Ror-Shak began as an experiment by DJ DB and DJ/producer Stakka (Shaun Morris), two veterans of the electronic dance music scene who decided to create a track of their own together. Though it was DB’s first experience working in the studio on original music, the collaboration proved a success, resulting in the highly acclaimed single “Groupies” (Breakbeat Science). The duo continued to work together and has now released a full album, “Deep”.
“It’s really anything goes,” says Stakka on the collaborative process. “We’ve both got different backgrounds and listen to a widely varied sort of music. So the influences come in just playing around in the studio. Drum & Bass has been part of both our backgrounds for the past 10 years, so we normally start with drum & bass or something that is down-tempo and then go from there”
Ror-Shak enlisted a variety of guest musicians and vocalists for “Deep,” many of whom they knew or had contact with before. Singer Julie Cruise is an interesting case.
“We actually started out by sampling her,” explains Stakka. “Through finding out who it was and and getting permission to use it, she ended up appearing on four of the tracks on the album.”
We did a phone interview with Ror-Shak, but unfortunately equipment problems made the tape very difficult to transcribe. Stakka was kind enough to answer some follow-up questions by email.
Back in 1996, Chaos Control profiled Babyfox, a UK-based trio with a dub-influenced electronic sound. Over the years, their 2 CDs have stood the test of time and remained favorites, but the group itself disappeared from view in the new millennium. So I was very happy to get an email from member Alex Gray saying that Babyfox are BACK with a website and new music available for download.
The following is the first part of a new email interview with Gray:
Why has it been so long since we’ve heard from Babyfox? What made you decided that the time was right to return with new music?
We left Roadrunner Records back in ‘99. Usual story - original A&R guy had left (went on to manage Death in Vegas and Electralane) and the vision from the company side was gone. We got involved in writing some film soundtracks and recording new songs. We were really pleased with the new direction. Then we changed management, but although Maverick nearly went for it nothing happened. So by about 2000/2001 we kinda stopped being a band -though since we had been mates for so long the friendship remained intact. Dwight actually went off to do a fine art masters and then promptly won inclusion in Bloomberg New Contemporaries - an important platform for new emerging art. Christine was doing her own thing (Alf - bluesy twisted collaborative effort with various friends - now 3 albums in) and I started a new project that became NAGRA (album coming out later this year on a German label called www.mole.de) Since we had started collaborating again under the auspices of a Dwight art piece it made sense to see what might reveal itself if we started writing songs together again. Dwight turned up to my studio (in an ex-chocolate factory in North London) with an old doowop track about getting married. Typical start point. Fantastically inspired tangent from Dwight and me and Chris start jumping up and down(more figuratively at first) and running with the baton. Another evening Francois Hardy became our muse and we came up with a thing that became the track “E.M.O.T.I.O.N”
“8-Bit Operators - An 8-Bit Tribute to Kraftwerk” is a new collection of Kraftwerk covers created primarily on old computer equipment and gaming consoles. It was conceived/compiled by Jeremy Kolosine, who under the name Receptors contributed a rendition of “Trans-Europe Express” to the disc. In an email interview, Kolosine explained a bit about the release:
1) Kraftwerk are definitely a fitting subject for a release like this, but what specifically led to their music being chosen as the theme?
well the 1st thing that comes to my mind when i saw a gameboy show was Kraftwerk’s Computer World tour from 1981, where 4 of them played various handheld devices during pocket Calculator. plus it came up in print from a Glomag quote, and an 8-Bit Weapon April Fool’s joke that backfired..
2) What would you say the balance is between tracks specifically created for this release, versus Kraftwerk covers that artists had already done?
only one track was previously recorded before i asked, Role Model’s version of “Showroom Dummies”
3) Did any of the tracks particularly surprise you in terms of what was done with the Kraftwerk material, or the types of sounds that an artist got out of their low-bit instruments?
yes, i can think of an example this happening in every song.
4) Has there been any feedback on the project from Kraftwerk on the project?
because it was to be on Kraftwerk’s U.S. home label, we ran the finished tracks by them.
