Azari & III - Hungry For The Power (and suggest me some similar stuff)

lexpretend has been pointing how great this is on a couple of threads (video nsfw), and he's right. I can't get enough of it.

its evocative of late 80s / early 90s club mixes / house trax but i'm flailing trying to recall specifics.

Adventures of Stevie V "Dirty Cash" and for some reason Sly & Robbie "Boops" come to mind, but what else?? I'd love to play a set of more stuff that sits well with this.

Go.....

on yeah, here's the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r6OUj87wPA

"reckless with your love" is also pretty great. maybe someday this azari & iii will have more than 2 songs?

they do have another song bro

http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/2009/11/02/basement-suns/

fwiw i think 'reckless with your love' is their best jam -- 'hungry for the power' feels like, i dunno, a bit forced

were talking the diff between a 9.5 and an 8.5 but still

maybe insomnia by faithless is similar?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBrUjvONIrA

actually video version is better but u cant embed because record companies are idiots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF0x3ScdT80

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jeez, this song, is amazing, I love it, and it describes me perfectly -.-

haha otm:

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2:19 !!!

its evocative of late 80s / early 90s club mixes / house trax but i'm flailing trying to recall specifics.

yeah otm - ralphi rosario's "you used to hold me", frankie knuckles' "baby wants to ride", kym sims' "too blind to see it" might fit too.

was listening to "reckless with your love" and "hungry for the power" last night trying to work out which i liked better - the answer so far is that i like them the same. the american psycho x paris is burning video for "hungry..." might push it over the top.

uk people, there's an ep on itunes which includes "hungry for the power", "she's an illusion", matias aguayo remixes &c

Did Stevem and I kick this off by tweeting about them last night? I like 'Reckless With Your Love' the best because of the diva vocals. It's totally aping late 80s/early 90s copies of Chicago house but this is pretty much the one style of music where I really do not care if it's the most derivative thing in the world.

Permanent Vacation is a scarily consistent record label, isn't it? Sally Shapiro albums aside, there's hardly anything on there I don't love.

Okay... been diggin' through old records and spotify and contenders for similar sounds are:

Virgo Four - In A Vision (instrumental)
The Rude Boy Farley Keith - Give Yourself To Me
Master C & J - Face It
M.E. - Ride

all of which helpfully appear on the Dave Clarke compilation "Back In The Box" from 2008 (and on spotify)

it's worth checking out the recent House Of House mix on Beats In Space - the East Village Loft Society intro (produced by Ashley Beedle :o) is brilliant

Thanks will check out the House of House mix.

Also, closest in mood to "Hungry For The Power" that I think of is Secret Knowledge "Ooh Baby" - its got the same darkness and spoken vocal hinting at menace, and sung soul/disco-diva style chorus

oooo hot damn another track!

(mult xposts to deej)

they have another track on their myspace. http://www.myspace.com/azariandiii

and 20 jazz funk greats called their label Hungry For the Power.

That video has effectively changed the way I will walk through business district of Toronto at night.

I noticed you mentioned Canyons on the bobbins thread, so it would be moot to mention it here, but still.

first post. hai guys. was also going to mention canyons, fire eyes is similar-ish.

eli escobar is making (and playing) this kind of music. see his solo glass house, and money lotion re-edits of people like stevie nicks, the police, feist etc

http://rraurl.com/podcasts/frisson/204/Azari__III (podcast w/a few unheard to me tracks)

can download from here
http://feeds.rraurl.com/~r/_podcasts/~5/JDJcsoh8fHE/frisson_022.mp3

thks haido and jaxon!

"reckless (with your love)" is definitely giving me some robin s. flashbacks

yeah i actually had that one on my hd for a month before i realized it was from this year & not some decades old house track i got off some blog

this tune precedes "hungry for the power" on the tensnake beats in space podcast...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glfW6rg8HNg

maybe slightly more low key but definitely in the same vein

Alright, in literally 3 listens, Hungry for the power has gone from awful, to OK, to amazing for me.

Whats the deal with these dudes, for me at least they seemed to very suddenly come out of nowhere, and I am curious.

Don't know too much about these dudes. I was mega-disappointed when research revealed that the two magnetic black dudes aren't actually Azari & III. The black dudes are Fritz Helder (with the long hair / wig) who's in a band called Fritz Helder and The Phantoms.

The other guy is a Rwandan emigre in Toronto called Cedric Gasiada, who also sings on another (and more straight up classic house/disco) song called "Reckless With Your Love"

Azari & III - the producers / beat makers - are the white dudes in the video. I don't know why I was so gutted, but I was. I want more house producers to be more extrovert, making and frontin' their music, like Green Velvet used to do.

These dudes are all from Toronto, I think.

xxpost makes me smile!

http://www.omgblog.com/images/2009/azari%20III.jpg

Even has a "III" in it!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NajxGltmjBA

Aeroplane played 'Reckless With Your Love' in their set at Bugged Out earlier :)

'she's an illusion' is another goddamn winner from these dudes

see 20jfg

as for similar, brings to mind parallels, also from toronto (?). canada at least.

