Recently I had the honor of participating in a series of releases curated and released over on the modyfier blog. Shepherded by the ever-insightful Rayna, this series of site-specific works focuses it’s attention on not only the product of the works, but on the process behind them.

I wrote a 3 page paper to accompany the 4 composition to be posted on the site. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote.

“… Another aspect of the project was that improvisation was used as a central part of the compositional structure. The general form for each song was created using a MIDI sequencer, but the final recorded version was a combination of improvised performance and structured composition. It was this paring of improvisation and composition that allowed this series of compositions to stay fresh and novel. …”

Visit modyfier for the full text as well as to download the tracks. They are experimental and minimal.

Last weekend I curated and performed at a monthly event called “SINK”. Unfortunately the cops came and shut it down due to no liquor license. Here is a video of Burak’s visuals with some of what I was performing in the background.

April 26th // SINK @ Reboot
A Night of Electronica in Two Movements
XELA | CLOUTIER | PANDATONE | INSIDEOUT | PRAVEEN | VALEO | CHIKA | ARIKAN | SMITH
37 Avenue A (betw. 2nd and 3rd St)
$5 / 10pm - 4am+

For this edition of SINK we have put together a very eclectic lineup of music and visuals to be performed in two movements.

Movement One
To begin our night we have Percussion Lab’s infamous Praveen know for his tasty hip hop and laptop-pop selections. Following Praveen we have Music Related’s Pandatone performing some of the most beautiful noise to come out of a laptop since Finezze was last in town. And to close out the first Movement we have Type Records’ man-in-charge John Xela performing a very special DJ set of some of the most emotive and moving electronica to ever grace the sound systems of NYC. John rarely DJs state-side, so this is a very rare opportunity to get an earful of what the head of one of the UK’s most respected electronica labels throes down.

Movement Two
Following Xela we have RJ Valeo performing as Isomer Transition. For SINK Valeo will be mixing his own productions of recent and past into his Live PA performing a special 2 hour long live set, blurring the lines between experimental, minimal, live pa and dj performance. Closing out the night we have an amazing booking of Detroit’s Eric Cloutier doing a tag-team with Clink Record’s Insideout. This is an idea that Eric and Grant have been working on for sometime and they are excited to have the opportunity to realize their joint vision of what a proper minimal techno tag-team is. This performance promises to be the highlight of the evening as we have arranged with the venue’s management to allow us to go past the usual 4am stop point for the evening. How late we go, no one knows.

Visuals & Installations
For this evening we have booked two of New York’s best visualists, Chika and Burak Arikan to crate an enveloping visual environment. Chika, with her minimalist geometric patterns, has performed along side artists such as John Tejada, Bubblyfish, Sawako, and countless others. MIT Media Lab graduate and Ars Electronica presenter Burak Arikan has been a major player in the field of data visualization, lending his visual wizardry to (amongst others) Richie Hawtin for several of his Minus tours and shows. David Smith, an acclaimed NYC artist and Warp Records colaborator will present Indexed Color, a new installation of video and slide projection. The work engages with a variety of ways of looking at and thinking about color, from Bob Ross’s relation to color field painters, to color wheel aesthetics, to the effect of colored light on photographic film.

Music
Praveen - DJ Set
PercusionLab / Music Related
http://percussionlab.com

Pandatone - Live PA
Music Related
http://musicrelated.net

John Xela - DJ Set
Type Records
http://typerecords.com

RJ Valeo - Live PA
Type Records / Moodgadget
http://transelectronic.net

Insideout - Tag Team w/Eric Cloutier
Clink Recordings
http://clinkrecordings.com

Eric Cloutier - Tag Team w/Insideout
Subtrak / The Bunker | NYC via Detroit
http://www.elementeight.net/

Visuals & Art
Burak Arikan
http://burak-arikan.com/

Chika
http://www.imagima.com/

David Smith
http://www.thedavidsmith.com

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TheReturn of Gel & Weave
…for one night only

Magda | Mike Servito | Igal Nassima | RJ Valeo

Tuesday,November 13 2007
Bar 13 (35 E. 13th St. NYC 9pm - 4am |$10)

We’re excited to announce the return of Magda and her infamousparty, Gel & Weave. This isa one-time only event takingplace on Tuesday November 13th 2007. Now, we know thisisa bit of a strange day to do a techno party with Magda,Mike Servito, Igal Nassima,and RJ Valeo. A Tuesday ofall days! But, the stars aligned to make this thing happenandwe hope that you will come out and join us for what promises to be a really greatnight of music, featuringsome of the best talents that Berlin, Detroit and NYC have to offer. So take Wednesday off, grab your activator, and be prepared to get your snake on!

