In the middle of this long pause we’re taking, some recording from our previous sessions came up from the crates, so we decided that it’s time to recap what has been done by JMM crew, till now.

Just Music Makers – Session #01 (25/11/2009)

For our first event we guested the fascinating modern electro producer Annie Hall from Madrid and the upcoming local talent Vaghe Stelle.

Words: Review (Italian) / Review (English)
Sounds: Annie Hall Live Set / Vaghe Stelle Live Set / passEnger+xluve Live Set

Just Music Makers – Session #02 (23/06/2010)

Proper second JMM event with two of our London’s favorite producers: Plant43 and Jo Johnson, of Ai, Semantica, Further Records fame.

Words: Review (Italian) / Review (English)
Sounds: Plant43 Live Set / Jo Johnson Live Set / passEnger+xluve Live Set

Just Music Makers – Session #03 (18/12/2010)

A night dedicated to Eclipsemusic record label, featuring live sets from the label’s artists (Decoside, Edanticonf, passEnger+xluve) and to the intersection between contemporary dance and live electronic music thanks to Karma Dance Project.

Words: Article (Italian) / Article (English)
Audio not available

Just Music Makers – Session #04 (13/01/2011)

Almost a dream come true, Detroit legendary producer Gerald Mitchell (Underground Resistance, Los Hermanos) finally in town for a dj/live set.

Words: Article (Italian)
Sounds: Gerald Mitchell dj/live set

Just Music Makers – Session #05 (05/04/2011)

A special session dedicated to the life and music of Sun Ra: we screened the cult movie “Space Is The Place” and hosted a specially dedicated live set from Ra.H / Morphosis.

Words: Article (Italian) / Article (English)
Sounds: Ra.H / Morphosis Live Set

Just Music Makers – Session #06 (22/04/2011)

Session dedicated to some Italian favorite: the 16 years old vintage prodigy Furtherset and the advanced-idm audio/video group Riga.

Words: Article (Italian) / Article (English)
Sounds: Riga Live Set / Furtherset Live Set

Just Music Makers – Session #07 (20/07/2011)

A lovely deep Techno night with one of our italian favorite, Edanticonf, and a wonderfully shaped emotional set by one of our heroes, Nick Dunton aka 65d Mavericks.

Words: Article (Italian)
Sounds: 65d Mavericks Live Set / Edanticonf Live Set

65d Mavericks, Annie Hall, Chew-Z, Edanticonf, Jo Johnson, Karma Dance Project, Los Hermanos, Morphosis, passEnger, Plant43, Ra.H, Vaghe Stelle, xluve Hide

RAI Nuova Musica / The Future Sound Of Classical is an interesting appointment dedicated to the juxtaposition of contemporary classical and electronic music,
Started in 2010 by the National Symphonic Orchestra and Xplosiva Association, RAI Nuova Musica takes place in the wonderful RAI Auditorium in Torino, Italy.
Its programme usually includes a series of contemporary classical pieces performed by the RAI National Orchestra and a performance by an electronic music act. The latter usually performs a classic dj/live set and a live reworking of one of the pieces performed the same night. It’s a rare occasion in which the two worlds really can get in touch.

Me and Marco (passEnger + xluve) have been invited to perform at RAI Nuova Musica on Feb. 4th, 2011, and we delivered a special live set, in between broken rhythms, ambient/idm-ish sequences and weird machine-driven improvisations.

passEnger + xluve Live @ RAI Nuova Musica | Auditorium RAI, Torino, Italy (Feb. 4th, 2011)

In addition to the live set we were asked to rework a selected piece performed that same evening: ‘The Hague Hacking’ for two pianos and big ensemble, written by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.

Performed by RAI National Orchestra, featuring Katia and Marielle Labècque at pianos and directed by Frank Ollu, The Hague Hacking is a beautiful, complex, 20′ piece that we reworked live using the audio from the rehearsal recorded the same morning.

