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This week’s DJ podcast is something more than a bit special. The multi-talented OLUGBENGA – bassist from Metronomy and respected muso, DJ and remixer in his own right – has produced a delightfully mashed-up mixtape, built from samples and re-edits of tracks by bands that no longer exist but that played a significant part in his musical history.
And, being an articulate and well-informed chap, he’s also written a rather interesting piece for us, explaining the concept behind this unique mix. Without further delay, we’ll hand you over to OLUGBENGA himself.
Myspace and Digital Immortality
Like a lot of music lovers and compulsive gig-goers I know, I have at various points in my life had the experience of taking a chance on watching a band I knew nothing about and having my head completely blown off. Sometimes it’s been an innocuous email from a friend with a link (“You’ve got to check this out”), or just wandering around at a festival like Truck or End of the Road. Sometimes I’ve gotten to a gig early and decided to check out the first support.
On occasion, I have become friendly with said band and thought “I can’t imagine how much better they could get if they’re already making music this good.” I’ve found myself following them around, showing up at even the most obscure gigs, sharing in the excitement of other people seeming to get the idea... and then felt the heartbreak when for one reason or another, the band decided to knock it on the head.
Twentysixfeet was a band like that. So was Eiger. Both bands that had started to get some indie press, had begun to get a blistering live reputation and genuinely had something to add to the musical conversation. Querelle were another. So were Detwiije. I’d count my old band Akira in this number too. You’ve probably got your own list.
In previous generations, they would have been consigned to magazine clippings, ultra-collectible limited runs of 7’s or good old-fashioned memories. In our generation, these bands may be gone but they are still very much with us. In many cases, there’s still a Myspace page (sometimes with an added RIP) that is always an odd snapshot of a band in motion, a Mary Celeste of music. These bands might be obscure in the sense that not many people know about them, but they are certainly not obscure in the way an original Leadbelly pressing is. They are a couple of clicks away from anyone who wants to know about them and can get onto a computer. The music lives on in a non-degradable (albeit compressed and lossy) format.
Well, Myspace will probably be gone soon. They just announced plans to slash their workforce by 47%. Unless some bright spark has an idea that’ll plug the hole that sent something close to $100million down the drain last year, its owners News Corp will have to turn the lights out sooner or later. I know it’s just the circle of life (and we all knew the Myspace thing would likely end sometime), but it does make me sad to think about all the gems that will be consigned to posterity of a much lower order should Myspace blink out of existence.
Last year when I got serious about using a semi-break from Metronomy to DJ and make mixtapes, I actively decided against setting up a MySpace page. I just didn’t see the point. It’s like my friend EAN says – looking at MySpace pages these days is kind of like looking into the window of a club at an empty dancefloor that’s got all the disco lights going. Depressing. And we all know it was never the same after Rupert Murdoch bought it anyway...
This tentative digital immortality goes far beyond Myspace, though. Take a band like Eiger. They don’t have a Myspace page – I’m not sure they ever did. But in a search for ‘myspace eiger’, their website was the fourth result. And it’s still pretty much functional. You can even still download a free MP3. Back then, Myspace was still arguably the simplest and best alternative to setting up your own website, especially for bands starting out. Now we have SoundCloud, Mixcloud, the myriad free blog services, Facebook music pages and various filehosting services like Mediafire and zShare. This seems to suggest that all this music isn’t going anywhere unless the actual internet disappears. And yes, this means that every crap band’s demo is still floating out there. But if you’re willing to look, there’s a lot of special music too. Anything that means there’s more special music out there can only be a good thing.
I’ve made a mixtape using samples from some of this music that’s so special to me. I’ve also made a playlist so you can hear the full versions of the originals.
An honourable mention goes out to the new bands that have sprung up from the ashes of the ones I’ve talked about – Nitkowski, Popular Workshop, Himself, 00000000. All totally worth your time and perhaps even some of your cash.
‘The G Is Silent [VOLUME TWO]’ is available now from OLUGBENGA’s blog and SoundCloud page.
Metronomy are currently on tour in the UK. ‘The English Riviera’ will be released in early 2011.
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OLUGBENGA Dj Mix Tracklisting
1. OLUGBENGA – 13 O’Clock
2. Eiger – Pack and Wowlin
3. Querelle – Insect-o-cutor [OLUGBENGA edit]
4. Detwiije – Misspelt Dutch Architect [OLUGBENGA edit]
5. OLUGBENGA – Atom [3AM Clash Edit]
Check out the previous episodes of our Dj Mix Series on iTunes HERE or individually on ClashMusic.com HERE
Podcast home: http://www.clashmusic.com
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