Melbourne's most awesome discotheque-wizz Knightlife is back, and how!? With a great tune and trailer for his new release. Thank you to the ever so fresh Discodust, for being the first to let the world know! We kindly repost this news because Knightlife rules. His new release "II" and follow up to the "I" EP for Cutters records, is kicking ass!
Go check out the release party styles right here: May 29 2009 @ PLATINUM Gold - Coast, Queensland May 30 2009 @ EMPIRE - Brisbane, Queensland June 12 2009 @ OXFORD ART FACTORY - Sydney, New South Wales
One fine day we came surfin by this awesome page located in British Columbia. New and intresting music oozed out of it, in all it's innocence and glory. We stumbled upon Keith, a talented producer that seems to bring forward a fresh approach to the ever-growing-out-of-proportions horde of the electro scene.
Crafting layer upon layer of his musical output bringing forward heavy chords of piano stabs and atmospheric structures. Which a slight touch of retro futuristic sounds, not heavy to digest and highly recommended! In fact, it's totally cool music, which reminds me of the wonderful Sferro from time to time.
Still, why not discover Keith today and listen to his 4 songs which showcases a wide variety in Keith's work, going from a piano song into dreamy synth spheres and spiced with some more dancefloor orientated material.
There is no one quite like Toecutter. And that's why we love him so much. He's been on the map for almost ten years of mayhem, from his early days in the System Corrupt soundsystem and involvement in the Lanfanchies movement, continuing his winning streak all over the world with tours in the U.S.A., Europe, Japan,... and other various glory-holes. But what is he up to these days?! Have you noticed him NOT hanging out that much downtown?! What are his current motives and strategies to fight it all, and when does that awesome "Best Party Ever" release finally drop?! You are about to find out the truth about David Harris, Australia's finest playmaker by a long shot!
PLAYMAKER - How life been since you left the big city?
TOECUTTER - I have moved out of Sydney to the Hunter Valley which is a couple of hours drive to the North West, if you follow the range of the Blue Mountains north, we are at the bottom of a huge national park. Every day we see a mob of Eastern Grey kangaroos who live across the valley from us in a grove of eucalypts. We spend our time working on the yurt we built over December and January, exersizing, repairing our shoes, making clothes, and we are going to build a skateboard miniramp in my cousin's shed for her kids. We've got a motorbike and a utility truck with a flatbed, a trailer and a kit of tools for building everything we need. We also have a treadle (foot-powered) sewing machine. There's always things to do, like chopping firewood, or cooking, or reading - we have a pretty great little collection of books on bushcraft and stuff. Plus I like to get as close to the 'roos as they will let me.
PM - What can we expect of Toecutter in the future?
TC - I've got a host of releases coming up, I have been working on a Deathchant E.P. for about year which is nearly finished. My Best Party Ever 12" is going to be released on BangGang in a month or two, and I have an album which should be released on Dual Plover in the Spring. I am going to hit my studio in Lilyfield, which is near the city through winter, and hopefully draw all these projects to completion.
PM - If you could collaborate with anyone, past, present or future, who would it be?
TC - One of my all-time dreams has already come true, Electromeca! He sent me a package of loops back in 2005 which I have only scratched the surface on! There will probably be more from that in the future. I have done split releases with a number of artists, but it's pretty difficult to truely collaborate for me, as the way I make music doesn't really make it easy for me to share in the creative process - it's not like Jamming! Though my new album will feature quite a few collaborations, one with some of the members of Say Cheese and Die! who are a defunct Sydney punk band. I hope anyone checking out my new album will see some of the directions and collaborations!
PM - Who are your musical influences?
TC - The first band I heard which made me think I could make music was Culturcide from Texas with their album Tacky Souvenirs of Pre-Revolutionary America. At the time, I was really into DHR Recordings, especially Shizuo, Bomb 20 and Patric Catani. Since then I have been really into Spike Jones, which I came across in 2004 when touring with Sickboy and Shitmat. It's like 1940's breakcore! No joke! I have so many other influences, but I am listening to a lot of folk music at the moment, and I love RawGash from Ireland!
PM - Tell us about the first ever Toecutter show...
TC - My first "live" show was at the Breakcore Gives Me Wood in Ghent or nearby. Squat party which ended up getting shut down, but what a party! I played off one CD player and my new Boss SP303 sampler, which I just jammed samples over the top of the CD. I had sampled a heap of riffs from The Kill, a great Melbourne grind band, which gave the show a bit of a metal/punk bent to off-set the plunderphonics angle. I just remember there was a knot of people screaming "Toecutter!!!" for about 40 minutes right at the front, and moshing along to whatever I played. I was very happy to have some very new music to play them, as well as all the "hits" from Real Sexual People!
PM - What movies have inspired you?!
