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if that was true about kompakt -- this old 'funktional fellows, making tracks for their scene, gosh they probably take their DATS straight down the club' -- is v old fashioned and folky. i sympathise, but if it were truthful, why would it speak to anyone outside the scene?

N_RQ, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:49 (twenty-one years ago)

that's nothing to do with what I said, N-RQ.

and even if it was, the scene in their case is rather big.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:01 (twenty-one years ago)

it's nothing to do with folkiness or the guys themselves, I was specifically talking about the number of releases.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think criticising the DFA on prolificness grounds actually works.

The Irrelevant Man (Negativa) (Barima), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

If that's part of your argument, I mean.

The Irrelevant Man (Negativa) (Barima), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

"Kompakt guys [...] just get on with making records, which are not massive sprawling masterpieces but anthems specific to their own scene."

that's what you said: it does seem to champion the local and the folky against the virtuoso auteurs -- which is fair play, but it needs explaining how the products of scenes translate.

N_Rq, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think local/folky versus virtuoso auteurs is the only possible scenario here. Many people would balk at the idea of multiple releases per month, though not in dance circles, Kompakt is certainly not folky, I think though, it's fairly accurate to say that Kompakt itself is the sprawling entity, and there are enough different facets to it to allow for a whole load of internalised conflict.

I'm not sure how this came to be such a specific Kompakt VS DFA thing, though I'm sure it's my fault.

I am not saying, by default, that labels which are more prolific are better. But since the criticism of the Mayer record seemed to suggest it was just tacked together and rush released, I offer a counter argument, not for the sake of contrarianism, but because I genuinely believe that a more sweatshop style environment produces better music and better art.

There's only so many puffed up pieces you can read about the DFA before actually having to consider how many records they've actually released in the 3 years they've been in the public domain.

Very few. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd say it's not a quality over quantity issue either, there's just been very little to follow the initial excitement whatsoever.

I think this issue reared its head on some other thread when someone freaked out and said I liked Ghostly International.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Making "rock" recs lends itself to initial excitement vs eventual "this isn't sufficiently NEW and exciting" letdown, tho, as opposed to the Kompaktstyle jillions of recs people eventually notice and feel no great need for "advancement" w/in when it comes to further output, y'know? Putting out more recs is harder for the DFA than for Kompakt (and the DFA've put out a fair few, really). JM himself seems v aware of this. He says as much in that thing.

A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:37 (twenty-one years ago)

"Harder" no sure but w/out losing "CRED" which is what sells DFA records

A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Also diff markets but I think that's formed by what I'm talkin about yeah

A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

There's only so many puffed up pieces you can read about the DFA before actually having to consider how many records they've actually released in the 3 years they've been in the public domain.

It strikes me as a reasonable amount to be honest, taking into account blatant 'perfectionist' stance of Murphy's. But I don't like labels and artists that are too prolific right now just because I am not really keeping track of any of it at all.

$V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

kompakt is more people than DFA, isn't it? ronan is porbably right that the need to put stuff out there is good for fans, but it doesn't in itself promote innovation. this is a simon reynolds view based on his notion of capitalist competition as paradigm for scenius, people pushing each other. but capitalism doesn't work that way, better products usurping inferior. capitalism often tends towards stagnation and monopoly.

N_RQ, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I agree with you Andrew but that CRED aspect is pretty lame isn't it?

In my opinion it is, anyway, I think I'm probably polar opposite to JM in this respect though. I know nothing about rock history.

x-post, as I said N_RQ, I don't think one model is by default better than the other, but in this case stagnation only fits one party in my opinion. As for monopoly, I don't know, very complex to discuss really, probably a case for either.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

the stagnation thing is different for DFA, or their star act anyway, because... stagnation is the point, the whole thing is about decline, it's that meta, and you're right: it doesn't serve a scene, or not a local one, or not in the same way.

LCD spending three years on an LP, and then boosting a past-their-prime dahnce supergroop on the lead single is part of the package -- as he says, the fact that they've gone downhill is the whole point. kinda.

