our futurecast series continues with dana dramowicz aka artfruit. based in the up and coming polish metropolis of warsaw, dana is a versatile character who is truly passionate about all kinds of electronic music. freelance writer, bass music DJ, 1/2 of production outfit shoju, label founder, and music blog curator are all part of her life’s repertoire. the mix she provided is best suited for careful headphone listening on a cold, rainy day; which means it’s the perfect companion for the soon-to-arrive winter season. check out our interview with dana about her current and future projects below, as well as the tracklist for her set after the jump…

listen to & subscribe to the futurecast at colectivo futurecast

5 minutes with…

DANA DRAMOWICZ aka ARTFRUIT (Concrete Cut / Warsaw, Poland)

souncloud | her beats | concrete cut | twitter: @artfruit

* how and where was this mix recorded?

I’ve been slowly choosing tracks for the mix for a few weeks now, but I finally sat down to put the mix together (in Ableton Live) during a week holiday here in Krakow. I am attending the Unsound festival (one of the most magical festivals in the most magical of cities!), and I found a free afternoon to dedicate to the mix.

* tell us a bit about yourself, you’re a DJ, producer, label owner, and blogger. how do you keep a healthy balance between all of your facets?

I wouldn’t say I have a healthy balance! Haha. Along with my “day job”, it’s really difficult to stay active in each of these musical spheres, but my usual approach is to take it one project at a time. And I try not to stress too much about it, and just have a good time with it. I tend to produce tracks only when I have a specific idea in mind, so I am not one of those people who is glued to their computer making just any beats all the time. DJing is pure pleasure for me. Blogging is something I allow myself when I have some free time – which these days is very little!

* you currently curate Her Beats, a blog focused on women in electronic music. how has it evolved since its beginning and where do you see it going in the future?

It all started with a group I formed on Last.fm in 2008, only because I was shocked that such a group didn’t exist yet, so I guess you could say I just wanted to fill a void. When Facebook became more popular I was, once again surprised that there wasn’t a page on the subject there either, so it was only natural to migrate activities there. Now we have over 3000 fans on Facebook, and it seemed only natural to expand to a blog format where I can do a little more than simply post links. With Last.fm & Facebook I really felt like I should try to represent women in all types of electronic music, even if I personally don’t connect with the music, but you’re right in that Her Beats is much more actively “curated”. I try to write about artists and music that I really love, and the podcast series reflects that as well.

* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your top three favorite albums?

Since I started getting serious about DJing a couple years ago, the vast majority of my home listening feels like some sort of frantic race to keep on top of new music. It’s fun, but it can get exhausting and it’s a weird feeling to feel like listening to music is “work” sometimes. When I really want to get self-indulgent, I usually turn to more ambient stuff, dub techno, techno, deep dubstep, and some more experimental indie or rock stuff too. And in this case I tend to look backwards instead of listening to the absolute newest stuff out there. There is no chance I can think of my top three albums, sorry! I have too many to name!

* what is your favorite thing about living in Warsaw?

Warsaw is so incredibly vibrant. People like to say that it feels like Berlin 5 years ago, which I can understand. What I really like is that Warsaw is very tuned into global musical trends and innovations so we have a lot of interesting music and people are open to new stuff.

* looking ahead, what can we expect from Concrete Cuts and yourself as a producer?

As long as there are still Polish producers out there we’ll be on a steady release schedule with Concrete Cut for a long time! The next release will come in November/December from a Warsaw producer called 0311, but we don’t have any solid plans for 2012 yet. Production-wise, I’m hoping to write a lot more material and hopefully release a couple records on some international labels soon. I’m definitely going to explore some strange BPMs more, slow techno, superfast juke… we’ll see!

tracklist

DeepChord – Stars | buy
Monolake – North | buy
DJ Rum – Plead With Me
Morphosis – Silent Screamer | buy
Aphex Twin – Tha | buy
Isan – Prooger | buy
Lucy – Ter | buy
Laurel Halo – Constant Index | buy
Andy Stott – Dark Details | buy
Liars – A Visit From Drum
Ayshay – Warn-U | buy
King Midas Sound – Waiting for You | buy
Lily Chou-Chou – Arabesuku
Boards of Canada – Under the Coke Sign | buy
Grouper – Vapor Trails | buy

