AUGUST 2014
Aural Synapse
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Deep House Gone Even Deeper
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The Era Of Ludovic Navarre
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ost in the moment, between your toes you can feel the grass being squeezed and tugged from the Earth. You are at the most basic level you can possibly be, one with the ground and the sound. Lost in melody and dark vibrations. This is an experience crafted from the cosmos. This is Hunter/ Game; an electro deep house duo birthed in North America. Hunter/Game are a notable tremor in the earthquake that is deep house. Materializing through the speakers of worldwide festivals such as Miami WMC, Amsterdam ADE and the Bermuda Berlin Festival as well as also appearing on Pulse Radio they are making waves as a rising production duo. Eardrums across the globe are being lulled into aural seduction with Hunter/Game’s melodic tracks. The definition behind this duo’s name speaks volumes about their sound. They wish to take you into the headspace of an unknown hunter roaming the Earth accompanied only by the night. He is unobserved and anonymous, absorbing the atmosphere. He is one with it; he lives for it. With silent whispers of which only he can comprehend. He blends and merges with his environment. A complete aural resetting and subtle sensory indulgence. This imagery is what Bertola and Nicosia wish to grant their listeners.
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With DJ’s such as Lady M playing Hunter/Game tracks in South Africa it is evident that they are reaching far and wide. Not only are they spreading their bouncing rhythms across the world they are also bringing unique events to cities, which they frequent. If you are fortunate enough you might be able to get access to one of their secret loft parties. These parties are the perfect setting to allow an intimate connection between the sound and the soul. A stark contrast to massive international stages these performances set this duo aside from most acts. The groove of deep house thrives in dimly lit rooms populated by bodies that are lost somewhere between a state of consciousness and a connection with the ether. With their footsteps taking the deep house movement forward, Hunter/Game can only look up. This is a duo that has the ability to spread through the underground electronic music scene like a virus, but one that is welcomed rather than shunned. Gradually the music that these two producers are collectively compiling is spreading and taking hold within the scene itself. So if you find yourself lost in a limbo of enchanting melodies, with the world fading around you while you sink into a complete aural synapse. Allow your toes like roots to embrace the soil as your skin soaks in the sun and you recharge through the sounds of Hunter/Game. - Michael Southey
DEEP HOUSE GONE EVEN D
MATTHEW HERBERT: THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK
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ome deep house artists, the unique ones at least, are moving away from creating great soulful, funky music for underground jazz clubs. They are not simply mixing electronic music from electronic machines that electrocute you into robotic movement just like everyone else in the club. These artists are not making vacuous music for the brain dead who are only thinking about the now. Because the now mentality has consequences tomorrow. Like the hangover that backhands you in the face when you open your eye-lids which is made worse by the repetitive high hat tapping on your ear drum. These artists are not compelled by the dollar sign. In fact they are repelled by it. Money makes music without narrative, or at least not a significant story that makes one think.
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E DEEPER
CK OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC
No, these very particular deep house musicians have become fine artists. Breaking the boundaries of not only electronic music, but the whole concept of music itself. Who says the recorded sound of a pig’s birth and death, or the screams of civilians in Libya can’t be mixed into a melody?
According to Matthew Herbert, music is certainly not limited to instruments and vocals, unless of course the instruments are made from inedible pig parts and the solo from a squealing piglet. Herbert skilfully transforms recordings into orchestrated, harmonised, rhythmic and melodic sounds to the point where the original recordings are almost unidentifiable. Yes, the weird and wonderful Matthew Herbert tapped into the horror genre of music with his inscrutably sinister album called One Pig in 2011. The album is a recorded timeline that harvests natural sounds of a domestic pig from birth to bacon. As crazy as Herbert seems, this spine shivering, unbearable sound proved to be a powerful way of using the electronic music platform to make a disturbing yet persuasive commentary on consumerism and the cruel concept of farmed animals.
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One Pig is the flip side of the sweet story of Babe - only in Herbert’s version when Christmas comes around, the little piggy doesn’t get lucky and go ‘wee wee all the way home.’ No, this time it gets slaughtered and made into a juicy Christmas ham. Granted, most of the album was engineered to completely freak out the listeners and mess with their minds. But in amongst the animal grunts there are suddenly intense moments of pause with soft melodies that reward a desperate relief as well an intense foreboding. Extreme irony is Herbert’s cruel sense of humour as well as his weapon for mass societal destruction. Imagine the squeals of One Pig playing on the radio in a housewife’s kitchen whilst she stirs her bubbling cranberry sauce to drizzle over her tender roast pork with crispy crackling – hats off to Herbert - Hitchcock would be proud. - Shannon Coast
THE ERA OF LUDOVIC NAVARRE
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icture Miles Davis, A Tribe Called Quest, Yasiin Bey and DJ Gilles Peterson, recording a live jam session at the Blue Note in Chicago? That is the essence of the incredible genre known as deep house music. If that is too hard for those who have never been to Chicago, picture yourself amongst worthy company; sitting from noon until the sun sets, in a restaurant in Camps Bay, overlooking the view in the midst’s of beautiful people while sipping on a fresh mojito? Deep house originated in the 1980’s as subgenre to house music. Deep house can be best described as a fusion of soul music, Chicago house and 1980’s jazz-funk. Producers would make the house tracks they produced 5minutes to 12minutes. The length of each track made purchasing the album worthwhile. Deep house music has always been a difficult genre to define, due to every musician and producers diverse take on it.
The most common instruments one can hear in a house track is a keyboard, drum machine, synthesizer, sequencer and a sampler. The relationship between the musician and producer with his or her music, is key to defining a musician and producer as one of the greats, as oppose to just a good musician and producer. This is what makes Frenchman Ludovic Navarre, also known as St Germain, one of the greats. He was one of the few producers to pursue a real fusion of jazz and house music in the 90’s because of how invested he was in his craft. His take on deep house music has always had an artistic approach. He spent a period in which he was releasing his EP’s under various aliases during the years. He wanted his music to speak to his listeners, and not the other way around. Disc Jockeys such as Iggy Smallz, Vinny Da Vinci, Dj Bubbles, DJ Gilles Peterson and Quentin Harris are cut from the same cloth, and they do not make that fabric anymore. They were more than just producers. They were musicians. Iggy Smallz, St Germain and Vinny Da Vinci produced classics because they were particular about the production process. They strove to break new grounds sonically, which resulted in longevity in their music in the 90’s up until now. They had foresight in creating a unique and timeless sound, whereas many were speaking with the textures of that time. There was and still is an element of simplicity in their timeless tracks, which almost everyone can gravitate towards.
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The problem is that deep house music is no longer the same. There is no live jam session aspect to the songs being produced. There is no overall synergy in the music. The level of music that is being distributed, is not at the same height the giants were producing it, in the 90’s. It is not that musicians and producers are unable to do so, it is that it is no longer purely about the music anymore. Instant gratification is a priority and with that, comes more money in one hit wonders, and individuals that are far less entrenched in their craft. The focus has become about how the music will be marketed and no longer about the art itself. - Anelisa Mangcu