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d Thank You Editorial an

Two years ago, December 2004, the first issue of Kick Magazine hit the streets of Toronto despite a massive snow and ice storm that shut down the TTC. Perseverance is the name of the game and we’re back with a shnazzy special online issue to properly launch our website’s new face. Initially, Kick Magazine was conceived to help bring the techno and electronic music communities in Toronto together by giving them a place to learn about each other. This was in 2004 when the techno scene especially had taken a bit of a nose-dive. We felt that by reflecting the scene in print it would help to bring everyone to common ground. This in turn would help make things better and pave the way for newer artists. Our plan is to continue to focus on talented Toronto artists-old and new, undiscovered talent from all over and to come full circle and pay homage to electronic music producers and DJs that have been around the world many times over. To us at Kick Magazine, the sign of a healthy electronic music scene means seeing names we don’t recognize on flyers, kids we don’t know dancing, and music and sounds we’ve never heard before mixing with the familiar sounds we love. This is Toronto today and we’ll do our best to keep it that way. Of course Kick Magazine both print and online wouldn’t even be remotely possible without a solid base of volunteers, advertisers and sponsors. For this new online issue and website we offer our deepest gratitude to 2 The Beat, Moog Audio (Toronto and Montreal), Sleeman, TOI Bar, fukhouse, twentyonesquares, Paperclipse, Kero Logistics, Aaron Cunningham, Tim Franz, Planet Detroit, NOW Magazine, Mark Quail, Sek @ Subtrac, Xanu Radio, Systema and Food Is Your Friend. THANK YOU!!! And, a big thank you goes to the writers and contributors whose efforts you will see in the following pages, in the REVIEWS Blog and all over the web site. THANK YOU TOO!!!

Julia Paonessa, EditorIn-Chief / Publisher



ntents Table of Co

Music io / Slinky Moog Aud

9. Moog Audio / Slinky Music - Julia Paonessa (Toronto) 13. Profile: MUX - Brandon Sweet (Waterloo) 14. Behind The Music - Amanda Connon-Unda (Toronto) 15. Berlin, Wall Of Sound - Dimitri Pike (Tournai, Belgium) 17. Dubstep - Bass Is The Place - Erin Commerford (Toronto) 19. Vince Lemieux from Musique Risquee - Lisa Sim (Montreal) 21. Profile: Fatima Camara - Sara Scruton (Toronto)

www.moogaudio.com 442 Queen St West Toronto, Ontario

Grand Opening Night www.slinkymusic.com/ 442 Queen Street West Toronto, Ontario I hit the grand opening of Moog Audio/Slinky Music on Queen Street in early June of this year. It was exciting to see this beautiful new store jammed packed with electronic music gear, vinyl, turntables, and folks like DJs, producers, friends and media shopping or just soaking all the newness in. The first thing that hits me is the high class decor. The design and wood cabinetry of the store, all music (vinyl/cd), T shirts, jewellery, expresso bar and seating areas belong to the Slinky Music vision. Of course, all of the latest in production gear is displayed for you to touch and try courtesy of Moog Audio. I interviewed some of the good proprietors that night and I recently followed up with Paul Azevdeo (Slinky Music) and Francis Delage

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(Moog) to see how things were coming along six months later. Roozbeh Shawleh (Slinky Music)“The record store is basically just two guys who love music. We’re not pushy, but because we’re so enthusiastic we’re going to show you a lot.” Paul Azevedo (Slinky Music)“Basically it started with MOOG over at Kops Records (Queen and University) This new location is a fulfillment of our goals–to carry really good music. We bring people the music that we think is essential.” Noah Pred (Moog Audio) “I hope that the store will be a place to help galvanize the techno production community in Toronto. I’d like to see them come and hang out and find some really good records at Slinky. And I just hope too that people feel comfortable to come down

here on a casual basis when they’re looking for whatever gear they need.” Keno (Owner Moog Audio Montreal and Toronto) “I started Moog Audio in Montreal June 2 1998. We started with two turntables and a mixer. Our customers were the people we knew–Tiga, Kid Koala, A-Trak. We started out inside Science Records, then we moved into DNA, a store owned by Tiga, on Pine Street. It was a little store of 600 square feet and my section was only 200 square feet. Money was never our main goal. Our goal was to get within our market and help the artists and Francis feels the same way. For example Moog Audio Montreal sponsored over 200 events in Montreal last year. We supported some big names, well big names now, The Stills, The Dears, Kid Koala. It was a good decision to move to a bigger location in Toronto. We waited a few years in the smaller location to see what the market was like.

