AirDrop Records, Agency & Blog

If you have not heard about The Giraffe EP, it is not too late, but you did miss a great release party and probably need to have your ears cleaned so that they are fully prepared. Right now it is about a lot more than just fornicating giraffes; there are now banging drums, raging horns, skyrocketing astroids, quacking ducks and… PUPPY CRAP!

Soulclap has decided to continue making music for AirDrop and will continue to be a part of AirDrop with some secret remixes popping up here and there as well as increased recognition such as Chris Fortier’s April 2008 chart on Beatport.

Check out the videos with the Giraffe love making visuals from last wednesday’s midweek techno.

This week, AirDrop is proud to receive Super DJ Connie from New York City for a full gig marathon over 4 days!

The race will start on Wednesday at Levitar on the occasion of the We Float party.
Connie will be playing with Fase Miusic Sender, the latter will grace us with one of their fantastic live sets.

Friday Night will see the Shamrock Basement rocking the buildings above with Connie on the decks and Paulo warming-up the room for her.

Saturday Night… well it’s a big night… and a big line-up for the Second Edition of our Extracto party.
Especially for Connie’s coming, AirDrop is organising a very special party in an abandonned office space on the world’s widest avenue! That’s riiiite. And to accompany the delicious Connie: Nico Purman and Sr. Replicante.

Nico Purman will be celebrating the release of his new EP on Berlin-based label Vakant, and Sr. Replicante his, on Madrid-based label 11:00a.m…

Don’t miss, and put your name on the list: info@airdrop.com

AirDrop released its new compilation today. It’s called EXTRACTION and unites 8 amazing Argentine talents that we respect a lot. Some of them are already out there in the world’s electronic scene, but most are still young and growing. EXTRACTION is a tribute to their different visions of electronic music, and represents AirDrop’s first aim, that is giving voice to the youthful and diverse talents.

All tracks were exclusively composed for the compilation. EXTRACTION opens with an other-worldly ambient track by our friend No Hay Pitch, and follows with minimal bangers and deep-techno hypnotizers by Fase Miusic Sender, Dilo, Peter Pan Project, Nexus DJ & Mon, McFly without forgetting our young favourite Minimaril! EXTRACTION closes on an amazing production by Acampante.

We have been distributing to a lucky few, a special edition of EXTRACTION limited to 250 copies, on the occasion of the Winter Music Conference two weeks back. For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to see one drop from the sky: the compilation is coming out tomorrow on Beatport for your personal pleasure.

Click play on the viddy below and see how Missing Keyframes, Fase Miusic Sender’s EXTRACTION tune, rocked Miami’s Townhouse Rooftop when Jamie Jones played it as his set’s closing track, before leaving the controls to Shonky.

We were partying in PS14 on Friday for Cheap Sunglasses, with Italoboyz playing incredible sounds and their new John Coltrane track (…) (see Full WMC Post below), when we were called to the Beatport Headquarter at the National Hotel for a special interview. Their new information website, Beatportal.com, conducted a full review of Miami WMC activities, including track reviews and interviews; they did both for us… Our little yellow record pressed with the beats of The Giraffe (Soul Clap Original & Franco Cinelli Remix) was such a success that they had to know more about it. We were really happy to sit on the Beatportal Miami Report next to Josh Wink or Matthew Dear’s interviews; and be interviewed before Anja Schneider finished her set, and it was time for her interview!

Here is the link to the interview between Beatportal.com and Soul Clap.

Anyone who has once been to Miami during the Winter Music Conference knows the feeling of contentment, tension but also emptiness when stepping in the shuttle that links South Beach to MIA Airport. Contentment for having heard the best music in the world (non-stop), in such a short lapse of time and in the most cinematic city of the world, (that normally doesn’t receive such musical quality the rest of the year). Tension because you obviously arrived late for the shuttle since you stayed too long at the Sunday School for Degenerates and the people waiting are mad at you. Emptiness because you simply had such a BLAST that you can’t really feel anything, anymore…

