Hooter (Carl Craig Remix)

There were a few tunes that I forgot to mention in my previous posts, so I'll be posting them from time to time.

This video was actually on the same tape, that back in early 1997 introduced me to a lot of my favorite alternative artists as well as electronic ones, like FSOL and The Orb. This was my first introduction to techno - different from what I used to know by then (euro-dance and happy hardcore). I guess, this was the tune that opened the doors for me into this genre, and a few years later - led me to my first underground techno parties in Jerusalem.

Back then I couldn't imagine that this clip was actually 8 minutes long. It didn't feel like that.

Welcome to "Tales from the Crates"

Hello everyone!

I am Markey Funk and this is my new blog dedicated to the long forgotten music that I used to listen to as a child (and a bit after that). Behind every song there is a story of people and music, hidden in the records grooves. Behind every favorite song there is a listener's personal story and memories. When I brought up the title "Tales from the Crates", I wanted to explore the stories behind the music that I'm collecting. Now, I'd like to use this title to tell my personal stories, that I recall, while looking through my cassette boxes.

After running a 3-month daily song project in my Facebook profile, I realized how much music can one person listen to while growing up and how much can a person tell about almost every tune that he remembers. Of course, Facebook timeline format is not perfect for such storytelling project, so I've decided to create a blog that will collect all these musical memories. It will not be updated daily (3 months is fine, but we all have lives), but instead I'll be posting a song every Saturday.

But before we go on further, you're welcome to scroll backwards, read and listen to all the music that I've been posting during last 3 months.

Enjoy! :)

So Long

In winter I bought a tape of LTJ Bukem's "Logical Progression". In the middle of the mix there was this amazing tune. Each time I heard it, I was thinking about the day, when a plane will take us from Minsk. I was trying to imagine what I will see from my window seat... the noon sky, maybe the sea, maybe only the sea of clouds...

On July 18, 1999 it all became a reality: me on a plain going from one world to another, from one life to another... with no return ticket. I didn't realize yet, that this day will be the separation line between my life in Minsk and my life in Jerusalem. In 5 years, all this will be just memories. There will be music to bring those memories back, but there will be nothing to connect them to my new life here.

This wasn't the end of everything - this was only the end of the beginning.

Erica America

June 1999. I was counting days backwards to our flight, going downtown almost every evening and listening to this ultimate summertime album.

I remember this moment vividly:
Warm summer evening, me running by Palace of the Republic, turning behind the corner and here it is - city's new huge central square, filled with sunset light, this song playing in my headphones, and excitement filling every cell of my body. As if the whole world was smiling at me: the sun, the river, squares and parks, trees, buildings, buses, trams and cars - this whole city, giving me it's farewell cheers.

This is the Minsk that I'll always remember.

150 Milliardov Shagov

Late May 1999: After Kirill and me went to "Radio Styl" with our music as Observer, I was involved with 10GLAZ. While the project was still in working, I went to a hip hop festival organized by local alternative nightclub. There Kindut first presented one of the tunes we recorded together.

Around the same time the new Tequilajazzz album dropped out. I couldn't wait to buy it - this time on an original CD. Unlike anything else, this album was in sync with my confused feelings about these last months that I had in Minsk. I've learned to enjoy every little second of my life to the fullest, but I knew that soon I'm leaving into the new uncertain future, and all these things that I was enjoying so much will stay behind.

GROOVE DAY - PART 1

Of course, thanks to "Radio Styl", I was discovering not only hip hop, but it came alongside acid jazz, breakbeat, jungle... one night there was even a Reinforced Records special, from which I first learned about the early pre-"Timeless" sound... but let's be consistent.

Thanks to the promoters and DJ's that often came to the radio, I could not only discover separate tunes, but hear part of mixtapes by famous DJ's. One night they played various parts of the Cut Chemist/Shortkut "Future Primitive Session", which, of course, hooked me even more on scratching and DJ'ing. The other they played some parts from DJ Vadim/Primecuts mixtape, with some great and rare funk breaks.

But it was discovering segments from this amazing mixtape that a) turned me finally on Cut Chemist and drove me closer to discovering Jurassic 5, whom I will hear a couple of years later; b) showed me that you can spin any music with a beat in a DJ-set - not necessarily new; c) put my focus on what funk really is.

I guess, this was the first moment, when I thought - this is my groove, this is what I want to play as a DJ, these are the real roots of hip hop - this is where I want to dig. And all this "breakout" started with hearing these sounds:

GROOVE DAY - PART 2

One of the first real soul-funk tunes I heard on "Radio Styl" was introduced as a release from Acid Jazz Records. I wish I knew the truth back then and wouldn't mess with this genre too much, while looking for this song.

