EMA CCM LTD and I Like Ypsilanti

I’m going to write some music reviews here. I don’t typically do this, for a vast array of reasons. Yeah, I have philosophies, you know this. First of all, I’m not a music critic. That’s not my role as an ethnomusicologist and music scholar, I’m talking for me personally. I know, many academics who research and write about music also write record reviews for popular media, both online and print. But I just don’t see much use in me doing that – there are ENOUGH people writing record reviews, for sure. It also feels conflicting – doing ethnographic research in Detroit on electronic music, asking musicians to represent themselves to me and teach me so that I can present their ideas and words in a framework that tells bigger stories. Evaluating the quality of their musical productions in a lasting, public, written form would potentially damage relationships that I have with people. I might miss out on someone’s release; I might not like something, but feel obligated to write about it; I might like a select few musicians A LOT. I’m just not interested in getting into that kind of a relationship with musicians. Also, practically speaking, I don’t have any extra time to be writing record reviews. You know, cause I’m writing that other thing.

These are some of the same reasons that I’m not trying to be a DJ. There are certainly ENOUGH DJs in the world without me getting in the way. I’d totally mess it all up! Also, I just don’t have time or space in my life for that. I love sharing music, but DJing is not the only way that I can do that, so I find other ways to do it.

Regardless of these philosophies, I am occasionally inspired to write something that involves some vague evaluations of music and events – there’s one of my special ways of sharing music, or information about music. Right now, I am inspired by a variety of experimental forms of music, all produced locally in southeast Michigan, by musicians that I am excited about.

EMA CCM LTD

I received a lovely package of music from EMA in October. The moment I received it and started listening, I began imagining what I would write about it. Promise. Just look at my notes in my notebook from then! Needless to say, this review is a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time coming. I know you didn’t read that as “ōō” right? Read that long word long. Anyway, here is what was in the package:

Bill Van Loo. The Ghost of an Idea. EMA 033. CD. (on a sweet little mini cd)
Damaged Catholic. Single Phase Change. EMA 029. CD.
Rob Theakston. Condition. EMA 030. CD.
Todd Osborn. Components. EMA 018. CD.
Todd Osborn. Components 2. EMA 024. CD.

Also interesting, but not yet in my possession, is this:

Rob Theakston. Field Recordings 2002-2010. EMA 038. CD.
"Previously released long out of print field recordings of such exotic locales as Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Plymouth, Detroit, Windsor and new territories and field recordings from the horse capital of the world. Remastered with loving care. Limited edition of 20."

All from EMA Records run by Rob Theakston. Many of the artists featured on EMA are from Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. It’s a noise heavy label, but also includes various types of experimental music, and by that I mean experimental beyond what a particular musician might normally produce. Like Todd Osborn’s Components and Components 2 – all piano compositions, barely anything like any of the other music he has released elsewhere.

What the hell does EMA stand for? I didn’t ask Rob, but if I did, he’d probably mess with me and make up some shit. Maybe I should actually do my job properly and ask him. Or I could speculate. Ha. Make up my own stupid shit – I mean brilliant assessments. Maybe it stands for elliptical mind activators. Or enormous mighty autobots. Or ecclesiastical miserly anonomous, because why does the A word have to be a noun? I don’t know.

Are you actually still reading this? Jesus. I’m impressed. Anyway. I’m relatively new to noise and experimental electronic music. For a long while I wanted to like music that would fit these descriptive categories, but I couldn’t figure out how to. Now I am figuring out how to open myself up to it. Southeast Michigan boasts a great deal of quality experimental electronic musicians. Aaron Dilloway, Especially Good, nospectacle, Ian Fulcher, Moon Pool & Dead Band, and Bad Party are just a few. I told you, I'm new, that's my list. In the experimental music that I really like, I find that particular tones and combinations of tones (in chords or slight melodies) stir up my senses and my emotions. Science and psychology of tones! Start here: Emotion and Meaning in Music by Leonard Meyer. There is certainly an emotional and spiritual psychology behind sound, or in front of sound, beside sound. But I won’t be doing anyone any favors pretending to be able to teach you anything about it. Read Cornelia Fales’ writing on timbre. Chapters Eight and Nine HERE. And don't read Fales for info on techno, read for brilliant analysis of timbre. No wonder Mike Banks likes Especially Good (Submerge is distributing Watch Out/Room Downstairs 7 inch), he is all about the science of pitch.

