Sea, Sex & Sun… We’re almost there as far as we, at IDMW.Com, are concerned. Alas, the recent times have brought us some bad news with the passing away of one of our heroes : Luther Vandross to whom we've recently paid a tribute a . Singlewise, we send our props to Detroit producer Kevin Saunderson aka The Reese Project making his awaited come back with the collaboration of singer Paul Randolph that we’ve had the chance to see quite recently at Le Rex in Paris alongside Moodyman and Pirahna Head, with a new single to be released right after the summer break. As for global reviews, MFSB who’s just done the final behind the decks at the Festival Of Salamanca, Spain, gives an idea of what his regular column is to be about within a short while, ADN talking about some of the latest tunes around on his own column for our French reading crowd.
IN DA (RE)MIX (HOUSE, GARAGE & OTHER ILLICIT GROOVES)
Almost an eternity without providing you with this column of the likes on these pages. Thanks to IDMW.Com Swiss bro Michael Fossati of spiritofhouse.com for updating us with such a regularity and acuracy…Not to say that I haven’t found anything worth the listen during all these weeks or that I didn’t want to write anymore, but simply coz’ I felt like I didn’t have that much of excitement if not interest to express…
As a matter of fact and apart from a few exceptions, I’ve simply come to the point where too much is too much with all those ‘Re’s’ around. I mean reprises, remixes, reedits or whatever. This being to me the sign of a global lack of creativity, as if many people around didn’t have that much to express or if we ended up coming to a point where a new step (system or whatever) has to be reached in order for the production to… re-generate itself as well as providing us with a new shuffle of excitement the way it was back at the end of the 80’s for instance or in the mid 90’s… And I’m probably far from being the only one in such a state of mind, judging by the reactions we may notice here or there, from the crowd as from some of the artists themselves, as recently stated by James Duncan for instance on these pages.
Is this that the current production has lost the energy it used to have not that long ago, seing for instance our beloved Kerri Chandler going back to the raw, as opposed to those many live concepts which have seen the day over the last years ? If one thing is for sure at least, it’s that this search for musicality has never reached the level of the production which was around some 25 to 30 years ago, despite its many attempts to recapture it under the form of all those Re… prises/mixes/edits we’ve mentioned earlier on. And the reason of this situation is quite simple (and still the same), having most of the DJ’s/producers around being non musicians. And this is as true as the fact that a musician isn’t neither trained to have the know how in terms of expectations of the crowd coming to a club. This putting me in the position to say that both a DJ, a producer, an arranger, a composer, a sound engineer and, of course, a musician should be taken for who they are, as opposed to have many people around trying to make us believe the way they currently do that they’re a sort of a bit of everything at the same time…
Once again, too many of something on top of it done simultaneously ends up killing the thing itself and subsequently the excitement we, as listeners, are supposed to feel when in front of said new thangz. This being the possible reason why a guy like Louie Vega embraces so many different directions at the current time, meanwhile giving the impression that he’s in search for a path where he would feel totally like home. Not to mention vet DJ/producer François K going his own way since a few months, shoud it be behind the decks at his Monday residency or productiionwise. And that’s probably the same regarding a whole bunch of current people around trying to recapture the essence of the groove while revamping treasures of the past. The search being the same, even though the manner is different.
This said, the direct consequence isn’t what our current heroes had necessarily in mind on their attempts, seing more and more (young) people searching for the originals… as if nothing better had been done during these last 25/30 years which, to me, is the same kinda non sense.
As already said many times on these pages, an extreme always leads to another but if one thing is to remain for sure, it’s that the creators, whatever the tools they may use, will always be recognized the way they have to be one day or another, as opposed to the many impersonators around. What’s cruelly needed is probably a scale of values if not a classification, they way we may find some when talking about wines for instance even though such a thing is quite subjective. At least, the current sales on eBay as far as the music we love is concerned, should give a clear sign of what (many) people are into. MFSB
INDA(RE)MIX TENNERZ
CLYDE ALEXANDER Gotta Have Your Love (Heavenly Star)
LTG EXCHANGE Corazon/Waterbed (Fania)
CHICAGO Street Player (Columbia/promo)
RAY PARKER Jr & RAYDIO It’s Time To Party Now (Arista)
LAMONT DOZIER Going Back To My Roots (Atlantic)
TENDERNESS Gotta Keep On Trying (RCA)
IDRIS MUHAMMAD Could Heaven Ever Be Like This (Buddah/promo)
LEROY BURGESS Heartbreaker (Salsoul/promo)
DON RAY Standing In The Rain (Polydor/promo)
JANICE MCCLAIN Smack Dab In The Middle (RFC/promo)