Two electronica shows this past Monday helped illuminate for me what inspiration looks like—whether or not the caffeine/alcohol induced sort. Electronica giant DJ Shadow held a free in-store performance at Hollywood’s Amoeba Records and later that day, the Echoplex headlined with Gold Panda. Even if you’re not a fan of this music genre, you should be a fan of these guys. They literally drip with inspiration.

When people dismiss DJ’s as they do dentists (as though neither are legit professions), such people obviously do not understand the components of DJ-rendered music (or dentistry). I had never seen a DJ perform live, so I was curious to test whether one person could create a complicated piece while standing stoically in front of a computer and turntable. Turns out, they don’t stand at all, let alone stoically.

At both shows, the DJ’s entire body rocked, pushed and pulled back and forth to music that would soon vibrate inside my ribcage—literally. What should blow your mind is that, at this point, the music they were engaging did not actually exist yet, except inside their heads. Each DJ had a mathematical understanding of the color, length, depth and texture of countless components of sound; so precise that I assumed, in life, these guys must be unable to function normally. How can you sculpt David and still have mental space left to know whether you wanted a Grande or Venti?

Their music was layered with such intention and respect that it recalled a recent performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall of internationally renowned Israeli violinist Itzhak Perlman. For these musicians, inspiration is not a matter of getting lost inside their head. It is a matter of standing in awe of the organic and mathematical relationship between concepts—tangible and intangible. Their pieces were not noise; they were music.

So, kids… if you have not caught DJ Shadow, Gold Panda (or Itzhak Perlman) live, get on top of changing that right quick! Lucky for you, DJ Shadow and Gold Panda have just begun their 2011 tours. Until then, get a free taste of their sound at djshadow.com and iamgoldpanda.com. Enjoy!

Words by Ariel Maccarone.

We got Scott on the line to talk about the new album, his artwork, and how both halves paint a picture of who he is at the core. We’re also giving away one of his amazing t-shirts to one lucky ChinaShopper. All you have to do is Like us on Facebook and post your best sunset or sunrise camera phone photo to our Wall, or follow us on Twitter and TwitPic your shot. Just use the hashtag #tychosun so we know to look for you. We’ll be taking submissions until midnight PST on Monday, October 31.

Your show at the Echoplex was incredible. Last time I saw you play in L.A. was at the Ghostly International 10-Year party, and it was just you by yourself plus visuals.

Scott Hansen: Yeah, I built that band over the last year.

What was the reason behind that?

Scott Hansen: I never wanted the project to be identified with a single person or anything too specific. That was kinda the only way I knew how to do it—the laptop thing—but I never really enjoyed it that much. I just felt like it was something I had to do. I guess it took meeting the right people who I felt comfortable with. I started writing (the new record) with the bassist and the guitarist, and through that process just started realizing, “We really need to turn this into a show.” I knew that was something I wanted to do to take it to the next level. I just didn’t know what it entailed. Meeting those guys cemented the whole thing.

Was the majority of the record written collaboratively like that?

Scott Hansen: We never all sat together. There are a couple of songs where we really worked through it, but I’d say maybe 5% was done that way. I would finish songs—or at least get them to where I was pretty happy with them—and then we’d set up a time for Zac (Brown, bassist/guitarist) to come over. I’d be like, “I feel like I hear a guitar here.” I played a lot of the guitars on the album, but he’s a really skilled guitarist. I just use it as a writing tool. For “A Walk,” the first bass line that drops in after about 45 seconds, that was Matt (McCord), the drummer. By the end of it, everyone had a hand in something in there.

Does that account for the more uptempo sound?

Scott Hansen: Yeah. I think there was a certain insularly quality to my earlier work. I see a lot of the album with an energetic backbeat, but parts of it are deeply emotional to me, so I see it more as a juxtaposition. Then you take a song like “Dive” and yeah, that’s a summery, upbeat type of thing.

Full of that hopeful emotion. Like, “I’m really happy, but let me think about exactly why.”

