recloose

Kia Ora friends. I’m back in the building…

Its been awhile since the last post (to say the least). This is largely due to my new job in Auckland- Programme Coordinator for the brand new DJ and Electronic Music Programme (DJEMP) at Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand (MAINZ). Its been a very busy time for me but also very exciting. Most of my days consist of writing lesson plans for one of the three courses I currently teach- Electronic Music Production (very Ableton Live oriented at this point), Music Theory and, my favorite, DJ and Electronic Music History. This last one has taken us through the early electronic experiments of Musique Concrete and Elektronische Music, early Jamaican dancehall and soundsystem culture, Northern Soul clubs, the South Bronx parties, the Loft and Paradise Garage, the post-disco electric funk scene and today the rise of Chicago House. Its been incredibly stimulating re-visiting these scenes for myself and great to see just how much the students get out of these classes. Next week is the class I’ve really been waiting for… Detroit Techno! We’ve also been luck enough to line up Trus’me for a lecture at the school and are looking to get other international guest lecturers in the near future (Larry Heard, Houseshoes, etc.).

Anyways, I’ve also been steady rocking my weekly radio show, Hit It and Quit It. We had a great show this past Monday which was basically about digging out our dustiest and deepest jazz records and dropping them in quick succession for two hours. The crew was myself, Nathan Haines, Truent (a bad-ass NZ DJ, be on the lookout!) and my radio partner Frank Booker (who incidentally has just finished a Mix CD for Wonderful Noise in Japan).

Here’s the playlist and links to the show at the bottom for you. Enjoy, and I promise more chatter soon!

HIT IT AND QUIT IT April 26, 2010 Playlist

Max Roach – “Sweet Mao” [Victor]
Frank Foster – “The Loud Minority” [Mainstream Records]
Stanley Clarke – “Concerto for a Jazz/Rock Orchestra” [Nemporer Records]
Solar Plexus – “Nevada Madam” [Inner City Records]
Gene Harris – “Theme For Reilana” [Blue Note]
Herbolzheimer’ Rhythm Combination & Brass – “Greenwitch” [MPS Records]
Olli Ahvenlahti – “Grandma’s Rocking Chair” [Love Records]
Pacific Express – “Black Fire” [Counterpoint Records]
Herbie Mann – “Manteca” [CBS]
Quincy Jones – “Gula Mantari” [A & M]
Compost – “Life Is Round” [Columbia]
Urbie Green – “Manteca” [CTI]
Milt Jackson & The Ray Brown Big Band – “Enchanted Lady” [Impulse!]
Ahmad Jamal – “The World Is A Ghetto” [20th Century Records]
Ramsey Lewis – “Kufanya Mapenzi (Making Love)” [Columbia]
Chris Barber – “Earth Abides” [Freedom]
Sonny Stitt – “Black Vibrations” [Prestige]
Weather Report – “American Tango” [CBS]
George Duke – “Dawn” [MPS Records]
Nathan Haines – “Dervish At The Door” [Haven Music]
Robertinho Silva – “Falange Dos Tambores” [Philips]
Miroslav Vitous – “I’m Your Eye” [Warner Music]
Mickey Tucker – “Plagio” [Muse Records]
Rufus Harley – “Hypothesis” [Ankh]
Phil Ranelin – “Wife” [Hefty Records]
Chico Hamilton Quintet – “Homeward” [Columbia]

HIQI April 26, 2010 Pt. 1
HIQI April 26, 2010 Pt. 2

Thanks for a great week in Japan y’all! So many good times, here’s a link to my set on Shibuya FM.

Recloose on Shibuya FM Nov. 27, 2009

Here’s an unreleased tune I just posted to my radio blog site and thought I’d share it with you too. I originally made it in 2003 before the birth of my son, who I was thinking of naming Rudy (thank goodness I came to my senses hahaha….).

Recloose- Rudy (Unreleased)

By the way, I might be coming to Japan soon! I can’t confirm this just yet but if it happens it will be at the end of November. My fingers are crossed… Arohanui from NZ…

Recloose

Dang, its been a month since my first hello. Hello again.

Just wanted to heads some of you up about the Soundcloud website in case you haven’t yet checked it out. Its a website that, from my vantage point, has really taken off in the last year and a half, especially with producers.

What is it? Basically its a site that allows you to upload your original music and distribute it to people of your choice. You choose whether the music can be downloaded or previewed only, or a combination of both depending on who you’d like to have it. Its great for getting feedback from your peers on early sketches of songs and for promoting your music once you’ve finished it (it also allows time-based comments which is pretty cool too). I personally find this useful because I’m usually putting out remixes on an array of labels and more often than not don’t get release information… so this way the heads can at least hear what I’ve been up to, and if they’re worthy get a download of it.

It also seems to be a hit with club DJs (trying to get there hands on the latest unreleased stuff) and radio DJs (who often upload their shows).

Like anything in the digital age of music though, the ‘quality’ bar has been lowered due to the fact that EVERYBODY can make music now (I’m not always convinced this is such a great thing to be frank). This means you will spend a LONG time trying to find things worth checking out, but once you find artists you like you can easily search through people they follow, etc.

So here’s my soundcloud page, which includes a download of an early demo of ‘Turkish Delight’ from Hiatus on the Horizon. Check it out, and if you have something to contribute by all means sign up for Soundcloud!

Btw, I’m still cranking on the radio blog (www.hititandquititradio.blogspot.com) so feel free to drop by and have a listen to the radio show. We’re hoping to raise Hit It and Quit Its profile very soon in Japan, stay tuned….

Hello, this is Recloose. Its an honor to get my blog on for the Wax Poetics Japan site, I’ve been a fan of the magazine for a long time. For the moment I’ll use this space to keep you up to date on the latest projects I’m involved in, from production to performance to radio. In time I expect I’ll start to share some stories with you too, from Detroit, New Zealand, and from my tour experiences around the world for the last ten years. I’ve got some tales… and this might just be the perfect platform to let them out of the bag.

In the meantime please feel free to visit my radio blog (www.hititandquititrdio.blogspot.com) for latest postings from my radio show down here in New Zealand.

And while I’m here I’d like to share some music from my friends Shake Aletti, a electro-funkpop (can I say that??) duo from Sheffield. Included on here is a Recloose remix, please share with your friends and play loudly in the club and crib.

Shake Aletti- Digital Connection (Recloose Remix)

See you soon! Arohanui,
Recloose