Media Res Radio/Sweet Apricots interview, Paris

The public talk I gave on David Mancuso, the Loft and audiophile partying a couple of weekends ago in Paris is available online.

Many thanks to Mathias and the In Medias Res Radio team for organising the event and to Slym Joseph Bouzavitch for setting the wheels in motion. The Sweet Apricots party that followed later that evening will live long in the memory! Inspired by Beauty & the Beat and Lucky Cloud Sound System, Slim started to build his own Klipschorn speakers and host audiophile "Sweet Apricots" parties a year or so ago, and earlier this year I went on a 12-hour overnight trip to Paris to check out his gear “in the wild”.

I was super-impressed with the speakers--how can I come up with a good excuse to buy a pair?--and equally if not more taken with the party. Cedric Lassonde DJed that night; it was truly magical. Soon after Slim suggested I return to Paris do a talk about the legacy of the NYC Loft and then team up alongside Belle Beteand Cedric Lassonde to bring a slice of “All Our Friends” to Sweet Apricots.

At the end of the Sweet Apricots party featuring All Our Friends in Montreuil, Paris. Thanks to Slym Joseph Bouzavitch for hosting such an insanely intense, joyful and passionate party. We want more...

All Our Friends with our Parisian friends at the end of happy party :)

It turned out to be Slim’s first party in a new spot in Montreuil, an outlying neighbourhood rich in community spirit, so I had a good feeling about the night from the very start. The feeling deepened as the floor filled up with so many familiar faces, a good number of them from London and the UK. What can anyone say about the party that followed? It insane, ridiculous, off the wall—thank you to everyone who turned it into such a celebratory night.

Slym Joseph Bouzavitch and Pauline Moisy at the end of take-down. Happy people :)

Belle Bete and headwear as the Parisian dawn captures the energy of the night just passed

All Our Friends, Giant Steps, 27 July

All Our Friends is heading to Giant Steps for our second “summer holiday” party on Saturday 27 July, 4:00-11:00pm.

We’re excited to announce that Sofia Kuster will join us as a guest behind the turntables for this party. A beautiful, airy location that includes a custom-built audiophile sound system and canal vistas, Giant Steps is located at Swan Wharf, 60 Dace Road E3 2NQ, with Hackney Wick overground nearby.

We had lots of fun at our last party at GS and hope you’ll join us again!

Reservations/tickets can be purchased here.

The venue will prepare a vegetarian menu for the evening.

Early arrival is recommended for more music, more dancing, more food, more socialising and more fun :) The mix of the last party is available on our mixcloud page!

Upcoming Events, April - July

I started to DJ regularly at the first All Our Friends party in January 2018. As well as initiate a new party, I wanted to express something musically. It's turned into a compelling, challenging and joyous experience, and I’m now getting quite a few invitations to play out, which is surreal as well as humbling. Here's info on upcoming events, inc. some talks mixed in with the parties, beginning with Soul Stew in Norwich this weekend--can't wait!

All Our Friends, March 2019, Photo by Silvia Gin

27 April, Soul Stew, Norwich. Talk/q&a at the Bicycle Shop, 2:30-6:00pm. Party at Bermuda Bob's Hi-Fi, 7A Timberhill, Norwich, 9:00pm-3:00am, with hosts Bill Sav and George Bacon

8 May, DJing with host Hans Nieswandt at Clubheim Olympia, Cologne

9 May, Rhinoceros, Berlin. Talk on audiophile party culture followed by DJing, with host Bénédict Berna http://www.rhinoceros-berlin.com

11 May, I’ll be DJing at a private party, but if I wasn’t doing that I’d be heading to Colleen Murphy’s Cosmodelica party at Giant Steps, https://www.facebook.com/events/398420927610827/

18 May, All Our Friends, Chats Palace, 42–44 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DF, 5pm to half-past-midnight. More info: www.allourfriends.org. Write to tim@allourfriends.org to join the invite list

24 May, Kauplus Aasia, Tallinn. Screening of Downtown 81 followed by DJing alongside host Rhythm Doctor / Christopher Long, 2a Kopli Street, Tallinn 10414. On the 25th I’ll be talking in Biit Me record store, 3-5 Viru Street, Tallinn 10140