Julia Paonessa

Continued... 11

Music io / Slinky d u A g o o M

Three years ago I wasn’t sure about Toronto, I had a lot of misconceptions, but now I feel that it has so much respect for good talent. The main thing we want to do here is support the scene and that includes Kick Magazine!” December Follow up with Paul Azevedo from Slinky Music and Francis Delage from Moog Toronto Paul Azevedo (Slinky Music) “I wasn’t expecting such a good response to Slinky Music. Our suppliers are happy with the high volume of sales and we’re on their top sellers list. The store is in a nice location for weekend shoppers. New people, sometimes those you wouldn’t expect to be

into some of the music we carry, come in during weekends and buy a lot but the regulars come in during the week and know what they want.” Paul’s most memorable moment in 2006: Toronto Life, The Post and NOW magazine did write-ups on the store on Queen Street after Paul located the Black Jazz label owner and bought up all 19 titles. It was the only place in Toronto you could find these gems. Look out for a stronger online presence in 2007. Francis Delage (Moog Audio) J. How have the last six months been for you? F. “It’s just so much easier to work at this location. It’s better for the customers, there’s more room to walk and talk and show people items they’re looking for.”

J. Do you feel that you’ve played a direct role in building the careers of some of Toronto’s electronic musicians? F. “No, not yet. I know I’ve helped some kids get set up and get started. Maybe I’ve helped a little to advance some artists but mainly I work hard to help promoters break even because without the scene I don’t exist. The promoters and people in the media that write about this scene keep me in business.” Case in point, Moog Audio supplied all DJ equipment necessary for our July 15th launch party at Salem’s Loft. We knew we were in a hairy place and we’d hardly break even and in came Francis to the rescue! Two turntables, two cdj’s, a mixer, cables and a lot of support! That isn’t the only help we’ve gotten from Moog Audio either.

UX Profile: M

Cue the Don LaFontaine voiceover: “In a world where laptop live performances reign supreme, one man stands firm in his resolve to use hardware...” Well, not quite. Every live PA artist, it seems, has had to decide whether or not to switch to Ableton Live, and Vancouver’s bleep n’ scream technologist MUX (a.k.a Drew Smith) is no exception. Drew’s decision to integrate the ubiquitous program into his setup came with a bit of angst. “I did a bunch

of soul-searching, and eventually I realized that there are only two things that really matter in any live music: immediacy and expression.” With that in mind, he culled every bit of gear in his setup that wasn’t getting the hands-on treatment, recreating their patterns as loops inside Live, stripping his rig to the essentials. However, you’d be hard pressed to find a notebook in his setup – Smith uses a rackmount PC alongside an x0xb0x (a kitbuilt 303 repro), Micro Modular, SH-101 and BFR2000.

It’s a natural progression for Smith, who has been playing since the days when MMT-8 sequencers were de rigueur. He only replaced his grey membrane-buttoned box when the Akai MPC-1000 arrived, and he’s not tossing that anytime soon – it’s still his sequencer of choice. Logistical benefits to the switch? “I’m down to two flight-cases, and can fly on a single ticket these days.” (http://mux.ca)

Brandon Sweet

J. Goals for 2007? F. “We’d like to see the business grow and we want to help build the entire community of producers and creators. Have a good holiday. Merry Everything!

