Upcoming Documentary "God Said Give 'Em Drum Machines" Seeks To Share Lost Stories Of Detroit's Underground Techno Scene

Dance music hasn’t always been EDM bros and globetrotting DJs. The history of dance music is often overshadowed by the present day highly commercialized version of it that’s dominated primarily by white men. The roots of techno music, specifically, saw its beginnings courtesy of black producers in Detroit. In fact, producer/DJ Juan Atkins is credited with coming up with the term “techno”. Director Kristian Hill and producer Jennifer Washington seek to tell the full history of Detroit’s techno scene in their upcoming documentary, God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines: The Lost Stories Of The Detroit Underground. The film project is already underway but needs help funding the last bit of production in addition to the cost for some music clearances and has taken to Kickstarter for a little financial assistance. With just a week to go, the Kickstarter is currently only at 40% of their goal, so there’s still time left for you to pitch in on this wonderful project.

You can learn more about the project via the video below.

[SONG OF THE DAY] + [INTERVIEW] Too Many T's - "Patterns"

photo credit: Phoebe Montague

The loveliest London lads known as Too Many T’s are some of the most creative people I’ve had the pleasure of coming in contact with. When they’re not releasing cheeky videos rapping about bees to the tune of Destiny’s Child’s “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” or enlisting Alexa (yes THAT Alexa) to rap with them, the duo have been working tirelessly on visuals to accompany their debut full-length, South City, which was released last year. I delightedly tuned in for the debut of “Hang Tight”, the first ever one-take video shot on Facebook live and have been consistently inspired by their persistence in taking their innovation to new heights with the release of every video.

Their creation to accompany “Patterns” is their latest tour de force, which will be premiering live on YouTube Premier, a feature that allows the creator set its upload like a premiere and watch together with their viewers when the video goes live, and like a live stream on YouTube, both the creator and viewers will be able to engage in a discussion at the comments section. 

Yours truly got a sneak peek of the stunning video, which is the first time that gaming hardware has been used to both capture and render a music video. Get this, y’all: it was painstakingly put together over the course of over 600 hours of production and rendering with the help of triff (born Stuart Trevor), a video game artist who had been exploring motion capture using an Xbox Kinect camera, more conventionally seen attached to a games console. His work repurposes the camera to capture both movement and depth, which he then places within CGI environments created using visual effects software such as 3ds Max, Redshift and After Effects – which is then output through two powerful gaming-orientated graphics cards.

The final result is nothing short of insanely impressive. “Patterns” is a song about overcoming mental health issues and the struggle to escape patterns of bad habits which the band fell into on tour. The scenes throughout the video are meant to showcase how dark and isolating this uphill battle can be. I’d say they absolutely nailed that aesthetic. As if this wasn’t already mind blowing enough, the jaw dropper of a video is set premiere at the prestigious BBC Amplify event at The Rattle in Tobacco Dock with three daily screenings on November 8th - 10th. The screening will include a presentation by the duo on how new artists should innovate and collaborate with emerging technology, and will also include a demonstration by Play On Player - a new interactive app allowing users to immerse themselves within the song by experimenting with the stems of the track, creating their own fan versions. 

As can be expected I had too many Qs for Too Many Ts about all of this but managed to contain myself enough to only shoot over a few to these dope ass dudes. Peep our convo below!

still from “Patterns” video courtesy of Too Many T’s

How did you manage to link up with triff?

Standaloft: On the information highway.

Leon Rhymes: We knew we wanted to create something special for the “Patterns” video - something we’d not seen before. So from the start we knew we needed more brains than just our own.

Standaloft: We began by reaching out to our extended community to see what and who people knew. One of those people was the legend that is Stuart Trevor or as we like to call him, Triff.

In the past you guys have rapped with Alexa, now with Triff's help you've essentially hacked a Kinect to shoot mo-cap for "Patterns", what inspires you to tinker with new technologies in unconventional ways? 

S: Creativity and limitations. 

