I got to know Madame Summit through an online forum that we both are members of. She was looking for like-minded DJs, and it turned out that we did share quite a few views on how good music is supposed to sound like.

Asking her to do a feature for Sweet Headache was pretty much a no-brainer, and I am happy to present an exclusive DJ set by Madame Summit:

Tracklist:

1. T.Raumschmiere – 111 kg DNA
2. Zoot Woman – Lonley by Your Side
3. Datarock – Robots in Disquise
4. Punks jump up – Dance to Our Disco (headman club mix)
5. Le Tigre – After Dark (Morel’s pink noise dup mix)
6. Zombie Nation – Worth it Part 1
7. The virgin – Rich Girl (le castle vania’s rmx)
8. Reverend & the Makers – Silencee is talking (Alex Metric rmx)
9. Bloc Party – One More Time (Alex Metric rmx)
10. Miike – Animal (Fake Blood rmx)
11. Gossip – Heavy Cross (Yuksek rmx)
12. Malente – Music Forever
13. Justice vs. Simian – We Are Your Friends
14. Fakebeat – Jellyfish
15. Plastique de Reve – Lost in the City

“I started as an Indie Rock DJ in 2007. I had organizied a party back then, and the DJ I had booked for the event didn’t show up. I didn’t want to cancel the event, so I just took over, and people really liked it. That got me interested in DJing, and I started applying for other parties and clubs after that.”

While Indie Rock was her first love, it didn’t stay her last. Madame Summit is still well-known for great guitar-tunes, but also got a taste for electronic music, especially Indietronic or rough distorted electronic sounds.

“I had this vision of really mixing songs into each other, but that doesn’t work too well with most Rock songs. However, I found most typical Techno tracks too boring, so I am glad to have found a kind of music that’s in between Rock and electronic music. I just like to have different styles in a set. Most Indie DJs just stick to a certain style, but that would be too boring for me.”

Having found her very own style, she also likes to combine different genres in a unique way. While most Rock DJs do not mix songs at all on the one hand and most electronic DJs try to blend tracks as seamlessly as possible, Madame Summit has found her own way of combining different genres.

“I do know how to mix songs seamlessly, but I sometimes find clearly audible breaks between songs interesting. I also like using samples to fill the gap between two radically different songs, like alarm sounds or dog bark. I love it when people stop for a second, listen and then continue dancing. Confusing people can be a lot of fun – both for me and for my audience.”

It’s no coincidence that she names The Prodigy, The Whip, MSTRKRFT and Boysnoize as her favorites. These artists also influence her beginning activities as a producer.

“I want to play music that makes people want to tear their clothes off. I am just starting to produce my own music, but this is definitely something that I want to pursue further.”

Madame Summit is a resident DJ at Blue Shell (Cologne) and Emergency (Münster).

There is a video going around the blogosphere that shows a 69 year old lady being an active electronic music DJ in paris. In case you haven’t seen it:

Even though this might seem a little odd, it actually makes a lot of sense to me. If you love music when you are young, why shouldn’t you still love music when you are old?

However, there could also be a rational side behind this: “Use it or lose it.” is more or less the motto that was derived by recent brain research. It basically means that if you are active and curious in old age, you are more likely to stay so for a longer time.

Many of us have probably observed this with older people they know: Those who still ride their bike, have an active social life or do something that they care about do not only seem happier, but also appear younger. A nice example from the music business is Les Paul, a legendary guitar player who still performed on stage when he was over 90 years old.

Of course your body will limit your possibilities, but there is no reason why you should not try to push those limits. It’s probably even a good thing to do – even if that means DJing in noisy clubs when you are 69.

I got to know Berlin-based DJ Tak^D at an online radio station where we both had a show. We got along quite well, and we noticed a significant overlap in our musical tastes. However, this was about two years ago, and we somehow lost contact after leaving that particular online radio….

