Blank & Jones

Blank & Jones
Performance in Washington D.C., 2006
Background information
Origin Cologne, Germany
Genres Electronica, trip hop, house, trance, downtempo
Years active 1995–present
Labels Kontor Records (current)
WEA Records
Edel Music
EMI
Website blankandjones.com
Members Jan Pieter Blank (aka Piet Blank)
Rene Runge (aka DJ Jaspa Jones)

Blank & Jones are a German electronic music duo, consisting of the members Jan Pieter Blank (born June 15, 1971), known as Piet Blank; René Runge (born June 27, 1968), better known as DJ Jaspa Jones; and the producer Andy Kaufhold (N*D*K) (born December 17, 1969). They have released eleven albums and more than 16 singles since their first single release "Sunrise" in 1997.

History

Piet Blank, who became interested in music after purchasing his first record "Kids in America" by Kim Wilde, had his first experience spinning a record on a turntable at age 16. René Runge, who resides in Düsseldorf and who is better known as Jaspa Jones, had his first experience as a DJ at age 19.[1] Together with help from Andy Kaufhold, they formed the trance production team Piet Blank & Jaspa Jones (which would later become simply Blank & Jones) after meeting at the Popkomm music conference.[2]

Even though they had been together for a few years, they did not release their first single, "Sunrise", until 1997. Their first album, In the Mix, was a studio production that came out in 1999. As of 2008, thirteen of their singles have made it into the German Top 50, and three into the Top 20. Each album made the Top 50, including two which reached the Top Ten.

Blank & Jones have teamed up with Robert Smith from The Cure, Anne Clark, Sarah McLachlan, Claudia Brücken from (Propaganda), Pet Shop Boys, and Delerium. They have also contributed to the Café del Mar compilation series and produced their own chill-out albums, Relax, Relax (Edition 2), Relax (Edition 3), Relax (Edition 4), Relax (Edition 5), Relax (Edition 6) and Relax (Edition 7).

The Singles

In 2006 Blank & Jones and their long-standing production colleague Andy Kaufhold collated their finest material on one release, The Singles, which also included two new tracks:

The album was also released in Limited Edition format, in which The Singles are complemented by a DVD, bringing together all Blank & Jones videos on one disc for the first time. The videos feature people such as Estella Warren and Til Schweiger in "Beyond Time", the latter having also directed the clip. The DVD was produced and designed by Thomas Jahn, scriptwriter and director of "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and also responsible for "The Hardest Heart", "Mind of the Wonderful", "Perfect Silence" and "Desire". The video for the single "Catch" was directed by Conchita Soares and Toni Froschhammer which features TV actress Nadine.

Current activities

The chart success of Blank & Jones is partially based on their club-gigs, radio shows and other live-performances including events such as Love-Parade, StreetParade and Mayday. The success is further boosted by their activeness as moderators on Eins Live-TV and by being the Co-host on Viva-Clubrotation.[1]

When asked about the key to their success, their response is:

Blank & Jones perform at major festivals and raves in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia. They also travel further afield on a regular basis, to Canada, Mexico, South America and Australia.

Piet Blank is also the host of the Club Mix that is aired on international flights by Lufthansa, where he hosts a two-hour radio show that shows different artists such as Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Fritz Kalkbrenner. The show is hosted in German as well as in English.

They released their latest single entitled "Miracle Cure" on May 30, 2008, off their new studio album The Logic of Pleasure which is a collaboration with New Order's frontman Bernard Sumner. This collaboration was realised with the help of renowned Berlin based record producer Mark Reeder who is a long term friend of Sumner's. Blank & Jones invited Reeder to remix "Miracle Cure" and this in turn, brought about their collaboration with him and a new project was conceived. This resulted in Reeder completely reworking most of the Blank & Jones vocal tracks for the successful and highly acclaimed 2009 album "Reordered".[4]

Discography

Albums

  • 1999: In da Mix
  • 2000: DJ Culture (Limited edition with 2 CDs. Disc 2 includes bonus tracks and The Nightfly video)
  • 2001: Nightclubbing (Limited edition with 2 CDs including ambient tracks)
  • 2002: Substance (Limited with 2 CDs and bonus tracks)
  • 2003: Relax (Limited edition in a different package)
  • 2004: Monument (Limited edition with 2 CDs including bonus tracks)
  • 2005: Relax Edition 2 (2 CDs) (Limited edition includes bonus tracks)
  • 2006: The Singles (Limited edition includes DVD with singles clips and some bonus)
  • 2007: Relax Edition 3 (2 CDs)
  • 2008: The Logic of Pleasure
  • 2009: Relax Edition 4 (2 CDs)
  • 2009: Eat Raw for Breakfast
  • 2009: Reordered (Blank & Jones, Mark Reeder)
  • 2010: Relax Edition 5 (2 CDs)
  • 2010: Chilltronica No 2
  • 2011: Relax Edition Six
  • 2012: Relax Edition Seven
  • 2012: Relax-Jazzed (Blank & Jones album in cooperation with Julian and Roman Wasserfuhr)
  • 2013: Relax - A Decade 2003-2013 - Remixed & Mixed
  • 2013: Relax - The Best of A Decade 2003-2013
  • 2014: Relax Edition Eight
  • 2015: Relax Edition Nine
  • 2016: Milchbar Seaside Season 8
  • 2016: DOM
  • 2017: #WhatWeDoAtNight
  • 2017: Relax Edition 10
  • 2017: Chilltronica No.6
  • 2018: Milchbar Seaside Season 10
  • 2018: Relax Edition 11

