The Icon Returns.

On now: "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," Propellerheads

Saw "Casino Royale" yesterday, the new James Bond flick. From the get, let me say that I liked Daniel Craig as the new Bond. I never had the problem with him that the Internet nerds did. I've seen him most recently in "Layer Cake" and "Munich" and thought he was the shit in both. I always take a wait-and-see attitude in cases like this.

Also let me say that I don't appreciate the quickness with which the critics and media have discarded Pierce Brosnan. I loved his Bond and thought "The World is Not Enough" was his best in the series. I also dug "Die Another Day," at least the first half. Let's have a round of applause for his great contribution to the legacy.

On to "Casino." It was a really stripped-down, back-to-basics Bond. They pretty much made this Bond's origin story, how he became a "00" agent, licensed to kill. They even show how he gets his 1964 Aston Martin, in a nod to Connery. Craig is a stockier, more brutal Bond than his predecessors, very quick to kill a man with his bare hands or with whatever's laying around. I think the emphasis on physical fighting was a nod to the "Bourne" movies, where Matt Damon uses fighting skills rather than guns or gadgets to kill his enemies.

Also, I thought that Bond being physically hurt and bloodied in fighting/torture sequences was an answer to "24," as Jack Bauer is often intensely tortured/beat up over the five seasons of that show. You very rarely see Bond taking punishment.

(While I'm on the subject, there is a small bit in this film that's very similar to the ending of "MI:3," see if you can pick it out and let me know.)

I loved how Bond kept coming up with crisp, white shirts after many of his battles, though. I can't even go to the airport without looking all beat-up and desheveled. This fact alone is what makes Bond Her Majesty's greatest hero.

The intricate, fast-paced script takes us to many different locales, such as the Bahamas, Madagascar, and Montenegro, where the titular "Casino Royale" is located.

The villain of the piece is a terrorist banker named Le Chiffre, who sheds tears of blood from his left eye. Hardly a Blofeld-type figure, but exudes an air of European menace nonetheless.

The women of the piece were visually interesting, typical Bond girls. The presence of Dame Judi Dench (the only senior citizen I'd consider having sex with, well, her or Helen Mirren) as "M" is anomalous, however. If this is a reboot, and this is Bond's first assignment, and no other characters from previous films are featured, then shouldn't there be another--male--"M" as well?

Also gotta give dap to Basquiat himself, Jeffery Wright, who plays CIA man Felix Leiter, "the brother from Langley," in an understated performance.

The last act gets a bit confusing, as all the characters' true alliances and motivations come out. It's the only weak point of the film to me. But by then you're almost 2:20 in, so it's cool, I guess.

And there is a mention of a shadowy organization behind the events of "Casino Royale"; could it be SPECTRE?

Minor quibbles aside, "Casino Royale" delivers, as you have come to expect Bond to do. In an era where even Superman is all emo, James Bond is the only hero you can count on these days, at least until "Spiderman 3" comes out. It's worth full, nighttime price at your local cinema.

You will also come out with a strange craving to buy tailored suits, Omega watches, Sony products and Ford (and its divisions Jaguar and Aston-Martin) automobiles.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Well, I am finally back in Chicago. Sitting here in my bathrobe (what an image, I know) with some hot tea and Slowdive "Souvlaki" playing in the background. What a few days it's been. Remember when I said I was bored???? Well, like Guru once said, watch what you say.

Let's start with me missing my flight back to Chicago from Berlin on Monday. I copied down the info wrong and it turned out I was a no-show for my flight. I've never missed a flight before in my life. I had to pay $200 to change the ticket and it meant I had to spend one more night in Berlin that I didn't plan on. Plus I was coming down with a cold. I had been doing so well, too.

I took the train back to Kreuzberg with all my shit. Actually, a bus, and two trains. And a lot of stairs. I went and spent the night at Markthalle and went back to the airport at 3 am (my flight was at 6). I only took a catnap for fear of oversleeping and missing my flight again.

Finally got on the plane, and feeling progressively shittier. I was able to sleep though. I hope I didn't snore. Nobody looked at me funny when I woke up, so maybe not.

A quick layover in Amsterdam, and eight hours later I was back in Chicago. I felt like shit. But I had to get up the next day (Wednesday) and go to New York.

Giaxia was taking care of the apartment. We had a quick Thanksgiving dinner together 'cause she was leaving for L.A. the next day to hang out with her cousin and see Jeff and Richie's show.

