Soul Clap

Not to be confused with Soul Clap (album), an EP by Showbiz & A.G.
Soul Clap
Background information
Origin Boston, Massachusetts
Genres Funk, disco, house, hip hop, reggae
Years active 2001–present
Labels Soul Clap Records, Wolf + Lamb Records
Associated acts Wolf + Lamb
Website soulclap.us
Members Eli Goldstein aka Bamboozle aka Elyte, Charles Levine aka Lonely C aka Cnyce

Soul Clap is an American DJ and production duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Active in the club scene since 2001, the group has released a number of mixtapes, EPs, singles, and albums. In 2012 they released their first full-length album, EFUNK. According to XLR8R, Soul Clap "[tempt] the listener into the darker, more abstract corners of house (and its relative offshoots) by dressing them up with smooth, jazzy trimmings."[1] The BBC wrote "they blend neon-splattered nostalgia with a crisp futurism thanks to their experimental production techniques."[2]

Soul Clap tours frequently, often with the DJ duo Wolf + Lamb, and have performed at festivals such as Electric Forest Festival, Rhythm & Vines, Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Osheaga Festival, and the Decibel Festival. They have worked with musicians such as Ben Westbeech and released official remixes for groups such as Laid Back, Metronomy, Little Dragon, Robert Owens, and DJ Harvey.[3] Soul Clap operates Soul Clap Records in Boston, which releases music both digitally and on vinyl. Soul Clap Records is a part of Crew Love, a publishing and touring group formed with Wolf + Lamb and Double Standard Records.[3]

History

2001-07: Founding

The band Soul Clap was founded in Boston by Eli "Elyte" Goldstein and Charles "Cynce" Levine in 2001, who met in high school. Record store owner and house DJ Caril Mitro was a mentor and influence on their early genre-mixing sound.[3] They began throwing their own parties in Boston around 2001, before starting to tour around 2007, deejaying on the underground club circuit, where the BBC wrote they began "steadily gathering acclaim for their bootlegs of RnB classics and house remixes."[2] Wrote ResidentAdvisor.net, "their productions established a trademark sound that was as inspired by pop, soul and R&B as it was by house music."[4] In Boston the group began hosting a number of dance parties including Midweek Techno, billed as "the area's longest running techno night"[5] which "hosted dozens of DJs from around the world at an Irish pub in Cambridge."[4]

2008-12: First releases

Starting in 2008 the group released a number of singles and EPs on Airdrop Music, first with The Giraffe Remixes, which was followed in 2009 by Instafix EP. In 2009 Airdrop also released their album The Definition. While Airdrop Records released the group's first 12" vinyl records, Soul Clap has also released music on Crosstown Rebels, Culprit Records, and Mizrahi's Double Standard Records.[5]

Soul Clap met the DJ duo Wolf + Lamb (Gadi Mizrahi and Zev Eisenberg) in September 2008, when they performed at the Marcy Hotel in Brooklyn, a club owned by Wolf + Lamb. They soon began collaborating and releasing music on the Wolf + Lamb record label. In 2010 Soul Clap released the collaboration Joint Custody - EP, created with Gadi Mizrahi of Wolf + Lamb. Soon the label !K7 approached all four DJs about doing a mix for their series titled DJ Kicks. About their 2011 DJ Kicks mix, Eli Goldstein described it as “gentle and deep”.[6] After the DJ Kicks series, Soul Clap and Wolf + Lamb went on a two month world tour together, playing regular six-hour DJ sets.[3] Soul Clap have performed in the US, Europe, and Japan,[3] including the Bloc Festival in 2011.