This was 100 times better than any Jamiroquai song I knew.

 

GROOVE DAY - PART 3

I heard this tune on the same night I heard the previous one and it just exploded in my mind. I just didn't know where to look for the stuff like this, but this was the essence of groove for me - wild like punk-rock, uncompromising like hardcore, tight like jungle and soulful at the same time.

I didn't know yet, that it was a cover, but after the years, with all my love to Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger, their version doesn't get any closer to this one.

GROOVE DAY - PART 4

This tune was the perfect evening tune of May 1999. Unrelated to the spoken content, it reflects the atmosphere of warm spring evenings in Minsk.

GROOVE DAY - PART 5

I'm closing this day with this tune. I've discovered it on a pirate compilation called "Porno Jazz", that included mostly modern lounge artists, like Dimitri from Paris, Kid Loco and selected tunes from "Suck It and See" compilation (like the previous one, for example). This way I also learned, what else can I sample and what can I make out of these samples... ahem... yes.

For the 16-year old virgin hooked on music this thing was even cooler than watching all the Emmanuelle movies and late night Playboy channel segments combined. No need to explain more on that, I think. :)

HIP HOP DAY - PART 1

Admit, you've been waiting for it! :)

Yes, through Portishead, DJ Shadow, DJ Cam, Beastie Boys and Ninja Tune I came to hip hop. Big time - not just rap, but all the aspects of the culture. This was the rise of internet, though we were still mostly reaching it at the internet cafes. Through what DJ guests on "Radio Styl" were explaining, I was learning more and more about the whole culture and then was spending hours at the cafe, searching for more information on the topic. Soon I've found myself hanging out with rappers downtown and even managed to meet some of the key figures on the Belorussian hip hop scene and even working with one of them. But let's take it from the start.

Early spring of 1999. Almost every evening I was tuning to "Radio Styl" to hear more and more new stuff that I've never heard. In the array of Ninja Tune artists I suddenly heard this song. And that was it - this was my essence of rap. The rhymes, the flow, the beat (which was also produced by DJ Shadow!), the vibe - it all was so different from the mid-to-late 90's stuff I saw on TV and sounded so true, so essential.

I think, if I wouldn't discover this EP, I'd never really get into hip hop the way I did. This was and still remains my "Can I Kick It", "California Love" and "Bring tha Ruckus" - all in one. Everything else was after this tune.

HIP HOP DAY - PART 2

There was a long line of inspiration in sampling for me. Ninja Tune stuff inspired me to dig through my dad's jazz records - even the most avant garde ones. DJ Cam and Shadow inspired me to look for the drum breaks on the same records (which was desperating). DJ Vadim's first album inspired me to look for strange spoken word samples. But this particular album was the last push to look for samples on every record in sight. Lucky for me, we were doing rips of my whole dad's record collection into MP3 format, so I managed to listen to a lot of records on the way.

Like with many others, I've learned about this fourth cornerstone of alternative hip hop long before I had a chance to hear his music. It took more than a year since I read about him in "MG", until I've finally heard his stuff on the radio. But the real discovery was when I finally managed to get his legendary album on CD. And this particular tune - calm, deep, dark and melancholic - it was in perfect sync with my mood that same spring.

HIP HOP DAY - PART 3

It wasn't the PE, it wasn't the Run-DMC, it wasn't the Grandmaster Flash or Herbie's "Rockit", it wasn't Wu-Tang and it wasn't Dr. Dre, it wasn't Tribe and it wasn't Gang Starr, no Pharcyde, no Cypress Hill and no Biggie Smalls... And even as much as I loved Beastie Boys, it wasn't yet them, because, despite my love of "Hello Nasty", it didn't have the impact that "Ill Communication" had on me, but all this was later on...

It was THIS tune that got me into classic hip hop. And the glasses I have for last 3 years were my dream since that time. This tune put me in the baggies and military jackets for another 3 years. This tune guided my eye through the city walls in search for graffiti art, it also put a notebook and a pen in my hands to start drawing my own first sketches. This tune brought me to Sugar Hill Records, early Def Jam, "Buffalo Gals", "Rockit", "Planet Rock", "The Message" and "South Bronx". It brought me to beat juggling, it brought me to funk, it brought me to deep funk. This tune brought me to meet Kindut - legendary MC and rap journalist - and start my first collective hip-hop-acid-jazz project, called "10GLAZ" ("10EYES").

It was all thanks to this single tune.