Scott Hansen: I think you just described me. Yeah, there’s this big sense of hope, but at the end of the day, whatever you’re looking for, you don’t quite have it in your hands. I guess that’s what the music’s about. I know there’s this other thing behind the curtain. I can’t see it, but I hope it’s something good. Music, to me, isn’t really about expressing happiness. It’s about expressing a longing or a hopefulness. I mean, it’s not just sad sack music. (Laughs) I know it has an uplifting edge to it.

That’s why I love Robert Smith and Lyle Lovett. Songwriters who can do happy and sad equally well, which allows them to put a unique spin on their music.

Scott Hansen: I definitely think that music and art—at least in my experience—are fueled by some sort of longing or something missing. When I get really low…that’s actually why I didn’t talk to you the other day. I broke up with my girlfriend of four years so I’m working through that. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced and I can’t do a God damn thing right now. Maybe I’m afraid of what will come out or something. I approach things when I’m feeling melancholy, but apparently I’ve never felt this before.

Whenever you’re effected emotionally, there’s a fine line between being able to create something and being just paralyzed by your mind. It’s weird.

Scott Hansen: Yup. It’s also a really intense time for shit I have to get done, so I’m trying to find my way out of that.

What’s your connection to water, the ocean and the coast? I mean, you’re not landlocked in San Francisco, but there feels like a much deeper connection there.

Scott Hansen: I’m from just outside Sacramento and it’s a really bucolic, rolling hills place with a lot of lakes and an amazing river that I spent my youth swimming in. There’s just something about the water. It’s the most literal and physical embodiment of that “other world” thing I was talking about earlier. When I stick my head underwater I feel like I’m visiting this other place for this brief moment. You can’t stay there forever, but that’s that metaphor for me.

I can’t recall an artist whose music and visual works are more in line with one another. A lot of artists can and have done both, but what I hear from Tycho is so in sync with your artwork as ISO50. Why is that synchronicity so important to you?

Scott Hansen: I think they fill in the blanks left by the other. I feel there are a lot of things I can’t express through design that I can definitely express through music and vice verse, but at the same time I think music is much more deep and complex than anything I could create in the 2D world. I think they tell the whole story when you put them together. What I really want to be doing is motion, and I feel like that’ll be when I ultimately express this thing I’ve been working towards my whole career.

Tycho – “Hours” by ChinaShopMag

Who influenced you from a design standpoint?

Scott Hansen: You know, I’ve never studied music or design in any formal way so I’m kinda ignorant to a lot of it. I didn’t even know who Brian Eno was until someone mentioned Music For Airports to me. Same goes for design. In design, it was more of a visual backdrop; things that I vaguely remember that shaped my early understanding of how things were supposed to look and feel. That visual language of the late ’70s and early ’80s through the prism of my parent’s taste. Their old records and eight-tracks, I used to dig through them, listen to them and just stare at the artwork. I guess that all really informed my style.

Do you start all your artwork in the computer or do you put pencil to paper most of the time?

Scott Hansen: I can think of maybe five times where I’ve started with a pure concept in my head and executed it in the real world, then brought it into the computer. But by and large it will be a photograph or something I saw and then I’ll start playing around with elements in Photoshop and then slowly add elements. Lately it’s become more of a photo collage type thing. I’ve really enjoyed working with multiple images and making them all feel like one. On the album cover (for Dive), there are like 20 or 30 different photos in there. But start to finish, we’re talking 98% in the box. The only time I really come out of the computer is if I need edges, lines or shapes that need to feel a little more organic. I’ll drip some ink on paper or draw lines with pencil and then blow them up so you get that imperfect edge, but that’s usually embellishment or finishing techniques.

Wait, 30 photos for the cover?

Scott Hansen: Yeah, man. That thing is like 800 layers. It’s insane how huge that image got. I only had a couple of weeks to do it, so I was throwing everything I had at it and it just kinda blew up out of control.

So for art, your approach is to pile on elements and then slowly strip away. Is that the same for music?