5) Besides covering Kraftwerk and the use of old gaming systems and/or 8-bit computers, was there any criteria that went into the selection of artists for the collection?
i wanted as many of the new wave of 21st century chipmusic/bitpop scene originators/inventors to take part.
6) Why do you think that this type of equipment wasn’t originally taken as seriously in terms of musical creation?
i believe it’s because at the time, the marketing approaches used for synths were still assuming that users wanted realistic emulation of traditional instruments, which may be true, but in that respect, lo-bit technology doesn’t excell so it may have failed because of that (talking synthesis and not sampling technology of course).
“8-Bit Operators - An 8-Bit Tribute to Kraftwerk” also features Bacalao, Glomag, Covox, Role Model, Nullsleep, David E. Sugar, Oliver Wittchow, 8-Bit Weapon, FirestARTer, Neotericz, Herbert Weixelbaum, Bubblyfish, Bit Shifter, GwEm And Counter Reset. It will be released by Astralwerks on February 6, 2007. There’s also a 12″ single/download release (out now) featuring a multi-artist mega-mix of “Pocket Calculator” and an exclusive version of “The Robots.”
In recent years, Clint Mansell has become well known (and respected) for his film soundtrack work. He has scored all of Darren Aronofsky’s films (the most recent being “The Fountain,” released last week) as well as such movies as “The Hole,” “Sahara” and “Doom.” We interviewed Clint back in 1994, when his musical focus was the band Pop Will Eat Itself. Active primarily between the mid 80’s and mid 90’s, PWEI had a sample-heavy sound that brought together elements of hip hop and noisy guitar pop. In 1995, the band reunited for a while, but early the following year it was announced that Mansell and guitarist/bassist Richard March were leaving in order to concentrate on their other projects. PWEI members Graham Crabb, Adam Mole and Fuzz Townshend went on to continue working together in a new band, Vileevils.
This interview was done to coinciding with the release of the “Dos Dedos Mis Amigos,” the final official PWEI album.
The full version of our interview with Skye Edwards (former vocalist of Morcheeba) has now been posted. Read all about her new solo release “Mind How You Go” by clicking here.
August 22 saw the US release of “MIND HOW YOU GO,” the solo debut from former Morcheeba vocalist Skye Edwards. To coincide with the release, Skye embarked on a short series of live performances. We were able to speak with her in the New York office of her label. Cordless Recordings. The following is part one of the interview. Be sure to check back soon to read the rest!
Are these shows the first time you’ve performed your solo material live?
Skye:“No, these aren’t the first shows that I’ve done. My album came out in February in Europe. So I’ve been touring since May all around Europe and went to places like Russia and Slovakia. Doing my own shows, and festivals as well. So these are the first shows that I’ve done with the new record in America.”
How would you compare your live sound to what we hear on the CD?
Skye:“Well, for these American shows it’s very different than what we’ve been doing in the UK and European gigs. There, we are a five-piece band and we’ve taken a lot of the sounds from the record, and the drummer and the keyboardist are triggering a lot of samples. Whereas these shows are much more stripped down, with just guitar, bass, piano, and me singing. So it’s more acoustic.”
Why did you choose to do these American shows in that format? Was it to keep costs down?
Skye:“Yeah. I did a small show at this music conference in France called MIDEM that Jac Holzman, the head of Cordless, saw. He really like the stripped down intimate presentation, so he asked if we’d be interested in doing it like that for the first time coming to America. It’s just three shows, and then as the profile builds we’d like to come back and do it as a band, more like how it sounds on the record.”
Are there any tracks that you think sound particularly different when performed with this instrumentation?
Skye:“Certainly songs like ‘What’s Wrong With Me,’ for instance, because it’s one of the most electronic sounding songs on the record. We’ve had to approach it in a completely different way. But it’s actually quite refreshing to get into a rehearsal room and try things differently. Just a couple of weeks ago we were invited to play at a private party in Spain, so we did it in this unplugged way [for the first time] and it was really lovely. For me, it was just really nice to sing it in a more relaxed way.”
How would you say your solo material evolved from the initial songwriting to what we hear on the CD?