'she's an illusion' is another goddamn winner from these dudes

― andrew m., Monday, November 16, 2009 3:10 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

see 20jfg

― andrew m., Monday, November 16, 2009 3:13 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

they do have another song bro

http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/2009/11/02/basement-suns/

― hoos-kingofthedrugs (deej), Thursday, November 12, 2009 1:08 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

movie never loads. what is?

hmm really? it's a certain 11-month-old shakin it down to azari & III

works for me.

did anyone mention this mix they did for 20jfg yet? it's pretty fun, tho not without it's mistakes

did anyone mention this one yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd9vWeUZkF8

really starts around 3:30

these guys are remixing a single by one of my best pals from Dublin coming out on Tensnake's label soon. check it out!

It's gotten to a point where I just infer the shadow/spectre of homophobia/aids/etc/etc in pretty much any male diva house. "Reckless With Your Love" probably isn't about promiscuous unsafe sex but I can't help but hear it that way.

Well the words would seem to back it up too.

Of course, the star of this video might not really get that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y5Wlowr8T4

(That's a more reliable link than the one I posted just above)

bless!

Yeah Tracer I'm basing it on the words - i just wonder if I'm justified in just assuming that's what it's about:

Reckless with your love
You. Just. Give it up
Fearless with your life
But no-one can you trust
Reckless with your love
You. Just. Give it away
Fearless with your life
Living day to day...

It could just as easily be about being risky with your emotions in general. Which is one reason the lyrics are great.

Yeah exactly.

Of course the very practice of deploying ambiguity in diva house lyrics generally feels historically loaded as well...

That's one thing I love about this kind of camp poppy Chicago house (or in this case recreations of it) - its historical/geographical/cultural specificity and its all-embracing pop universality tend to work with rather than against one another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb4g5zTwjMo

anyone wanna work on a SONG ID for the 20JFG Mix? some great stuff on there and all sounds so familiar but i'm blanking on a lot of it

rebotini, "spirit of the boogie"?
late nite tuff guy, "eurotrac"?

whether or not they totally fit here, i'd like to hear more based on these tunes and hear thoughts upon.

i know it's not diva vocal house, and just another chicago/detroit derivative, but this is so dope. (friends of 69)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ce8kAGWjzY

http://www.junodownload.com/plus/2010/01/18/trax-to-release-new-azari-iii-material/

That's perfect.

why do i have to buy records from germany in order to get a 'reckless' 12"

finally heard this out on the weekend. BIG tune.

i'm fuckin freakin out about how great Reckless is, I'M FREAKIN OUT MAN

http://www.youtube.com/v/bdnOlBTMLMs

ack....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdnOlBTMLMs

new vocal version of B-Side of HUngry For THe Power

whoa am i the only who got a rip of the instrumental of this track that must be at 33 or something?? i thought it was their slow jam...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3vwRsevDfY

i'm pretty sure both sides of the single/EP whatever are at 33 already, jerk orbison

great name, btw

Only posted a couple times so not sure if own-tumblr-linking is frowned upon here, but mine is mostly devoted to this kind of stuff and so far has mentioned Azari, Tensnake, Permanent Vacation, etc. Also has a very slight Toronto slant to it. Check it out if you like.
http://www.streetsoundswirling.com/

just found this:

HEALTH - We Are Water (Azari & III remix).mp3

http://www.mediafire.com/?zdjk00j5nmy

interviewing one of these dudes in 40 minutes. if anyone has any burning questions— i'm already asking about influences and the whole spectre of AIDS/homophobia thing— do post them here and i'll try to get to them...

Ask 'em if they're gonna do more work with Fitz Helder/Cookie Monster dude from Hungry For The Power.

More music, when? and more Cedric diva house please

okay, these are more requests for themn to follow through with. I think I heard that Cedric is doing something with Friendly Fires, but they may not know much about that.

Erm, album drop?

they're working on an album deal right now, according to their press dudes...i'm asking about that...

any other takers?

Ask them about the "Hungry for the Power" video!

i'm already asking about influences and the whole spectre of AIDS/homophobia thing

with reference to "reckless with your love" ? i'm curious, not that it totally matters, but are they straight? they LOOK like two straight canadian dudes... could be wrong tho

I'm not sure what a straight Canadian dude is supposed to look like but they're not.

I mean they could be, but it would come as a surprise.

have you seen the two white dudes who makes this stuff? the two black dudes who do vocals in hungry are not the production.

also, is their production analogue/digital? probably a mix of both?

i think they've said they use ableton live + hardware.

a few things:

1) the two white guys— Alixander and Alphonse— are amazingly nice and articulate
2) they use 95% analog equipment.
3) the AIDS and homophobia associations with "Reckless" are not far off the mark.
4) Fritz and Cedric, the two non-white dudes in the "Hungry" video, are full members of the band, though they don't have a hand in production. sort of like Kim Ann Foxman in Hercules.

when/where is your interview gonna be up?

have you seen the two white dudes who makes this stuff? the two black dudes who do vocals in hungry are not the production.

― ashra williams (san frandisco), Friday, May 14, 2010 12:28 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yes I have, and I'm aware of this.