Our week started on Tuesday with the Wave Music Party at Pawn Shop and Tedd Patterson opening our 6-days marathon with beautiful deepness and followed closely by François K (one of our favourites) and an unusual set (for the U.S) with a certain Techno dimension to it… Beautiful! As soon as François finished his bomb-dropping we ran to the back room to catch the last half-hour of Cobblestone Jazz Live! The trio composed by Mathew Johnson, Danuel Tate and Tyger Dhula kept the whole room in a rare intensity before finishing their set with the voices of my favourite track of theirs: ‘W’. Speechless…In the main room Radioslave took over François for some super-efficient stripped-down Techno, while DJ Three started rumbling the whole place with the backroom’s speaker-wall. All of Tuesday’s wonderful artists were super happy to receive a little yellow Giraffe and an Extraction Compilation. However we had to keep a little bit of energy for a special day…

… Wednesday started with the Freak’n'Chic (Dan Ghenacia and David Duriez’s Label) party: Jamie Jones, followed by Shonky and Marc Antona! What a line-up for this afternoon party. And what a venue: the Red Terrace of the Townhouse Hotel. Jamie Jones has a unique style, his beats really trigger something special in the people’s minds and feet. It’s simple, essential, super power and chic! Jamie really liked “Missing Keyframes”, Fase Miusic Sender’s track that is featured on our Extraction Compilation so he closed his set with it! Having the place melt under the mid-afternoon sun and handing down the commands to Shonky. Needless to say, AirDrop celebrated this properly, and had a hard-time making it to the OVUM vs. Pokerflat party at The Vagabond. The venue is great with such a big and tropical garden and two rooms.

Then we headed to Studio A, three blocks down for the absolute killing of Switch (closing the Downtown Riot party) and Justin Martin taking over for the Dirtybird afterhours. Switch is something apart and we all know it already, but having Justin follow up made it even more interesting. Justin is crazy, we all know that too, we had already heard him when he played for Soul Clap’s 3rd Edition of their Dancing on the Charles 2007 Party in Boston last summer but his style at Studio A was something else. No Comment…

Thursday, we needed to chill, and the Giant Step/ Demon Days party at the Delano’s pool was all the most welcome. With Roland Appel playing nice and relaxed, followed by Carl Craig and his profound slow techno synths. I saw him a few hours earlier at a panel, and Carl is so above everything that he didn’t even have to say a word during the whole panel, the other panelists kept on talking, but Carl is wisdom, and wisdom is silence. At the Delano, we had the time to congratulate Justin Martin for his set the night before, give our Giraffe to Claude von Stroke and Carl Craig and even cross paths with Harley and Muscle! After this a big mistake was made, the mistake however lead to a great thing. But we thought Crosstown Rebels Afterhours was the Friday morning when it really was the Saturday. So we went to rest to be fresh for that. Although, as I told you, it did lead to a good thing:

FRIDAY AT PS 14: CHEAP SUNGLASSES. In our view, it was the best party this year. We spent a beautiful day in the garden of PS14, playing hide and seek with the dancefloor, the boiling sun and the refreshing clouds; warming up to the beats of Tamur and the BLK/MRKT boys and going absolutely nuts to Italoboyz outside and Derek Plasaiko inside (who played for us in Boston two weeks ago, get the set at the link). Then, something good/ bad happened again: We had to leave PS14 in the middle of the afternoon: BAD; but it was to get to the interview Beatport organized for us at their National Hotel Headquarter: AMAZING. Check it out here. When this was over, Princess Anja Schneider just finished playing next to the interview booth and it was her turn to get interviewed, but it was also time for us to go back to PS14! And guess who closed the garden? Another Princess… Magda.

Saturday we decided to go back to Townhouse for Anja’s Mobilee Party organized by Listed, the Chicago/S.F boys. But before that: we also went back to the National Hotel/ Beatport Headquarter, which wasn’t on the program, but when we heard of the Ryan Elliott/ Matthew Dear/ Guy Gerber/ Richie Hawtin bonanza, we decided we couldn’t really miss that, could we? Richie was ending at 5:30PM, exactly when Pan-Pot was starting at the Townhouse, 4 blocks away. There definetely is a higher force ruling WMC. After Pan-Pot was Sebo-K and Anja Schneider for the finish-him. All I can remember is that it was great Right after that was Minimoo with a very special line-up and in a very special place, a hangar on North 24th Str. in Continental Miami! Minimoo have been gracing NYC with one of the finest quality party over the last few years. And once again in MIA they did their thing right, with a dope spot, a deafningly powerful sound-system and line up.

Sunday… School of Degenerates.

