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From The Digital Sweatshop
The Music, Art and Travels of Alan D. Oldham a.k.a. DJ T-1000.

MBV @ The Aragon Ballroom, Chicago. 9/27/2008

Monday, September 29, 2008



I don't go to too many concerts, but the legendary My Bloody Valentine was on my must list. I went with my whole gang of Chicago indie-rock friends including Jimmy and Jane from Essenza and my ever-present business partner, Giaxia. Complete sound-and-light sensory overload from start to finish. Shoegaze bliss, just what you would expect. Not recommended for epileptics. All this and I was up in the balcony. Just think if you were on the floor (it was too hot).

The tight hour-and-fifteen-minute-long show (we skipped the opening band; I heard they sucked) highlighted all their stuff, basically the "Isn't Anything" and "You Made Me Realise" EPs, and "Loveless". High point of the show was a complete, 25 minute-long white noise wall of sound freakout in the middle of "Cigarettes in Your Bed." A lot of people left during it, it was so abrasive. It went on seemingly forever, but when they finally went back into the song for the big finale, your patience was rewarded. There was no encore.

MBV's triumphant, sold-out return (3000+ people at the Aragon) basically underlines the fact that modern music ain't shit or else so many people wouldn't have turned out for a band that only made one full album way back in 1991. As if the returns of old heads like the Pixies, the Police and others didn't already belabor the point. I find my iPod kind of stops around 2001 at the latest. I haven't really liked much this decade to be honest. The only newer stuff I've got is TV on the Radio, BRMC, and Interpol.

Crowd was to super-cool to watch. Lots of old-school alternative heads from the late '80s (including me =P) were there with their Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division t-shirts, and what looked like every single record store clerk in Chicago! A lot of what can only be called indie-rock cougars were there too (think Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, who's like 50-ish and still hot in a ragged rock-chick sort of way; like that). Lots of cute Wicker Park-looking hipster girls, and at least one full-on transvestite! I saw many people there I knew (including my downstairs neighbor!), which surprised me. I didn't think I knew that many people here. I guess I really am a Chicagoan now.

Night was capped off by dinner at Cleo's. Lots of fun was had by all!

Now if only Medicine would get back together and tour. Just the first three albums worth of stuff. That would be the shit.

Does me liking shoegaze and indie rock make me less Detroit Techno? LOL. And just think, I used to be in Underground Resistance.


End of Summer Review.

Saturday, September 20, 2008


Well, another summer is over. This was the best summer I've had in years!

Started the summer in Berlin, had a great tour. Went to some great places (Spain, Italy, Ireland) and met a lot of cool-ass people. Came back to the States and chilled in Chicago for July, finished a bunch of artwork (two album covers, a painting, and some comic pages) and generally hung out. Went to the Wizard World comic convention. It wasn't as cool as I thought it would be. Saw a lot of people I knew from my comic book days, though.

Wanted to have a BBQ in the backyard complete with DJ set-up so I could blast out my neighbors, but didn't get around to it this year.

Back out for more gigs in August. Flew to Pittsburgh for the TriUMF Festival. It's funny how some gigs work out where everything is great EXCEPT the hour you're up there spinning. That's how it was in Pittsburgh. Promoter was great and very, very professional. Flight and hotel were great. Went to the Warhol, great, hung out with Sarah Asti, great (she took me to lunch then showed me a little of the city). The actual reason I was there? Not so much. Oh well. I got to go to the Warhol again, and the weather was nice, so let's focus.


Having JG reviewed on Variety.com this summer was a high point for me, ego-wise. I read Variety regularly. Kenny Larkin was like "he gave you a C!" I'm like who cares. Gave me the motivation to continue the series (four issues total). The real version with CD soundtrack by me is on the way in early 2009 on Pure Sonik and I'm hard at work on issue two.

Off to Europe again in August for a short Benelux Tour. Had an incredible time at the E-Troit Festival, my first time ever in Eindhoven NL, home of Djax-Up-Beats. I invited Miss Djax, but I didn't hear back from her until three weeks after the party =P Saw a lot of old friends though, including Kenny Larkin, DJ 3000, and the Burden Brothers, whom I see a lot in Berlin. Also did a little tag team action with DJ Kammy from Rio (on my left, below). She's a little techno monster. She rocks it hard! She blew away all us old Detroit heads. Let's hope they do another E-Troit Festival next year and I'm on the bill!



