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Jesper Erik Mathias Dahlbäck (born October 14, 1974) is a Swedish techno DJ and producer. Besides his real name, he has used various stage names and pseudonyms such as Lenk, Dahlback, Dick Track, Faxid, Groove Machine, Janne Me' Amazonen, The Pinguin Man oder DK (with Thomas Krome). Hugg & Pepp / Pepp & Kaliber are names of duos for his common collaborative work with his cousin John Dahlbäck. ADJD is used for his collaborations with Alexi Delano. He also uses the names The Persuader and Sunday Brunch together with Jean-Luis Huhta.

He started producing tracks at 17 influenced by the Detroit techno and artists from UK and Germany. In 1993 he founded the Globe Studios together with Adam Beyer and Peter Benisch. He distributed tracks through Planet Rhythm. Working with Cari Lekebusch and Adam Beyer, he gained notoriety in Sweden and throughout Europe with his versatile house music through the specialized label Svek becoming a prominent producer with them. In 1998 and 2001, the label won Swedish Grammy music prize nominations. In 2004, he had an international hit with Canadian producer Tiga called "Pleasure From The Bass". Jesper also co-produced Tiga's 2005 album Sexor alongside Jori Hulkkonen and Soulwax.

More recently, he has started releasing more classical tracks with Acidsounds. Struggling with tinnitus, he has withdrawn from public performances concentrating on music production work.

Jesper Dahlbäck

For someone who hails from the very epitome of small-town America, James Murphy is extremely partial to a very English insult. Particularly when it's a self-deprecating one. Despite being labeled as a tragically hip super-producer - 'the Pharrell Williams of punk-funk' - the wiseass sarcasm that comes out of his own songs is generally aimed, first and foremost, at himself. The 'tit' reference is provoked by a conversation about Losing My Edge, the 2002 single that launched LCD Soundsystem's recording career, skewered the vanity, insecurity and one-upmanship of the ageing hipster with hilarious accuracy, and remains, thus far, his signature tune. 'It still kinda weighs on me a bit', confesses James, 'because we keep getting better and better at playing it live. It's surprising how long Losing My Edge lingers around, for a dance song. But everyone's silly and shallow and insipid and vain and the more they accept it the less boring records we'll have. This year I made 'Yeah', which pretty much consists of me saying yeah over and over, to try and erase the expectation that it was gonna be another clever diatribe of lyrics. Etched into the vinyl of Yeah is, "Not as good as Losing My Edge". I always try and help people write the reviews.'

Like I said, no-one gets dissed in an LCD song - or a Murphy interview - more than Murphy himself. So, when grabbing a first listen to LCD Soundsystem's first, self-titled album, and clocking Murphy's wry sense of humour, don't be fooled into thinking James Murphy is a jaded cynic. After all, after almost two decades of making music, he's finally in the place where he wants to be: In New York, teamed up with a contrasting but complimentary partner-in-musical-crime in England's Tim Goldsworthy as part of the Death From Above aka DFA label and production team, and touring with his very own rock 'n' roll dance band.

Because, in the studio, LCD Soundsystem is just James and his multifarious musical, vocal and production skills. But, onstage, LCD Soundsystem is a quintet of similarly funk, punk and art-obsessed friends - featuring Pat Mahoney (drums); Nancy Whang (keyboards, vocals); Tyler Pope (bass - also of !!! And Outhud); and Phil Mossman (guitar, percussion, keys, bass - ex-Sabres Of Paradise) - all striving to make you dance while challenging the tired rules and predictable poses of live rock. As James explains, 'LCD is like a laboratory for experiments on what a band should be. There are issues of ego and presentation that I don't like about touring bands. But I love the power and the potential. I once saw some footage of Black Sabbath setting up to play on French television in 1972. They're not really that professional at it, but then they play and they're just unbelievable. Then you figure that Black Sabbath now would be sixteen trucks, fourteen buses, a crew of 200 and some guy tuning up thirty guitars. It's all very false, and safe and protected and corporate and vapid. This system is imposed on bands when they're young and it kills creativity. There's no magic.'

James should know, having spent most of the '90s doing live sound engineering for US punk bands. Indeed, James is quite the musical Renaissance man, what with being able to navigate pretty much everything needed to make modern noise. Not that he'll describe himself as such. Perhaps Murphy's suspicion of ego is a product of his upbringing.