Scott Hansen: It’s opposite. Design is to throw everything at the canvas and peel away, but with music it’s starting with very raw and clean minimal ideas and then building and building. Not just layering for the sake of layering, but filling in the gaps.

Let’s go back to your first album, Past Is Prologue. Personal curiosity here, but I’ve always wondered where the vocal samples on “Dictaphone’s Lament” and “PBS” come from.

Scott Hansen: That’s my mom talking to me. She was a typist so she always had a Dictaphone around and she’d record me as a kid. Every year she’d record me once to be like, “This is what you sounded like when you were 7 or 8.” That whole album is like a eulogy for my youth and where I came from. That’s what “The Disconnect” is about; realizing that I had to leave my home, but wanting to give this monument to this time in my life.

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill). Photos by Dustin Downing (@MeTakeAPhoto).

Contest Rules:

Rule #1:
This competition is open to residents of the United States, ages 21 and older.
Rule #2:
You must provide a valid mailing address and phone number to receive the item.
Rule #3:
Although you can post as many photos as you like, number of photos posted will not necessarily effect your chances of winning.
Rule #4:
Your submissions must be posted by midnight PST on Monday, October 31st.
Rule #5:
You agree to all the following legal terms and conditions:

Acknowledgement: Selection of participants in the Tycho T-Shirt Contest (the “Contest”) shall be in the sole discretion of ChinaShop. (“ChinaShop,” “We,” “Us” or “Our(s)”). ChinaShop reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel the Contest and/or disqualify any participants at any time. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. By participating in the Contest selection process (the “Selection Process”), you hereby agree to abide by any and all Contest rules and irrevocably grant permission to ChinaShop and its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, promotional partners and agents, and each of their directors, officers, employees and assigns (all of the foregoing, the “ChinaShop Parties”), to use and authorize the use by third parties of your name. You represent that you are twenty one (21) years of age or older.

The exhibit is part of a pop up photo showcase, which pays tribute to the international cultures of the multitude of bands performing at the festival. Located inside The ReForm Academy, Composition: Visual Notes on Music contains around 40 photographs taken by emerging and world-renowned music photographers, including the Snorri Brothers, MOBY, B+ and Lauren Dukoff.

Also includes in the gallery are works by Dojillo and Walt, known for their Fat Beat Records images shot in Los Angeles and at Coachella. Catherine McGann, a 15-year photographer of New York’s Village Voice, contributed a line of photographs to the gallery that reveal the “other sides” of iconic music makers, including a black and white photograph of a four year old Bruno Mars as an Elvis impersonator, which was snapped in Memphis in 1990. There are candid shots of Bob Marley taken in a hallway in San Diego and a touching tribute to Amy Winehouse spoken through photographs taken by Jennifer Rocholl.

The gallery opening brought in herds of music fans, anxious to take a peak at some classic photographs of their favorite artists including, Bob Dylan, Lenny Kravitz, Brandon Boyd of Incubus, Beck, Arcade Fire, The Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, Boy George, Marilyn Manson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and more.

The exhibit is curated by the photography oriented nonprofit, The Lucie Foundation and will be on display throughout the duration of the Culture Collide Festival, which ends on October 9th. Lucie Foundation Program Director Jade Tran says the focus of the exhibit is to embody all types of music and appeal to a multi-generational crowd. “It really embodies the essence of music and what it means to look at music photography. It represents lots of genres of music, the kinds of cultures and subcultures that arise from music, and what that means to people.“

Composition: Visual Notes on Music
October 6-9

The ReForm Academy
1815 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Catie Laffoon.

Red Bull EmSee, a less street chump invitation-only affair, builds upon the traditional head-to-head battle by flashing random images and key words on the plasmas above. Each MC has to then spit that lick somewhere in their flow for it to count in that round of 3. “In these freestyle competitions, it is much more like an out of body performance than me in control of the performance,” So says Dirtbag Dan.

In the end, 8 men enter, one MC leaves.