Their album Social Experiment 002, released in 2011 on Art Department's Jonny White's No. 19 Music record label,[7] was their first commercially available mix.[7] Stated Pitchfork in a positive review, "Social Experiment is a mix without an obvious agenda. It sounds like it wants to make me dance, but it's not pushy. It's not a label showcase or a genre exercise; the only two summary descriptions I can really pin on it are "fresh" (most artists here are relatively new to the scene) and "North American" (for its creators and their choices: Art Department, Benoit & Sergio, Jimmy Edgar, Lee Foss, Seth Troxler, and Nightplane, among others, hail from this side of the Atlantic)."[7]

They contributed to Ben Westbeech's album There's More To Life Than This in 2011. In 2012 Soul Clap released E-FUNK: The Mixtape.[8] Soul Clap have done official remixes for groups such as Laid Back, Metronomy, Little Dragon, Robert Owens, and DJ Harvey.[3]

2012: EFUNK: The Album

In late 2011 the duo began recording their first full-length album, producing the tracks in Miami at The Stillwater Social Club. Excluding several songs on split EPs, the album included their first original and unreleased material in close to two years.[4] Among other tracks the album includes a cover version of Egyptian Lover’s song "Alezby Inn."[3] Guest appearances included Baby Prince (Gadi Mizrahi of Wolf + Lamb) and Mel Blatt.[4] In 2012 they released EFUNK: The Album, with the title EFUNK short for "Everybody's Freaky Under Nature's Kingdom."[4] The duo wrote that "The album is a culmination of our entire lives with music. This music is totally different than what we would put on an EP. It's not designed for DJs or dancefloors, but we wanted it to be something we would have put on in high school while we were chilling with homies, cutting class or trying to kick it to a chick."[4]

The BBC positively compared the album to work by Chromeo, arguing "They share the same penchant for electro-funk, but Soul Clap sling classic 90s RnB, house, disco and New Jack Swing into the frat party punch."[2] According to a mixed review in XLR8R, "Where past releases found Soul Clap opening up its bizarre production with slow builds and vast pockets of space, the flow here seems rushed." The review praised the band overall but criticized the radio-friendly size and formula of the songs, stating "the vocals employed often obtrusively dominate the mix while Soul Clap's expert production unfortunately takes the sideline."[1]

2013-14: Recent projects

By 2013 the group was collaborating with Parliament-Funkadelic's George Clinton and his label C Kunspyruhzy.[3] Soul Clap's collaborative album Wolf + Lamb vs Soul Clap was released in CD form and digitally in September 2013,[9] and that year they performed at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Osheaga Festival, 35 Denton, Snowball music festival, and the Decibel Festival. The continued touring into 2014 as well, appearing at Electric Forest Festival, Rhythm & Vines, BUKU Music + Art Project and at Wonderfruit in Thailand. The group taught a university course on dance music at Tufts University.[5]

2016: "Soul Clap"

In October 2016, Soul Clap released their self titled second album, Soul Clap.

Soul Clap Records

Not to be confused with the Australian hip hop label of the same name.
Soul Clap Records
Founded 2013 (2013)
Founder Eli Goldstein, Charles Levine
Status Active
Genre House music, techno
Location Boston, Massachusetts

Soul Clap operates Soul Clap Records in Boston. The label releases music both digitally and on vinyl, and is also a part of Crew Love, a publishing and touring group formed with Wolf + Lamb and Double Standard Records.[3] The label releases the Dancing on the Charles series of albums, the first of which came out as SCRCD01 in May 2013. The albums compile a number of different Boston artists.[10]

Label artists

Style

"They may wear 80s and 90s influences on their sequinned sleeves, but they blend neon-splattered nostalgia with a crisp futurism thanks to their experimental production techniques. If the future of dance music does lie with Soul Clap, you can at least count on it being downright freaky."[2]
— The BBC[2]

According to XLR8R, Soul Clap "made its name by effortlessly tempting the listener into the darker, more abstract corners of house (and its relative offshoots) by dressing them up with smooth, jazzy trimmings."[1] Pitchfork Media has stated that "While Soul Clap are arguably the most visible electronic artists from Boston in some time, one thing they are not is a harbinger of a new or exciting style or scene; their success as DJs (and producers/remixers) is predicated on an elegant, elastic mix of house and techno."[7]

