Soundwaves

Summer dance charts, Scumfrog, Puretone

by Doug Rule
June 18, 2003

CHART WATCHÂ… It’s summertime and the sun is finally peeking out from the clouds. That’s a good enough reason to get out, get up and get dancing. But wait! There’s an even better reason to dance. We’re drowning in quality material right now. Usually, weeks go by and only a few songs stand out in Billboard‘s influential Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, compiled by a select crew of 140 reporting DJs, including many familiar names (the local Darryl Strickland, Julian Marsh, Peter Rauhofer, Joe Gauthreaux, Lydia Prim). But the past few weeks have been exceptional, and the week of June 21 is a case in point — songs great and good stack the Top 20, most of them songs you’ve likely heard before (for a change). Besides the usual suspects (Justin, Whitney, J.Lo, Anastacia, a new, boring Deborah Cox), there’s also Daniel Bedingfield, at number nine with remixes of his accomplished ballad "If You’re Not the One." There’s the pesky maybe-lesbians t.A.T.u. at three with remixes of "Not Gonna Get Us," the best song from their recent album. At four there’s Puretone, who last year gave us the habit-forming "Addicted to Bass," from one of the best dance-pop artist albums in years, Stuck in a Groove (V2). And there are others (Becky Baeling‘s "Getaway," soaring to number two, Ricky Martin‘s "Relight My Fire," Deborah Cooper‘s "Real Love") just bubbling up to the surface of frequent club play. To paraphrase Puretone, we’re stuck in a groove, with too many good tunes going round in our head.

Scumfrog

A SCUM-FREE FROGPONDÂ… Monica‘s single "So Gone" from her just-released album is climbing high on every singles chart, including Billboard’s Club Play, compliments of remixer the Scumfrog, who also has his own production, "Music Revolution," about to break into that chart. Plus, he’s just completed a remix of Annie Lennox‘s "Pavement Cracks." Soon enough, obviously, you won’t be asking who the hell is the Scumfrog, though questioning how Dutchman Jesse Houk choose that name by which to remix and DJ will linger. Fortunately, his work lingers too, and his glorious two-disc set Extended Engagement (Effin Records/Positiva) has yet to wear out its welcome, a couple months after its unassuming release and after near-nonstop repeated play ever since. Featuring twenty tracks that he’s personally produced or remixed (often adding his own percussion, guitar chords and vocals), Houk colors the set with his disco/funk/dark house sensibility that relies far more on noisy weather patterns (thunder, wind, rain) than the prototypical heavy machinery and industrial sounds of most DJs. He has a minimal way with weather, not beating you over the head with formulaic thunder and bombast, just allowing nature to run its own unpredictable course. It works your mood better than any drug. Houk, as the Scumfrog, has electrified the New York underground dance field the past couple years, and his tornado-imbued remix of Kylie Minogue‘s "Love at First Sight" earlier this year put the rest of us on watch for his next effort. His stormy reworking of "Days Go By" drips with melancholy to match the forlorn lyrics better than Dirty Vegas‘s trance-y original mix. He’s clearly the remixer of the moment — there’s not a flaw to be found on Extended Engagement. Check it out, then check him out live, spinning at Home Nightclub, 911 F St NW, Friday, July 4 (visit www.homenightclub.net).

IN THE MIXÂ… Speaking of Puretone, the Australian act’s lead singer Amiel will release her debut album, Audio Out (Festival Mushroom Records), in August. Here’s to the playful-voiced Australian following in Kylie’s footsteps to success stateside… The Canadian remix/production act Wide Life has created the theme song and other music for the Bravo/NBC reality makeover show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, debuting this summer. Wide Life (Rachid Wehbi and Ian Nieman) scored major club play last year with the over-the-top "I Don’t Want U" single. Again, they’ve enlisted Love Inc.’s Simone Denny ("You’re A Superstar") to powerbelt, though hopefully this time around they’ll actually give her props, by including her name in the credits. Wide Life will produce remixes of the theme song for club play… Nearly twenty years since its last full-length album, the seminal German electronic group Kraftwerk will release Tour De France (Astralwerks/EMI) next month. Kraftwerk has influenced any number of dance-pop artists, from nearly every French act (Daft Punk, Mirwais) and electroclash group (Felix da Housecat, Ladytron) working today. Astralwerks/EMI will release the album July 22, and a first single, "Tour De France 03," on July 8, to coincide with the centennial version of the Tour de France bicycle race… After fumbling her remix of "American Life," Missy Elliott will once again tackle Madonna, by covering "Into the Groove" for a new Gap publicity campaignÂ…

