On Sunday 26^th April  DJs For Climate Action will broadcast the largest global back-to-back B2B set on record, with over 100 DJs playing live from more than 50 cities worldwide in celebration of the third annual EARTH NIGHT. Originally planned as a weekend of parties in nightclubs around the world to honour the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, DJs4CA will host a day-long live broadcast DJ relay, demonstrating the music community’s ongoing dedication to addressing the climate crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with Club House, Haute To Death, and other EARTH NIGHT affiliated “teleparties” scheduled that week.  The Sunday B2B will serve as DJs4CA’s main event.

Here is a custom google map showing locations of where artists are playing from.

EARTH NIGHT is a global initiative harnessing the energy of nightlife to generate positive climate action. Since its inception in 2018, EARTH NIGHT has engaged the participation of artists like Mija, Soul Clap, Jamie Jones, Little Boots, A-Trak, plus many more. Last year EARTH NIGHT organized 8 events worldwide attended by 3000 people, and curated an eclectic compilation featuring nearly 60 new tracks collectively raising $20,000 for beneficiaries working towards climate solutions.

With the coronavirus forcing a shift from clubs to living-rooms, the goal this year is to focus more on fun, spectacle, and global engagement rather than on fundraising. The B2B livestream will highlight organizations doing important climate work and drive viewers to earthnight.org for opportunities to take further action.  DJs4CA views this moment as an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the nightlife industry pre-coronavirus, and draw wisdom from a period without touring, festivals, and clubbing to envision new, more sustainable ways forward. Artists include:  Blond:ish, Doorly, Soul Clap, DJ Holographic, Cosmo Baker, Louisaahhh!!!, The Whooligan, Mr. V, Nickodemus, Moullinex , Da Chick, Fred Everything, JKriv, DJ Raff Plus many more.

Cet article DJ’s For Climate Action / The largest global B2B session on record / Sunday 26th April est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Pre-order now.

Cet article Ozgood & Sa’D Ali – No Couture (FSQ Remix – One Era Edit) [Soul Clap Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Owing their foundations to traditional afrobeat (and named after a Fela Kuti song), the Brooklyn-based, female-fronted band, Underground System, has built an international reputation around a seamlessly executed stage show, astonishing wherever they go, and compelling crowds to move with unbridled verve.

In September 2018 the band released their debut LP What Are You on Soul Clap Records, the much-loved New York City imprint known for their coupling of party-ready DJ culture and shapeshifting live acts.

Following up on “What Are You,” Underground System returns to Soul Clap Records with a remix package of their standout single “Just A Place” with remixes from Gerd Janson, Greg Wilson, Sol Power All-Stars, Soul Clap, and Peter Matson.

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/premiere-underground-system-just-a-place-peter-matson-edit” /]

Peter gives the original new life for the club with an oddball disco approach that’ll surely be a go-to tool for DJs operating within the genre. Crisp congas and a steady bass line are two constants only uprooted by the occasional instrumental flare or percussive fill. What we’ve got here is a reliable chugger that’s never too dull and never to hype. The energy is uniform, an often overlooked quality in tracks that need to fulfill a function outside of being a straight up banger.

Don’t sleep on this cut, and stay tuned for the full package to drop in June. Pre-order your copy here!

Cet article Underground System – Just A Place (Peter Matson Edit) [Soul Clap Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

It’s been almost two decades since Soul Clap (the composite of Eli “Bamboozle” Goldstein and Charlie “Lonely C” Levine) came to be in Boston, Massachusetts. Soul Clap is now a global brand in the disco and house universe, encompassing not only the duo’s DJ careers but also boasting a suite of labels (including the eponymous Soul Clap Records) and an ever-expanding list of parties and residencies. In a market dominated by European artists and labels, Soul Clap holds it down for The States.

Early hustles on the regional circuit and releases on the likes of AirDrop and Wolf + Lamb ultimately gave way to the duo’s exit from New England, landing them in Berlin in 2010. Eli chronicles the period, “for a few years we lived the nomadic life, without permanent homes, just living out of suitcases between Berlin and Miami with stops in New York, Boston or wherever else in between. By 2013 we both were in relationships and it felt like [it was] time to settle down. Most of our music community was in Brooklyn at that point so that’s where we went.” The duo now finds themselves split between BK and Miami, with Charlie having recently migrated south again.

