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C O L L E C T I O N 5

These New Yorkers are sort of the odd ones out in this Top 5, because they’re not ‘men’ per-se, they’re just “people who make [great] music”. And failing to mention MEN in an issue dedicated to men would have been a major crime as well as gross misconduct (I would have had to fire myself).

I fell in love with JD Samson (of Le Tigre) and MEN a couple of years ago. Their insanely danceable tracks would be hard to miss anyway (Simultaneously? Credit Card Babie$? Anyone??) Plus, they stand for something (really!) which is more than most can say nowadays.

Love, sex, freedom, identity…they always tell it like it is, no la-bels, no judgments and that’s what I like most about them. This and the fact they’re not afraid to take a stand when it comes to the LGBTQ community and to everyone’s God given right to be who they want to be and do whatever the hell they want with their life. If you have 5 minutes and 27 seconds to spare, be sure to watch “Let Them Out Or Let Me In” a music video they made to show their support to the Pussy Riot movement.

So “Pick your head up don’t look back / Cuz today the world has changed”… MEN are here!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Canadians do indeed do it better. Miami Nights 1984 is, surprisingly enough, Mike Glover, a Canadian. Think cheesy Miami Vice era postcard, complete with palm trees, bikini-clad bodies, bright orange sun, high powered cars with bold paint and gleaming chrome. Synth-pop heavy soundtrack NOT AN OPTION.

Let’s put it that way: Glover filled a void in my existence. I always knew I was born with a missing piece that alone accounts for my weird 70’s and 80’s nostalgia. I have been obsessed for many, many years with American TV shows like Hunter and Miami Vice. The general aesthetics, the pants, the cars, the ‘dos, the hairy chests, the ‘staches... Sometimes I just wish I had been born a decade earlier.

And so each and every time I listen to one of Glover’s tracks, magic happens. I feel utter love for this guy’s ability to take me back to this par-ticular time and place. And that in itself is a beautiful thing. His music is like a drug to me, only without the brutal comedown.

I’ll go ahead and assume that you’ve seen Drive. AND that you’ve loved the soundtrack. Miami Nights 1984 is like…a never ending Nightcall. Mind-blowing musical epicness.

Selected by Bénédicte Lelong

5Who usually comes to mind? Bowie, Hendrix, MJ, Lennon and Freddie Mercury amongst others…right? Legends–built into our collective memory and indisputable makers of classics. But releasing a Top 5 with these men would be playing it safe. And here at KALTBLUT we don’t like to play it safe. Besides, it would be way too easy and, let’s be honest, BORING AS HELL (for us, and for you).In the end, with male composers, musicians, singers or DJs it isn’t about the chiseled jaw, the tight abs, the physique

or even the designer clothes. In the end it’s all about the ability to push you to the edge with just one note, one beat, one arrangement, one track. It’s all about the build-up, those chills down your spine on your way to (musical) 7th heaven when you connect to a particular piece of music, whether it be physically or emotionally.Ain’t no point in being a man in music if you can’t give your audience (male, female or otherwise) a mind-blowing,

earth-shattering eargasm… am I right or am I right? That’s what the male touch in music is all about, isn’t it? We want strength, power, intensity, beauty.If and when it’s done right, the reaction is almost immediate and organic: it’s that moment when you close your eyes

and you forget who you are, where you are or why you are. You get lost. Thirty seconds is all it takes. Thirty seconds of carefully arranged bass and drums, with no lyrics at all, can easily do the trick.Ever played the island game? You know the one where someone asks you what you’d bring if you were stuck for the

rest of eternity on a deserted island somewhere? Well, these guys are IT for me. All I need is an MP3 player chock full of their music and I’m good to go. So without further ado, here it is. The List. My Top 5. My Men.

1. 2.Men MIAMI NIGHTS 1984

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Music is, in many ways, just like film. Ulti-mately, what you’re looking for in a song, an album or an artist is an escape route. You’re looking to escape from your daily routine, the stress, the noise, life’s many uncertainties and inevitable disappoint-ments. The beautiful thing with Bonobo’s ambient/downtempo music is that it can so easily become the soundtrack to your existence.

Listening to Bonobo, a Britrish music producer and DJ, opened me up to a whole new world of musical experiences. Like his remix of Amon Tobin’s Easy Muffin (who by the way missed my Top 5 by a hair), a track which I could be listening to for hours on end.

Music is an experiment, whether you’re the artist or the listener. It’s also like a window. All you ever have to do is open it. Terrapin, Silver, Flutter, his tracks featuring Bajka… once you get a taste of Bonobo’s chilled beats, there will be NO turning back. Musi-cally he is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. Bar none.

If ‘sexual’ music was a genre, surely Bombs & Bottlesm—the nom de scène of Harrison Zafrin—a 23-year-old electronic music pro-ducer and DJ from Brooklyn, would be right up there with Marvin Gaye and Phil Collins.

Bombs & Bottles will get you all hot and bothered in a matter of seconds, ready to hit the clubs, party all night long and much more. Let’s say it will put you in the mood. Zafrin formed Bombs & Bottles while still in college and dropped his first LP, Pop & Roll, in 2010. He produces and sings vocals on all his tracks, which is, for me at least, a small detail that makes a big a difference. He’s confident enough (as he should be) not to use and abuse samples. I say bravo.

As far as DJ-ing is concerned, I got fed up with Guetta and Tiesto pretty early on. I was looking for something different, less commer-cial but with a little more heart (and spunk). A couple of personal favorites that I suspect will make a B&B convert out of you: Klub, When The Lights Go Out and I Will Take You There. A word of warning: ladies, I won’t be held responsible in case of accidental ovary implosion.

5.3. Even though you might not be familiar with his entire body of work (which is, no lying, as long as my arm), you have to have heard of Philip Glass at least once–especially if you go to the movies or watch TV fairly regularly. If not, well… I’ll have to assume that you’re either a Martian or a cave(wo)man (sh*t happens).

However, it’s never too late to catch up. The Hours, House MD, The Watchmen to name a few…With the Philip Glass Ensemble which he founded or on his own, Glass, a self-described ‘classicist’, is basically our generation’s Mozart. This madly proli-fic, music-maker of genius was no-minated for several Academy Awards and his pieces will make your mind go to places you never even knew exis-ted. Some of them might even make you cry uncontrollably. Don’t believe me? Try “The Poet Acts” off his score for The Hours. Sob fest.

So sure, Glass might not move like Jagger but his creations will tug at your heart strings in just the right amount. As far as men in music go, he’s one of the most influential con-temporary composers we have.

4.PHILIP GLASS

BONOBO BOMBS &

BOTTLES

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