Apart from the Planet E Classics 12″ and those recent remixes for the label’s 20th anniversary, Carl Craig’s output as as Psyche and BFC is relatively difficult to come by – at least when polyvinyl chloride is your preferred music storage. Carl released his very firstrecords under those monikers on Derrick May’s labels (I think Psyche came first, but I think it’s mentioned here.) Since then, the best option to get hold of the music was a digital release. Planet E has reissued some of Carl’s albums in recent years, including 69 and Paperclip People, now it’s time for some of his oldest material to shine again.A1. Psyche – Elements
B1. Psyche – From Beyond
B2. Psyche – Neurotic Behavior
C1. BFC – Chicken Noodle Soup
D1. BFC – Galaxy
D2. BFC – D. Funk
E1. Psyche – Crackdown
F1. Psyche – Andromeda
F2. BFC – Evolution
The remastered version of Elements 1989-1990 is a vinyl-exclusive, limited to only 1,000 copies. You can get your copy from Boomkat or Rush Hour.
Paperclip People is one of Carl Craig’s longest running projects, the debut release Oscillator EP was released in 1991 on a small Detroit record label. Between then and the first release of The Secret Tapes of Dr. Eich in 1996, Carl released some of his best known records including Throw, The Climax/Clear and Present and Steam.
In fact these were so popular, that several releases with different versions came out on a handful of labels. Some of them are easy to find in record stores or on the internet, especially the Planet E reissues. If you’re a die hard collector it must be tough finding all of them, how did people even keep track before Discogs?
Personally, I don’t care so much about it being remastered, who even know what it means. The only downer for me is the new artwork, but it’s the unplayed records I’m looking forward to. If you’re after the first issue, second hand copies aren’t expensive. The reissue is available on CD and 2-LP, I haven’t found a digital version yet (iTunes sells the 1996 version!)
While I’m at it, I should also mention there’s a live recording from a 1998 gig in San Francisco. Good music and hilariously funny!
Another much anticipated album is Zomby‘s forthcoming Dedication. Two of its tracks are available now on a highly limited 7-inch and one of them is a free download.
Drexciya‘s DJ Stingray contributes to Electronic Explorations second Legends Guest Mix Series, playing a selection fast paced techno.
Another Detroit legend, Planet E founder Carl Craig, has been interviewed by We Love Music. The video also features comments by the likes of Derrick May, Paul Woolford and The Mole.
Lastly, here’s the sad story of Andy Baio, who recently got sued by Kind of Blue cover photographer Jay Maisel for “using” his picture for his Kind of Bloop project.
I haven’t been feeling that well lately, but that also means I had a lot of time to go through some mixes. This week I want to catch up on some I’ve been enjoying in the last couple of days.
My favourite comes from FaltyDL, who is also one of my favourite producers these days. He’s got a new album coming out this year and talked to Dummy Mag about that. And yes, he also made them a pretty good mix. No tracklist, but I’ve spotted some bits by Floating Points and Oriol.
Coming in as second is this live recording by Greymatter, who’s been playing in São Paulo the other week. The whole thing was recorded and is now available from his SoundCloud page.
Last week, Benji B had a chat with the legendary Carl Craig on his radio show. For me that show was a first highlight of the year, as they revisited some of my favourite music and Carl had some nice stories to share (I never heard that Recloose story in detail!) While the show is still on the iPlayer (where you should always support your favourites), you might want to download the show for later.
While we’re at Carl Craig, you might also want to get your hands on the Essential Mix.
If you prefer some darker sounds, check out Untold‘s guest mix for Clash Magazine, it’s been around for a while already. And for more of that soun check Pinch‘s contribution to the Resident Advisor podcast.
Austrian producer Innaseen has sent me some of his music in the past, but I never got around writing about it. His Train Wreck Mix for RBMA Radio is something I don’t want to leave unmentioned.
Lastly, here’s the all new FACT Podcast, put together by another hero of mine: Photek, whose comeback already made a major impact this year.
With Planet E turning 20 this year, I’m sure this isn’t the last post on Carl Craig to appear on this side. Here is a short interview in which the Detroit producer talks about his beginnings and how he started the label.
If you haven’t checked out Carl’ humorous take on bootlegs, you should do so now. There are currently five tracks you can download for free!
Here’s the “C2 re-appropriated re-edit of the appropriated version by Unknown Artist Track 3 that is The Climax“. Confused? A bootleg of this classic Paperclip People’s made the rounds and Carl Craig is taking it with some humor – he’s stealing it back.
He is also inviting you to support him in his cause, so download his re-edit of the re-edit (!) and if you’re a musician make a version of your own. And that’s what Quinto and Guy’Hom did, listen to their versions below.
Watch out for more versions on Carl’s Twitter account.
Maybe not quite as good the Stylin tribute to Carl Craig, but still a great retrospective of Planet E‘s late discography. But then it’s really all about this interview, the mix by Monty Luke is only a bonus.