So, now I'll tell you some things about the EMA goodies. For a music that at first seems aggressive and a little brutal, it can have a real softness. It can be delicately powerful. Rob Theakston’s productions have this effect. They are usually very slow to progress, slow and delicate to build. And there’s often a really great fullness of sound that he’s got going on. "Condition 2" (track 3) on Condition has a strong rhythmic element that feels alive. I like detecting soft rhythms pulsing through a piece of sound that at first listen seems nebulous and maybe formless. It's so not.

On to Todd Osborn’s Components and Components 2. Todd is a prolific composer, producer, musician (prolific in quantity and quality, for sure). This collection of compositions for piano are really fun to listen to. Just like a lot of his music, I hear a lot of beauty in it. Listening to these two albums makes me think, in indirect ways, of Pachabell's Cannon in D. I don't know if I would have made such an association on my own, maybe, but whatever. Todd has spoken about this a few times with me, even into a microphone. Here's what he said about composing music:

“I can have infinite patterns and just keep doing real miniscule changes if I want, or whatever. Just have it always not be the same. It’s interesting for me at least. I like just doing it and hearing every possible variation. Like when I was little … I really liked Pachabel’s Cannon in D. There were so many variations on just those chords, you can do so much with it. I like doing that myself.”

Now Components and Components 2 are not a series of endless versions of the same thing. Certainly not. But you can hear how the compositions may have come together and get a little intellectual/emotional over the infinite variety of tones and patterns that exist in some form or another. The intricate rhythms are really stunning. You can hear this in particular on "Of all." Track 2 on Components. And on "Of Nothing" and " You" on Components 2. "Champale" and "The Other Side of the Wind" are definitely my favorites.

Damaged Catholic is going to take some work for me. I'm sorry to say. Not sure how to hear it. I'm interested in trying to hear it though. The second track on Single Phase Change is probably where I should start. It has a very minimal repetitive drone, but with a lot of layers.

Bill Van Loo's The Ghost of an Idea is quite spiritual. This tiny little CD is full of different instruments and sounds, while still remaining gentle and just slightly funky.

Rounding this whole discussion out is a love for Ypsilanti, another great town full of musical and artistic culture in SE Michigan. There is a lot of connected community here surrounding food, drink (alcohol and coffee), music, and general craftiness, and I love it. I could easily make this place my permanent home. But I guess that all depends on where a dance floor biddie with a Ph.D. can get a teaching job.

Especially Good

Especially Good is a band from Detroit consisting of Julio Efrain Dominguez, Paul Kiry, and Joseph Flis. I saw them play for a lousy 20 minutes last night at Savoy in Ypsilanti, MI. They are especially fucking ridiculously excellent. I know, total cheese that I'm using half their band name to describe them. Or steeze, your choice.




There's clearly no lack of funk going on here. The reason I only got to hear them for 20 minutes is not because I was late, but because they were crammed in with a bunch of other bands. It was a release party for Especially Good's 7 inch on Party Ngg. You can get this solid piece of vinyl at Encore Recordings in Ann Arbor. The original idea for this event was for Wolf Eyes and Especially Good to play and Todd Osborn and Carlos Souffront would provide selections in between. Things changed and the event grew to include lots of other interesting bands and performers, including Amanda & Joey, Duane, Bad Party, and Moon Pool and Dead Band. Carlos did not DJ because of an injury, but Todd played, selections were excellent as always.




