#DJ Sprinkles

[hornworts]

Terre Thaemlitz wears ensemble from Olivier Theyskens SS99 on the cover of Replicas Rubato (1999) released on Mille Plateaux Records

[candont]

[stellavista]

Dip In The Pool - Rabo Del Sol (Hovering Glow Mix)

[lcdsoundsystem]

DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues (2008)

Paintings by Laurence Rassel

[blankoutlines]

[filth-thezine]

Terre Thaemlitz - She's Hard (2007 Archive Of Silence Mix)

When was the last time you talked about AIDS in space?

[rabbitechoes]

every month I'm gonna try to post reviews of three albums from years past!! this week i wrote about one of the most important and poignant deep house records of all time: Midtown 120 Blues by DJ Sprinkles!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

Midtown 120 Blues - DJ Sprinkles

◇ release date: Aug. 9, 2008 ◇ genres: deep house, ambient house, microhouse

Few genres are as rooted in both black and LGBTQ+ culture as house music. Originating in Chicago during the late 1970s and taking further shape through the 1980s, house music became the dominating sound of the queer underground. Eventually, as most niche music movements like this do, it went global. Namely with Madonna’s hit single from 1990, “Vogue.” It essentially pushed this sound to the mainstream, leading many to falsely attribute the pop star as a pioneer of the genre. This obfuscation of the genre’s roots is what drives Midtown 120 Blues. A project from Terre Thaemlitz, a musician and activist, under the pseudonym DJ Sprinkles. This album has two main goals. One is to educate those who aren’t aware of the genre’s roots. The second is to make a damn good house record. The end result is an utterly fascinating and hard-hitting album

Terre Thaemlitz, 2009

Uncompromising is a word that comes to mind when describing this record. It’s prickly and confrontational to the listener. I’m sure many were turned off by the borderline lectures Thaemlitz sprinkles (haha) throughout the record. The title track is a history lesson on the genre’s origins over a really solid house track. There is anger here, it sounds like Thaemlitz is begrudgingly educating the listener. It’s as if he laments the fact that he has to be the one to spread this message. Fair play to her as well, it’s a damn shame this stuff isn’t common knowledge. The main message of the song though, is that “House isn't so much a sound as a situation.” One of the most poignant lines ever put to record. Genres are often categorized by sound alone, which makes sense, but that can sort of obscure the human element of it all. It’s more than just categorization, it’s a movement and a damn important one.

Another devastating moment on the record comes in the form of “Ball’r (Madonna Free Zone)” which has Thaemlitz taking direct aim at “Vogue” and the harm it caused to the Harlem ballroom scene. She says; “When Madonna came out with her hit ‘Vogue’ you knew it was over. She'd taken a very specifically queer, transgender, Latino and African-American phenomenon and totally erased that context with lyrics about how "It makes no difference if you're black or white, if you're a boy or a girl." Madonna was taking in tons of money, while the Queen who actually taught her how to vogue was sitting on a table in front of me, broke.” Hearing that for the first time shook me to my core. The sounds on the track also added to that feeling. It feels haunted. Like you’re looking at old photographs of people dancing, laughing, crying, and living – it sends a chill down your spine. It’s like peeking into a bygone era. One filled with joy and communion, yet also a deep sadness. It makes you angry that you can’t be there and dance with them, laugh with them, and hear their stories. It’s impressive how Thaemlitz's words and production elicit these kinds of visceral feelings.

This album is full of rhythms you just get lost in. Especially on “House Music Is Controllable Desire You Can Own” which has this subdued drum beat buried beneath these warbly synths. It progresses as if you’re literally scratching at the surface trying to reveal something more. To a relative newbie to the genre like myself, this album was like a door being kicked down. The production has this smug attitude to it, almost as if he’s like “THIS is deep house, sit down and listen.” The balance between history lesson and celebration of the genre is a tricky one to nail, but I think he manages to do it as well as anyone could. 

Terre Thaemlitz, year unknown

Midtown 120 Blues isn’t the most accessible album which both works in and against its favor. The album is primarily found on CD, which isn’t too much of an issue, but the online stores the album is featured on were confusing to me so I would reckon they’re confusing to others as well. Of course, the album is easy to find if you know where to look (wink wink). Still, this is in line with Thaemlitz's frustration with Deep House entering the mainstream. Midtown 120 Blues is there if you look for it hard enough and I would strongly recommend you seek it out. Ever since experiencing this record for the first time, I’ve been seeking out pivotal songs and albums from the house genre. It’s incredibly fruitful and above all, very enjoyable.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading <3

psssst. i made a discord server called Cosmiacord ... if u wanna join and have fun, talk about music, play fortnite, or whatever here's the invite :3 https://discord.gg/rsHMenTU

[pajaropablo]

[musicandotherdelights]

Daily Listening, Day #1,113 - January 17th, 2023

Album: Midtown 120 Blues (Mule Musiq, 2008)

Artist: Terre Thaemlitz [As DJ Sprinkles]

Genre: Deep House

Track Listing: 

"Midtown 120 Intro"

"Midtown 120 Blues"

"Ball'r (Madonna-Free Zone)"

"Brenda's $20 Dilemma"

"House Music In Controllable Desire You Can Own"

"Sisters, I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To"

"Reverse Rotation"

"Grand Central, Pt. I (Deep In The Bowel Of House)"

"Grand Central, Pt. II (72 Hrs. By Rail From Missouri)"

"The Occasional Feel-Good"

Note: Not released in the United States.

Favorite Song: "Sisters, I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To"

[candont]

When Terre Thaemlitz was in the second grade, he came 4th in a spelling bee at school. His teacher took the opportunity to offload her Monkees albums as prizes. “I barely made the selection pool, I just got this album because it was the least wanted album by everybody else, who knew which Monkees records to take,” she says. 

[stellavista]

Dip In The Pool - Rabo Del Sol (Hovering Glow Mix)

Music to pack/unpack your presents to.

[spilladabalia]

Oh, Yoko - Seashore - (DJ Sprinkles' Ambient Ballroom)

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