Tiga - The dancefloor's last little imp

Disclaimer: a profile of Tiga is like a construction site forever in progress. At the time of writing, our man is churning out a single every couple of months. Readers will forgive the gap in pace between the musician and the writer, who does what he can.

The availability of equipment for making electronic music is enormous these days, and the sea of artists, tracks, productions and records populating this world is vast. Breaking through is extremely difficult, and staying at the top is a fight with no holds barred, where there's no room for missteps, and only the quality of one's work can earn the status of genre leader. Few have managed it, and the electroclash scene has always lacked a true trailblazer, someone to bring the genre to the masses. Tiga, a Canadian DJ who started from nothing, seems to have been more determined than anyone else to take on that role, and so far the facts have proved him right. Radio stations across half of Europe play his tracks on heavy rotation, and on both sides of the Atlantic the release of his debut album of new material is being celebrated.

Tiga started out in the early 90s, following the same cursus honorum that more or less every DJ has had to go through: from organizing parties (he deserves credit for putting on the first rave on Canadian soil, in 1993) to club nights. But what sets Tiga's rise to success apart is his ability to make it on his own, carving out a space for himself in a country that offers little or nothing in terms of electronic music. Tiga is the classic self-made man, someone who never loses heart and moves up the ranks one step after another, a trait he picked up from his father, himself a highly active DJ in Goa, the Indian destination whose name says it all.

He opened his record shop, the “Dna Records Music Store”, in 1994, but then started tinkering with the mixer, with electronics, with covers. He likes techno, is into hip-hop and new wave, and his true love is the disco music of the glorious 80s. 1998 marks the turning point: he founds Turbo Records, a label through which he gives a voice to artists like Martini Bros and Zdar, and which he uses to produce his own tracks, which start taking shape one after another. He also begins collaborating with Dj Hell's label, International Deejay Gigolos, one of the coolest labels of the moment, the kind that sets the rhythm instead of following it.

It's Gigolos itself that in 2001 produces Tiga's first single, written with his Finnish friend Zyntherius “Jori” Hulkonnen: “Sunglasses At Night” is a cover of Corey Hart, also from Montreal, originally released in 1983, which our man reworks in electroclash fashion: minimal sounds, Tiga's own voice filtered and roughed up with electronic effects, and the track overhauled in sound but not in structure. A nice dusting-off for this eighties hit, which becomes the manifesto of the electroclash era and attracts admiring remixers (particularly famous is Chris Liebing's version).

“Sunglasses At Night” becomes a huge hit, especially in Germany, and starts to make Tiga's name known, as he gets carried forward by Hell and his label in the following months. Out come American Gigolo and Mixed Emotions: Montreal Mix Sessions Volume 5. The first compilation, released by Hell's label, entrusts the Canadian DJ with the delicate task of summing up the label's activity from 1996 to that point, through a selection of the best tracks from the Gigolos roster. Tiga doesn't shy away and delivers a work that's as coherent in its track sequencing as it is clean in sound. The mix of 80s disco and house, so in keeping with the label's approach, comes through in tracks like the opening “Hot Room” by Linda Lamb, in the Tuxedomoon remix (“What Use?”) or in the tracks by the up-and-coming Ukrainian-German Vitalic, to whom Tiga devotes ample space. There's also a bit of self-promotion (“Sunglasses At Night” itself) and a tribute to Detroit techno, the Canadian's first great love, with the presence (albeit rather brief, in truth) of a Jeff Mills track.

Tiga puts in the effort, sacrificing the beauty of individual tracks to give the overall flow greater uniformity, which is mixed very well and feels like the work of a single artist. This, however, comes at the expense of track length: on paper there are twenty-five tracks, but many of them are really just tiny one-minute-or-so “tasters”. A test passed, in any case, even if the long haul doesn't seem to be the young Canadian's most natural terrain.

The desire to carve out his own space and strike while the iron's hot pushed Tiga to release his new work as a double CD, blending techno, house and pop. Mixed Emotions: Montreal Mix Sessions Volume 5 packs it all in, wrapping the tracks in the usual minimal garb with very sexy rhythms.

Side A is all about dancing, thanks to the tribal touches of "Algebra" and "Centrafrique", before veering toward US East Coast house, achieving a cohesive and satisfying result, even if it's far from Tiga's usual coordinates. The pure house that fills the first disc of Mixed Emotions isn't actually one of his trademarks, since he'd accustomed us to tracks closer to extreme pop, with vocals front and center. Here, by contrast, there are very few sung tracks, and sonically too we're a long way from American Gigolo. To give one example, "Love Story" by Andrew McLauchlan is about as surprising as this selection gets, with its sketched-out jazz spilling into a brutally violent tribal rhythm, where the BPM also speeds up. Slowly the climax flows into hard, pure techno and trance ("Schriek" by Tomba Vira).

