I recently dug up this Q&A interview I did with the man himself in October 2008. On a Google images search I even found an image from the gig in De Burgo’s with my own blurry head in the background. Sometimes it all comes together easily enough.
Q. Favourite colour ? Purple Q. How would you describe your music style? Hopeful melancholy Q. What is your musical background? I had piano lessons for about 8 years, got my first synth at the age of 12 - electronic music seemed a way to be creative without relying on other musicians which were really hard to find in the area where I grew up. Q. Where do you live? North East London Q. What’s your favorite part of the day? Least favorite? Whenever I can switch into a nocturnal day rhythm - it’s much quieter at night so it’s easier to concentrate on music and I generally prefer the atmosphere as well. I hate mid day - everythings way too bright, loud and distracting… Q. What’s your drink? Lassi Q. Favourite book? “Der Zauberberg” by Thomas Mann Q. Favourite movie? “Kamikaze 1989″ (Fassbinder) Q. Favourite place? Orange County Q. Favourite piece of studio gear ? Octave Plateau Voyetra 8 (my alltime favourite synth) Q. Favorite subject in school? History Q. Who/what inspires you? Missed opportunities, disappointments, memories Q. Name one thing you feel strongly about. Why? German reunification - it should never have happened - Germany wasn’t a particularly open and civilzed society before 1989 but at least it didn’t have much power beyond its borders - the reunited stronger germany will sooner or later cause problems (dominating Europe etc) that could have very easily been avoided Q. Best gig you’ve ever been to? It’s very difficult to narrow it down - saw Serena Maneesh at the water rats a while ago - incredible… Q. What would be written on your headstone? No pretentious or patronizing bons mots hopefully Q. If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing? Don’t think I’d still be alive Q. What 5 people dead or alive would you invite to dinner?
Marx, Gudrun Ensslin, Wolfgang Pohrt, Adorno, Marcuse
(I’d shut up and just follow their conversation) Q. Concept of heaven? I don’t believe in heaven but I’d like to live in a society that has progressed beyond private ownership of the means of production Q. Concept of hell? Capitalism is the end of history Q. What would you like to be better at? Electro engineering (wish I had a clue about the technical side of studio equipment)
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s Cian Ó Ciobhain releases An Taobh Tuathail Vol IV, the latest in the series as a free download from the RnaG website for 3 months only. The tracklist and a commentary from Cian (who thankfully tags the MP3 through the Lyrics ID3 tag!) is given below. Highly recommended - grab it now while you can.
Tracklist
1.Hildur Guðnadóttir - Unveiled
2.Alex Smoke - Ikos
3.Emika - Cooling Room
4.Actress - Maze
5.Lali Puna - Safe Tomorrow
6.Natalie Beridze / tba - The Face We Choose To Miss
7.Dau Cefn - Hey Baby!
8.Rene Hell - Razor. P+
9.Daedelus - Fin De Siécle
10.Tape - Parade
11.Valgeir Sigurðsson – Grýlukvæði (feat Sam Amidon)
12.Patrick Kelleher - Wonder
13.St. Catherines Home For Lazy Infants - It’s OK
14.The Gentleman Losers - Spider Lily
15.Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon - Two Hours After Dusk
16.alva noto - Anthem Berlin (For The Kingdom Of Elgaland-Vargaland)
If this were a CD, I wouldn’t have put this as first track. Rule no. 1 if you’re trying to sell a disc: put your catchiest song first. But this is a free podcast and the Icelandic cellist’s quixotic ode to flight and movement is as good a place as any to start this trip (and it is a trip).
02 Alex Smoke – Ikos
I believe that this Glasweigan producer is possibly one of the finest producers making music on this planet right now. Normally, he makes moody melancholic techno, but peel the emphasis off the shuddering kick drums and you reveal a thing of bucolic beauty. This is the opening track on his most recent LP ‘Lux’ on his own Hum + Haw label. What a deliciously apt name for his label.