N_RQ, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:55 (twenty-one years ago)

It's lame as fuck. I hate it. It's not even as if it's the only possible model of "cool", even current cool. I think maybe JM's undermining himself subtly (and not so subtly) as far as this shit goes but we'll see what happens xpost yeah see? Tho this is maybe already a pretty shitty mode of "coolness"/"cred"

A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought Murphy came off a little harsh in that Pitchfork piece, but I think that I often sound the same way in conversation. If you actually read what he said, he didn't come off as any more of a jerk than usual. He's less of a rockist than he is OCD when it comes to detail.

I'm going to completely screw up this description and make both 'dance' music and Murphy sound bad, but I do like both. Anyway... James Murphy doesn't actually like dance music. He likes music you can dance to, but when it comes down to it at the end of the day, it all sounds like repetitive lazy shit where it's just a little effect here or there and some sort of cheesy hook, or even worse, cheesy ambience. If you're a guitar tech, fiddling with equipment guy, you're going to be all about the "disco edits" where you take that effect, chop it down, make the music ramp up to that point, and then reverse the effect. You can't just sit there and say "yeah, this beat is great" and dance around. Remember the late 1990s when there was some supposed "rock/electronica" crossover period and all the rock kids were going to love Daft Punk and shit, because it wasn't that "boom boom boom" boring "techno" stuff? Lots twitchier.

It's interesting that the idea of re-appropriation is mention, and it's such a stumbling point for JM. He's doing (in my opinion) a pretty good job of combining a lot of influences, not so subtly. But he doesn't even vaguely connect that to the obvious beat-jacking that went on when Goldsworthy was at Mo'Wax. It's always been amazing to me that the influences are so similar (and probably why Goldsworthy and Murphy get along so well) but there's this weird dismissal. I have no idea how much influence Goldsworthy had outside of the records he either worked on or helped get released (Liquid Liquid!) but the influences are similar to DFA's.

wayoffbase (mike h.), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

has anyone heard the françois k remixes of "disco inflitrator" yet?

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:15 (twenty-one years ago)

yup. they pretty much suck.

stirmonster (stirmonster), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

eek. i guess i'm not too surprised, but it's still a disappointment. i thought he was a weird choice for a remixer.

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

did he body-and-soul-ify the track or try something else?

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:28 (twenty-one years ago)

i would like to hear what alan braxe and fred falke or (gasp!) daft punk would do with it.

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:31 (twenty-one years ago)

or wolfgang voight just to make this thread recurse upon itself into infinity.

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:33 (twenty-one years ago)

if he'd body and soulified it it might have been quite interesting but he electrofied it, made it sound totally bog standard and left me wondering where his talents went to. i don't really think fk has done anything that great since his 'fk' ep in the mid 90's.

stirmonster (stirmonster), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:36 (twenty-one years ago)

the fk remix listed in the opening post to this thread was quite good i thought. i don't know where that sits in relation to the fk ep. i was hoping for great things with the last kraftwerk remix, but it was just a bit ehhh from what i remember.

tricky (disco stu), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I didnt know mu were on DFA
hmm...

vanessa novaeris (novaeris), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:53 (twenty-one years ago)

yup, that green velvet is pretty great. that one slipped my mind.

stirmonster (stirmonster), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 23:54 (twenty-one years ago)

well i loved the Moloko one (but i never heard the original)

jed_ (jed), Thursday, 12 May 2005 00:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah the Moloko one is amazing, alot better than the overblown original.

Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 12 May 2005 07:00 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...
http://www.juno.co.uk/covers/194638-01-front.htm http://images.juno.co.uk/full/CS194638-01B-BIG.jpg

hadn't heard anything about this so was quite surprised to see it on the racks and even more surprised to see that it was going for the princely figure of £3 (for 50 minutes of music).

granted the tracklisting does, at first glance, look a little unadventurous (lots of mixes from a specific artist grouped together) but it works unbelievably well . hearing the great (new?) cute/psychedelic delia and gavin track "5" mixed into tiga's mix of "tribulations" has got to be a musical moment of the year. after 2 plays i prefer this to any other dfa mix so far. put it this way it just made cleaning my oven and fridge out a hell of a lot more fun.

jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

Also, there is supposed to be a two-disc set with all (or most) of the DFA remixes coming out soon.

van igloo (van smack), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:28 (twenty years ago)

I heard about this holiday mix but assumed it was just a promo thing.

the lack of rhythm machine (haitch), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:33 (twenty years ago)

it just made cleaning my oven and fridge out a hell of a lot more fun.

