Pour les fans de Electro, Indé et Alternatif, Funk & Soul, Jazz, Latino, Hip-hop, Pop, et Rock.
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His musical activity began when he formed The XX with old school mates and first adopted the moniker Jamie XX on an early promo mix. After the XX’s first album went platinum, Jamie began to be seen as an in demand music figure in the UK and further afield. His remix work stretched into big name artists like Florence and the Machine and Adele and helped to build his profile up as a stand-alone musician as well as a band member.
In 2010 Jamie began an unlikely pairing when he remixed the song ‘NY is Killing Me’ off Gil Scott Heron’s ‘I’m New Here’. After gaining mass attention from both the public and critics, Jamie, in partnership with XL Records, released a remix album entitled ‘We’re New Here’ in February 2011, sadly just months before Heron’s passing. The album was critically lauded and, in a testament to the quality of Jamie’s productions, was viewed as an outstanding piece of work in its own right.
Later that year, Jamie’s work reached a bigger audience than ever when he produced a track on Drake’s ‘Take Care’ album. Featuring Rhianna the single peaked at 7 and 9 in the US and UK charts respectively.
With the continued success of The XX (the band scored a number one with their second album in 2012) and a huge following from his production and DJ work, Jamie is pretty much succeeding on every front and looks set to do so for a long time.
Drawing upon latin styles such as cumber, boss nova and salsa, Quantic creates a refreshing blend of soul and funk that is driven by breakbeat, with his work often being lumped in with the nu-jazz genre. As well as producing albums as Quantic, Holland is often joined by fellow musicians to create the Quantic Soul Orchestra and The Limp Twins. What sets Holland apart from other producers is his use of original compositions, relying little on samples from other artists, making his music decidedly unique.
Having played guitar in a number of different bands as a teenager, Holland found electronica and dance music, switching to creating house and breakbeat, launching his musical career with his "We Got Soul" recording in 2000. This was followed by his full-length debut, "The 5th Exotic" in 2001, released on the Tru Thoughts label, which received widespread critical acclaim, establishing Quantic as a producer on the rise. His debut was followed by 2002's "Apricot Morning" with both records featuring the delectable vocal talents of British retro-soul singer, Alice Russell, with whom he would go on to collaborate with in 2012, with the album "Look Around The Corner."
In 2003, Holland assembled the Quantic Soul Orchestra to record the album, "Stampede." This new project saw Holland picking up the guitar,amongst other instruments, leading his fellow musicians in playing a record of 60s/70s influenced funk, with a raw sound heavy on the groove. His sister, Lucy Holland, also joined him on the album, playing saxophone.
Having travelled to Colombia in 2007, Holland created his own analogue recording studio and began recording albums. He began to draw on many eclectic influences, such as in his tropical-vibed dub side project "Quantic presenta Flowering Inferno" in 2008, which featured a number of local musicians.
Holland has also set up his own label, Magnetic Fields, which focuses on releasing heavy soul and funk records.
His bizarre stage name has roots in a nickname given by a friend who often referred to Ramble as Rjd2 in his own music so Krohn decided to continue his projects under the pseudonym from his beginnings in 1993. He got a record deal in 2002 and released the critically acclaimed debut album 'Deadringer', publications including Pitchfork praised the rapper for his intelligent hip hop and electro sound . Shortly after this Ramble began Soul Position with rapper Blueprint and released a collaborative album the following year.
He alternately released albums of his own original work and music with Soul Position over the next few years, his second album 'Since We Last Spoke' peaked at #128 on the US Billboard charts. In 2006 the rapper collaborated with hip hop artist Aceyalone to release the album 'Magnificent City' which was another critical success. In 2007 he released 'The Third Hand' which was Krohn's second appearance on the US charts, it included the single 'You Never Had It So Good'.
Despite being involved with numerous other projects including Soul Position and MhZ, Ramble has released six solo albums and one collaborative album with vocalist Aaron Livingston under the pseudonym Icebird. He has also produced music for the likes of Massive Attack, Cage and Diverse over his long career.
