The Bunker New York 001 Record Release Party at Output / The Panther Room
74 Wythe Avenue
21+, 10p-6a
$15-20 advance, $30 door
Having Moritz Von Oswald as a guest DJ at The Bunker is an honor to say the least. The influence of his body of work cannot be underestimated. The profundity of it all, starting with the Basic Channel and Maurizio records he made with Mark Ernestus in the Nineties, onto the stunning Main Street and Rhythm and Sound material, straight through to the Moritz Von Oswald Trio albums of the past few years, is pretty overwhelming. There has basically been no time in the past 20 years that Moritz didn't have at least one active project shaping the music of the day. We've been told that his current dj sets are a reflection of his tastes in house, techno and of course a little bit of dub/reggae with a foundation in his productions from the past 20 years.
Legowelt is the name under which Dutch artist Danny Wolfers releases most of his music. He describes his music as "a hybrid form of slam jack, The Hague electronix, combined with deep Chicago trax, obscure and romantic ghetto technofunk, EuroHorror Soundtracks and a lot more". Initially influenced by early Detroit Techno and Chicago acid tracks, Legowelt moved on to more and more experimental sounds until finally discovering the Bunker Records crew in his hometown, The Hague. He has since released dozens of records under more artist names than anyone could possibly keep track of. Legowelt has previously appeared at The Bunker three times, and delivered mind blowing sets each and every time. Tonight shoudl be not different.
Leisure Muffin’s modern take on kosmische music is not easy to pin down. Influences and reference points are extraordinarily wide-ranged, but include early Warp (Seefeel, Autechre, and Aphex), Drexciya, Skinny Puppy, Meat Beat Manifesto, Coil, and Perrey and Kingsley. He was also deeply influenced by the sound of The Bunker (and other) dancefloors. A former audio engineering educator, Hopkins has a mastery of both Ableton Live and modular synthesizers. After drooling over, and even borrowing some key pieces of gear from Sarah Lawrence College and Charles Cohen’s studio over the years, the recent advent of more affordable modular equipment meant that he finally has a dream setup of his own.
It makes sense that someone with Leisure Muffin's broad tastes makes music that is hard to classify. When most people tell you that they love all forms of music, further examination of their claim usually leads to disappointment. This isn't the case for Leisure Muffin. If you join him for tea, you could end up listening to an accordion record as easily as you might hear electronic music. He spent most of his life working in some of the best and worst record stores in the USA, for the pure joy of being able to hear new sounds every day (before the internet put all music at everyone’s fingertips). If you talk to him you might hear about the pleasures of attending the symphony after eating a pot brownie or how you should listen to African Juju records from the 1930s. With the encouragement of Bryan Kasenic and The Bunker New York family, Leisure Muffin finally managed to finish an EP in the studio, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.
Bryan Kasenic - (pka Spinoza) is known in the electronic music world for throwing many incredible parties (The Bunker), playing adventurous DJ sets, and starting Beyond, his own booking agency. The past few years have seen Bryan take his infamous Brooklyn-based party, The Bunker, to Panorama Bar in Berlin, Corsica Studios in London, Unsound Festival in Krakow, Communikey Festival in Boulder, Decibel Festival in Seattle, Smartbar in Chicago, GAFFTA in San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and of course Detroit. The Bunker celebrated it's eleventh anniversary in January 2014 and just launched a record label.
Mike Servito is from a very special yet temporary and partially lost fertile crescent of techno / house / party DJing. It was a time when raves were still a fresh idea, almost felt like a revolution, and DJs like Claude Young, D Wynn, Derrick Carter and Mike Huckaby were informing an upcoming generation. If you look directly to that inspired generation you will find the lost threads of Detroit Techno, House and beyond, you will find a group of DJs with insanely deep mixing skills, the ability to rock almost any kind of party with an improvisational approach that is so skilled it makes everything seem so well thought out that even they don't know where their set will go. But, it will take you there! In the future, this special generation of deep midwest mixers will be remembered and revered as the wizards they are, long after the trendy players have lost their luster. Mike Servito's upfront dirty deep and bitchy taste has had an impact on Detroit nightlife for over a decade.
Honey Soundsystem's mission state gets right to the point: "We are a collective of disc jockeys, musicians, performers and designers. We bond over our shared love of timeless sound, iconic imagery, the complete look, indulgent behavior, and most of all, attractive men." Over the past seven years, their weekly party at the Holy Cow has become absolutely legendary. Jason Kendig, one of the resident DJs joining us tonight, hails from Detroit and cut his teeth as a DJ at the same parties Derek Plaslaiko and Mike Servito back in the day. Honey has been instrumental in the formation of three high quality record labels: Dark Entries, Discaire, and HNYTRX - their in-house label for special one off releases. When they headlined The Bunker in August, we discovered that Honey Soundsystem are all around masters of good vibes who know how to bring it behind the decks, and we couldn't be more excited ot bring them back into the fold.
While shopping for vinyl at a record store, Ryan Smith met Ron Like Hell, a veteran DJ of 19 years. Both excited to meet another like-minded gay individual into timeless musical sounds, past and present, they were inspired to work on a project together. They really came into their own when they launched the Wrecked monthly at National Underground, which was an immediate success. They've made it their mission to book solid underground talent to express the changing tides in the gay underground. Currently, Ron is working on music and remixes while Ryan is working on a label, Discaire Records, with 3 other gents while working as a booking agent. The duo is always cooking up some exciting new projects and surprises. For the past few months, these guys have become a regular part of our lineups at The Bunker, shining bright as both openers and in more prime time slots.
After a very successful 11 Year Anniversary party to kick off the new year, we have something else to celebrate: the release of the very first record on our new label, The Bunker New York. The artist behind the first release, Leisure Muffin, will be presenting his first live set in NYC in quite a few years. Joining him on the lineup are absolute techno legends Moritz Von Oswald and Legowelt. DAMN! The Bunker residents Bryan Kasenic and Mike Servito will be opening and closing the night. In the Panther Room, we have our West Coast sisters from another mister Honey Soundsystem joining us once again alongside Wrecked. The last time Honey Soundsystem joined us was one of the most fun parties we've ever had!