Over the last seven or so years, the duo has also created a home for other American DJs and producers on their imprint, Soul Clap Records, and plan to keep growing via their EFUNK parties and label. Eli details: “US producers need a little more of a platform than Europe. In Europe there [are] so many labels and so many opportunities, and I don’t think there’s necessarily as much for disco and weirder deep house and live electronic sounds [in the US]. That’s really connected with the EFUNK parties too. . . that’s part of it — booking DJs from the city where we’re throwing the EFUNK parties. We build relationships with people and then it makes sense to put out their music.”

Charlie agrees, “for the labels [and] the parties, it’s kinda rare that we’re booking people out of the blue — cold booking. Especially for the label. A lot of labels are just reaching out and trying to sign music from hyped artists. For almost everyone [we bring on], we have a [deeper] relationship beyond the music and the work.”

Differentiating label projects can sometimes be a tough task, but the duo found that the trajectory of their sonic identity warranted new vehicles. Eli explains that, “[Soul Clap Records] took a while for it to find its identity. It started out as an extension of how we DJ, but also was a building block of Crew Love, where we were bringing in artists like Nick Monaco and other artists who were part of the Crew to put out music. But very eclectic music. Sometimes it was house, sometimes it was more of a downtempo thing, or sometimes it was a funk thing, and I think that over this time I realized that running a label isn’t exactly like DJing. Maybe with DJing it’s an advantage that we can go in all of these different directions and never really know what to expect. When people are buying music, it’s really hard for people to be loyal to a label if one release is completely different from the next one. Maybe we put out a funk record and get a bunch of people who are really interested in that, and then the next one is a house record and it’s like ‘well, what is this label?’. Over time, it became clear to me that we needed to focus what [the label was]. It happened organically too. [Soul Clap Records] became more of a disco, funk, and live label, but we still needed an outlet for house music and more club music, and that’s where House of EFUNK came from. House of EFUNK is like ‘take me to the rave’, and Soul Clap Records is the Mothership.”

Soul Clap’s investment in the American scene is enlarging in scope, especially due to their aforementioned House of EFUNK label and party series. The duo started things off this year with their third annual installment of EFUNK in Miami, and have just announced their sixth iteration of the party at Detroit’s Movement Festival. LA, Berlin, London, New York, Boston, DC and Amsterdam are all on deck for the party later in 2019. More releases are also surely on deck, with the first EFUNK EP (Soul Clap’s own Jupiter Crush) having released this year as well.

Despite having reached international acclaim through their multiple projects, Eli and Charlie haven’t forgotten where they are from, and make it a point to represent both their hometown and the USA on the regular. “I like to stand up for the US”, Eli exclaims, “the US has really strong music lovers, and people who love the music and know the music. And dance! In a way that’s maybe different from Europe. . . people in Europe have this attitude that [it’s just] EDM and people don’t get it over here. So I always like to be sure to explain that that’s not always the case. The [dance music scene has changed significantly] in the last five years in the US. I hate calling it post-EDM, [but] having all those kids get into electronic music created a whole generation of [listeners] who are more open.”

Commitment to geographical roots may be an essential component to the duo’s reputation and charm, along with their penchant for diverse sounds (as illustrated by their selections, productions and A&R). It may come off as cliché, but the work ethic and industriousness necessary to Make It in the dance music scene in the States is vastly different from the prerequisites of the European arena. Eli furthers the description of this dichotomy, noting, “. . . you really have to put in the work here to get it back. Whereas in Europe, if you’re making great music and DJs are playing it, they’ll just book you. [In the US], you have to throw your own party, you have to know everybody, you have to really build it up, and that’s something [we’ve been] doing and that we’ve been able to enjoy. That’s one of the benefits of putting in the work for so long.”

Indeed, Soul Clap is reaping the benefits of putting in the work. Not only as DJs, but as label curators, producers, venue owners, community members, and party promoters. Soul Clap is a modern day dance music institution and an American one at that. With that, we present to you our latest entry of the MIXED BY/ series.

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/mixed-by-soul-clap/” /]

Interview by Martín

Cet article MIXED BY/ Soul Clap est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Soul Clap. Whenever we see those two words we can’t resist the urge to click, listen or watch. “What are these guys cooking up now?” is our first thought, the second “of course they are”. The creative, tirelessly inventive and downright dirty duo are celebrating the beginning of their new house music imprint House of EFUNK, (a name you’ve no doubt seen flying around as the title of their electrifying touring party series). The Boston boys are back from their cosmic travels and you will want to hear delights they have returned with. Treasure in the form of two tracks ‘Jupiter Cush’ and ‘Natural Bliss’, fortunately, we have the honour of premiering the B Side of the first Soul Clap EP of 2019 EFUNK01, the track is entitled ‘Natural Bliss’.

