- Artwork by Xejax

Tracklist
------------
1. Fantastic Man- Say What You Said [Kolour Limited]
2. Rosenhaft- The Last Time I Was A Farmer [CDR]
3. Marcello Napoletano- I'm Sorry But In House Ur Not [Mathematics] 
4. Steinhoff & Hammouda- You Are [Smallville]
5. Outboxx ft. Naomi Jeremy- Falling Apart [White Label]
6. Anthony Shakir- Detroit State Of Mind (Space Dimension Controller Remix) [Rush Hour]
7. Matin- I Think I Miss You (Original Mix) [Assembley]
8. Sean Roman- Ev's Bed (Tom Taylor's Celestial Remix) [Assembley]
9. Eastmen- U Dig (Loco Dice Remix) [Soma]
10. Rosenhaft- Foxy Grey [CDR]
11. Unknown- L.F. [White Label]
12. Rosenhaft- Eating Myself [CDR]
13. Ryo Kawahara ft. George Levin- Gotta Give It All (Atjazz Remix) [Flower]
14. Libra Classic - Burning Bridges (CJ Giovanni Retouch From Bradford's Brooklyn Percapella) [CDR]
15. Lenny Fontana & DJ Shorty- Chocolate Sensation (Def Club Mix) [FFRR]
16. Pet Shop Boys- A Red Letter Day (Basement Jaxx Vocal Mix) [Parlophone]
17. Noel Nanton- Your Love (Ian Pooley's Summertime Mix) [Honchos White]
18. Giuliano Amato - Marshmallow (Original Mix) [CDR]
19. Yotam Avni- Save The World (Unreleased Version) [CDR]
20. Scott Garcia & Ray Hurley- Waiting [Connected]
21. Jordan Peak- Body Double [Saved]
22. Xejax- Gotta Feel The Beat [CDR]
23. Shay Dt- Afrobeat [EastArea]
24. Roni Nachum- Everybody's The Same [CDR]





We asked Rosenhaft a few questions:
-----------------------------------------------------

1. Where was your set recorded and using what equipment?

The set was recorded in our label's little studio using two turntables (one is a Technics and the other a Numark) and two very old CDJ-100's.

2. Tell us a bit about the idea behind the set. Was there a specific moment you liked most?

The main idea was to try and record 90 minutes of the music I enjoyed recently spiced with some classics. Along the way I tried to show my respect to some friends such as Brett Lawrence (the owner of Assembly records), Jordan Peak (a true rising star), the Greek artist CJ Giovanni, Yotam Avni, Yoav "Xejax", Roni Nachum and of course my good friend and partner Shay Dotan.

3. When did you start playing and what got you to become a dj and producer in the first place?

At the age of 15 I started working as a lighting operator at the "Terminal" night-club (in a place called "Ramot Menashe"). Around the same time I joined Guy Federman's radio show and also joined him in almost every party where he Dj'd, so I go to be his warm-up Dj quite a few times. From there I got to play in the "Vertigo" club and many remote places up north. 
The only person I can say is responsible for my endless love of electronic music is Ofer Nachshon. I've been following his radio broadcasts almost religiously since I was 9 and collected much of the music he played or even mentioned.
Today I have a library of around 11,000 CDs and a few thousands of vinyl records.

4. Which (non-electronic) music do you listen to?

"Reshet Bet" ("B-Network" in free translation) on the radio.

5. We know you love the Pet-Shop Boys. What are they for you? How do they differ from other groups and when did you become a pet-shop boy yourself?

After their show in Tel-Aviv two years ago I wrote on my Facebook page: "God is a duo". I heard them live a few times in the past and every single time it was an unforgettable experience.
What makes them special is their amazing ability to adapt themselves to the sounds of any specific "era" and still maintain their own agenda and musical language. Neil and Chris work with a different producer on each album, so every time the music is definitely "Pet-Shop Boys-ish" but in a way never heard before. This is what makes them relevant even now, about 30 years since they started working together.
I became a Pet-Shop boy around 1987 at the age of 5 when I first heard "It's a sin" in my uncle's car. A few years later I was already collecting anything with their name on it (and still do it today).

6. Among the long list of collaborators, Shay DT can definitely be marked as your #1. How did your cooperation begin and how do you see you label's ("East Area Records") progress?

