On Saturday night, Le Poisson Rouge hosted France’s Deep Forest, who gave their New York City debut performance to a crowd of enamored fans, most of whom seemed nothing short of absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to experience the innovative electronic world music in a live setting. Many spectators had clearly been in tune with the sounds of Deep Forest for many years, recognizing almost every song and grooving enthusiastically at all the right moments, creating an infectious energy of joy and reunion akin to the feeling of visiting visiting a dear old friend.

Spirits were high amongst audience members, as frontman Eric Mouquet announced his intention to primarily cover old material, particularly from their self-titled debut album. They opened appropriately with the title track off Deep Forest, following with many other iconic tracks, including “Endangered Species”, “Madzulu”, and “Sweet Lullaby”, keeping their focus primarily on material based on African indigenous rhythms and samples, with a brief foray into Eastern European culture with “Cafe Europa”. Rather than continuously playing tracks back to back, transitions between songs were marked by an introduction on the part of Eric Mouquet, who provided a brief background and explanation for each coming track. This, along with significant alteration of the lighting scheme for each song, enabled the audience to truly appreciate each individual track as a work of art, and to focus on the complexities of the sound more actively.

Throughout the performance, a visual backdrop consisting of footage from life in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, focused the eye as well as the ear on the performance. The footage was taken from a film scored by Eric Mouquet, to be released this winter. Check out his website for more information.

Ultimately, the experience was made enjoyable not only by the quality of the musicianship, but by the sheer joy that the artists themselves expressed on stage. Their appreciation for their music, for one another, and for the support of the audience made it impossible to not be swept into the feeling of elation, leaving the crowd begging for just one more song after the end of the encore.

This Saturday, July 17, France-based musicians Deep Forest are making their grand debut in New York City, bringing their special brand of electronic-influenced world music to Le Poisson Rouge. Eric Mouquet, Theirry Eliez, and DJ Mark Kamins will be performing their unique and innovative musical stylings that have been popularly described as “ethnic electronica”, seamlessly blending sounds more traditionally associated with world music, electronic beats and progressive concepts.

Deep Forest’s ability to combine native sounds originating from every corner of the world with extremely modern rhythms and high technology production is truly extraordinary and enables their music to reach across genres, appealing to vast audience of all aural tastes and nationalities. This mixing of some sounds that are almost primal in their raw representation of  human existence with the futuristic and cutting edge sounds that are associated with electronic beats creates an almost spiritual vibe to the music that not only makes the body move, but also appeals the soul. Deep Forest has received wide recognition for their artistry, not only in the form of a vast fan base (their albums have sold over 10 million copies), but also in the form of a Grammy Award, which they were awarded in 1996 for their album Boheme.

To learn more about the exceptional audio project that is Deep Forest visit the comprehensive website, and be sure to check out Eric Mouquet’s YouTube channel to experience a plethora of Deep Forest sound and visuals from throughout the group’s existence.

Tickets to what is sure to be an brilliant and unusual event are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, for those 18 and over. Advance tickets can be purchased HERE.

From the moment we set foot at our first Trouble & Bass party, we were hooked. It was their three-year anniversary blowout at Le Poisson Rouge last September, a party that was packed to capacity with a line of people outside, hoping to get in on the madness. With the help of featured guests Skream and Benga (who crowd-surfed, much to the audience’s delight), the Trouble & Bass Crew had the crowd going from start to finish. It was a truly fantastic introduction to Trouble & Bass, a night that AC Slater remembers as “the definition of a good T&B vibe”.

Luca Venezia (Drop the Lime), started throwing parties under the Trouble & Bass moniker during his college years at Bard, but it wasn’t until 2006 that he started the incarnation of Trouble & Bass that we know today. After a six month stint in Berlin, Luca returned to New York and teamed up with Vivian Host (Star Eyes), Math Head and Zack Shadetek to fill a void in the New York City music scene. “At that time, genres like bassline, dubstep, and grime weren’t really being played in New York, especially not at the same party,” Vivian says of the musical climate of the time. Luca adds, “we started as a party in basement warehouse spots in Brooklyn and eventually progressed into a band of DJs and a label.” In 2007, Patrick Rood (The Captain) was brought on board after the departure of Math Head and Zack Shadetek, and about a year later, Aaron Clevenger (AC Slater) clicked with the crew at a gig in Brooklyn, rounding out the foursome.

Luca’s vision was “to bring the energy, the fun, and dancing back into New York nightlife.” Mission accomplished. Nearly four years later, Trouble & Bass has thrown dozens of parties that have featured massive DJs and producers from around the globe, but events are just the tip of the iceberg. Trouble & Bass also consists of a record label, has a publishing deal in the works, and an upcoming clothing line that will be produced exclusively through Mishka. Put more formally by Patrick, who counts ‘label manager’ among his many roles in the crew, “Trouble & Bass is a multi faceted company that specializes in the advancement of music through the artillery of heavy bass.”

