green_velvet

Green Velvet aka Curtus Jones

Like a lot of house (and other dance music) producers, a lot more of you will know Green Velvet’s music more than those of you who will know his name. Alter ego of Curtis Jones, who has been DJing and producing tracks since the early 90s, Green Velvet’s earlier music had a definite 1980s flavour to it. Big on beats, but far from big beat, the sounds here hark back to Kraftwerk for me. These were tracks that had us on the dancefloor throughout the 90s, sloshing drinks around to the displeasure of all present.

2001 saw La La Land, which contained the lyric that had it played and remixed by every DJ in the freaking world in every club in the freaking world. If you don’t know this track, you were either not born, in prison, or deaf in 2001-2. The reason for this popularity, beyond it’s musical merits, was Curtis’s signature of unusual lyrical bites. Focusing this time on a critique of the pill popping culture which had become so prevalent in the club scene. Of course the critique was cut up and rearranged into a celebration in many remixes, and was inescapable even radio at the time. Flash is another classic that I have heard uncountable times in clubs with the lyrics removed.

Interesting to see where this will take us. He’s slotted for All Night Fuji on Friday night, in between local techno favourites Ken Ishii and Takkyo Ishino, who both have a decidedly minimal and modern feel to their music styles. No doubt both will draw a good crowd, with revellers missing out on Ishii after last year’s washout. But a listen to anything produced by Green Velvet over the last five years or so will have you realising that he’s going to slot in just fine. I’ve been hearing remixes of a lot of his recent tracks spun in clubs by minimal masters, most notably remixes of Earthquaker (below), a track that certainly lends itself to a good remix. A great set starting track.

Either way, it’s good to see something more catered to the house-loving sector at ANF this year. I’ll have my green velvet shoes on come Friday night!

Earthquaker