Ivan Smagghe belongs to a top table of DJs that journalists like to lazily describe as “The DJ’s DJs”. Yet this empty, cod-elitist compliment serves only to further short change him. Ivan has the ability to play music like a raw conduit between his famously obscure records and the dancefloor’s strobe-soaked bodies, injecting something of himself seamlessly into the mix along the way. His (I hate to use more lazy cliche's) genre defying/defining production work originally in Black Strobe and now in It’s A Fine Line with Tim Paris has over hte years connected him to and (rightly) garnered the praise of the likes of James Murphy, Trevor Jackson, Ata, Optimo and his sometime partner in crime Andrew Weatherall. All fellow crusaders in the fight to prove that electronic music can be so much more than a one dimensional soundtrack for a night on the lash. Recently the success of his musical blog 'A Few Things From Ivan Smagghe' has generated a compilation series of edits for Paris uber-fashion store Colette with the first volume sold out in just a week. His afore mentioned project with Tim Paris, It's A Fine Line, has already cranked out numerous remixes (from Superpitcher to the XX) and releases that can't easily be pigeonholed (electro rockabilly on Kompakt to rickety Italo disco on Marketing Music). Aside from his A&R role for Kill The DJ (who have released the first EP of RMVN, Ivan’s project with Roman Flugel), Ivan has also started solo work as well as more planned collaborations with musical friends (Ewan Pearson and Tiga being first on the list). Anyway, enough with the gushing praise and over to the rench chap for a recording from the 'Awakenings Festival' that exudes the galic aplomb and more than an air of his infamous French flair.
Big Love. X
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