Sometimes pseudonyms conceal the fact that there are several contributors working together on a project. This is where literature and music differ. First, a larger proportion of music is made by groups of people. Of course, no artist in any medium creates in a vacuum. I’m sure every book in Borders was read over by dozens of people before being sent to press. Still, most books give one author sole credit. And when books do have multiple contributors, each is listed as a co-author rather than referring to them all as one “author collective.” When musicians work together, they have band names.

In Hervé’s case, my best guess is that he switches around his name for his own personal amusement.  But his best work may very well be the collaboration LP he released under the name Machines Don’t Care. It has Hervé collaborating with some big names in the scene including Sinden, Fake Blood and Detboi.  A second collaboration album is supposedly in the works, too. It was scheduled for release this past March, but with so many other things going on in Hervé’s career I’m starting to think it might never be released. Luckily, we have this gem to make the wait a little easier. Listen below for a taste of what great minds working together can produce.

Machines Don’t Care – Afro Jacker

Machines Don’t Care – Jugs

Machines Don’t Care – Spycatcher

Think about it. If you run a side by side comparison on the two, they’re strikingly similar. Both are sources of an extraordinary amount of bass, which is arguably scarier than the monster (track) itself, and both are caught on tape entirely through the use of awful handicams (cell phones) that simply fail to capture and to do justice to the true excitement of the moment. One could even go as far as to say they both live underground, however, I prefer not to lose an unnecessary number of friends in a debate over what is and isn’t “underground.”

Long story short, the question of whether or not dubstep is going to share the stage in the future of disco is no longer debatable. Thanks to producers like Hervé, who’ve taken the initiative to draw connections between the (if you will) “mainstream” electro and dubstep, the risk of heart attack during the transition to half tempo has been greatly reduced, and thus, the floodgates rest in the open position. In fact, it’s only a matter of time before Simon Cowell is scolding pretty, young girls for their lack of bass wobble. *shudder*

Hervé – Science of Fear (Hervé Dub Remix)

The Count and Sinden – Stinging Nettle

Kid Sister – Pro Nails (Rusko Remix)

George Lenton

The Rusko and Hervé tracks require essentially no explanation, considering their blatant prominence in the dubstep scene, however I feel the need to comment on the work of the UK’s George Lenton, which undoubtedly brings new meaning to the word “multitalented.” Having heard his work for the first time
on Radio 1 in the form of a poppy (and certainly not dubstep-y) remix of a Yelle track, it goes without saying that I was quite surprised to be knocked to the floor by the wall of bass that was his subsequent release. I’ve since heard everything from alt rock to electro to the heaviest of “wWOOWw”s from this producer / purpose-bread disco manufacturing machine, which is nothing less than impressive coming from someone who has little more to say than “I was doing band stuff, now I’m doing this stuff.”

George Lenton – Jungle Whomp

Fake Blood

He goes by the name Fake Blood, and he likes to keep himself out of all his myspace photos. Well, that, or he morphs himself into an aqueous blob, probably because he’s well aware of just how brilliant his ridiculous sounds are, and so he decided to practice avoiding his inevitable fame in advance. Fortunately for you, these disco roots stretch to wonderland and back, and have allowed me to make the connection between Fake Blood and one, Touché. (Please, feel free to explore this recently constructed hallway to new noise.) Now, in case you’re curious, the two aliases are a necessity, due mostly to the fact that this London producer’s extremely peculiar sounds cannot be contained by a mere single name, and frankly, I’m surprised that two is even enough. Instead of following the standard electro process and rearranging the same synths and sounds into a different pattern to create “new” tracks (kinda like Mexican food), Fake Blood formulates a giant spider web of familiar, yet altered sounds, that provide adequate transitions into altogether unheard of noises (including, but not limited to: blips, whips whoops, whops, pangs, and in one particular case, elevator dings). It hurts me to make associations here, however, since I can’t have any potential dance floor occupants avoiding this one, I’ll go so far as to say that Fake Blood (at least to me) welcomes the production style of Herve, but with a whole other world of sounds and rhythms.

Personally, this seems a more fitting and energetic approach to (optimism, please) an increasingly inspired year. (Although in all honesty, my apologies go to yee all, for failing to post these deviant works earlier on).

Hot Chip – Touch Too Much (Fake Blood Remix)

UNKLE – Restless (Fake Blood Remix)

Fake Blood – Mars

Rogerseventytwo

So I realize I’ve I’ve been doing quite a bit of genre classification recently, and I’m not entirely too proud of it. Genre’s tend to be based more off of the mathematical side of music (how many beats in a bar, different repetition styles, etc.), and it’s only thanks to my rediscovery of this particularly festive Rogerseventytwo track that I’ve been able to regain control over my mind, so that I might return to appreciating and grouping songs based on the way they make me feel, and not the title that iTunes assigns them.

You might ask why it was this particular track that jarred me back into reality, and I could definitely spend some time answering that question if I wanted to. I could mention the sparks that flew the first time it came on. I could mention the peak hour, euphoric feeling that only a certain few tracks have ever allowed me to feel. I could mention how it was instantly categorized in the holy archives of my mind among the likes of Daft Punk‘s One More Time, and Voodoo Chili‘s I Need, as one of those triumphant, blissfully sustained cries of joy where no matter how many times you’ve heard the same 4 second loop, you’re always disappointed when the track winds to a close. But in this case, I don’t think there’s any better way to experience the wonder that our humble little Dutch friend has fabricated than first hand. I would, however, recommend that a buddy agrees to keep an eye on you before you let this little kicker do it’s thing. You’re going to want someone to find you when you get lost in your head.

DJ DLG – Paramount (Rogerseventytwo Remix)