Enjoy the results!

passEnger + xluve – Live Rework of ‘The Hague Hacking’ by Louis Andriessen

Music Makers, passEnger, RAI, xluve Hide

First mix of 2011, some stuff I love from african disco classics to ’70s re-edits, from deep disco/house hybrids to detroit-ish house music.
Closing the set with an Omar-S classic, and waiting for February 25th when me and xluve will play live along him and NWAQ at Bleep43, London!

Enjoy,
passEnger

passEnger – Go slow get down Mix by passEnger on Soundcloud

FREE DOWNLOAD by clicking the small arrow on the right of the player.

/// Tracklist

01. Unknown Artist – Get Together
02. Geraldo Pino – African Hustle
03. Christy Essien – You Can’t Change A Man
04.  Jackey Beavers – Mr. Bump Man (Theo Parrish Re-Edit)
05. Unknown Artist – Wishing Love (LTJ Rework Edit)
06.  Brass Construction – Walkin’ The Line (Riccio Edit)
07. Theo Parrish – Stop Bajon (T.P. Translation)
08.  Man Friday – Love Honey, Love Heartache
09. 6th Borough Project – Hang On
10.  NI – Where Is The Compassion
11.  Eddie Fowlkes – Reach Your Soul
12.  Quike – Black Skin
13.  Soundstream – Dance With Me
14.  Omar-S – U

cratedigga, dj mixes, passEnger Hide

Here we are again, finally!
JUST MUSIC MAKERS session #3 finally took its shape…

“Eclipse at the Cube”

Home to big events like the ‘Club To Club’ and ‘Movement’ Festivals, Torino has still got room to host smaller events and push alternative ways to showcase electronic music.

At JMM, our night dedicated to the underground and stimulating side of electronic music, we always try hard, guesting electro live acts in museums or jamming machine-driven techno in rock clubs.

This time JMM discovers the intersections between live electronic music and classical/contemporary dance, hosting a clash of arts in a new, dark venue, aptly named ‘The Cube’.

After having hosted cult and underground acts like Annie Hall, Plant43, Jo Johnson and Vaghe Stelle, the new session is dedicated to the deep side of Techno, with the Turin-based label Eclipsemusic showcasing its artists and new releases.
On the music side we have the new signing to Eclipsemusic, the Barcelona based Edanticonf, plus the label’s deep/tech act Rob.Bardini, Decoside, passEnger+xluve (invited to play at december’s Bleep43 along Surgeon, Dj Pete and Donato Dozzy) and the label’s boss Francesco Stella.
On the dance side, the Paris company Karma Dance Project will perform specific choreographies to some soon-to-be published tracks from the label.

This experimental project will bring together music and dance so that each art form enhances and complements the other, making for a unique experience that will both resonate and captivate the audience..

See you in the Cube!

Eclipsemusic, Edanticonf, Francesco Stella, Karma Dance Project, Music Makers, passEnger, Roberto Bardini, xluve Hide

Time for some self promotion here.. passEnger (me, one half of JMM crew) has got some new music released!

Turin based Eclipsemusic has just published Black Varian, a 12″ that follows my previous release The Funk/The Fall for the label.

The original version of “Black Varian” was featured on my digital release out on Radiance Records (Venice based netlabel, now closed) back in 2008. Eclipsemusic’s label manager fell in love with it, and now, improved and remastered by Aaron-Carl (Wallshaker, Detroit), Black Varian has finally landed on vinyl, along 2 remixes courtesy of Paul Mac and Estroe.

…good to see how much a track can travel. From its home to Venice, then unavailable after Radiance’s closure, and resurrected to enjoy a trip to Detroit, being mastered there, remixed in Holland and England, pressed in France and now back in his hometown, just on a different physical mean.

..which, of course is available at discogs, rushhour, underground gallery (jp), decks, juno…

///

A passEnger track has been included in The Bad Mask EP, published by Tabernacle Records. The label is managed by the Glaswegian guys who throw the “Slabs of the Tabernancle” parties, and the 12″ includes production from various artists that have played at the party. Other tracks included are by abstract techno maestro Arne Weinberg, Ai and A.R.T. publishing artist The Third Man, and John Heckle, who already released on Sula Muse and Mathematics.

Placid Haze, the track included in the record, is a special one for me, glad it finally found a home in such good company.

