Archive for July, 2008

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A Bit of a Relief

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

There’s no doubt that nearly everyone that reads this blog is reading it for the same reason: we all end up at the same shows and parties, we all have friends that walk around wearing fedoras, Puma’s, rolled up jeans, and shirts with colorful drawings all over them that, for some reason, you just can’t seem to make sense of, and most importantly, we all can’t resist the lure of a shining, winding, grinding synth lick that’s just begging for some foot stomping. But on that note, I think it’s safe to say that there are definitely moments where the last thing anyone wants to hear is a 4-4 kick drum. I mean, yeah, a solid 90 percent of the time, it’s all good and well, but when you find yourself driving home at four o’clock in the morning after a solid six hours of turning vinyl, and not even that case of Red Bull in your trunk can sort you out, it’s always nice to treat your throbbing brain to something kind and (in comparison at least) gentle.

World Wide Renewal Program


If you’ve ever felt like the only thing that can really set your senses straight is a smooth ride through DJ Shadow‘s Entroducing or a bit of RJD2, you might be excited to know that you’ll no longer have to be limited by the fact that those two artists have only put out a combined total of about ten albums; Adult Swim has, as of last month, completed a solid project they’ve titled the “World Wide Renewal Program.” What are they renewing? Why, your musical stamina of course! The track list starts out with a bit of that smooth, media and ego free hip hop that both of the aforementioned artists have taught us to love, and then progresses into several quicker and choppier (although still very head friendly) beats that are in some ways strickingly similar to that of Germany’s Modeselektor. It’s the perfect sound track to your sunrise drive. You’ll find the entire release available completely free, compiled as an album with cover art and everything, on the World Wide Renewal Program site, so you’ll have no excuses. Go grab some goodies.
Here are a few of the dirtier sounds I found rather intriguing…

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Via Tania – On Sawyer (Agrape Dope remix)

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Push Button Objects – Breaker’s Delight

Of course, we all know that once you do make it home, you’ll hop in bed, and wake up at just about the right time to head out and start it all over again, and that being the case, you’re going to be needing a topping off in the Disco department.

Danger


I really did believe that when A-Trak released his remix of Boys Noize‘s Oh!, that there would, or rather, could never be a better remix of that lusciously vocoded dripper. I’m not one to say whether or not I should be taking that back or not, but what I will say is that Danger‘s taken a shot at it, and he’s come damn close. Sweeping side-chained synths: Epic, as usual.

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Boys Noize – Oh! (Danger NeOh!Pen remix)

Kitsune Tabloid Compilation


Also, it wouldn’t be very fair to give you something to listen to on the way home without giving you anything for the way there, would it now? No, it wouldn’t. Not only because you’d probably end up quite bored, but also because you’d be missing out on Kitsune‘s recently completed Tabloid Compilation. In short, the German revolution known as Digitalism has been called upon to create a mix that they believe “tells a story”, and the resulting album has, as of ten days ago, been released for your listening pleasure. I’ve been told the boys have infused an exceptionally summery story into their work, so expect to see more than a few sunroof-smiles on the road the next couple weeks…

You can preview the compilation on Digitalism’s Myspace, and once you fall in love, you can pick up a copy through Kitsune’s site.

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A Few Fancy Updates

Monday, July 7th, 2008

Chromeo


Just a little heads up for those of you that frequently find yourselves engaged in spontaneous dance-offs, break-battles, and foot fights, if you do somehow make it through tomorrow without taking a bit of time off to listen to Chromeo‘s latest audio upgrade, you could be at a significantly higher risk for an embarrassing loss: The re-release, cleverly titled, “Fancier Footwork”, will not only include the entire slightly less fancy album, as well as a whole bunch of other goodies that may well prove useful, including a series of five music videos (Fancy Footwork, Bonafied Lovin’, Tenderoni, Needy Girl, and (oh god yes! (Hey wait I just put parentheses inside parentheses…)) DJ Mehdi‘s catchy, Chromeo-enhanced I Am Somebody), nine remixes, and a mini, four-song greatest hits section. Needless, to say, knowingly skipping out would be nothing short of self sabotage, and you’re just not one to act in such silliness, right? Here’s a few of the tracks that you’ll certainly be hearing again shortly…

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DJ Mehdi feat. Chromeo – I Am Somebody

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Chromeo – Bonafied Lovin’ – (Yuksek remix)

JFK and Kid Sister


And just as a bit of a toss in, in case you’ve got a heavier dj set coming up soon, or if you just happen to be one of those guys that lives for the sweaty electro kickers, you might check out JFK of MSTRKRFT‘s recently released remix of Kid Sister‘s, “Control.” The mix is quite possibly one of the loudest, most obnoxious and beautifully impatient floor shakers I’ve heard in quite some time. And no need to worry about playing it out; You can always count on MSTRKRFT‘s tastefully polished production to hold everything together. Long live the king.