30 May, I’ll be hosting a Worldwide FM show 4:00-6:00pm with the incredible Jenn Nkiru

15 June, All Our Friends at Giant Steps, Swan Wharf, 60 Dace Rd, Hackney Wick, London E3 2NQ, 5:00-11:00pm. More info: www.allourfriends.org.Write to tim@allourfriends.org to join the invite list

23 June, I won’t be musical hosting/DJing but would like to invite all to Lucky Cloud Sound System’s summer party, 5:00pm to midnight, www.loftparty.org

29 June, Les Siestes Electronique, Toulouse, France, 1:00-6:00am. More at http://www.les-siestes-electroniques.com

27 July, All Our Friends at Giant Steps, Swan Wharf, 60 Dace Rd, Hackney Wick, London E3 2NQ, 5:00-11:00pm. More info: www.allourfriends.org.Write to tim@allourfriends.org to join the invite list

Many thanks to each and every host for the invites. I'm looking forward to all.

Hope to see you on a dance floor soon :)

x

Cafe Mancuso, Bordeaux, France, mix

This recording come from the final day of the first anniversary celebrations organised by Cafe Mancuso, an audiophile cafe opened in Bordeaux by Guillaume Taillieu and Philippe Bonnet. The evening began with Yoshi Hitchcock from Deviant Disco leading a conversation with me about David and the Loft. After that it was party time. To be honest I wasn’t sure if there’d be dancing; Gui has forewarned that there’d never been a dance event in the cafe and that Bordeaux didn’t have much of a party scene. Slowly but steadily, however, the floor began to fill, and the evening turned out to be one of the most joyous, expressive and powerful that I’ve experienced. The hard dancing even resulted in the records placed on the right turntable skipping due to floor movement. I hope that doesn’t get in the way of post-party enjoyment :-)

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Whatever happened--and these things can be hard to quantify--it seemed to be something of a first. It communicated itself through the sense of excitement in the air, the expression on people's faces, the response to certain records, the joy that vibrated around the room at the end of the night. At one point a dancer came up said how grateful he was to have been introduced to a whole new world of music. Another came up and said he had just experienced a musical orgasm. A third wondered out loud why one record (the instrumental version of "Mystery of Love") had no lyrics and subsequently started to belt out her own improvised lyrics on the spot. It was incredible to see the faces and bodies of others as they responded to the funky, driving strangeness of the François Kevorkian remix of "Go Bang" as if they couldn't quite believe what they were hearing but were happy to go along with their involuntary bodily responses. By the end of the night there was just so much joy in the room.

The wonder of these Loft classics--which, more than any other set of records I know of, have the power to compel people to come together, relax, move their bodies, smile at one another, and throw themselves into the vortex of the dance floor--could be seen all over the faces of those who gathered and danced their hearts out. At the end of it all I was like, damn, I want to come and live in Bordeaux!

I felt like I'd experienced a slightly outlandish experiment produce a positive result. There might be no such thing as a "wrong town" yet nor did Bordeaux resemble the kind of urban setting where Loft-style parties have historically taken root. It didn't matter. As hosts Gui and Philippe Bonnet demonstrated, a Loft-style party can work pretty much anywhere, just so long as certain rudimentary elements are in place.

All Our Friends | mixes and November party

Is anyone else still feeling the ecstatic vibes from last Saturday's All Our Friends party at Chats Palace? An intimate dance floor, amazing acoustics, delicious food, great lights, gorgeous decor, a totally up-for-it crowd and an amazing team to set up and take down our beloved audiophile sound system — who could ask for more?

Here's a little video from Cedric Lassonde, who shared the turntables with Belle Bete and myself.

You can also listen to the mixes recorded at the AOF parties in June 2018 and October 2018 over on our mixcloud. Or click the links below.

June 2018
Part I
Part II
Part III

October 2018
Part I
Part II

I'm seriously looking for the next one on 17 November, 5pm to half-past-midnight. The invite list is still open — email me at tim@allourfriends.org if you want to join.

All Our Love x