01. Paul Woolford – Achilles (promo edit)
02. Franck Roger – Re-Scape
03. Agent X – Driftin
04. Kirk Degiorgio – Vesuvio
05. Quadrant – Hyperprism (edit)
06. Psycatron feat. Blake Baxter – She Is Music (promo edit)
07. Newworldaquarium – Trespassers
08. Reference – Best Night in Detroit
09. The Oliverwho Factory – Nightlights (C2 Bonus Beats)
10. Monty Luke – Art, Love & War (C2 Version)
11. Paperclip People – Slam Dance
12. Paperclip People – Clear and Present
Resident Advisor have a little anniversary to celebrate, their 200th podcast went online today. It was put together by no other than Detroit legend Carl Craig.
The guys from Warm have another great offering this week, a mix from Chris of Amsterdam’s label (and record-store) Rush Hour. It focuses on early Chicago house and comes with a nice interview.
Also hosted by Warm is this new mix by Alex From Tokyo, called NYC Edition.
Greymatter has completed the third of his 2Steppin Into Tomorrow mixes, featuring new music from Seiji, Cosmin TRG, Floating Points, Roska and more.
Carl talks about playing in bands, how he met Juan Atkins and explains the difference between house and techno music. More videos from the RBMA can be found here.
I didn’t expect another record with remixes of last year’s Recomposed album, but being a big fan of Carl Craig and Moritz von Oswald, I’m glad about the news. The first volume included remixes from Ricardo Villalobos and Carl Craig himself, now it’s Moritz von Oswald and François Kevorkian stepping up.
On the A-side comes a dancefloor-oriented collaboration between Kevorkian and Oswald. The flipside holds a solo mix from Oswald, reminiscent of his Rhythm & Sound output – quite dubby with very subtle use of percussion.
As Carl Craig’s Planet E label has finally landed on SoundCloud, there are some older mixtapes for you to listen to. My favourite is this Paperclip People live-set from 1998, recorded at San Francisco’s Fever. Also available is this mix for the Compost Radio Show, in which Carl plays some older music that inspired him. Unfortunately, these mixes are not officially available for download and can only be listened to through the SoundCloud page.
Just today, Bodytonic has put out their latest podcast and of course it comes from no other than Carl Craig! It features the likes of Donald Byrd, Tribe, Detroit Experiment, Alice Coltrane or Bill Laswell – actually Carl announces the tracks he is playing!
While I’m at it, here are two more for you: The first was recorded for RBMA Radio in Istanbul, the second is a recording from Springsix festival.
Update Apparently, there are other sources to the mentioned Paperclip People show
Dec 2, 2009 Let me add a sixth mix to the selection, recorded at TV Bar in Detroit
This all took place around the time when Craig put out the Recomposed album with Moritz von Oswald (who plays a small part in this). Here’s the full video-recording from the evening.
Luckily, I also came across this audio-recording of the concert. For those who want to listen to it on their stereo, iPod or whatever you prefer.
The arrival of the 69 box-set and the Carl Craig presents TRIBE concert got me listening to a lot of classic Planet E material. I didn’t know the label had a page on Vimeo, so here are some videos I found.
This video is a joke, of course. It was filmed after Planet E signed a deal with distributor Caroline. Carl Craig outlines his visions of how to take over the world and you get to see footage of Detroit with music from the label playing in the background. Makes me wonder how Carl managed not to laugh once in this!
Another video captures moments of his performance at Centre Pompidou in Paris. Carl was supported by Wendell Harrison of Tribe (saxophone & clarinet), Mad Mike of Underground Resistance (keyboards) and Kelvin Sholar (keyboards). Two tracks from that recording are available on 12-inch through Planet E.
It’s been a while since I have written about Carl Craig and Tribe, but only today I stumbled across this video on the lovely Beyondjazz blog.
This concert was recorded a couple of days ago at Jazz à la Villette in Paris. The band on stage: Marcus Belgrave (trumpet), Doug Hammond (saxophone, clarinet), Phil Ranelin (trombone), Kelvin Sholar (piano), Damon Warmack (bass), Jamel Brown (percussion), Wendell Harrison (saxophone, clarinet) and Carl Craig (knobs).
Tribe’s new album Rebirth, which was produced by Carl Craig, is already available on iTunes. A physical release will follow on October 6th on the Planet E sublabel Community Projects.
Sept 16, 2009 Guess what, I just stumbled across a recording of the concert!
Apart from the Planet E Classics 12″ and those recent remixes for the label’s 20th anniversary, Carl Craig’s output as as Psyche and BFC is relatively difficult to come by – at least when polyvinyl chloride is your preferred music storage. Carl released his very first records under those monikers on Derrick May’s labels (I think Psyche came first, but I think it’s mentioned here.) Since then, the best option to get hold of the music was a digital release. Planet E has reissued some of Carl’s albums in recent years, including 69 and Paperclip People, now it’s time for some of his oldest material to shine again.
