Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

**sbando** · June 4, 2011, 01:40:39 PM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Great news. Robag should be given a dj-kicks too.

**simonr** · June 4, 2011, 02:10:34 PM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Nice ... spinning this :

http://soundcloud.com/r_co/motor-city-drum-ensemble-xlr8r-podcast-14-01-2010-mp3

Motor City Drum Ensemble xlr8r podcast

01. Latecomer "Cosmic Part" (Faces/MCDE)
02. Jacob Korn "Selene" (Running Back)
03. Code 6 "Beyond the Bassline" (Nu Groove)
04. This Ain't Chicago "Ride the Rhythm" (Parisonic)
05. Mijan "Alright (SG Dub)" (Slip n' Slide)
06. Peak Hour Rhythms "Disco Diva" (Nervous)
07. Ursula Rucker "Electric Santeria (King Britt Mix)" (Five Six)
08. Ron Trent "Altered States" (Warehouse)
09. Ben Klock "Viscoplastic" (Deeply Rooted)

**simonr** · June 4, 2011, 02:17:07 PM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Press Release :

"When did I fall in love?" Danilo Plessow, known to the world of dance music as Motor City Drum Ensemble, echoes the question. Wearing the kind of smile that indicates true love, first love, the kind of love that will never leave you, he gazes upon a city park. A bunch of kids are playing catch. He was their age when he fell in love for the first time: with the beat. So he started playing the drums. That beat is his companion to this day. Having morphed through all kinds of forms its recent incarnation is delivered to the public on his amazing, genre blending DJ-Kicks mix; a mix more than worthy of the series' history of ruthless experimentation with, and re-definition of, the Mix CD medium.

Danilo was always incredibly young with things. He started producing at the age of eleven—"way too early" as he jokes—having his first release out just five years later: Inverse Cinematics' "Slow Swing", released in Pulver Records in 2002, found its way into Ricardo Villalobos' record bag as well as onto one of the first Fabric mix CDs. An album under the same name and a string of EPs followed. "It was really important how young I was, not just how and where I was raised. That naivety when it comes to things, like, ‘does it sound good?' or ‘are you even allowed to do it like this?' Those things never concerned me and in large part that was due to my age. It was good having that kind of light heartedness! Also, in those years, you are like a sponge and just so enthusiastic! That can absolutely lead the way." Hip Hop led the way and around the same age he started producing he kept crawling into the back of his hometown record shop. Specialised in heavy metal, it was in the farthest corners where the owner had stashed away the kinds of records Danilo's idols Native Tongues, Pete Rock, Premier and Dilla were sampling: Jazz, Funk and Soul records. His formative years as listener and record collector took place in that handful of crates. "It was really healthy being in my own cosmos. I mean, the internet is great of course but if you grow up in circumstances like me, where there's not an infinite amount of unheard music available at all times and you're forced to work with what's available, that's a whole different kind of inspiration than when you're browsing sites on the web, you know."

Those years of deep listening and self-schooling certainly paid off and it's not surprising that, after moving to Germany's de facto "Motor City" Stuttgart, he should become famous for a string of sample-based records: Motor City Drum Ensemble's Raw Cuts series. The house music world responded strongly to these charmingly fresh and dirty sounding tracks, all mixed down in spontaneous two-hour sessions. Danilo has also released on top labels ranging from 20:20 Vision to Rush Hour as well as his own MCDE and Four Roses imprints, produced for Ben Westbeech and Rainer Tr�by and never ceased to amaze with his challenging remix work for artists like Caribou, Jazzanova, DJ Sprinkles and Zero 7.