HIP HOP DAY - PART 4

Actually, I wouldn't have met Kindut without meeting the graffiti artist Shin - one of the most original and artistic in Minsk at that time. Shin was a tall and quiet student with a very deep knowledge in hip hop history. He brought me this tape. And this was my final guide into soulful conscious rap. It also was my real introduction into Black music. I guess, after this album and this particular tune, my way into funk and soul was inevitable.

HIP HOP DAY - PART 5

And so, I was infected by the hip hop virus. But unlike the same rappers that I used to hang out with, I wasn't listening to any of the hardcore, gangsta or boom bap classics. Instead, I was listening to the b-boy style stuff - funky, jazzy, soulful and positive. Not always with MC's, but always groovy.

Gus Gus

We'll step backwards for a moment to another album that reminds me of winter of 1999. And my favorite song from it:

_____________________________________________________________

P. S. Yet another favorite song:

NINJA TUNE DAY - PART 1

And so, 1999 had come, bringing with it a huge stream of new sounds. Many of them I've first discovered in "MG", then heard on "Radio Styl", then copied from my new friends, that I've met on different occasions.

One of the most exciting such discoveries was the legendary UK label Ninja Tune. Many of these tunes made up the sound of the coming spring, starting with this one:

NINJA TUNE DAY - PART 2

I already had Herbaliser's "Blow Your Headphones", when I heard this on the radio. But I could never imagine something as calm, minimalistic and abstract. This is how I've learned about the third cornerstone of instrumental hip hop - DJ Vadim. I could listen to such stuff for days, but didn't know where to find it... yet...

NINJA TUNE DAY - PART 3

A friend of mine brought me the fresh FunKungFusion compilation on two cassettes. It included a lot of Ninja's Golden Era tunes that became my personal classics: Mr Scruff, Kid Koala & Money Mark, Dynamic Syncopation, DJ Food's remix for The Herbaliser, The Irresistible Force, Neotropic, Journeyman's "Spy", twisted drum'n'bass by Override and Wild Palms, Clifford Gilberto, Amon Tobin, Luke Vibert, Funki Porcini, J Swinscoe ... you know the names.

But this particular tune was like: "Fffffuck, I wanna do what they're doing here!" In the movie "Scratch" many DJ's recall Hancock's "Rockit" as their first inspiration in scratching. This tune was my "Rockit". From the moment I heard it, I wanted to be involved with Hip Hop as much as I could. I was trying to scratch my children's records on my dad's record player. This is how I discovered the need of slipmat and a mixer. Later on my B-Boy friend brought me a video-tape of 1998 German ITF championship, where DJ Hype (later - Marc Hype) took the first place and Shortkut and Babu gave a closing showcase. I felt euphoric and miserable, because I couldn't afford any equipment by then. It will take another 2 years until I'll have my first DJ-mixer, but this was just the beginning.

NINJA TUNE DAY - PART 4

This was a perfect rainy day tune. Simple, quiet and beautiful, it perfectly reflected the mood of early spring days in Minsk.

It just me there on one of those rainy days - sitting by the window of my room... or riding on the bus through downtown...

NINJA TUNE DAY - PART 5

And early spring nights felt exactly like this tune:

NINJA TUNE DAY - PART 6

In the same spring of 1999 two of the most interesting DJ's on "Radio Styl" released their mixtape, very much inspired by Ninja Tune's sound and aesthetics.

I remember vividly the moment, when this tune exploded in my ears, and that's how it remained in my memory - sunny afternoon downtown with a great view on the city and the banks of Svisloch river, where I used to walk very often that year...

Better Things

New Year's Eve of 1999. My last real New Year's Eve - with snow (which was actually the first snow in that irregularly warm winter), big celebration with a lot of friends, midnight toast and presents. Even our friends from Germany came for a visit.

That night I've received my first shaving kit and a lesson in using it from my parent's close friend. Later that night I was supposed to take a taxi to the other end of town, where my friends had a party of their own.

I can never forget this moment: Silent night, around 4 AM, snow reflecting the streetlights, me sitting by the table, looking outside of the window at the quiet city, and waiting for my cab to arrive... and this song flowing out of the speakers... perfect for such moment, full of magic and sadness...

This was the moment when I realized that this was actually my last New Year in Minsk. In half a year I'll be in totally different place - far away from here - and will never come back.

Bomb 20

The winter of 1998 has come. My sister left to Israel. Our computer crashed down twice. After the first crash I rescued very few of the old samples taken during the previous year, and decided to move on to SoundForge, using the technique that I've already developed. This way I've made a few tracks and even managed to burn them on CD, before the computer crashed again. This time I decided to try this new software by the same company behind SoundForge. It was called "Acid", it allowed simple multi-track loop-based production and ever since it remained my working environment of choice.

