DJ Vadim
DJ Vadim aka Andre Gurov | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Vadim Andreev |
Also known as | Andre Gurov, Daddy Vad |
Origin | Russia |
Genres | Alternative hip hop |
Occupation(s) | DJ, producer |
Instruments | Turntables |
Years active | 1995-present |
Labels | BBE, Ninja Tune, Jazz Fudge, OGS Records |
Associated acts | One Self, The Electric, Skalpel |
Website |
www |
DJ Vadim is a prolific DJ and producer, born in Leningrad, USSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), raised in London and currently residing in both New York City and Berlin, whose music combines hip hop, soul, reggae and electronica. He has been described as "one of the few artists creating genuinely new work in the Hip-Hop field"[1] and an artist who "cannot be ignored".[1]
Career
In 1994, Vadim founded his own independent record label, Jazz Fudge, but signed to Ninja Tune the following year, before his current label BBE, in 2007. Aside from DJ-ing and producing, he has also worked as in A&R and promotion, as well as a radio presenter on the BBC's "Around The World In Eight Relays" programme.
Throughout his career he has worked with a variety of musicians, singers and groups, including DJ Krush, Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Prince, Public Enemy, Dilated Peoples, Kraftwerk, Sly and the family stone, Fat Freddys Drop, Super Furry Animals, and Paul Weller. He is also known for having worked with a number of unsigned artists who later went on to find commercial success.
In addition to his regular album releases, he has also recorded under the names "Andre Gurov" and "Little Aida" and has appeared as a member of the various artists project The Isolationist. He is also the DJ and producer for Spanish hip hop group 7 Notas 7 Colores, and, in 2001, was nominated alongside them at the Latin Grammy Awards.
His album, USSR: Life From The Other Side featured Scratch Perverts, Iriscience (from Dilated Peoples), Blade. To promote the record, Vadim put together a live group - The Russian Percussion - consisting of Mr Thing (turntables), Killa Kela (beat box), Blu Rum 13 (MC), John Ellis (keyboards). The tour consisted of 200 live shows taking in twenty four countries throughout Europe and North America.
His central project for 2005-6 was DJ-ing for the hip-hop group One Self Self album, was released on September 20, 2005. U Can't Lurn Imaginashun was his return on BBE records May 2009 that featured the Single "Soldier" by Big Red (MC). To promote the record Vadim put a live group together consisting of Sabira Jade (singer), Ste Keyz (Keyboardist), Pugs Atomz (MC). They would later become a group calle The Electric and put out an album called " Life is Moving" on Vadim's on imprint Organically Grown Sounds (OGS) in 2010. "Beautiful" featuring Yarah Bravo was their first single and they toured 30 countries through out Europe, South America, North America, and Asia. His latest album, Don’t Be Scared (BBE, 2012) was praised for the "inventiveness of the beats" (incorporating dubstep, breaks, bhangra, Afrobeat and vintage house) by Q reviewer Paul McGee who rated it 4/5 and tagged "The One to Buy!" Dubcatcher (BBE, 2014) DJ Vadim & Sena - Grow Slow (BBE, 2015) Dubcatcher 2 (Wicked My Yout) (Soulbeats Records, 2016)
He has made many remixes from The Cure, Erykah Badu, Alice Russell, Paul Weller, Prince, and CL Smooth.
On average he performs 170-180 shows a year and has played in over 63 countries.[3]
Style
DJ Vadim composes both music for MCs, singers and poets and soulful instrumental hip-hop beats. In both cases, certain stylistic trends emerge;
- Dominating rhythmic percussion, heavy use of drum programming which are sometimes broken or stuttering, heavy bass and synthesizer use.
- Organic, soulful touches often using studio musicians, with undertones of roots reggae and ragga and driving, hip-hop drum orchestration.
- Original sounding compositions, arrangements that fuse many genres from hip-hop and electronica to soul and reggae.
- Heavy use of ethnic sounds, including Asian, South American and African.
