donte

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:09:14 -0800

Dave, Appreciation of Jeff Milligan's set was soured by Jeff Milligan's own actions, so it has nothing to do with my lack of appreciation for the DJ form, and everything with Milligan having a strong lack of professionalism that night. I've heard Milligan was embarassed at his behavior that night, so don't go telling me that I'm being too harsh. I know what Milligan's capable of (there were glimmers of greatness even that night), but Jeff Milligan's worst enemy on the night of his set at Oscillate was himself, not me. I'm totally down to see him again (and even found him to be a nice guy as I talked to him briefly at the end of the night), but I completely stand by what I wrote.

Dave

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:27:07 -0800

Obviously Seattlest was looking for a DJ of the "human jukebox" variety and has no appreciation of how Milligan has pushed the boundarie of the DJ craft outside of the turntablist world, and how the technical rider, which is clearly outlined in his contract, is necessary to his precise art. Jeff doen't simply play records for the sake of the groove - he is a live remix artist. Research some of the video of performances where the promoters bothered to fulfill his rider and you'll see what I'm talking about. Joe Strummer of The Clash once said that the true artistry of modern electric music was man's relationship with technology - and what makes talent interesting to watch isn't so much when they're on - but when they struggle. Taken in this context, Milligan's performances are fascinating to watch even when his set-up is shit - although not nearly as satisfying as when his rider has been properly fulfilled. This of course goes over the heads of the "It's all good" west-coasters who are merely looking to get their groove on, which is clearly evident in the original post here. If other promoters follow the advice of Seattlest here, it's Seattle's loss, not Milligans.

Seattlest: Jazzanova > Jeff Milligan

donte

Dave