Julia Paonessa

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e Music Behind Th d ll of Soun Ber lin, Wa As of November 2006 a new radio show hit the world of broadband, Podcast platforms and Spodradio for Virgin’s mobile phones in Europe. This new online radio show created by myself is called Behind the Music and it is available exclusively on XanuRadio.com. Having originally started with the ‘Women of Techno’ project, I was trying to capture the idea that there is a dynamic connection between the world of techno music and dynamic cultural topics, including (but not limited to) feminism. Behind the Music continues this process by relating theory and practice to techno music and various social phenomenon. Behind the Music involves interviews with artists in the global techno (and sometimes rock) scenes. Jeff Samuel who played at a Tempo event in Toronto recounted his opinions regarding the impacts of technology changing our relationships and work. Another guest, Steve Bug (Poker Flat label founder, and producer/Dj) spoke about his philosophy and working relationships behind his label. Misstress

Barbara spoke about the perspective of the press on genres and her productions, and the best places she like to visit. Dj Preach living in Czech Republic spoke about psychological wellbeing on tour and his life philosophies. Meanwhile, A Guy Called Gerald, who has seen dance music through the ages, after some major label success in the late 90’s, spoke with me about the changing nature of the music industry. The first show features artist interviews done during the last 2 months with Steve Bug (Poker Flat Recordings, Germany); A Guy Called Gerald (!K7, UK/Germany); Jeff Samuel (Sender, Trapez Records,

USA); and Dekoze (from Toronto, Canada). More artist interviews are slated for the next shows, with Misstress Barbara (Iturnem, Canada), Adam Beyer (Drumcode, Sweden), Preach (Relic Recordings, Canada/ Czech Republic), and Ellen Alien’s label-mate, Paul Kalkbrenner (Bpitch Control, Germany). Behind the Music Website: www.xanuradio.com/ behindthemusic Live streaming is available on www.xanuradio. com/listennow.php Every Thursday from 8 – 10 PM & Every Sunday from 6 – 8 PM Itunes Podcast link: itpc://www.xanuradio. com/behindthemusic/ behindthemusic-podcast. php Spodradio link: http://www. spodradio.com/en/podcastdetail.html?pid=1328&cat= 25&skip=8

Amanda Connon-Unda

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Rainy and grey December, the streets of Berlin are full of life despite an industrial and cold environment, we’re in the capital of electronic music, more precisely in the Kreuzberg historic district where legendary names such as Tresor, Hardwax and Dubplates & Mastering established their offices, shops and studios. Fathers Worldwide techno freaks know this! The famous ‘M’ that stands for ‘Maurizio’ aka Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus is the letter to look for when searching for the best underground sound out of the Berlin electronic scene. At age 26, Mark Ernestus started what became one of the most renowned record shops around the world–Hardwax. He later met Moritz Von Oswald, the man behind Dubplates & Mastering, both being music lovers, it was evident that something would happen, but no one could have known that they were on their way to becoming one of the most influential duos in techno music history. Basic Channel and the ‘M’ series are the result of their friendship and studio collaborations. They

explored the deeper and hypnotic side of techno music, added a huge dub influence, an approach of minimalism at it’s extreme and a way of using reverbs, filters and delays that is so impressive that producers today still wonder what kind of equipment was used. Of course, Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus are far from being ‘hit makers’ and prefer to produce less quantity in exchange for more quality and timeless music. So far they have refused any interviews, press photos and other modern ways to promote themselves. Their records sleeves are nearly empty of any information, the design is almost as minimal as the music, resembling macro photography of an unknown object. Always the same picture but modified in an indefinable way. Only the sound is recognizable because of its strong presence. Connections with Detroit artists like Jeff Mills, UR, Carl Craig eventually led to releases like Ploy,

Domina or the incredible Enforcement ’Recall’, Sons Sound at this level of quality is bound to influence others and so, Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus created ‘Chain Reaction’. Mostly to release productions by friends such as DJ Pete Kuschnereit aka Substance, Rene Lowe aka Vainqueur, Monolake, Vladislav Delay and Porter Ricks... Pete and Rene, following in the path of their mentors, worked together for the very first release of the label ‘Scion – Emerge’, a fantastic three track record with a hypnotic bassline. The original sound is there but different from Basic Channel. At the time Pete Kuschnereit worked at Hardwax, as well he DJ’d in and around Berlin and so, brought their sound to the dance floor.

