December 15, 2003

Critical Phase

After a hectic few months DJing - including 2 rush visits to Japan - Kirk is back in the studio to put the finishing touches to the next Critical Phase track with Dan Keeling and continue with the club-oriented project for France's finest - the Versatile label.

Japan

Kirk would like to thank all his fans who made the Japan visits as warm as ever - particularly those who came to see Kirk and Carl Craig spin at Yellow for a special tribute to Sun Ra as part of Rush Hour's promotional push for The Myth Lives On compilation. Thanks also to the people of Sapporo for making the Beyond Festival such a great event - and with Kirk playing alongside Basic Channel, Larry Heard & Carl Craig it was a line-up difficult to beat! Another great night was had at The Ballroom in Tokyo when Kirk teamed up with Ian O'Brien for some Ableton powered techno sets...

Finland

However, the night of the year had to be at FBI in Helsinki when Kirk teamed up with Lil Tony from Nu-Spirit and had one of those magical nights when the crowd don't let the DJ go home and the club owners allow the party to go on after hours... big thanks from Kirk to all those who came and hope to see you again very soon for more of the same.

Bonkers

Bonkers night of the year had to be the launch party for New Religions beautiful A Secret History album... one of those invite only industry do's with a very debauched crowd including a pleasingly large contigent of Models 1 agency, it was a night possibly only the famously teetotal Degiorgio will remember out of those who attended.

Final date of the year

Kirk's final event of 2003 promises to be a major event at the amazing Off Corso club in Rotterdam - alongside Steve Bug and Gerd/Sensurreal on Dec 19th.

Remix smash

Whilst away touring Kirk has had his biggest remix success of the year with his broken-tech re-rub of John Beltran & Andreas Saag's Starlight Memories - already massive with Radio 1Xtra's Benji B, Patrick Forge, Jimpster, JCR crew, Alex Attias, etc - it's out now on Ubiquity Records.

ART

Kirk's 3rd New Religion ep is mastered and ready to go in January 04 - a 4 track ep that harks back to the early ART days in terms of structure and philosophy... it is also rumoured that 2004 will finally see the next installment of the ART legend... watch this space!!

August 4, 2003

CMJ RPM CHART success

The performance of "So Far (So Good)" on the US CMJ RPM chart is currently trouncing some heavyweight dance albums. It can't seem to crack #1 but has been at #2 now for 4 consecutive weeks - charting for eight weeks and counting. Fifty stations reported heavy airplay this week including: CFRC (Kingston), CJLO (Montreal) and CFUV (Victoria) in Canada; KOXY in Los Angeles; KMUD in Redway (Northern California); KNON in Dallas; KTAO in Taos; KSVR in Mount Vernon, Washington; KTXT in Lubbock (TX); WDBM in East Lansing (MI); WDET in Detroit (#2); WDGR in Miami (#1); WERS in Boston; WFIT in New York; WNUR in Chicago (#1).

July 21, 2003

AS ONE retrospective

Yes, it's the usual London buses routine with 3 major releases in the space of a few weeks from Kirk. Out now is the retrospective double album 'So Far (So Good)' on Ubiquity.

Featuring 19 tracks over 2CDs - the tracks were personally selected by Kirk as being his favourites between 1992 and 2003. The collection also includes 3 previously unreleased tracks including the much sought-after The Circle Suite which didn't make it onto the Planetary Folklore album due to timing constraints.

Full details here, full tracklisting below:

CD1: AMALIA / ISATAI / SHAMBALA / MERIDIAN / CELESTIAL SOUL / WE NO LONGER UNDERSTAND / THEME FROM OP-ART / YOU WHO NEVER ARRIVED / RETURN OF THE KINGPIN / HYERES

CD2: EPIC / CHIARO / QUEEN CONSTANCE / THE ELECTRIC HYMN / MUSIC BOX / THE CIRCLE SUITE / REUNION / CONTOURS / IF IT AIN'T BROKE

July 20, 2003

Kirk's FX.MIX.01

Kirk's innovative mix album FX has a release date of 28-7-03 on keepdiggin records.

Thanks again to the guys at Ableton for their support for this project and for designing such an intuitive piece of software!

Out next month is the 3rd in the Soul of Science series of compilations put together by Kirk Degiorgio and Ian O'Brien for Obsessive/BMG. Full tracklisting coming shortly.

Also out next month are the remixes of Kirk's Holy/Distraction EP on New Religion. More details once the remixes have been approved.

May 2, 2003

JAPAN Tour / Recording

After a successful tour of Japan, Kirk is back in the studio recording for a variety of forthcoming projects for Ubiquity, Versatile and New Religion.

Kirk's Tour of Japan alongside fellow label mate John Beltran was a huge success as Kirk became one of the 1st DJs in the world to exclusively use Ableton Live instead of decks + vinyl (check www.ableton.com for an interview on Kirk's Live DJing techniques).