The only thing lacking from Especially Good's performance was that I could not hear Julio's voice. I honestly could have listened to them for the entire night. 4 or 5 hours. I don't even care if they repeat songs, it was that good. And it was my birthday party too, no one else really knew that it was, but I knew! What a gift. I experienced some mild, amicable mind melting - you know, the kind of feeling that stirs in your chest, you can't stop smiling, and lasts the longest in your head so that the next morning, you wake up happy. And there's something great about watching some burly guy playing hard, funky music, standing at a synthesizer on a delicate stand (no matter the quality of the instrument stand, it always looks that way to me, funny) and reading song lyrics from varying sized pieces of paper and a cell phone. I really do love that. Reminds me of seeing Ectomorph live at Oslo last year sometime and Erika Sherman had notes written on tiny pieces of paper and she used a little flash light to squint at them. Not notes for lyrics or anything vocal, notes for her drum machine and other equipment.




Especially Good is supposed to have some vinyl coming out on FIT distribution in Detroit soon...I'll be waiting! They are also working with Cornelius Harris of Alter Ego Management and Submerge...yes, that's exciting...more vinyl releases. Cornelius was there and we talked about being into all kinds of different music and how bringing it together can be so great. Yet another music visionary!

WCBN

Driving home this evening after spending some hours reading Michael Veal's Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae.

I turned on the radio and went immediately to WCBN, Ann Arbor's fabulous radio station. I heard some lovely something and kept it. A few moments later, I exclaimed, aloud, hands in the air, with my windows open, driving through Ypsilanti, "IT'S CARLOS!!" Aloud. Loudly.

I had forgotten that it was Thursday, the night of Carlos Souffront's weekly radio show, Crush Collision, on WCBN from 10PM-1AM. You can listen to it streaming on the WCBN website. Needless to say, I ran straight in and slipped into my headphones to listen some more. Carlos has unannounced guests nearly every week including Todd Osborn. The show was begun in 1987 by Tom Simoyen as a primarily acid jazz program, but also included house 12 inches and remixes of pop bands. Footnote this to Brendan M. Gillen. Then, in the early 1990s, Brendan Gillen of Ectomorph took over the show and transformed it into more of a techno show, but also included lots of types of electronic music. Carlos Souffront began participating in the show in 1995. He has been doing it for a great number of years now. It's fucking great.

Other folks, indirectly involved with the show, but directly involved with WCBN include Erika Sherman, also of Ectomorph, and ethnomusicologist Ben Tausig, possibly known as Data General. You can check him here: Weird Vibrations. Erika started working at the station in 1993. The day after she arrived in Ann Arbor for college, she went over to the radio station and began working there immediately. She worked as the general manager of the radio station, program director, and gave disc jockey training classes. Erika, can you do that again? I'll be in your class. She also hosted her own free form weekly radio shows, taking on 3 hour time slots at first, and then began to take other time slots so that she began playing 6 to 9 hour sets on the radio. Her time ended at WCBN around 2000, and she devoted all her shining musical brilliance to production, touring, the Interdimensional Transmissions record label, and super party planning.

Movement 2010, Day 2 & 3

Shit Show was on Sunday. I had my tickets early and really wanted to spend some time there. But sleep and other interests got the better of me. We got down there in time to hear Kyle Hall's set, about 10:30. He was scheduled to end at 11 and then Todd Osborn for the next hour. Sadly, I missed Darkcube live and Derek Plaslaiko earlier in the morning. Todd played a banging set that kept my tired legs going for about an hour straight. Seriously, I really didn't stop dancing the whole time. They had two rooms going - one inside and then one outside. Outside was packed that sunny morning, inside was not. There were bunches of people sleeping on couches and chicks swinging on bathroom stall doors - tp party. Todd's set was great, as I expected. No "hot mixes," nothing predictable, primarily lots of lovely things I had never heard before. So that's a score for me.

We left to get lunch at Slows Bar-B-Q on Michigan. First time eating there, it was fantastic. One more notch on the happiness scale for the weekend. I had never had North Carolina style sauce before, so that's what I fell in love with at Slows. And the beer, oh my god, it was a good weekend for beer. Rochester Mills IPA. So good, I had it twice.