Side B, on the other hand, gives us a work more akin to the selection Tiga had put together for Gigolos, with trendy electroclash tracks of the moment (we're in 2001) and engaging rhythms for a night of pure fun. A two-sided work, but one that showcases the Canadian DJ's versatility, who despite his young age already shows how club experience, "feeling the floor", is part of his toolkit.

After this mountain of overwork, Tiga holes up for a while in his native Montreal listening to hip-hop, letting the waters settle. The dust of all-sex-and-glitter electroclash is starting to clear, but Tiga doesn't want to drown along with the countless one-hit DJs who keep Dj Hell's label in business. So he stays quietly at home working, listening to tracks and trying out covers, which is ultimately what he loves doing. Little studio work, until (2003) the German label !K7 entrusts him with an important task: curating the new volume of the Dj Kicks series, which has so far published works by sacred monsters of the electronic genre like Carl Craig, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation... it's Tiga's Christmas gift to the electroclash crowd for 2003.

The Canadian wasn't idle during the two "off" years, keeping an ear on the alternative European dance scene where he's winning his biggest acclaim as a DJ and producer. That's why his Dj Kicks features Jolly Music and Tuttomatto (Italians), 2Raumwohnung (Germans), and the English Swayzak. The new names sit alongside mixes of old glories from the past, like Soft Cell's "So...". The glam streak running through Tiga's work is very strong, with the digital punk of Le Tigre (DFA stable) and the digital pop of Sir Draw and his "She Male" coexisting in an ideal bridge between eighties nostalgia and the future of alternative dance. A stellar close with the visionary, pop remix of "Madame Hollywood" by Felix Da Housecat, re-sung by the Canadian himself. It's one of the series' best selections, as well as the work of his definitive maturation, at just 29 years old. Dj Kicks is a perfect synthesis between the wild dancing of American Gigolo and the exuberance of Mixed Emotions. Tiga is now ready to break through.

Mainstream house has always been the territory of singles. Irresistible tracks, perfect for the dancefloor, often the sole work of their creator, coveted goals that every DJ on the planet hopes to reach. Everyone tries their hand at it sooner or later, launching the big floor-filler single, remixing it, making an easier version to turn it into a hit. This is exactly what Tiga wants to do at the start of 2004. The appetizer is "Hot In Here", a cover of rapper Nelly (!) that ties together hip-hop and house, the Montreal DJ's passion and his craft, in a highly personal formula where Tiga even discovers himself as a singer. A true jack-of-all-trades, but it's still not enough. After all, "Hot In Here" had already come out on DJ Kicks... come on, he needs to do more. Tiga tries again: in May he releases a new original track, "Pleasure From The Bass". Two bass notes that would have jolted even Antonio Fazio out of his armchair, a pounding rhythm, pristine sound (Tiga almost always works on computer) and a voice alternating between a sexy whisper and the tone of an army general. A devastating mix, a sonic cauldron that shoots to number one on charts across Europe, and enjoys a staggering but well-deserved success. All summer long, Tiga's track is one of the most danced-to in Italy, and clubs across the country book the little imp more and more often. Milan, Turin, Naples, Jesolo. Tiga has made it, and now there's no stopping him.

In the fall he starts working on a series of remixes that's making him one of the most sought-after names in danceable electronic music, despite his young age. For his friends Soulwax (a 2 Many Dj's offshoot) he reworks the hallucinated "E-Talking", re-singing it (he's taken a liking to it by now) and toning down its original violence a bit, crafting a solid clubbing track. More conventional is the "Comfortably Numb" by Scissor Sisters, a cover of a cover, but the touch of genius isn't missing: when the Scissors sing "Relax" in falsetto, the echo of Frankie Goes To Hollywood pops up in response: "Don't do it!"

Tiga's formula is practically always the same, with very groove-driven rhythms (thanks to his background in techno and electroclash) and vocals front and center, syncopated in melody yet warm at the same time. One example is his rework of "Crying Hero", a track by the Italians Drama Society also included by Tiefschwarz on their "Misch Masch". A kick drum right up front, a cavernous, powerful bassline, and a hazy voice that gradually seeps into the listener's mind — "I wonder if you feel what I feel" is the track's central theme, which turns into a thoroughly danceable anthem. Fabulous.