Also released this month is Kirk's collaboration with Dan Keeling 'Voice of Phase' / 'People Like Us' - the 3rd Critical Phase release. These 12"s come in a limited edition coloured vinyl format with specially commissioned artwork from Detroit artist Alan Oldham. Remixes are in progress from New World Aquarium and others tbc.

Also released this month is Kirk's remix of Erwin Van Moll's (Max 404) new Clashing Ego release. Full details here soon.

December 9, 2002

Back in the studio

After a long break due to the arrival of baby Luca Degiorgio, Kirk has been back in the studio completing the follow-up to last years 'Nairobi' for New Religion. The double A sided 12" will be released in the Summer - the tracks are titled 'Holy' and 'Distraction'.

Also released next year will be the 3rd Critical Phase ep - Kirk's collaborative venture with New Religion 'honcho' Dan Keeling. Look out for 'Voice of Phase' and 'People Like Us' very soon. Both these New Religion releases feature great new artwork from Detroit's finest Alan Oldham and will be strictly limited to a few thousand copies.

Kirk has contributed to RushHour/Kindred Spirits Sun Ra tribute album with a cover of Ra's famous 'Astro Black'. Featuring vocalist Vanessa Freeman the track will also be released on a single sometime in early 2003. The Sun Ra tribute album looks set to be a real gem with other contributions coming from Theo Parrish, Recloose, Mad Lib, Jimi Tenor, IG Culture, etc.

Finally for this year, Kirk has remixed a new track from Eindhoven's finest - Max 404. More details about this release will follow shortly.

June 25, 2002

"To See Tomorrow"

Out now - the first taster from Kirk's forthcoming 2nd album for Ubiquity Recordings. 'To See Tomorrow' is an afro-funk inspired club track for this summer's dancefloors whilst the flipside features a huge Ian O'Brien remix of Contours from the 21st Century Soul set.

see www.ubiquityrecords.com for more details!

April 15, 2002

Summer World Tour 2002

Here are the details:

---------------------------------------
APRIL
27th Loop - Tokyo, Japan. (CD-R/Vinyl set - Techno/Disco Re-edits)
28th D-Nile - Kagoshima, Japan (CD-R/Vinyl set - Techno/Disco Re-edits)

---------------------------------------
MAY
2nd JB's - Nagoya, Japan. (Vinyl set - Deep House/Broken Beats)
3rd Dawn - Osaka, Japan (Vinyl set - Deep House/Broken Beats)
24th Drum Rhythm Festival - Amsterdam, Netherlands (Vinyl set - Deep
House/Broken Beats/Techno) w/Recloose & Pepe Braddock.
31st Pergola - Milan, Italy (Vinyl set - nu-jazz/Techno/Broken Beats)
w/Enrico@Archive.

---------------------------------------
JUNE
15th Sonar Festival - Barcelona (Vinyl set - Techno/Broken Beats) w/Mark
Shade & Keep Diggin' Showcase.
27th London Xpress - 93 Feet East, London, UK (CD-R/Vinyl set -Deep
House/Disco Re-edits)

---------------------------------------
JULY
25th Ten Days Off Festival - Ghent, Belguim (Vinyl set - Nu-jazz/Broken
Beats/Techno) w/Jazzanova.
---------------------------------------

December 15, 2001

New website updates

Updates to the discography include the two new albums, a few new sections, and a number of new entries. There are also a couple of detailed pdf files for the main discography and the remix discography. Links to a flood of reviews are also included for the new releases.

The current edition of THE WIRE (December 2001) features an extensive Invisible Jukebox interview with Kirk.

November 22, 2001

End of an era

After 3 yrs of the best in Black Music new and old the R-Solution show hosted by 4 Hero/Kirk Degiorgio/Phil Asher has parted company with Kiss 100. Thanks to all our loyal listeners over the 150 or so shows - we will keep you informed of any developments regarding future broadcasting options.

September 27, 2001

4-track sampler

Out now on Ubiquity Records - the second installment from the forthcoming AS ONE LP 21st Century Soul. This 4-track sampler features the left-field vocal track 'Problems' featuring Jinadu, a Stacey Pullen remix of 'Another Revolution' (already getting airplay on Mary Anne Hobbs' Radio 1 'Breezeblock' show) and an exclusive Afro/Brokenbeat/Techno inspired club track 'If It Ain't Broke'.

Promo's of the OFFWORLD LP 'Two Worlds' are sneaking out of the Far Our offices ready for official release next month.

USA's excellent club culture magazine XLR8R features a rare 3 page interview with Kirk this month - conducted on his tour of the States earlier this summer.

Forthcoming features are also due in 7 magazine (UK) and Billboard (USA).

Meanwhile Kirk is remixing Joachim Lone for Versatile and putting the finishing touches to the much anticipated Critical Phase follow-up with Dan Keeling.