Dimitri Pike

Continued... 15

d ll of Soun Ber lin, Wa Continued

Their duo Scion also performed live in festivals and clubs along with Tikiman (aka Paul St Hilaire, dub/reggae singer already working with Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus on their new project Rhythm and Sound.) Performances that marry the better of Chain Reaction sounds and ambiences with the dub & deep voice of Paul St Hilaire resulting in something that merged their old sound with completely new sounds. Dimitri Hegemann from Tresor, knew and loved the Basic Channel sound from the beginning. His wish for years was to release a compilation of their best tracks, a challenging task since Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, always searching for something unique, didn’t want to simply compile their works like any other commercial CD. The recently created software ‘Ableton’ offered them the solution! Allowng them to mix and interact with the tracks extracted from the nine Basic Channel releases and obtain something that no one could have expected.

A CD that allows you to hear all the sounds from Basic Channel’s material but with a completely new perspective, Pete and Rene ‘arranged and processed’ this mix for Tresor and it was released as Tresor’s 200th release. The fall of 2006 saw Pete and Rene going again deeper by starting a new label ‘Scion Versions’ with a two track record that is certainly one of the best releases of the year. Surface and Immersion just sound right, an evolution from their previous work on Chain Reaction, Brothers From Monolake to Porter Ricks, Vladislav Delay to Matrix, Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus influence generates so much great music that, like previously said, they produced these artists on the Chain Reaction label. But following their big appetite for new music, they also started collaborations with musicians like Andy Caine, Chez Damier and Ron Trent for the exceptional series of records Round One, Two, Three, Four and Five, at frontiers of techno, house, dub and ambient. These five excellent records are available as a compilation ‘Round One to Five’, a must to have!

The Wackies label, Basic Replay label and Burial Mix label are definitely a result of the reggae and dub side that Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus have been exploring since 1996. They produced artists such as Cornel Campbell, Jennifer Lara, Love Joys, with the ‘See Mi Yah’ album being a collectors piece for any roots music fan. Pure electronic music lovers are treated with a four-part remix of ‘See Mi Yah’ by Ricardo Villalobos, Sleeparchive, Substance & Vainqueur, Francois Kevorkian and Carl Craig. If you are in Berlin or plan to visit the city, don’t forget to pass by Hardwax records shop where you’ll first find the music discussed here but also tons of flyers and magazines to learn about what’s going on in Berlin nightlife. If you’re lucky enough, Tresor will host one of its famous nights in a local club. If you make it here, be sure to sign the wall, buy some exotic food in the surrounding area and Berlin will appear to you under its most beautiful apparel. Check out the Kick Magazine Radio Podcast this week (December 21, 2006) for Dimitri’s Mix “Berlin, A Wall of Sound”

Dubstep he Place Bass Is T

There is a new presence in Toronto’s underground music scene. This presence is known as Dubstep and it’s quickly taking Toronto’s street by storm. If you haven’t heard of it yet, you probably haven’t been out lately. For those of you that have, you may be finding yourself getting down to what can easily be described as a new evolution of Drum ‘N’ Bass. In all actuality, this sound really isn’t that new. Dubstep dawned around the turn of the millennium out of Croydon, South London and was birthed from two similar genres, Grime and dark 2step. Although Dubstep has been around since about 2000, it remained underground, even in London, for it’s first three years or so. Ammunition Promotions is credited for coining the term Dubstep, as well as running club Forward>>, which was

