http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/index.php Latest New from Trackitdown.net http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/index.php en-gb http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102272.html info@trackitdown.net Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102270.html Lock N Load Events presents...

SOUTHWESTFOUR info@trackitdown.net Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102267.html LIKE SHARING MUSIC ILLEGALY? BT WILL CUT OFF YOUR INTERNET! info@trackitdown.net Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102265.html Vinyl Solution: Balearic Flu: Fog On The Tyne: Police & Thieves: Elegantly Wasted

“They are still in my flat today because they look fantastic. They’re almost like an ornament. It’s just unfortunate that I don’t use records anymore.” (Mixmag)

Matt Hardwick reveals he’s yet to discarg his Technics 1210 turntables.

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"Ibiza used to be about freedom. The music was very eclectic and there was an amazing, interesting crowd. Now it feels forced. They're paying weird and wonderful people to come to parties. But I don't want to be negative.” (Ibiza-Voice.com)

Sasha just about manages to stop himself from complaining that Ibiza’s not as good as it used to be.”

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“The people of Newcastle are as happy as people anywhere else. Europe-wide survey last year indicated Newcastle as the third-best place to live.” (Daily Mail)

A Newcastle Council spokesman tries to brush off the findings of a new survey ranking Geordies as the most miserable people in England.

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"Being a police officer was always in the back of my mind but I didn t expect to get in given my musical past. I have never heard Dub Be Good To Me on the job but I found the record when I searched a house.” (Brighton Argus)

Sussex cop PC Andrew Boucher looks back on his days playing keyboards with his old friend Fatboy Slim in Beats International.

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“Ibiza Airport is never short of surreal sights. Surely there can be no other airport in the world that allows such blatantly wasted passengers to board their flights.” (JudgeJules.net)

Judge Jules describes watching a traveller fall flat on his face 3 times in front before boarding his plane.

Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com) info@trackitdown.net Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102264.html US authorities refused to issue a visa to Boy George this week forcing him to cancel a planned summer tour.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey refused to go into specifics at a press conference this week, telling reporters ‘I’ve seen the report that’s out there. Obviously, visa records are confidential. But I’d simply note that there often are difficulties for individuals who either are currently subject to criminal charges or otherwise may have criminal records,” he added.

The Culture Club singer rapidly blamed the visa ban on his New York cocaine bust from 2005 and said he was  "pretty devastated" by the decision.

"There are a number of public figures who are openly using drugs and they have no problem with immigration,” he said in Paper Magazine, “I have seriously turned my life around and I feel great right now and this is just another reminder of how bad things were. I committed a crime and I happily paid the consequences and I should be allowed to move on and get on with what I do best,” he complained.

George’s management subsequently issued a statement saying the visa was refused over his upcoming London trial where he faces charges for allegedly chaining a male escort to a wall in his flat.

“All I can say is that George is astounded at the decision and is having lawyers here in the States look at it in the hope that someone will change their mind,” he added, “George really would love to come to America and repay his American fans loyalty and that is why we are asking the US Authorities to reconsider their decision".

In more US immigration news, respected independent press agency Alternet revealed that border patrol agents are routinely ‘checking the citizenship status of travelers passing through by bus and train every day in New York, deporting immigrants’, particularly for travellers transiting through Syracuse bus terminal.

“Border Patrol agents use Syracuse's location as the functional equivalent of the border to police people traveling within the interior of the country,” said Colourlines reporters Caroline Kim and Jenna Loyd.

“Agents check for citizenship in the bus and train station - often waiting at the Greyhound ticket counter, or watching people as they disembark for food - and onboard buses and trains already filled with passengers,” they added.

US secret police also revealed themselves in California this week, when they interrogated blogger Kevin Skwerl after he unwisely posted previously unheard and unreleased songs by Guns N Roses on his music blog.

“It
 was kind of an ambush,” he told Rolling Stone magazine, describing the moment two “Mulder and Scully type” FBI agents turned up unexpectedly at his day job.