Singles

  • Sunrise (1997)
  • Heartbeat (1998)
  • Flying to The Moon (1998)
  • Cream (1999) (UK #24[5] and #1 in Dance Charts)
  • After Love (1999) (UK #57)[5]
  • The Nightfly (2000) (UK #55)[5]
  • DJ Culture (2000)
  • Sound of Machines (Released in Italy and Netherlands as Single) (2000)
  • Beyond Time (2001) (UK #53)[5]
  • DJs, Fans & Freaks (D.F.F.) (2001) (UK #45)[5]
  • Nightclubbing (2001)
  • Desire (2002)
  • Watching the Waves (2002)
  • Suburban Hell (2002) (Released only in Vinyls)
  • The Hardest Heart (feat. Anne Clark) (2002) (Germany #2 In EuroHits Charts / UK # 3 In British Euroscene Singles / Costa Rica # 5 Top 20 Hits Radio / Guatemala #2 Los 10 Más Buscados Radio Infinita )
  • A Forest (Feat. Robert Smith) (2003)
  • Summer Sun (2003) (Released only in Vinyls)
  • Mind of the Wonderful (feat. Elles de Graaf) (2004)
  • Perfect Silence (feat. Bobo) (2004)
  • Revealed (with Steve Kilbey) (2005) (#3 Guatemalan Charts)
  • Catch (Vocals by Elles de Graaf) (2006)
  • Sound of Machines 2006 (2006)
  • Miracle Cure (2008) (#90 Germany)
  • California Sunset (2008)
  • Where You Belong (feat. Bobo) (2008)
  • Relax (Your Mind) (feat. Jason Caesar) (2009)
  • Lazy Life (feat. Jason Caesar) (2009)
  • Miracle Man (with Cathy Battistessa) (2010)
  • Pura Vida (with Jason Caesar) (2011)
  • April (2016)

Remixes

1998

  • Basic Connection – Angel (Don't Cry) (Blank & Jones Remix)
  • Sash! – La Primavera (Blank & Jones Mix)
  • Syntone – Heal My World (Blank & Jones Mix)
  • Dario G – Sunmachine (Blank & Jones Mix)
  • Humate – Love Stimulation (Blank & Jones Mix)
  • United Deejays – Too Much Rain (Blank & Jones vs. Gorgeous Mix)
  • Dune – Electric heaven (Blank & Jones Club Cut)
  • Yello vs Hardfloor – Vicious Games (Blank & Jones Mix)

1999

  • Liquid Love – Sweet Harmony (Blank & Jones Mix)
  • Mauro Picotto – Iguana (Blank & Jones Remix)
  • Storm – Love is here to stay (Blank & Jones Mix)

2001

  • Perpetuous Dreamer – The Sound of Goodbye (Blank & Jones Mix)
  • Fragma – You are Alive (Blank & Jones Remix)
  • Die Ärzte – Rock'n Roll Übermensch (Blank & Jones Mix)

2002

2003

  • Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly (Blank & Jones 2003 mix)
  • RMB – Beauty of Simplicity (Blank & Jones Retouch)
  • RMB – ReReality (Blank & Jones Remix)
  • Wolfsheim – Wundervoll (Blank & Jones Remix)
  • Evolution feat. Jayn Hanna – Walking on Fire (Blank & Jones Remix)
  • Chicane – Love on the Run (Blank & Jones Dub Remix)
  • Chicane – Love on the Run (Blank & Jones Remix)

2004

  • Blank & Jones – The Blue Sky (2004 Update)

2006

  • Blank & Jones – The Nightfly (WMC 06 Retouch)

2007

  • Delerium – Lost & Found (Blank & Jones Radio Mix)
  • Delerium – Lost & Found (Blank & Jones Late Night Mix)
  • Delerium – Lost & Found (Blank & Jones Electrofied Mix)

2009

2010

2011

  • Medina - Gutter (Blank & Jones Club Remix)
  • Medina - Gutter (Blank & Jones Radio Edit)
  • Medina - Gutter (Blank & Jones Dub)

Compilations - DJ Mixes

  • Trance Mix USA vol. 2 (2001) (Released in US)
  • The Mix volume 1 (2 CDs) (2002)
  • The Mix volume 2 (2 CDs) (2003)
  • The Mix volume 3 (2 CDs) (2004)
  • Peaktime 5 (2 CDs**) (2005) (Released in Australia) **CD 2 Is the album DJ Culture
  • Posh Trance (2008)
  • So80s (So Eighties) (3 CDs) (2009)
  • So80s (So Eighties) 2 (3 CDs) (2010)
  • Milchbar Seaside Season, Vol. 02 (2010)
  • So80s (So Eighties) 3 (3 CDs) (2010)
  • So80s (So Eighties) 4 (3 CDs) (2011)
  • RMX - Superstars remixed by Superstars (2011)

References

  1. 1 2 "Blank_&_Jones_Biography_on_Laut.de".laut.de.
  2. ↑ "Blank_&_Jones_Biography_on_Billboard".billboard.com.
  3. 1 2 Blank_&_Jones_Biography_on_Official_Website Archived May 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.. blankandjones.com.
  4. ↑ Mark Reeder- The Godfather 12-10-2009.electronicbeats.net.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 62. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.