LR: And the desire to explore opportunity. 

S: We always want to create something that we’re proud of musically and visually and by incorporating new technologies it forces us to think outside of convention.

LR: Couple this with financial limitations of an unsigned band and you get to a special place of creative innovation. 

“We always want to create something that we’re proud of musically and visually and by incorporating new technologies it forces us to think outside of convention. ”

— Standaloft, Too Many T's

How does video extend the narrative of your music? 

S: With the rise of affordable professional camera equipment the accompanying music video to the track has become almost expected.

LR: And the a visual is such a powerful tool - just take a walk down the street or a train across town to see the amount of adverts everywhere. Not only is the visual expected we’re also fighting against more visuals than ever to stand out. 

S: So it’s important to do try and make something different or something only you can do. 

LR: I think the idea of a story is important - it’s why stories are still read and will survive all digital technology. So if you can create a storyline to run alongside the song I think that’s really strong. 

S: That’s something we did with the music video for “Panther”. 

LR: For “Patterns” the video enhances the mood and feeling within the song. For “Panther” it was more of a simultaneous (and different) storyline running alongside the track. 

still from “Patterns” video courtesy of Too Many T’s

What's the symbolism behind the different scenes depicted in "Patterns"? 

LR: This was very much led by Triff. We’d always seen the song as a whole but he broke the track up into  6 scenes + an epic intro. 

S: What this did though was treat all the scenes and characters in isolation which really works in the world of the song and that feeling of being alone with no one to turn to but your demons. 

LR: It enhances the overall feeling throughout the song.

How do you manage life on tour so you don't fall into the same patterns that inspired the song?  

LR: Honestly!? Not gonna lie, it’s difficult - can resist anything but temptation! 

S: Late nights can help you lose the days and we’ve had to be professional when on tour this year. We’ve grown up (slightly) and learnt to know our limits. 

LR: You need to make mistakes sometime to learn about yourself. 

What's next for you guys? 

LR: We’re certainly not stopping here and really excited about the next 12 months!

S: We’ve had a really successful year in France so we’re working on a French connection project with our label Banzai Lab and all the artist we’ve met out there - stay tuned for that cos its gonna be sick! We’ve recently started writing some new tunes for the second album as well. Watch out 2019, you’re getting had!

LR: More immediately we’re going on tour in Australia and South East Asia for three months January to March with gigs in Melbourne, Sydney, Bangkok, Chang Mai, Hanoi, Phnom Pehn, Tokyo and more TBC.

UPDATE: “Patterns” premiered LIVE today (11/6) on YouTube at 7:30PM GMT (2:30PM EST). Check out the video below!

5 Videos To Help You Coast Your Way Through Your Friday Afternoon

Friday afternoon got me like.

Let’s be real, you have no interest in doing any real work on Friday afternoon. If you’re like me it’s a fun challenge to see just how little work you can do but still look like you’re being productive.

If you’re at a loss of worthwhile distractions, fear not. I’ve got just the distract-a-thon for you!

‘Black Mirror pop’ artist Big Data released this 10-ish minute trailer for his latest single, “Monster” and it’s as delightfully dystopian as one could expect from our AI obsessed friend.

My latest obsession in life is the YouTube series Two Minutes To Late Night, which is a metal late night talk show featuring backing band Mutoid Man and is hosted by fictional character Gwarsenio Hall (played by Jordan Olds). I happened to sporadically attend one of their tapings at legendary metal club Saint Vitus and have been hooked on the show ever since. Anyway, like all late night talk shows the episodes feature pre-recorded sketches and the second installment of their Poseur Cops sketch will have you laughing until you’re crying. The nice thing about 2M2LN is you don’t really have to be a huge metal fan to feel like you’re in on the jokes, so music fans of all genres can appreciate their brand of humor.

If you enjoyed the techo-making robots created by artist Moritz Simon Geist and want to see an in-depth look at his cute little music making machines, this behind the scenes video is super informative.