His understanding of how the parts of a track can work has never been more apparent than on his DJ-Kicks mix. In 10 years, playing 80+ gigs a year, including such temples as Berghain, Fabric London, Rex and MOS, he's absorbed dance history through hard and disciplined work behind the decks. Look at the opening selections of his DJ-Kicks mix to get a glimpse of his amazing ability to fuse totally disparate sound aesthetics into a coherent whole. He sets the scene and opens the party with the uplifting and inviting chants of Sun Ra's "Door To The Cosmos", then drops a groove of contempo Soul via NZ youngsters Scratch 22's Remix of Electric Wire Hustle's "Again", which then just melts perfectly with Rhythm & Sounds' machine dub of "Mango Drive". Be prepared because this is just the beginning! Before you know it the guitars of Tony Allen's "Ariya" tickle their way into the mix, its combination of collective chant and afro beat leading the listener into a joyful bliss. As you tap your foot the set dives into a tribute to one of the most influential urban centers of club culture: the Windy City. Between the driving soul of Peven Everett's ode to love "Stuck" and the joined forces of Tevo and "Poppa" Rick Howard's "Can Your Love Find Its Way" you find the master of Chicago house music: Mr. Fingers. It's a beautiful homage to one of the main chapters in dance music history with the only "foreign" track ironically being an edit of Germany's Bad Jazz Troupe.

Assembling the mix was a true journey for Danilo, painstakingly going through his collection, combining tracks, making edits—a quest in search of those "magic moments", as he puts it. In this mix one prime example of these "magic moments" surely lies in that split second when the pads of Fred P.'s "On this Vibe" drop into the gorgeous Stone's "Girl I Like The Way That You Move". Moving on, Pablo Valentino, Danilo's label colleague at MCDE with an equal disregard for genre boundaries, and his Creative Swing Alliance leads the listener into the proto-Afrobeat of Geraldo Pino's "Black Woman Experience" followed by an absolutely mind-blowing edit of Philip Sarde's "Le Cort�ge et Course", a track that in the hands of Motor City Drum Ensemble sounds more like a techno classic than what it is: a piece from a 1972 movie soundtrack, C�sar et Rosalie, starring Romy Schneider and Yves Montand. You want another "magic moment"? There it is beaming you right into the Minimal Nation of Robert Hood's "The Pace"!

Hood's track, besides being another great selection, is part one of a subdivision in this mix that, like the Chicago homage before it, works as a bow before the fathers. One after the other, the names making up the chapter this time are: Hood, Arthur Russell, Walter Gibbons and Aphex Twin, with Motor City Drum Ensemble's aptly titled "L.O.V.E."—Danilo's beautifully seductive version of nocturnal soul music—sitting right there in company. In the hands of less talented compilers such lining-up of total heroes could result in a superficial "favorites mixtape" fiasco but thanks to Danilo's impeccable intuition and architectural sensibility every choice he makes creates a natural link, no matter how huge the genre, era and geography gap he is crossing.

So, after the Selected Ambient Work "Actium" gives way to the wonderland that is Isol�es remix of Recloose's "Cardiology" we are slowly approaching the end of Motor City Drum Ensemble's DJ-Kicks. Latecomer, a Moscow based multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer that was discovered by MCDE last year, induces a last moment of tranced concentration before the "African Chant" by contemporary Scando Jazzer Timo Lassy provides the listener with another plateau of musical high.

This personal and spiritual journey is then bookended by one of the high points in cosmic disco history: John Mason's "Sweet Power, Your Embrace"—a track oh-so wonderfully representative of Danilo's intentions and inspirations. It's always a good sign when your hero gives you a call to express his enthusiasm about your choice—as Mr. Mason did in this case. It's that moment when both sides are feeling honored: father and son, joined through the love of the music.

And so Motor City Drum Ensemble's DJ-Kicks ends. The listener has gained yet another glimpse into the cosmos of Danilo Plessow's inner world and the DJ-Kicks series has been the stage for yet another beautiful dance. With the next months holding an extensive tour schedule for Danilo, dancers around the world will be able to experience his gift as a selector first hand. That is, before he gets back into the studio to start working on his first album as Motor City Drum Ensemble as well as a live act. All this will prove, just as his DJ-Kicks is doing now, that there is no such thing as stagnation in the ever-evolving cosmos of Danilo Plessow!

**simonr** · June 4, 2011, 02:28:31 PM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Electric Elephant Beach Bar Set 2009

http://soundcloud.com/electricelephant/motor-city-drum-ensemble-electric-elephant-2009

**simonr** · June 4, 2011, 02:36:01 PM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Rapidshare d/l link

Motor City Drum Ensemble shows his love for Detroit and Chicago on this week's RA podcast with a mix of smooth house and disco.