“When I came back from lunch they were waiting in the lobby for me. It’s a little creepy they know where I work,” he pointed out.

Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com) info@trackitdown.net Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102263.html Spanish authorities ordered Ibiza’s DC10 to shut for 57 days this week, after Spain’s central courts decided that the legendary after-hours club should serve out the rest of the ban which they successfully managed to appeal against last season.

"I feel like DC10 is the monster of the island, like they hate us,” Circo Loco's chief Andrea Pelino told Ibiza-Voice, on hearing the news “I don't understand why this always happens.”

Ibiza-Voice quoted an unnamed source ‘close to the club’ as suggesting Amnesia is ‘in danger of being shut again as well’ and fiercely condemned the ‘draconian police tactics’.

“The decision appears timed to cause maximum havoc to Circo Loco. One-hundred plus security, staff and DJs have been contracted for the summer. Fans and friends have booked their holidays to Ibiza,” the web portal pointed out.

“Ibiza needs DC10,” they added, “These aren't just a couple of local discos, these are world-famous clubs that partiers from Argentina to Asia come specifically to visit. They are part of the lifeblood of the island.”

Ibiza-Voice chief Samuel Guetta chatted to Skrufff about the closure and admitted he’s puzzled by DC10 being singled out.

“It’s all very confusing; don’t think any of the other clubs in Ibiza strictly follow the rules,” he pointed out, “Part of the administration wishes to change the image of the island and DC10 is a symbol of Ibiza s free minded parties, that may be why,” he suggested.

Pacha brand director Danny Whittle told Skrufff’s he’s also concerned, for DC10’s employees as much as the club itself.

“To be honest, more than the party and more than Ibiza I can’t help thinking about those hundreds of people and families who have employment and rely on that money who may be in trouble,” he concluded, “This is something I think the government really needs to think about seriously.”

“It’s difficult to comment on the legal issues regarding this as we don’t know the full story, in fact we know non of the story, however, it’s not good to see any of the great clubs on Ibiza closed for any reason and we consider Circo Loco to be an Ibiza institution,” Danny added.

“I have to agree with Andrea from Circo Loco in that they did present Ibiza to a whole new crowd and really created a new thing on Ibiza, I for one am very sad that they find themselves in this position. I hope it is resolved very soon,” he said.

Samuel from Ibiza-Voice suggested the wider threat to Ibiza’s club scene is ‘strong- no doubt’ though predicted the clubs’ economic importance could ultimately save them.

“At the end of the day the party scene is where the income for Ibiza come from, if they destroy the clubs then numbers of visitors will drop and politicians will have to revise their "St Tropez Theory" very soon,” he predicted.

“We should all stand up for DC10 not because it’s about DC10’s individual rights but for our own vision of what the world should/could be. The world is becoming more and more conservative every day and Ibiza is one of the last free thinking spots on earth,” he argued, “After all, DC10 harms no one, it’s our choice to go or not. Who should tell you what is good or bad for you?” he added.

http://tinyurl.com/495m6e (Ibiza-voice on DC10)

Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
info@trackitdown.net Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102262.html Chicago authorities issued a warning for people walking along Lake Michigan to beware of dive bombing blackbirds this week, after a number of attacks happened which media reports said were reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Birds.

“Cyclists and pedestrians complain of being pecked after being chased for up to 100m (109 yards) by the creatures,” the BBC reported, “Potential victims are taking new precautions to avoid the birds by changing their commuting patterns or cycling only with a helmet.”

The new aerial threat emerged weeks after British farmers warned that previously docile ravens have started ambushing lambs, sheep and even baby calves, with Scotland one of the worst locations for raids.

“Raven attacks have become a huge problem across a wide area of the country,” farmers representative Johnny Hall told the Guardian in May, “The attacks are so horrific that it's causing mental suffering to people who find the animals,” he added.