Back from SPb I was going through major changes in my social life: After disappointment with people at HaShomer HaTsair club in Minsk, I was looking for something different. So with the new youth club under Israel Cultural Center I found some better place to be. Many of my friends from school were involved, including my very close friend and musical collaborator - Kirill. This way I've also met many people behind various youth organizations in town. One of these people was Rodion - one of the two most famous playboys in young Jewish community. He was a rapper, so I couldn't expect him to have something like this. He brought me the desirable tape with both - album and an EP by the DHR newcomer - Bomb 20.

This tune was my essence of Digital Hardcore. Now I knew that this is the kind of music that I'd like to try to do myself.

A year later, this cassette and Atari Teenage Riot albums would help me survive my painful involvement with Israeli educational system.

ST. PETERSBURG DAY - PART 1

For my 16th birthday I received two great presents: my first CD-player and a trip to St. Petersburg with my mom and sister.

I fell in love with this city from the first day! Despite the winter cold, I enjoyed every moment we've spent there. While on bus or in metro I was listening to two new CD's that I've bought recently. And that's how I remember them.

I could expect anything from the man behind "Endtroducing.....", but this album was beyond imaginable!

ST. PETERSBURG DAY - PART 2

Another CD that I was constantly listening to, while in SPb was by the band that I ignored for a long time. Just because I didn't like Hip Hop yet. I guess I wouldn't ever get to this band, if I wouldn't be such a fan of Beck's "Odelay". And I wouldn't get into Rap without this album. And the first tune that really caught my ears was not rap at all, but I loved it so much from the first hearing, that I'd hit the "back" button a few times:

ST. PETERSBURG DAY - PART 3

Naturally, the most important place to visit in SPb for me was the place where the original local music was sold. And there I jumped on opportunity to buy the stuff that I've never seen in Minsk.

One of these few cassettes was the new album by the legendary female quartette Kolibri, on which they were backed by Tequilajazzz. These two names combined seemed like something extraordinary, and so it was - the perfect musical memory of Piter and another album that was reflecting my feelings at that time. Especially - this song.

JAPANESE DAY - PART 1

On the same tape with all the videos that I posted yesterday (and many more) there was a segment of four Japanese bands.

I was already familiar with Cibo Matto and Pizzicato Five from the articles in "MG", but I couldn't expect to hear anything like this...

JAPANESE DAY - PART 2

Discovery of this band later introduced me to the whole genre of Japanese post-modern pop. This genre, among others soon drove me closer to exploring the aesthetics of 1960's popular Western lifestyle and fashion - something that was very unfamiliar to a kid born and raised on Soviet history.

JAPANESE DAY - PART 3

I don't know what to tell about this next video. Just as unique as The Residents and as alien as Melt Banana, this thing blew my mind, leaving no chance to find their albums. But, hell yeah, this looked so much fun that I could watch it over and over again.

Damn! As I watched this video again now, I've realized how poor are all the hipster kids of today. As much as they try to make an impression of totally not giving a f@ck - they wouldn't even get close to something like this.

JAPANESE DAY - PART 4

The fourth and the last Japanese band video on that tape was a superb example of breakbeat: heavy, explosive, with distorted bass and guitars - this band could replace Prodigy and Chemical Brothers for me, if only I could find their album back then in Minsk of 1998.

I couldn't find the amazing video for this tune on the web, so just listen:

JAPANESE DAY - BONUS

This is not a video by Japanese artist - it just was on the same tape with all the clips that I posted yesterday and today and had an equally strong impact on me.

I already knew Squarepusher by then and I was often listening to his "Hard Normal Daddy", that I had on cassette, but this tune and the whole EP that it's from forever remained my favorite recording by this artist.

This is also the fine example of symbiosis between sound and visuals, when you already not sure, what was created first and what serves what - the tune or the video.

VIDEO DAY - PART 1

Like I said before, there will be some days, when I'll be posting a few tunes, connected by common topic. So, today (and tomorrow) I'll be talking about the last tape with video-clips that my sister's friend brought me.


It was autumn of 1998, and my sister was getting ready to leave to Israel ahead of us. Unlike with earlier videos I had (like it was with many electronic and alternative artists, that I first saw on the TV-screen), only very few of those songs actually led me to follow the bands that I've discovered. But these visuals are part of my experience of those last months of 1998.

VIDEO DAY - PART 2

VIDEO DAY - PART 3

VIDEO DAY - PART 4

Yes-yes! This one too! :) I've heard about this band from many people and didn't know what exactly to expect. But I think, as much as it's not representative enough, this tune and a clip are still very nice to be a person's first introduction to such a cult musical phenomenon. :)

VIDEO DAY - PART 5

This song was a favorite for both me and my sister. She even bought their album, when she came to Israel.