"Anyone recalling Sly & Robbie's mid-80s exercises in electro-dub fusion might see DJ Vadim’s latest as almost an update of that aesthetic," Paul McGee wrote in Q, reviewing Don’t Be Scared LP (2012).[2]
Discography
DJ Vadim
Studio albums
- U.S.S.R. Repertoire (Ninja Tune, 1996)
- U.S.S.R. Reconstruction (Ninja Tune, 1998)
- U.S.S.R. Life from the Other Side (Ninja Tune, 1999)
- U.S.S.R. Instrumental to Life (Ninja Tune, 1999)
- U.S.S.R. The Art of Listening (Ninja Tune, 2002)
- U.S.S.R. The Art of Instrumentals (Ninja Tune, 2002)
- The Soundcatcher (BBE, 2007)
- U Can't Lurn Imaginashun (BBE, 2009)
- Don't Be Scared (BBE, 2012)
Compilation albums
- DJ Vadim Presents: Sculpture and Broken Sound (P-Vine Records, 1997)
- Architects of the Great (Jazz Fudge, 1998)
- The Forgotten Women/Stereo Pictures (MK2, 2003)
- Lettuce Propelled Rockets (JFM, 2005)
- Live in Brooklyn (Mothergrain, 2007)
EPs
- Abstract Hallucinating Gases (Jazz Fudge, 1995)
- Headz Ain't Ready (Jazz Fudge, 1995)
- Bang 2K (Ninja Tune, 2002)
Singles
- "Nonlateral Hypothesis" (Ninja Tune, 1996)
- "Aural Prostitution" (Ninja Tune, 1996)
- "Heterogeneous" b/w "Nocturnal Thought Tracks" (Jazz Fudge, 1996)
- "Conquest of the Irrational" (Ninja Tune, 1997)
- "Friction" (Ninja Tune, 1999)
- "It's Obvious" (Ninja Tune, 1999)
- "Your Revolution" b/w "The Higher Standard" (Ninja Tune, 2000)
- "Leaches" b/w "Up to Jah" (Ninja Tune, 2002)
- "Combustible" b/w "Ghetto Rebels" b/w "Dimelo es el Verbo" (Ninja Tune, 2002)
- "It's On" (Ninja Tune, 2002)
- "Edie Brickell" b/w "Cum Shots" (Ninja Tune, 2003)
- "Till Sun's In Your Eyes" b/w "Headline News" (Ninja Tune, 2003)
- "Explode" (JFM, 2005)
- "Like the Wind" b/w "Boom Sumting" (BBE, 2007)
- "Got to Rock" b/w "Black Is the Night" (BBE, 2007)
- "Talk to Me" b/w "Like The Wind" (BBE, 2008)
- "Hidden Treasure" b/w "Saturday" b/w "Soldier" (BBE, 2009)
- "Fussin n' Fighting" feat Demolition Man (2015)
Little Aida
EPs
- Confessions (Jazz Fudge, 1996)
Andre Gurov
EPs
- Revelations of Wrath (Jazz Fudge, 1997)
- A New Rap Language (Jazz Fudge, 1997)
The Bug
Albums
- Taping the Conversation (Wordsound, 1997)
The Isolationist
Albums
- The Isolationist (Jazz Fudge, 1999)
Singles
- "Hydrogen Slush" (Jazz Fudge, 1998)
Blixton Rodriguez
EPs
- August Showers (2005)
One Self
Albums
- Children of Possibility (Ninja Tune, 2005)
- Children of Instrumentals (Ninja Tune, 2005)
EPs
- Organically Grown (2006)
Singles
- "Be Your Own" (Ninja Tune, 2005)
- "The Blue Bird" b/w "Fear the Labour" (Ninja Tune, 2005)
- "Paranoid" b/w "Over Expose" b/w "Come Along" (Ninja Tune, 2005)
Productions
- TTC - "De Pauvres Riches" from Ceci N'est Pas Un Disque (2002)
- DJ Cam - "Innervisions (DJ Vadim Remix)" from Revisited By (2005)
- The Glitch Mob - "Fortune Days (DJ Vadim Remix)" from Drink the Sea: The Remixes (2011)
- Sifu VERSUS - "Ανάβει Πράσινο (Anavi Prasino)" from Anavi Prasino w/ b-side: Idia Poreia) single (2012)
References
External links
- Official website
- 'U Cant Lurn Imaginashun' album review on Style43
- DJ Vadim interview at allaboutjazz.com
- DJ Vadim interview by Viberated.com
- DJ Vadim interview by Rap-N-Blues.com, 2012
- artINTERVIEWS with DJ Vadim, artINTERVIEWS, 2010
- Platform8470.com interview with DJ Vadim, 2012
- Rap-n-blues.com interview with DJ Vadim, 2012