Dirtbag Dan: I think the beard is what separates me from the rest of the crowd. It’s the obvious skill level increase due to said beard. It’s like a plus f*king 15. You know what I’m sayin?

I had no idea the power of “The Beard.” I usually rock a 5 o’ clock shadow… No wonder I can’t rap for sh*t.

Dirtbag Dan: I tell you what. You let that thing grow in, maybe get a little higher on your cheeks and you’ll be “The MAAAAAN.”

What’s in a name?

Dirtbag Dan: You know, the best monikers one does not choose, they are chosen for you. I had a buddy that once said, “Hey, you look like a dirtbag, Dan,” and that just fit.

Where does the wisdom come from? Do you practice a lot?

Dirtbag Dan: In a competition like this I’m not trying to preconceive anything. I’m going in there with an empty head and I’m gonna just let it come out.

Author’s note: On the “Let’s Beef.com” forums, where you to can spit rhymes via text with other users such as Semi_MurdaMatic, DrUnKeN SaMuRaI, and my favorite 74th ranked Mr_Furly33, I was educated as to the fact that it is “a dishonor to recite pre-written or memorized raps.” I tip the 40 to the rap gods for my misspoke.

What sets you apart from the rest of these MC’s? How would one be able to discern your specific style from all the rest of the dick jokes?

Dirtbag Dan: I’m really good with crowd control and my stage presence is top. I think that is what sets me apart from the rest of these goons.

What next?

Dirtbag Dan: This is what I do for a living. In the Bay Area we have a self sustaining market where I get regular airplay on the clear channel station and sell out shows every time I’m on the bill. I do some travel to battle in other countries and we’ll see what the future holds after tonight.”

Click here for more information on Red Bull EmSee

Words and Photos by Dustin Downing

Last week, the Echoplex was rocked by a new installment of Check Yo Ponytail 2, a cross-genre 18+ club night dedicated to all things new, edgy and danceable. On the roster: Terminal Twilight, Teengirl Fantasy, Pictureplane, and DJ sets by that Killing Spree collective you might have heard of around town. With such an eclectic lineup of everything from coldwave to neo-rave [that really was not meant to rhyme, and I apologize] we knew it was going to be an interesting night, and we were not disappointed.

The Echoplex was already crowded when LA’s own Terminal Twilight got the night off to a chill start. Singer Molly Fances’ eerie, frozen gaze cast at the swaying audience kept us guessing whether it was part of the act through the duration of their quietly stirring set.

My friends and I needed some air to recuperate, and found the patio crowding approaching sardine territory.

Teengirl Fantasy brought things up a few notches with a lively round of electronica ranging from house to R&B to dub. Perhaps not quite as lively as their official website suggests, but fun and good and bumpin’ nonetheless. Swaying turned to enthusiastic bopping in no time, the atmosphere changed and a faint sweat mist began to rise over the audience – but a taste [mm!] of things to come.

By the time Denver’s Travis Egedy, aka Pictureplane, took the stage with his Hawaiian-shirt-covered keyboard stand, it was ON. The Echoplex was packed to the gills, the crowd war rowdy and poised to Shake It. I didn’t know what to expect, but the increase in surrounding agitation had me excited, and rightfully so. In under two tracks’ time, audience members began to climb onto the stage, resulting in a free-for-all mini-rave, complete with awkward dancing, falling, stripping, whipping, and the odd plastic bag worn as a mask while dancing. Even the Killing Spree gang jumped into the sweaty, giddy action. If this is what our hipsters are becoming, Los Angeles, we just might be OK.

Words and photos by Zoetica Ebb.

Jeff Wayne (a.k.a. Ghostbeard), one of the head Ninjas on the label’s operations side, warmed up the upstairs Echo with a set of ragga-inspired jams before Thavius Beck pushed the bass bins to the limit for a massive 90-minute set. Dressed in a Pittsburgh Steelers t-shirt and rocking what looked to be a Novation Launchpad like it was an artist’s palette, Beck threw up a mash of sequenced loops and mid-tempo melody lines, including a sped-up sample of a-ha’s “Take On Me” atop some sub-atomic booty bass hits.