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Kid Sister – Control (JFK remix)

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I’ve Heard the Name But…

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

So all the dj’s out there (and actually, probably everyone else as well) know how the story goes with new music. You spend hours online looking for those new tracks, and (assuming you’re successful in your quest) you end up with more than you asked for; The next time you find yourself behind the decks, the pressure’s on, and you’ve got roughly three minutes to select, ponder, and mix your next track, and somehow, you just cannot remember a single one of your newest drippers. I mean, the artists are all chilling there in your music folder, but you can’t for the life of you (due to the sheer volume of megabyte-age you got yourself into) remember any of the new names you see clogging up your music collection. Naturally, you reluctantly fall back into your normal routine, playing the songs you’ve played a thousand times before (not to mention the ones that everyone has heard you play a thousand times before), telling yourself that this time, when you go home, you’re going to get it together and actually learn the music you were so excited to play.

This, my friends, I feel is a rather unfortunate case for both yourself (come on buddy, how long’s this going to go on for) and for the poor talented artists who don’t get played, simply because no one can seem to cram their likeness into their head, and as such, I’ve decided to grab a few of those artists that have been kept just inches from the surface for far to long, and make those guys stick, once and for all.

Shadow Dancer


Having been hand picked by Alex of Boys Noize, there’s no question of quality here. If you’re a fan of Ed Banger‘s Sebastian, or if you simply find that the darker glitch-heavy floor shakers are what draw you out to those sweaty (oh god are they sweaty) warehouse parties, ‘twould be foolish to let Shadow Dancer escape your decks any longer.

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Shadow Dancer – Cowbois

Moulinex


Here’s a bit of a change. Stumbling across a German artist that’s totally and completely unrelated to the minimal techno scene is obscure enough; Finding one that’s settled into producing the truest of disco-house is almost unheard of. Nonetheless, that’s the direction that Moulinex seems to be taking. It’s like they took regressed modern electro, and slapped an advanced 70′s disco funk rhythm into it. The result is unbelievable to the extent that you simply must hear it yourself. The Cazals remix is strongly exemplary of their overall style, while their work with Cut Copy‘s Lights and Music has a divergent Russ Chimes esque feel to it. Needless to say, both are more than enough to start you seeing colors.

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Cazals – Somebody Somewhere (Moulinex remix)

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Cut Copy – Lights and Music (Moulinex remix)

Boy 8-Bit


The great thing about this young London producer is his influences. Now that electro’s been living strong for almost three years, we’re starting to see more than just a couple artists with a rather shallow pool of inspiration. Granted no one likes to admit it, but I’m sure that an honest answer to the question, “What defines your style?” would, nine times out of ten, be “Well I always kinda liked Daft Punk, and then I heard Justice, so I bought Ableton Live.” Boy 8-Bit, however, has followed a largely different path. According to his site, a large portion of his influences are the more classic metal bands, which is not surprising, considering many of his tracks feature melodically heavy synth riffs that, though subtle, are reminiscent that particular style. When combined with his notoriously 8-Bit sounding instruments, this Brit makes for good hard splash of electro fresh.

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Mad Again (Boy 8-Bit remix)

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Boy 8-Bit – The Suspense is Killing Me

MeleeBeats


And as a last little note, for those of you who, more than ten years ago, fell in love with Daft Punk‘s Homework, only to be disappointed by the fact that there hasn’t been anything nearly as satisfying released in that genre of elegant house music ever since, today may be the day of your salvation. After hearing the first 10 seconds of “Girlhype” by Sacramento’s very own Melee Beats(I know! The US finally has a decent electronic producer!), I couldn’t help but wonder whether I may have somehow missed a hidden track off the legendary album. The smooth pumping compression is so reminiscent of Revolution 909 that it’s almost difficult not to become confused between the two. This one will most definitely tug at the roots of your musical soul.

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Melee Beats – GirlHype

So now here’s the deal: You’ve got the goods. We know you’ve got the goods. So write yourself a sticky note, stick it over the apple on your MacBook, and use it as a reminder to get those tracks pumping. It’s about time.

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Buffet Libre! Again!

