With A Bang

So, years over soon, and I thought I'd do something a little different. I'm gonna cut down on the words for this one and instead just hand out some ammo to blast on NYE to make sure yours is the best sounding night on the block. Stand by for tons of players coming your way, in fact think it might the most I've ever had in one post.

We got house, we got techno, we got mixtures of genres and all, a lil' bit of evrything. You go on out and have yourselves a good night with this lot and as always stay safe, enjoy the music and have yourselves a very nice New Year from all of us here at ilictronix!

Peaches Rocks · I Feel Cream

Philestine - Discourse On Method

Vitalic Official · Vitalic • Second Lives

Unlucky For Some,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Still Alive

Good News! The Apocalypse has been swiftly averted so we can all carry on existing as usual. Turns out the Mayans were about as good at predicting the end times as they were at predicting the arrival of the Spanish. But it does open up a nice window for me to talk about tunes, see me and a friend got talking about what'd go on our end of the world playlists so I thought I's share with you all my list of finely crafted end world tunes.

Squarepusher to start, with Tundra 4 from the wildcard Venus No. 17 EP having the perfect balance of glitchy breakbeats and foreboding backing like in the original Tundra. It starts fairly placid but just layers on the intensity over and over again through it's 12 minute run time, but this is only the beginning.



Staying in familiar territory, fellow beat melter Venetian Snares brings his contribution to the table. It works mostly in the same ways, with those haunting ethereal strings juxtaposed with the madcap drum programming. It, like most of Rossz Csillag Alatt Született shouldn't work. But it does, and in spectacular form.

I just had to include this live recording of Aphex from 1990, it's got that rawness about it like on Analog Worms Attack that's real nice, and of course the 303 work is also pretty nice. Take note that this is from AFX's acid house days, so don't expect any beat butchery in the vein of the 'Pusher and the Snares above.



Bringing it back to more coherent tunes, an old gem I had buried away in the depths of my Dubstep folder from Press, I got it like forever ago on some kind of compilation EP with a Stenchman tune and a few others, and they all have that Stenchman-esque grimy streak to them. I wasn't expecting it to hold up very well, but it properly nails the sound it's going for, my only complaint is it's a bit long at 7 minutes but I can let that slide.



And finally, my favourite slice from the Planisphere series Justice did for a Dior fashion show. The crunchy guitar solo throughout absolutely makes this from the get go, but the break around 1:10 lets you know that something big is on the way. And it doesn't disappoint, the guitar returns, this time with the trademark Justice touch that pushes it to that next level.



And with that I'm done. Until the next apocalypse at least, rest assured that if and when that time arrives I will have more tracks prepared to make your end of the world the best sounding one this side of Alpha Centauri!

Y2K?,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Fly Lo For The Winter

So the last day of post is coming up in the UK in 3 days. Not ideal when you're jonesing for new tunes like me, so I decided to turn to my partner in crime the Internet. I've been digging more of FlyLos stuff recently, picking up where I left off after Los Angeles, and thanks to the wonders of digital distribution I have some tunes to share with you lot today.

The first is from an old pre-1983 demo floating around the tubes of the web, a lot of Flo's crunchy stuff from that era is on here in spades, but the one track that stood out to me the most is a surprisingly downtempo slice fittingly titled Slow It Down. I loves me some smooth instrumentals, and it's not often we get something this slow coming out of camp FlyLo.



I spotted this bootleg on YouTube forever ago, but only just got around to picking it up the Shhh! white label from the lotus has some tasty bits on it, kicking it all off with this twisted rework of Mr. Oizo's Stunt. It's pretty special anyway, but those light n' airy synths around 2:08 just sold me completely, even if they don't hang around long.



Flying Lotus sometimes dips into dub styled territory, see Massage Situation for example, and this track is no different. There's two versions of this on the bootleg, the other is an instrumental, I chose this one because honestly it feels a bit shallow without the sampled vocal track on it from Madvillain's Shadows Of Tomorrow

And finally some officially released joints from the set of EPs released just after Los Angeles. The first (Complexly titled L.A EP 1X3) is made up of what I can only assume are cuts that didn't make the album, which is a real shame because even though it's just shy of two minutes long, Rickshaw is a killer track.



