Notes from the forest #2

🧘‍♂️ Mise en place

On my socials I recently informed my friend bubble about the making of Spaghetti aglio e olio e peperoncino (as I should) and added the words "Mise en place – in the kitchen and behind the decks". I remembered that I first came across the term in Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and I immediately thought of the preparations for my DJ gigs. Sandi LoConti looked at the idea of mise en place in this article, which I'd recommend reading:

The universe is in order when your station is set up the way you like it: you know where to find everything with your eyes closed, everything you need during the course of the shift is at the ready at arm’s reach, your defenses are deployed. – Anthony Bourdain

I know some DJs say they're not prepared at all but somehow manage to find the right track at the right time without proper edited metadata and additional preparation in Rekordbox. That's not going to work for me though. I like to be prepared and get my metadata (genres, subgenres, playlists) just right, like you would with ingredients for a meal. As a DJ, I find it's best for me to have a tested system with me so I can focus on delivering what people need, not what they want. I don't want to have to remember a track; I'd rather stay in the flow and be able to select, cue and play it intuitively, if you know what I mean.

PS: The pasta tasted fine, I miss good garlic from Greece or Bulgaria though.

🌱 We Are I.E.

On Wednesday I woke up to the sad news that Lennie De Ice died, a foundational figure to jungle drum and bass music. Please read this context goldmine (by Matt Sutton, DnB 365 via I-Witness) on the creation and influence of his proto jungle track We Are I.E.. The 136 bpm tune was created in 1988 and released in 1991, it ingeniously combined house beats with the Amen break and a message from Lennie:

“We Are IE” means we are an example to everyone, black, white, Indian, Chinese.” – Lennie De Ice

Original source of the vocal sample is Chaba Fadela - N'sel fik.

🪐 Rings Around Saturn

While reading the DnB 365 blog about the We Are IE tune, I came across a glowing tribute to Rings Around Saturn by Photek. This article is not only the best thing you can read while listening to the tune, but it also tells you a lot more about how Photek worked on the track, why he was so happy with this 12" and why Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu didn't make it on his debut album.

Jazz fusion, the Herbie Hancock thing, I think is the closest form of music to jungle. – Photek

This article is packed with great insights, knowledge and understanding of music. It even made the connection to Burial and why he tried to capture the Photek style of combining clinical precision and imperfection in his own production. If this don't make you happy, I don't know, I don't know … Just think about it for a moment: There are only four years between the releases of We Are IE and Rings Around Saturn!

👀 Choice is a privilege

Last week I linked to Erin Kissane's protective dark forests of the internet that provide psychological and reputational cover and are usually not public available. Because these private safe spaces exist mostly on tech platforms that pursuit contrary interests to their users I called them 'morning dew' because of their ephemeral character as they will vanish sooner or later. I wrote: 'First step is to make a choice for open source software and build on top of it.' What I did not say but had in mind is that ideally everyone should get a domain and run a blog so that we are able to find each other, both beforehand and in the moment, and build human networks resilient enough to withstand every kind of weather. Then I came across this on Imgur:

Running a blog on their own domain is not in the slightest as affordable and trivial as setting up a Bluesky account for instance. It requires money (ongoing), setup and maintaining time and also knowledge on how to achieve this. So the idea for that choice came to me when I was caught up in the fog of privilege, I can see that now and will keep in mind to change my perspective.

Meanwhile, Erin Kissane wrote about research that can help us make/build/participate in more accessible, useful, and humane networks: Exploring a transition to alternative social media platforms for social justice organizations in the Majority World. I recommend this as well.

Erin Kissane's 'dark forest' metaphor is the reason why I am calling this hopefully ongoing series of posts 'Notes from the forest', because this blog also means 'learning and networking out loud on my terms'. Any meaningful response to it as a member comment or email to me is very welcome.

🔒 Wolfs in a zoo

Two rival fixers played by George Clooney and Brad Pitt cross paths when they’re both called in to help cover up a prominent New York official’s misstep. Over one explosive night, they’ll have to set aside their petty grievances and their egos to finish the job. This is the plot of Wolfs, an Apple Studios LLC movie.

The director Jon Watts cancelled a Wolfs sequel because he literally said I no longer trusted Apple as a creative partner. What happened? Jon Watts explained:

Their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion. I wasn’t even told about it until less than a week before they announced it to the world. I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel. They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin to their streaming pivot.

Or, as MG Siegler put it:

They just sent the loudest signal possible to Hollywood that you should only work with them if you only care about money. If you care about distribution – or, you know, the art form – best look elsewhere.

Every artist working directly with or offering their work indirectly to Apple (music artists) should keep in mind that the Cupertino company hired two of the world's most famous actors to star in a movie that works now as an ad for their subscription service. Yes, you can't rent or buy Wolfs, they are in the zoo now and you need an Apple TV+ subscription to watch them. I think I'll pass on this one.

🎛 What I'm working on

On Monday I took part in a one-day workshop organised by the Office for Economic Development to examine Leipzig's music industry and develop strategies for its growth. I am confident that the political decision-makers have received the right signals and will act on them.