New from the DFA...

Remix a friend and I made for the DFA band Free Energy. I remember the music itself reminded us of Dr And The Medics so we laughed and said “Let’s flip this s—- around!” and I think we succeeded. James Murphy recorded the music so the stems we got sounded very good. Super well engineered. Still…
I recall Jonathan Galkon loved the remix. He was great. The band whined that they couldn’t recognize their song/themselves in it so we got paid and it got shelved for a few years. I still think it’s fun but seems like something from a galaxy far far away at this point in my life.

https://m.soundcloud.com/dfa-records/free-energy-dream-city-bim?fbclid=IwAR1FRPbcTD45-bybMjrXV47T736KCN9zO2m6zmQeicpGA_dcaA9btjUIRUs

err “Galkin”

one really cool thing about those ICP 12”s is that no matter how fast it slow you spin them it always seems like the wrong speed (in a good way)

Nice CJV. I remember enjoying the Free Energy record and even going to see them, which is funny since I have no particular fondness for '70s rock, I was just really into DFA. I remember the show was poorly attended, and they were very skinny and attractive. For some reason they're one of those bands where I periodically think "oh yeah, I wonder what they did with their lives?"

Seriously considering buying the ICP 12" on discogs because there's some really cheap options and I feel they are the sort of singles I'll always love and if I always want to sell I have a suspicion they'll be worth more since DFA and IDIB are two labels which might be defunct in the short/mid term and also people are bound to rediscover the amazing music ICP made.

This ICP remix id really great, it was a tip from boxedjoy on here, thanks again, pal!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff9JviDKD4k

Remix a friend and I made for the DFA band Free Energy. I remember the music itself reminded us of Dr And The Medics so we laughed and said “Let’s flip this s—- around!” and I think we succeeded. James Murphy recorded the music so the stems we got sounded very good. Super well engineered. Still…
I recall Jonathan Galkon loved the remix. He was great. The band whined that they couldn’t recognize their song/themselves in it so we got paid and it got shelved for a few years. I still think it’s fun but seems like something from a galaxy far far away at this point in my life.

https://m.soundcloud.com/dfa-records/free-energy-dream-city-bim?fbclid=IwAR1FRPbcTD45-bybMjrXV47T736KCN9zO2m6zmQeicpGA_dcaA9btjUIRUs

― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee),

well, this was an unexpected treat from this revival.
i recall see the bands cd in the racks, but gave it a miss.
more fool me.
loving the remix.
ta muchly for the pointer CJV.

Yeah, that is well nice, CJV.

Thank you! Glad you all like it.

https://pitchfork.com/news/james-murphy-ousted-dfa-records-co-founder-jonathan-galkin-last-year-what-happened/

Murphy did change the locks on Galkin and says

He specifically challenged Galkin’s claim that the label was “self-sustaining”: “It had an insane burn rate and regularly needed injections of cash that were supposed to be temporary loans that never were loans,” Murphy said. “Which was all fine—I knew what we signed up for to a certain degree.” Murphy also expressed concern that the label “was going to collapse,” and that DFA was “not fulfilling what [he] believe[s] are its ethical duties to its artists.

Murphy’s explanation for not being involved in the label over the years- that he was busy touring and that he didn’t like the focus on records rather than parties , is uh interesting. He makes it sound like he was constantly on tour . At times they were but not sure that’s accurate for the whole period at issue

murphy doesn't come across particularly well, there's obviously more to the story he doesn't want to share, but if it did just come down to financial difficulties that doesn't really justify the way he went about things

Yeah, some very weird comments. Hard to see why he would care about Holy Ghost leaving the label when he didn’t actively do anything for the label for years.

It would have been a blow to the label to lose long standing band like Holy Ghost regardless of how involved he was.

I enjoyed how snarky each got about the other. Galkin getting in how he didn't even like American Dream and Murphy about coffee mugs and tee weekly emails. haha both are accurate for me.

I am really interested in hearing what Galkin puts out on FourFour.

It's a shame James was so hands off for such a long time and that Tim Goldsworthy didn't stick around. It seems like DFA has been in a tailspin since he left regardless.

i can see how murphy finding out holy ghost had left might have been a big sign to him that something was going wrong and made him pay attention to the label for the first time in a decade

with goldsworthy it sounds like he was just as hands off with the label as murphy from 2007 onwards and then stopped working as a production duo with murphy from around 2009 before they completely fell out sometime around 2013. so them stopping working together in 2009 just left dfa as murphy & the label operating with little to do with each other

Seems like Murphy was trying to say without saying that Holy Ghost was asking for their masters back because they weren't getting paid vs. Galkin framing it as a labor of love situation?

idk that it's possible to read that much into it, i didn't get the impression from either of them that the finances were quite that bad at that point

i searched to see what holy ghost had to say about leaving dfa and they just said they knew they didn't want to stay with dfa and reached out to a friend at bmg about reviving west end records bc that was their "dream label" and got a deal very easily. they said "we wanted to get a jump", idk if that just means they wanted a boost in profile or resources that dfa couldn't give them, or what

enjoyed how snarky each got about the other. Galkin getting in how he didn't even like American Dream and Murphy about coffee mugs and tee weekly emails. haha both are accurate for me.

yeah they coulda just done these interviews two years earlier and carried on as usual, without raising the slightest controversy

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/heydude/images/f/fa/Intro-Jake.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/468?cb=20141227202631

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dfa-xx-nyc-tickets-269030015017?fbclid=IwAR2j7apt-Xjy1-W0KlPXxOV2A3FzpF0cKZlCIeHVj1FNHpnyqi4i2gbz200

hoping that ilm'r stirmonster knocks it out of the park and really wish i could be there for the xx party.