We then headed down to Hart Plaza for the Electrobounce crew/Starski & Clutch/Godfather. They were pretty fun as always. By that point, we needed another break and some sleep. I missed some excellent music that afternoon and evening, but getting up for an early party will do that. We got back down to the fest at about 9pm and I got to enjoy Rob Hood's set. By that point, I was crowded out, so we just stood up on a bench and listened from up top. I enjoyed it. What he played was some fun and interesting techno. There were some moving beats. I am so spoiled by being in Detroit year round and have the pleasure of small crowds and small venues. I can easily see what is going on all the time. I love to be able to see what a musician is doing while playing a live set - the equipment and how they manipulate it all. I would have loved to be able to do that for Rob Hood's set.

After that, we very slowly made our way to milkshakes and then to No Way Back. This party is what I should be planning my weekend around. But instead, I exhaust myself to the extent that I am unable to handle any more beats, even beats that I am loving. It's been at the Bohemian National Home for the past two years (not sure about years before that). All the DJs are bound to be fantastic - it's Brendan M. Gillen and Erika Sherman choosing them, so come on, you know it! They decorate the space in such a lovely way to create a great, dark, actually peaceful atmosphere for listening and partying. They had Motor City Brewing Lager - more good beer! I came for Mike Servito, Derek Plaslaiko, BMG, and Carlos Souffront and did not stick around long enough to hear any of them. Saw photos of Carlos playing with morning light coming in softly. He was scheduled to play at 7:30am. I'm serious, next year, I'm leaving the festival early and sleeping until maybe 4am or something so that I can enjoy the whole party, to the end. And I must add, ladies, you will be treated well here. And not in the wink wink we treat the ladies right way. It is a safe partying environment created on purpose. It's actually an important part of Interdimensional Transmissions - Erika and Brendan's record label - to produce parties that are safe and genuinely fun for women and men. They actually accomplish this really well too! Chicks dig IT.

The next day we slept in until I just couldn't sleep anymore, which turned out to be about 10am. Crazy, I know, but I had been away from my kids all weekend and sleeping away from them was actually difficult for this Ma. Rain ended up closing much of the stages down for big chunks of the day. Missed Shigeto and Secrets. Hung out at Forans for a while for more good beer. Then back for the Moritz von Oswald Trio. Now this was another true highlight of the weekend. I had been looking forward to hearing them for a long time. Before they started, we caught some of Francesco Tristano live. He played Strings of Life on his piano without any electronically produced sounds . That was pretty fun. MOV3 got set up a bit late and welcomed Carl Craig on modular synthesizer as a guest.

Now this is not my photo, it's by Greg Cristman of a show by MOV3 + Carl Craig + Francois K at the Unsound Festival this past February. But just look at this. He's producing tones by patching cords.



I mean I can hardly stand it. Check out the rest of the photos of this show here.

The music was interesting, slow to build (in a good way), intellectually moving. It was a weird beauty. There were some nice percussive moments. They played great together. It was a joy to just sit in the alternating sun and clouds and listen. How I wished to be standing with my face in all the gear watching every moment I was hearing.

So that's my weekend.

A few general comments ensue. Serious body jacking happening at specific moments over the weekend. I'm a serious mover so that's important to me. The stages were surprisingly clear of media folks this year as compared to last year. I learned after the festival that Paxahau designed a two tier system for media credentials - media and stage media. So there were some with credentials who could go "back stage" but not on stage. This is excellent for the artists. But not so fun for folks who need/want to report and share images of the fest with their readers. I also learned after the fest that Paxahau did not allow promos to enter Hart Plaza - no cds or vinyl. "To protect their investment." This is actually ridiculous. A lot of small labels benefit from networking inside the festival. This seems particularly damaging to local artists who could easily transport their releases down to the festival and distribute their music on their own terms in a very immediate way.