I met Shay through a mutual friend. He heard my music in Guy Federman's shows and I knew his from a demo CD he sent the radio station. We started working together during 2004 and our first creation was a bootleg to the Pet-Shop Boys' "Left to my own Devices" (he's also an addict). The track eventually found its way to Parlophone (their label) where we were told that we are not allowed to use the sample there (but unofficially the duo told us they really liked what we did).
Two years later we released our first release on the late "Wallop" label and a couple of months later we were already playing with the idea of starting "East Area" records, where we will be able to showcase our music without limitations. In the summer of 2008 our first East-Area release was out and the next release there gave us the true first boost with a Dean Newton remix to one of Shay's tracks. The remix found its way to many playlists, which in turn increased the label's exposure.
Today our goal is mostly "to have fun" and as a bonus promote ourselves as Djs and producers. The label's sound is a bit more commercial and progressive compared to what I listen to and play most of the time, but it allows us to cooperate with many other labels and producers. Due to East-Area I'm a constant partner in many Italian based dance productions and occasionally get to play abroad.

7. It's time to look at the mirror! Name one weakness and one strength of you as a Dj/producer.

My strength is the fact that I feed of almost every possible genre in electronic music, so I have no problem NOT maintaining a specific musical line in my productions. The same exact thing is also my weakness as it can be interpreted as lack of stability.

8. Until today we never asked a single sports-related question. Name one football (soccer for some) and match it with an electronic track as its soundtrack. Explain your selection.

You're probably aiming at my love to "Maccabi Haifa" (an Israeli football team) so I'll pick "Maccabi Tel-Aviv" instead. We are in between seasons, when all preparation to the coming season are in progress. As usual the coach on duty speaks of the Tel-Aviv team as "the Israeli Barcelona" and other similar hallucinations. I will gladly select Green Velvet's "La La Land" to their soundtrack. I believe no explanation is required…

9. Vinyl, CDs or MP3?

Vinyl and CDs. I'm having real difficulties with the "laptop culture" which has become a monster in recent years. It's definitely more mobile but it's far more mechanic and "colder" than vinyl. I'd rather see things spin and hear some glitches than listening to over-smooth and engineered sets.

10. Imagine yourself 10 years from now. What do you see?

I see a father of two (or three) kids that still enjoys playing and creating music as a hobby. I can't see this becoming a permanent job, nor do I think I'd want it as one.

11. Fill in the blanks: "In past life I was probably ______________"

Greek




PodIUmix #15 - Rosenhaft - It's Funky but it ain't House

- Artwork by Yulia Vilensky

Tracklist:
-------------
1 Donny Hathaway - The Ghetto (Suonho Reloved)
2 Mulatu Astatke - A man of Experience and
wisdom(Zopelar edit)
3 Mock & Toof - Zomby Disco
4 Cut Copy - Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution
5 Brooks - Iwanchu
6 Chic - I Want Your Love (Dimitri Form Paris Remix)
7 Minimoogli - A Funk for Fela (Er1c's Dub)
8 Sunship feat. Warrior Queen - Almighty Father (Solid
Groove Remix)
9 The Count & Sinden - Future (Solo Remix)
10 The Detroit Experiment - Think Twice (Henrik
Schwarz Remix)
11 The Black Ghosts - Your Soul Is Free
12 The Future Sound of London - Papua New Guinea
13 KLF - What time is love(pure trance) \ Switch - A Bit
Patchy
14 Walter Murphy - A Fifth Of Beethoven (Soulwax Edit)
15 Funk Sinatra Vs M.I.A - jump 2 Bucky (Demo)
16 Shocking Blue - Love Buzz
17 Cedars - For your information
18 Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate
19 Queen - More Of That Jazz
20 Quami & The Halvot - Tea time
21 Colonel Bagshot - Six Day War
22 Portishead - The Rip
23 Neu! - Hallo gallo


We asked Funk Sinatra a few questions:
-------------------------------------------------------
1. Where was your set recorded and with what equipment?
It was recorded at home, in my living room and in front of one of my music cabinets. I used Traktor Pro 2 together with the Traktor X1 controller and a Vestax VMC 280 mixer. I don't use time-code, so I mapped the X1 in such a manner that I never need to touch the computer when playing. The set was recorded into Wavelab using the Native Instruments Audio-8 soundcard.