In the early ‘90s Merziger and Kammermeier were in a synth pop group labeled Planet Claire, but the group soon saw their music starting to evolve into a direction that favored club and house music. After releasing some music under the name Degeneration, the band renamed themselves Booka Shade in 1995 and released the single “Kind of Good”. The next year the group released the single “Silk”, which followed the style of traditional club music. After the release of their two singles the group decided to step away from their club music sound and started composing music for movie soundtracks as well as working as musicians for hire.
In 2002 the group moved to Berlin, Germany and co-founded the record label, Get Physical Music. The label was recognized by DJ Magazine as “Label of the Year” and Pitchfork has compared the label to early Warp Records. In 2004 Booka Shade released their debut album “Memento” under Get Physical Music. The album contained the singles “Vertigo” and “Double Identity” and follows in the traditional house music sounds.
In 2006 the group released their second studio album “Movements”, which contained the singles “Body Language” and “Mandarine Girl”. These two singles helped Booka Shade gain more attention in the world of electronic music as these two singles were popular hits in dance clubs throughout the world. The electronic music publication “Resident Advisor” referred to “Body Language” as “one of the biggest releases of the year” and the pop sensation will.i.am used the song as a sample for his song “Get Your Money”. The album contained chilling synthesizer lines and rattling bass groves in the Euro dance fashion.
Booka Shade’s third studio album “The Sun & the Neon Light” was released in 2008, which contained the hit single “Charlotte”. The album conveyed the group continuing in the style of down tempo music presented in a minimalistic fashion, and received praise from such publications as “Clash Magazine”. Each album Booka Shade releases shows them experimenting with new electronic sounds as well as sticking to some of the fundamental house music sounds that they are so respected for creating. In 2010 they released the album “More!” and in 2014 they gained notoriety for their single “Love Drug”.
Apart from composing original music, Booka Shade has also found success with remixes. They have remixed several songs by many respectable artists, which include: Moby, The Knife, Hot Chip, and Depeche Mode. Booka Shade is also a sensation with their live performances and has played many notable festivals such as the Brooklyn Electronic Festival and the Stereosonic Festival in Sydney, Australia.
When Jamie xx first started DJing and producing on his own, outside of his band The xx, nobody expected him to evolve into a credible solo artist, let alone become one of the UK’s most sought after DJs. His beats and production are the backbone of The xx and his minimal, near clinical style has become commonplace in indie music across the globe. However, as a DJ he is another beast, offering up the kind eclecticism that keeps dance fans constantly second guessing. Like most people, I first heard of him as a solo entity through his massive remix work for the likes of Florence + The Machine and Gil Scott-Heron; his sublime remix work on Gil’s final album I’m New Here, released under the name We're New Here, pushed the boundaries of what was considered a remix LP.
As much of a fan of that remix work as I am, I was still dubious when I first encountered a Jamie xx DJ set as some small London festival years ago. I had no reason to be. He was a master of his decks and a pin-point selector, mixing everything from house and techno to more bass-driven garage. I’ve seen him live countless times since, the best being at the Warehouse Project in Manchester, where he finished his techno-heavy set with the original, full version of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’. He seems to vibe off the crowd, tailoring his sets to wherever he is and whoever he is in front of, and I’ve witness sets that mix all kind of UK dance music and sets that focus on just one genre like garage or techno. The important thing is that I’ve never been disappointed.
Maribou State are made for the pulsing club circuit, with upcoming shows with Fatboy Slim and The 2 Bears at Warehouse Project, at the Ministry of Sound and at the well-established Watergate superclub in Berlin. They’re the international discotheque trailblazers that will make everyone’s night from Brooklyn to Brighton to Ibiza to the glowstick parties of Croatia and Romania. Their shadowy, eclectic minimal-house sound resembles that of Pantha Du Prince, Modeselektor or Shackleton. They understand what it means to be laconic, using subtle shifts in tempo and gradually overlapping samples to create a kind of mutating ambience that’s deceptively complex.
