Polish producer Piotr Kurek quietly released the brilliant Edena at the worst possible five days before Christmas 2012, on cassette label Sangoplasmo. Thankfully, his two most recent records under his name (he also plays as Piętnastka and Suaves Figures), Heat and Edena, will be re-released on vinyl via Italian label Black Sweat Records.
Kurek also starts a European tour at the end of April and ending mid-May. If you haven’t heard of him before, see our review of Edena here. Tour dates below.**
Where does inspiration come from? It’s a question that has perplexed and provoked artists throughout history, and, evidently, for the Parisian-born itinerant Butterclock (aka Laura Clock), it comes from contradiction. Confrontational in its vulnerability and beautiful in its ugliness, the staunchly independent producer’s new EP, First Prom, on o_F_F_Love’s own FANTASY Music, April 15, moves away from Clock’s roots in subverted pop and dark RnB, while staying true to a singular honesty, shrouded in illusion.
When we interviewed Cristian Vogelback in June last year, he told us he approached his music in a progressive, scientific way. That’s how Vogel managed to move with the times so freely, in a career spanning 20 years. From having a regrettable midi port tattoo, to a crowd-funded album The Inertials, out on Shitkatapult, now, his own net label, Station 137through official.fmdeals with experimental music he rates.
Probably best known for his work as one half Super_Colliderwith electronic/RnB anomaly Jamie Lidell, Vogel is a prolific DJ and producer and with the internet at his disposal, there’s no telling what he’ll do next. See the Station 137website for more information.**
Since the beginning of spring (the Northern hemisphere one) I’ve had the feeling this year’s pack of protests, revolutions and all sorts of demonstrations has come to an end.
The events quickly spread like wildfire right after the January Arab revolutions swiping dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and currently threatening and questioning many other states like Morocco, Syria, Yemen and even provoking a civil-war (sort of speaking) in Libya.
We know globalization and social networks in particular have played a big role in the information flow for these events, allowing remote shifts influence what’s happening next door. Europe happens to be just in between the Middle East and Northern Africa for better or worse and with its very own economic & social drama, some sort of resistance is also growing…
last year's UK student protests, photo by Matt Baldry
European revolts are nothing new. In the late 60s & 70s new generations needed to break with the old models imposed by their elders. May 68 was probably the most striking example whose libertarian rise affected France for quite a long time. Nearby dictatorships (Spain, Portugal…) experienced youth street revolts and university manifestations. Without forgetting Eastern Europe also experienced a good number of uprisings despite being less visible.
The 2005 French suburb riots were pretty marginalized and quickly tagged as young 2nd gen-immigrant uprisings clearly nothing to do with the rest of the population and mainly confined to their suburban areas… as if they were part of another world. Then, the 2008 Greek riots clearly marked the inherent youth European problem. The Hellenic one self-dubbed the “700€ generation” couldn’t stand being sacrificed on the consumerism & neo-liberalism altar. “Useless” generations who may never reach truly successful professional careers despite being over-qualified.