So the next day, I got my shit together and went to the airport. The show must go on. This is yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving, busy holiday travel day. The news was all set up at the airport, lights and cameras. It was cool 'cause I could travel light, like the old days. An hour's worth of records and a carry-on.

But it's fucked up too, because you now have to check in your bag because of all those deadly LIQUIDS that you carry. Now you have to wait for checked luggage because of your dangerous LIQUIDS.

My flight to NYC was delayed like three hours. I could have left the house much later.

Finally made it to NYC. The party I played was in Brooklyn. It was a club called Evolution. Turns out I played there before, years ago, like 2000 or so. That time, the party was a total flop, the guy went broke. It was ugly. One of the last times I played a New York party.

This time, there were like 200 people there. It was a rave. I was the headliner. It was billed as "The return of T-1000, first NYC appearance in five years." The crowd was fun. Yes, there were candy ravers there. It was great. Venom played before me. I hadn't seen him in years. Old guys still doin' it. He made me smile. He was playing hardcore.

I came on and it was great. Literally took off my coat and started playing. I played fast and hard, real techno. No minimal, I loved that. Really tight hour-long set. I didn't plan it out. No fuckups. I wish it was recorded.

The crowd was really into it. So many of them were kids who weren't around when I used to play NYC all the time back in the '90s, so it's important to get with this new audience. Others were old heads. These guys were right upfront my whole set going crazy. This one guy said he used to follow me all up and down the East Coast back in the day.

Overall, it looks like my East Coast comeback was a success. A nice homecoming from Europe, I must say.

This morning I treated myself to the hotel breakfast buffet. They had grits, I was like damn. Never saw grits at a hotel buffet before! It was like black and Jewish breakfast: grits and lachs.

So after a pretty uneventful flight home, I am finally relaxing now from my exhausting superstar jetset weekend. Nothing on the agenda but chicken soup and "Minority Report" and SLEEP.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All She Wanted Was A Quickie.

Here's a quick one. Played a lounge-type set last night at Raumklang for my friend Jerome's birthday. Really enjoyed it, a completely different type of Berlin crowd. Played on a Allen & Heath Xone 92 mixer. Really liked it, I'm gonna have to get one. Smoooooth. Love the frequency kills, I'd use that more than the sampler feature on the Pioneer. Anyway, met some interesting new faces. My whole guest-list showed up including my new best friend, Stephi. I love her, she's funny. Vodka shots all night, can't beat it.


Went from there to SO36. It was in full effect. Ran into Tony Rohr. I see him once a year here in Berlin. I like him, he's cool. I think he gets lots of gigs here 'cause Rohr is a German last name. I have an English last name but I never get booked in the UK. =P Anyway, he's supposed to be in Chicago soon to play, I'll have to break my streak of not going to clubs in Chicago just to check him out.

I leave in a couple of hours for the airport. Club Prag in Stuttgart tonight, then back here to pack and have dinner with Carola tomorrow, then home to Chicago and my studio =). One day home, then it's off to New York. I haven't played a party there in 5-6 years. I like it when it's like this, baby, non-stop. Hopefully, it will continue.

I am so geeked for "Casino Royale," man. The icon returns. You know it's almost Christmas time when a new Bond flick comes out or it's a Bond marathon on TV somewhere. It's comforting knowing 007 is on the job for Her Majesty. Gonna try and see it when I get home.

I'm Bored.

Never thought I'd say it, but I'm bored. Yes, it's Berlin and I'm bored. Seems like an oxymoron, I know, but there it is.

Sunday night was fun, though. This girl Silke, who bartends at SO36, also works at this karaoke place in Kreuzberg, Monster Ronson's. She invited me up there. I've actually passed by the place a few times, but it looks like a biker bar from the front. It was wild. I had never been to a karaoke bar much less sang at one. Well, she hooked me up with free cocktails so I got on up there and sang a few tunes. It was quite fun. The Germans really love their sappy American tunes like Barry Manilow's "Mandy" or Lionel Richie and Diana Ross' "Endless Love." The whole thing was just great. I always find myself in absurd situations. And no, there is no photo or video evidence of my karaoke singing!

Later that night I DJed at Kato here in Berlin. It was a low-key thing, kinda last minute. I played minimal, house, and Detroit classics alongside the Berlin legend DJ Woody. Max, Stevie and Jerome from Tresor showed up. I had plenty of drink tickets so it was on. Red Bull and vodkas all night. Thanks to Stephan for the booking.