Their debut EP blended sub-tropical percussion and symbols with intercut, soulful vocal tracks to create a perambulating, worldly sort of nu-jazz, with appearances from Saint Saviour on ‘Scarlet Groove’ and Pedestrian on ‘Rush Don’t Run’. Their subsequent Eps Native and Truths have a more haunting atmosphere about them. Their live tracks fuse all their widely-sourced jams together seamlessly. As a point of reference, check their Boiler Room set, which flails wildly between Afro-jazz, bossanova, minimal, coldwave and funk in the first half-hour.
Quantic is the moniker of DJ-producer Will Holland, who has performed under many guises over the years. He is a Tru Thoughts label legend and has been in the music game for a decade and a half, having released a shed-load of albums and collaborations since the year 2000.
Holland has made a real name for himself in live electronica through his Quantic Soul Orchestra live shows, which feature 12 musicians, as well as live Quantic AV shows, which are propelled by a smaller but no less impressive band. For example, he headlined London’s KOKO earlier this year with his fleshed out live band, in supporting of latest album Magentica. However, Quantic is best loved as a DJ. He is renowned for his genre-hopping selections, yet no matter where he strays his sets always root themselves in funky soul and Latin rhythms. I last saw him performing at the Roundhouse, Camden, during Mr. Scruff’s ‘all-dayer’ - another legendary DJ-producer who likes to dabble in music outside of electronica – and he was wicked. It was a perfect summer’s day (outside, anyway) and Quantic delivered a perfectly suited set of bossa nova-laced party tunes, with snippets of ‘80s funk and Motown soul, all with a glitchy beat backbone.
It is often hard for DJs and electronic musicians to effectively translate the energy of their music to a live scenario, but watching the Philadelphia born Ramble John Krohn, otherwise known as RJD2, I was struck by his extremely high level of technical skill. His ability to simultaneously control multiple turntables as well as the MPC could put a lot of DJs (not mentioning any names!) to shame. For anyone interested in vinyl, live mixing, DJing, or sample-based electronic music, RJD2 remains a must-see due to the fact that he offers up not only a set packed full of great tunes, but a masterclass in authentic live mixing. He has also recently been known to perform alongside a live band (for his icebird project), proving to the crowds that it is possible to effectively integrate sample-chopping and DJing with a more traditional band setup, and thus create a truly great live spectacle. He does not fail to engage with his audience, shouting encouragement and thanks through his microphone to maintain the buzzing ambiance that he is oh so able to conjure, and he has also been known to appear sporting a robot costume… You can never be sure of what he is going to play, due to the fact that his enormous vinyl collection and back catalogue allows him plenty of wiggle room, but rest assured that whatever he does choose to play, it’ll well worth listening and dancing to!
Never having experienced the music of German electronic dance duo Booka Shade, what better place to experience them than in their own backyard – a converted industrial space in the German capital of Berlin? That’s where I first saw the guys, but after the performance they put on I’d recommend you grab any opportunity you can to see them live. Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier have been making top-notch house and techno music since 2004’s Memento and they seem to have gotten better and better as the years roll on. It’s easy enough for the duo to record with banks of keyboards and percussion rigs in the studio when there’s computers and ProTools about, and that’s why records like More! sound completely impeccable, but to do that live is some feat. So to see Kammermeier leap around his drum set like a man possessed, while Merziger conducts the crowd to the point where everyone’s hands go in the air at just the right time when the drop comes in on a track like ‘Body Language’, it’s the very definition of euphoria. Our hands don’t leave the sky for the rest of the show as one banger after the next comes thick and fast: ‘Love Inc’, ‘Night Moves’, ‘Darko’ all pulsate and throb like the best house music should, and the light show alongside it mesmerises and blinds in equal proportion. Sure, they’re on their own patch so Booka Shade are bound to have the crowd in the palm of their hand but this communal experience would translate to any club, anywhere.