With a brief look at some notables along the road, Chang Terhune’s Music Mondays aims to shed light on both new and old(er) music over a wide spectrum of sound (and vision). This week: Blawan, SPFDJ, Forest Drive West, Prequel Tapes, and Colin Benders.
The long and the short of it
I often marvel at how much music some friends of mine consume and listen to on a daily basis. Then someone says to me about the numerous songs or albums I post in a day and I realize it’s all relative. It’s a fun way to find new music, though it works better on some streaming sites than others. For me, if I’m working during the day, I usually have YouTube going in my office if I’m not listening to music via some other avenue. I’m usually watching longer videos which means either mixes or more often than not live sets.
Here’s a few that I’ve been enjoying lately.
BLAWAN & SPFDJ — Discovering the Boiler Room channel was a life changing experience for me. I know it’s become a bit more mainstream lately, but there’s a nice library of live sets from just about anyone and everyone in techno and underground club music. This one features Blawan and SPFDJ who I’m just getting to know. This is a three hour plus set of hard techno so it’s good for writing or cleaning the house or dancing with all the lights off.
BLAWAN AT NUITS SONORES — Blawan is someone I discovered after hearing Overmono and searching for similar artists via YouTube’s radio function. Blawan makes absolutely banging techno and this set shows it in what must be an amazing venue to play in:
This is a great Blawan interview and live set. It’s a fun listen, but if you’re a musician, it’s a great insight into how he plays live. I must say the interviewer is a master interruptor, but hey, you still get to hear about how Blawan makes the crazy tracks he does.
FOREST DRIVE WEST — The pandemic of course led to a lot of live sets as people were sheltering indoors. This three hour set is absolutely astounding in the breadth and width of music. I’d love to see on of his live shows as I bet they’re nothing short of barn burners.
PREQUEL TAPES — Speaking of the pandemic (ugh. Must we?) Lost Sonar Collective came about during the pandemic as an outlet for artists who couldn’t play due to lockdowns and quarantines. They’re still doing their great work fortunately because these sets are really great. Perfect showcases for artists as well as a great show, too.
This Prequel Tapes set is popping:
COLIN BENDERS — Finally we end with an artists whose live rig is almost as huge as his live set. Colin Benders works his magic in this live set with a monstrous wall of machines in front of him.