And there you have it. Trouble & Bass has several exciting projects lined up for the summer – Supra 1 recently released their first single, “Still Believe”, and next week, 77 Klash will release his long-awaited EP, Shadow of Death, produced by Drop the Lime and AC Slater. Drop the Lime’s new single, Sex Sax, is set for a June 22 release, along with a music video produced and directed by The Captain. AC Slater’s Calm Down Trilogy EP is coming out in August, and features a double pack Serato vinyl designed by Dust La Rock (Fool’s Gold).

After the jump, read our interview with the Trouble & Bass crew, CLICK HERE for a collection of our Trouble & Bass photo galleries from the past year, and for your listening pleasure, we’ve included the Trouble & Bass crew’s collective Smashcast below (subscribe/download HERE).

Smashcast 006: Trouble & Bass Crew

Don’t miss the Trouble & Bass crew tomorrow night as they take over Canal Rubber at Santos Party House with Calvertron, Rico Tubbs, Class Actress, Dominique Unique Young and JDH (Fixed). Advance tickets HERE.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW

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Following the release of their debut album, Latin, Holy Fuck has taken their act on the road. Joined by Nice Nice at Le Poisson Rouge, the group took the stage this past weekend and created a cordial environment. With 35 mm film synchronizers and toy keyboards in tow, a lit floor illuminated them as they spewed skewed and manipulated vocals over drums and electric guitars.  During moments and breaks of improvisation, the two electronic mixers seemed to sense one another through process before transitioning to songs like “Red Lights”, “Stilettos”, and “P.I.G.S.” These resonating songs inspired by their new album were splendid in a live environment, and were heightened by the band’s aggressive attitude on the stage. In the end, the audience begged for more, chanting in unison, “Holy Fuck!” Appropriately, the band gave them one more song to continue with their head-knocks and body rocks before gracefully bowing out.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE  PHOTO ALBUM

In case you missed it, check out our recent interview with Holy Fuck.

Next Thursday, Simian Mobile Disco will kick off their quarterly residency with Fixed’s JDH and Dave P. Jas Shaw and James Ford wowed the crowd at Webster Hall last October with their synths, Moogs and drum machines. Don’t miss the UK duo when they return to our side of the pond to tear up Le Poisson Rouge next week.

Enter to win tickets to this massive event after the jump, and be sure to listen to Simian Mobile Disco’s BBC Essential Mix below.

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New Yorkers are spoiled in terms of music; in a night where great parties run simultaneously, people must pick and choose which way their doldrums must go. In the end, the best way to go is with the anticipation of the vibe of the party that one goes to. With the Magical Properties tour (which features Jogger, Nosaj Thing and Daedelus), the sounds go between earthy, muddled, spastic and euphoric all at once. With a lineup that personifies audible contrast, the trio of acts would come to the art-deco-basement that is Le Poisson Rouge and provide a plethora of audible treats that ranged from IDM to dubstep all at once. Starting late into the early morning (quarter past midnight to be exact), openers Jogger came on and played a set that had its moments of unusually ethereal to downright weirdly trippy. Fiddling between MIDI controllers and guitar pedal boards, the duo found ways to include sweet melodies into near-WARP-like rhythms. While this was interesting, it certainly did not have a flow to its purpose. Jogger showed signs of musical curiosity but will need more to prove their weight in their tracks live. However, they did do their job in hyping the crowd up for what was to come; which was artistry through blinking lights and beat pads.

Nosaj Thing came on to a healthy dose of claps and woos, set up his MPD32 and did he what he does best; blow the roof off the place. The crowd went nuts with every changing beat pattern, every trick he had in his sleeve, and every time he fiddled with the knobs of his controller. The dancefloor shook with a definitive intensity that was powerful as much as it was passionate. Playing for almost 60 minutes, Nosaj Thing went between playing his own tracks and remixes while stopping by to France via a drop of Mr. Oizo’s “Z”, which got a screaming applause from a few particular audience members. Closing out subtly, the crowd applauded wildly while he gracefully bowed out to the final performance of the night, which would be provided by Victorian revivalist Daedelus.

The performance art that is a Daedelus live set is centered around the controller that is now famously know as the Monome, which provides custom control between sequencing, looping, editing and all other sorts of nerdy musical gigs. With the Monome facing the crowd, Daedelus let the audience savor in the artistry that took place live. Breaking bits of current dubstep tunes into crazy synth lines and vocal sample cut-ups, new songs were formed almost instantaneously, and with that a collective force of loud and aggressive crowd that seemed to have emanated from the ground up, starting with foot stomps and ending with fist pumps.  Piecing together bits from tunes of artists such as Untold, James Blake and Joy Orbison, the craftiness of Daedelus showed that he was in charge of the night’s destiny, taking the souls standing on the dancefloor to an entirely new world of mashed-up euphoria. The result was a crowd full of smiles, excitement and longing for the next time these artists would come together to dominate a floor like they did on this night. One may never know, but one will remember the night’s peaks and valleys; from the occasional shouts of sample-heavy love to the knee-shattering bass wobbles, there will be no way to get the sounds, sights and sensations felt on this night out of anyone’s mind.