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/premiere-soul-clap-natural-bliss”/]

What we have here is a musical compound made up of buzzing particles of sonically stunning vocals, sounds of intergalactic laser warfare, warm piano chords, comforting funky percussion and muted basslines. ‘Natural Bliss’ will transport you back into the early days of Marshall Jefferson, before throwing you up through the stratosphere, where you will be caught for a moment in a cosmic jungle with echoes of the rhythms beneath. Paradoxically (in true Soul Clap fashion), the track incorporates futuristic yet retro elements of synthy splendour and unpolished rugged drums that only add more texture and layers to this New York house-flavoured instrumental.

The artistic pair, experiment with the deeper darker side of sophisticated, electro-funk and deep house releasing similar music off the renowned Soul Clap Records a few years back. Further to this, they collaborated with Wolf + Lamb, Double Standards Records back in 2013 to create Crew Love, which is of course, was another successful idea made possible by the likes of Nick Monaco, PillowTalk, No Regular Play coming together to bring pure uplifting music to world. Adding House of EFUNK to the Soul Clap life story is certainly a wise move for the duo and lovers of soulful house music everywhere. Shout outs to Lee Curtiss for mixing down this sell-out EP he really has accentuated the signature Soul Clap freshness.

Soul Clap are the future of house music. This would be a bold statement but their ability to time travel with their satisfying and truly original production techniques is unrivalled. Authentically conveying their message of fun, love and freakiness through tracks like ‘Natural Bliss’, the boys firmly cement their brand into the history of music.
Cop yours here!

Olivia

Cet article Soul Clap – Natural Bliss [House Of EFunk Records] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

About a year and a half ago we had the pleasure of introducing you to Blair French and his fantastic debut on Rocksteady Disco, Standing Still Is An Illusion, by far one of our favourite records of 2017. We also had the pleasure of premiering Public Park from his follow-up record earlier this year. Although an already accomplished producer, Standing Still was the first time Blair produced under this alias and was also the first time he produced a dance record. What a debut.

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/boltingbits/blair-french-standing-still-is-an-illusion-bamboozle-aka-eli-soul-clap-remix” /]
Fast forwarding to today, Standing Still Is An Illusion has gotten the remix treatment, and let us tell you, it is quite the package. Featuring remixes from both Aroop Roy and Topher Horn, another Rocksteady Disco regular, it already sounds like a hit. But, we’ve got another first for you. Eli, from a duo you may have heard of called Soul Clap, is also on the bill. His debut release as Bamboozle just so happens to be a remix of Blair’s debut. When we first heard the news, we thought that there was no way this recipe could be screwed up and boy were we ever right.

Upping the tempo, Bamboozle takes an already percussion-filled track to the next level. In the first half we have the original’s warm chords and vocals paired with complimentary swelling synths and an upbeat, muted cowbell rhythm. The break takes us into a percussive boogie down until the second half of the track where it takes a deeper turn. Tasty pads and the re-worked rubbery bassline carry this one into late night territory. With the stellar ears of Pontchartrain on mixing duties, it gives it that much extra sheen. Just like the original, the Bamboozle remix is a whole journey within a single track. Bolting Bits stamp of approval. Get your copy here as the release is out now!

Igor

Cet article Blair French – Standing Still Is An Illusion (Bamboozle AKA Eli Soul Clap Remix) [Rocksteady Disco] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

G-Edits is up there with the best of them when it comes to the sweet sound of disco, and if you haven’t heard of them we suggest you buy the entire discography right this minute. Ben Gomori has taken his time to mould a smooth reputable label whose consistency outshines its neighbour labels. The man with an incredible work ethic, not only performing under Ben but with his alias too G Markus all the while running several labels such as Monologues Records, Sterns Edits and G-Edits. But his impressive CV doesn’t stop there with the talented musician hosting regular podcasts, radio shows and refugee fundraisers he truly does have a heart and mind of gold and its filled with music. Roots For Bloom and Soul Clap Records are just two of the labels G Markus has released with, he never fails to deliver and keeps up that record today.

Adam R.

Cet article G. Markus – Eternal [G-Edits] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.