I just want to know what, as that, a "straight canadian dude" is supposed to look like.

it'll be in the next issue of XLR8R, which comes out in july. which also means it will be online sometime that month, too, along with my review of the new wolfgang voigt album....which is fucking intense listening, to say the least.

looking forward to it table. they were hated on quite a bit by the local SF DJs when they came and played at the Mezzanine here, but i was dancin the whole night. thanks for answering my questions too!

@EDB

two white dudes wearin jersey and caps and shouting HOUSE MUSIC SUCKS at the end of the night is what led me to think they were ironic straight white hipsters into "rediscovering" early house music

sorry if this somehow offended the typifying of this growing demographic

Alright. I still take it you've probably never been to canada though.

is this what a straight white canadian guy (in a tuxedo) looks like?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3330/3436624034_868f2022e7.jpg

http://www.bongonews.com/StoryImages/carson_kressley_2004-11-17.jpg

Being from the same city as A&III, I just resent the implicit comment on some supposed canadian provincialism, and that there's some sort of look to back this up. Ultimately, however, they do look like straight canadian dudes, that is, fairly nondescript. Nevertheless I don't see how this should conjure doubts about their homosexuality; they need not be tom of finland drawings incarnate for there to be queer subtexts to their work.

Incidentally, they only GIS you get when you enter "straight canadian dudes" happens to be a picture of them, from this thread, actually.

"1) the two white guys— Alixander and Alphonse"

Christian and Alphonse

ha, okay, was trying to get the other proper name right. thx.

from that article upthread...

Azari & III, who featured in our recent “Ones to Watch in 2010” spread, will release “Indigo” on March 30.

this never happened did it?

also, anyone dig any of their remixes? the munk rmx on their myspace is a kinda chicago acid + spanish-language vocals thing that reminds me a bit of that crystal ark track gavin russom put out recently. and like that song, it is amazing. also their voltage remix is pretty solid (the original is nice too, i guess voltage is a project of one of the guys from cut copy)

http://soundcloud.com/retaildj/04-la-musica-azari-iii-remix (actually only goes acid a couple times tbf)
http://soundcloud.com/hypetrak/voltage-all-night-azari-iii-remix

chilled a bit with these guys in Detroit during DEMF/Movement. Cool peoples and they destroyed with their dj set at The R&R Bar.

when is that tensnake remix dropping in full

So how are these dude's live set?

They're doing a free outdoor show for Toronto's Pride week, and I'm debating whether it's worth it for a timid straight individual who doesn't fare well in big/chaotic crowds to trek out in serious heat-wave weather to hear them play (and since there's no one else worth seeing, it would be me arriving at 9 and leaving an hour later, which in itself is kind of weird).

when is that tensnake remix dropping in full

end of August

EDB I would relax and just go if nothing else comes up on your to do
list .... speaking as someone who decided to go to a one day festival in London by myself to see one act when finding myself bizarrely friendless one weekend.

the XLR8R piece is up: http://www.xlr8r.com/files/magazine/pdf/XLR8R_134.pdf (page number 48, but 23/43 on the .pdf)

and this:!!

http://this.bigstereo.net/2010/07/16/sunday-girl-azari-iii/

Sunday Girl – “Self Control” (Azari & III remix)

Btw I nearly puked in disgust when I listened to the original Sunday Girl track - go ruin a classic why don't you. Azari & III do a decent salvage job

ugh acid in pop tunes... :(, i feel like acid house is about to blow up

tbh the remix isn't great either. kinda lackluster.

that said the cover blows.

remix is boring

won't front when i say that i think their originals are miles above any of their remixes.

would love to hear thoughts on the xlr8r article. i was just shocked at how LONG it turned out to be.

I was surprised at how SHORT the articles in the issue were. Maybe it's just that I haven't read magazines in years but I guess the online magazine format lends itself to the perils of taking on a variety (as in variety show, not variety magazine) format of offering a lot of se;ir (short enough, i'll read) articles.

I enjoyed the article though, a readable, informative snapshot. They seem like pretty pleasant guys.

I'm curious about the AIDS subtexts though, if you have more you're willing to elaborate on.

ahem:

"Reckless with your love
You just give it up
Fearless with your life
But no one can you trust

Reckless with your love
You just give it away
Fearless with your love
Living day-to-day
......
Living a lie never been true
But I get stronger everyday
While you're reckless with your love.."

I mean, it's not a stretch to read the singer as a poz individual addressing a young street hustler? Or just any sort of person who is simply 'giving away' their love to lots of people? It's dangerous out there, obviously. Tim also talked about it upthread.

Well I figured out the whole "Fearless with your life" part, I was wondering if they said anything beyond that.

"won't front when i say that i think their originals are miles above any of their remixes."

maybe if they stuck their singers in the remixes i'd be into it. the guy who does the lead on reckless is so awesome.

EDB, also, "ooh, you're just a stranger in a room" - seems to be about picking up in a club/beat/sauna, at least in context.

