Mark de Clive-Lowe Owns the Internet (and Gives Away More Free Stuff)
Look dude, I understand that the music industry sucks. I understand that what used to sell a 10,000 units now might sell 500 and the market for what used to be an even tinier niche is downright non-existent. I understand that the House Music corner of the recording industry is now somewhere around little old ladies selling arts and crafts on the side of the road in terms of purchasing power. Hell, while I understand the reasons why people share music, I'll even tell the people doing it to fuck right off because I see its effect every day on this thing that I love, the people that inspire me, even if it doesn't affect me personally.
Nevertheless I continue to believe that those (for some) good ole days ain't never comin' back, the genie isn't gonna be put back in the bottle and the best that most people can hope for is simply for things not to get even worse.
Bummed you out yet? Probably. So here's an example of something that does work. Mark de Clive-Lowe is a guy I write about a lot. Largely, it's because this one guy - he doesn't have a huge team behind him that I'm aware of - has broken down a lot of doors simply by putting himself out there.
A mothballed production that seems unlikely to be released? Sure, he could start "MashiTunes, Inc.", drop it on Beatport and make - what, a couple hundred dollars? Instead, he pushes it out the door, lots of people play it, people like me link to it and before you know it the guy is at the center of your online universe.
Back catalog release that's out of print and doesn't seem like it's heading for re-issue anytime soon? Again, he could squeeze a couple of kopeks out of it if he really wanted to, but instead Mashi drops it on sendspace and it goes viral.
You check back because you don't know what might pop up next. It's a brilliant marketing strategy and it's worked for him, as that monster line of links above should illustrate.
Note two things about this:
One: These are quality recordings. This isn't some sort of DJ tool or edit that wasn't good enough to ship. These are things that people can and do play.
Two: He's not sending these to his DJ buddies (and he's got a lot of those) and asking them to play it. That's the old way. He puts it up where anyone - a bedroom DJ, a superstar Ibiza shlockmeister or someone who's not a DJ at all - can get it. Sometimes you might have to surrender your email address but that's a small price to pay for getting, say, an unreleased Bembe Segue track, as he did a few months ago.
How's that working out for him? I'd say that Mark de Clive-Lowe has one of the most loyal followings in the business, in genres (Nu-Soul and Deep House) that don't get a lot of pub from the mainstream.
So this is today's offering from Mashi: the Better Days/Chocolate Sundae split originally released on People Records (UK):
rewind the clock 10 years back to my first release after the SIX DEGREES album on universal jazz. this 12" dropped on seminal west london label PEOPLE RECORDS. it was a time when i was starting to explore different ideas, rhythms and vibes after finishing the album. i'd done a lot of playing with KIM PATERSON growing up in NZ - he's a great trumpeter in the miles/eddie henderson mould and was something of a mentor to me as a younger jazz musician coming thru. it's nice to look back and listen to these releases - it would be a couple of years before i found the sound that started with RELAX...UNWIND and the RETURN TO PARADISE remix for verve remixed, these tracks were the start of that search.
That these are big, meaty wav files, not low quality MP3s.
Grab them here or from
MdCL's facebook page or
blog.
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Alton, Amp, Phlash and Mashi: When the Morning Comes
Defected and Strictly Rhythm (which, newsflash from 3 years ago, is owned by Defected) currently occupy the first four slots in Traxsource's top 10, and that's probably gonna remain the case for awhile as the the next batch of remix packages from Quentin Harris' new album Sacrifice (released yesterday) drop.
This is probably my favorite of their current hits (I love the original, but the remixes of Dennis Ferrer's "Hey Hey" just leave me cold). "When the Morning Comes" is an all-star collaboration that you have to read the liner notes to appreciate. First you've got Amp Fiddler with Alton Miller - I haven't a clue how that came about but I'm glad it did. Then, on the Restless Soul remixes, you've got a Phlash and Friends reunion as Mark de Clive-Lowe on keys joins Phil Asher on drums.
Here's a clip from the Restless Soul Mix (1 of 3 remixes, with a Restless Soul Dub and another by Seed's Boddhi Satva rounding out the package):
Listen after the jump ⇢
Mark de Clive-Lowe and Jody Watley Make Beautiful Music Together
Back in 5 Mag's November issue, New Zealand soul/house phenomenon Mark de Clive-Lowe told me about a single he had coming out with R&B diva Jody Watley. Usually these things are released even before I get an interview posted from print to the web. But in this case, the fruit of their collaboration - "Tonight's the Night" - has been picked up by Strictly Rhythm and is moving in the usual slow and majestic cycle toward an eventual release.
Here's a short clip from this monster - the Original Mix (one by youngblood Ralvero and another by Mashi round out the release):
Listen after the jump ⇢
Track of Today: Mark de Clive-Lowe/Lady Alma: "I Can't Help It"
I'm going to work against type here and throw aside the curmudgeonly bit and say that I'm enjoying the renaissance of Michael Jackson tunes that popped up in House Music of late. There were a lot of remixes hiding in the back of people's crates that I may have heard once or twice and never again (a legacy of that lovely habit of the dance music industry in the 1990s of remixing popular songs and making sure no more than four DJs ever played it).
But if I were to act all curmudgeonly, I'd say that I'm a little disappointed that we're just hearing older edits, and that nobody's really doing anything new with the material MJ, Quincy Jones and the rest of his production teams over the years left behind.
But, then, there's Mark de Clive-Lowe, who is hotter than molten lava right now, has posted up this cover of "I Can't Help It" with himself at the console and Lady Alma on vocals. It was recorded "awhile back" but was released this week and sent to us by MdCL with an invitation to share it. Enjoy!
Listen after the jump ⇢
Track of Today: Yameen ft. Lady Alma - "Light of Love"
Okay, for all of the bitching about House Music moguls running their digital empires from free myspace pages and who saturate the market with utterly disposable releases, it's time to give props to someone doing it right.
The Track of Today for May 6 is Yameen ft. Lady Alma's "Light of Love". This is a good ole' fashioned single - no fluff, no filler, just two killer remixes by UK groove guru Mark De Clive-Lowe, one vocal and one instrumental. This is in preparation for the full-length album from Yameen called Never Knows More.
And from what I can tell, these folks have it together - full, professional promotion of a product that's worth your hard-earned dollars. And yameenmusic.com has tons of goodies for anyone still on the fence about cashing in their pennies for this release, including this video of MDC-L remixing the track in the studio:
Listen after the jump ⇢