Finally for now, Kirk's R-Solution show on Kiss FM continues its series of 2hr artist specials... featured so far this summer: Stevie Wonder, Isley Brothers and Eugene McDaniels... if you missed the shows - go check the playlists and hunt down the sites that distribute cassette copies. (But don't ask us about these pls!)

September 25, 2001

Charles Stepney article

Just added a fantastic article about Charles Stepney with permission from Downbeat Magazine. It's by Edwin Black and was originally printed November 26, 1970. THIS ARTICLE IS NO LONGER ONLINE.

July 7, 2001

Phil Ranelin project

Coming soon on Hefty Records from Chicago comes Kirk Degiorgio's Offworld Remix of Phil Ranelin's 'For the Children'. Taken from the rare cult 70's classic "Vibes from the Tribe" LP, Hefty not only licensed the original album but also discovered the original 16 track masters enabling re-interpretations to be done properly.

The Offworld mix follows on from the Offworld mixes of Papo Vasquez, Tony Allen, etc - modern electronics collide with original 70's rhythms and spirituality. Release date tbc.

July 5, 2001

A raft of new releases

Finishing touches are being made to the second installment of the acclaimed Soul of Science compilation series for Obsessive Records. Big noises were made by the inclusion of rare and previously unreleased material by Herbie Hancock, Shuggie Otis, Dunn Pearson Jr, etc on the first volume and needless to say Vol 2 keeps up the high standards with some rare gems... also included is an exclusive collaboration between compilers Kirk and Ian O' Brien. Look out for a late July release.

Kirk Degiorgio's EP for EMI subsidiary New Religion is out now... entitled Nairobi / Unruly the 12" also features a superb Carl Craig reworking of Nairobi.

Also out now is Kirk's collaboration with Dan Keeling under the artist name CRITICAL PHASE. Phase One out on Fuju also includes the Futureshock remix which made it to Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong's Essential Tune for June...

Finally the long-awaited As One EP on Ubiquity sees official release this month. The 10" double a-side includes the classic Another Revolution and the 21st century latin rhythms of Undefeated... watch out for the follow-up single this summer and a full-length album scheduled for November 2001.

After DJ tours of the USA and Europe taking in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Vienna, Warsaw and Tilburg - Kirk will be in the studio for the next few months until he tours with the Allenko Brotherhood / Comet Records.

March 24, 2001

A busy start to the year

This month sees the release of Kirk's dancefloor remix of Common Factor on Detroit's finest Planet E. It was fantastic for Kirk to be involved in Planet E's 10th anniversary release and we say Happy Birthday from all at ART!!

Next month sees the release of Kirk's re-interpretation of music from the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert. Out soon on Melt 2000 - keep an eye out for the launch night of the remix album project as its a very worthwhile cause.

Finally - Holland's sublime underground techno label Delsin finally persuaded Kirk to remix one of their artists and it resulted in one of his best mixes to date... look out for the Sandor Caron track with the Offworld mix very soon!

Well - all that and Kirk's collaboration with Tony Allen for France's Comet label is doing the business for DJ's worldwide... phew... a busy start to the year!

February 7, 2001

Critical Phase / Carl Craig / Azymuth, Odell, etc

2001 sees a wealth of forthcoming releases from Kirk Degiorgio in various guises.

A collaboration with Dan Keeling sees Kirk's first release for new label Fuju under the name Critical Phase. We've heard the Futureshock remix is MASSIVE - so watch out for it early this Spring.

Also getting the remix treatment is Kirk's first pure techno release for some years! Carl Craig is on the remix duties this time for a re-appearence of Kirk's Esoterik moniker from the days of ART. To be released on EMI's new House/ Techno imprint New Religion early this year 'Nairobi' and an as yet untitled flipside are already tearing it up in Carl Craig's worldwide DJ sets.

Meanwhile - the Far Our Recordings project featuring Kirk alongside Azymuth, Jamie Odell and others is almost at completion. A release date is expected for Autumn 2001.

July 6, 2000

Offworld

In between recording his forthcoming As One project for Island Blue, and the forthcoming Offworld meets Azymuth project, Kirk has finished remixes of P'Taah 'Uriel Bridge' (Ubiquity), Gintare 'Trancenavigation' (Regal) and Helicopter Girl 'Subliminal Punk' (Instant Karma).

After a successful DJ tour of the UK with the Regal label and an appearance at Amsterdam's Drum Rhythm Festival, Kirk is now back recording and also compiling an album of miscellaneous soulful electronica for the Logic label together with Ian O'Brien.

Entitled 'The Soul of Science' it also includes a previously unreleased track 'Kaleidoscope' recorded soon after the Planetary Folklore sessions that experiments with the modal programming capabilities of the sought-after Notron step-sequencer.

A full track listing for the album (due out Autumn 2000) will be featured here soon!

June 4, 2000

Sound on Sound article

Here's a link to the Sound on Sound article from February 1998.

THIS ARTICLE IS NO LONGER ONLINE.

... and here's some archived magazine articles.