Of course none of it is done in a way such that it couldn't possibly have an alternative meaning.

http://soundcloud.com/yesyesrecords/02-diamond-lights-and-amy-b-move-on-azari-iii-remix

wow boring

you play me day and niiiight

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.owni.fr/pub_vintage_036.jpg

Reviving this because I could use more stuff like this in my life.

Seconded!

i feel like acid house is about to blow up
Monday, July 19, 2010 11:56 PM (7 months ago)

this didn't really happen, did it.

There was a lot of discussion on this thread:
a thread for Art Department (Canadian house duo)

Still feel like an early 90s diva house revival is just around the corner, if it isn't happening already. Katy B being the obvious reference point.

There's very little house, not less "diva", on the Katy B record I'm afraid dude. It's mostly funky, r'n'b, dubstep, slow d'n'b etc...

Although Katy B is spearheading whatever this new Brit-Skool dance-pop movement that seems to be emerging right now. I mean those new young singers/songwriters/producers like Ben Westbeech, Jamie Woon, James Blake(?) who write "proper songs" around nuum and house tracks, who also seem to hold more integrity and charm than predecessors like La Roux or Lily Allen.

This seems to be happening on the other side of the Atlantic with Sergio & Benoit, Soul Clap etc who are more routed in house and diva styles.

yeah no one ever wrote songs over british electronic/dance music before o_0

did i say they hadn't?

"hey i like this spate of new bands who are writing songs in a particular way and come from a particular place"
"OMG, have you never heard songs before? jeez wake up, it's 2011"

None of this is remotely relevant to what I was saying, which is that Katy B has already taken a very Inner City/diva house record* into the top five, and hopefully it'll be the first of many.

*Albeit with added Ms Dynamite and filtered through a funky prism, but it's very 90s as well.

oh yeah, forgot about "good life". Matt, you heard the Dirtbombs' cover of the song that came out recently as well?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5XU1CeZD_k

I think the new Hercules album was so disappointing because, having loved the deep/tribal vibes on their recent dj mixes, I was hoping it would sound like "Reckless", which is the one recent track which really *gets* the era. I mean, the album had some of the sounds and signifiers, but it just doesn't work as well.

Just got in from seeing these and they were amazing. Anyone in the SE of the UK should try and get to see them over the weekend. They're playing some venue I can't remember the name of tomorrow and Dalston Superstore on Saturday Night. They opened with Indigo, Reckless and Hungry For The Power before doing about half an hour of new (?) stuff, which got progressively faster, tougher and more electro/acid as it went along. Really good live manipulation of the vocals. On Hungry For The Power one of the vocalists sounded like the frontman of Dethklok.

album announced to drop July 29 on Modular:
http://www.modularpeople.com/news/azari-and-iii-debut-album-on-modular/6111.html?comments

I want to not be too excited after what happened with Aeroplane, but I can't help myself.

fiiiiiinally. excited for this.

Interview in Quietus: http://thequietus.com/articles/06131-azari-iii-interview

Psyched. They're playing at Glastonbury, hopefully live.

It's awesome that Cedric seems to be integral to the band's future and albums; and also wow! o_O !!! at this, considering how incredible he is on Reckless/Hungry/Into The Night

Cedric: At the time we were just trying to make something different in dance music. The boys [Christian and Alphonze] have been in that scene for a while but I had no idea what house was three or four years ago

I've often seen him at house events in Toronto. He is consistently a) better dressed than anyone else (well, at least more flashily dressed) and b) dances better than anyone else (well, at least dances more flashily).

http://soundcloud.com/purplepr/azari-amp-lll-hungry-for-the

Art Dept remix of "Hungry...."

I love both acts but right now this seems more like a curio than anything great. All this might change when I hear on a proper system

azari >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> art dept

k i'm no expert but why am i not seeing any mention of the jamie jones mix around here????? SO GOOD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQT-r-lXWg

the melody from that reminds me of "walking away" by craig david!

haha i wish i could hear that but i can't

totally addicted to this tune though - i actually agree with deej way upthread that the original seemed forced but this mix makes me want to go out and gorge on someone's brain

i meant the bit at the start, that synth melody. i don't like the original hungry for the power much but i love reckless with your love...

so bummed that all the photos from their first Sydney Opera House show seem to have been taken after Cedric removed his enormous fuzzy hunting cap

Yeah I've never been able to get into Hungry For The Power that much but the remix is fun though as most Jamie Jones is. RTC you've heard Ruckus from last year, right? Essential for fans of the deftly-used Curb Your Enthusiasm sample.

Azari & III are playing at Glastonbury and I'm kinda looking forward to seeing what they do with their live show.

nice remix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuuO7Km0HCs

New video, no NSFW concerns this time. I really like the part where the four of them are in the pool during the first "chorus".

most anticipated album of the year and im barely anticipating anything else

Hungry for the power is utter perfection - this remix, while decent, is totally superfluous.

most anticipated album of the year and im barely anticipating anything else

― flopson, Wednesday, June 8, 2011 10:21 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

they have 1.5 good songs imo ... i dont get the anticipation. everything else ive heard by them has been fairly mediocre

(this is where you point me in the direction of tracks that prove me wrong)

yeah otm...love "restless with your love" but don't believe they have an album in them based on rest of their stuff. prove me wrong by all means dudes.

reckless with...oops

haha 'restless with your love' would make for a p good song too i think

"indigo" was really good i thought - they're certainly two of the most interesting interviewees i've had, i feel like writing them off at this stage is uhhh premature

two unbeatable singles is enough to get me excited about your next album.