Once again, I really enjoyed meeting new people and seeing old faces that I hadn't seen since last year. Met Rob Theakston of EMA and Moodmat. Met Jacob Arnold of Gridface. Glad to finally meet both of them! Got a few chances to chat with Frank Glazer of Infinite State Machine. That Frank, he's a good man. Also Tom Cox of ISM.

I didn't get down to YaDigg Records, Whodat's new record store. But I helped her fold shirts and sort records the week before, so that's okay. I'm glad so many people made it over there! Better plan to fit another visit in next year all you fest goers!

There are so many things that I could go to in the next couple of weeks to hear good music, and yet, I'm having such a good time settling in to my new home, I hardly want to leave! I already missed the Ribs N' Soul Festival at Hart Plaza on August 1st. And then I missed the House Music Picnic on Belle Isle last weekend, August 8th. I missed Rick Wilhite, Jit Wiggins, Aaron Carl, Norm Talley, Buzz Goree, and "plus more," which might mean that Kenny Dixon, Jr. played. He played last year, football and records. He is occasionally listed simply as *special guest* on local party flyers. And you just know what that means depending on who is hosting the party or who some of the other DJs are. *For those who know*, and all variations of that idea, is a common phrase surrounding the presentation of Detroit electronic music. Underground Resistance uses it a lot on flyers or other promotional discourse. Some, many, still consider this underground music, so there's some intentional mystery constructed and imagined around Detroit techno and house music. It's fun to be a part of, it's fun to learn about. I understand that this mystery and eventual mythology that arises out of it transforms into negative excusivity to some. But I choose not to interpret it that way. I think it partially stems from a protective impulse more than a "we're way cooler than you" approach to music. Except some Detroiters are way cooler than me. Check out this series of posts over at mnml ssgs . The link is to the first part. The subsequent posts can be found by going to the *old ssgs* links in the archive section from June 2008. Each author takes an interesting approach to Detroit electronic music, and of course you know I appreciate Tom Cox's piece (Part III). And then Cliff Thomas of Submerge contributed an important post as well. And you know I appreciate that one because it comes from a perspective rooted from within Detroit. It's not that I'm majorly concerned with authenticity as a singular and powerful vantage point. I am not seeking out *The Most Authentic Detroit Authority*, I am interested in the complex multiplicity of perspectives and experiences that have created and circulated musical culture around Detroit and around the world. Consulting with people who live, create, and maintain something is significant to the process of learning about it.

And here are some parties that I may or may not be able to tear myself away from my cozy woods to get out to. Just as a side note: when I let you know about a party here or a particular release, it's not because someone has asked me to, or sent me a link to advertise for them. I post things that I think are interesting. I also don't get the time to post all the flyers for parties that I think sound interesting, and I don't get the time to post all the mixes that float around, or promote particular releases that I get excited about. So if I miss your event or release, it's not because I don't love you, it's because *I got other shit to do too*! Love ya.

Flyers. Parties. Flyers. Parties.











And uh, hip hop in Flint, yo. KRS-ONE! I saw him at NYU in 1997 or something, and Dead Prez opened for him. It was such a great show. Free too! He threw copies of a black and white drawing he did of his face out to the crowd. I still have mine. KRS.




And Todd Osborn...Elbow Room...Sundays...Ypsilanti...

Reality and then some fantasy.

Ah man, do I really have to do this...okay so James and I went out to The Works on Friday to see DWynn and Nigel Richards. DWynn sounded good, as expected. As for Nigel Richards, I am content to remain an 18 year old fan in 1995. And I got to see Jit Wiggins play vinyl for about 5 minutes. Maybe he played some records before we got there, but while we were there, he played literally a few records and then the front room shut down. They went past midnight in the front room, but not much past. So here, this is my night: I smelled terrible from the smoke machines and cigarettes. I have never liked those smoke machines, it smells terrible and makes it hard to breathe right when you want to breathe the most after dancing so much to great music (that is the ideal situation!). Visuals never got me too excited either, whether there are a bunch of lasers bouncing around, or an actual projection of video. Just give me a dark room with maybe one light and some slamming sound. And I got a headache from listening to "Girls On Film" by Duran Duran emanating from the single wall of speakers, clanking around the brick and concrete room, with the highs so high, and the mids and lows pretty much gone; I cringed and immediately required earplugs. And this is not good Theo Parrish or Rick Wilhite knob twisting. I really did get a serious headache from moments like that. I'm so sensitive...

