Zefyctronix 2010 minimix

Hey everyone !

Hope 2011 is taking a good start for you, at least it is for me !

Click to see the whole artwork!

Here is a minimix that ZefyrMusic and ilictronix worked on together, gathering some of the tracks we loved in 2010 for you guys.

ZEFYCTRONIX MINIMIX 2010 (Zefyr Music Society, Zefyr Management, Ilictronix) by zefyrmusic

Tracklist:

1- The Ting Tings - Hands (Passion Pit Remix)
2- M.I.A. - Internet Connection (Dr Rosen Rosen Remix)
3- Palmbomen – Moon Children
4- Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know (Jean Tonique remix)
5- Destronics - Symptom (From the crisis)
6- Arcade Fire - The suburbs (Hawks Chilled Out Remix)
7- Cécile - Sweetness 86
8- Magna - Diamond
9- Château Marmont - Maison Klaus
10- True Pseudo - Freaking me out (Pilotpriest Jouney mix)
11- Findlay Brown - Promised Land (Acid Washed Remix)


And two random tracks I'm really enjoying right now.

Polywood · AutoKratz - Opposite of Love (North Lights ft. Perseus Remix)

That last track is from the 2004 album Shanghai lounge divas remixed by DJ Ian Widgery

Thanks to Florian from ZefyrMusic and Jörn Kaspuhl for that gorgeous artwork !

-Here

A Very Warped History 5: 1996

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The year is 1996, and Richard D. James has been hard at work, releasing his 3rd album on Warp in as many years. This album and it's predecessor ...I Care Because You Do are widely regarded as the magnum opus of Aphex, and rightly so. While ...ICBYD had analogue equipment and was drenched in acid, Richard D. James Album would be the record where Aphex started using computers and software to compose, and as a result give rise to his now famous schizophrenic beats, The album is also incredibly short, the UK version clocking in at just over half an hour (with Richard claiming anything over that length "Bores me"). RDJ Album holds a special place in my heart however, as it was the first thing I ever heard from Aphex (knowingly at least) and became one of my favourite albums ever in the process.



Don't be mislead by the frankly menacing cover art either, the album is much lighter and accesible than the claustraphobic industrial vibes of ...ICBYD, combining classical elements with quasi-drum 'n bass and other synthesized sounds, as heard here in the opening track, 4.



A brief relapse into previous territory here, the opening of the incredibly titled Peek 824545201 sounds like a leftover slice from a previous project, menace lurking beneath that cold, imposing beat. After about 40 seconds or so it drops out of the mix and the track mingles with some smooth synths, with the beats occasionally coming back to haunt you.



Originally intended for James' unreleased 1995 album Melodies From Mars, Fingerbib sounds just as you'd expect a song called Fingerbib to sound, the synths producing simple melodies chirping away like birds outside your window. Short and sweet, as is the majority of the album.

Often mislabelled as "Corn Mouth" thanks to RDJ's (badly) handwritten tracklist on the back, Carn Marth is a perfect example of the style on the album, and it also shows a return to the creative sampling we've heard before, this time it's the various bloops and whirrs of a ZX Spectrum, an old school PC from the early 80's.



One of the slower tracks on the album and another standout, Yellow Calx is the last in the series of "X Calx" tracks by Aphex, beginning with Green Calx on Selected Ambient Works 85-92, and continuing with Blue Calx from Selected Ambient Works Vol. II.



Probably my overall favourite from the album (along with 4) and longest track on the album: Girl/Boy Song combines all the parts of the album I love into one, the intro will hook you in, and then the contrasting combination of the twitchy drums and classical strings will make you love it.



Topping it off is the also often mis-titled (as Logon or Logl/ Rock Witch) final track, where creative sampling makes another appearance, this time in the form of children's toys. not circuit bent ones either, just as they are. Once again AFX makes the completely weird actually listenable, somehow.



Aphex's finest hour? that's for you to decide, coming up next we have Boards Of Canada's stone cold classic debut album on Warp, you don't want to miss that one, trust me.

What Big Teeth You Have,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Ping Pong

I have posted 4 times in the last 4 and half months. I don't know about you, but I consider this to be a hideously low number, so as a late New Year's resolution, I'm gonna start posting more often from now on. And we'll start off with some tracks that recently caught my ear.

First of all, a little matter regarding my last post. If you heard the first 7 minutes of Russ Chimes' "Expressway Mix Pt.2", then you would've heard a fantastic intro and then an unreleased remix Russ made for Booka Shade.

I don't like it when good stuff isn't released, so I simply joined the intro with the full version of his remix so now everyone can get the full taste of the first minutes of that mix.

