038. Woof Woof!

Rex The Dog Season #1 T's
(2009)

www.rexthedog.net: £ 36.40

027. Rex The Dog - The Rex The Dog Show

In the digital age of music distribution, rarity is an elusive value. Thankfully, the digital mode of production has not as yet entirely replaced the crumbling machinery of the physical; new vinyl is being pressed. So, when one of your favourite artists puts out a release on your preferred medium in a limited edition, you really can’t afford to say no.

The Rex The Dog Show, released a few months prior on CD, makes its appearance on vinyl, delightfully restricted to a 1000 copy picture disc pressing. I have at length sung the praises of Rex The Dog: Example I, Example II. As such I’ll try and eulogize conservatively. Rex The Dog is fantastic, as is his album. There, done. Sadly though, the chiptune-esque Italian Blonde, in addition to his remix of Client’s Radio are absent. Regardless of these notable omissions there is only one fundamental message that should be taken from this 12”. This album isn’t about sitting at home. It’s about going out and hearing them on a decent size rig with accompanying visuals, played by the man himself. If this doesn’t whet the appetite nothing will. Every time I hear one of his tunes, I just want to be behind the decks, needle on the record watching the reaction as the tune drops.

With a limited pressing, might I be wise to leave this one in its sleeve for posterity? In record collecting circles, many regard the status ‘unplayed’ as the pinnacle. An entire Beatles back catalogue unplayed would probably be enough to retire on, even at my tender 24 years. This misses the point somewhat. This is collecting for collecting sake. Those who do this would be equally as content collecting any number of other miscellanea. A record collection should be there to be enjoyed, be a reflection of your own individual tastes, interests and musical explorations. Regardless how rare, how expensive or how delicate an item is, it must be played.

That doesn’t mean one should be reckless. Certainly, this will be played on rare and special occasions. Definitely, this will not be taken out to DJ with. However, one of those special moments has been captured and presented here on DMM. The problem lay in deciding which one. I could have gone anthem bashing and chosen the most well know, I could have done the decent thing and chosen an under exposed tune. In the end I just chose my favourite.

Rex The Dog - The Rex The Dog Show: Prototype
[Hundehaus : HUND001VP]
(2009)

Juno: £14.23

025. Rex The Dog - Prototype (Casio Remix)

Despite the frequent ludditisms which bleed into my posts on this blog, not everything about the digital age and record collecting is so bad. Globalisation provides us with one of the more exciting aspects. To date I’ve purchased records online from: Ireland, America, Belgium, Holland, and now Switzerland. You can see evidence of this in the photos. The fact that I’m buying a record from a British producer from someone in mainland Europe for less, postage included, than it would cost to buy and receive the same item from sellers in my own kingdom serves to highlight both the state of the economy and the ridiculously overpriced postal system we are forced to endure.

Leaving that aside for the moment, despite Prototype being my all time favourite Rex The Dog track, for this I decided to go for the B side. It’s a version which uses only the Casio CZ-320S synthesizer, without any additional production. Those of you lucky enough to own said synth can download the memory tape data stream to play with at home. While the A side will always remain a firm favourite, possibly even making it into my all time favourite records, the B side is a nice oddity. When an oddity is connected to a favourite like this, it’s almost criminal not to have it in the collection.

Rex The Dog - Prototype (Casio Remix)
[Hundehaus : HUND001S]
(2005)

Discogs: €5.00

020. Hot Chip & Rex The Dog @ O2 Academy, Oxford [27-02-2009]

When you’re behind the decks, it’s important to remember that no matter the quality of the set you have constructed, how amazing the records you choose are, or how perfectly you can mix between them, not everyone is there for the music. People go to a club to have some drinks, look at the girls (or boys), have a bit of a dance, see a named band or DJ they’ve heard in person, or a combination there of. Some people are really into the music, others less so and just have a general preference for something a bit electronicy of an evening out. Some couldn’t care what’s been played, they just want to have what they think is a good time. Sadly, when I’m in front of the decks I can forget this, as I did for a short while this weekend when it was off to the O2 Academy to watch Rex The Dog work his magic for the second time in four months.

First up was Hot Chip. As a band they are averagely mediocre; generally inoffensive but nothing breathtakingly, pantwettingly amazing. As DJs they are much the same. Their set gently bubbled away giving us some nice tunes with a good groove, but just when things felt like they were coming to a boil and about to set the night off there was no reward.

Hot Chip then, certainly not ones to avoid, but not ones spend all your savings on to see one last time before the economy collapses beyond all recognition. Unfortunately, their set was marred by a high crowd ratio of absolute knobbers - people completely off their head on chemicals (of the legal and illegal variety) intent on partying in their own way irrespective of whether they spill their drunk into you, shove you out of their way or collapse all over you in an attempt to ‘dance’. God, I sound so old.

Thankfully, with the big names gone, and Rex The Dog’s MacBook decisively hooked up the sound system, the ratio of undesirables shrank as the crowd considerably thinned. Playing a set which relied heavily on his own productions, this evening confirmed my belief that Rex The Dog live is simply not to be missed. And, hearing a snippet of Kraftwerk - The Robots just before the end was a treat in and of its self (lets hope for some Mel & Kim next time!). Generally speaking, Rex’s tune selection tends to be guided by two core production values: 1) sound great on a loud sound system, and 2) ensure they make people dance. These values guide me when I pack my record box. This is why I like his sets.

I think you’d probably like his sets too. So, look at the pictures below, find out where he’s playing here, before ordering the album and latest single, Bubblicious, here. Finally smile, safe in the knowledge you’ve now got some tunes which sound great on a big rig and are safe bets to get the dance floor moving, plus you’ve booked the privilege to see it done by the man/dog himself.

Hot Chip & Rex The Dog @ O2 Academy, Oxford
[27-02-2009]

Tune of the Night: <--- last tune of night ID --->

Ticket Price: £12 adv.
Pint of Diet-Coke rating: £2.50

016. Rex The Dog @ Matter [29-11-2008]

Collecting records from the safety and comfort of you home is fun. You can have even more fun by leaving the confines of your house and heading to club to go and hear what other people are playing. Seeing a DJ perform live is important - not only do you get to hear records you’ve never heard before, but you get to have a bop under a nice big sound system too. Another important thing is to make sure you don’t post things on a blog two months after they happen. Oh well, never mind - like Meatloaf used to say, two outta three ain’t bad. Late last year, after much anticipation a trip to the very luxurious Matter at the O2 was in order to check out contemporary house hero, Rex The Dog.

Anticipation is not always a good thing. When you’ve wanted to see someone perform for so long and are such a big fan of his productions, there is the very real danger that expectation will sadly outweigh reality. Thankfully, that was not even near the case. Rex The Dog was simply fantastic, and certainly worth the wait. Opening up with his remix of The Knife - Heartbeats, the short hour and a half to which the second room of Matter stood witness to this impressive event was crammed full of energy.

Rex was awesome and so are his records. Sadly, the only ever time I’ve heard one of his productions played live on a large sound system is when I’ve played it myself. When you’re DJing no matter how much you get into the set there is always a stage of removal between yourself and the party. Hearing for the first time two of my favourite Rex productions, Frequency and Prototype, live, on a large system, dropped by the man himself was worth the ticket price alone.

Rex the Dog is playing much closer to home at the O2 Academy Oxford on the 27th of Feb. Apparently Hot Chip are playing too - but we all know who is more important. Until then, enjoy these photos, and listen to frequency on youtube.

Tune of the night:
Rex The Dog - Frequency