2. Tell us of the idea behind your set. Is there a special moment in it you liked the most?
This one was I think my fifth ever recorded set, since I don't really know how to do this without a crowd. In general I'm not in favor of djing at home or "in the bedroom". On the other hand I knew I had to do it at home, because recording where I usually play isn't easy and will represent my taste in full.
When I recorded it I selected only the opening track and just went with the flow in the comfort of my living room. I relied on stuff that I have played often lately, classics and also one of my productions that still needs to be tested in front of a crowd.
The name "Mothership Connection" is a representation of that other world I enter while djing – a world where I leave my ego outside and play what the space around me requires music-wise. I can't say it was as easy selecting music the same way when the space in question is my living room…but there were some crazy moments, such as when I improvised between KLF and FSOL and once I heard it in the headphones, I felt I HAVE to push the fader! Of course the entire Rock part was a split-second decision. I could have switched to any other genre…

3. When did you start djing and what got you there?
What got me there was plain and simple music-collecting. I've been collecting since the age of 6, and even before that I was constantly listening to two of my parents' vinyl records – The Israeli Tsvika Pik and the Musical Youth's Youth of Today. Somewhere around 1995 friends made me start playing outside the school-parties I usually played at. Aside from that I'm also a drummer since the age of 12 so the entire djing thing was just a side gig for various bands, from Jazz to Metal and quite a few in between.
I played in many crazy scenarios, including a wicked warm-up set for Union-Jack in a water reservoir (!!!), but the first time I ever felt that all the pieces are falling into the right place was in 1998 when I played at the "Dinamo Dvash" club in Tel-Aviv. Back then I was MC'ing for a group called "Outbreak". For some reason the Dj who was supposed to play after us didn't show up. I had all sorts of weird CDs and records in my bag, from Ministry and Chemical Brothers to military marshes. With no other options at hand I turned that mess into a two-hour set, after which I realized there's more to djing than playing hits. Since then I played at a wide spectrum of parties – from tiny 20 people "rave" to the 1999 Tel-Aviv Love-Parade for many thousands of people.
Another important transition was my decision to start playing in family events (weddings, for example, are one of the most extreme scenarios for a dj in Israel).

4. Which non-electronic music do you like listening to the most?
Are you kidding!? Punk, Funk, Jazz, Rock &amp; Roll, Metal and a lot of Israeli oldies (80's and older) and weird covers.

5. Please share with us an interesting story from your night-life repertoire; something that was exciting for you and/or gave you the chills and goose bumps all over your body.
Well, I don't do drugs, don't drink alcohol and don't smoke at all, so it's not an easy question…but if I have to pick one single story from 15 years of clubbing and djing – here goes: 
It's New-Year's night and just after midnight in Haifa's City-Hall club. A French guy called Dvid Chong starts playing. It's the first time I ever heard him and he's playing amazing music, but the crowd was expecting club-trance. After 30 minutes he gets out of the dj booth quite ashamed. We start talking with him and he automatically suggest we join him on his way to Tel-Aviv, where he's supposed to play his second gig that night, at the "Fetish" party line (in the Maxim cub). We spend the one hour drive talking about Disco and Soul…and then I hear what he's really capable off in a proper party. He does coke off a spinning record, enjoys every second in the booth, plays House like a Hip-Hop dj and mixes like the devil himself. That was an incredible night and a great lesson in mixing.

6. You played in such a wide variety of local venues and in numerous "eras" in the Israeli nightlife scene. Where did you enjoy playing the most "back then" and "now"?
Then – big clubs like the northern "Vertigo" and the "Ultrasound". That was basically electronic music for hundreds of clubbers in big rooms, hands up in the air and all that. On the other side of the spectrum there's the "Dinamo-Dvash" and the "Public House", where I could maximize the experience and play a lot of what I loved. The place opened around 9pm and closed around 8am the next morning, where I played solo sets all night long, weekend after weekend in the years 2000-2001. That was like the craziest boot-camp for a dj – 10 hours straight sets with almost everything on the musical scale being played.
Today – It's really hard to say, because someone will probably be offended…but the "Radio EPGB and "The Bucket" are dear to me, and the "Hudna" in the Tel-Aviv Florentine neighborhood is like my home-base in Tel-Aviv for the past four years.

7. The Israeli crowd loves foreign djs, or Israeli djs who abandoned the local scene in favor of career-building oversees. It appears as if this comes in the expense of the local djs. What do you think of the lack of balance between those who chose to move and those who "stayed behind"?
I think too often people give too much credit to foreign artists. The pre-party PR turns any incoming artist to "a legend" or "the best thing" or "the coolest thing". Sometimes the artists do live up to the superlatives used but quite often they just don't. I've seen enough legends who played a crappy set and at the same time heard unknown local djs who blew my head off with well-played amazing music. This also depends on the venue and timing.
I strongly believe a local dj will always have this little extra that comes from a deeper place within his soul, aimed at the crowd he was "born of". A foreign dj brings something else, and that something doesn't necessarily connect to the crowd. In the last few years I prefer listening to local talents over foreign visitors, probably because I have a better mental bond with the local artists than the bond I may or may not have with someone who's busy airport-hopping. 