Russ Chimes · Booka Shade - Regenerate (Russ Chimes Remix)

Now comes my favourite song from one of my favourite albums of the year. Two Door Cinema Club's "Something Good Can Work" is a simple, catchy and dancable tune that has the power to make people happy, which is all you really need from a song.

Two Door Cinema Club · Something Good Can Work

Next up comes a track that is great to end a set with. Nicolas Jaar's remix of Azari & Ill's "Into The Night" is a very calm affair, with a lot of bass, a lot of keys and an overall smoothness throughout the song.



And finally, because this is Blue Monday (a term I only discovered today), here's an 80's drug fuelled dance music anthem:



Enjoy!

Lost and found,
Alex.

Let's Get Loungy II: Lounge Harder

As a stark contrast to the week I posted Let's Get Loungy, nowadays at college I have NO work to do. And this has given me a greater appreciation for the more laidback tracks in my collection, here's some of my favourites at the moment.



Recently tending to my hippity hop cravings along with good old Nightmares On Wax is Flying Lotus, his Reset EP hits all the right buttons for me, it's pretty much all I want from instrumental Hip Hop. This track Massage Situation his is quite well known thanks to the Adult Swim bumps but as far as I know the EP it's on was only released in the UK so here you go, enjoy! :).



More from them Massive Attack boys now, having a completley different feel to the rest of the stuff on Mezzanine, Exchange is a nice hazy number that ebbs and flows through it's 4 minute runtime it really wouldn't sound out of place in some upmarket overpriced coffee joint. Fall in love with it the second the beat drops.



Swedish sibling duo The Knife also buck the trend here with a tune they made for a film soundtrack, breaking away from their usual synths 'n distorted vocals combo for an instrumental mood piece that's simple in all the right ways. I can never skip this one when it comes up on shuffle, the opening chords just grab me every time hell, sometimes I even play it twice to get my fix.





Röyksopp's cult hit Melody A.M. is one of those albums you'll hear snippets of all the time, from adverts to soundtracks to Mac OSX Panther Sample Music, you'll have heard it somewhere. Not only is this one of my favourites from Melody, but I did actually hear it in a lounge bar not too long ago, so I guess by default it has to go in here :).



Playing us out, another band of Swedes: Teddybears STHLM. Mostly known for their track Cobrastyle. I stumbled across this one on youtube one day, somewhere between the excellently executed opening sample to the first riff, I decided I HAD to have it. The melodies are great and it has a nice beat to it, that's all you need to know.



So kick your feet up, make yourself a brew, unplug all the phones in your house and take in the sounds above. Oh, and don't forget to turn the lights off when you're done kay?

Somewhere In Europe,
-Claude Van Foxbat

You Can Dance

Hi there,

Saw Chilly Gonzales release a new video from his Ivory Tower album today, so I got the urge to do a small post on the awesomeness of this album and tell you guys a little something about it's background.

First up, the video in question, from the song You Can Dance:



I already thought this song was one of the best on the album, but adding a clip like this to it... Damn, my love for it only keeps getting bigger and bigger! Shake those butts, Push them pelvisses forward and Wiggle them chests...

Btw, here's a relinkage to the track that was already posted by Here in his top 10 albums of 2010 post:

Be Rich Records · Chilli Gonzales – You Can Dance (Original Mix)

Now something interesting about Ivory Tower, this album was originally a soundtrack for a movie that was partially written by Gonzales himself. This Canadian film features acting performances by the likes of Chilly, Tiga, Peaches and Feist. I must admit I was really fortunate to watch the movie, because I'm affraid it will not be released in any normal cinema around the globe. The movie is about two brothers (Chilly and Tiga) that both moved towards different environments at a certain time in their life and developped a unique chess technique over the time they were separated. While Tiga became a chess superstar, doing it for the fame and the money... Chilly wanted to make the game more creative and fun for the people to play (calling it Jazz Chess, the chess with no rules)... The movie is made up like a typical sports movie, even showing the training method of both brothers a la Rocky. And eventually the both of them class in an epic final game to decide for once and for all who is the best player and more importantly, which style in chess is superior.

If you ever manage to find the movie, make sure you watch it. It's got an amazing score and despite the fact that most actors don't really act for a living, the movie is very well made and it approaches the serious sports genre with ample humor.

I did manage to find a little snippet from the movie on youtube however:



The song I am Europe became pretty big over here, being played on the radio alot... Not so hard to see why, because the amazing piano play comined with the raw humorous Chilly rap make this song a masterpiece in my opinion!