The next track My Chippy sound just like all of FlyLo's styles up until that point mashed together, the crunchy unfinished vibe of 1983 is there, the rumbling bass of the Reset EP is lurking in there and of course the slightly disjointed sounds of Los Angeles top it all off nicely. It's a shame there isn't more variation, the track ends just as it's about to get interesting.



And thems the results of my latest hip hop bender, and what will probably be my last batch of new music for this year unfortunately thanks to the Royal Mail service. Just in case I don't post again before the end of December I'd like to wish you all Happy Holidays from all us here at Ilictronix, and thanks for sticking with us through the tough times!

Que?,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Shuff Stuff

So the winding down of Uni work I was expecting towards the holiday season isn't happening. Like at all. Which is a shame and all but I'm not here to grumble too much, I'm here for another tunes sesh which I'm hoping to keep fairly regular from now on actually!

Stenchman's been off my radar for a wile now aside from the odd update he throws up over Facebook way, but this remix has been popping up a lot recently and I gotta admit it's pretty well done, there ain't much variation in it but the Stench works with it and makes something sweet.



Re-visiting the noise fest that is Oizo's Moustache (Half A Scissor) I found some quality on it, especially in the bonus track which is basically a bootleg remix of some long defunct Russian rap group Echo Depth Finders, hence the title. It has a pretty sick beat and the remix is pretty top notch too.



My go-to slice of feel good from Simian Mobile Disco's stellar debut Attack Decay Sustain Release next, even if it is technically more of a summery song. that opening is just sweet every time, and the return of Simon Lord on vocals from their former band Simian is just a great touch.



Moby next, dropping a rare slice of techno stuff on by far his most famous and cult chillout staple Play which I actually remember coming out. It's a massive wildcard in comparison to the rest of the album but is still quality throughout, sure it sounds a little dated but it was from 1999 after all, that's 13 (soon to be 14) years ago.



Rounding it off with another fairly chill number from fairly unknown bloke Sebastian Svahn, a lot of this tunes popularity comes from it being use in David Firth's delightfully twisted animation Video Dating Tape. I've had it lying around for a long while, that reversed piano n' synth combo in the intro is just class.



and that about wraps us up once again, I'll be seeing you later gang. Hopefully not too much later, 'tis the season after all.

CPU,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Lights On

So I checked my Inbox I don't check too much, and alongside the usual array of Chinese Spam and emails addressed to a guy called Blaine (which isn't my name) was this. I usually skip most promos because I used to get TONS of them and it wasn't worth sifting through them all to find some gold. But this guy had the right idea, it had the personal touch that is lacking from most of the promos I get, even going so far as to link me to pictures and MP3s to use in the post itself! Lights DC is an Irish producer who started off doing remixes but earlier this year stepped out in the the great wide world of production, stay tuned after the jump and give him a listen, cos he really deserves it.

It helped that the tunes were pretty swell too, once again givin' me Arcade High vibes. The opening tune. Calypso had me from the very moment I pressed play, as my sub became awash with 80s bass goodness, to quote the man himself " is a resigned and melancholic piece of 80's inspired synthpop, which was influenced by one of my favourite tracks ever - Alan Braxe & Fred Falke's "Rubicon".

LIGHTS DC · Calypso

The second, Halcyon Days is more of the same, and what initially set me off on the Arcade High comparison, the break about halfway through is synthesized brilliance. To quote the man once again; "Halcyon Days has a similar vibe, with a more Yellow Magic Orchestra/Sega Genesis games feel oddly enough, but there you go!", though I'm afraid the Genesis was a little bit before my time so I can't comment on that! Check it out just after the single cover below and don't forget to check out His SoundCloud for yourself for more sounds to dig.