critical in the genre’s development. Forward>> provided an outlet for dj’s and producers to debut new music and also ran a pirate radio show on Rinse FM hosted by DJ Kode9, owner of the infamous Hyperdub label. Forward>> was home to early residents Hatcha, known for his Dubstep Allstars Volume 1 release on Tempa, Youngsta, Kode9, Zed Bias, Jay Da Flex, Slimzee and more, all contributing to the early development of Dubstep. In 2003 nights at Forward>> gained exposure by attracting the attention of Rinse FM dj’s. This also gave way for a new wave of producers such as Benga, Skream, Digital Mystikz (Mala and Coki), Loefah, Joe Nice, D1 and Vex’d. Rinse FM became heavily vital for Dubstep as it spread it’s bass heavy word throughout urban London while supporting the genre and allowing it to evolve in new directions. The sound itself, though distinctly it’s own, is compared to and influenced by many well respected and pre-existing

genres. As mentioned earlier it carries the same garage like characteristics of Grime and 2step.There is, of course, the obvious influences of Reggae and Dub. I myself, easily relate it to an evolution of Drum ‘N” Bass, while others find it reminiscent of early Jungle. It has also been compared to Techno, which we love!!!, due to producers favouring that futuristic sound, heavy use of the synth and the glitchy sounds found in German and Detroit Minimal. Dubstep is respected for it’s lack of rules, although some elements are key in it’s successful production. Dubstep is largely instrumental, it’s dark, edgey, tempered, and echoes in an intense atmosphere somewhere between 138-142 bpm. All this comes second

Erin Commerford

Dimitri Pike

Continued... 16

17

Dubstep Continued

to Dubstep’s trademark bass. A bass so deep, so heavy, so sub-sonic it will shake the very foundation of wherever you’re rockin’ it out. And if it doesn’t, well then, they’re doing it wrong. As we say goodbye to 2006 Dubstep is blowing up gaining momentum from Skream’s 2005 release “Midnight Request Line”, arguably Dubstep’s hottest anthem. The genre also gained a massive new audience, not only in the UK but worldwide. Radio 1’s DJ Mary Anne Hobbs, in an effort to give the scene more exposure, put together a show called “Dubstep Warz” exhibiting the best of the best. The response was huge! As Dubstep now graces American soil, most notably in New York and California, it also gains a Canadian affiliate here in Toronto. In order to get some real insider information on the movement here I

ieux Vince Lem e Risquee iqu From Mus contacted Toronto’s own ambassador of Dubstep, Sek aka Brandon Smith. Sek is largely responsible for infiltrating our clubs and radio waves with the Dubstep sound. Over the past year Sek has thrown a number of events with planning help from Jessica, Mike D, and Chris Capro. He has brought down some international guests, such as Kode9 and Skream, with the help of our friends at Blackmarket Records, as well as Joe Nice from Baltimore and countless local artists. Whether or not Sek has big headliners booked, he likes to throw his parties in a very DIY manner and he likes to keep it true to the music, which he feels the audience appreciates. His focus is on sound quality, more specifically bass, rather than trendy location and girls in clear heels.* As far as the parties go, Sek is pleased with the way things are progressing, although he would like to see an increase in venues that can accommodate that demanding bass. Sek was also hosting a weekly net radio show on

www.subfm.com that is currently on hiatus and will most likely return on a monthly basis. Other aspirations of Sek include the development of his own label. This label will not be specific to Dubstep but rather a specific sound, mood and feeling. Sek prompts us to watch Dubstep grow, as there is much room for the genre to mature and mutate. For more information on where you can get your Dubstep fix visit Sek at [email protected] or catch him on myspace at http://www.myspace. com/sek.espionage. Thanks goes out to Sek for his contribution and dedication to keeping the public in the know. “Dubstep is space, pace and bass” -Joe Nice *special thanks to Chris Rock for the “girls in clear heels” line,

