Crate Soul Brothers newsletter #103: Russian Soundtracks

Newsflash 16. May 2003

Dear friends,

We have been travelling all around the world in the last weeks. Keyser’s long journey started in Bratislava, Slovakia in the end of April. Finally I could hook up with some good guys over there. Bratislava is approximately the same distance as Vienna but we haven’t had any connections over there so far. I would like to thank to Bebe and Kinet their hospitality while I was in town (Kinet runs a very nice small bar) and Tibor (not, not me, another Tibor) for inviting me. I could also meet two very nice and talented guys from Prague, dj Tall and Hoffee. Standa aka Tall also gave me a bunch of cds with fresh Chech music so in the next weeks we can play some stuff from there (man, he mixes broken beat like I have never seen before!) Big up for all you guys.

And the thanklist just goes on and on… A week later I had the chance to cross the big ocean for the first time and land in NYC where I have spent my time with the very best guys of the Big Apple. Three gigs in six days, uncountable djs and so many records I sometimes almost felt to cry. First of all, I have to say lots of thank yous to my bro the mighty Nat Rahav aka dj Busquelo who took care of me while I was there and made me feel like I was home! Also thanks to Nickodemus, Mariano and Wayne Pate for inviting me to their gigs; Gak, Fabrizio & Taka for all the good music; dj Sabo @ Turntablelab for feeding with the best records for hours and all the people who came to the boat cruise on Sunday night and had fun with us. Soon you can find some pictures about my trip, check http://blog.tilos.hu/cratesoul for updates.

Same time Shuriken spent a lovely long weekend in Sarajevo, enjoying the hospitality of Enes and Kenan. Seldom can we spend time like this, the usual mode of operation in the DJ biz - hit town, do the job, wake up and leave town - doesn't allow for extra days doing nothing, breathing fresh air, eating meat-heavy Bosnian dishes, sipping on coffees, walking around town and the hills nearby. This time it was different, we had 3 more days after the gig to chill out. The aim of my trip was initially to cheer up Enes who has just recently lost his broadcast possibilities for his Radio 3 (ww.radio3.ba) project again. In the end, it was him, who has managed to cheer me up :)

Now, we'll meet again this weekend in Ljubljana at Festival Pomaldi (www.codeep.org). It's such a small world.

Last night we had some guests in the radio studio fom Vienna. Gümix and Sweet Susie have been organising the famous Dub Club nights in Vienna with Sugar B for about 8 years now. They played a couple of new tunes from their next compilation which comes out this September on G-Stone/Dub Club Records and made a short conversation about how things are going in the Austrian capital. Listen to it!

Sometimes we start thinking that we are seriously ill that we never see the tourist sights no matter where we go (OK, this is not so true, we usually try to). The record stores always seem to be more interesting. Bits like the following David Holmes quote make us feel more at ease with this situation:

"I try to find unusual records and it doesn't matter what genre they are. I'm always digging. I travel all the time and pick up records everywhere I go. I could play you Russian soundtrack albums that would blow your mind - records with names I couldn't begin to pronounce."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,867630,00.html

Keep on traveling, blowing minds and never mind the pronounciation!

Keyser & Shuriken (Crate Soul Brothers)

Next events:
23-24. May, Budapest, A38: Sound On Ultra Loud Festival / The Poets of Rhythm - live (Ninja Tune/Quannum), Alex Barck (Jazzanova), Tom Wieland (Les Gammas), Marcel aka Carmel (Good Looking Records/Fluid Ounce) + Keyser, Shuriken, Erik Sumo, Lee n’gum, Suhaid + Mango (http://www.a38.hu)
31. May, Vilnius (Lithuania), Club Gravity /Keyser (http://www.clubgravity.lt)
7. June, Budapest: Gravitation – art exhibition organised by Ludwig Museum (http://www.ludwigmuseum.hu) /Keyser
16. June, Budapest, West Balkan: Bomb The Jazz/ Keyser & Shuriken resident: Suhaid
12. July, Budapest, West Balkan: Bomb The Jazz special/ Keyser & Shuriken + Patrick Forge, resident: Suhaid