The moment has finally arrived when AirDrop Records officially comes to existence with its first release AD 001 aka Giraffe by Soul Clap, you must know them by now. The release will be on 10 inch vinyl- Yeah, that’s right! And if that’s not enough, the vinyl is yellow with a nice little label design (see for yourselves below).

Now to put the cherry on top, we got Franco Cinelli to remix the living day out of the original (A side) creating a dark masterpiece to grace the B side of our first vinyl.

Here is a little close of the vinyl label:

If you weren’t lucky enough to get your hands on one during the Winter Music Conference, get it on Beatport and read our interview with Beatportal.

We are really excited by all these releases coming up on AirDrop, and we decided to throw a party on Saturday 22nd at 1070 Cerrito and Santa Fey (see map) before leaving for the Winter Music Conference on the 24th.
EXTRACTO is going to be a live preview, an essence, of what our EXTRACTION compilation is (view post). It’s happening on the night of Saturday the 22nd, and the venue is an abandonned office space on the World’s Widest Avenue that happens to be right here in Buenos Aires. Micro Sounds on the Big Street!

DJ Connie is just one of those DJs you should know, follow and respect, just like we do. From being one of the first DJs at minimoo to a residency with the ReSolute parties, she spins around the world and with top names like Guy Gerber, Trentmöller or even at the Sunday School of Degenerates during WMC! Connie is now based in NYC and has spun at every notable electronic music event and venue. We love her fun mini rolling tech party music and have booked her at the Bâton parties in December and January at the Galapagos Art Space. She will be at the WMC spinning at PS14 on the 27th and Blue on the 28th so definitely check her out.

Our praises don’t come without a little music

So here it is, for AirPod N°5 Connie has generously provided us with one of her mixes that we thought would be just right for our podcast. The mix titled “Matte on the Beach” fits us perfectly sipping on our mattes in Argentina. Connie will actually be joining us early April in Buenos Aires…

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Overall, the SAMC was quite an experience being in a massive hangar like space with 10,000-20,000 (I could not tell the difference), they were all going crazy for the terrible trancey-progressive music of Anthony Pappa. Though it was not my favorite music, there were a few good moments and sets defying a narrow minded conception of what is to be techno and electronic music. In particular the brazilian tornado Mary Zander (1st video below), who made me think a lot about Damian Lazarus‘ djing, then there also was the sick sick back to back between Franco Cinelli and Nico Purman where they dropped some classic stuff from ‘97 - ‘99 so dope. We missed Seph’s live-set because the organizers put him on before anyone was there! Guy Gerber was scheduled and finally didn’t make it to the event, he was replaced by Sharam Jey. And Matthew Dear (2nd video below) was there, very fine but not too groovy.

In a nutshell, many disappointments for an event that claims to be a conference. There weren’t any collaborations between the main production company and outside events, quite on the contrary many of the potential projects were jeopardized by evil forces. Even the promotion of the day events and the “official” parties happening during the week was terrible. It was just a shame to see such big budget mishandled.

It was a magical night at Bahrein a trendy electronic music club in the center of Buenos Aires, beginning with some dirty t-t-t-t-techno and dark beats with the occasional percussionist break. Exceptional minds erred the dance floors and DJ booths defying the space-time continuum. Seph, Gurtz and Barem all there for the oral massacre provided by Franco Cinelli and Jorge Savoretti. Most importantly, we were honored to personally deliver hand-record-hand, Franco’s remix of Giraffe along with a little origami peeping through the jacket of our first vinyl! You are going to hear and see so many Giraffes you are going to think we are taking you on a safari through the heart of Africa.

This is also a preview of the rich street art scene of Buenos Aires. The giraffe was stenciled by Run Don’t Walk, two boys about whom we wrote an article a while ago when we bought some of their stuff for the AirDrop Art Fund.

The Moscovite duo producing together under the alias of Easy Changes since 2005, has close connections with the Argentine scene. They have made appearances under Dilo’s record label Igloo and frequent participation with our boy Juan Deb’s Ups! parties. They are set to continue touring Argentina with a few stops in Cordoba then back to Europe.

It was great to have them play at the “We Float” parties that AirDrop organizes every Wednesday at Levitar the ambient bar in Palermo Soho, a hip area of Buenos Aires. To open up for them was Seb (Peter Pan Project) who spun some bouncy and rich techno. Easy Changes followed with some beautiful micro and smooth rolling beats, it reminded me a lot of Italoboyz who we really like.