I think this was another early step towards funk and hip hop for me. Pretty soon this song represented the groove that I was deep into.

Atari Teenage Riot

Ever since I'd read about this band in "MG" in summer 1997, I was looking for anything by them. Later, in another issue, there was a whole page with reviews of the albums from their legendary label. From that moment, the magic words "Digital Hardcore" sounded most exciting and intriguing to me. I was looking for a music that would reflect vividly all my feelings about the regime that me and people around me were caught under. I was looking for the sound that was the real "electronic punk", but when I finally got to hear the "Spawn" soundtrack, this was above all my expectations. Now I had it - the ultimate, uncompromising sound of revolution, the prefect music to destroy the government with.

SaturnzReturn

It was one of the early autumn evenings of 1998 I was sitting at home and listening again to "Radio Styl". They didn't do too much announcements, but they had two most regular persons on air - Tim Karamyslov and Mister Kvakin, who were playing all the cool music there. This time Tim decided to dedicate a whole show to the new epic release by Goldie, that just dropped out. All of the tunes Tim played were amazing, but this particular one was a revelation to me: A whole story, a journey put in a 16-minute soulful Jazz-Funk-Jungle piece. Not "Timeless", but this piece finally stated that Drum'n'Bass is not just a genre of dance-floor music, but a new original artform, that was taking Black music and music in general to some new level.

Oddly enough, I found this piece only split in two parts, so here are two videos:

Before we move on to the next tune, there's one announcement:

Because it's only 2 weeks before the end of my song project (or at least - the way it was originally meant to be) and the phase I'll be talking about, includes a lot of single tunes that I feel important to mention, I'll be making exceptions to post a few tunes in a day under one common topic. Not particularly today, but pretty soon.

Round & Round

Obviously, due to my condition and the immune depressants I was taking, I couldn't go to the summer camp on 1998. I only came there for a one day visit, together with Ilya Aronov. This was my farewell visit there and, actually, I hardly remember what I was doing there. I remember that this was a real fun, but I don't remember a single scene.

And I remember that this song, that I've recorded from "Radio Styl" was spinning in my head over and over again.

Fish

The devastating 3 months in hospital were over, in the middle of this period I was allowed to come out to the middle school graduation ceremony. I didn't know yet, that this will be my last day at school in Minsk. Doctors prescribed me a year course of immune depressant medicine, and this didn't allow me to be in the class daily. At the same moment doctor's advise was to move to the hotter and dryer area in order to recover. And so the decision was made - we started preparing for aliyah.

At the same time there was a great good thing happening: The new radio-station "Radio Styl" ("Radio Style") was broadcasting from 16:00 till 2:00 every day, with a lot of brand new music. Everyone had mixed up feelings about it: on one hand, since it was aimed at a young auditory, there were only young broadcasters and the accent was made on the music that appeals to the young: alternative rock, hip hop, electronica and other trendy stuff; on the other hand, this station was curated by the Belorussian Youth Union, which was a state youth organization, which was often called "Luka Jugend". Many of the same youngsters that loved alternative music, didn't appreciate the Luksahenko's rising dictatorship too much.

However, many of us hip kids were tuning to 101.2 FM almost daily for the new portion of fresh music from abroad. I still have about 10 tapes of songs recorded from there, but the first amazing discovery was this funny tune, that became the first real hit at the station. People were calling to request this tune almost DAILY!

I think this was nearly the only radio-station in the world that made this tune a number one hit.

Aviatsiya I Arilleriya

It didn't happen suddenly, but by stages: First, I had a strange fever, when I was writing my pre-exam in Belorussian. After staying at home for about a week I came back to school and the excitement about the spring and meeting all the friends was so high, that I didn't think about the allergic consequences of putting wreath of dandelions on my neck. In a few days the nightmare had begun. I didn't know what exactly was happening to my body, but I was feeling worse and worse. Soon I was sent to hospital and after 3 nights in half-delirious state, the verdict was finally stated - glomerulonephritis: my immune system was killing my kidney cells as if they were viruses. Long, heavy and devastating treatment has started.

Parents brought me the small radio-tape that I sometimes used to record stuff and a few cassettes. In the middle of one of the nights I tuned in to the frequency that was promising to become the new radio-station soon - 106.4 FM... and there, in the quiet, I heard this song from the forthcoming Tequilajazzz album, playing as a broadcasting test for the radio-wave that very soon will become my new source of great music...