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008


It’s strangely ironic that I decided to mention the Buffet Libre 80′s Rewind project yesterday, because upon opening my email this morning, I was surprised with a little note explaining that our Spanish friends have decided to release Part I of the bit today. Now, if only I’d waited a day, my thoughts could have been neatly organized into one concise little post, however, it’s looking like you’re just going to have to bare with me and my less-than-psychic intellect. But hey, you’ve got something new to listen to. A grand total of 57 artists were chosen to participate in the project, and thus, there are 57 collar-poppin’, mullet-wearin’, synth-sweepin’, crotch-grabbin’ brand spankin’ new tracks up and ready for you to download, absolutely free. You can check check them out at BuffetLibre.net. And since 57 tracks apparently just wasn’t enough to satisfy to hungriest of dancers, both Parts I and II of rewind are to be accompanied by their own respective Buffet Libre mixtapes. You can expect to see the first on July 15th, and the second (apparently as a bit of a kicker to keep the party going) on September 1st.

Now considering you’ve probably, within the last fifteen seconds, decided that you know exactly what it is you’ll be doing tonight, I’ll post a few of Rewind’s highlights and get out of your way.

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NWA – Fuck tha Police (Trash Yourself remix)
I’ve been looking for a way to throw NWA into disco sets for quite some time, and oh God did I find what I was looking for. Not only has Trash Yourself shown us some incredible mixing skills, but they’ve also picked quite possibly the best song to demo them on.

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A Ha – Hunting High and Low (Louis la Roche remix)
Glitch meets 80′s. Give it a minute, and boy does it get heavy, thanks to Loui la Roche. If only A Ha had known…
(And don’t worry. I know how disappointed you were when you saw that the A Ha cover wasn’t the infamous “Take On Me”, and I’m glad to assure you that that particular song, has also been given special attention. All the more reason to check out the Rewind site.)

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Adam & the Ants – Stand and Deliver (Royal Rumble remix)
And finally, a bit of that frumpy ‘ol Royal Rumble goodness. (Yes, I think that’s what I’m going to call it from now on .. frumpy… there just isn’t a better way to describe their itchy skippy style)
Children, this is only the beginning. ‘twould be foolish not to scramble for every last track.

 

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Here Come the Eighties… Part II

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

The more I think about it, the more I realize just how much of a phenomenon the 80′s were. Somehow, the decade that was powered entirely buy electronic instruments (Juno’s, 808′s, 909′s… Roland sure was having a good time) managed to complete it’s entire life cycle and come to an end about two years before the spread of the personal computer. I can’t even begin to fathom how much more beauty, creativity, and not to mention length, could have been squeezed out of the short-lived decade had Pro-Tools and it’s band of sidekick DAW’s been invented just a few years earlier. To put things concisely, musicians got ripped off. The producers of the 90′s were forced, for the most part, to revert back to using the cliched, distorted, overdriven guitar as the backbone to their music, lest they be condemned to the confines of their parents’ basement for all eternity. Well here’s the deal, I think we’ve finally, collectively admitted that none of us were ever ready to give up our Moogorfoogers.

I know I’ve made several comments about the return of the 80′s before, but I suppose that just goes to show the extent to which our music is changing. I was absolutely shocked yesterday morning (but that not to say I wasn’t pleasantly surprised) to find that the local heavy, top-forty rap station had, between then and the last time I’d turned on the radio (which was not all that long ago), converted to a 100% pure eighties frequency. Ironically, after listening to a few of the eighty’s biggest hits, I realized that most of them are strikingly similar to the synth heavy, four on the floor, electro-clash tracks that are so familiar to us. Clearly, we’ve only seen the beginning…

Buffet Libre

While some, like the Bloody Beetroots with their recent production, “Yeah Boy.” seem to be keeping themselves current by simply adding a bit of an 80′s touch to their style, others have proven themselves to be more than enthusiastic. The massive Spanish crew known as Buffet Libre, for example, has recently released two mix-tapes (The first of which is available below) as part of their Rewind project. The tapes run through well over two hours of solid 80′s favorites chosen largely by the Disco community’s better known bloggers (Red Threat, ElectroRash, Disco Dust etc.).

Verbena Compilation Part I

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The Bloody Beetroots – Yeah Boy


On top of that, Rewind is also finishing up an explosive compilation of 80′s remixes, with a bit of a more up to date touch. The project is set to feature more than a few well known names, including Los Angeles’s Royal Rumble, Sweden’s Mr. Miyagi, and of course, the infamous Toxic Avenger. Keep an ear out early this month for the full release. Until then, here’s a leaked track or two to hold you over.

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Men Without Hats – Where Do the Boys Go? (Mr. Miyagi Maximation Version)

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NRK – Couldn’t Get Ahead (The Fall Cover)

 

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