///

Some time ago I co-curated the compilation In Acque Libere, born to support the campaign for the publicity of water in Italy. It contains music from Turin-based artists only, and it’s available for free download at the Torino Sistema Solare web page.

This is the track I provided for the compilation.

Eclipsemusic, passEnger, Slabs of the Tabernacle Hide

I always found out that there are some minor themes in music, which lead musicians to really express something personal and powerful thru music.
Of course major themes like ‘love’, ‘loneliness’, ‘rage’ and so on are quite standardized and predictable in the way they are expressed.  Some others, a little less common in music, like (the first that comes to my mind) ‘future’, ‘travelling’, and in this case, ‘sun’, are anyway so powerful and specific that the musicians are often “more” challenged to fully express sonically what they perceive from the theme itself.

I’ve always been fascinated by the way the ‘sun’ leads musicians to create warm, suffused, kaleidoscope-like melodies and shining, translucent and psychedelic atmospheres.

So finally I decided to pick the most inspiring sun-related tracks to do a kind of podcast. It is ideally divided into three part: at first, the tracks with most direct relation to it (kind of a morning/rising section) then the “psychedelic/opalescent” section, and finally a more dark/introspective/spacey section that leads to a peaceful conclusion.

Hope you like the work, catch the feeling and of course enjoy the music.

passEnger – The Sun Mix by passEnger

Free Download by clicking the small arrow on the right of the player.

/// Tracklist:

01.  Herbie Hancock – Sun Touch
02.  DJ Rels – Sunrise
03.  The Politik – Black Sun
04.  Linkwood – Hear The Sun
05.  Caribou – Sun (Jazzy Gentle Solare Mix)
06.  Ulrich Schnauss – Sunday Evening In Your Street
07.  Boards of Canada – Hey Saturday Sun
08.  Ashra – Sunrain
09.  Sinner DC – Sunrized
10.  Annie Hall – Sunday Reflections
11.  Edanticonf – A Night With The Sun
12.  Junior Boys – Under The Sun
13.  Erell Ranson – When The Sun Lies Down
14.  Reggie Dokes & The Kuumba Project – Black Sun
15.  Aroy Dee – Sun
16.  154 – Sun
17.  Soultek – Sunny Day In Montego Bay
18.  Ras G – Sun Behind The Clouds (skit)
19.  Theo Parrish – Suns Of Osiris

cratedigga, dj mixes, passEnger Hide

Before the review of the night, we would like to congratulate the guests of session # 1 for their recent exploits: Annie Hall has been called to perform at Sonar, and Vaghe Stelle just played at Dissonanze. Good results for them and great satisfaction for us.

///

The second episode of JMM was held on June 23rd in the wonderful area called “Cortile della Farmacia” at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Turin.

For this occasion we were honored by the presence of two British artists which fit perfectly with the JMM sonic and personal attitude: Plant43 and Jo Johnson. New generation electronic artists, they gather inspiration from the classic world of Techno and Electro stretching those blueprint with newer sonic aesthetics and deep personal sensibility. They also co-founded the Bleep43 resource, whose events hosted artists like Surgeon, Dj Pete, Dj Stingray, Derrick May, Omar S, Convextion, Legowelt and many others.
Simplicity, attention to details and deep immersion into personal and uncompromising worlds were the keys to their live set.

To complete the line up, Branda J opened the night building a tight and personal path with hiphop instrumentals and electronic rhythms from the new generations; then Marco and me (passEnger+xluve) introduced the guests with our machine-driven live set.

Here you can find some videos and pics on the night plus the recording of the three live sets, freely downloadable.

/// Plant43

Download: Plant43 Live @ JMM (right click + save as)

Emile Facey, from London, has published record on cult labels such as Ai Records, Semantica and Cultivated Electronics (Myspace | Discogs).

His live set has been appreciated for its intensity and intransigence, thanks to a cohesive and articulate musical path, built around complex electronic architectures and deep visionariety.

/// Jo Johnson

Download: Jo Johnson Live @ JMM (right click + save as)

Jo Johnson (Myspace), from London as well, caught the listeners with a smooth but intense live set, built around lyrical melodies and emotional urgency, without losing the focus on groove effectiveness.