Also in Scotland, press reports emerged in March of a crow which dive bombed mothers outside St Margaret's Roman Catholic Primary School in Dunfermline, in one case becoming entangled in the hair of Dee Forrester, 40.

"The next thing I knew something was flapping at my head and I felt claws digging into my scalp," Ms Forrester told the BBC, "I screamed and started running as fast as I could. When I turned round, there was a big black crow sitting on the fence."

The latest bizarre bird behaviour is the latest mystery affecting birds in Britain, with another unsolved puzzle remaining the disappearance of sparrows from large parts of the UK, notably central London. In 2002 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) launched an investigation after noting that sparrows had almost disappeared entirely from London parks.

The ‘Where Have All Our Sparrows Gone?' survey noted that numbers had dropped from 2,603 in 1925 to just 4 in 2002 in Kensington Gardens, with birds also absent from Buckingham Palace where they were once famous for breeding near the gates. Instead the birds were discovered to be ‘still quite common’ in the outer suburbs of the capital, around a ‘gaping hole in Inner London of very few sparrows where they once used to be so abundant,’ said the RSPB.

http://tinyurl.com/5hfo8n (Birds attacking windows: Some highly territorial birds will attack windows, car external driving mirrors, hub-caps and other reflective surfaces. They can see their own reflection on the surface, and thinking it is an intruding male, will try to attack it to defend its territory. Often birds habitually attack only a particular window . . .’)

Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com) info@trackitdown.net Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102261.html Observer music critic Tony Naylor poked fun at dance music ‘best of’ lists this week, claiming that the great British public previously loathed such polls a decade ago.

“Their (music critics’) tendency to reduce music - this wonderful, elusive, personal force - to a competition; their craving of consensus and self-affirmation in end-of-year charts; their need to try and impose order on a chaotic world (by deciding which was the best Smiths B-side... ever) was, Britain agreed, an absurd, psychological flaw,” Naylor argued.

 “The whole concept of trying to identify the "greatest" dance record of all time is always going to be idiotic- - it's like trying to pick your favourite orgasm,” he scoffed.

The outspoken newspaper hack singled out Radio 2’s recent /The Greatest Dance Records Of All Time’ for special attention as well as Mixmag's 25th anniversary ‘top 25 DJs ever’, which featured the likes of Sven Vath, the Prodigy and obscure ex trip hop singer Roison Murphy (courtesy of her horrendous late 90s Ibiza anthem Sing IT Back)

Chatting to Skrufff last month, Mixmag editor Nick Decosemo cheerfully conceded they’d had ‘hundred of letters saying ‘why isn’t so and so included?’ and admitted his approach to star selection had been pragmatic,rather than scientific.

“Mixmag is about championing new talent and innovation and pushing new acts and, sure, this seems like a bit of a nostalgia fest,” he agreed, “But fuck it, if there’s any time we can do something backward looking and navel gazing then this was it,” he laughed.

He also admitted artists including Daft Punk had been digitally super-imposed onto the cover shoot of all 25 rival DJs though said all the performers gathered had been remarkably polite and ego free.

“I’m not sure if stuff was simmering but on a superficial level everyone was really friendly,” said Nick.

“Goldie, for example, has a reputation for being a moody arrogant prick but he was sweetness and light. He was really charismatic, charming and fun and taking the piss out of himself- making jokes such as ‘if only I’d stuck with 4/4 I’d be making as much money as Paul Van Dyk’. He was charming.”

Mixmag cover star Sasha also denigrated DJ polls last year following the voting scandal that tarnished DJ Magazine’s Top 100 poll, admitting he’d found the attempts by Chinese DJs to gather thousands of fake votes ‘hilarious’.

“I thought it was so blatantly obvious in the previous years that someone was fiddling with the numbers; there were DJs there that you wouldn’t ever imagine to be in the top ten,” Sasha told Skrufff at the time.

