Yes Future: Max Pask

Betty Botox's “Music is Music”
"I always loved the Betty Botox edits. They came out around ten years ago or more, but to me they’ll never get old. I’ve been playing this one again recently and it seems to resonate even more in today’s political and social climate. It’s a clever edit of Sister Sledge's “Lost in Music” (you can never go wrong there), with a most uplifting speech delivered by Jesse Jackson at the Wattstax Music Festival in 1972 layered on top. Forty-five years later, his words are as relevant and inspiring as ever. Goosebumps!"

Payfone's “We Are Chains”
"Talking about words that resonate in 2017, this song is from Payfone’s third and most recent EP on Phil South’s always excellent Golf Channel Records. Payfone’s music reminds me a lot of Chicken Lips, one of my favorite production teams of all time, with an added layer of soul. It’s simple and efficient, but there are a lot of feelings in there."

Stevie Wonder's “Race Babbling”
"While we’re on the subject of soul and futurism, Stevie Wonder’s most futuristic album–in my humble opinion–is his Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants. It’s the first album that used a digital sampler, all the way back in 1979! “Race Babbling” is part disco, part proto-techno, and 100% amazing. It sounds like it was produced by Yello or YMO. Doesn’t that sound like the most amazing combo?"

Tim Blake's “Blake’s new Jerusalem”
"Tim Blake is a synthetizer wizard who played with Hawkwind and released a few solo albums that I love. The photo on the sleeve of this album pictures him surrounded by analog keyboards, perched over a lit mixing console, and wearing a silver space suit. Talk about futuristic! The title song, “Blake’s new Jerusalem,” borders on new age foolishness lyrically, but this 18-minute piece of music is so gorgeous and so well arranged, I’ll happily let that slide. Anyway, it was 1978 (the year I was born), and that stuff wasn’t corny back then. Or was it? I don’t know, I wasn’t around."

Ihor Tsymbrovsky's “Come Angel”
"Last summer, I visited Amsterdam and met my friend Gilbert Cohen, the founder and owner of Versatile Records at Rush Hour record shop. He handed me this and told me I should listen to it. I had a bit of a moment there listening to it on the headphones. In the next months I was slightly obsessed with it, and it became my hit of summer 2016, even though it is light years away from summer hit material. I wouldn’t describe it as futuristic as much as otherworldly. I can’t really describe it to you, you’ll have to listen. It was recorded in 1995 in Ukraine, released on cassette only by a Polish label in 1996, and fell into oblivion until Dusseldorf’s Offen Records re-released it last year. By the way, Offen is a discreet yet fantastic label. Keep that name in mind; they are definitely a label of the future."

On Saturday, March 4th, Le Bain presents French Waves
featuring Max Pax, Busy P, & Jacques (live)
The Standard, High Line | 10pm

Header photo by Neil Aline