Monica

Puretone

Ricky Martin

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Soundwaves

DJ's and dance divas visit for Pride week, plus Madonna's Hollywood, Sonique, and Jeff Stryker.

by Doug Rule
June 4, 2003

THIS WEEKEND, DANCE… You don’t have to leave the comforts of your own stereo to enjoy dance music, but this weekend you’ll want to. The challenge is packing it all in. Nation, for starters, is offering a double two-fer: two esteemed DJ/remixing duos on two different nights. Friday night D.C.’s own Deep Dish, Ali Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi, perform at Code, the newly established weekly party to hear high-caliber, world-famous DJs. The two rarely spin locally, but even if they only play their recent fierce remix of Justin Timberlake‘s "Like I Love You" or the older "Thank You" by Dido, which won them the Grammy for Best Remix in 2001, you’ll be the better for having heard them. On Saturday, Thunderpuss storms the decks at Velvet for the annual Capital Pride dance bash. Both Barry Harris and Chris Cox are prolific producers and frequent Velvet visitors, but they rarely perform together. They couldn’t avoid playing at least a couple of their many remixes if they tried. You want more options? Friday night at Cobalt, DJ Rob Harris will kick off Pride along with a "Circus" of performers. And Saturday night, after the parade, you could hit Cobalt for its retro tea dance, with resident DJ Jason Royce, and then head to Apex for Liquid Ladies with DJ Alexis J. We’re already pooped, and we haven’t even mentioned Sunday.

Solieu

Be ready to be out loud and proud under the skies on Sunday. Here’s hoping for some actual sun at the Capital Pride Festival, where local DJs Harris and Blaine Soileau will work the turntables between performances on the main stage. It’ll be a long day for Soileau, since he’s also spinning early Sunday morning at SundayMassDC at Five. At the festival, Thelma Houston, Pepper MaShay, and the just-announced Jennifer Holliday (who will also appear on Friday, June 6, at The Edge) are just a few of the dance-friendly acts set to entertain us. One hopes MaShay will bring along at least one pair of the porn beauts from her Chi-Chi LaRue-directed "I Can’t Stop" video.

FEELS SONIQUE GOOD… Thunderpuss may throw us a bone this weekend and play "Can’t Make Up My Mind," one of two songs the duo produced for Sonique‘s sophomore album. The sultry-voiced British singer and DJ superstar has a new album on the way, the long-awaited follow up to her excellent 2000 debut, Hear My Cry (Serious/Universal), which gave us the infectious Top Ten hit "It Feels So Good" and marvelous number-one dance hit "Sky," also a Thunderpuss production. Sadly, we can’t report when the new album, Born to Be Free (Serious/Universal UK), which dropped in the U.K. on Monday, will be released in the States. "Can’t Make Up My Mind," the first single, sparkles with energy, though it doesn’t match our expectations of her — or of Thunderpuss. The album didn’t match some British music critics’ expectations, either. Time Out London called it "’dance’ music for people who don’t like dancing…the spell has broken." Well, we’d like to be our own judge of that.

SHINE YOUR LIGHT NOWÂ… Madonna, whose American career looks to be swept away, will very shortly release the single "Hollywood" from her American Life (Maverick) album that spent one week atop the charts only to fall precipitously ever since. The sooner she releases the single and its remixes — by Victor Calderone, Paul Oakenfold and Sander Kleinenberg, Billboard reports — the better. The first single, "American Life," never cracked the top 40, perhaps in part because of its boring, controversy-avoiding replacement video. At least the song was a big dance hit, scoring Madonna’s 29th number one dance song, more than any other artistÂ…

LOOK WHO’S UP AND COMINGÂ… Ubiquitous "cock star" Jeff Stryker is in a studio recording a "country music comedy" album. The press release on this apocalyptic development is so awash in wordplayÂ (its headline: "Cornholin’ Cowpoke Cuts Country Comedy CD") that at first it looks like a two-month-late April Fool’s joke. It’s no joke, though. Jeff Stryker and His Soggy-Bottomed Boyz is a bone-a-fide act, and EVI Records will release the group’s album this fall, featuring such little ditties as "Ridin’ Hard," "Wild Buck," "What a Man Has to Do," and the first single, "Pop You in the Pooper."

Doug Rule can be reached at drule@metroweekly.com.