Lcd Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem

Tiga

Introns

Tribulations - Tiga's out of the Trance Closet Mix

Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon in 1980. The group consists of a trio of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting) and Andy Fletcher (keyboards).

Depeche Mode released their debut album, Speak & Spell, in 1981, bringing the band onto the British new wave scene. Founding member Vince Clarke left after the release of the album; they recorded A Broken Frame as a trio. Gore took over as main songwriter and later, in 1982, Alan Wilder replaced Clarke, establishing a lineup that continued for 13 years. The band's last albums of the 1980s, Black Celebration and Music for the Masses, established them as a dominant force within the electronic music scene. A highlight of this era was the band's June 1988 concert at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, where they drew a crowd in excess of 60,000 people. In early 1990, they released Violator, an international mainstream success. The following album Songs of Faith and Devotion, released in 1993, was also a success, though the band's internal struggles during recording and touring resulted in Wilder's departure in 1995.

Depeche Mode have had 54 songs in the UK Singles Chart and 17 Top 10 albums in the UK chart; they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Q included the band in its list of the "50 Bands That Changed the World!" Depeche Mode also rank No. 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In December 2016, Billboard named Depeche Mode the 10th Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists. They were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and 2018, and were inducted as part of the Class of 2020.

Depeche Mode

Steve Fitzmaurice

Playing The Angel | The 12" Singles

Suffer Well - Tiga Remix

When Len Faki moved to Berlin in 2003, he could already look back at years of fruitful productivity and the management of two highly acclaimed Techno labels: Monoid and Feis. His move to Berlin marked a decisive turning point in his career. With Len Series he founded an independent platform for his idea of Techno music. The basic concept, including its sub labels Figure and Podium, allows him to explore musical depths and artistic freedom.

His strong appearances at OstGut (Berlin) culminated in his residency at Berghain (the former OstGut), a position which further fuelled his open-minded approach as both DJ and producer. The characteristic extra-long DJ sets force him to vary in tone, style and feed him with extra inspiration.

At Berghain he also launched his own night on a regular basis to which he invites his colleagues from all over the world. As a logical progression, this night led to establishing his sublabel Podium with releases by Raudive, Shinedoe, Tony Rohr and 2000 And One. From its inception the label’s output was highly received and revered, setting a new standard for cutting edge, exciting Techno experimentation. Len Faki’s own tracks “My Black Sheep” and Odyssee II” turned into massive club hits in the years 2007 and 2008.

While Figure originally stood as a platform for Len’s own work in combination with remixes by friendly artists, Podium aims to release original works by both Faki and other artists. It is an open platform catering for a variety of electronic music. It is clearly directed towards the Techno floor, but always with a rich diversity in mind. After a short creative break, Len Faki has re-launched Figure for it to be more consistent with the idea and policy already established with Podium, meaning to be stylistically open and to be more artist oriented. As a consequence, Len has released music by such established artists as Radio Slave and Luke Slater, but never lost the next generation of talented producers, as numerous eps by Chymera, A.Mochi, Pfirter or Tony Lionni have proven. Consistent with this orientation, Len will relaunch his label Figure after a short creative break with a diversified repertoire. A broad stylistic range has been and is the main objective of both labels.

In addition to his own labels, Len has also produced a record for the Berghain label OstGut Ton („Rainbow Delta/Mekong Delta“, O-Ton 04), which was heavily supported by a lot of renowned djs. This ep is the result of Len’s monthly sets at Berghain, where he usually starts at 7 am on Sunday mornings. The tracks were remixed by Jerome Sydenham and Adam Beyer (O-Ton 08). On the back of this record, Len Faki did the hat trick of winning “Best Track”, “Best Producer” and “Best Newcomer” in german Groove magazine’s reader poll in 2007. No small feat at all, as no one ever achieved this before or after. This brought a lot of attention to Faki, culminating in his contribution “Death By House” for the Cocoon compilation H; a track that ruled summer festivals and Ibiza’s debauchery all over. It also won Len a nomination for the DJ Awards 2008.

