The Silent Partner LP 2004

Since 2002 DJ Bootsie has previously been involved in a variety of third party production work, composing film scores and providing basic rhythm tracks and production skills for other local rap performers. In theyear 2003 he began working on his own album which was released fall 2004. It’s called ‘The Silent Partner’ for two reasons: Bootsie has always worked behind the scenes in others’ musical endeavors, and the album itself is a silent partner of sorts which can escort listeners on a long journey.

The engineering, mix down and mastering work on this debut was performed by Gabor Deutsch. Epic tracks on The Silent Partner primarily use classical elements of hip hop and trip hop, as well as giving a starring role to ambient atmospheres and even ‘Hungarian Cowboy’ moods which have proven to be synch friendly and seen manyfold usages in international fashion shows and american action series like CSI.

The forthcoming second solo album „Holidays In The Shade“ is scheduled for release on BBE Records mid decembre 2009. The DJ Bootsie Quartet is intended to go out and perform as much as possible at clubs and festivals.

Presentiment EP 2009

Holidays in the Shade LP 2009

In spite of his Hungarian background DJ Bootsie is making things happen in our headphones. The Budapest-born DJ/producer and his Quartet take us on a sonic tour of the sorrowfully joyous Hungarian soul on their latest album entitled “Holidays in the Shade”, the follow up to 2004’s successful “Silent Partner”.

Few DJs are able to draw from the rich history of their own people, but that’s exactly what Bootsie and his cohorts do, incorporating uniquely somber Hungarian folk music motifs into their acoustically rich electronic tunes, while simultaneously maintaining a hip hop sensibility. The result is a gorgeous musical soundscape that gets you moving, emotionally and physically.

Just grab an earful of the opener Rain A Fall which features a haunting Hungarian string arrangement coupled with a mournful Magyar wail. Or sink into the downtempo, interdisciplinary “Körmenet” (funeral procession) flourished with strings and a haunting baritone saxophone. The Spaceship mechanic from a tiny village in the Hungarian countryside laments in Neil And Vincent Pt. 1.

And coming from a country that used to have the highest rate of suicide in the world, is it any coincidence that there’s a tune entitled Mr. Prozac?

But things are not as depressing as they sound; in fact the album can be quite uplifting. It’s not only his Hungarian roots but also Bootsie’s hip hop origins that are exposed on Holidays in the Shade – they’re never far away, with turntable scratches thoughtfully worked into the mix throughout and special appearances from MCs Vast Aire and O.C.

So, if you’re willing to take a little Holidays in the Shade, we can’t promise that you’ll go home with a tan – but we can promise you a fascinating journey through the sounds of the Hungarian soul in the 21st century. Let DJ Bootsie be your guide.

The last song on the album explains it all. It draws inspiration from a poem written in 1855 by the great Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty, The Old Gypsy. A tragic king of the Hungarian acting world, Zoltán Latinovics recites the poem in all its haunting majesty: the contraditions of the Hungarian spirit; the sad joy, first shivering, then burning with an intense flame. The fallen angel, the broken heart, the mad spirit. It is the individual expression of a masculine, romantic and dark Magyar.

Holidays In The Shade – Track by Track Information by DJ Bootsie

1. Rain A Fall

The approachinig rain is a dramatic symbol in the hungarian mythology that stands for grief and sadness, eventhough it also embodies deeply purifying effects. The vocals are taken from an original field recording.

2. Liuetenant Chrome

One of those “crime/thriller” type of tracks with all characteristic features of the genre. Like most works of mine, this is also of epic structure, which i do fancy.

Within one track I combine several parts with continuous smooth transitions in between.

3. Mosquito Dance

A playful little tune using modern production technologies and tribal instruments which is an interesteing combination to me. It has a doublefold tempo-feel, with a hint of humour and certain huming and buzzling. I don´t have too many songs of this kind.

4. Kite Over Faurndau

Faurndau is a tiny swabian village in south-western Germany where grandmother still lives. While elaborating the initial idea, I  have recalled childhood memories when I often used to go out  flying kites there in Faurndau. Looking back, this short carefree period in my life seems so idyllic like a stereotype fairytale. I have never flown kites ever since. With my friend Geri who played guitars on here we just called this “the kite-flying”.

5. Vast Hope (feat. Vast Aire)

Vast Aire is one of the finest contemporary MCs around. There are two rap tracks on the album. Vast Aire represents the nu skool and is open to other trends and kinds of music. I like his style and the fact that he does not take himself too seriously.

6. Ballad of the Spaceship Rigger  (pt. 1)

The fundaments of the track have been layed down for quite a while. When I took this to my two co-writers, it kind of jumped out of the other initial sketches, so we simply had to go for it. My mates´ attitude took the tune into a rather different direction. Jappán came up with the lyrics, wheras my only instruction was to have ‘space’ included. The themes all came rushing on to us. This tune is the confession of the spaceship rigger in his solitude while he is fixing his vehicle in the void.

7. Ballad of the Spaceship Rigger  (pt. 2)

This is a version of the same track,  that also serves as the second part of it. The soundscapes inspired me to do it in my preferred way, this is how I made it more hip-hop like.

8. Call Mr. Prozac

An interesting triangle: the croaking bass, the liturgical choir and the church organ (which came from a field recording of the Cologne Dome). The title prompted me to turn more towards to glitch style.

9. Tableaux Repin

Inspiration for this fwas coming from the famous painting entitled Burlaks on Volga by the Russain painter Repin. The song is slow, monotonous and bare, like winter and life in general in Russia. The chorus is sung by Juci Németh laid on multiple tracks.

10.   Neil and Vincent  (pt. 1)

The song was inspired by Michael Mann’s film, Heat, that I must have watched about fifty times. It is a story about the epic battle between an obsessed policeman and a cold blooded criminal, backed by the music of Brian Eno and the Kronos Quartet.  Apart from the scenery it was the characters and their lives that really grabbed me: passion, virility…persistence. To me this track is blue, just like the colour of the film poster.

11.    Neil and Vincent  (pt.  2)

The final episode of the main characters´ battle, in a slow-motion.

12.    Move a Mountain

This is the other rap track on the album, this time with a contribution from O.C., who is one of my favourites. He is definitely one of the best figures of East coast hip-hop, his albums are classics (to me at least). His personality inspired the the track. I have approached him after a show in Vienna if he wanted to contribute – and he did actually.

13.    Körmenet/ The Procession

The combination of jazz and folk music has been one of my main influences over the past few years. This track is a triangle of modern clap, saxophone and the analogue keyboard. Béla Ágoston, a folk musician made a contribution: he plays the bagpipe, jew´s harp, oral bass and performs some tuva style throat singing. The song has a heavy atmosphere but it is also uplifting, one of my favourites on the album. It was one of the first songs I completed for this album, alogside with the opener  Rain A Fall.

14.    Húzd

The last song on the album explains it all. It draws inspiration from a bloodcurdling last poem the great Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty wrote way back 1855. That is entitled The Old Gypsy and the symbolic content is nowadays more up-to-date then ever before.

The tragic king of the Hungarian acting world, Zoltán Latinovics recites the poem in all its haunting and majesty: the contraditions of the Hungarian spirit; the sad joy, first shivering, then burning with an intense flame. The fallen angel, the broken heart, the mad spirit…