This should be printed on a label and stuck on the packaging.

F.R.I.E.N.D. (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:37 (twenty years ago)

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=33660765&blogID=55230912

älänbänänä (alanbanana), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)

The other bonus is that it retails for the price of a CD single and it will also be available for download (as 1 long track) in the states on November 22.

älänbänänä (alanbanana), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:43 (twenty years ago)

yeah, I this mix was fun - I was surprised at the delia & gavin track, wondered if it was itself a DFA remix (as the Black Dice "ABA" is definitely a remix)

Dominique (dleone), Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:45 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...
Are these - http://www.dfarecords.com/radiomixes/ - new?

James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Monday, 9 January 2006 04:13 (twenty years ago)

yes. (they were on a YSI thread a couple of weeks back though.)

pompe vers le haut du volume (haitch), Monday, 9 January 2006 04:30 (twenty years ago)

they're available from the page linked to if you click download!

biz, Monday, 9 January 2006 07:20 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...
Nine Inch Nails remix coming up, hopefully sounding more interesting than that Blues Explosion remix from last month...
-- JoB (jobdewi...), May 6th, 2005.

you've got it wrong - that BX remix is the jam!
-- rajeev (rajeev...), May 6th, 2005.

Right now listening to The DFA Remixes Chapter One and you're right. I got it wrong. Too bad the NIN remix coudn't make this compilation though.

JoB (JoB), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 10:47 (twenty years ago)

I love the DFA remix of Goldfrapp's "Slide In", it's got that same kraut-disco vibe as the "Rise" remix but more unashamedly joyful and beautiful.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 10:50 (twenty years ago)

The new Tiga remix is also great. It starts with a quite sinister Suicide vibe, picks up a glorious organ riff and ends in two minutes of feedbacking whoooosshhh.

JoB (JoB), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 11:38 (twenty years ago)

Yeah that one's great too! I really feel like they're hitting a new peak in terms of synthesising all of their current influences into something that still sounds very er unstudied and immediate, and oddly very current sounding! I feel bad for having doubted their ability to stay abreast with the rest of dance music...

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 11:56 (twenty years ago)

I don't know much about this german band shit robot, but the DFA mix of their "triumph" track is pretty good too.

wu-tang clan analogue (haitch), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 12:15 (twenty years ago)

Am I the only one who thinks it's all so polite at this point that it's just boring? I mean does anyone really need studied extended disco versions of whatever new single. The remixes are so bland and safe, they're all starting to sound like b-sides from "Come With Us".

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 13:41 (twenty years ago)

I mean it's not that I think they are irredeemably bad remixes, just kinda dull and pointless.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 14:40 (twenty years ago)

Thanks Ronan! Come With Us is a great underrated record (with even better B Sides) and they beat us at the Grammys - twice!

here are some more electronic battle weapons due later this year:

The DFA - Remixes Chapter Two

01. Far From Home - Tiga
02. Shake Your Coconuts - Junior Senior
03. She Wants To Move - N.E.R.D.
04. Colours - Hot Chip
05. Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
06. Slide In - Goldfrapp
07. Destination Overdrive - Chromeo
08. In A State - UNKLE


GALKIN (GALKIN), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 15:07 (twenty years ago)

ugh

lf (lfam), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 15:11 (twenty years ago)

I think Come With Us is their best album!

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 15:21 (twenty years ago)

perhaps the DFA are missing a Richard Ashcroft type figure, haha.

no seriously tho I think I would like the mixes better with vocals or twisted remnants of the originals.

Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 15:22 (twenty years ago)

that is why that record is good, cause there is none of that revolving door brit-pop guest star shit on there. it was just straight up dance. I like it, anyway. It is just loud and dumb and fun. Richard Ashcroft is basically the reason Tim G quit UNKLE so I doubt that will be happening! Which mixes exactly dont have the vocals or remnants of the original (maybe the UNKLE remix?)

GALKIN (GALKIN), Tuesday, 14 February 2006 15:47 (twenty years ago)


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