…until a few weeks ago, he sent me a link to one of his DJ sets – and after the first few beats, I felt that I should feature him here.

First of all, here’s a DJ set that nicely shows his style:

Playlist:

1. Wiley – Never Be Your Woman (Hervé Re-work)
2. Crookers Ft Kelis – No Security (Bart B More Remix)
3. Michel Cleis Feat. Totò La Momposina – La Mezcla (Ant Brooks Remix)
4. Duck Sauce – Anyway (Original  Club Mix)
5. Kris Menace & The Dream – Walking On Lightning (U-Tern Blend)
6. Funkerman feat. I-Fan – Sexy People ‘Rock You Tonight (Funk`d Up Remix)
7. Remady – No Superstar (Original Mix)
8. David Guetta Feat. Kid Cudi – Memories (Jp Candela Remix)
9. Nanchang Nancy & Prok & Fitch – Walk With Me (Axwell vs. Daddy’s Groove Remix)
10. Spencer & Hill – Haunted House (Original Mix)
11. South Street Player – Keeps
12. Timbaland Ft. Justin Timberlake – Carry Out (Luffy Luf Dance At Night Mix)
13. Jean Elan – Killer (Jean Elan Mix)
14. Jean Elan – Serious (original mix)
15. Röyksopp – The Girl And The Robot (Jean Elan Remix)
16. Spencer & Hill – Heads Off (Original Mix)
17. Riva Starr – Maria

“I just like to dig a little deeper than others and be more daring. I really like it when a DJ set consists of many different styles, but you don’t hear that very often in clubs.”

Tak^D has certainly learned a thing or two about digging for music over the last few years. Even though he lives in one of the most culturally vibrant cities in Europe, he still finds it hard to find a club he really likes.

“It’s very rare that more than one style is played at a party. Many DJs only do that when they are playing a radio set, not in a club. When I play at a party, I never limit myself to one style only. However, I always try to play both tracks for music nerds as well as normal party people.”

With an attitude like that, it’s no wonder that he gathers inspirations from all around the world. While Minimal Techno is still a very dominant style in many German cities (including Berlin), it often helps to look at what is played in other countries.

“A friend of mine introduced me to Grime, and I really got into this whole UK style. I also like to listen to DJ sets from around the world. For example, the BBC Radio 1′s Essential Mixes are often very good. I also listen to a lot of current french stuff like Kitsuné or Ed Banger.”

You can hear DJ Tak^D at the Carnival of Cultures Parade in Berlin on May 23rd.

I went to see [re:jazz] in concert last week. They are a really awesome Jazz band, and the idea behind their music is quite remarkable: They play electronic music tracks as a Jazz band and do not just re-play the tracks, but truly re-invent them.

The originals usually come from well-known electronic artists like Air, Rockers Hifi, 4Hero or Goldie. Here’s an example:

For comparison: The original was done by Drum&Bass pioneer Goldie.

However, [re:jazz] is not alone with this idea. For example, there is a japanese band called A Hundred Birds who play well-known club classics. They usually stick closer to the original, but the results are also pretty amazing.

Another example comes from Christian Prommer’s Drumlesson who also did a whole album of acoustified versions of electronic tracks:

Technically, these productions are not remixes, but rather re-interpretations or covers versions. However, this shows nicely that the relation between electronic music and hand-made music does not have to be limited to sampling and remixing.

It doesn’t stop here though: To add one more mind-boggling iteration, [re:jazz] have just released a new album called “Electrified” that features electronic remixes of their rejazzified versions of electronic tracks…

I recently got to know CJ Masou at a release party for his label Puuhh Records. After talking to him for a few minutes, I knew that this guy has a unique point of view on electronic music, so I asked him if he’d be willing to do a feature for Sweet Headache.

Improvisation in electronic music, the overused term “Lounge” and old Jazz records were just some of the topics we discussed a few weeks later over a couple of beers. However, to give you an understanding of what CJ Masou sounds like, let’s start with an exclusive set that he gave me to share with you.