Danilo Plessow is a hard man to pigeonhole. Since 2003, he's been producing broken beat and jazzier material with Joachim Tobias under the Inverse Cinematics banner. Their debut full-length Passin' Through was released this year, but there's another reason why people have been talking about Plessow in 2008. He's the man that's responsible for the Motor City Drum Ensemble project, producing music which seems to encapsulate the spirit of Detroit despite being made in Stuttgart - a place that is considered Germany's own 'motor city'.

His Raw Cuts series of releases saw Plessow take a cut-and-paste approach to house music, splicing up disco and soul loops to create house tracks that managed to be retrospective and forward-thinking at the same time. He also uses the Motor City Drum Ensemble moniker to indulge his techno side, putting these records out on his and Mujaba's Four Roses imprint. Danilo's mix touches all these bases, taking us from subdued disco through to bumpin' house before going deliciously deep. He'll also be playing at RA's Christmas party at matter, so if you fancy checking Plessow's smooth grooves in the flesh, you can pick up a ticket here. We chatted with Danilo by e-mail to talk about the mix, his labels and the scene in Stuttgart.

What have you been working on recently?

I've finished remixes for Terre Thaemlitz (which is due out on Mule Musiq), Shield Records, a 12" for 20:20 Vision, and some new tracks for my own labels.

How and where was the mix recorded?

At my studio in Stuttgart. I used both vinyl mixing and modern technology to edit/loop some parts, plus an analogue hi-pass filter.

Can you tell us a little about the mix?

As I only had one afternoon to do the selection & mix, I thought I'd stick to what I know best and not experiment too much, while at the same time try to keep it interesting and show some of my influences and favourite tracks. It's a selection of classic disco, house and techno music as I would play in a club, but also listen to on my car stereo. I hope you all enjoy it!

Do you play a regular night in your hometown?

I play sometimes at friends parties, but a regular night in Stuttgart is very hard to do. I tried multiple times, but the interest in this kind of music is limited. After all, Stuttgart is a small town.

Your Raw Cuts series seems to have become quite popular amongst certain circles. Do you have any more planned?

My MCDE label will focus on this style and there's gonna be plenty more in the vein of Raw Cuts, but also some other projects and acts as well.

Is your Four Roses label exclusively for yours and Mujaba's material?

So far it's been only Mujaba and me releasing on Four Roses, but we're keeping our eyes open for new material. We have a certain taste and want to keep things special, so releases will be limited but always decent.

Frankfurt or Stuttgart might be Germany's 'motor cities', but do you feel that either of them have much in common with Detroit?

Well, obviously Stuttgart might be the complete opposite to Detroit in terms of general look and feel. Frankfurt and especially Offenbach have that post-industrial feeling, but Stuttgart is very rich, very beautiful and very posh. Because of that, however, there has always been a small art scene trying to be different. The jazz scene around Stuttgart was amazing back in the 60's and 70's. There was and still is much potential in this city.

Mike Huckaby is playing at Stuttgart's Climax-Institutes on Christmas Day. Will you be going to check him out?

Cool, I didn't know that. I've met him there the last time he played in Stuttgart, but had to leave before his set because I had to catch a plane early next day - and guess what? Exactly the same problem this year. Anyway, I'll still try to say hello at least.

What are you up to next?

What I'd really like to do next year is to find a solution for presenting MCDE Live. I want to try to not only use a computer, but also some good old Roland TRs and whatnot. It's got to be special in some way.

**coleby761** · June 5, 2011, 09:09:26 AM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Originally posted by simonr

Electric Elephant Beach Bar Set 2009

http://soundcloud.com/electricelephant/motor-city-drum-ensemble-electric-elephant-2009

loved this one too simon if you haven't heard it.

http://soundcloud.com/r_co/motor-city-drum-ensemble-live-sorry-grandma-melbourne-04-12-2009

**AchtungBaby!** · June 7, 2011, 07:49:20 PM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Originally posted by simonr

Electric Elephant Beach Bar Set 2009

http://soundcloud.com/electricelephant/motor-city-drum-ensemble-electric-elephant-2009

Highly enjoyable stuff here

**floridaorange** · June 8, 2011, 12:24:24 PM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Thanks for the links and heads up peeps!

**ribbario** · June 9, 2011, 02:49:37 AM

Re: Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

yeah , many thanks for the links !

Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-KICKS

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