Hip Hop | The Detroit Techno House

I love hearing good music. But, I love hearing good music even more when it’s being played for a good cause. As was the case this past Saturday down in Roosevelt park on Saturday. For those that don’t know, Roosevelt Park is an amazing greenspace in Corktown directly in front of the infamous Train Station (even out-of towners know this iconic landmark of decay). As of the last few years or so, some heads in Corktown have been revitalizing the park, and R. Parkfest ’11 was a proper way to get people involved. The late afternoon rain on Saturday didn’t seem to dampen any spirits, and the music was chugging right along when we made it down to the fest. The schedule was a bit fucked up but we got to check out Nick Speed early in the evening which is always a treat. After some indie rock/shoegaze and some delicious craft beer, we were treated to a rare DJ set from the illustrious Dabyre. All I can say is awesome. Amazing tracks (including some unreleased joints) and flawless mixing left everybody wanting more. I wish he could have played a bit longer, but such is life. Next up was Andre Williams. Now this dude was about as far away from electronic music as can be, but goddamn, I loved his set. Dude was like a a blues/folk mashup with some of the dirtiest lyrics I’ve heard in sometime. Finally, a straight up DJ set by the legendary Juan Atkins. Despite some sound issues in the beginning, Mr. Atkins was bringing that old school techno flavor that Detroit heads love. We didn’t catch all of his set, as we were pre-occupied with trying to take a last minute tour of the Train Station (damn you razor wire!). Overall, had a great time, caught up with some amazing people, and in general, enjoyed an evening, outdoors in Detroit. Summer is almost over ya’ll, check out as many outdoor events as you can. Peace.

If there is one thing I like more than old school electro shows, it’s Classic Detroit electro shows-in an art gallery! The MOCAD in downtown Detroit would be the destination for the night, and this is where the journey began. An opening of a few new exhibits would be the reason for the event. The gallery was debuting work by Edgar Arceneaux: Miracles and Jokes, Circle Disk Rotation and 22 Lost Signs of the Zodiac, as well as LifeStories- A group exhibition featuring Pina Bausch, Patricia Esquivias, Simryn Gill, Peter Lemmens, Jàn Mančuška and Rachel Mason. This wonderful art gallery on Woodward would have the place buzzing with the avant garde, and to close the night they would invite some legendary musical acts to perform their craft. Truthfully, for me, Aux 88 is all you had to say, but let it be known that it was not the first time I had been to the MOCAD, and it certainly won’t be the last … Wonderfully ran place over there, with some type of thought provoking art for every kind of enthusiast. I strongly recommend a stroll through their hallways whether or not you hear spaceship techno in the connected performance hall… When I entered into the music area Aux 88 was about halfway through their set. If you know about these guys, then I am doing a disservice over-explaining, if not here is a place to educate oneself . Real quick for those in the dark… Basically they are a classic Detroit electro duo formed originally in 1985 under the name RX-7, producing a string of singles and finally settling on the name Aux 88 in 1993. Continue reading »

Record Show!

Feb 062011

Made it down to a record show in Royal Oak yesterday to do some serious digging. Not a ton of vendors, but really an overall fantastic selection to go through. You could have gone nuts in all the $1 boxes loaded with funk, soul, and Motown. Electronic music was a little more far and few between, unless you kind of knew what to look for on that b-side tip. Met the daughter of John Sinclair(the poet and activist) selling music/counterculture pictures from the 60s/70s. Probably the best thing was this guy with a huge crate of hip-hop and ghettotech/electro tracks for $2 a pop. There were some real gems in there! My finds of the day were “Analog Bubblebath Volume 4″ by AFX and the “Up in Smoke” soundtrack for a buck. If this show comes back any time soon, don’t sleep on it if you’re a vinyl fanatic. Here are a few pics from the show. Continue reading »

Having had one of my crews first records pressed at Archer gave me much interest when I came across this video. It’s of Detroit’s own Invincible and Wajeed at Archer documenting the process of their new release on 7″, Detroit Summer. You can get the track at www.emergencemedia.org