“My best tracks are excerpts of live sessions. The way I love to work is to create some beats and loops in Ableton Live and give a Jazz musician a basis for improvisation.”

To understand why a sentence like that is somewhat unique, one has to consider how electronic music is usually made: Many electronic musicians build their tracks in the same way as you would build a house: Starting with the basement (i.e., the beats), layer by layer is added until the track is considered complete at some point. This often involves a large amount preparation, tweaking, planning and post-production.

While CJ Masou also prepares his tracks, the actual music creation happens in a way that is much more similar to a Jazz session: Everyone agrees on a certain set of rules, and the rest just happens in interaction between the musicians.

“I often let the track itself inspire me. When I record something, this just means capturing a certain volatile moment in time. Of course, when I listen to an old recording, I sometimes think about what I could have done differently, but that’s ok to me. I can only capture whatever was there at that moment and release that as a track.”

The experience of playing live is very important for him, and even though his approach might sound a little unusual for an electronic musician, it has also brought him quite a bit of success.

“I started DJing in small clubs and bars in the area. I think this was a great experience, because you are very close to the audience in small locations. However, I got the chance to play live in the VIP lounge of a big trade fair for a couple of days together my friend Christian Schatka who plays woodwinds. When the trade fair ended, a guy approached us, gave us his card and said that he’d like to book us. Since then, we got booked for quite a few events, some of which were in big cities like London or Sevilla. However, I usually like to stay in the background and give the musicians I am playing with a greater visibility. To me, they are the true musicians. I am just the producer.“

With a style that combines electronic music and Jazz, CJ Masou often finds his music labelled as “Lounge Music”. For him, this term is somewhat misleading:“I prefer to call it laid-back music. Certainly, a lot of what I release and play has a relaxed mood, but Lounge Music is often used to describe music with slow beats and rather simple melodies. That’s not what my music is about. For example, if you listen to old Jazz records like Miles Davis, you also have a quite relaxed atmosphere, but there is still so much happening in that music! I just don’t feel comfortable with my music being compared to boring Lounge music, that’s why I don’t like this term.”

CJ Masou is also the founder and owner of Puuhh Records, an independent record label that releases a mix of Jazz and electronic music. “Right now, there are mostly releases of my own tracks, but I got to know some really great musicians that I signed up for releases in the next few months.”

CJ Masou’s latest release on Puuh Records is called “Kolay”. Get it on iTunes!

In various discussions with non-DJs, I noticed a lack of understanding of what DJs actually do when they are spinning records. This can result in both a lack of respect for a DJ’s work as well as a certain mysticism around DJs.

So for all of you who ever wondered about this, here’s a little explanation of what the people at the decks actually do. I will concentrate on electronic music DJing here, but some things can be generalized to other genres. However, blending tracks into one another so that it’s hard to tell where one track ends and the next one begins is a quality that is valued more in electronic music than in other genres.

Beatmatching

Beatmatching can be considered as the core skill that any electronic music DJ has to master. The underlying principle is quite simple: Every track runs at its own speed, so if you want to mix two tracks seamlessly, you have to make sure they are running at the same speed.

You normally do that by using the pitch slider that every DJ turntable or CD-player has. This slider does nothing more than make the track play a little faster or slower.

The speed of a track is usually measured in beats per minute (BPM). Let’s assume we have track A at 130 BPM and track B at 125 BPM and you want to play track A first and then mix track B into it. That means you have to change the speed of track B by +4% so that both tracks run at the same speed.

Once both tracks have the same tempo, you also have to synchronize their rhythms. In electronic dance music, rhythms are usually based on a 4-beat measure. That means that elements are usually repeating after a number of beats that can be divided by 4. In order to have two tracks run synchronously, you have to start the track B so that it starts precisely at the beginning of the rhythmic pattern of track A.

A DJ software such as Traktor or Cue can help with this process, but many DJs still find it important to be able to do this by hand.