Alright now, I need to step out of the *standing in a corner with a scowl on my face* role because I don't like it very much. I like to like things. I did have fun this weekend listening on my nice headphones to Carlos Souffront's Movement 2008 set, Soundmurderer's Movement 2008 set, (here's the general link for those sets: http://www.paxahau.com/sounds/mp3/2008_movement.html They are both at the Red Bull Stage, Carlos' is on 5/25/08 and Soundmurderer is on 5/26/08), some Flying Lotus, and Theo Parrish's Yellow Double Lines, Part 2 mix. I'll probably be staying home more for the next while because we have a big move coming up to a new house!! I'm so excited. And I really need to finish transcribing so that I can work through all the "data" I have collected over the past year and a half and get that outline outlined and then get writing. I am still doing interviews here and there, like Brendan M. Gillen of Ectomorph and Kyle Hall this week!!

I never wrote anything about the Dennis Coffey and Recloose event, how terrible!! Well, I did go and it was pretty good. I got there late because we were coming home from a trip and got stuck in traffic on what should have been the last 15 minutes of the trip. They just shut down a highway! That's Detroit for you, no wait, that's Metro Detroit/Oakland County for you, they do major construction on the weekends and just shut down a portion of a highway from Friday night to Monday morning. Not cut it down to one or two lanes, they close it completely!! So once we finally got home, unloaded, got the kids into bed, showered my funkiness off, kissed my honey (babysitter bailed), and then headed out to pick up Whodat, we had already missed a good portion of the Dennis Coffey Quartet. The music sounded so beautiful when we arrived. We caught the end of the Quartet's set. Dennis Coffey, former Funk Brother for Motown and prominent jazz guitarist in Detroit, is such an incredible musician. The way his fingers flowed across those strings was just really stunning and beautiful. Whodat introduced me to Edwin Fabre, local DJ and producer. So we all talked for a while. He actually knew who I was when WhoDat introduced us (super weird). He said, 'was she the one who brought you all down to Indiana?', referring to the Roots of Techno conference. He shared lots of support and positivity for what I am doing here. This past Wednesday, he was a guest on WhoDat's weekly radio show. And he apparently plays at The Bosco in Ferndale on Wednesday nights now. I'll have to go check it out.

Recloose played a nice set. He was throwing it down playing some good rare jams - all kinds of stuff, funk, techno, house. The sound was a little weird for his set, but I think that's mainly because it's a jazz club, kind of like The Green Mill in Chicago. So the bar is an island in the middle and there are two spaces with lots of tables separated by the bar. The sound was low and the lights were bright. The crowd was proper though. There was actually a line for the men's room all night, and that was funny. I guess that points to my earlier post about women in Detroit. I sailed past right into the ladies room and noticed the line, 'there's a line for the men's room, huh. ...There's a line for the men's room!?' And then some quiet laughing to myself.

Bohemian National Home, Detroit, MI

And now my non-promoter, non-DJ, non-producer self would like to suggest a fabulous Detroit party that I would definitely attend from start to finish. It needs to be at the Bohemian National Home, because right now, that's really my favorite spot in Detroit. It's a really interesting building located in southwestern Detroit near Corktown/Michigan Avenue/old Tiger stadium. It was built in 1914 as a community center for people from Bohemia. There are lots of rooms to explore. It's dark. There's a wooden dance floor, which is always fun. And it's in quiet neighborhood with lots of trees and empty lots. But then sorry to the neighborhood residents for all the noise. And now here's the lineup, and this party needs to go late, like 7AM or something: Todd Osborn and Theo Parrish. THAT'S IT! I know this goes against regular promoter rules of having lesser known DJs play early while the crowds are small, but that ends up forcing all the other DJs who are playing into shorter time slots so that Detroiters never get to experience the journey of a long, intense set by a single person. And if you want one more person added, then I would suggest Minx. But right now, let's just go with Todd and Theo. Todd can play from like 9pm-1am or 10pm-2am or something like that. And Theo can play from 1am or 2am until 7am. I don't care what kind of equipment they have, or whether Todd plays as Soundmurderer, Osborne, or just Todd, but maybe he could bring his vocoder? Shrug? Alright, so there's the idea, someone with money and knowledge can put it together and I can offer to help in anyway I can! Am I dreaming...?