Be sure to check out our recent interview with Nosaj Thing and have a look at the rest of the night’s photos.

Next Saturday, Nosaj Thing, Daedelus, and Jogger will bring a touch of west-coast magic to Le Poisson Rouge for the Magical Properties Tour. The tour takes its name from Daedelus’ “Magical Properties” imprint, which also released Jogger’s debut album. URB recently named the singer-songwriter duo one of their “Next 100″ artists to watch, and also named Daedelus’ “LA Nocturn” one of their top 10 electronic tracks of 2009. If you’re a fan of experimental electronic music, this show is not to be missed.

Enter to win a pair of tickets to the show after the jump, and be sure to check out our recent interview with Nosaj Thing.

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Last fall, Nosaj Thing blew us away with his opening set on Bassnectar’s Cozza Frenzy tour. Nosaj Thing, whose real name is Jason Chung (Nosaj is Jason spelled backwards), started dabbling in music production in high school. In the 10+ years since his start, Chung released his debut album, Drift, toured around the world, and has shared the stage with Flying Lotus, Diplo, Bassnectar, and Gaslamp Killer, among others. In 2008, Kid Cudi used Chung’s “Aquarium” (from the Views/Octopus EP) for his song “Man on the Moon”, which first appeared on his breakout mixtape, A Kid Named Cudi, and later became the title track of his debut album, released in 2009. Chung has recently done remixes for The xx (“Islands”) and Drake (“Forever”), both of which are available for download on his official website.

Nosaj Thing will kick off the Magical Properties Tour alongside Daedelus and Jogger this Thursday in Palm Springs. The trio will make a stop at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge on February 20. We’ll be giving away a pair of tickets to the show next week.

Click through for our full intervew with Nosaj Thing, and check out his remix of Jogger’s “Nice Tights” below…

Jogger – “Nice Tights” (Nosaj Thing Remix)

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Last Saturday we made our way to Le Poisson Rouge for Fixed’s party featuring the band Pink Skull from Philadelphia and  the French DJ-producer Louis Brodinski. Pink Skull sparked the fires of the night with a great live set. They were rhythmically driven and leaned towards a mambo/funk sound that led to a segment of genre bends that included indie punk and electronic dance music.  Among the crowd dancing favorites was their track “Oh, Monorail,” which set the stage for DJ-producer Brodinski.

If mixing were a sport, the 22 year old DJ-producer would be a phenom. Brodinski’s unorthodox style comes with the tactics of a rogue attitude and touch that binds his eclectic mixes to an explosion of dynamic sounds. Along with excitement, he delivers tracks in a subsequent manner; weaving them together by a stream of elements. From the combination of flutes to reverberations, echoes and sound effects, Brodinski takes a variety of fragmented sounds and lays them down subtly – like the facets of a diamond. Among the crowd favorites, Brodinski played “Sha! Shtil!” by  his alter ego Gucci Vump, where he incorporates the subtle accents of Brigitte Bardot from her song with Serge Gainsbourg, “Comic Strip.” While many of the audience members were French – visiting and local – Brodinski played a variety that included a rework of Major Lazer’s “Hold the Line.”

With all the dancing and sweating, Le Poisson Rouge could have easily been mistaken for a gym on this particular night. If this were the case then Brodinski was certainly the gym master, as he pumped out fierce tunes that left the audience wanting more as he crafted cuts and mixes at hand. There is a systematic madness to Brodinski, and within his methods of assessment in sound, he delivers on a playing plane with witty beats and effects that inspire movement on the dance floor. While his music can be described with a ‘feel good’ and uplifting taste, he ultimately delivers joy builders with a sense of lightness meshed with complexity. Brodinski’s level of expertise is certainly one to watch. With works that include remixes of Peaches, DJ Mehdi, Das Pop, the Klaxons, Hearts Revolution, the Shoes and Tiga, along with original tracks of his own, we look forward to the prolific work his artistry holds in store.

Check out photos from the night by Oliver Correa.

Listen Brodinski’s track “Sha! Shtil!”  from his alter ego Gucci Vump below. Also, click through for his trailer  and click here for his latest  and exclusive mix for Bacardi B-LIVE.

Gucci Vump – “Sha! Shtil!“
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One of the UK’s most creative music brains delivers a lush two hours of genre-bending electronic music. Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, is a London-based producer and DJ who has held residencies at The End and Plastic People in the capital and regularly plays venues as diverse as The Plug in Sheffield to the Cartier Foundation in Paris. His fifth album as Four Tet, entitled There Is Love In You, was released today as a nine track EP.

Four Tet – Essential Mix [Download]

Four Tet will be stopping by Le Poisson Rouge on February 17th along with Nathan Fake.

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