His communicative DJ style makes him a true gentleman behind the turntables, an artist whose sets are passionate, powerful and never committed to one sub genre or style. His fingertips are like sensors on the Richter scale, and anticipating and triggering eruptions on the floor.

Len Faki

Adam Beyer (born 15 May 1976 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish techno producer and DJ. He is the founder of Drumcode Records, and is one of several Swedish techno artists to emerge in the mid-1990s, along with Cari Lekebusch and Jesper Dahlbäck. Beyer is married to fellow Swedish DJ Ida Engberg, with whom he has three daughters.

Adam Beyer

Death By House Remixes

Death By House - Adam Beyer & Jesper Dahlback Remix

I Can Change

I Can Change - Tiga Remix

Suffer Well - Tiga Dub

The origins of Montreal born DJ-producer-incipient Teutonic legend Tiga lie to the vague and troubling East, where he was weaned on the nefarious milk of the notorious 1980s Indian club scene.“To the unforgiving eye,” he says of the sybaritic night-kingdom,“a world of filth and decadence is revealed. For example, I’m fairly certain that more than a few club owners had an unsavory arrangement with the man who brought the folding chairs. I was at once appalled and enraptured. After that, I had no choice in the matter.”

By 1990, Tiga had returned to Montreal, prodigiously nightwise and unsatisfied with the existing local club scene (calling it “the plumage of a bird I cannot bring myself to want.”) With the help of a core group of friends, he began to throw a series of small parties infused with the sense of dead-eyed ennui gleaned from a past littered with acid whores and crazed Indian gamblers. Other innovations which Tiga introduced to Montreal party culture include guest DJs, intense street promotions featuring rival gangs of street acrobats, color flyers, multi-dj sets, and leading the supplicant crowd through the innermost corridors of one’s soul.

It was this heady time of dizzying innovation and ravenous sexual ambition, which culminated in the birth of 1993’s “Solstice,” generally, considered to be Montreal’s first genuine rave. (A year earlier, a hyper-prescient Tiga staged “Eclectricity,” the first online rave, a project whose utter failure remains a source of bafflement: “It broke my heart, given my views on diversity . . . I am, I feel, a very interactive person.”) Tiga has since helped to orchestrate no less than ten major events, including “The Orb Live,” “Pure,” and the very first North American appearance of continental illusionist Jean-There.

In 1994, Tiga bought DNA Records, a small medical data concern, and parlayed it into Montreal’s premiere electronic music boutique. “We’ve always believed in putting the customer first, from helping you find that one minimal house record that will make your collection to offering concerned looks as you wade through the enormous backlog of test results to discover if you are in fact afflicted with a congenital disease.”

In 1996, Tiga privately sang about the death of actor and poet Tupac Shakur.

That same year, the Montreal dance community found a haven for the boldest feats of dance, where fools are in love with mystery and sex-valor is prized above all else. Sona (meaning literally ‘Liar-dancer’) was initially conceived of by Tiga and his two partners as “a perverse, jeering monolith, because nothing is sacred anymore” but it has evolved into much more. In addition to its place among the pantheon of urban groove centers, on weekdays it rents out its facilities, at a very reasonable rate, to a local program dedicated to teaching homeless men to dance properly (“I just think it’s an important project,” Tiga said at the time).

In 1998, Tiga started Turbo Recordings as an outlet for his wildman organ escapades but he soon found a host of other artists who were willing to be paid to record for him. Turbo has released over 20 albums, 2 samplers, and 12 vinyl twelve inches as well as secured global distribution with Prime, Intergroove and Caroline. Notable releases include Peter Benisch’s “Soundtrack Saga,” Christopher Handlebar’s “To a Time of Asia” and Tiga’s own “Mixed Emotions” and “American Gigolo”

By 2001, however, overwork and media saturation began to show their strain, as evidenced by Tiga’s hysterical outburst at a fashion photographer during a promo shoot:

“I’ll sit for your venal cigarette pictures, but I will not indulge you in your game of ‘Eyes! Lies! Surprise!’ I dare you, coward—call out your cloakmen! What are you waiting for? The truth?!”