Arts & Crafts · Chilly Gonzales - I Am Europe

Enjoy, Mr. Brown

A Very Warped History 4: 1995 (2 Of 2)

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This entry of Warped focuses on Aphex Twin's first conventional album on Warp, released just over a year after SAW V.II. 1995 would be the the year that AFX would release his last analouge material for a decade, switching to computer and software based production after this album. Recorded between 1990 and 1994 ...I Care Because You Do is unique as it doesn't have any of AFX's trademark schizophrenic beats, as they would be introduced in ...ICBYD's follow up the next year, Richard D. James Album.

Why yes, the cover art is a self portrait by Richard himself, trademark creepy smirk and all.

The album itself is a mash of everything from industrial, straight up acid and mere brain melting glimpses of Aphex's soon to be trademark style on RDJ Album. Oh, and don't forget the 6 track names which are anagrams of things like Aphex Twin and whatnot, a gimmick carried on some months later with the Hangable Auto Bulb EP, itself an anagram of Analogue Bubblebath, AFX's first EP.

It begins with the first of the anagram-ed tracks, Acrid Avid Jam Shred (Richard David James) which is not an ideal opener in my eyes; mainly due to the 3 minute intro where not much happens other than some random bleeps here and there. After that though it becomes a deceptivley light-hearted insight into what lies ahead.



A brief relapse into Acid here as strings are mixed with heavily filtered bass, the resulting mix is claustrophobic, macabre and downright strange. Another thing to note is that this track was later "remixed"on the Donkey Rhubarb EP. I say "remixed" because well... it was a fully orchestrated version done by Phillip Glass. Yeah.



Immediately afterward you are plunged into the depths of Aphex's twisted sense of humour. This right here folks, is something else, a track that simulates the Tinnitus heard by asthmatics when they OD on Salbutamol (hence the track title) the result is abrasive, distorted and borderline unlistenable. And this was the ONLY SINGLE from this album! You can't help but wonder if Rich is taking the piss, or if he's genuinley mental; because if you can listen past the ringing, it's actually quite a good tune.

Another Acid bath, this time a bit more conventional, instead of being an all out audio assault this ones a chopped up vision of things to come, nothing stays consistent for long in the mix. The beats and bass hop all over the place, background synths fade in and out, filters come and go, the works.



To finish off, my two favourite tracks from this album, the precursors to Richard D. James Album. Firstly, Mookid (Named because the synth Supposedly sounds like a calf mooing) is a very smooth piece where RDJ lets the synth carry the majority of the song, a stark contrast to the acidic tones of previous tracks.



Alberto Balsalm (Named after a brand of shampoo here in the UK) is where AFX's creativity with weird samples really shows, (it's shown up in previous parts of the record as well, with "Come On You Slags!" aptly sampling a porno flick.) Alberto Balsalm uses a sample of a chair sliding across a floor as a main element of the beat, it fits so well with the other sounds you'd never notice until someone points it out.



That wraps up the first entry of warped this year, There will be another "Warped Leftovers" for this entry if anyone's interested, the record in question is Boards Of Canada's Twoism released on their own label Music70 and later reissued in 2002 by Warp. It's a very important release because it was the record that got BoC signed to Warp in the first place (As the story goes, within half an hour of hearing it, Steve Beckett phoned them up and offered them a contract) it's got remnants of BoC's techno style on it, so I'll likley be saving it for after I deal with their other albums.

Advance Boat Flux,
-Claude Van Foxbat

A Very Warped History 4: 1995 (1 Of 2)

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Today we have one of the founding releases of the "chillout" movement in the late 90's, you know, Café Del Mar and all that. Anyway, as I mentioned in my first post of this series, Nightmares On Wax used to to Techno/Rave tunes and DJ under E.A.S.E (Experience A Sample Expert, which you will hear in his chillout work too) Until 1995 that is, with the release of the aptly named Smokers Delight. BUT I intentionally left some of the best tracks out of that short overview. did I have this series planned from only my first week of writing? maybe, or maybe I know what to keep to myself just in case the chance arises ;D



With a title and art like that, you can pretty much guess what it sounds like, that is reggae inspired dub fused with the vibes of a certain illegal substance. Not that you need any of them to enjoy this record, if you like chill tracks, you'll love this. Now let's see... picking from the tracks leftover from the first overview, we have some real gems and laidback ledgends. let's kick it all off shall we? N.O.W up to his usual tricks and getting flashy with the sample work, enjoy.



The first real gem IMO is Pipes Honour, I had this on loop for about 4 weeks after I bought the album and it never gets old, which for a NINE MINUTE track is quite a feat. Funky guitars, slow beats, good samples, this track has it all. Feel the vibes on this one, relax, kick back and start groovin' wherever you are.