Casual fans of Gorillaz will appreciate this super detailed recap of the Gorillaz universe from their early beginnings to present day. This dude is so thorough with the band’s timeline that while I feel a little guilty that I haven’t spent more time immersing myself in the band’s carefully crafted world, I do have a much stronger appreciation with how just much effort goes into the project.

Y’all know I try to encourage people to love Beck as much as I do as often as possible so I’m rounding out my reccos for today with a close examination of one of Beck’s wackier videos (and we know he’s good for the weird stuff) for his single, “Sexx Laws”, off his 1999 album, Midnite Vultures. I always knew that Beck went super deep with his weirdness, but the painfully obscure inspiration he references in “Sexx Laws” based on what this guy pulled up just further prove that he is my weird cool dad and I hope that maybe one day I might be even half as awesome as him.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Humans - "Going Late"

Good news, everyone! We’ve finally got a release date for the new Humans record!!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻Oh my good Lorde do I need this batch of vibes like yesterday but I suppose I can wait until November 16th. The Vancouver duo chose to unveil the details alongside dropping the title track, “Going Late” complete with a video that’s basically a walking advertisement for the dope ass bomber jackets they sell as part of their merch offerings (the “Girls” edition of the Boys & Girls bomber is like legit at the top of my Mixmas List).

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to see about selling one of my kidneys so I can look cooler than all of you every fall for the rest of my life.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Yak - "Bellyache"

Photo credit: Zackery Michael

I have been cheering along London’s Yak for quite some time now and I am SO THRILLED that their latest single, “Bellyache” was released on Third Man Records last week. These dudes are the real fuckin’ deal and I genuinely hope that being on a label like TMR will get them to the audiences that they deserve.

Believe it or not, the song was written while frontman Oli Burslem was living out of the back of his car. As he explains, "I was living out the back of my £205 car, completely broke as I had put all the money we had from the label into the band. It really felt like the last piece of music we would ever make and that we had to put everything we had into it. That's where the last lyric "if you're going for broke just make sure you don't choke" comes from."

Real. Fuckin. Deal.

Love them!

The band will be hitting the road in the UK at the end of the month. Hopefully they’ll make it to the US of A early next year. Fingers crossed!

Yak's upcoming tour dates:

October 23rd: The Crescent, York
October 24th: Think Tank?, Newcastle
October 25th: Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh
October 26th: Picture House Social, Sheffield
October 27th: Deaf Institute, Manchester
October 30th: The Horn, St Albans
October 31th: The Exchange, Bristol
November 1st: Heartbreakers, Southampton
November 2nd: The Haunt, Brighton
November 7th: Bethnal Green Working Mens Club, London

[SONG OF THE DAY] Roosevelt - "Shadows"

Earlier today Cologne based synth-pop artist Roosevelt unveiled the video for his latest single, “Shadows”, a song about past love. “A long-lost companion; someone that you were close to in the past, someone that still haunts you, that you can't get out of your head,” says Marius Lauber of the song’s inspiration. The song comes from his forthcoming sophomore album, Young Romance, which is out on September 28th courtesy of City Slang / Greco-Roman.

I’m not normally into music videos very much, but it’s been a long time since I watched one and thought, “oh no it me”. Basically the premise of the video is a woman is at a pool party and the entire time she’s distracted from her date because she’s staring down Marius Lauber behind a Wurlizter the entire time. While I’m not exclusively into crushing on musicians, being really creative just makes crushes cuter for some reason, right? Back me up here!

Anyway, as can be expected given how fuckin smooove Roosevelt jams are, he’s added a 2nd show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on December 3rd by popular demand. Best know I’ll be there but I don’t like dancing by myself so you better come out! If you’re not in NYC, his headlining tour kicks off on October 21st in Copenhagen before making his way to North America in December.