/// passEnger + xluve

Download: passEnger & xluve Live @ JMM (right click + save as)

An extract from our new live set, more hardware machines and improvisation than usual, same cross-genre pollination as usual.

The youtube channel where to find every JMM video is here: Just Music Makers | Youtube

Thanks to all the supporters, see you next session!

/// JMM

Branda J, Jo Johnson, Los Afrobulos Eletricos, passEnger, Plant43, xluve Hide

The first Just Music Makers session (November 25th, @ sPAZIO211, Turin, Italy) went pretty well, thanks to all those who attended and supported our efforts!

The invited artists have largely met expectations, and people really heard something more different and challenging than the usual.
Here are the links to download the recorded sets (right click + save as).

/// Annie Hall
Download: Annie Hall | Live @ JMM
From Madrid, Annie Hall demonstrated to have a sound ready for the forefront of electronic music. Precise, elegant, melodic, but with uncompromising beats and basslines. Worthy heir of Detroit electro, she showed also innovative and forward thinking soundscapes.
A new EP is just out on Semantica, and she’s currently working on new projects.
You can find her discography here: Annie Hall | Discogs
and her myspace here: Annie Hall | Myspace

/// Vaghe Stelle
Download: Vaghe Stelle | Live @ JMM
A deep, personal and uncompromising live set. Surely a sound that looks to the future, able to shape alien atmospheres, but with human presence. Vaghe Stelle is another one to look for, in the future.
In the meantime his first digital release “Cicli 1 EP” has just come out on Margot Records. Look for it on the best online stores (Beatport, Junodownload, etc.).
Vaghe Stelle | Myspace

/// passEnger+xluve
Download: passEnger+xluve | Live in the Mix @ JMM
Our set was a hybrid between a dj set and a live one, we have included tracks that inspire us and played synth and drum machine on them, creating a multilayer flow of sound.
passEnger | Myspace
xluve | Myspace

…have nice time listening, let’s comment here for any info request, feedbacks, and so on. Thanks!

/// JMM

Annie Hall, passEnger, sPAZIO 211, Vaghe Stelle, xluve Hide

Here’s a blog I started some time ago, to share some dj mixes I do from time to time.
Usually made with ten tracks, sometimes following a common/personal theme, sometimes just out of inspiration.
…and always out of vinyl.

Check out the last entry:

passEnger – As We Travel – DJ Mix by passEnger

And here’s the full blog, usually with a short explanation and tracklisting:

Cratedigga ///

Of course you can download them by clicking on the small arrow on the right.
Enjoy!

cratedigga, dj mixes, passEnger Hide

So, finally here we are!

A new season for us is beginning.

We have always been interested in Live Electronic Music and the way people approach to it. During the years we have organized different club nights, happenings, listening parties and so on, in order to explore the possibilities of doing live music with electronic instruments.

In the beginning it was the “IN MY ROOM” concept, where we pushed our sound, sometimes even in a surround environment, in connection with live video manipulation, thanks our friend Roberto/Headvision.

Then the “GOOD:LIFE” series of club parties came, it was more focused on dj/live performances, hosting friends and musicians from our country (Noego, Ksoul, Alexxei’n'Nig) and from abroad (Tiny from Dresden).

In 2008/2009 we hosted the “WE ARE JUST MUSIC MAKERS” listening parties.
We invited live-only electronic artists to share with people their musical universe (not caring about musical accessibility or dancing needs), to show the machines they use, to interact with the people attending.

We had live sets from Davem, The Pure, Binary/Eniac, Slowset.

In 2009/2010 we want to follow the path traced.
We dropped “We Are”, and now here’s, simply, “Just Music Makers”.

The formula is still a simple but genuine one.
We invite 2 or 3 artists to play live at our party, and we let them the freedom to showcase their sound.
We want to break the established rule of doing either straight dance music or un-groovy listening music, by choosing special artist we love and respect for their personal visions and ideas.

The first party of the new season will take place soon.

Hope to see you there!

headvision, passEnger, xluve Hide