03 Emika - Cooling Room
Young British producer Emika moved to Berlin earlier last year and was immediately drawn to Berghain/Panoramabar, the epicentre of Europe’s techno/house scenes. Her recent project, the ‘Fünf’ compilaton, on the club’s record label Ostgut Ton, inspired her to record the sounds of the immense venue when emptied of revellers, then passing on the field recordings to the club’s DJs and producers to mould new tracks out of. In her own words: “I was in Panorama Bar on Sunday afternoon, and Nick Hoppner who runs the Ostgut Ton label was DJing, and there was like a long breakdown in the track, or he was doing some kind of quiet mix between two records, and I could hear all the metal panels in the building resonating, and I could hear all the motors and the lights above me. Like turning the strobes and stuff like that, and yeah, I carried on drinking and started thinking about all these millions of sounds that must be in the huge space when there’s no party.” She recorded the light rigging, the fridges, people working, the infamous sex swings. This is her own contribution. Her début LP is due (possibly on Ninja Tune) sometime this year.
Modern electronic music, haunted by the pioneering sound of Kraftwerk, from the Londoner’s ‘Splaszh’ LP which deserves repeated listens.
05 Lali Puna - Safe Tomorrow
And finally a vocal! The highlight of the band from Wilheim, Germany’s fourth LP ‘Our Inventions’ on Morr Music.
06 Natalie Beridze / tba - The Face We Choose To Miss
Natalie is a prolific artist from Tbilisi in Georgia who has released five LPs as tba. Last summer, this 80s-flavoured pop song saw the light of day on her ‘What About Things Like Bullets’ EP. Her new LP ‘Forgetfulness’ will be available on Monika Enterprise in March.
07 Dau Cefn - Hey Baby!
Welsh surrealists Dau Cefn occasionally tune into ATT on wet Monday nights and began sending some of their songs my way last summer. I’ve pretty much listened to this ska-tinged ode to joy at least once a week ever since it came my way.
08 Rene Hell - Razor. P+
Provocative synth music that brings to mind early Tortoise, 70’s Kosmiche and ambient techno - this mind-blower is the opening track on the American producer’s recent ‘Porcelain Opera’ LP on Type.
09 Daedelus - Fin De Siécle
This romantic instrumental wouldn’t sound out of place in an old Disney movie. From the LA producer’s 2010 EP ‘Righteous Fists Of Harmony’.
10 Tape - Parade
The musical approximation of sunbeams unexpectingly shining through a slate-grey sky. All the way from Sweden. Check out the ‘Luminarium’ LP on Häpna.
11 Valgeir Sigurðsson – Grýlukvæði (feat Sam Amidon)
Valgeir is something of a renaissance man in his native Iceland: founder of the Bedroom Community label; producer and engineer; composer of music for TV, film & theatre; he has also collaborated with Björk, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Kronos Quartet and CocoRosie. This collaboration with American folk singer Sam Amidon is from the ‘Draumalandið’ (Dreamland) soundtrack.
12 Patrick Kelleher - Wonder
Based in Dublin, though orginally from Rugby in the UK, Patrick perfectly merges lo-fi electronica with phantasmal folk on his ‘You Look Cold’ LP on the wonderful Osaka label. Check him out should he visit your neck of the woods with his band Patrick Kelleher & His Cold Dead Hands.
13 St. Catherines Home For Lazy Infants - It’s OK
Shimmering hazy guitar plucking from the ‘Old Ghosts’ LP from the prodigious Alex Synge, on Dublin’s distinguished Slow Loris label.
14 The Gentleman Losers - Spider Lily
This Finnish duo’s woozy dreamlike productions recall a vintage of music that predates the use of ProTools & modern digital recording. From their second and most recent LP ‘Dustland’ on City Centre Offices.
15 Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon - Two Hours After Dusk
I used to jostle for space on the dancefloor (i.e. stare at the ground in a fey, sensitive manner, whilst gently rocking back and forth on the one spot, wondering if any cute indie chicks would be impressed by my limited edition Joy Divison t-shirt) at a clubnight called ‘Psychedelia’ in The Castle, Galway in the early to mid-90s, with the two members of PDBTM, who are now based in Nottingham. Their spectral folk LP, ‘The Trees, The Sea, In A Lunar Stream’ on Galway’s dedicated Rusted Rail imprint sounds nothing like The Breeders’ ‘Cannonball’ - which was played incessantly at ‘Psychedelia’ - but instead brings to mind Talk Talk and their luminous ‘Spirit Of Eden’ LP.