“But no one ever really said anything. There were just so many DJs there, that nobody had ever heard of, who were in the top 50,” he added.

http://www.mixmag.net

Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com) info@trackitdown.net Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102266.html ariously known as Laid, Cuba Computers, Nars, Kelly Project, Outcold and a whole host of other names throughout his 15 year career, Stockholm producer/ DJ Jon Andersson is currently best known as Zoo Brazil and it’s under this guise that he spins at London’s Pacha this Friday (June 27). Not that the Latino flavoured name has so far made him any more popular in Brazil, he’s the first to admit.

“We just came up with Zoo Brazil when we were under pressure to deliver an artist name on the spot and originally we expected to use it for just one or two releases,” he laughs, “Then the name blew up and now we’ll be keeping it for some time, for sure,” he says.

Not that he’s too fussed, he hints when quizzed about the results of a new survey by condom company Durex revealing that 1 in 10 people think Brazilians are the sexist people in the world.

“That's just Durex talking again, don’t trust them; the company is run by Brazilians,” he claims, “I’ve told them many times they should get over it but they keep putting out this statistic. In reality, nine out of ten people think Swedish are the sexiest so once again- Durex, please stop it- no-one believes you.”

Being Swedish is something he’s particularly proud of, he continues, both for making music and love.

“It helps a lot, particularly for picking up good looking girls,” he boasts, “All Swedes are good looking and healthy as I’m sure you’re aware? OK, good, that was just a reminder, so thank God I’m Swedish.

“In fact, we never even need those pick up lines in bars because we have that Swedish/ Scandinavian magic touch for everything we do- even with music. So a Swede tweaking a Moog (synth) is different from how a German would do it.”

Chat up (and joking) talk aside, his new techno anthem Tecknik is currently blowing up into one of the biggest records of 2008, though for his Pacha gig and everywhere else, he insists he’ll be making it up on the night, as he goes along.

“I never plan anything at all; perhaps no-one’s coming to see me so I prefer to chill and do as little work as possible,” he laughs.

“No honestly, I don't plan my sets at all. These days I get sent so many promos that I don’t really have time to catch up but on average I tend to have around 15 or so news tracks in my sets every week. I also always play a lot of my own new productions so I always have an idea in my head about what I’ll be playing.”

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Technik is blowing up right now though it's harder than most of your other tracks: how conscious are you of people's expectations?

Zoo Brazil: “I, or should I say ‘we . . .  I’m doing all music with my long time music partner Johan Emmoth- for 16years now! Oohh sorry did not shake your hand  here; my name is John Andersson – hello . . . Sorry. Yes about Technik . . . well I only make music I like myself, so if others like it that’s great. After 16 years of doing it, it seems like more and more are liking our music every day now, which is great. But we make many different styles so we never have to worry about falling out of fashion or being tied too much to trends.”

Skrufff: Technik is a proper dance floor bomb of a track: did you have a clear idea when you started to make the track?

Zoo Brazil: “Yes I had this bassline idea and tweaked my analogue synths to the max then after some more tweaking, Tecknik was born. We were both rolling round the floor laughing when we finished it, wondering what people would think when they heard this swizzling bassline that just built and built and built. The first place I played it at was a club in the Ukraine and I can confirm that it worked.”

Skrufff: How much is playing London different from elsewhere?

Zoo Brazil: “I think it took a while before the UK caught up with the more electronic sounds coming out of Germany but having said that the UK has always been the key player in the dance scene. My heart’s always been with the UK scene and it still is.”

Skrufff: Did you ever visit London in your youth?

Zoo Brazil: “I went there for the first time with a friend back in 1998, we stayed for 2 weeks and went to various record label like Pagan Records and  Azuli to leave some  demos that we’d made between 1993 and 1998. It was so much fun, I remember having to fun away from some gang we encountered in Soho after we got lost in some well dodgy area. We were also refused entry to some hip club because they told us it was a ‘members only’ night, so yes, I’ve certainly had my moments in London. Since then I’ve been there like a hundred times so I know where to go and where not to go; it’s like my home town in Sweden plus much bigger with a subway (underground).”