Erin Commerford

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do you have anything in the works? Musique Risquee is a respectable label based out of Montreal, Canada. Known for their querkiness and talented artists the label has definitely made it’s place in the minimal scene in Montreal. Vince Lemieux part founder of Musique Risquee takes some time out to tell me what’s brewing for the future. L. Who are the founders of Musique Risquee ? V. The founders of the label are Marc Leclair (Akufen), Stephen Beaupré, Scott Monteith (Deadbeat) and I L. Musique Risquee has a humour to the label, it differentiates you from other labels what gave you the idea? V. We want to have fun and not take ourselves too seriously, since there are so many labels taking care of the nerdy stuff. The reason why the covers are completely crazy come from us being tired of all these really minimal graphic oriented techno labels. L. All your album covers are unique and hilarious

V. That’s what I’m working on at the moment. For sure a release on Musique Risquée in the next year. V. The main reason for this is the great job of our graphic designer Sylvain aka Zupton (www.zupton. com). We discuss the project in the begining but after that he’s free to do whatever he wants with the cover. It’s a geat support for a designer to work with. L. Your latest release Atom TM Re-Inventing the Wheel seems to be doing really well, are you planning on doing any other projects with Atom TM? V. We asked Uwe to give us tracks for the label 2 years ago. The wait was worth it! But if ever we do something again with him it will be in a longtime because as you probably know he’s a very busy guy with his other projects (Senor Coconut, Flanger, etc...) L. I know you DJ, but do you produce as well? If so,

L. Musique Risquee also holds a monthly called Soiree Risquee, want to explain it? V. It’s a label night where we give artists on the label (and other music related people) a chance to play in Montréal. This month (December) we have Alka_ Rex from New-York for the first time in Montreal. L. How involved is Montreal,Canada in the minimal scene? V. Montréal has a really good group of people making music. Mossa, Akufen,Deadbeat, Ernesto, Pheek, Stephen Beaupré, The Mole, Luci, Guillaume and the Coutu-Dumonts, Chic Miniature. All these great artists are making incredible music and shining more in Europe than in our own country. And then there’s MUTEK that binds all of these together. It’s a big family

Lisa Sim

Continued... 19

. ux From.. ie m e L e c Vin Cont’d

that is part of a bigger family of techno. L. Where do you see the electronic music scene heading in the next fews years and the music that drives it? V. That’s something that’s been in my head for the last few weeks, even year. It will be morphing, but in which kind of transformation it will have I can’t say at the moment. L. What are your thoughts on underground vs. mainstream?

V. I would rather say Independant vs Commercial. I will always try to stay as independant as I can, to keep complete control on what I want to do. That’s why I started my label. L. The label is fairly new do you have any plans for the coming future and do you have any new artists we should keep our eyes out for? V. We have releases by Chic Miniature and The Mole coming real soon. A really cool artist from

ara tima Cam Profile: Fa

Toronto called Jason Hopfner will be releasing something with us really soon.Also we have this new artist called Jichael Mackson from Germany. Akufen will be releasing some new stuff in the next year. and for sure a lot of other risky music...

S. What inspired you and Pope to start !BESO JODIDO! ? F. I was looking to do a small regular night, this opportunity came up with Pope (who suggested the !BESO JODIDO! name) at The Chelsea Room and here we are.

S. Any info on what is to come i.e. artists? F. We’ll be seeing some good names that are in town for the holidays coming by. S. Any cheap drink deals? F. Always.

Lisa Sim

20

S. What should people expect when they come out? F. Always electronic, each week has a different base such as minimal techno or house, down-tempo, dub-step, dirty disco or electonica (i.e. Sek [Subtrac] regulary plays our dub themed nights).

S. Who is minimal.ca? F. A lot of people have worked on these events, but the main players include Scott Cormier (who owns the site), Tom Kuo, and myself.

S. Where would you like to go with it? F. I just want to keep doing parties with solid music in a cool atmosphere. S. What parties have you done in the past? F. We’ve had parties with intense visuals by Derivatives and Peter Mettler and our musical guests have included Deadbeat, Adam Marshall and Tinkertoy among others. S. What should we expect for the future ? F. More good parties.

S. What direction would you like It to go in?

www.myspace.com/ beso_jodido

F. The overall idea is to have good talent playing what they really want for people who appreciate it at a chill party.

Sara Scruton

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