Yesterday I went shopping at Potsdamer Platz. I saw this sweet leather jacket I wanted and had to have it. My one treat on this tour, I deserve it. I've been all business, otherwise.



I am so inspired to make tracks, though, techno ones. Berlin does it to me. Got a whole concept in mind and everything. In Chicago, there's really no way of knowing what's happening musically, but here, you can hear everybody spin and see what they're playing/doing.

It's a bizarre time, though. Some still like techno, others say it's finished. Minimal seems to be the fashion, but you can see Rush destroy shit at 155-160 BPMs to a packed house on a Wednesday night. They say Detroit is dead, yet Rolando and Rob Hood just played here last weekend (I didn't have guestlist so I didn't go). And it looks like East Coast rave is making a slow comeback in the States. After years of nothing, I'm booked out there again all of a sudden. It's really crazy out here, there's no one direction to pick up on.

Oh well, just go with the flow, I guess, and remain thankful.

I'm just going on and on, so let me go get something to eat. Those of you reading this from Myspace, leave a comment there, dammit.

DJ Rush @ SO36 Berlin.

Went and saw the great DJ Rush at SO36 last night. It's been a few years since I've seen him. Phenomenal. He's got that charisma 'cause he's tall. He's like a head-and-a-1/2 taller than me, I looked. I play like 138-140 BPM tops and people are always whining and talkin' shit about how I play too hard, I play "DJ tools," it's boring, slow it down, blah blah blah, right? Rush comes on and it's like 155 BPM, just bangin'. Straight-up techno/schranz/gabber beatdown. 2 1/2 hours. Crowd going insane. And they stayed with him through his whole set! The same people were on the dancefloor from beginning to end. He had me at hello, that's for sure. When he finished, they were all over him, taking pictures like paparazzi. Total rock star. When I finish playing it's like OK, thanks, get the fuck out.

OK, not really =)

Saw Dash and Nico a.k.a. DJ Dry, this girl Tina, whom I know from around Berlin, Conna, Pacou, all the usual SO36/Tresor suspects. Hung out with my new best friend Stephi, aka DJ Chroma S., also from Berlin. I met her at Watergate a couple of weeks ago, we've been cool ever since. She's got a really sexy Joan Jett-type vibe to her. Funny girl, too. She was on my guest-list =)

Tonight, went and saw a documentary, "Black Deutschland." It was half in English, so I understood half of it. Darius James was in it. He invited me to the screening. We hung out a bit afterwards at this bar. He's a different breed than I usually get to meet, I like that.

Oh, and the "Slices" DVD with my interview in it comes out 15 December.

So the good news is the Dems now control the Senate and the new Speaker of the House is the first female ever to hold the title. And fucking Rumsfeld fell on his sword. And Britney broke up with K-Fed. I can now say I am proud to be an American, something I haven't been able to say since 2000.

The bad news is that Ed Bradley from "60 Minutes" died. I was really rocked by that news, I liked him a whole lot. A super-cool old guy I wanted to grow up to be like. I still hope to one day. He was 65.

Let me split, I'm kinda sad about that right now.

Mein Tag In Mitte.

On now: Blackmail "Same Sane"

Not much new to report. Just killing time between gigs. I was off last weekend, but I didn't go out. Dash and Dry played Saturday night walking distance from my flat and Claude Young played Berghain, but I fell asleep and didn't wake up 'till 2 am. Still could have gone, it being Berlin, but stayed home. If I don't leave the house by
midnight, forget it.

Went to the Hamburger Bahnhof yesterday to see some art. When I was here last, it was free on Tuesdays but they changed it. I wasn't spending 8 EUR to get in, so I just got some postcards from the bookstore part instead. They had a lot of books on sale, including this Michael Mann book I've been circling. Unfortunately, I want the English version (Christmas is coming, guys, hint hint).




Walking down Chauseestrasse in Mitte (right near A Guy Called Gerald's studio), I hear somebody call my name. It's Stewart Walker in a car with his friends. They pulled over to talk to me. I've always liked Stewart (and I don't truly like that many people, ha ha) and it's always good to see him. He used to be a skinny little white kid, now he's all filled out.

It's crazy how shit like that happens all the way over here, running into people. When I'm out in Chicago, I never see anyone I know on the street, except the one time I ran into Jeff over the summer. Guess that proves Berlin's the happening place.

Speaking of Jeff, Giaxia's going to see him and Rich play L.A. end of the month. Isn't it wild how we get around? I love this life sometimes.