16 alva noto - Anthem Berlin (For The Kingdom Of Elgaland-Vargaland)
Hugely influential artist whose installations have been included in the Guggenheim, New York, the Tate Modern and Venice Biennale, Italy. From his second LP of dedications ‘For 2’ on the Line label.
An Taobh Tuathail ag craoladh ó Luan go h-Aoine @ Anocht FM (RTE RnaG): 11pm - 1am GMT. Éist ar an raidió (92-94FM & 102.6FM) agus ar DAB. Ar fáil ar an idirlíon http://www.rte.ie/rnag/antaobhtuathail.html, ar Sky (Channel 0166) & ar NTL Cable (Channel 905). Ríomphost: att@rte.ie
Arriving for LowerState on Sat Aug 14th, Kassem Mosse tows his machines all the way from Leipzig for his irish debut with a cutting edge live set. One of the most enigmatic producers around, creating a unique, uncharacterisable, time-warped sound, he jams live with drummachines and synthesizers, programming and mixing patterns on the spot to showcase the narcotic womp of low BPM deep house vs. pop ambient vs. micro techno.
Kassem followed his first Workshop 03 EP in 2007 with the timeless Workshop 08 which many people hailed as record of 2009 by topping a number of end of year charts. After which came a record on Omar S’s FXHE label, and his new Laid EP (with Lowtec) is set to be one of the records of 2010, with deep muted synth lines and low slung bass bringing a unique futurism and deepness which we will all get to experience first hand during his live show this August 14th.
Needless to say, we are super excited to host the amazing Kassem, and on our top notch Funktion 1 soundsystem this will be a really excited way to finish up LowerState’s summer.
He has featured on mix CDs from Tama Sumo (Panorama Bar 02), Cassy (Cocoon mix), Ellen Allien (Boogybytes Vol 4) and Damian Lazarus (Sci Fi Lo fi Vol 2) and his productions have been supported by Marcel Dettmann, Redshape, Norman Nodge, XDB, Move D, Ame, K-soul, Lerosa, Andy Stott, Ripperton and Peter van Hoesen among others.
LOWERSTATE keep the pressure high this July 17th when they welcome KORNÉL KOVÁCS from Stockholm to their monthly basement party in the Cellar. Originally from Budapest, Hungary, Kornél has promoted and DJed for over 10 years and has rocked every major and minor venue in Sweden, as well as Tokyo, Mexico City, Sónar, Barcelona, Rome, Berlin and beyond.
He first got hooked on electronic music through hearing his Mom’s Kraftwerk records as a kid. In the late 90’s he started playing different forms of dance music at small parties and kept going until he got a residency at legendary Stockholm nightclub Paradise in 2005. Describing his style as “non-linear techno and house beats sprinkled with random good stuff for your mind, body and soul” - Kornél’s charismatic style behind the turntables and unique blend of musical genres has brought him to play with Richie Hawtin, Ewan Pearson, Radio Slave, Marcel Dettmann, Erol Alkan, Roman Flügel, Joris Voorn, Ivan Smagghe, Vitalic, Tiga, Adam Beyer and many more over the years.
Kornél attended the Red Bull Music Academy Barcelona in 2009, which he describes as “a great experience which has made me focus even more on my productions”. He runs the production studio and label ‘Studio Barnhus’ in Stockholm, together with hotshots Axel Boman (Pampa) and Petter (Border Community) and his first release comes out on their label this summer. Kornel also hosts the biggest show for electronic music in Scandinavia - P3 Dans show on Swedish nationwide FM radio.
Doors open at 11pm at Deeper, the Cellar, admission €10. Support is from Rory Gaffney and Ruarí, who are also hosting a boat party on the night.
LowerState started out as a simple idea between two friends and music lovers - to bring quality electronic music to Galway city, trying not to lose too much money in the process. Four years of international guests and countless raise-the-roof moments later, the club grew into one of Galway's most established nights. A balanced musical line between well-known classics and back-of-the-crate platters was kept, yet the sound always moved forward joining the dots between the deepest house and techno. Originally based in the old-school Spanish wine cellar De Burgo's, the night found a new home in 2009 at the appropiately named Deeper - another basement perfect for the trademark up-close-and-personal parties. The night currently is hibernating, but the blog lives on....