Related to this, we can now announce that the upcoming AirDrop compilation “Extraction”, will be released soon and will feature and reveal the talent of the young Minimaril, an original track by Seb, another of his track remixed by Nexus & Mon, an exclusive tune by Dilo, which will blow your brains out, another by Fase Miusic Sender and more Argentine deliciousness for the ears. We will be distributing a few proe-moezzz during the Conference in Miami in little less than three weeks, so keep your eyes opened.

Meanwhile, apparently SAMC had already started… I could not believe that I had come down to attend and participate, when conferences were already held (with very low attendance rates, from what I heard from one of the few attendees.) AirDrop will be at one of the events tonight, proudly handing Franco Cinelli a sample vinyl of his Giraffe remix.
…
oooh yeah we didn’t tell you! Soul Clap produced for AirDrop an amazing track called the Giraffe, and Franco felt like doing the remix! This release holds a lot of surprises including a limited 10″ yellow pressing… BEWARE!

Following the performance we did last week (see Podcast N°4), we decided to take the creativity to the streets and represent Music and Visual Arts in the open air. Everything is set and we are ready to take over a super dreamy piece of urban land on next Sunday from 4PM ’til Midnight (we told the authorities 10PM, but whatever). The location is at the end of Costa Rica road before it reaches the railway on the Soho side. The place is perfect, it is located in the middle of Palermo and there is absolutely noone to disturb us: on one side a wine hangar, on the other a wall ready to be painted by our artists, Maria Bedoian, Coco, Claudia, Ale and Vale, Luciano.

In terms of music, we asked hot hot DJs to come create the link: Luisao of Army of Dub has been representing Dub and Dubstep with his fellow Daleduro in Argentina, they are basically the only ones doing it here and they rock. They even played at the last Creamfields here in B.A

We also asked to Miguel Castro, singer of the super band Victoria Mil (for me, easily one of the best ones today in Argentina) to come play his favourite tunes. Beware, you will never hear such music anywhere else, Miguel carries around a precious selection of gems, collected over his years.

The top bar OMM is located right in front of the venue, and will be opening especially for the occasion that Sunday. We are super excited by the event! When do you get to enjoy both amazing music and art in such open environment? Come watch the Sunday Sunset with us!

Last Thursday I was asked to play at an Artists’ Performance. Basically this means that they needed me to bring a musical vibe into their visual and ethereal world; music and art: the most essential and natural enhancement. Nowadays a party can’t be imagined to be organised without a VJ of some sorts. But playing especially for artists is quite a different feel. Just like a VJ has to adapt his visuals to the DJ’s music, there I had to adapt my music to the vibe of the artists, painting and creating, who in turn were themselves receiving the different sonic waves I was sending them for 6 hours in a row. One of the performing artists even dropped his own recorded sounds of doors creaking, trains passing by, and kids singing on the streets of Buenos Aires over the music. Remember that it’s summer here in Argentina, and the feel is more than tropical (although it has been raining for a week now!) and mixing Microhouse with African Percussions, Peruvian Flutes and Bolivian instruments seemed the most instinctive to do.

Playlist
1. Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts - Salaat Linkuere
2. Roxy Music - India
3. Lawrence - Lady Grey
4. Sian - Apple (Efdemin Remix)
5. Dominik Eulberg - Stelldichein Des Westerwalder Vogelchores
6. Bruno Pronsato - What They Want
7. Kolla Marka - Pachamama
8. Rancho Relaxo Allstars - Cajosiza
9. Kadebostan - Spirit Soldiers
10. Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts - Mederico
11. Jesus Chillon Infante - Alabado
12. Kid Loco - She’s My Lover (Bang Bang Remix)
13. Kaito - One Hundred Million Light Years

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In France, the strong anti-globalists always criticize Americanism and the influences of the US on French culture, but France is far from not having influence in other countries. One must only look at music to realize my fellow frenchies rock this world. I always remember when in France things that were out in the states 5 years back would only come to France after such a long period of time. Now its the US’ turn to take long to import hot French trends.