TC - My father was a big film buff, he worked for Variety! in Sydney, so I kind of grew up on the classics, 1940's Hollywood musicals, all The Marx Brother's Films, Robin Hood who I used to dress up as. But Apocalypse Now was the first film that really penetrated my psyche. Then Taxi Driver, I must have watched about 40 times since I left school. Since then there have been a lot, Akira, Funny Games, Lost Highway, Life is Cheap but Toilet Paper is Expensive, the work of Bruce Bickford, Norman McLaren from the National Film Board of Canada, Children of Men, Razorback, I could go on... but a quick plug for myself - you should check out my own stop motion animation. La Maison Des Cochons - you can easily find it up on YouTube! I made that in 6 months in 1997 at the RMIT Animation course in Melbourne, Victoria.PM*** it's right here yeh yeh!***
PM - Did you play or wanted to play in bands growing up?
TC - I did! I was in the school orchestra for a while playing the keyboard. It fucking sucked. I was more into Nirvana and Public Enemy and the Dead Kennedys. There was not really any room for a keyboard in my idea of music, and I was put off the guitar I think by the phallic implications.
PM - What is the most challenging thing you've done so far?
TC - The decision that I no longer wanted to live in the city. I have left behind a lot of things that I love - mostly people. And I have soft spots for some facets of culture, but by and large, I love to be outside, and independent of the city. It is kind of a big deal to me to know where my food and water is coming from and to not rely on the structures of power to provide for me.
PLAYMAKER THANKS TOECUTTER FOR THIS INTERVIEW !!!!
...And if that ain't enough, we've got an exclusive new Toecutter tune! Check it Check it, shit's red-hot!!!
Emilio will be attending this so the Playmaker fanzine will be available here.
CALLING ALL ZINESTERS MCA & SYDNEY WRITERS' FESTIVAL ZINE FAIR 2009
Calling all zinesters, writers who self-publish, artists who work with words, and general lovers of the independent press and the arts!
Sell/trade your zines or browse the wares of others at the MCA & Sydney Writer’s Festival Zine Fair. Huge day planned, featuring live music, great panel sessions and free guided tours of exhibitions.
FREE event Sunday 24 May, 11.00am – 5.00pm Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney 140 George Street, The Rocks
Stall bookings: 02 9245 2484 Stall fees: $15 per table
►►► Some of you might already be a fan of this station, but this blog is here to bring the music to those who don't know yet.
Big-up to one of the most exciting webradios/podcasts on our playlist. Radio Bermuda goes all the way, from dark disco to obscure italo, to some of the most chilled out tunes you've ever heard. It always sounds like a journey into space or a step back into time.
We love Radio Bermuda and so could you. There's a ton of music waiting for you in the Bermuda triangle. They've released nearly 70 mixes by different dj's from all over this world, coming together in the Bermuda dimension, so subscribe today via iTunes or visit their website for more info.
New South Wales holds a few new and intresting artists in it's underbelly. Sapphire for example, who's currently signed to Profil de Face records in France.
His sound is somewhere between grinding electro and stomping distorted club house. So far he's done a few remixes for artists such as Worship, Pillage and Tits & Clits.
Alright - dig it - we got his brand new Tits & Clits remix for ya'll. Now pound that shit hard thru your speaker, come on now!
The wonderful Captain Ahab definitely left their stain on the brain of the Sydney scene, can't think of any band more popular and loved by all of us.
They're working on a brand new album, to be released soon and we're all very excited to hear that news.
In the meantime, they've just released 2 new 12"s on their imprint Ravesploitative Records. the first is a split with Copy and carries the artwork of our playmate Emily Hasselhoof! The other one is a split with Jason Forrest where both of them remix Foot Village. more info/ordering here.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, we're excited to mention that the playmake-team is also working on a few new physical releases. A new fanzine is in the making, aswell as the idea to work out a CD release of the best stuff we've been having on the blog.
Captain Ahab gave us an exclusive track from their new album, to be included on a compilation CD and on the blog. So enjoy kids, new exclusive Ahab - feel it!
Do you know what it takes to be a hero?! To be someone that stands out in a crowd?!? In sports, a lot of playmakers are the hero of their team. Players that save the day, read the game and call the win!
All this and more, to introduce you to another upcoming and fine act from France, called Double Dragon. Currently signed to On The Fruit records, the latest word on the street is that they have a new digital EP on Eikyou Records coming very soon, named the "Perdu EP". Check it out!
The song, 'To Be A Hero' will not be on the EP but we loved this tune and Double Dragon is happy to share this with all you Playmakers! And we're proud to present you this song about passion, endurance and heroism!
Here's the offical press release by La Main announcing the first Valerie compilation along with a new website!