Skye:“It’s way better than I could have imagined. I was listening to artists like Chantal Kreviazuk and Edie Brickell and I kind of had the idea that it would be more acoustic with the odd electronica element, but it turned out more electronic with the odd bit of acoustic stuff in there. I feel that I’m a better songwriter than when I was starting out writing songs just by myself. It’s really great to get together with someone like Pat Leonard or Daniel Lanois. There are really way up there in terms of talent and experience, and you can really learn from that. ”
In terms of selecting a producer, what was the process like?
Skye:” “The first factor was that I really just wanted to work with one person, and I wanted that person to be a writer/producer. I didn’t want to just go in and work with a writer on a bunch of songs, then with another writer and then go and work with a producer. I wanted it to be just one person, but obviously it had to be a right person. You can’t really decide if it’s going to work out over coffee, so you need to go in the studio and see what the chemistry and dynamics are like. I met a couple of people in London initially and then it took me out to LA. Particularly with Pat, he was saying that he really wanted to work on a whole album rather than doing a little bit, or doing the single. That’s really what I was excited by. Though I’d had material from before, Pat said ‘let’s forget everything that you’ve written and start from the beginning.’ And that’s what we did. And then some songs that I’d written before, we produced those as well. Like ‘Calling,’ I’d written that beforehand, and the track ‘No Other’ I’d written with Pascal Gabriel”
Recently, we published an interview with Ghostigital (the new project from Einar Örn from the Sugarcubes.) Right before showtime that night, band member Curver explained a bit about the Ghostigital live set-up. We caught it on video and have posted it below.
Ghostigital, the band, is a continuation of “Ghostigital,” the solo album by former Sugarcubes member Einar Örn. A collaboration between Einar and musician Curver, Ghostigital creates unusual free-formed music that makes extensive use of cut-up techniques. Combining live instruments and electronics, the Ghostigital sound has a somewhat improvisational feel. It never feels over-produced, even though editing and manipulation is used extensively in building the tracks. And it provides the perfect outlet for Einar’s unique, often spoken vocals. The band recently did a short American tour, with two dates on the West Coast followed by two on the East. We interviewed them prior to the final show at Maxwell’s (Hoboken, NJ.)
Ror-Shak began as an experiment by DJ DB and DJ/producer Stakka (Shaun Morris), two veterans of the electronic dance music scene who decided to create a track of their own together. Though it was DB’s first experience working in the studio on original music, the collaboration proved a success, resulting in the highly acclaimed single “Groupies” (Breakbeat Science). The duo continued to work together and has now released a full album, “Deep”. 
Back in 1996, Chaos Control profiled Babyfox, a UK-based trio with a dub-influenced electronic sound. Over the years, their 2 CDs have stood the test of time and remained favorites, but the group itself disappeared from view in the new millennium. So I was very happy to get an email from member Alex Gray saying that Babyfox are BACK with
“8-Bit Operators - An 8-Bit Tribute to Kraftwerk” is a new collection of Kraftwerk covers created primarily on old computer equipment and gaming consoles. It was conceived/compiled by 
In recent years, Clint Mansell has become well known (and respected) for his film soundtrack work. He has scored all of Darren Aronofsky’s films (the most recent being “The Fountain,” released last week) as well as such movies as “The Hole,” “Sahara” and “Doom.” 
August 22 saw the US release of “MIND HOW YOU GO,” the solo debut from former Morcheeba vocalist Skye Edwards. To coincide with the release, Skye embarked on a short series of live performances. We were able to speak with her in the New York office of her label. Cordless Recordings. The following is part one of the interview. Be sure to check back soon to read the rest! 
Ghostigital, the band, is a continuation of “Ghostigital,” the solo album by former Sugarcubes member Einar Örn. A collaboration between Einar and musician Curver, Ghostigital creates unusual free-formed music that makes extensive use of cut-up techniques. Combining live instruments and electronics, the Ghostigital sound has a somewhat improvisational feel. It never feels over-produced, even though editing and manipulation is used extensively in building the tracks. And it provides the perfect outlet for Einar’s unique, often spoken vocals. The band recently did a short American tour, with two dates on the West Coast followed by two on the East. We interviewed them prior to the final show at Maxwell’s (Hoboken, NJ.)