Ehhh. One gimmicky solid retro single, one instant classic, several halfassed tracks...

well, i'm not saying they're at the heights of say OJ da Juiceman or Kreyshawn

I never said I was expecting a great album from kreayshawn

just OJ?

Oj has more good songs than azari and iii. Maybe not any as good as "reckless", but def some at the level of "hungry"

Or better

I thought your bias against contemporary rap production made that point invalid so I initially chose not to engage it

you're kinda funny

"Into The Night" is incredibly great too! I think I prefer it to Reckless but don't like it as much as Hungry. PLUS there's that remix of Eurodancer, they're all solid gold.

I find myself reaching for the Prince Language version of "Into The Night" more than the original, it's such a perfect record.

I would love for this album to come out in both an "original" and "pitched up" format, the vocals sound so much better when set to +5.

so bummed that all the photos from their first Sydney Opera House show seem to have been taken after Cedric removed his enormous fuzzy hunting cap

― all cats are gay (sic), Friday, 3 June 2011 11:39 (1 week ago)

hey guys stop worrying! he was behind me in the queue for the bar just 14 hours after that post and:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y115/kitbrash/canadia_hat.jpg

:D

Just been listening to the album and liking it. But since I'm rockist that's probably the kiss of death.

Saw their live show last night and it was pretty good - would have been even better if the sound had been configured so you could hear them singing and not just the bass, but the spectacle of it, particularly the dancing, was really fun. I think it also helps to think of them as being in vein of Cut Copy/Junior Boys rather than the likes of Tensnake and Aeroplane; they're more like a pop band drawing from dance, and that perspective helps make more sense of what they're doing.

yeah, i will agree with lex and say that the two 'main dudes' were among the more nice and interesting interviewees i've ever worked with.

when i saw them dj it was p weak which has def colored my experience ... they played good songs & seemed like characters, but they just werent reading the crowd or something. idk maybe it was an off night

but they actually played much more like a tensnake/aeroplane dance-y style than a cut copy / jr boys one (if i get that dichotomy which im not sure i do), at least relative to classixx, who i had seen just before

what they DJ isn't really an indication of how they play live.

(totally disagree with Cut Copy comparison though)

the album is vg btw

undecided!!!!!!!

I didn't see them DJ so I can't comment, it was a live show with the two singing and the two at the back generating the music on their equipement.

I don't mean that they sound like Cut Copy or Junior Boys; what I'm trying to get at is that Azari & III's own catalogue seems to be about songs rather than tracks. I think it was Tim who said on another thread that "Reckless" is a great song that you could present in any form, and that's the impression I get from these guys - it's as much about songcraft and their identity as it is about producing dancefloor bombs, it just happens that they can do both simultaneously.

Hercules & Love Affair probably a better comparison point?

Really want the album to leak in the next couple of days so I can be familiar with the songs before Glastonbury.

Also <3 vogue-off in the crowd story.

xpost yeah that's the best comparison point, so obvious and yet I don't understand why it didn't spring to mind.

Azari & III LP Stream

did this not get mentioned yet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph9OiYmSHBU

art dept remix of "hungry for the power" is still my shit

the album's being streamed? EVERYONE GO AND LISTEN TO "UNDECIDED" RIGHT NOW because holy shit that song has been blowing my brains

Undecided and Tunnel Vision. This is not a disappointing album.

Yeah, Manic is definitely the stand out track for me.

Undecided is interesting but a little rough sounding, I could see some incredible remixes coming from it.

Ok..I actually didn't listen all the way through before. Did he just say "the final solution" in Manic? Wtf?

Wow, undecided really develops!

Manic is SO !!!
by which i mean chik chik chik not EXCLAMATORY
though it's kinda that too

stoked

LOVE this album.

this album is p hokey

how so?

it's a lot better than i was expecting. actually it's properly good, no caveats.

makes me think of the first chromeo record. directionless pastiche w/out the songwriting. aside from reckless, obv, which is still amazing

obviosuly amazing but still only their 3rd best single imo.

after what

hungry >into the night >reckless.

i have no idea if those are all on the album though.

They are but no way are any of them touching reckless. "hungry" is exactly what i'm talking about wrt pastiche. And "into the night" works well as an intro track but no way is it as good a song... Its all buildup

i've never heard it on the album and so i don't think of it an an intro track. i really love it.

This album is killer. The comparison to Chromeo is way off mark. It's not some ironic joke for students who wear flat caps.

really that comparison makes no sense.

i dont think chromeo was an 'ironic joke' either esp by the 2nd album, but it was str8 revivalism much like this

azari's camp-revivalism is too cynical

I guess there's never any way of determining a band's motives unless you're in the band, so fair enough, but I've been to see them live and it was a fucking blast. They obviously put their heart and soul into it, whatever their 'deeper' motivations may or may not be.