Magda // Minus, Berlin

Currently residingin Berlin, a relative stone’s throw from her hometownof Zywiec in Poland, Magdaseems to have found a city thatmirrors her own attitude to life - no restrictionsandcer-tainly no compromise. It’s a philosophy that also flowsthrough her musicproductions and her DJ sets and has madeher a vital artist on the Minus roster.Her ability toguide the audience through the dark recesses of contemporaryminimalismbefore delivering them back safely into thelight means her name is never far fromthe lips of discerningclubbers and fellow DJs alike.

Mike Servito // Blackbx/Burnlab, Detroit

A Detroitlocal favorite for years, Servito has finally madethe move to Brooklyn. As a DJ,he is best known for thevariety in his sets and his impeccable musical knowledge,traitsthat have steadily earned him the respect of hispeers. As he grew up Detroit, hewas influenced by localradio at an early age, and began DJing over a decade agoduringthe heyday of the rising De-troit electronic musicscene. Servito has played inNYC many times including theBunker, this past August, as well as at the originalGel & Weaveseries, back in 2002.

Igal Nassima // LESS, NYC

Originally fromIstanbul, Igal moved to NYC to pursue his passionfor dance music. The growing minimaltechno movement inNew York City proved to be a proper home for his glitchy,offcenter style of Djing. Influenced by the concrete ofthe city, the rawness of Brooklyn’sstreets, and his passionfor techno, he created loft.n.space, a late-late-nightafter-hoursparty series hosted with fellow NYC transplantand DJ, Vadim. He has played alongsidethe talented DJsand producers such as Ryan Elliot, Ryan Crossan, HakanLibdo, TimXavier and Nick AC. Igal currently holds courtat NYC’s latest addition to the undergroundminimal technoscene with a residency and curatorial seat at LESS.

RJ Valeo // Moodgadget, NYC

Valeo, bornin New York, is a seasoned producer and performer,perhaps best know for his seminalalbum “September” onthe UK’s Type Records. Recently, in contrast to previous releases,he has been focusing his meticulous beat programmingand production skills on craftingsubtle and heady techno.His latest explorations journey through the subtle interplayofrhythm & bass and minimally placed melodic elements,leading the listener tofind solace in the negative spacesinbetween these juxtaposed of his productions.As all ofhis music has been, these pro-ductions are influenced bythe minimalismof microsound, glitch and idm, industrialand new wave, and by technology itself.

The Return of Gel & Weave is brought to you by vivianne’sprojects and transelectronic.net

With the preceding decade’s technology explosion, particularly in the arena of home computing, it has become easier than ever to compose and record music. Unfortunately, as most of us know, it has as a result also become harder than ever to find really good stuff in the sea of song that is being created. Social networking sites like Myspace alone are a labyrinth of sub-par and half-baked ideas, but that didn’t stop electronic label Moodgadget Records from embarking on the daunting task of weeding through the Myspace dumpster in search of a genuine soundmaker. Luckily for all of us the hunt paid off in the form of a talented Brooklynite composer.

Isomer Transition, whose real name is RJ Valeo, has composed four songs in a blend of techno and house styles for the Moodgadget EP Mission to Mars. Some of the beats crafted - although typically techno in their bass-snare 1-2-1-2 pattern and middling tempos - are the overall primary hot draw here. “Loop Me Through to Control the Mains” and “Deep in Space” each start out simply, with thumping drum programming lathered on thick enough to warm up anybody harboring any frigid suspicions as to whether or not Valeo is of ‘real deal’ caliber. Rest assured, frosties - Isomer Transition is legit.

The beat construction on this painfully short joint is most easily likened to that of Matthew Dear’s Audion: dirty, danceable, and constantly building. With each new set of 8 bars, Isomer Transition throws in subtle new sounds like crisp offbeat hi-hats, further subdivided bass drum rhythms, and all sorts of sonic touches (hand claps, ambient curtains, quickly tapped clicks & clacks). In all four roughly six-minute tracks there are no down (read: shitty) moments and the only disappointments with Mission to Mars is it’s aforementioned brevity. One can only look forward to bigger developments from this artist and more gem-like finds from his determined parent label.