Tecktonik is a relatively recent part of electronic music scene in France and Europe. It all started with parties at the Metropolis club right outside of Paris. From there it took a few crazy tracks, dancers and YOUTUBE. Tecktonik is a clash of different subcultures and subgenres of music. From hip hop, electro and raving to UK punk culture all of these elements have their share of influence in this new dance and music trend.

It is only now starting to hit the US with force and it will only be a matter of time before we start having some TCK (as it is now abbreviated to) parties of our own. Until they start you should already be practicing your dance moves and learn from Jey Jey the Youtube Tecktonik star.

Also check out Yelle’s tecktonik music video (for those of you who grew up in France, I hear some Helene et les Garcons- about time they started beating that)

We have decided to start posting more and more about cool new artists and projects. We have been meaning to do more of this and promise to introduce you to up and coming artists as well as more obscure finds and creative projects.

The internet is great because it is what makes the world “flat” to a great extent enabling all artists to have their moment. Not every artist produces great works, but there are a rare few that have shared their greatest works. I recently discovered the website artistsupandcoming.com which is exactly what it sounds like, a site for up and coming artists. I did some looking and there was definitely some lame and corny stuff, but among all of the works, I was able to find a painting that truly touched me. Maybe it’s because Roy Lichtenstein is one of my favorite artists of all time, but this painting by Justin Lui, that is listed as “not for sale,” truly is priceless to me.

So apparently Wednesday in German translates as Midweek (Mittwoch) and since techno and Germany go hand on record, what better name for a party featuring the best techno music in Boston, than Midweek Techno.

This past Wednesday (02/20/0 was a special night at the Central Square spot Phoenix Landing, the heart and soul of the Boston techno scene. Adultnapper came up from Brooklyn and graced his newly acquired Boston rivals in honor of resident and organizer Pat Fontes’ B-day. Needless to say the party was crazzzyyyy with unstoppable dance-offs.

You can listen and download the set and check out the interview with Adultnapper at midweek techno site as always.

Time has zoomed by for a second! We apologize for not having supplied quality material for a good while now on AirPod! Let us make up for it with this very special performance we are sending to you:

The man in charge today is Lindsay Welsh, who with all his talent and huge Ableton homework, builds crazy levels of energy where he plays. Lindsay was born and lives in Buenos Aires and only appears on certain rare occasions. He plays all kinds of styles, and one thing is for sure: the man makes one with his machine! This episode was recorded during one of his precious appearances, and a very special one on top of that: Pato’s Birthday! (Hence the Birthday Song recorded live at the beginning of the mix!) Enjoy the vibe, the old classics, the house bumpers, the all time hits … ALL MASHED UP!

Stay tuned cause we have a thrilling month of February coming up with Podcasts coming to your computers from all around the world. As always.

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If you have not heard of minimoo, it’s not too late. You may have missed a few crazy ridiculous all night body moving beat banging parties, but hey there are more to come. Many of the top minimal DJs have played including M.A.N.D.Y, Matthew Dear, Memek, Adultnapper, and many more.

Everyone in attendance is there for the sonic experience, to connect their ears to unprecedented minimal rhythms, taking your body and mind on an almost trance like spiritual journey.

For the most part these parties that change location more or less every time and have been predominantly in NYC, but gradually taking over the world. Minimoo will next appear in LA with Camea and Drumcell on February 16th. We will try and post some pictures, videos and recordings of some of the minimoo parties. O, and we almost forgot… but they will be at the WMC!

We are doing another party at the Galapagos Art Space on Thursday January 31st. The place is ideal for live music both bands and DJs. Last time we had Say Hello To Symphony and 3 top minimal DJs: Dietrich Schoenemann, InsideOut and DJ Connie. This time we will go back to white with BÂTON BLANC and have 3 bands and DJ Connie. Check out the flyer for details.

RSVP HERE:

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When I saw the flyer I did not really believe it. Moby was DJing on Tuesday at 205, a NYC hotspot on the lower East Side. I am a very big DFA fan and to hear their sounds followed by a phenomenal Moby set made my Tuesday night. I had never seen Moby live, and the small, but well decorated, and vibrant basement of 205 was not where I would expect him to spin. I was also not expecting to hear him play progressive techno that was borderline minimalist. I had always thought of Moby as more easy listening music, but he made everyone’s body rock till the point of being late for work. My expectations were off and it was absolutely amazing! Also, you should definitely check out more of DFA’s sounds and support the artists. Until next Tuesday!