Which is certainly not something I could say about Chromeo.

what do you mean, cynical? if anything you could accuse it of being too reverent but what's cynical about it? tbh i think you're just giving it a name like "camp revivalism" then criticising it based on the tag you yourself gave it.

http://wac.47f5.edgecastcdn.net/8047F5/jamjar/jamjar/_cracks/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Azari-III-CD-packshot-602x602-sized-217-217.jpg
hmmmm....

Come on! That's an awesome cover. It's slightly camp but in a straight up superb way.

makes me think of the first chromeo record. directionless pastiche w/out the songwriting. aside from reckless, obv, which is still amazing

― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Wednesday, August 3, 2011 5:26 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

where did i say anything about motives or reverence?

i brought up the reverence to counter your accusation of cynicism which i don't understand.

azari's camp-revivalism is too cynical

You can't be cynical without having some kind of ulterior motive in this context.

idk it taps into a strain of revivalism that doesn't really strike me as particularly coy or ironic (the daniel wang school maybe). there was a discussion i think somewhere here about how reckless makes more explicit the AIDS context of early house/boogie that they're drawing on and that seems to say something about the particular approach to appropriation they're taking.

can't really understand not thinking reckless is the best though

oh yeah no one has ever agreed with me about that.

thread got deej'd

uh oh someone's harshing gr8080s good timez

my concern is that the cynicism w/ which they appropriate the past too often on this record (although not exclusively) expects the signifyers of past dance hits to do most of the work, which means they dont worry about songwriting / track construction. its too much of a game of 'remember this 90s house trick??' + frankly a somewhat weird homosploitation vibe for two straight producers (i.e. a track called "manhooker" and a BUILDING IS LIKE A COCK cover art) + general laziness

can i flip this question and ask, what are these guys bringing to the table that old songs dont already have? they dont sound very reverent at all, that i agree with.

i agree with plax, there's a brittle menace to azari & iii that transcends the obvious pastiche. plus a very well-defined aesthetic that isn't just retro at all.

"reckless" probably is the best but "indigo", "undecided" and "manic" run it pretty close

homosploitation vibe for two straight producers

fyi the two gay vocalists are officially part of the group as well, isn't it slightly dodgier politically to overlook their (huge) contributions

i do like "indigo" a fair amount

i'd guess that the two "straight" producers have enjoyed dabbling, too

fyi the two gay vocalists are officially part of the group as well, isn't it slightly dodgier politically to overlook their (huge) contributions

― lex pretend, Wednesday, August 3, 2011 6:20 PM (31 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

im not overlooking them & they were added to the group retroactively iirc?

fyi the two gay vocalists are officially part of the group as well, isn't it slightly dodgier politically to overlook their (huge) contributions

― lex pretend, Wednesday, August 3, 2011 6:20 PM (46 seconds ago)

otm, the vocals are what really sets them apart for me.

they were on the first single and became members shortly afterwards.

i don't think they were added "officially", more gradually as they contributed more and more

(i asked them this and it's in the i/v recording somewhere but i don't have time to dig out right now)

maybe its not actually true, but that is the version of the truth that i've come across a few times so i would let that one slide, but they have been in the group for the entire gestation period of this album. they are half the band.

yeah that's basically right

idk i just get a jocular "lol gay" vibe from some track titles like "manhooker" & the cover art & promo photos. maybe im just being a overly cynical myself but instead of camp it feels like, "lol camp"

anyway im curious if gr8080 would play any tracks off this record out to a dancefloor & if so (i imagine there are some) which ones would make the regular rotation?

i only really play the tensnake and art dept remixes

i might start fucking w/ Manic (the original)

i would not particularly associate their music with camp tbh.

homosploitation is a great phrase

considering the extent to which gay culture has been mined by the mainstream, it seems a little weird to target a band that is 50% homo for this

I had assumed the two producer guys were gay.

Anyway, I love this album.

plax otm

one of the things that i *like* about this vibe is the homosploitation vibe anyway. it made me realised how many old traxx records have lyrics about, like, girls.

money quote on the issue from one of the producer dudes during my interview: "i'm pretty sure everyone in this room has had sex with a guy."

(then he paused and said something like "and a girl", at which the singers made little protesting noises)

http://i.imgur.com/HpmFc.jpg

lol plax otm re: old traxx records

ha that's great xxp

afraid my homosploitation comment distracted from the main thrust (nh) of what i was saying

please don't say something about real house music

Yeah, it's news to me that the other two guys aren't gay. If there's one problem with this album - and I only have one problem with it - it's that there isn't quite enough of Cedric on it.