artfruit – colectivo futurecast 025 by colectivofuturo

this month’s colectivo futurecast installment is a very special one, as it features a recording by one of our most avid collaborators and supporters. originally from colombia, but currently based in valencia, alexis has been following our footsteps from the early colectivo days. to call him a DJ would be inaccurate, in our mind he’s more of a sound researcher and connoisseur. for this occasion, he’s prepared a 70-minute selection of proper electro (the detroit kind) that features both old and new cuts with a clear inclination for what they call bass musics. check out the tracklist and the set after the jump…

listen to & subscribe to the futurecast at colectivo futurecast

discogs link

01 Arne Weinberg (AW-Recordings, 2009)
02 Gerard Hanson (Frustrated Funk, 2007)
03 Theo Parrish (NDATL Musik, 2009)
04 Projektname Unbekannt (Uncanny Valley, 2011)
05 Andre Holland (Underground Resistance, 1995)
06 Boris Bunnik (Clone West Coast Series, 2011)
07 Nick Dunton (Open Mind Recordings, 2010)
08 Submersible Machines (Lunar Disko Records, 2010)
09 Anthony Shakir (7th City, 1998)
10 Kyle Hall (Hyperdub, 2010)
11 Zyntax (Zyntax Motorcity, 2099)
12 Andrea Parker (Quatermass, 2001)
13 Mark Stewart (Modern Love, 12″, 2006)
14 Gerald Donald, James Stinson (Underground Resistance, 1996)
15 Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia (KK Records, 1993)
16 Michael Diekmann (Zyntax Motorcity, 2009)
17 Mark Stewart (Ai Records, 2003)
18 Darren J. Cunningham (Werk Discs, 2004)
19 James Stinson (Flourescent Forest Rec., 1991)

alexis – colectivo futurecast 024! by colectivofuturo

we’re back with the twenty-third installment of the colectivo futurecast with barcelona, spain resident alfonso. as founding member of the monkey bar event promoter, alfonso and his crew have been striving to bring the most avant-garde house and techno acts to the catalonian capital; check out some of their past events here. he’s also label owner of clock, a soon to be vinyl label focusing on the deeper side of forward-thinking house musics. as a DJ, alfonso is an adamant vinyl lover with a soft spot for detroit and chicago inspired house. this mix is the perfect companion for a warm, slow, summery day.

listen to & subscribe to the futurecast at colectivo futurecast

5 minutes with…

ALFONSO (Clock/The Monkey Bar, Barcelona)

soundcloud | clock | the monkey bar | twitter: @monkeybarmusic

* how and where was this mix recorded?

At home, with a pair of technics, an Xone mixer, and half a liter of beer.

* tell us about your first step in music, both as a DJ and a producer.

My first steps in production didn’t happen until quite recently. I have always played around with production software, but it wasn’t until 3 years ago that I started taking it as a serious venture. However, I was always convinced of dedicating myself to music one way or another. The DJing side started coming together little by little; when I was younger, I was messing about with a friend’s turntables. Later on I was able to save up and buy my own. During that time frame the popular sound in Andalucia was breakbeats, so I went in that direction until I went to Oh Marbella where house and techno parties were going on. After that I really haven’t stopped listening to electronic music and I’ve been focused on constantly learning and discovering new things.

* what can you tell us about The Monkey Bar? how did it begin, who’s involved and what’s the concept behind the project?

Well The Monkey Bar is basically an electronic music events promoter from Barcelona. It was born in March 2010. About a year and a half ago I met Daniel Resende and we started discussing the idea of throwing a party with the music that we loved. It took us one afternoon to put everything together and we started working towards our first event. There was another friend involved initially, Pablo, but he later left the project after helping us put it all together.

The initial concept was to throw day parties, because we thought Barcelona was lacking in that area, which we really love of course. We’ve also done some night events, but generally we try to being in the afternoon. The first party was done at Becool with Deetron and it was a success; it really pushed us to do a second one. After that we put together several dates throughout the year and we have witnessed how things have been evolving gradually. Initially the only legal way of doing parties was in a club setting, but we realized we had to step way from that to find what we were after.

Last year in September we put together a party called “Jurassic Park” at El Mirabé, during Barcelona’s annual festivities. It was then that we started doing things outside of clubs more often. Mainly due to the fact that we noticed how people were having much more fun, and honestly we were too!

Nowadays we are lucky enough to have a group of friends that believe in this project as much as Daniel and I do, we are really more like a family, one which I’m really happy to be a part of.

* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your top three favorite albums ever?

It depends on the day. Generally I don’t listen to the same thing all day, I play things based on my current mood. Just to name a few, I tend to listen to Massive Attack, Portishead, Sade, Gil Scott-Heron, 90s hip-hop, funk & soul, Herbie Hancock, Bonobo, Kid Loco, Saint Germain, etc.

Not sure if I could give you an absolute list of favorites, but 3 albums I really like are Dummy by Portishead (listen), Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron, and 36 Chambers by Wu-Tang Clan (listen).

* what is your favorite thing about living in Barcelona?

Simply put, the sea and the weather. I would find it difficult to live in a city without the sea, so I’d say that’s the main reason why I love it here. Even though I might not see it as often as I would like to.

* what can we expect from yourself, your productions, and The Monkey Bar events in the future?

Generally speaking, I hope many things can happen in the near future. I’m honestly inspired with everything that’s going on right now and that’s really important in order to carry on doing things. Right now I’m really focused on music production, because for the past year and a half I haven’t had much time due to The Monkey Bar events, so I’m really happy to dedicate more time to it.

I’m currently finishing a track for a Danish label called Relux Underground. It will be part of a digital compilation which includes a track by David Alvarado. I’m also working on finishing other tracks more focused towards vinyl labels, as well as putting time on my own label, Clock, which is primed for vinyl releases in the future, hopefully as soon as beginning of next year.

Regarding The Monkey Bar, this year we have a couple of smaller but really interesting parties which we’ll announce soon. Next March we’ll have our 2nd anniversary, and that’s something we can’t wait to reveal!

alfonso – colectivo futurecast 023 by colectivofuturo

moving on with the next episode of the colectivo futurecast we have a very cool mixtape by madrid-based, IDM producer christian del moral aka adapt. with a couple of releases on spanish netlabels, such as miga and ltw, christian has been carefully developing his sound to become one of spain’s promising artists. a creative soul from a tender age, he also makes rad illustrations to go along with his sound-design skills. in this IDM-centric mixtape, christian showcases some of his current and past favorites, alongside his own productions. it’s a perfect listen to cool down after a warm day. read our interview with adapt and listen to his colectivo futurecast below…

listen to & subscribe to the futurecast at colectivo futurecast

5 minutes with…

ADAPT (Miga, Madrid via Ceuta)

website | bandcamp | twitter: @imadapt

* where and how was this mix recorded?

I spent a couple of days trying to figure out how to approach the podcast you’d requested, until suddenly it got clouded and started raining one afternoon. this got me inspired and I started recording the set without thinking about genres or adjusting to a particular sound. the pieces started falling together along with the rain and some other things that were influencing me in those days.

* how did your first steps in music production come about? how have your productions evolved from the beginning up to present day?

Ever since I can remember, from the moment I heard the first chords as a child, I wanted to make my own songs. Unfortunately, it has taken me quite a few years of listening and listening to all sorts of music, to finally arrive, self-sufficiently, to what I consider is the doorstep of music creation.
Regarding my evolution, I would probably highlight the mixdown techniques. I think it’s an area where all producers slowly keep getting better. Quite possibly, this evolution, is what makes my harmonies and ambiences become looser and more present than before.

* are you involved in any other creative projects aside from music production? we’ve notice you also have some illustrations on your site, is that something you would like to focus on in the future?

I try to focus on sound design as my profession. Mi illustrations are synonym with not being inspired musically at the time; I tend to easily move the sequencer aside if something is bothering me or if my creativity is frozen. that’s when I try to use my time to illustrate, since it’s an activity that I always enjoyed. In terms of focusing it as a professional endeavor, I’ll leave that in the hands of anyone who would like to propose an interesting project.

* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your three favorite albums?

At the moment I can’t stop listening to “House of Balloons” by The Weeknd, an artist that quite simply fascinates me. Other things I’m hooked on this month are Phoenecia, Downliners Sekt, Frank Ocean, Ametsub, Crisopa, and a greatest hits album from Camarón de la Isla.
I probably couldn’t say which are my three favorite albums, but without thinking too much about it, these are the ones that come to mind:
- Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
- Arovane & Phonem – aer (valid)
- Boards Of Canada – boc maxima

* what do you enjoy the most about living in Madrid?

The countless creative hours spent at threefishestudiolab, despite the fact that this infernal summer might try to stop me.