Spent a week in Berlin after that. It was an 8-hour train ride from Eindhoven. Didn't do too much except sleep, eat, record shop at Space Hall and visit my booking agent at the Tresor office. I was too tired to draw. I usually get a lot done in Berlin. Chroma invited me out, but I was too jet-lagged. Managed to see my friend Antje, though.

Took a train from Berlin to Antwerp for Bassment in Motion. That's kinda what made this tour so tiring, all the train travel. This was the first time I trained it, not flew. It was 10 hours all told from Berlin to Antwerp. A flight from Amsterdam to Chicago is less than nine hours.

Hotel was great, though, hosts were great. I played Bassment in Motion before, about four years ago. It was still the shit, if not better! Sound system was on. I rocked it full-blast. Played a lot of new shit I picked up in Berlin (particularly some of that Mark Broom shit on King of the Snakes; hot). They like real techno, not mnml. Pretty young Belgian girls were dancing and going crazy. I dropped a techno remix of Britney Spears "Toxic" the last time I was there back in '04, do you know some girls still remembered that? And requested it again? Wow (needless to say I didn't have it). Two of the E-Troit crew came up to Antwerp along with Kammy. It was good to see familiar faces.

After my set, they begged me to come back to Eindhoven with them to play some after hours (Eindhoven is 70 km from Antwerp)! But a) my flight back to the States was later that afternoon and b) they weren't offering any Euros, ha ha. So it was no go. Maybe next time.

Oh, and I didn't take pics because I messed around and forgot my camera at home. Yet I still managed to pack the charger =P Thanks to Kammy for sending me these photos!

Back in the USA now. Finished off an art piece for Paul Birken last week (see below), now I'm back in the studio armed with new gear and working on the Johnny Gambit soundtrack. Then some new DJ T-1000 tracks. New records to follow in '09, you heard it here first. Yes, I said records.

I'll be back in Berlin in December. I've got some dates open, so if you're a promoter, contact me for booking details!

Thanks for all your support this year so far!

Hit me at info@alanoldham.com

Obama/Biden '08!


Another Satisfied Customer.

Sunday, September 14, 2008


Herr Marc Kauffmann of Dresden, Germany has to be one of the biggest fans of my artwork! I just did a commission painting just for him (the big one with the orange background, quite an art challenge!). Here's a photo of the painting along with his collection of Oldham books and artwork! Brightens this rainy day.


Robotic Soul Cyber Juke Joint.

Saturday, September 13, 2008



Fresh from the art board, new album cover art for Paul Birken's electronic blues project. Inspired by the art of Ernie Barnes, the real-life artist behind J.J.'s paintings on "Good Times." I like these nice artistic challenges I've been getting lately.


Live at the E-Troit Festival, Eindhoven, NL

Friday, September 05, 2008

Here's a short clip from my recent closing set at the E-troit Festival in the Netherlands. A good time was had by all as you can see! Enjoy.



Jude Law as Johnny Gambit????

Monday, September 01, 2008

So before I left on tour I was watching "Sleuth" with Jude Law and Michael Caine. Towards the end of the movie, Law had a costume change and ended up with this look that reminded me of my character, especially the first shot below. All you have to do is change his hair into Gambit's signature fall and it's on! His hair in the second shot is kinda there. I even like the monotone lighting in the pics. Compare with the artwork in my previous blog entry below.



The Benelux tour was the shit by the way! Just got home last night. Eindhoven (saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones), Berlin (didn't play, just chilled...and sorry to all my friends I couldn't see this time, like Chroma, Magnus, Carli, etc.), then Antwerp, which rocked! No pictures, though, as I forgot my camera at home. Like an asshole, I brought the charger =P I'll be getting back in the studio now that it's fall and I'm home for awhile. Time to bang out some new tracks. Yes, new techno, bitches. Get ready for 2009.