Schooled by Kyle Hall

So I wasn't sure if I would get this post up before the weekend or not. But I figured if I didn't do it now, I would get all bogged up in the festival notes and for my conference presentation in San Diego next weekend...on GENRE...that I would never get this up. I met Kyle Hall Wednesday night finally, and he is the shit. Let me tell you, he truly is. I met him at the Red Bull Music Academy info session event in the loft space above Niki’s Pizza restaurant in Greektown. While we were talking, my brain imploded with all the excitement and slipped out through my ears and then Kyle and my husband James helped me pick it all back up again. Where to begin...well, I tell ya, Kyle Hall, 17 year old, fabulous producer of electronic music in Detroit, approaches music, Detroit, people, with an open heart and head. One point he made strongly to me is that he really wants lesser known figures in Detroit techno and house music to be given their much due props; he is frustrated when interviews get published about him and the writer only mentions a handful of people, like Theo Parrish, Rick Wilhite, and Mike Huckaby, as influential to Kyle's musical and creative background. And don't get me wrong, I will write these three names over and over acknowledging their many significant contributions as producers and DJs, as well as many other major contributions to Detroit life. Theo Parrish Theo Parrish Theo Parrish - who is, by the way, one of the sources for some quotes on genre that I'm using in my roundtable discussion on genre in popular music at next weekend's International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference in San Diego. "I don't believe in genre" he says. Love it! Anyway, back on track. Kyle spoke to me about, and this wasn't a recorded interview or anything, he was just sharing some thoughts with me in a very exuberant way, but he spoke about people who have been influential to him as a young musician in Detroit with affection, but also frustration over the lack of recognition that some of these people get. Like Alvin Hill, a local multi-media composer and DJ that Kyle met and then begged to be a student in Alvin's electronic music class at Youthville Detroit. Youthville is a community center for young people in Detroit with all kinds of arts and recreation courses year round for very low membership fees. Kyle started taking classes there a few years ago, and now, at 17, will be teaching his own class this summer in DJing and production.

He knows where he comes from and honors his teachers with the utmost respect, while at the same time, preparing himself to make his own decisions and figure out which rules he will follow and which he will break. Kyle mentioned Terri McQueen, otherwise known as DJ WhoDat, with admiration, as a person who demonstrates pride and confidence in deciding her own musical path. And that's my impression of her as well, she maintains an open head and heart to her teachers, while at the same time choosing what and when to make her own way. And then she just says fuck it, and goes to Germany to play some records a few times and opens her own record store in Detroit which supports local and independent musicians. She doesn't get hung up on grudges or cynicism, which seem to plague Detroit musicians way too often. And hell, she has spent more time teaching me shit about Detroit than anyone I know. And I have excellent video of her making a thunderstorm track on her 303 using the presets. And now you can Laugh Out Loud.

Man, what else did we talk about, oh yeah, fractals, physics, quantum physics, and generally patterns in nature (fractals) that apply to human interaction in ways that inspire him to help other people excel in their creativity. James, who was totally exhausted and could barely hear anything we were saying perked up when he heard Kyle talking about physics and patterns. That's when I sat back and enjoyed the geniusness that I was witnessing in my husband and Kyle. It was a great time and I'm very excited to meet this energetic, creative, innovative young Black man who is not afraid or shy to be intelligent. So go get you some Wild Oats.