Following a month spent riding horses and caring for his voice, Tiga entered the studio with producer Zyntherius “Jori” Hulkonnen and a singular vision: “electro, but mainly about my eyes.” The result, a searing rendition of his former Mother Mio bandmate Corey Hart’s solo smash “Sunglasses at Night,” challenged dancers and seduced critics alike, yet Tiga is coy when asked about its impact, particularly in Germany: “’Sunglasses’ is a sinless child, a gleaming medallion. But is also a trick, a trick of memory. You must understand – on a whim, we revealed the hidden fire of Europe.”

But fires need tending and lumber. And so the onslaught of Tiga-powered releases was fated to continue. They are his craft, his life, his living craft-fire.

“We live in the Age of Cruelty and every day I struggle to find my place in it. All I know I can offer the world is a thousand more adventures through dancing and light.”

2003 – 2006, “Get on Top of the Fire”

If “Sunglasses at Night” marked Tiga’s coronation as the steely Wolf-King of Dance Mountain, then his subsequent remixes for the likes of Martini Bros., Alpinestars, Linda Lamb, Crossover, FC Kahuna, Cabaret Voltaire, Telepopmusik, Felix da Housecat, Fischerspooner, FPU, The Devils (Nick Rhodes), and Danni Minogue birthed his dewy-eyed heir, Darian. Says Tiga, “I have also produced remixes for City Rockers, and singles for Turbo Recordings, Intec, Drumcode, and Electrix with Mateo Murphy under the name TGV. I am also the hidden hero of the ongoing NHL lockout. I will break the players’ will – you have my solemn word.”

In 2003, Tiga took his conqueror’s tools to the streets, with a heralded mix CD for !K7’s DJ Kicks series, and an ethereal reading of Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” which became a stalwart success and was subsequently licensed in the UK by Skint (in the UK) and Warner Music (the GAS region). The video, which can be seen at http://www.eyeballnyc.com/tiga, is a revelation of neo-urban dazzle-do, courtesy of the puppet wizardry of Tiga’s brother, the Lord of the Marionette (www.lordofthemarionette.com).

Tiga was also gracious enough to lend his wind-shattering vocals to Richard X’s “You (Better Let Me Love YouX4) Tonight,” as well as “Heartbreak/Ananda,” by Beyer & Lenk (Adam Beyer and Jesper Dahlback), and Rik Stamina’s “Dancing Inside You.” His remix work on Alex Kidd’s “Come With Me”, Neon Judgement’s “TV Treated,” Scissor Sisters’ cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” “Da Hype,” by Junior Jack and Robert Smith, and Peaches’ “Shake Yer Dix,” and Soulwax’s “E Talking” comprises a merciless Crimson Romance, lapping at the shores of eternity.

Tiga’s smash single “Pleasure From The Bass”, a two-fisted jackal that drew a line in the dancefloor sand, was released in 2004 on the Belgian imprint PIAS.

2005 saw remixes for Depeche Mode, The Vests, Moby, LCD Soundsystem, Mylo, Phillipe Zdar, Chelonius Jones, Drama Society, Thomas Andersson and countless others. In October, Tiga womanized the world with “You Gonna Want Me”, his toothsome duet with Jake Shears (of Scissor Sisters’ fame), “Once again, I proved you can’t spell ‘sword’ without ‘words’” says the dance-freckled Disco Jockler.

2006 began with the release of Tiga’s debut album Sexor, which sounded the clarion call of an emergent Nation-Man. “It is an exhilarating time – the woes and the whoas, the thrills and the throes! Like Icarus, I have flown dangerously close to the fun, on a dare to wear my overalls undone.”

Tiga then embarked on  the “Sexor over Europe” and “Sexor over Canada” tours in a manner befitting The Most Compassionate Man Alive. “Soon I will position Sexor over America and Sexor over Japan, forcing rapt smiles onto the faces of the discovantaged, those fey, oblivious costumers’ sons…”, he said.

That same year, Tiga made you go “Tig-unnggghh!” with the video for the single, “(Far From) Home.” Shot in Tokyo, the clip follows Tiga on a soul-laughening journey down a street of some sort. The video was helmed by Nagi Noda, the accalimed Japanese director of the groundbreaking music video for Yuki’s “Sentimental Journey”, a short film, Ex Fat Girl, which features exercising poodles, and projects for Nike and Laforet, for which she has won a host of prizes in Japan, not the least of which being Tiga’s coveted “Admiration-in-Japan” Medal.