*what does the future have in store for your productions and other projects?

Currently, I’m focusing on finishing the tracks that will become part of my new record on a label from Barcelona. As far as other projects go, I’d like to mention the one I’m about to finish with one of the best electronic music artist’s this country has to offer, Rec_Overflow. It will be something cold, melodic, and in my opinion fresh and very current sounding. We’ll also start preparing a live set with lots of fog, lettuce and fireworks!

we first discovered manchester based Lawrence Roberts via twitter. gradually we started noticing that our tastes were pretty much aligned musically, and it was only a matter of time before we got him to do a mix for our colectivo futurecast series. Lawerence currently runs the archival and music exploration blog Listen Further (link), there he writes short blurbs about artists and projects he finds essential, not only from a musical standpoint but also from a conceptual one. previous posts have featured the works of influential artist such as boards of canada, burial, and more recently eliane radigue. on this mix, Lawrence explores the realm of avant-garde electronic musics to absolute perfection, resulting in a deep, bass centric selection best suited for headphone listening on late nights.

listen to & subscribe to the futurecast at colectivo futurecast

5 minutes with…

LISTEN FURTHER aka LAWRENCE ROBERTS (Manchester)
twitter | tumblr

* how and where was this mix recorded?

The mix is some current listening and a few old favorites, it’s a headphone mix really. I would say that 80 % of my listening is to ‘electronic’ music, and the mix showcases some of the diversity that makes this genre the one to keep up with, in my opinion. The mix is not recorded live, i’m no dj (yet!), I put it all together using Audacity.

* what were your first incursions with electronic music? where do you presently stand, musically speaking?

My first big musical step came during the early-00s whilst at high school (pre-broadband), exploring my local library’s ‘electronic’ cd section beyond the ‘Ibiza Anthems’ compilations. I loaned two Boards of Canada albums and an Aphex Twin remixes compilation, which instantly translated to purchases. At around the same time I started to set my minidisc to record the Breezeblock each Monday evening, so I could listen back to the show whilst doing my weekly paper round. That show really expanded my mind, and my ear.

A decade later I’m based in Manchester, UK, my job doesn’t involve music but much of my spare time is spent buying, listening, talking and reading about music. The North of England is a great hub of electronic music, we have the Modern Love Label operating out of Manchester putting out local artists like Demdike Stare, Claro Intelecto and (now Berlinite) Leyland Kirby. There’s Autechre over in Rochdale, Philip Jeck in Liverpool, SND and The Black Dog in Sheffield, I could go on…

* tell us about your current project, Listen Further. what is the concept behind the project?

I’ve been running the Listen Further project for about a month now, it currently exists as a Twitter and Tumblr stream running concurrently. It’s a little corner of the internet where I can post about current listening, online music resources and draw together some connections. I decided to stick to Tumblr and Twitter for now because I can keep it brief to read, a gateway straight into music or a quick connection elsewhere.

Last month I ran a feature where I posted a pick of six unreleased Burial tracks that have been chopped out of radio mixes and posted on Youtube by fans. This is the type of thing I’ve seen talked about on forums but never seen the videos collected in one place before. I also ran ‘Further with…’ features on two albums, creating imaginary (and subjective) ‘further listening’ lists. My first choice was Boards of Canada’s ‘Geogaddi’. I listed neighbors The Incredible String Band and Stereolab’s early sampling of numbers stations as key reference points for BOC. Amongst the other selections were Broadcast and Mordant Music, as I hear so much of this album’s influence in the current hauntological trend.

* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your top three favorite albums ever?

In terms of listening at home, I find myself going through podcasts and mixes on weeknights – listening to newer stuff, and the playing older favourites on my record player at the weekend. Things that often grace the turntable at home: Kraftwerk, Cocteau Twins, Oneohtrix Point Never, Drexciya…

Three favorite albums:

1. Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer
2. Basic Channel – BCD I/II
3. William Basinski – Disintegration Loops

* what is your favorite thing about living in Manchester?

Best thing about living in Manchester is the dedicated promoters working like crazy to bring artists here to play!

* how do you expect Listen Further to grow in the future?

I hope to get more people involved in Listen Further in the future, the more the better I guess in terms of variety! Just working to establish an initial flow for the tumblr/twitter feeds at the moment before putting out a call.

 
listen further – colectivo futurecast 021 by colectivofuturo