modeselektor playing:

Saturday night was Carl Craig at Panorama Bar, and luckily for everyone involved (hi Saskia!) there were no cameras present. Carl did play a flawless set of deep, driving techno, and I was loving it. I am seriously going to miss weekends like this.

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27. April 2008 by Emmett.

So, as I understand it, May 1st is the day in Berlin where all the punk kids, Kreuzbergians, and everyone making up the “far left” are semi-allowed to go crazy on the streets and set cars on fire. I’m aware this could be exaggerated, but I’ve seen what NYE is like, so I’m going to take that at face value. Any Berliners that (dis)agree, please drop a comment, I’m curious.

Rather than being pelted with rocks, I would much prefer to be at this place in Treptow, watching Ricardo Villalobos & friends (for 5 euro!):

Looks perfect for springtime. The next day, after seeing Roy Ayers, there’s a can’t-miss party at Tape around the corner from my house:

That’s a great mix of music…I’ve bought CD’s of Modeselektor and Pole, big fans of both. Tape is a classy smaller club, I should do another club guide writeup for the smaller joints.

If I’m still going strong on Saturday night, there’s Carl Craig at Panorama Bar. What can I say? I’m trying to leave Berlin with a bang…

Download:  Thom Yorke - Skip Divided (Modeselektor remix)

Posted in Music, Berlin | 2 Comments »

25. April 2008 by Emmett.

What started out as a little re-edit stretched into a whole new track, with vocals and shit. I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with the original Red Cafe track, but the first 2 verses fit pretty well here. Disco rap, 104 bpm, 320kbps.

Download: Red Cafe f. Fabolous - Bling Blaow (DJ Emmett remix)

Drop a word or 2 if you’re into it.

EDIT: Link fixed!

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24. April 2008 by Emmett.

No real theme today, I just think waffles are great.

I was walking down a busy street yesterday and looked behind me to see a black Porsche 911 Turbo screech towards the sidewalk at full speed, and smash head-on into a pole 15 meters away. Debris was flying towards me, and rather than move away, I just kinda stood there and thought “woah, cool.” This was right by the Berlin Zoo. The same day, Will from Zoos Of Berlin sent me a copy of their new EP. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But if you squint really hard with your ears, “Below the Old House” kind of sounds like little bits of Porsche flying towards you in slow motion.

Download: Zoos of Berlin - Below the Old House

+ if you’re going to be around Berlin in the next couple weeks, be sure to catch a couple great concerts: the legend himself, Roy Ayers (May 2- Festsaal Kreuzberg), and the UK’s top ambassador of electronic soul, Jamie Lidell (May 10- Admiralspalast). I didn’t know Jamie relocated over here until just now- too busy with the new album to do shows til recently, I guess.

Posted in Music, Berlin | No Comments »

21. April 2008 by Emmett.

A world-class DJ and one of Western Canada’s favourites, Mat The Alien has a new mix up on One Day Later radio.

If you’ve seen the guy play, you probably don’t need a tracklist to convince you to click, but there’s one after the jump.

EDIT: server seems to be down… sorry.

Read the rest of this entry »

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21. April 2008 by Emmett.

The full list of artists playing the Mutek Festival in Montreal (May 28-June1) is now posted on the Mutek website.

Highlights include Carl Craig, Radio Slave, Modeselektor, and Kode 9…all of which happen to be playing in Berlin in the next 2 weeks. Yessss. (I don’t get back to Canada until after Mutek…)

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