Meanwhile, the “(Far From) Home” single left mankind fitted for underjeans, provocatively asking listeners “Are you a DoJ or a Don’tJ?” The release included remix work by the DFA, Digitalism, and Chicken Lips, showcasing Tiga’s incredibly exotic voice in new sonic locales, as well as a remix by Tiga himself, “The Speed of Sexor Reprise.” A well-meaning dub edit by Jon Aerosmith & Eduardo B. Rich was politely declined.

Tiga’s reign of wonder continued to not stop, as he dutifully drew up the dance contracts for tracks by Coldcut and Pet Shop Boys. “As both a student – and a significant part – of history, I feel it would be a betrayal of my stewardship to ever remix music in anger. It is not the Way of the Musician, nor is it the Musician’s Way.”

Faxid

Faxman

Acid In My Head

Remainings, Pt. 3 (Remixes)

Remainings, Pt. 3 - Original Jesper Dahlback Remastered Remix

A pan-pot is a simple, workday knob, given to side-to-side flip-flopping and not much else. Pan-Pot, on the other hand, are a brilliant multi-dimensional Berlin duo currently twisting house and techno fans into rapturous fits. In just a few short years, Pan-Pot—comprised of Tassilo Ippenberger and Thomas Benedix—have developed a dominate presence amongst the top tier of electronic dance music, with an ascension paralleling the rise of their native label, mobilee records.

After booking Anja Schneider for an infamously ill-fated party in 2005, the duo established a connection with Schneider’s then recently formed imprint and within weeks had released the Popy and Caste EP on mobilee—their first release and the label’s second. Graduates of Berlin’s SAE, their initial musical efforts placed a primacy on integrating electronic experimentation with minimal stylings while simultaneously establishing the ominous, murky sounds that have since become synonymous with their name. The next few years saw the release of a steady stream of original tracks and remixes on both mobilee and Einmaleins, each demonstrating the duo’s commitment to precise, undulating and kinetic grooves accompanied by a steady expansion of their sonic palate.

The defining moment of their career, however, was the release of their debut artist album, Pan-O-Rama. The first artist album to be released on mobilee, the aptly named Pan-O-Rama provided a stunning 360-degree tour of techno at its most twisted, balancing somber atmospherics with an impeccable lightness of touch. Serving as a playground for their experimental leanings, the album was a definitive statement of Pan-Pot’s past, present, and future: an affirmation of the possibility of a wider sonic spectrum that suggested a move towards stripped-down techno while simultaneously hinting towards a newly developed sense of melody.

When not in the studio writing original material or putting their unique spin on tracks by a myriad of artists, the bad-boys of impassioned, pitch-black techno can be found on the road touring at a near ceaseless level. Their dance floor oriented DJ sets see them playing back to back and are unconstrained by boundaries as they effortlessly transition between techno, house and everything in between, demonstrating an immaculate understanding of the audience’s wants and needs.

Their willingness to expand the components of their productions while staying firmly rooted in what they do best—colossal, haunting techno tracks overflowing with noise and static, throbbing bass lines, and epic builds that manage to be both tasteful and restrained—is only part of what differentiates Pan-Pot from the hordes of other techno producers currently flooding the airwaves. They may name themselves after a piece of gear, but Pan-Pot’s music is ultimately about moving bodies, not knobs, all the while giving way to an unprecedented degree of dynamism on dance floors around the world.

Best Jesper Dahlbäck Songs of All Time - Top 10 Tracks

Best Jesper Dahlbäck Songs of All Time - Top 10 Tracks

Upcoming Events

1. Tribulations - Tiga's out of the Trance Closet Mix

2. Suffer Well - Tiga Remix

3. Death By House - Adam Beyer & Jesper Dahlback Remix

4. I Can Change - Tiga Remix

5. Suffer Well - Tiga Dub

6. Acid In My Head

7. Faxman

8. Remainings, Pt. 3 - Original Jesper Dahlback Remastered Remix

9. Confronted - Adam Beyer & Jesper Dahlbäck Remix

10. Jack 2 Jack - Jesper Dahlbäck Remix

Jesper Dahlbäck Details