Last Night Push It Real Good
posted by on March 9 at 12:48 PM
DJ/rupture, Filastine @ CHAC Lower Level - 03/08/07
I got to the show just in time to catch the last several minutes of Filasine’s set, and was impressed, especially by his closing shopping-cart-as-percussion routine. Anybody know if that was a contact mic on the cart or just a regular microphone?
DJ/rupture’s set was like no DJ set I’ve seen before. Most DJs try to disguise the fact that they’re mixing disparate records—the ideal is a seamless mix, with the DJ disappearing behind one seemingly cohesive set. But DJ/rupture is not afraid of transparency. Hearing his set, it’s totally apparent what he’s doing, and he’s not worried about making an “imperfect” or dissident sound. When he had to speed up one record to get things matched, he made the adjustments right over the mix, even though it revealed his hand in the proceedings. In fact, he seems just as enthusiastic about playing with the rough edges of mixing as he does with the fluid integration of sounds. He demystifies the art of the DJ, by revealing and reveling in the process while working the dance floor. A friend of mine was recently talking about “DJing as the new punk” or some such nonsense, but if that was true it would look more like DJ/rupture and less like the French electro we were talking about at the time, because DJ/rupture’s not above doing things wrong.
But what does it mean when the “world’s smartest DJ” mixes Salt’n’Peppa’s “Push It” into Spank Rock’s “Put That Pussy On Me”? Does it signify something different than when another DJ does it? Are there levels of smartness that I’m missing? Or are those both just jams?
what's boggled my mind a bit about dj /rupture is that i've never heard him described with the "mashup" pejorative, but he's doing the same sort of beat-plundering that diplo and his crew are doing. sure, he's the "world's smartest dj" and everyone else isn't, but it's still about juxtaposition, blending the obscure and the obvious, the sweet (pop) with the sour (breakcore). i can deal with both sides of that coin, but don't think one can be entirely written off as disposable while the other is revered as art. what makes them so different? is the hollertronix steez doomed to demonization because of hipster irony? just typing out loud here...
Exactly. When rupture does it it's ethnomusicology and when Diplo does it it's hipster bullshit? Of course, the difference there could be rupture's written work, which really gives his musical work a specific, almost academic context.
/rupture ultimately trumps all other DJs of his ilk because he doesn't wear designer ballcaps and he isn't a self-aggrandizing blowhard douche. And his usually impeccable selecting and mixing, of course.
His set BLAZED last night.
You know, I also just don't think that what DJ/rupture does is really all that similar to Diplo, Hollertronix, et al. You don't really hear those guys playing with breakcore or weird, middle eastern field recordings, for instance.
Eric, too bad you missed most of Filastine's set, there was some seriously dirty funk happening, it was great. And from all the booty-shaking, girls and guys alike were obviously into it. DJ/rupture kept folks dancing too, especially opening with "Push It", and props to him for that. Maybe I'm too old already, but I dislike it very much when DJ/'s drop the beat, make people stand around or cause bad beat-mixed trainwrecks. I assumed Rupture wasn't very practiced or something, I guess I'm wrong and this is a new style I don't understand. In any case I couldn't dance to it and just went to have a drink. Which was delicious.
eric, i know what you mean, and usually i wouldn't put those two groups in the same vein, but despite where the two camps are pulling their tracks from, there's a certain element of surprise that seems to be present in both the hipstery djs' sets and what rupture does. one's a bit more academic, but that element of "what's coming next?" is what makes them both interesting. i guess that's the similarity, and perhaps it ends there. in either case, i loved rupture's set, trainwrecks and all, and it is too bad you missed filastine. there were technical issues early, but it was some serious beat business. i wish more people had seen the show last night, but was still happy to see things filled up a bit after midnight.
I woke up to find the whole world now shits on Diplo, and I can't track back to find any reason for it except that he broke up with M.I.A.
They are just jams.
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