‘Penthouse Bitch’ video on Definitive Recordings

‘Penthouse Bitch’ video on Definitive Recordings

18 May, 2008 | 9.35PM

• Section: Music News Topics: Beatport Blog
• Written by: Amanda Connon-Unda

Today, just a few moments after signing on as one of Beatportal’s newest bloggers, I received an email about a new, surprisingly fun and frivolous electro-house video that’s recently out on John Acquaviva’s label Definitive Recordings in London, Ontario, here in Canada.

It turns out that the Definitive team has been doing more than releasing the more serious tech-house music of Acquaviva and keeping his DJ schedule in check.

In fact Acquaviva will be playing at one of Toronto’s newest premiere clubs, CIRCA, this Sunday alongside Danny Tenaglia and fellow Canadians Doman + Pettigrew, Adam K, and Nitin.

In a conversation today, Definitive shared with me a new (potentially hit) video for one of the latest very catchy electro singles to come out on their ever-evolving label.

The track is called ‘Penthouse Bitch’ and it’s by Dextress (Liz Cirelli) and Kid Dub (Faris). 

Today, John Acquaviva told me about the reaction he first had to the ‘Penthouse Bitch’ track:

“From the first time I heard it I simply loved it.

“Taking me back to the early 80s electro that I loved so much, this track is totally fun but you can take it as you like. 

“An incredibly catchy vocal with remixes from Lou Lou Players and Kid Dub leading the way...”

He went on to say, “Though I don’t put out a lot of vocal stuff this song was special.

“Imagine if this release was on International DJ Gigolo Records or it was a Miss Kittin track?

“It would probably be a massive hit.

“So people should pay attention to them.”

While John Acquaviva plays up the retro cliché of this electro-clash sound and musical value in the song, I couldn’t help but be curious about the equally alluring art done in the video.

Directed by Stuart Birchall, who in the past has directed both short films and music promos, the ‘Penthouse Bitch’ video was created in collaboration with the artists at Youknow Ltd

When I asked Birchall about the filmmaking process, he explained:

“Our initial ideas were restricted by a power cut [power failure] in the first studio space and we had minimal salvageable footage.

“After going back to the drawing board on some ideas we approached the second shoot in a different manner.

“This did mean that we faced a long post-production process, with roto-scoping and keying out of backgrounds but the challenge made us think harder about how to solve the problems and, I believe, paid off in the end.

“Liz and Kid favored the rawness and edgy style of graphic work and this meant we could experiment a little and degrade shots to see what happened.

“It was great to work with people who trust your creativity under pressure.”

Similar to the filmmaking process Birchall described, the Definitive label and Acquaviva are constantly problem-solving.

John explained the challenging evolution of his label, “Many labels live and die by one sound.

“For me, it needs to evolve. 

“Stick to the bread and butter of the times but always stretch out for more.”

That’s what artistic adventure is about – instinct, creative energy, trust, and perseverance, is it not?

If you don’t go out on a limb and take risks in art and try to push beyond the limits of what you can do well, it becomes formulaic.

And art is also a great medium for making statements.

This track certainly isn’t shy about its message: The ‘Penthouse Bitch’ video does manage to do something of a sneaky turn as it mocks the Paris Hiltons of the world.

And it certainly has the potential to turn any dance floor into a frenzy of ironically over-sexed dancers.

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