Skrufff: You prress release points out that you were instrumental in persuading

Legendary German techno label Harthouse to relaunch last year why did you leave them for Gung Ho for your new album?

Zoo Brazil: “I have not really left them for Gung Ho, but since no label has paid us millions of pounds to stay with them we release on many labels, also because we make so much music. As far as Harthouse is concerned it feels great to work with a label you dreamed about working with. To be honest, I don’t think there are any producers out there who are signed to as many different labels as we are. I hope not, anyway, otherwise we need to find some more.”

Skrufff: You've been producing for ten years: how difficult was it to feel competitive when the likes of fellow Swede producers John Dahlback and Steve Angello became overnight stars a couple of years ago when they'd only been making music for several years?

Zoo Brazil: “10 years? It’s more then that? Both are good mates and we work with themclosely. John Dahlback is sitting next door to us here in the studio and Steve Angello is my neighbour. In fact I’m trying to persuade Steve to sell me his apartment at the moment. John also signed a new track from us today and we’re working on a remix for Steve as we speak but we’ve sold more records and John and Steve put together. We wrote a song called ‘The One’ which is on Kylie Minogue’s new album which has sold over one million copies and counting so I’m sure we have the sales lead so far. We are happy and proud of both of them; viva la Swede.”

Skrufff: Cari Lekebusch chatted to Skrufff a couple of years ago and described a random drunk guy trying to punch him in the booth (he said: 'typical Stockholm; there are always bar fights and stupid things happening'): has anything similar happened to you?

Zoo Brazil: “No I’m always the guy that punches first; I was the guy that tried to to hit him. Hahaha. What did Cari do? Sounds odd.  Swedish people are usually soooooo friendly so Cari must been playing else where; But stupid things always happen.”

Skrufff: How much is the plan for Zoo Brazil to become a live act? And to be famous?

Zoo Brazil: “Playing live is coming, plus we’ve had some fame already; and more will come. In fact we’ve done more than anyone knows. It’s funny like that, the way people don’t know who’s behind certain projects. Take that Kylie track I just mentioned we didn’t make any noise about it at all, where some others would have made it front page news. Our philosophy is to let the music speak for itself.”

Zoo Brazil spins at Pacha London on Friday June 27 (alongside Jonty Skrufff) His new album No Place Like Home’ is out shortly. info@trackitdown.net Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.dirtyhousemusic.trackitdown.net/news/102260.html “I don’t think anybody ‘needs’ sleaze, but if the definition of sleaze is correct: Marked by inferior or low quality’ then I feel like it’s important for people to see that there’s another side to life: beyond just that aggressively ambitious worker drone mentality.”
 
When New York listings magazine the Village Voice published an article headlined ‘the End of Public Sex- Why isn't anyone fucking anymore?’, the star of the piece was Skrufff contributor and party promoter Daniel Nardicio- a man they dubbed ‘a veteran of the battle to bring sleaze to the masses’.
 
Chatting to Skrufff this week Daniel queries the mag’s description (‘Jeez, that makes me sound so old’) though otherwise agrees with their assessment.
 
“I want people to recognise that there are freaks out there,” he explains, “To accept that people do have sleazy sex, and that those people have as much to bring to the table as a banker or a yuppie- and we contribute,” he explains.
 
He’s also virulently opposed to moral issues against public sex, pointing out ‘it’s been around for centuries’.
 
“Plus, what are morals?” Daniel continues.
 
“I detest trying to label something as moral or immoral- 100 years ago a woman would be considered a harlot for showing a clavicle- a clavicle! Now women can pretty much go topless in New York City. Does that mean we’re immoral now? No, it means that times change and people change their opinions, and that’s why it means nothing. Fuck Morals- I do believe in ethics, however,” he adds.
 