Members

Current

Discography

Albums

Albums by Soul Clap
Year Album title Release details
2011 Soul Clap Social
Experiment 002 Part 1
  • Released: July 19, 2011
  • Label: No.19 Music
  • Format: digital
Soul Clap Social
Experiment Sampler Part 2
  • Released: Aug 23, 2011
  • Label: No.19 Music
  • Format: digital
2012 EFUNK: The Album
  • Released: Apr 20, 2012
  • Label: Wolf & Lamb Records
  • Format: digital

EPs

EPs by Soul Clap
Year Album title Release details
2008 The Giraffe Remixes
  • Released: Sep 01, 2008
  • Label: Airdrop Music
  • Format: digital
2009 Instafix EP
  • Released: May 15, 2009
  • Label: Airdrop Music
  • Format: digital
The Definition
  • Released: Sep 17, 2009
  • Label: Airdrop Records
  • Format: digital
2010 Joint Custody - EP
(with Gadi Mizrahi)
  • Released: Feb 12, 2010
  • Label: Double Standard Records
  • Format: digital
Action / Satisfaction - EP
  • Released: Jun 28, 2010
  • Label: Crosstown Rebels
  • Format: digital
2012 EFUNK: The Singles
  • Released: Apr 09, 2012
  • Label: Edicion Wolf + Lamb / Friebank
  • Format: digital
EFUNK: (The Remixes) - EP
  • Released: Jun 04, 2012
  • Label: Edicion Wolf + Lamb / Friebank
  • Format: digital
2013 The Alezby Inn (Remixes)
  • Released: Apr 15, 2013
  • Label: Edicion Wolf + Lamb / Friebank
  • Format: digital

Singles

Selected songs by Soul Clap
Year Title Album Release details
2008 "The Giraffe" N/A Airdrop Records, Apr 04, 2008
"Die Ente" Airdrop Records, Jun 17, 2008
2009 "Puppy Crack" Airdrop, Feb 26, 2009
2010 "She's Bad / Beautiful Thang"
(with Gadi Mizrahi)		 Double Standard Records, Jun 16, 2010
2011 "In the Park" (with S.E.C.T., Soul Clap, Tanner Ross & Sergio Santos) DJ-Kicks Exclusives EP1 !K7 Records, Mar 08, 2011
"Lonely C" (ft. Charles Levine) DJ-Kicks Exclusives EP 2 !K7 Records, Mar 15, 2011
"3 Wheel E-Motion" DJ-Kicks !K7 Records, Mar 15, 2011
2012 "Ecstasy"/"Need Your Loving"
(ft. Melanie Blatt)		 EFUNK: The Album Wolf + Lamb, Apr 20, 2012
"Weekend Affair" (with Wolf + Lamb) Versus Edicion Wolf + Lamb, Oct 22, 2012
2014 "Misty" (ft. Robert Owens) Single only

Remixes

Guest appearances

Selected songs featuring Soul Clap
Year Single name Primary artist(s) Album Label Date
2011 "We Call Love"
(ft. Soul Clap & Osunlade)		 Art Department Single only Crosstown Rebels July 18, 2011

Further reading

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jackson, Glenn (April 27, 2012). "Soul Clap E-Funk". XLR8R. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hutchinson, Kate (2012). "Soul Clap EFUNK Review". BBC. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "About". SoulClap.us. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lynch, Will (February 8, 2012). "Soul Clap unveil debut album, EFUNK". ResidentAdvisor.net. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  5. 1 2 3 "Soul Clap". ResidentAdvisor.net. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  6. ↑ "WOLF+LAMB VS SOUL CLAP DJ-KICKS". DJ-Kicks.com. March 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Gaerig, Andrew (March 9, 2011). "Social Experiment 002". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  8. ↑ "FACT mix 324: Soul Clap". FACT. April 9, 2012. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  9. ↑ "COVER MIX: WOLF + LAMB VS SOUL CLAP". Mixmag. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
  10. ↑ "Soul Clap presents: Dancing On The Charles [SCRCD01]". Soul Clap Records. May 14, 2013. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
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