Alright now, so onto the rest of the event on Wednesday:

I was really excited about the RBMA event all day, all week! It was an information session for the Red Bull Music Academy, but it’s also a really nice event to meet people and form relationships, and also to get to hear from DJs and producers who are associated with the RBMA, or not, talk about Detroit, music, their backgrounds, history of electronic music in Detroit, and so on. The group of producers was nicely diverse: iMix (Chris French), DJ Dick of Electrobounce, Mike Huckaby, Claude Von Stroke, Brendan M. Gillen of Ectomorph, Mike Clark, Todd Osborn, Jeff Risk (last year’s Detroit musician who got accepted to go to RBMA in Barcelona), and Brian Gillespie, who is the Detroit representative for RBMA and organizes these events. There’s apparently going to be another RBMA session in July that will focus strictly on production…and I’ll be at that one too. I’m not going to these because I’m planning on applying to the academy. I don’t make music, I just talk and write about it. But I enjoy these events because I love getting the opportunity to hear electronic musicians talk, especially talk together, to each other, about Detroit and music. So anyway, James and I arrived at 8pm, we actually got a babysitter for the evening!! And of course, we were early. Even though I’ve been going to parties and enjoying electronic music since the mid 90s when I was in high school, I don’t think I’ll ever figure out what the proper time to arrive is. I’m almost always early, even when I think I’m late and missing something important. It’s just something I can’t figure out. Saw Bill Stacey (DJ Seoul) there, gave us a flyer to a party this weekend. Tons of people were there promoting their events this weekend. Saw Todd Osborn up on the semi-stage area talking with Jeff Risk (although I didn’t know who Jeff was at that point in the evening). Introduced James to Todd. A few people I spoke with at the event who know me and know what I'm doing somehow think that I’m just doing a paper for a class, not a dissertation – I don’t know why. Somehow I'm not describing what I'm here for properly! When I meet someone or introduce myself, I think I'm explaining what I’m doing properly, but some people for some reason just think it’s something small for a single class or something, just a semester long class project. And me being too shy/polite to say anything, I don’t correct these assumptions, and that's just totally stupid! Ran into Jit Wiggins (Todd Weston) who is interested in doing an interview - yes Todd, if you read this blog, an interview will be happening!! Terri handed out some of her brochures to her record store she is opening, gave me one. She is going to be opening up shop at the Russell Bazaar for the weekend, and still plans on finding a permanent space to rent in the Russell center, not the Bazaar, in the very near future. Here's the website for her store: Ya Digg Records. I got so many flyers last night, and I’m excited about that because so many flyers are now so widely available online on Facebook, Myspace, Detroitluv.com, and other websites, and people promote their events online so much, that I rarely find flyers any more, even at record stores. I imagine if I went to a record store or to Spectacles today, I would find lots of flyers for the weekend. But usually it’s pretty sparse. I’m happy to have so many physical flyers to add to my research documentation.

I finally introduced myself to Angie Schwendemann of Detroit Techno Militia. We have communicated via email for a while now, but haven’t ever met. She introduced me to Tom Linder and we talked a bit. And girlfriend reads my blog! Thank you!

After all the talking and Q&Aing, Todd Osborn was set to play, and I was ready. In my mind, it was my gearing up for pre-pre-weekend festivities, or, you know, it's own event, however you want to think about it. They even cleared a dance floor, and then I got really ready. Then, the place all but cleared out. And I thought, what, are you kidding me?! Todd is playing...you need to stay! And then, as though everyone knew my husband was dragging and they were telling me to just let him get out of there and into bed, the lights were flickering on and Todd began to slow his track down. Oh well, at least there will be multiple chances to see him and many other great musicians over the weekend all over Detroit.

Oh, and I got press passes for James and me for the festival this weekend!! I was pretty shocked that they actually granted me "media credentials." Maybe they thought a nerd with a lanyard would be cool...except they have patches this year instead of lanyards, so I'll be a nerd with a patch? That doesn't sound very cool. I'm super stoked though to be able to get some good video and photos!

I'll be seeing some of you this weekend!