Not the director...
So, a couple nights ago I got the chance to rock a DJ set at APT for Hefty's tenth anniversary party, which was totally rad. I enjoyed playing out (as I pretty much always do), but I was also really excited to hear the other music on offer and meet the people behind the label. Eliot Lipp's live-PA set was solid and sounded SO good on the downstairs sound system (has to be heard to be believed, trust me), and I was really pleased to meet John Hughes, the head of Hefty. Yes, if you're thinking "John Hughes, like the director of seminal 80s movies Sixteen Candles, the Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller?" you are correct. That is his dad. Which is awesome.
Anyway, not only is this younger Hughes a nice guy, who runs a really solid and respectable indie-electronic label, but he's also a really talented producer, as you'll hear right here. Hughes has been making music under the Slicker moniker for almost as long as Hefty has been around - the song "Knock Me Down Girl" is damn smooth and has been in my iTunes for ages now - but now Hughes working on more music under his own name. Previously the only thing I could find was his rather good soundtrack to that (unfortunately) rather bad Asia Argento movie, Scarlet Diva.
Anyway, this new work of his is an EP, that is the first of a new series Hefty is running, called IAtunes - the digital corollary to Hefty's Immediate Action series, available on the iTunes Music Store - and will later appear on vinyl as part of the Immediate Action series as IA #11. The EP features six tracks, including a collaboration between Hughes and Hefty labelmate Eliot Lipp. It is a good piece of work, running the gamut from the twisted electro of this track to cut-up downtempo, that should be a nice re-introduction to Hughes' work and the Hefty label in general. Speaking of which, the second IAtunes release, by Retina.IT came out last week and is worth your checking out too. Hit these links for Hughes' EP and IAtunes #2.
Enjoy!