U:Move

Written by Dan Leist

We live in an age defined by electronic media. It surrounds our culture as a riot or barrage of information that influences the way we act. What we do with this media says who we are in society. The way people interact with the electronic culture is an art form. The synthetic blending, mashing, or breaking of what we see everyday makes us artists in our current age. DJ Spooky recently performed at Wilde’s Chateau 24 and the Lied Center at KU, and is considered the Professor of DJing. He attributes an academic mind behind the mixing of media found in film, hip-hop from far off cultures, YouTube videos of pop artists, in addition to media from a long forgotten era. Imagine what DJs had to work with in the early days of this DJ culture era-people were not so adaptive to experimental media back then. Now electronica is at our side at every ringtone, advertisement or escape into this synthetic world we exist in.

“Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica” is DJ Spooky’s most recent performance aside from his gigs at clubs and “Rebirth of a Nation” found at rebirthofanation.com. Spooky, aka Paul D. Miller, ventured into the void of a once idolized continent of Antarctica and created a sound to compliment it’s harsh terrain. On stage along with the composed DJ are violinist, cellist and pianist below two projection screens. The first act is specifically terrain. The music is deep and dramatic. The heavy vibrations of classical instruments next to turntables are Philip Glass or Brian Eno-like reflecting on vast deposits of landmass to be conquered. Untouched by man, the piece flows into a political climate storm as countries from all over the world laid claim to the continent of barren ice. Suspenseful notes interfuse with slight electronic crashes and samples creating Act II. Here there are mainly graphics of flags, graphs, climate charts, etc.; the concept being music is information. Finally, Act III flashes back to the path of conquest, mainly from a Soviet perspective, with military trucks and explorers claiming the landmass for their motherland. The true vision of Antarctica is blazing in the eyes of these explorers and sets an entirely different strain on the piece. Whereas before there was film of ice and landscape, the third scene is of film noir dubbed with this gangly electronic symposium fueling the hearts of communist Russia.

Such a piece offers pleasure to the other half of the brain, while enjoying the art of electronic music and its endless possibilities. To read more on DJ Spooky’s insightful advances in the world of turntablism, check out his new book published by MIT Press at soundunbound.com .

Commence syncopation:

What other DJs do you find influencing to the type of work you produce?
Usually, I listen to stuff like Dj Krush, Amon Tobin, Kid koala, DjSpinna, King Britt, Cut Chemist, Thievery Corporation, Green Lantern and other types of electronic music and rock like My Bloody Valentine, The Bordeoms, Led Zeppelin, Sonic Youth, Trouble Funk and a lot of dub from people like King Tubby, and Mad Professor. Everything is dub!

You’ve come across a lot of hip- hop throughout your international travels, who’s the act with the sickest beats you’ve come across?
I love DAM from Palestine! Also, groups like BLK JKS from South Africa - they’re kind of like an African Radiohead. But there’s also a lot of good Korean hip-hop and I like producers from Seoul like Gazae Bal. I did a megamix of electronic music and hip hop from all over Africa on my website - it’s a free download  Check it!

What’s your favorite genre to spin and why?
I love spinning breaks! Dub and hip hop mashups, and weird after hours house etc I don’t really have one favorite - I like a lot of different styles.

How do you come across the video that you use when you DJ?
I collect a lot of film and old video clips wherever I can - there’s a lot of great stuff on Archive.org

Your Terra Nova piece is a great informative electronic/classical collaboration. What are your thoughts on Techno Classicale, i.e. Beethoven trance?
I’m open to different styles - it’s what makes life interesting. As much as possible, I always look for conceptual links to what’s up with dj culture. My new book “Sound Unbound” is on MIT Press. I worked with people like Brian Eno, Steve Reich, Moby, Chuck D, Saul Williams, and Daphne Keller (The Senior Legal Counsel to Google), and my new film that just came out on DVD is a remix of DW Griffith’s film “Birth of a Nation” from 1915. It’s the same year as Luigi Russolo’s book “The Art of Noise” - I like stuff like that. Terra Nova is all about looking at the environment through the lens of electronic music - I went to Antarctica with a studio and took the studio to a lot of different locations and ice fields to make the composition. I guess you could say that it’s all inspired by the ice.

Cake or pie?
Mos definitely cake!