Fading and Equalizing

DJs typically use a mixing console that allows them to pre-listen to the next track while the current track is still playing through the main audio system. This also facilitates beatmatching as it is quite hard to sync two tracks without being able to listen to both at the same time.

Once both tracks are beatmatched, the DJ can simply use his mixing console to fade out the current track and fade in the new track. The simplest way to do this is to use the so-called Crossfader that automatically reduces the volume of one track while increasing the volume of another.

However, many DJs like to use the equalizer to make their mixing even smoother. The equalizer is used to emphasize or de-emphasize various frequencies of a particular track.

Example: If you emphasize the lower frequencies of a track, the bass becomes louder. If you emphasize the higher frequencies of a track, the hi-hats or vocals become more dominant.

By using the equalizer to emphasize or de-emphasize certain parts of a track, they can make the transition between two tracks very smooth.

Is that it?

These techniques are usually considered the basics of electronic music DJing. Beatmatching, fading and using the equalizer are usually the biggest part of a DJ’s performance. The theory behind those two techniques is not that hard, but it usually takes aspiring DJs a few weeks or months to master these.

However, a big part of being a good DJ is about having a good library of tracks to play. DJs often spend a considerable amount of time and money to build their library and to find tracks they (and their audience) like.

The order in which tracks are played also makes a big difference. Some tracks sound especially good when played after each other while some tracks don’t match well even though they are running at similar speeds. Many DJs also find it important to have a certain dynamic component in their set and  - for example – start with rather smooth tracks and work track by track towards music with a higher energy level.

I am just telling you all this to make you understand that the basic skills necessary to become a DJ are not magic at all. DJing is mostly a skillset that can be taught, understood, practiced and mastered. There is no big difference between what your local club DJ does and what a superstar DJ does when they are performing behind the decks.

I will write a bit more about what makes a famous DJ famous in a future blog post.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smeerch/225107882/ // CC-by-nc-sa

After exploring the melodic side of Drum&Bass in Sweet Headache 003: Snowball Fight , I wanted to record a darker and harder DnB-mix. It’s still kinda playful, so it shouldn’t really be rocket science to enjoy this mix. A glass of jet fuel might be a good drink along with this.

Tracklist:

1. Sub Focus – Rock It
2. Rob Sparks – Disintegration
3. Jade – Pulp Friction
4. Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank (Mulder’s Urban Takeover Remix)
5. Enea – Kill
6. Sub Focus – Timewarp
7. Enter Shikaru – Juggernauts (Nero Remix)
8. Gimbal&Sinan – Take Off (Dreadmaul Remix)
9. Bennie G. & Zeven – Anthem
10. Santogold – Unstoppable (Calculon and Eric Yo! Remix)
11. Dieselboy & Kaos – Barrier Break
12. Psidream & MC Mecha – Atomsmash
13. Concord Dawn – Raining Blood

Nerditional Information: It took me a while to remember why the vocal sample in Enea’s “Kill” sounded familiar: “HAL, despite your enormous intellect, are you ever frustrated by your dependence on people to carry out actions?” – “Not in the slightest bit. I enjoy working with people.” This is a quote from Stanley Kubrick’s classic “2001″ – and using this quote in a track called “Kill” can certainly be interpreted as dark irony.

Sub Focus are one of my favorite Drum&Bass acts in recent times. Their last album includes both straight, high-quality DnB-smashers as well as some good and unusual House tunes. I believe that it’s often a good thing if an artist takes a shot at a different genre, so kudos to them! If you haven’t seen it, check out the video for Sub Focus’ “Rock It”!

The last track (“Raining Blood”) is based on a Heavy Metal song (Slayer’s “Raining Blood”). I used to listen to Metal for a while, so may that’s why Concord Dawn’s rework resonates with me. The original is quite different though…

Thanks to Nils for recommending Diesel Boy!

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2397259329/ // CC