Kansai Eclectro March 2010: Simian Mobile Disco, Bpitch Control, Gold Panda

By Matt Lyne

recommended march events

bpitch control 10th anniversary tour @ triangle

Saturday March 20th, 22:00-05:00

Door: ¥3,500 w/ one drink

With flyer: ¥3,000 w/ one drink

Advance: ¥2,000 w/ one drink

Guest DJs: Ellen Allien, Thomas Muller, Chaim

www.triangle-osaka.jp | www.bpitchcontrol.de

This month Triangle is hosting a special night to celebrate 10 years of German techno-clash label Bpitch Control, with label boss Ellen Allien at the helm.

Berlin's Bpitch imprint (home of Modeselektor, Apparat et al) has grown over the last 10 years to become recognized as a seal of quality in the techno world, rather than just a label. Musically, BPitch Control is not only defined by techno: it is a wide concept including regular self-organized parties, an open-content label, visual implementation, and the successful move to keep the material conditions of production under its own direction. Because it considers itself to be more of a collective than other record labels in the same field, the label has gained an impeccable reputation through its fairly young life.

Ellen Allien regularly comes to Osaka (on about a yearly basis), and is received by an enormous crowd of loyal fans. One reason for this is that her mixes defy expectations of what a typical German DJ is likely to deliver, in that rather than taking the strict and clinical Deutsch approach to building a set, Allien opens the floodgates and drenches the crowd with myriad genres, bpms and colors. The other reason she is so popular with a very equally balanced unisex Japanese crowd is that she is a woman and is "kawaii". Some get success handed to them on a plate...

Also on the bill is Chaim. After the first wave of stunning releases for labels like Supplement Facts, Cocoon and MBF, for over a year now Chaim has worked exclusively with BPitch. His recent acclaimed output for the label has proved his powerful, individual productions to be some of the highest quality club tracks around. Fusing solid bass-heavy grooves, clearly inspired by his love for those classic jacking Chicago jams, hypnotic synth hooks, trademark effected percussion, live instrumentation and vocal snippets, Chaim's unique and organic sound always makes an impact. No doubt he will be dropping a few of his own numbers in an energetic set at Triangle.

Further support comes from French native Thomas Muller, who will bring his Franco-Berlin take on the genre. Great music and definitely a great atmosphere guaranteed at this event!

gan-ban night feat. simian mobile disco @ onzieme

Saturday March 5th, 22:00-05:00

Door: ¥4,500 w/ one drink

Advance: ¥4,000 w/ one drink

Special guest DJs: Simian Mobile Disco, Gold Panda

Guest DJs: Dex Pistols

DJs: Isobe, Juse et al

www.simianmobiledisco.co.uk | www.iamgoldpanda.com | www.onzi-eme.com

I'll save the Onzieme-bashing this month for fear of becoming a bore, and get on with the spiel. March sees Japanese record shop/promotion team Gan-Ban return to Osaka, and this time they're bringing two UK acts with them - Simian Mobile Disco and Gold Panda.

Simian Mobile Disco are an English production and remix team of James Ford and Jas Shaw. In the late 90s, Ford and Shaw, along with Simon Lord and bass player Alex MacNaughten, formed the band Simian. Because of their love for electronic party music, the pair - although enjoying playing in a standard band format - also booked themselves DJ dates while touring with Simian. They'd finish a gig and then run off to play electro records to small, sweaty rooms full of people who often seemed to be having lots more fun than the audiences at their gigs. As a pisstake, they called themselves Simian Mobile Disco.

At around the same time, their record company decided to launch a competition for bedroom acts to remix the Simian track "Never Be Alone". A then-unknown French production duo called Justice entered and, famously, didn't win (Ford blames this on the dodgy stereo they had to listen to the entries on). Nevertheless, the remix was picked up by DJs like Erol Alkan and became something of a party anthem. It gave James and Jas the boost to strike out on their own as DJs, remixers and producers of thumping electronic party tunes. Simian Mobile Disco became a going concern.

Six years later and the pair have become two of the major players in the popular dance music scene, supporting acts such as Chemical Brothers on world tours, releasing two very successful albums (the second featuring guests including Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip, Beth Ditto of Gossip), as well as producing major mix compilations for series such as Bugged Out! and FabricLive. In addition to his work with Simian Mobile Disco, James Ford is a producer and has worked for bands such as the Arctic Monkeys, Peaches and Klaxons, and the pair have completed numerous remixes for artists including Bjork, The Rapture, Inner City and CSS.

Although SMD's set will definitely be an interesting and eclectic one, perhaps even more exciting is the appearance of fresh newcomer Gold Panda at this event. Gold Panda is a leftfield producer and remixer called Derwin who makes instrumental soundtracks to half-remembered, dreamy summer days. He scours charity shops for old records and VHS tapes to turn into distorted samples, and wraps them in minimal, warm beats. He is obsessed with Japan and its culture, and once sold his entire record collection to pay for a Japanese diploma at the School of Oriental and African Studies, before moving here for a year. He now lives back in the UK and last month made it into the top 15 artists for the BBC's Sound Of 2010 list.

In support are the popular Japanese Dex Pistols, who have recently stepped up their game even more, and are now seen playing a fine selection of UK Funky and bass blended with 80s and 90s Chicago house. No doubt a very "high-tension" event, although you might have to take out a second mortgage to buy a round of thimble-sized drinks. Oh and did I mention the...

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