I do understand what Deej is saying but it's tedious enough having to suffer the True Kvlt vs. hipster or authentic vs. cynical arguments in black metal and hardcore without having them applied to house music - where the standard response to dance music should be who gives a fuck as long as it's good to dance to and it sounds great. I mean, what would differentiate authentic camp from untruthful camp in the first place?

artificial artifice

please don't say something about real house music

― ℗⎣▲✘ (ico), Wednesday, 3 August 2011 18:41 (4 minutes ago) Permalink

i didnt. are you reading what im posting at all?

my concern is that the cynicism w/ which they appropriate the past too often on this record (although not exclusively) expects the signifyers of past dance hits to do most of the work, which means they dont worry about songwriting / track construction. its too much of a game of 'remember this 90s house trick??' + frankly a somewhat weird homosploitation vibe for two straight producers (i.e. a track called "manhooker" and a BUILDING IS LIKE A COCK cover art) + general laziness

can i flip this question and ask, what are these guys bringing to the table that old songs dont already have? they dont sound very reverent at all, that i agree with.

― Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he? (D-40), Wednesday, August 3, 2011 6:19 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark

thread needs moonship journey to baja (nb he could entirely disagree w/ me)

you are the one introducing phrases like camp revivalism and pastiche so

pastiche is a style not a criticism. 'reckless' is pastiche too and i love that song

pas·tiche (p-stsh, pä-)
n.
1. A dramatic, literary, or musical piece openly imitating the previous works of other artists, often with satirical intent.
2. A pasticcio of incongruous parts; a hodgepodge: "In . . . a city of splendid Victorian architecture . . . there is a rather pointless pastiche of Dickensian London down on the waterfront" (Economist).

the choice of pastiche DIRECTLY INVOKES the binary between the real and copy. seriously use words you understand.

by saying pastiche you strongly imply that rather than operating *in the tradition of* a particular genre that they are imitating the signifiers of that genre.

they are doing lol camp pastiches of classic house. i have no idea how i could have read real v fake into that jesus christ let me wipe these spectacles

1. A dramatic, literary, or musical piece openly imitating the previous works of other artists, often with satirical intent.

where does this say anything about real vs. copy? imo this music is openly imitating previous works of other artists

seriously use dictionaries you understand

ok you're an idiot

you seem to have confused things; the problem w/ 'real' vs 'fake' is when someone implies real is inherently better . thats not what im doing here. this is house music made up of lots of different notably 'house'-associated ideas/sounds. that makes it a 'pastiche.' there is no judgement of quality there

im·i·ta·tion (m-tshn)
n.
1. The act or an instance of imitating.
2. Something derived or copied from an original.
3. Music
a. Repetition of a phrase or melody often with variations in key, rhythm, and voice.
b. Repetition of a theme in another voice such that each part con

whats your point

lol l8r

i don't see the camp in azari & III's music.

lol l8r

― ℗⎣▲✘ (ico), Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:08 PM (53 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol grow up

You've done this whole using words that generally carry negative connotations but insisting you are using them in a neutral way while using them to slag something off routine before.

You've done this whole using words that generally carry negative connotations but insisting you are using them in a neutral way while using them to slag something off routine before.

― dutty whiney (The Reverend), Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:10 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

is that really what im doing? 'pastiche' never means something positive? im slagging off 'reckless,' a pastiche & one of my 5 favorite songs of last year? cmon rev

all pastiche means is made up of older parts of songs! thats it!

so. you're criticising them. using words that are synonymous with real v fake. but claiming that because those words don't necessarily carry negative connotations (that's true! well done!) that I am misreading you somehow in saying that *those words are synonymous with real v fake.* I will grow up, but i'd rather do it getting ice-cream than having a pointless circular argument with you as words magically empty themselves of meaning as soon as you use them.

so. you're criticising them. using words that are synonymous with real v fake. but claiming that because those words don't necessarily carry negative connotations (that's true! well done!) that I am misreading you somehow in saying that *those words are synonymous with real v fake.* I will grow up, but i'd rather do it getting ice-cream than having a pointless circular argument with you as words magically empty themselves of meaning as soon as you use them.

― ℗⎣▲✘ (ico), Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:17 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

pastiche is not synonymous with real vs. fake

∞

I'm not criticizing azari for being "fake" when compared to "real" house, which is what youre accusing me of, right? I'm not doing that at all. Its simply untrue. Saying that they make 80s/90s dance pastiche is a simple descrption of what they do.

The value judgement is that on the songs I don't like, they arent good enough songwriters or track constructors to bring these elements together into great songs; theres a sort of wishful thinking that hopefully if you pile enough signifyers together ppl will enjoy it simply as a memory exercise in nostalgia

I'm actually really interested in heating from people who really like this lp what youthink it is that makes it seem fresh.even with the songs I do like, I've had trouble articulating what pushed this ahead of rote revivalism. Theres definitely an irreverence here for one thing

Which is part of where the chromeo comparison came from

I'm actually really interested in heating from people

lol freudian slip

Swypian slip

For me it would have to sound very like one particular band/producer or label from a certain period for it to be a problem. If, say, it sounded exactly like Virgo IV or Inner City then I probably wouldn't like it but it casts a far wider net than that and gives it all a bit of a reboot to boot. The time frame it covers is too wide for it to be pastiche and there's simply something of recombinant brilliance about it for me.

i don't see the camp in azari & III's music.

