This may be the most stonery post in the history of “journalism,” but bear with me. Seattle’s MOTOR dance collective has been carving out a growing scene in town by connecting like minded Cascadian experimental dance musicians. The tunes they pump out at their dance nights, held at Kremwerk, often conjure up distinct images in my head, thanks to their highly geometric, spacey vibes. In order to celebrate the upcoming MOTOR XX party at Kremwerk, a landmark night for the crew, I decided I would sit down and listen to each of the producers in the MOTOR collective and attempt to actively translate the visuals their music summoned up in my head into animated GIFS. In other words, I attempted to create each producer’s “spirit GIF.” I really do promise I wasn’t on drugs when I did this. Anyways, here we go:
Airport, AKA Jayson Kochan, creates this sort of cosmic disco music that makes me want to exercise while wearing tight clothing. When I listened to “Sweat,” I remembered how the classic 8 Minute Abs workout video is framed by that weird spaceship chrome metal graphic that counts down how much of the routine you have left until you’re done doing crunches. Airport makes me want to pilot the S.S. 8 Minute Abs through space—I imagine its control board looks something like this. Bonus fact: Jayson Kochran wears shiny spandex suits during performances.
Mood Organ, AKA Timm Mason of Midday Veil and Master Musicians of Bukkake, writes some stellar cruising music. When I listened to lead track “Outer Heaven” off his upcoming EP, I remembered the stellar cruising I did as a child in the fabled Expert bonus level of 1996 N64 classic Cruis’n World. If the player completed the Florida level the right way, your car would end up in the Kennedy Space Center, where a rocket ship would transport your vehicle to the moon for one final race. The moon level offered it’s own electronica soundtrack, but Mood Organ’s “Outer Heaven” is a much sexier soundtrack to winning first place in a lunar race.
P L L, AKA Chris Davis, likes to arrange clubby beats on top of vibrating static fuzz layers that sound like they’re emanating out of the terrifying depths of a black hole. When you dance to P L L, you will also ponder the void. Listening to his aptly titled “Noise Stasis Jam,” I imagined this black hole woman gyrating in front of physical soundwaves.
Apartment Fox, AKA Portland’s Alex Neerman, often employs the sort of demure blip-bleeps I imagine coming from a submarine. While Apartment Fox may be named after a sprightly land mammal, the music is very aquatic. Listening to “Tropical Depression,” partially inspired by the title but also the aqueous beat, I imagined Ariel, The Little Mermaid, and her heartbreaking tears shed near the end of the film.
Patternmaster, AKA Jonathan Carr of Brainfruit, lives up to his name with some architectural, kaleidoscopic techno that totally bumps. “We Can Build You (Shifting Acid)” features some holy choir samples that summoned up visions of wacky-ass divine geometry in my head. I just want to reiterate that I’m not on drugs right now. Patternmaster sounds like spirit drugs though.
Goodwin, AKA Scott Goodwin, makes some tasty rhythmic house jams. Now, all dance music is rhythmic, duh, but Goodwin’s got rhythms coming out the yin yang. “Ramparts” in particular got me moving with its tripped up, funky robo-beats. It made me remember reading about the Manoi GO, a Japanese robot programmed to mimic human breakdancers with startling accuracy. A Manoi GO costs $1000, but the Motor XX showcase only costs $5.