The freedom Tiga can enjoy comes from the security of Turbo Records, which he founded years ago with an eye to the future, and thanks to which he can afford to let off steam however he likes, releasing a single EP practically every month. Out come "Washing Up" by Thomas Andersson (somewhere between Hell and Pharrell), "Ny Excuse" again by Soulwax, "Night Train" written with Matteo Murphy, "I Can See Clearly Now" by Seelenluft, all tracks reworked in the usual house-glam vein with an eye on pop.

At the start of 2005, the Canadian's love for hip-hop, never hidden, merges with his new life as a singer-producer. The result is "Louder Than A Bomb", a new unreleased track, drawn from an old Public Enemy song. But the driving synth riff is entirely his own work, as is the vocal. The result is a terrific big single, bearing Tiga's trademark stamp, the one that had already driven the triumph of "Pleasure From The Bass". People are starting to wonder: when's a full album of original material coming?

Having left Gigolo Records behind, Tiga turns instead to DFA, a very trendy European label that had recently released the Lcd Soundsystem album. Anyone who's heard that record will surely have fond memories of "Tribulations". Well, now go get the "Tiga's Out Of The Trance Closet Mix" and you won't believe your ears... in a word: spectacular.

The man just won't stop: summer is heralded by "Burning Down London", and fall brings the crowning of "You Gonna Want Me". The latter is the family-friendly version of Tiga, perfect for cutting loose on the dancefloor but with the little voice of the Scissor Sisters lending a childlike flavor to a track some consider too commercial. But that's the trend now, and Tiga himself flatly states that "electroclash died in Miami, two years ago." Blunt and decisive, just like his music.

The long wait of the club world is rewarded in early 2006, with the release of Sexor, the first album of original material put out by the diminutive Canadian. Mr. Sontag doesn't disappoint, crafting tracks increasingly geared toward an "easy-listening" style that winks at radio and the masses. Tiga's sound becomes ever more accessible, splendidly expressed on tracks like "Far From Home", "3 Weeks" and "High School". And the tribute to the '80s and '90s? Surely he hasn't forgotten it... Fear not: besides Talking Heads, there are even Nine Inch Nails.

We'll see great things if he keeps this up...

But with Hi! (2009), Tiga takes a step back. The Canadian disc-jockey/producer suddenly felt like being a bit Italian. And the Montreal imp's second effort is an ode to the wildest easy-listening elegance, a kind of ultra-fashionable private party, with guests that are nothing short of illustrious.

Opening the gates of villa Sontag are the watercolored wa-wa and beep-beep-beep of the Dewaele brothers (Soulwax), with our american gigolo in the role of the possessed master of ceremonies. A rhythmic fabric with a mysterious texture, seasoned with old-house-style tambourines in the tail end. The impression is of swaying along to soft eighties undulations, already stamped with the International Deejay Gigolos trademark. After all, the ping pong with Christopher Scarf on "Shoes" is pure clubbing fun, a light twist of the knobs, before getting seriously busy with the mixer, setting up the usual techno climax, sexy and battered. Indeed, "What You Need" bursts out and does damage: a thunderous stop and go, blatantly tacky, four-to-the-floor kick drum, Soulwax's electronics devoid of nuance, and Jake Shears synthesized like an MC at the "Cocoricò".

By contrast, the Tellier-esque beats of "Luxury" invite you to settle back into the privé, where opulence and idleness are a reason for living: "Luxury is all i see when i close my eyes…this is my reality". It's a lackluster James Murphy, instead, manipulating the electronic tick tock of "Sex O'Clock". The sighs of an excited, uninhibited Tiga add nothing, and the (hyper)tested electro-dance structure of the old New York hand grows thoroughly tiresome. The same goes for the whiny "Overtime" (Soulwax again), bearable only for a few brief moments, precisely at the four-minute mark, when a warm soul voice steps in amid the techno rubbish. The à-la Joe Jackson pulses of "Turn The Night On" elicit nothing but indifference, while the nostalgia of "Far From Home" shoots uncontrollably into one's deepest desires.

What truly leaves one baffled about Hi! is the pointlessness of guests like Zdar and Murphy, brought in from outside with the sole promise of a fleeting stage presence. All things considered, Tiga would be better off reclaiming his role as a one-hit-dj, rather than further scattering his magician's top hat as the ultimate dancefloor sorcerer of the glitzy set.

Contributions by Giuliano Delli Paoli ("Hi!")

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