Reviewed by Josh Zanger
Joshua Ian Zanger, a native of rural Chicago, rocks many a world with his writing, style, and generally sweet aroma.

link to review

Isomer Transition: Mission to Mars
Moodgadget

Can machine funk be simultaneously cold and warm? The four minimal techno tracks on the Mission to Mars EP, Isomer Transition’s (RJ Valeo) follow-up to last year’s Future Days release Shadowland, certainly suggest as much: the songs’ shiny surfaces may be as cold as deep space, but their earthy dance quality bespeaks bodily warmth too. The sleek textures and punctuating starburst blasts of “Deep in Space” place it in a dance club at some distant docking station but the irrepressible funk of its skipping stomp and bass rumble reveals an all-too-human physicality at its core. “Space Madness” batters rubbery percolations and snappy beats with meteor showers of warped synth lines, while “The Exploration of Region 13” guides a swinging disco groove and slithering bass line through silken stratospheres. Merge the drum machines and synth acid of Plastikman with the pristine elegance of Kraftwerk and the result might sound something like Isomer Transition.

September 2007

Link to textura.org review.

Next is a great Techno EP sent from Moodgadget Records. The Mission To Mars EP by Isomer Transition contains four quality deep Techno tracks. “Space Maddness” is the standout with a sound really reminiscent of “Baby Kate” by Heartthrob. Check it.

Isomer Transition - Space Maddness // Moodgadget Released August 18th.

Last but by no means least is a brand new track from ill-ec-tro-nic favourites Modeselektor. These guys can do no wrong at the moment…

Link to review here.

The Isomer Transition ER entitled “Mission to Mars” will be available from Moodgadget Records on August 17th 2007. Moodgadget is distributed by IRIS which has digital distribution in iTunes, Beat Port and all other reputable digital download services.A review has been written that is nice. It is located here on the ill-ec-tro nic blog.Artist and Release Info:Brooklyn based RJ Valeo returns to Moodgadget with a full EP after releasing an upbeat stormer, “When Systems Work Right”, on Moodgadget’s Modeone compilation. This follow-up release explores a sexy and deep minimal ethos full of heady melodies and percussion to top off the record’s thick and dark sound. The EP begins with “Loop Me Through To Control The Mains” – which comes out deep and pounding with a hypnotic bassline and a vocal that will leave you feeling stinky and dirty.“Deep In Space” and “The Exploration Of Region 13” both continue the listener’s journey into Valeo’s hypnotic universe, this time it’s the low end that grabs you and has you mesmerized. Finally, we get to the dance floor classic-in-making “Space Madness”, showing classical techno influences, and promises to grab the crowd with a synth melody that’s unmistakable as it’s mixed in. As with all Isomer Transition releases the sci-fi influence is palpable — you can taste the air in your re-breather as you listen to the cuts. This EP build on the sci-fi ideas and philosophies debuted in last year’s dark and dirty “Shadowlands EP” (featured on RadioOne’s Breezeblock).This EP builds on the established philosophies debuted in last year’s dark and grimy “Shadowlands EP” (featured on RadioOne’s Breezeblock).The “Mission to Mars” EP picks up on the story started with the “Shadowlands EP”.Track Listing:A1. Loop Me Through To Control The MainsA2. Deep In SpaceB1. Space MadnessB2. The Exploration Of Region 13Release Info:Released on: AUGUST 18TH, 2007Available at: iTunes, Beatport, Napster, eMusic, Sony Connect, and anywhere else you buy MP3Written and Produced by: RJ ValeoArtwork by: Philistine DSGNDJ Support by:RYAN ELLIOTT, PAR GRINDVIK, DAVE TUROVFOR BOOKING AND LICENSING:info@moodgadget.comFEEDBACK IS MUCH APPRECIATED!***THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.Jakub and AdamMOODGADGET RECORDSwww.moodgadget.comwww.myspace.com/moodgadget“EXPOSING THE DIVERSITY IN ELECTRONICALLY MADE MUSIC”