― jed_, Wednesday, August 3, 2011 7:08 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

camp is more in their videos i think

threads that make u wish Carles posted to ilx

The groups presentation certainly dabbles in it. I do find "hungry for the power" to work from in that way in particular, the theatricality of it certainly.

i don't see the camp in azari & III's music.

they are megacamp live

Which is certainly not something I could say about Chromeo.

I would btw! They just have shallow hearts and souls.

I like chromeo btw. The diss was that it was like their first album rather than their 2nd

I'm softening on the first half of this lp

Yeah, this is avery very good album
Maybe not top 20 for this year but close and growingon me

I wish this album was more Reckless With Your Love and less Hungry For The Power. I can sort of appreciate it and all that but for some reason it mostly just leaves me cold.

Maybe it's a drug/club of yore Pavlovian reaction thing. When I hear Indigo and Tunnel Vision, I feel like there's a jet engine going off in my head.

That's the weird thing, I would expect to have exactly that reaction but for some reason I don't.

Their live show is fucking awesome by the way - and I think semi-improvised?

yeah, it seemed like mostly songs in the first half, mostly jamming in the second half?

this is a very modern sounding house/pop album. it is extremely referential, as so much of dance music has been for quite a while now, but it combines so many different influences and yet still has a clear individual style. when they first dropped "hungry for the power" and "reckless" i was worried they would be kind of sampling different house sounds from the late 80s/early 90s as they continued (even tho those are still my classic faves), but with the release of "indigo" they started to identify their sound. they have some really interesting moments on this album. "change of heart" is one for me. pretty stoked on the album as a whole, even though a couple of the more aggressive songs i could take or leave.

basically agreed.

wasted my first listen of this cleaning my apt mad at my roommate :/ didnt really catch much

chromeo comparison seems on-point but I'm surprised this bothers anybody that was into herculues & love machine or whatever they were called

It's much colder sounding than that implies though. More like Hercules and Love Affair as remixed by Carl Craig. Except not as good as that sounds. Wish they hadn't gone with that huge cavernous warehouse sound, although it should be catnip to me for some reason I can't connect with it, although Reckless is basically a perfect record.

It's like you know that feeling you get when you put on a really great techno record in the morning and have to turn it off because your brain's just not ready for techno yet? That's kind of the feeling I get with this in a lhousier form.

Matt DC captures it exactly i think

fwiw i didnt love H&LA although "Blind" was still a jam .... and that one with the 'little boy herculeees' chorus that i imagine being used in a disney film (in a good way?)

i wanna see the live jam sesh incarnation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KpB-tmVn2w&feature=related

...but not on youtube

oh xpost

ok deej that statement + complaining about camp & homosploitation = mind fuck

fwiw i didnt love H&LA although "Blind" was still a jam .... and that one with the 'little boy herculeees' chorus that i imagine being used in a disney film (in a good way?)

haha this is OTM

still feeling the album, but as far as 'suggest me some similar stuff'... this is almost TOO similar to "hungry for the power"- the stabs at least

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3pBoMcj9Vw

regardless of that i still can't stop listening to it

Don't sleep on the Isolee remix of that either, it really draws out the melancholy drama in the vocals.

B.C. x Delivery should have been posted to this thread a while ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4FGyassgs0

the Munk remix kills it imo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFepH_Ajxmg

those lyrics are making my eyes water.

Haha, yeah. I heard the first line and was like....ok, I'm just gonna tune out the lyrics now.

k i'm no expert but why am i not seeing any mention of the jamie jones mix around here????? SO GOOD.

― r|t|c, Thursday, 2 June 2011 18:28 (4 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the melody from that reminds me of "walking away" by craig david!

― Suggest Banter (Local Garda), Thursday, 2 June 2011 19:07 (4 months ago) Bookmark

heh this mix is getting picked up by uk garage/funky guys (pioneer, cameo) now! wouldnt have expected that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyMPmEcMQC8

does this go without saying or is it being slept on...? save for knowing i have to do everything myself i have no idea with these matters tbh

it is sick and trounces the og anyway

<3 maceo plex

does this go here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAvHE069X44

NSFW VIDEO

Does it feature Maceo Plex's trademark growling bass noise? If so count me in.

finally caught them live at White Heat tonight. worth the wait x 1000000000.

Damn. Was too ill to get to that show. Glad it was great.

yeah it was packed and their live show is sooooo much fun. can't wait to catch them again.

oh hey they finally made a video for "reckless"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMEhf9iw55M

Possibly supporting Madonna's tour?

for the "suggest me some similar stuff" part of the thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulnSIrierFE

Mowgli featuring Amber Jolene - Back In The Day

Urgent and key contribution to the similar stuff portion of this thread (i.e. Alex Anwandter - Como Puedes Vivir Contigo Mismo - as discussed in the Paris is Burning thread and here: itt: amazing dancing in music videos.

So are we just not discussing the pretty good solo Dinamo Azari album?

This album is SO GOOD STILL jaysus! Also this was the last gig i went to at Madame JoJo's and it fit that venue perfectly.

yes. i'm rarely buying vinyl these days i picked up the 10th anniversary reissue a couple months ago.

i didn't even know that had happened, i may just grab that