Thanks! Knob handling and some good music at the same time. If anyone could provide a tracklist...
Most movement in front of the DJ booth is by the photographer
SYSTEM-J
I saw Baumel at Fabric last month and he was seriously impressive. Was playing in a very Digweed-ian manner, all razor sharp futuristic dark tech, except better than Digweed because there was no silly big room techno crap. He built the tension superbly through his set, and then in the last 30 minutes he tore the roof off with a string of bombs. Right at the end of the night he was playing a dark techno record and he looped a little section of the breakdown over and over, and then slid in Blade Runner Blues over the top. Really spine-tingling.
Guy J, I've seen twice this year, and I've decided I'm not a fan of him as a DJ. Every single transition is exactly the same. Cut the bass on both tracks for 8 or 16 bars so you've got this canyon of non-event between tracks, and then bring the new bass in. Every. Single. Time. You could replace him with a mixing algorithm and nothing would be lost. He does play some good tracks, don't get me wrong, but there's no use of structure or momentum in his mixing at all. Far too much time standing around waiting for something to dance to.
Anyway, with all that said, I'm looking forward to hearing how they dovetail B2B.
SPANIARD
Very underwhelming as expected. The whole b2b thing has become such a money grab marketing ploy. Guy J has been hugely guilty of this. Anyone looking for a quick laugh should see his b2b with Jeremy Olander.
SYSTEM-J
quote:
Originally posted by SPANIARD
Very underwhelming as expected. The whole b2b thing has become such a money grab marketing ploy. Guy J has been hugely guilty of this. Anyone looking for a quick laugh should see his b2b with Jeremy Olander.
Oh, please tell me more. I went to see Olander in April but I walked out of the club before he came on because the DJ on before him was so bad. My friend who stayed said Olander was deeply boring.
Woony
Ugh the b2b thing is so annoying. I don't know why people keep falling it, 98% of the time it's not as good as seeing the DJs individually. b2b only makes sense if you have two DJs with a long-lasting relationship like Sasha and Digweed or Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock.
SYSTEM-J
I would generally agree. I heard Baumel B2B with Michael Mayer at ADE and they were playing one on, one off. Just watching them made me feel a bit anxious. Imagine hearing a tune for the first time in your life and having to decide what tune to play in the space of 3-4 minutes, over and over. Predictably, the set wasn't much good.
I'm not sure why the promoters do it, as B2B sets tend to be longer than individual sets, so I'm not sure where the cost saving is. A way of just re-selling the same DJs who you're in with to the punters in a different configuration, perhaps? I get why DJs like it, because it's much easier to go on and play 2-3 tunes and then go off again for 20 minutes. You see all these wreckhead minimal DJs with no ability to programme a set who play B2B with each other, and it's clearly just easy money for them.
However, occasionally you get a flawed DJ who is elevated in a B2B set by their superior peer. Guy Mantzur, for example, is every bit as lazy and uninspired a DJ as his fellow Guy here, but there's a B2B set with him and Cattaneo at Burning Man which is actually really good, presumably because Cattaneo brings a bit of structure and mixing variety to the table.
SPANIARD
quote:
Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
Oh, please tell me more. I went to see Olander in April but I walked out of the club before he came on because the DJ on before him was so bad. My friend who stayed said Olander was deeply boring.
Woony
There are so many festivals & parties that all book the same big name DJs now, in an oversaturated environment, wacky b2bs are a way to set yout lineup apart. So I get why promoters do it, I reall dont get why punters fall for it though.
Paradox Lost
I see the B2B concept as more than a gimmick, but less than a good idea. I haven't seen one live (and I'm sure the people who have can either confirm or dismiss this), but I don't see how you can get the same sense of structure and momentum that you would from the focus of one talented act, as you're putting two together that simply don't think the same way (especially, as 'J pointed out, when one hasn't heard what the other is playing). At the same time, it requires them to do a bit of improv, it creates some unique situations, and can create some surprises that you may never hear outside of that one particular night.
capricorn15
quote:
Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
I saw Baumel at Fabric last month and he was seriously impressive. Was playing in a very Digweed-ian manner, all razor sharp futuristic dark tech, except better than Digweed because there was no silly big room techno crap. He built the tension superbly through his set, and then in the last 30 minutes he tore the roof off with a string of bombs. Right at the end of the night he was playing a dark techno record and he looped a little section of the breakdown over and over, and then slid in Blade Runner Blues over the top. Really spine-tingling.
Daaamn, I would have loved to hear that set and close out with blade runner blues.
