Strictly 4 My Underground Homo Deep House Thugs: DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues

For what it's worth I used the male pronoun there not out of disrespect nor really carelessness (more like an absence of thinking about it) but I'm aware of using it now, in retrospect. A couple of years ago I was at a seminar where Terre spoke at different points over the weekend that it lasted where he basically stated that male/female pronouns meant very little to him personally, while conceding that they might rightly mean a lot to others, and that he slips between he and she so often that s/he doesn't particularly expect others to "catch up" on that, so to speak. I mean, he's an amazing writer and thinker and I'm paraphrasing wildly and his explanation was much greater but he was basically stating that people might get caught up on that one thing (pronouns) while missing other important aspects. As long as you don't use "he/him" disrespectfully with others, of course.

yeah i thought i remembered him saying that but i was too lazy to search for it and i didn't want to look gauche tbh, thanks for sharing.

I do think, though, that it's a relevant analogue to his concerns about streaming and file sharing - ie people getting caught up on one aspect to the extent that they completely miss another important aspect. If I could remember better I could maybe explain it better but, really, I've rarely read an essay of Terre's where he hasn't said something that's totally done that thing he does, so seemingly casually, where he says - ok we know that but that but I'm more focussed on this other aspect that no one talks about.... I really do think he's one of the best thinkers and communicators in current culture.

I met him after that seminar I mentioned and he was so nice but nice in a completely disarming way, like you went up to him shyly to say "thanks for the talk" and five minutes later you're having a no-bullshit discussion about multiple topics and he was always interested and made you feel like anything you said was worthwhile.

He's truly a hero of mine.

Did she like being a d.j.? Was it fun? “That’s kind of inconsequential for me,” she said. What, I asked, if I used a different word—fulfilling, rewarding, interesting? “These are all horrible words, just, like, meaningless words,” she replied, “or they have the wrong meaning. They all lead towards this desire to identify cultural producers, media producers, musicians, artists, as these fulfilled people who are somehow outside of the standard agonies of labor production. You know—they ‘enjoy what they do.’ If you’re in any of these fields, and you complain about your job, people say, ‘What are you talking about? You do it because you love it, right?’ If you’re a computer programmer, and you say, ‘I fucking hate my job,’ nobody’s going to interrogate you on that. For me, this idea of job-hating as economic critique is really necessary in the media industries.”

from the new yorker link upthread, stuck with me.

She raised her eyebrows and gestured to me. “Writing, too,” she said. “You know: these are industries that rely on volunteerism. They rely on people agreeing to do things for little to no money just to ‘get out there.’ There is the worst kind of economic exploitation going on around these industries that supposedly represent the people who are the most liberated and in harmony between what they do and how they survive. This is a real irony that has to be exploded, immediately. That’s why I’m totally uninterested in the language of optimism and fulfillment and all of this fucking, you know, capitalist bullshit. It’s like, No. This world fucking sucks. Work sucks. It’s O.K. to admit that. We need to admit that to get to the better conversations, right?”

Still, must be a pretty sweet gig, right? ;)

maybe, but "creative" work has become more proletarianized for sure, and the extent to which that's relative and plastic and changing is worth interrogating.

Because I enjoyed "Shishapangma" so much (never having totally "got" TT/Sprinkles before), I splashed out £££ on the two Fresh Insight 12" EPs, and DAMN it was money well spent. Sonically, they're immaculate - that BASS! - and I can't think of any other recent vinyl purchases that sound quite so fine. But what really fascinates/thrills me is the way that the Tony Benn speech on "Fresh" sits so perfectly on/around the beat throughout. Either there's been some very skilful editing, or - and this seems more likely - there's an instinctive rhythm to Benn's speech pattern that the track has amplified. Either way, it's extraordinary.

was v much looking to dj sprinkles in london on new year's day, but left feeling completely alienated by the most str8 boi dancefloor i've seen in years

Mike, I think that it's micro-edited to make the occasional word fall a bit better but I suspect that they hear a speech of a particular rhythm and pace and decide to make a track around it rather than seek out speeches and make them fit.

For whatever reason neither of the Fresh Insights 12"s have ~clicked~ for me, even though I luvvvvv pretty much everything TT does, and (well, I've never really listened to Mark Fell qua Mark Fell, but I luvvvv SND). The idea of combining the former's play on house signifiers with the latter's bleeding edge sound design, set to things like Arthur Scargill speeches, is theoretically maybe the best record to ever be made, but I haven't felt it (maybe I just need to not listen to low-res samples on laptop speakers?).

But thanks for pointing out Shishapangma, for which I ordered it a couple of days ago.

i'm giving queerifications & ruins a go on a new little onkyo cd micro system i got, haven't had something like that in a while, and wow it's really surprising me. all the elements that sounded like a mess to me before are clicking into place, it's really idiosyncratic and complex... and like i'm finally feeling "woah that is a bonkers beat" to a dj sprinkles track. shamefully i've never owned midtown 120 blues on cd. i think i need to rectify that.

its really expensive :(

Q&R is one of those releases which, like, you know it's amazing but kind of take that for granted (like, "well of course a collection of DJ Sprinkles remixes is gonna be awesome"), and then you listen to it again and think "hey wait actually this really is some of the most amazing music ever devised."

Midtown 120 Blues has been issued on CD three times and it always goes out of print really quickly (was lucky enough to get a copy of the 2012 version). One of my favourite albums of all time. I completely missed out on Q&R though and that's going for £40+ now.

Wow, I'm glad I bought those two records when they came out... Haven't really seen prices go so up for recent(ish) CDs, beyond the FAX label catalogue.

Looks like you can still get a copy of the Kami-Sakunobe House Explosion album on Discogs for a decent price, I'd recommend acquiring it while you still can, it's almost as good as Midtown 120.