The times when I didnt loop PH I was looping this one instead, which is on the other end of the spectrum at just shy of a minute long, it's amazingly well done for it's length and I wouldn't be surprised if you all have to play it through three or so times just to get enough of that excellent bassline and vocals.



I mentioned in my overview that Smokers goes down well as backing music for social gatherings, and this track is the moment in the album where everyone's stopped to listen after 9 tracks of similar stuff the music takes center stage. you can't not love this one, if only for the catchy melody.

Moving more into lounge territory with this next track Mission Venice (which BARELY lost it's place on my "Struttin' Songs" post) it has a different feel to the rest of the album, it starts with that catchy few note loop, then teases you with little snippets of it before coming back again for the last half of the song. A real classic.



If you asked me to sum up the feel and atmosphere of Smokers Delight, I would choose these two tracks and Pipes Honour they are the tracks that I never tire of. For example, the intro to Rise gets me every time, as soon as I hear it I know what is on the way and love every second of it.



And as for the reprise? well I may think N.O.W missed a good title by not calling RepRise, the track itself is what it says on the tin, if you loved Rise you will love this even more.



Crack a brew and take the load off, sit around with this one on and you wont be disappointed, I guarantee. Alight, I think that about wraps up this album for good, make sure you enjoy it as much as I did, and if you really like any of this stuff you should go buy it, Warp's online store have everything I have posted so far (and will post) so check them out!

Bless My Soul Indeed,
-Claude Van Foxbat

This would've been cool some days ago

Hi there,

Long time no see right, so how are the kids going? Good you say, nice to hear... Oh, you wanted to listen to some more music. Well pardon me for trying to be friendly here. Let's get right to it then.

Original artwork by Mr. Brown...

This first and probably only remix from Duck Sauce would've been cool and hip if I posted about it some days ago when it came out, too bad I'm always running late and it's probably on every single blog by now... But I can't let Ilictronix limp behind, now can I?



Not much to say about this remix, it's a nice fluent track that keeps the vibe from the original but just gives it that little extra. I don't really have much time to actually talk about the tracks as you might have noticed :D



Oh and I finally bought the Jamiroquai singles album (wanted to buy the new one, but you know them silly record stores and their stock problems). So here's one of my favourites from the album (because of Napoleon dynamite I must add). Yet even without the sweet dance routine it stays funky as hell!

Enjoy this short installment of rather nice tracks,
Mr. Brown

ps: Happy son's day, Boba's father!

From The Vault

I got some pretty rare stuff in my collection, Nothing super amazing, just some records that people forgot. Here's one of my favourites, Golden Boy's debut (and only) album featuring Miss Kittin: Or. You might remember it for the single "Rippin Kittin" which was quite popular. I was turned onto this release from Felix Da Housecat's Kittenz & Thee Glitz, another electroclash album featuring Miss Kittin. I had a torrented copy of Or for a long while (imports are expensive) but sure enough one day, I found it for sale in jolly old England and promptly snapped it up. No other record sounds quite like it, not even it's close cousin by Felix, it's like French House smashed into some Neo-Bubblegum Pop and picked up some Kraftwerk on the way. That was an awful analogy, it's very hard to describe but trust me it's hella catchy; Let's start suitably with the first proper track and road trip anthem, Autopilot.



Catchy right? Despite erring on the side of bad eurodance a bit, Golden Boy pulls it off in style, with Kittin's vocals and the poppy sounds almost working too well together. As seen in this next track, where she talks about.... well, everything really.



It's not all quasi-pop though, there are some great instrumental House-y tracks on here too, the first of which being Nix: A track which sounds surprisingly electro like in parts. It's pretty good, but it becomes so much better own after the little breakdown at 1:45.



The second, with a name that is impossible to pronounce, is less dancefloor based and instead sounds like the soundtrack to some neon lit cityscape in the not too distant future (or maybe Freemont Street in Las Vegas). Also get a load of the amazingly smooth synths during the breakdown at 3:12 :).



And what better way to finish up than with the song that started it all, the only single from this release, Rippin Kittin. A slow paced, fairly chilled number with some odd lyrics to say the least. A completely different vibe to the rest of the album.



...Glove's radio edit of it however injects it with that much poppier atmosphere of the rest of the album, adds a chorus and makes Kittin's vocals much louder than the original mix. Out of the two, it's my favourite, if only for the newly added chorus and the slightly re-arranged composition.



So there you have it: Or. I might get around to detailing some of my other rare gems later, including an album of Reggae remixes from the first Gorillaz album :D.

J'aime Conduire La Nuit,
-Claude Van Foxbat