[►] Kontrapunkt w. Recloose & Tibor Holoda 21.05.2008
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In spring 1997, Matthew Chicoine, aka Recloose, made contact with techno pioneer Carl Craig by way of a now legendary ‘demo on rye sandwich’. This now infamous story has been referenced to death, and we’d all prefer not to revisit the details. Instead, let’s focus on what it led to - the near immediate signing of Recloose to Craig's Planet E label and the beginning of a promising musical career for one very talented individual. Recloose’s musical roots trace back to eight years of studying music and playing jazz saxophone, later shifting his focus to the art of mixing, cutting and dicing vinyl whilst at college in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His eclectic DJ sets, which were first heard on college radio, have led Recloose to become an in-demand DJ, playing at clubs and festivals around the world as well as performing as a turntablist for both Carl Craig’s Innerzone Orchestra and the more esoteric Uri Caine ensemble.
Since the fateful meeting with Carl Craig, Recloose has developed into a true standout of Detroit’s musical litter. The past 10 years have seen a number of groundbreaking 12’s released and a host of remixes for the likes of Herbert, Tei Towa, MJ Cole and Azymuth. Recloose, consistently gathering musical momentum, released his debut album ‘Cardiology’‚ on Planet E / !K7 in 2002, to large critical acclaim.
Recloose relocated to New Zealand in 2001 to plant new roots and explore new musical horizons. July 2005 saw the release of Recloose's second album, ‘Hiatus On The Horizon’ (Peacefrog/Loop), an album that features a host of New Zealand’s finest musicians and vocalists (and spawned the dancefloor stomper ‘Dust’ feat. Fat Freddy’s Drop vocalist Joe Dukie). Since this release Recloose formed the 8-piece ‘Recloose Live Band’ which is comprised of many of the featured artists from ‘Hiatus’. Since debuting in July 2005 the band has been performing at high profile gigs in New Zealand, Australia, and Europe including several well-received national TV performances in New Zealand, packed gigs at London's Fabric and Jazz Cafe, a roaring audience of at the Sydney Festival in Australia, and a recent live session at Gilles Peterson's BBC1 radio show Worldwide. They recorded a series of live performances in late 2006 and released this funk compendium called ‘Backwards and Sideways’ on Recloose’s new imprint ‘Fingertips’ in early 2007.
Recloose returns in 2008 with a new studio album: ‘Perfect Timing’ on Sonar Kollektiv. Think funk anthems blasting through dirty party scenes. Think slow jams for reclining. ‘Perfect Timing’ again features long time musical companions Joe Dukie (Fat Freddy’s Drop), Tyna and Jonathan Crayford amongst new and international talents. Given its irresistible booty shaking vibe, it is set to have leading impact on the international club scene.
Check www.myspace.com/mattchicoine for sneak previews of the new album.

Tibor Holoda is highly regarded throughout Europe as Slovakia's foremost DJ. He is the most significant and respected artist and individual from Slovak electronic music culture both at home, and abroad. Tibor’s DJ career spans over a decade. His technical precision and his ability to flawlessly rock any crowd, reflects his long and respectable history behind the decks. He has performed alongside almost every international DJ that has graced the stage of Eastern Europe.

U.Club
Always ahead of his time, Tibor was the first DJ to introduced techno and house music to Slovakia in the first place. Tibor is the founder of the legendary “bunker under the castle”, U.Club. Alongside DJ-partner DJ Dalo (Tresor, Pure Plastic, Olga + Jozef), Tibor and Dalo maintained their weekly(!) residency at U.Club for five years, remarkably influencing the evolutionary process of the young Slovak club culture. DJ Toky (Tresor, Numb) joined the duo five years later. They packed U.Club with enthusiastic fans every weekend for its ten year lifespan. U.Club is historically regarded as the roots of Eastern European techno and many DJ’s and producers list the club as one of their favorite venues in the world. U.Club has hosted the ‘crème de la crème’ of international DJs. Introducing Slovakia to such esteemed DJ’s and acts as Neil Landstrumm (1995) or Jeff Mills (1996), Andrew Wetherall, David Holmes, Regis, James Ruskin and Mark Broom among the many others. Unfortunately, U.Club closed its doors in June 2003 when the crew decided to redirect their attention towards music production.

Radio
Tibor was also one of the first to bring alternative radio to Slovakia in 1993. Radio was essential in delivering unheard music to a country with a shattered economy. Most citizens of Slovakia could not afford to buy records or travel to concerts out of the country. Fragmented early years of post-communist Slovakia needed a starting point. Radio Ragtime was it. The famous program ran from 1993 to1998. Radio Ragtime was the main voice of the alternative music scene in Slovakia and had a huge impact on the domestic electronic music culture. Currently Tibor programs a weekly radio show on Slovak National Radio (Radio_FM) together with his long time friend and an ex-Radio Ragtime colleague Daniel Balaz.

Wilsonic Festival
Tibor also manages and curates the world renowned Wilsonic Festival which he started with his friend, writer and publicist, Michal Hvorecky. Founded in 2000, Wilsonic’s primary mandate was to introduce Slovakia to new and innovative electronic music culture from around the world. Past artists include: Matthew Herbert, Koop, Jimmy Edgar, Digital Mystikz, MRK1, Daddy G, Dani Siciliano, Funkstoerung, Nouvelle Vague, M83, Hood, Krikor, Noze, Akufen, Ricardo Villalobos, DJ Vadim’s One Self, Apparat, Thomas Brinkmann, Luciano, Jeff Milligan, Jeff Samuel, Jake Mandell, Safety Scissors, Trueby Trio, B.Fleischmann, Jazzanova, Lali Puna, Donna Reginna, Keith Teniswood, Herrmann & Kleine, Crane AK, Max Tundra and Gus Gus among many other local acts. Wilsonic’s primary objective however, is to open Slovak music culture to the rest of the world, showcasing local artists with their international counterparts, establishing dialog between Slovakia and the globe.