Comatonse has both Midtown 120 and Queerifications for reasonable prices btw

DJ Sprinkles is in Glasgow in a couple of weeks, 14th August at Berkeley Suite - is anyone going? Jed?

Yes, Kraków, fancy a mini fap before? Will arrange on Facebook.

I'll probably be going even though it's a Sunday. I saw her at Subculture a few years ago and she was terrific

I'm also hoping that fap means something different in this context from what it usually means

Ha! It's an old school Ilx term for a meet up of ilxors. It stands for fancy a pint?

Paolo, fancy a pint?

Jeez, just looked up what fap means outside of Ilx.

Yeah OK. ILX Deep House Thug meetup!

That would be great jed. I'm keen to go, but my club experience is basically nil, so I'll definitely need encouragement and friendly faces!

Terrific. We can arrange shortly before then!

Took the plunge, ticket bought!

Great! The Berkeley has an upstairs bar and sit down area which is pretty chill.

I think Mr and Mrs Arika might be going too?

Yeah, it would be nice to see them too if they are. I'll drop them a line.

So who's up for this? Me and fellow ilxor MrAndyM are heading along

I'm still in.

The clips of this are sounding good - https://boomkat.com/products/purple-blue-long-trax-ep-1

45 Minute doublepack featuring some of the most engrossing House music you'll likely hear this year or any other - First in a series of three releases pairing original material by Will Long with DJ Sprinkles’ overdubs.

Tokyo, Japan-based American artists, Will Long and DJ Sprinkles, present sublime, durational deep house studies examining the dancefloor in light of contemporary socio-political inequalities and failed illusions of ‘Revolution’ and ‘Progression’.

It begins a series of three vinyl sets and eventually a 2CD package that effectively compare deep house’s original, economical aesthetics and function as the soundtrack to marginalised society, with its current position; repackaging and overproducing the same old ideas with empty sloganeering, operating as the catalyst of social trends, rather than an agent of social transformation.

They both make their point subtly but clearly. Two sides feature extended 10+ minute tracks by Will Long, created using relatively minimal means of rhythm composer percussion, polyphonic synth chords, and rack sampler vocals, while the other two sides provide overdub Sprinkles versions.

The beautifully absorbing results - which sound miles away from Long’s gentler ambient and experimental work - prove that it is possible to elicit subtle yet optimal responses with a well-selected palette of grooves and samples, in this case from Jesse Jackson and Rap Brown, rather than current vogue for showmanship and more-as-more arrangements.

DJ Sprinkles' overdubbed contributions quite literally and psycho-acoustically resonate that intention, tactfully rending a farther, lush physicality and soulfulness thru deftly applied daubs of glutinous subbass pressure, airy strings and subtly shimmering FX, really offsetting Long's trax in a whole other dimension; and via disciplined, stripped-down, full-bodied production values that rank as perhaps the deepest yet in Sprinkles’ already perfectly formed canon.

They could be taken as a call for humbleness and meditative efficiency over cliched buildups and preening vanities, perhaps a comment on “deep" house as the equivalent of a fresh tattoo or sweatshop t-shirt slogan.

Because, you know, it really does stand for a lot more.

Is that Celer's Will Long? Excited for this!

hnng

Mine arrived this morning. Gorgeous. The two Will Long tracks - "Time Has Come" (with a sampled fragment of Jesse Jackson) and "Chumps" (with a sampled fragment of Rap Brown) - are sparse and elemental, very much in the Sprinkles ballpark. Each track is embellished by Sprinkles on the flip, with customarily astonishing sonic range - enveloping sub-bass and parts that somehow sound 3D - which does kind of justify the continued digital refusenik stance. ("Protect the minor - do not upload" on the label.)

Mine arrived this morning. Gorgeous. The two Will Long tracks - "Time Has Come" (with a sampled fragment of Jesse Jackson) and "Chumps" (with a sampled fragment of Rap Brown) - are sparse and elemental, very much in the Sprinkles ballpark. Each track is embellished by Sprinkles on the flip, with customarily astonishing sonic range - enveloping sub-bass and parts that somehow sound 3D - which does kind of justify the continued digital refusenik stance. ("Protect the minor - do not upload" on the label.)

i like sprinkles but that press release is one of the worst i've ever read

Both of these EPs are absolutely gorgeous

xp I really like Boomkat's gushing, over the top Pseuds Corner style write ups. Essential purchase!

Can't wait for the 2cd release.

to be honest I didn't enjoy listening to the two EPs. All of the Sprinkles stuff is well done but it's too repetitive to listen to for an hour-plus, and the source material is a bit boring. The Simon Fisher Turner thing was perfect in its construction and duration and left me wanting more... but now it's here and it's too much.

So, how do people rate Skylax House Explosion, the new 2-disc DJ mix by Sprinkles and Hardrock Striker? I think it's pretty dope, a nice, kicking mix of straightforward deep house. I'm not really familiar with Skylax as a label, but the selection here is pretty awesome. I especially love the Lady Blacktronika track on Sprinkles' disc, with that wonderful choppy piano riff!

The Lady Blacktronika album last year was pretty awesome

has anyone heard the new 'deproduction' eps?
'Sprinkles' House Arrest' is probably the most beautiful & haunting piece of music I heard this year.

if i had my shit together i'd definitely be collecting everything she does

Read this review this AM and have been running through this excellent spotify playlist since.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dj-sprinkles-gayest-tits-and-greyest-shits-1998-2017-12-inches-and-one-offs/

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5z8OEJXDqczRgZ6gTUuyUz

yes https://ra.co/news/75568?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

awesome. more excited about TT the lecturer / theorist than TT the artist these days tbh so very much looking forward to this.

https://toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-069-terre-thaemlitz

loved this interview