Roosevelt 2018 Tour Dates:

10/21 - Copenhagen, DE @ Pumpehuset

10/22 - Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich

10/23 - Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall

10/24 - Berlin, DE @ Astra

10/25 - Munich, DE @ Muffathalle

10/27 - Vienna, AU @ Flex

10/28 - Zurich, SWI @ Mascotte

10/30 - Milan, IT @ Ohibo

11/02 - Aimens, FR @ La Lune Des Pirates

11/03 - Bordeaux, FR @ Iboat

11/04 - Brussels, BE @ AB Club

11/06 - Paris, FR @ Gaîté Lyrique

11/08 - London, UK @ Oval Space

11/09 - Manchester, UK @ YES

11/16 - Madrid, ES @ Sala Gotham

11/17 - Barcelona, ES @ Razzmatazz 2

11/21 - Nijmengen, NL @ Doornroosje

11/22 - Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg

12/03 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

12/04 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

12/05 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry

12/06 - Washington, DC @ U Hall

12/07 - Boston, MA @ Middle East

12/09 - Montreal, QC @ Belmont

12/10 - Toronto, ON @ Mod Club

12/12 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge

12/14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teregram Ballroom

12/15 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room

12/16 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar

12/18 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall

12/20 - Portland, OR @ Holocene

12/21 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos

[WATCH] Moritz Simon Geist Makes Techno With Music Robots

Hey! Wanna see something that will break your fucking brain? 

I have had to sit on this video for an entire week and basically since I saw it I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. 

My two favorite things have collided courtesy of Moritz Simon Geist, an electrical engineer turned musician based in Germany. From his upcoming debut EP, The Material Turn (out on October 12), please feast your eyes and ears on his first offering, "Entropy", which I am having trouble not watching for the 30th time while writing about this. For this EP, Geist has built robots to act as his musical instruments to make techno music. As in, there are no synths or traditional instruments involved (unless you count the "drone guitar," which is essentially a motor attached to an electric guitar). 

Robots. Making. Techno.

CAN YOU EVEN HANDLE YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!? BECAUSE I CANNOT!

I think the thing that I love the most about this is how he's managed to bring a deeply tangible aspect into electronic music through this project. As the music making process becomes increasingly simplified, the performance aspect, especially in electronic music, has a problem of essentially being a table, a laptop, and confetti cannons/LED screens/etc. Don't get me wrong, I love a good dance party, but I feel like a lot of times we take the craftsmanship that goes into these records for granted because the only way to make a live show interesting is to add pyrotechnics. I am now more upset than I was previously about not making it to Moogfest this past year because I would KILL to see this live. I know I'd be conflicted about dancing to this because I'd be taking my eyes off him tuning a robot who plays water glasses. Or would I be more entranced watching little styrofoam balls pulsating through a cylinder as a "pneumatic hi-hat" of sorts that I'd forget to dance? I DON'T KNOW BUT I WOULD LOVE TO FIND OUT! 

okay imma stop talking now WATCH THIS!!

Now that you're obsessed too, you can go pre-order this EP over on Bandcamp. There's also a full-length (!!!!) coming November 16th that's appropriately titled Robotic Electronic Music. Meanwhile, if you want to see how some of these dope robots are made, you can watch the below behind the scenes video. 

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE! 

[SONG OF THE DAY] Valley - "Closer To the Picture"

Toronto quartet Valley released the video for their catchy ass single, "Closer To The Picture" this week, so I am taking advantage of this loophole to write this up (I'm tryna make SOTD just be for things that are a week or so old tops). If you've been on a LANY or The 1975 kinda vibe lately, this will definitely be right up your alley. 

Formed by a serendipitous overbooking at the studio that the (initial) two pairs were going to work music on, this single follows up their debut EP, The Room Is White, which was released in 2016. Described as "an anthem for outcasts", you'll see that the video for "Closer To The Picture" leans very hard into this aesthetic. 

When (not if) you find yourself enamored by their infectious poptastic sensibilities, you can try to give the band a ring at 1 (888) 903-8765, which is their dedicated number for fans to call in to chat.  

Happy Saturday!