Valerie is a music blog and a collective of artists from Nantes / France Its official members are: The Outrunners, College, Anoraak, Minitel Rose, Maethelvin and Russ Chimes. With a strong drive and clear vision, Valerie is a medium in which these artists can share their influences and present their productions. This compilation features exclusive tracks from all its members and a selection of guests from around the world who they have met and befriended along the way. We hope you enjoy the ride!
“From the label that brought us last year’s summer smash Anoraak, this is a fantastic comp of electro house, nu disco and that classic french house sound, chock full of unreleased tracks from a selection of worldwide artists as well as in house acts such as Anoraak, Russ Chimes, Steve Moore, College, Jupiter, Futurecop!... An essential slice of what is happening on dancefloors right now” ROUGH TRADE STORE / UK
TRACKLISTING 1 MINITEL ROSE Zombie Lady 2 ANORAAK Long Distance Hearts 3 JUPITER Starlighter 4 DVAS Inner Sanctum 5 COLLEGE The Light Of Your Dress 6 KEENHOUSE Deep In The Forest 7 ELECTRIC YOUTH Faces 8 RUSS CHIMES Daytona 9 MAETHELVIN Lost In Big City 10 THE OUTRUNNERS Runaway 11 FUTURECOP! Eyes Like The Ocean 12 MOULINEX & PRESS, RELEASE 1stracklove 13 SYMBOLONE Last Scene (Daytona Mirage) 14 XINOBI Woodstock 15 NARCTRAX Excalibur Galactica 16 LOOSE SHUS Red Sonja 17 STEVE MOORE Saturnalia
Listen to this compilation edited versions, on this embed player!
*** Extra PLAYMAKER bonus, Magic Powder, a video by Minitel Rose!
Jason Forrest's new label, Nightshifters, is on a roll. Their recent AC Slater remix competition in association with Discobelle has brought a few intresting new remixes and producers to the horizon. Nightshifters send us a bunch of remixes and we're pleased to share them with you on Playmaker.
Anyway, let's move on to the best remixes that came in over a 100 entries!
1. Hello! (The Living Graham Bond Remix) "This is awesome. Sounds really good. Completely different take on the original. Hands down the best and my favorite." - AC Slater
Bass, slap, punch,... Celebrate! It's 4TrakZ from Lyon bringing us 2 tunes from his zone of cut-up house funk. Always up for a jamming tune, 4TrakZ is working on his first EP for Electrolarge records.
We present you two 4TrakZ tunes. The first one is the radio version of 'Celebrate', where certain female vocals are either advising to "Tell Me All" or was it... "Turn Me On"?! ...Anyway, it becomes almost a dialogue with a contributing male voice who's all about to celebrate life to the fullest, while the night is magic. Cute!
Second tune is his version of 'She's a Maniac' by Hall & Oates. A cover version complete with his signature moves of bass-slapping, shredding guitars and vocoders. A version that surely will set aside the posers from the hipsters on the dancefloor, or should we state... the freaks from the maniacs!? Nonetheless, awesome talents from Lyon France here with the mysterious 4TrakZ at the controls. Don't forget to check some more of his tunes on myspace.
Today Werewolf By Night is debuting on Playmaker. Yet another character spawning of the Marvel Universe, transforming itself into a musical identity. If you haven't heard from this Tel Aviv producer before then now is the time to check out his awesome blend of fine-tuned synth programing of original and edgey pop waves.
First up we have You Can Countach Me, a dreamy yet active dance tune, balancing on 80s sferes and the classic tambourine house-kick. Ending with some grand sky synths rolling straight to heaven.
Up next is his remake of Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" where WBN is taking Peter to some comtemperary-retro futuristic discoteque. It almost sounds like their jamming the tune together on stage with lotsa high jumping action and confetti canons blasting on a party like it was 1999.
And we just love the Pilots remix! Especially loving the rolling bass dominating near the end. Do check it out. It sure looks like this is a talented producer and is here to stay and we're looking forward to some new material by the wolf already.
It's been a few days since we've blogged but we're back on the information highway with ActRaiser. No, not the Nintendo game, the artist!
It is a great pleasure to introduce to you the sound of this upcoming producer, based in British Columbia, Canada. He's speeding down the highway of luscious tunes, ActRaiser brings you dreamy retro waves dipped in some futuristic scifi dressing. And much like Palm (highway chase) this sets the tempo slow yet fast! Sensational music to experience and the perfect soundtrack for your racing heartbeat! So here we are, we offer you 2 songs. The first, taking you right into the night on a serious mission is "Thief". Night falls as ActRaiser in chasing thiefs in the night. Or is he the thief that's being chased? Second tune is "Kill Switch" and takes you straight to the Valley Of Death, cruising down dusty roads and bringing us a little breeze. It's like he wrote this tune while the windows were rolled down. We're excited to bring forward this artist with this really nice and essential Playmaker music.
