Ry Cooder – El UFO Cayó
The man, the hero, the legend. Ry is so versatile, exploring new territories, always original. This is one of my many favorite Cooder songs taken from his ‘Chávez Ravine’ album. The album tells the true story of a mexican-american community demolished by a housing project in the ’50s. If someone hasn’t built a statue for Ry Cooder they damn well should!. Preferably in a mexican-american community that is. Vocals by Juliette Commagere by the way (lead singer of Hello Stranger).
Horowitz – Schumann ‘Traumerei’
81-year old Vladimir Horowitz returned to his home country Russia in 1984 for this somewhat controversial concert after being away for 61 years. As an encore he played the lovely ‘Traumerei’ by Schumann, with such a finesse and unmatched timing, it made a room full of grown-up man cry. Afterwards mobs outside gathered and police had to get involved as was usual in the USSR. I’ve always felt Russians have a way better understanding of the true meaning of melancholia.
Eric Vloeimans – Hyper
Eric Vloeimans is a dutch jazz trumpet player and composer who rides on filmic melancholic waves. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him live a few times, which consists of him dragging a whole audience down one trippy and super epic rabbit hole you don’t wanna get out of.
Patsy Cline – Crazy
A few years back I was lost in some hole in the wall bar somewhere in America. Just me, my girl, and 2 or 3 alcoholics on their own. That time when we’re all getting our last drink late at night. All of a sudden Patsy Cline was put on and we all just listened in silence, all drowing in our own thoughts and misery. It was a bit of a moment.
Germans – Cruel
I grew up in the eighties and have a soft-spot for smooth ballads. What can I say? Slow-dancing with older girls at school parties may have caused it. This song might not actually been from the eighties but a fake that’s got the decade’s signature all over it. Tried to find out more about this act, but googling for ‘Cruel Germans’ got me to all sort of other interesting websites!
Benny Sings – Champagne People
Benny Sings is perhaps one of the most underestimated and talented dutch artists we have here in The Netherlands. Apparently he hates performing and prefers writing one beautful album after another in the safety of his own studio dungeon. Fair enough, the studio is my comfort zone too. You boys & girls should become aware of him, even though you might never see him play.
Serge Gainsbourg – Ah Melody
You don’t have to look far in France to find where AIR got it’s inspiration from. A generation before Gainsbourg mastered the craft and set the tone. ‘Histoire De Melody Nelson’ is probably his best album (but there are many!). It describes the romance between a grown up man in a Rolls-Royce and a teenage girl on a bycicle. Disturbing? sure, but luckily I hardly understand French lyrics and the music is just mindblowing.
Chrome Canyon – Generations
Synth wave for lovers by New York musician Morgan Z. Think cats and analogue synths and you get the picture. The world needs more Halogen-coated futuristic anthems like this.
Jaja – Elega Al Che
I don’t know anything about this act, just that this song stuck to me and have been bothering my household with this one on repeat.
Mulatu Astatke – Tezeta (Nostalgia)
Suppose every DJ must be a neurotic record collector of sorts. I sure am, in a wide range of styles. I also have my periods (for a boy, that is). Currently that’s a lot of West-African music (afro funk, afro jazz etc.) as there’s just a goldmine of beautiful bits there. Discovering jewells like this one on a daily basis now.
Mason
Giving one big finger to trends, genres and mediocrity has been Mason’s mantra for over twenty years. His studio creations and energy behind the decks are a direct reflection of this personality. Equal parts groove, melody and eccentricity the Dutchman avoids jumping on electronic music bandwagons at all costs. “I could make club music fodder all day, but that would just bore me shitless. I like to challenge myself and my audience a bit more than that!” says Mason on his production ethos.
There aren’t too many producers out there capable of making credible underground bangers and radio friendly hits simultaneously but Mason is surely one of them. With a palette borrowed from formative years immersed in hip-hop, house, electro, funk and disco there are no rules to his musical alchemy. Its really just about having fun and avoiding the usual clichés of the scene.
Born Iason Chronis, entertainment is in this boy’s blood. All of his family ply their trade in the arts, with an actress mother, a sculptor father and a sister on stage, film and TV. It was inevitable that the young Iason would also a similar creative path entertaining people somehow. After singing in a famous kids TV series in The Netherlands at the age of seven – think Sesame Street without the puppets – the boy started to hang out in big recording studios. Fascinated by the huge desks and banks of gear his love affair with music and its technology began.
By the mid-nineties the young Mason had started to DJ, albeit from humble beginnings. He’s proud of an early residence in a seedy Amsterdam dive where off duty hookers and various freaks gathered to dance in the early hours. It certainly gave the rookie DJ a chance to hone his skills in front of a very tough crowd. Fast-forward a few decades and the unassuming Dutch producer/DJ is fulfilling his ambitions through creating music and playing clubs and festivals in over 50 countries and counting…
Given the Dutch trait for not shouting about one’s achievements too loudly, we’ll try and keep things low key here even though there’s a lot to tell.
You may know Mason from his breakout single back in 2007 (‘Exceeder’), yet he would be the first to tell you that things have moved on a hell of a lot since those times. In only the last two years he’s had releases on respected labels such as Island Records, Defected, Kittball, Sweat It Out, Skint and Bunny Tiger. Mason’s ‘Rhino’ was one of the tunes of last summer, which became a BBC Radio 1 ‘Hottest Record In The World’.
There have been two fully-fledged artist albums by Mason, featuring a plethora of guest artists. He’s so far managed to persuade the likes of Roisin Murphy, The Noisettes, Aqualung, Hercules & Love Affair and Jocelyn Brown to join him. Even hip-hop royalty the like of Daryl “DMC” McDaniels, Kurtis Blow and Sway have found themselves on Mason records. More recent partners in crime include Stefflon Don and The Manor.
Then there’s his own label, Animal Language; a musical menagerie for Mason’s weird and wonderful creations. This is usually music that is just too damn strange and obnoxious for most labels out there. It has featured ‘Refurbs’, the ‘Nite Rite’ series and scores of knarly tunes from a host of producer mates. The Animal Language boys tend to celebrate by throwing weird and wonderful guerilla raves in strange spaces. They are drunken guided tours hosted in unfashionable bars, empty stores and even buses. The so-called ‘Animal Language Raves’ have become legend on the word of mouth party scene in Amsterdam. They are very messy affairs.
To say this boy is prolific is a bit of an understatement. There have been scores of singles released since that one tune dropped over a decade ago. Beatport number 1’s, BBC Radio playlists, Hollywood movie features and numerous TV ads. There’s been no slacking in the studio Iason refers to as ‘the cave’. The guy is a self confessed workaholic who thrives on the graft of creating.
This year sees Mason ramp up his activities with world-renowned collaborators. Already in the can is a club banger featuring UK and US top 10 vocalist Alex Clare. In the short term he will showcase new output via imprints such as Skint, Spinnin’ Deep and his second single for Island Records.
In what is becoming a very trend driven, genre specific world Mason constantly strives against the norm by creating music on his own terms. The most important thing is simply making what he’d like to play that will also engage his fans on a dance floor or over the ether. He pays no heed to what this month’s current media darlings are dropping nor does he wear a baseball cap or have full sleeve tattoos either. What Mason does have is a unique vibe and ‘fuck you’ attitude to making music that is infectious and refreshing.
www.musicofmason.com
www.facebook.com/musicofmason
www.twitter.com/musicofmason
www.instagram.com/musicofmason
www.soundcloud.com/musicofmason