Downstairs at the Echoplex, the always thrifty Cut Chemist recreated bits and pieces of his latest release, Sound Of The Police, by using only one turntable, a mixer and a loop pedal to weave together a set of Afro-Brazilian and Ethiopian grooves.

New Ninja signee Eskmo followed, dropping heady, squishy tunes off his self-titled debut. Save for a pitched-up interlude towards the end, Eskmo’s set was heavy on downtempo rhythms, which made for a nice transition into Toddla T’s set of dancehall and electro-house.

Back upstairs, a fully costumed Kid Koala brought out Silverlake’s own Money Mark to help him perform a special version of “Happy Birthday,” complete with crowd participation. It wasn’t the last time he’d need the crowd’s assistance. After busting the fader on his mixer, the Kid vamped by calling up two people for an impromptu pillow fight, joking that he needed the pillows returned in one piece or else management at the Standard Hotel would snatch up his room’s security deposit. It was easily the most entertaining set of the night. Getting an LA crowd to dance is one thing. Getting them to dance and laugh is straight up superhero talent.

On the flip side, Amon Tobin kept things sinister on the Echoplex stage, blending classic tracks like “Slowly” (off 2000’s Supermodified) with a range of new material. Always true to the drum ‘n’ bass, Tobin’s set reached fever pitch when he dropped in Noisia’s “Stigma,” then followed on with a mix of rollers that finally got the crowd up off its hands. The night, however, wouldn’t have been complete without a little Ninja Tune history lesson, courtesy of DJ Food & DK, who dropped in a mix of songs and videos like DJ Vadim’s “The Terrorist,” Roots Manuva’s “Wittness (One Hope)” and Amon Tobin’s “Get Your Snack On.” While Kentaro flexed his superhuman turntable skills downstairs, Ninja’s old guard took the crowd to school, raiding the crates in what proved to be a fitting end to an evening that celebrated both the old and the new with equal righteousness.

Words by by Richard Thomas.  Photos by Dustin Downing.

Call me jaded, but these days it seems like you can’t swing a glow stick without hitting another DJ or producer (and if you did, would that be a bad thing?). It’s hard to know who’s really talented and who’s just remixing somebody else’s songs or recycling ready-made sound samples taken from the latest music software package. But while that debate will rage on in music circles everywhere (ok, maybe not everywhere, but it does seem like a pretty popular topic of conversation), there’s no denying that electronic music is here to stay and that it is one of the defining sounds of this generation.

Why the rant? Because I just saw some really good electronic music that reminded me of why I fell in love with it in the first place. Finally. Tipper, the British breaks producer who headlined at the Echoplex, has been an influential presence in the electronic music scene for over 12 years and is one beat maker I can get down to. (Oh and believe me, I did. You should have been there.)

Tippers style has shifted over the years from breakbeat and trip-hop to a more bass-heavy sub-octave sound, but regardless of the evolution, hasn’t lost its musicality, it’s unpredictable yet grippingly immersive quality. It might have also helped that the event, put on by Space Island, had a extraterrestrial theme going on—Tipper (and opening/closing acts Jupit3r, RD and Kether) played on a stage filled with fiery red props so they looked like Martians peeking out of a lava field, and often times were flanked by silver-clad go-go dancers on stilts, courtesy of the Stilt Circus. Off the dance floor, the art gallery, curated by Karim So and live painting by John Park added to the otherworldly feel of the night.

But honesty, I kept getting pulled back into the pool of infectiously mesmerized dancers during Tipper’s set, and I’m glad I did. Because while I know my generation may not have the most discerning taste when it comes to knob tweaking and button pushing, they certainly know how to have a good time. And when the face behind the laptop is actually proficient at what it does, it’s even better. So Tipper, I tip my hat to you. I think you may have even made eye contact with the crowd once or twice. Bonus points!

Words by Christine Spehar, photos by Curious Josh