JON GUTWILLIG (THE DISCO BISCUITS)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Headlining Red Rocks and anchoring the “Field of Dreams” stage at Fuji Rock, Japan.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Anything Joker put out in 2009. He’s making really awesome dubstep. He had a lot of remixes in 2009, as well as official releases, so I guess he gets all of my top spots for the year.
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
I played 100 concerts. Starkey at Camp Bisco (the namesake festival we founded and curate) was really cool. When Phish did the dedication at Hampton to Fishman’s dad and Marc (Brownstein, Disco Biscuits bassist) was sitting next to him that was pretty funny. Charlie P & M80 Dubstation (my dubstep project) jamming samples together in ATL was sickness! Benga on the world beat tip in Philly was ragin’.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Bonobo; Starkey; Borgore
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
Jay-Z; Muse; Radiohead
Disco Biscuits keyboardist Aron Magner also offered the following reflection:
Electronic music has mostly in the past been about the party or setting the mood. As technology has improved there are many artists redefining the changing landscape of electronic genres.
There’s a new movement of young artists with equal parts musician, DJ, sound sculpture and producer that are re-shaping electronic music and how it is performed. I was blown away last week when I saw Alex B whack down the house for an official Disco Biscuits after party. This young lion has masterful control of his software that enable all of his original and banging tracks constant manipulation for live, almost improvised, computer performance.
Also out of Colorado is the young Derek Smith (aka Pretty Lights). Derek took the changing climate of the music industry and used it to his direct advantage. In a new era where music fans feel more entitled to receive their music without paying for it, Derek said ‘thats cool then…here it is’ and released Filling Up The City Skies for free on his website, instantly catapulting his career to a new level and gaining multitudes of fans around the country almost overnight. The music speaks for itself. Deep electronic grooves with attention grabbing glitch and ear candy all with a type of soul not normally conveyed in dance music.
Elliot Lipp frequently runs in this same circle and performs with Alex B in the project Lipp Service. His 2009 release, Peace Love Weed 3D almost feels retro-electro yet still pushed the boundaries of computer manipulation. His use of analog synth melodies lends a warm and engaging quality to his tunes. His songs evolve and have a story to tell from beginning to end.
Daedelus is more of an experimental musician frequently on bills with the artists above. He is unique as his main “instrument” is a rather insidious device know as a monome. He is one of the pioneers of the monome which is nothing more than a matrix grid of unlabeled small buttons. They are all exclusively user programmable through a very esoteric software enabling the end user to manipulate the parts of the tracks in a very unique way. He is the Clara Rockmore of this almost cryptic device.
And then there is Simon Posford, a revered producer and artist and pioneer in the electronic music world. He is also a very highly respected mentor of mine that I finally got to work with for the 5 tracks that he produced on our forthcoming album “Planet Anthem”. Simon has a special ability to take an organic sound, be it a vocal or an acoustic guitar and tweak it in such a loving way that it maintains its original feel that emanated from a human yet somehow still evolves into digital code. A delicate balance of real and surreal all masterfully placed over global beats with soundscapes that percolate your ears as if it they were brain candy all while providing for an incredible melodic and harmonic song structure. Check out one his projects, Shpongle, “Tales of the Inexpressible” and you’ll see what I mean.
*****
CHRIS COMBS (JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Touring North America with JFJO.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Charles Mingus— Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus— Live at Antibes
Department of Eagles— In Ear Park
Outkast— Various Albums
Steven Bernstein’s Mellinial Territory Orchestra— We Are MTO
Never Enough Hope— The Gift Economy
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Of Montreal—Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Two bands from Tulsa- Dead Sea Choir and Panda Resistance
*****
STEVE TEREBECKI (WHITE DENIM)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Living the same day over and over in different cities for about 100 days or so. Hard to forget.
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Everything by: Cass McCombs, Abner Jay, Sneaky Feelings, Harvey Milk, R. Stevie Moore, R. Kelly
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
The tour we had in Europe was really exciting. Pulling into cities you’ve never heard of and people being there for your show is a pretty special feelin’. Stockholm was great because we got to meet and play with some great Stockholm musicians, that doesn’t happen enough on tour. But I can’t leave out the tour we had with the Sound Carriers and the recent tour we had with Brazos. It’s really nice getting to know some folks while you’re using the same parts of your brain everyday for 3 weeks or more.
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
My Mind from Philadelphia, Brazos from Austin.
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
For me Cass McCombs. For the world Beyonce.
*****
JOSHUA KNIGHT (MONTEREY INTERNATIONAL)
What will you remember most about 2009?
Obama taking office / signing my hero / MJ dying / getting engaged to my lovely Michelle
What album or albums appeared most often in your iTunes?
Levon Helm— Electric Dirt
Michael Jackson— Number Ones
Assembly of Dust— Some Assembly Required
What was your favorite show or tour in 2009?
Phish – 1st night of Hampton – great to see them back
BonTaj Roulet Summer Tour – Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal – couldn’t have had a better night of music
What emerging band should readers watch out for in 2010?
Joe Pug
What artist or artists will be most synonymous with the past decade?
As much as I would like to say someone or something else… I am sure it will be Black Eyed Peas and/or Coldplay
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