8. Every person has a name. How was "Funk Sinatra" chosen?
Easily…

9. It's time to look at the mirror. Pick one strength and one weakness you have as a dj and/or producer, and explain them to us.
Strength – Lately I believe more and more in the way my sets flow and how they progress from start to end. They became much more fluent.
Weakness – Every now and then people want more and I just have nothing more to say in the dj booth…then I'm at a loss. I'm still trying to figure out how to handle these moments today.

10. What do you think makes a dj – a good one?
First of all – his or her crowd. I prefer playing the same place as many times as possible during the week (which is what most call "a resident") to build up the atmosphere and the crowd. That's why I enjoy playing at the "Hudna" every Thursday since 2007 – I have the owner's complete trust and I managed to get to the most extreme musical spots imaginable…Friday morning, 7am, an unknown Techno track is booming, and a bunch of carpenters just about to open their workshops nearby join the crowd that's been dancing there for the past 7 hours...
So the crowd is most important. You can try to interest the crowd but never patronize the crowd. You can challenge the crowd but must never bore it, and here comes the "but" – but the dj is NOT the crowd's iPod. As a dj you must be true to yourself and find a place where you can be yourself both musically and socially.
Oh…one more thing. DIG! Look for good music in the deepest holes, or you'll end up playing Beatport charts. Selection is the second most important thing! So crowd and music selection – got them and you've got it all.

11. You've been into the musical arts (as a dj and as a producer) for more than a few days, all the way back to the 90's. Beyond the raised hands and Shazam-powered smartphones, documenting the moment with photos and videos, do you think the crowd today experiences the music with their legs as well as with other senses? Are they there for the music or just in order to see and be seen?
It's a tough question…the crowd in different venues experiences different things. Personally as a clubber I like dancing with my eyes closed in front of the wall or a decent speaker and not mess around with my smartphone. There is some documentation obsession nowadays, which is nice because I have too few memories from too many good parties; however a party with hundreds of people just taking pictures, recording movies, writing a new Facebook status while they're on the dance floor and ID'ing tracks with Shazam reminds me more of a school-break than a party in a dark club.

12. Vinyl, CD's or MP3?
Vinyl for me is best for listening to music recorded in times when vinyl was the king – from the 50's to the 80's. I think buying a 2011 vinyl record that was recorded digitally and transferred to an analog format is just missing the point. It's important to say that most of the old music released on vinyl was never reprinted and that is the reason for my frantic vinyl search – keeping track of music that will just disappear if we don't find it and make a digital copy of it.
CDs are a nice and practical format…I like most the sleeves and sleeve notes in the CD boxes.
MP3 is just a work tool.
Each format has its place in my case and in my heart, although I'm a Traktor guy for the good part of the last few years.

13. While you as a music presentor put great emphasis on old music and re-edits to various tracks and songs that most others will likely not dare to touch, technology just moves forward on and on. How do you consider this distance between technology and your music?
Technology today is not really ground-breaking anymore and it just updates itself according to popular demand. Since the invention of the sampler nothing real changed in music, perhaps only the move to production within the computer frame. I chose to dwell in what happened "before" because if people like me won't do it – the roots will just be forgotten.

14. Imagine yourself ten years from now – what do you see?
It's hard to imagine ten months ahead…but I assume two kids, my own label, a Funk group I'm a part of and an art (painting) studio.

15. Fill in the blanks: In past life I was probably _____________
….a blues guitarist or a graffiti artist.



PodIUmix #16 - Funk Sinatra - Mothership Connection

IsraelUnderground is a community founded during the year 2000 and which consists of a colorful blend of electronic music lovers, clubbers, djs and producers. During its many years of existence IU has evolved and changed parallel to the Israeli scene, followed it in it best days as well as in its worst, while constantly bonding its members not just on the dance floor but outside it as well.

This podcast series "PodIUmix" (Pod-IU-Mix) will attemp to showcase members and friends of IU, while trying to expose the listeners to as many musical genres as possible. This is IU in sound.

Enjoy,
The IU team



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