As well as promoting legendarily debauched underwear party Tigerbeat (shut down by New York’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene following ‘complaints about sexual activity’ as the Voice puts it) Daniel runs gay dating portal D-List though agrees with the Voice’s assertion that younger gays are ‘more interested in fashionista kiss-kiss cocktail soirees’ than sex parties.
 
“We’re in an age right now where people are living in fear: of war, AIDS, depression etc and I think the young kids are terrified by how they come across,” he muses, “The only images they see in the media are of wildly successful kids who are 19 and there’s a lot of concern that they don’t present themselves as a mess. Which is why they love watching Britney fall apart!”

He’s also less than impressed with the sleaze factoring in the rest of the States.
 
 “I can’t speak for your side of the pond (Europe), but it’s the whole of the USA,” he said, “I spent a week in San Francisco last month and there was a thrilling air of non-conformity to some degree, and of course also in New Orleans, but by and large, people want to look fashionable, put together and sane. In other words BORING- look at the Oscars- where are the fashion disasters? Nobody takes chances anymore cause they all have stylists.”
 
Skrufff: Speaking to the Voice you said ‘the 21-year-old are interested in dating," Nardicio notes. "There's a lot less self-hatred.": sounds like you think that's a bad thing?
 
Daniel Nardicio: “I think it’s a great thing. They’re living such better lives now, instead of 30 years ago. I was lucky, my mother was too drunk to worry about my coming out, but now kids are coming out in an age where the presidential candidates talk about gay marriage. Do you know how affirming for some kid in Kansas that must be? Look, I’m not saying 21 year old show be getting his ass rammed in a sling but what I find sad is that those who do are ashamed, or worried now they’ll end up on Xtube.
 
Skrufff: How do you handle feelings of jealousy? Do you ever get jealous? Or feel the urge to keep a man all to yourself)
 
Daniel Nardicio: “Yes, I felt jealous about Charlie, the Mancunian I fell in love with two years ago- I think that nowadays I make better choices than I did when I was 20- in other words, if I get a whiff of the guy being shady, I bolt immediately. In the past I would have stayed in the relationship and had my heart broken and then wondered why?”
 
Skrufff: Have you ever been 'in love': had your heart broken?
 
Daniel Nardicio: “Oddly enough, people think because I throw parties where ANYTHING can happen, that I must be f**king everything that walks, riddled with AIDS and incapable of human warmth. That’s sex-phobia. I once did an interview where I was asked about promiscuity, and I said- talking about the TV show Friends that while Joey was wildly promiscuous he was portrayed as a lovable scamp. But if he’d been gay, society would have demonized him as sick, or depraved.
 
For the record, I’m NOT a sex party promoter, or AIDS riddled. I’m a guy who believes that we should let people have fun and be responsible for our own choices, and if you want to have sex, have it, if not, go watch ‘Golden Girls’.
Of course I have had my heart broken- twice to be exact- and I’d do it all over again just to feel have that rush of being so into someone you don’t want to do anything but be with them.”
 
Skrufff: What about the dangers of HIV from public sex: how do you answer critics who suggest public sex parties could help spread HIV?
 
Daniel Nardicio: “Look, you are 100% responsible for your own life. If you go to a sex party and have unsafe sex, you would most likely have done it at home also. Now if a sex party promoter doesn’t have condoms available, then he’s a douchebag. But it’s not his fault if you get HIV then. We have to stop blaming people in this society for what happens to us. That said- I think it’s always a bad idea for a gay guy to get fucked in a bar. It’s messy, could be disastrous, and is very unladylike. Love yourself enough to get penetrated in a bed like the lady you are. Let your inner Lady Get Pampered. I may make that a T-shirt!  And have a great pride.”
 
http://www.nycpride.org (New York Pride march: From 5th Ave. & 52nd St. to Christopher & Greenwich St. Sunday, June 29th, 2008, Noon – End)
 
http://www.csd-berlin.de
 
http://www.dlist.com info@trackitdown.net Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00