LIGHTS DC · Halcyon Days

Lights Out,
- Claude Van Foxbat

Mellowin' Out

Afternoon all, sorry about leaving you all hanging for so long but to be quite honest the last couple of weeks have been absolutely shite so I haven't been in the mood to post stuff. But I won't bore you with tales of train rides and locked bank cards and jump straight to tunes. Here's some stuff that's been helping me keep it together and also some art by me.

One of my favourite tunes to come out of my recent dive into the world of Vapourwave is this. It's got vibes of that Arcade High LP I posted about a while ago, anyways It came up one time while I was browsing my finished art folder and it just perfectly synced with that piece up there.



Way back when I dropped some Knxwledge on you, and I'm about to do it again. Guy does some sick beats, I wish they were longer like, but that's a minor gripe. I imagine it's the same deal as what I say about BoC; the tracks stay sweet cos they're so short.



And just cos that's only like a minute and a half long, I'll hook you up with another just to cover my bases. Same sorta deal here, a smushed up title, nice beats and some sample dealies dropped throughout. Class.



Laid off posting this in my little shout out to my bud The Deadbeat Demon's beat tape cos I thought I'd get around to putting it up for something else. And here we are, this guy knows how to make pretty much flawless hip hop tracks for my tastes definitely check him out.

Deadbeat Demon - The Dealio Sounds

Of course, it wouldn't be complete without a visit from the old Boards Of Canada would it? But I've posted most of their material already, so I thought I go for something a little bit rarer. This is a tune from their rare as rare can be Old Tunes Vol. 1 Tape, sometimes known as A Few Old Tunes. The BoC boys clearly had a knack for this music thing judging by the tape, and this is by far the best example on it.



Mind you, it is certainly before they nailed down what makes their sound, the stuff here is obviously less refined than their later works but these old tapes do have some gold on them. Take this one for example, it has all the hallmarks of old school Boards with the slight techno edge and all and I'd say is still one of their finest tracks.



Righto, that's my story and accompanying tunes, stuff should pick up in a week or so because it's end of semester at my university and I will be sure to be there to dish out a few tracks in time for the holidays!

A Real Traditionalist,
- Claude Van Foxbat

Gone Tubin'

I like it when I find a musician's personal YouTube account they put up some neat stuff on there from time to time. Today is my day off and I got to snoopin arund on YT again, so I thought I'd share a couple of my favouries I've found, starting with Bibio's; simply called mrbibio. The first video I have from his is him toying around with some typically Bibio sounding cut up sampling bizness.



The second surprised me a little, Bibio's channel is filled with Guitar jams and whatnot that you'd expect from him, but while browsing his videos I found this. He actually does a really, really good job of it,especially considering his usual territory. I'd love to get my hands on an MP3 of this!



Speaking of house, here we have my other favourite YouTube with Rex The Dog's. (rexthedog1980) I've mentioned it before, but he does some cool stuff too, first off is another live jam session like the ones in those Bibio vids which shows off a fair amount of the lovely analogue tech that he has lying around in his studio.



But the highlight of it all for me is Rex covering his own song I Look Into Mid-Air on a circuit bent Casio VL Tone. Most Circuit bending videos are all about glitchy sounds which is fun for a while but I never see much actual music being put down, which is what made this video so special. The end result sounds like something you'd hear coming out of a cartridge titled N64 or something, it's brilliant definitely check it out!



- Claude Van Foxbat

Melodic Grit

Hey guys, know it's been quiet lately and I'm sorry about that, I have to write blogs for university and it's kinda hectic. To make up for it have some bits from a Clark EP I got with my fancy new reissue of his Clarence Park LP!

It's a shorty but it's got some good stuff on it, it came bundled with the reissue 'cos originally you could only get it with pre-orders Body Riddle and Clark thought it deserved to be heard by more peeps. CC himself calls it the "Faster, Ravier brother of Body Riddle" and I have to agree with him there. Check it out for yourself on early highlight Lady Palindrome.



Movin' on, we have a slightly more heavy track in Friday Bread. Aside from the drums it doesn't really sound like anything Clark's put out before, and it's only about a minute and a half long which is a bit of a shame I'd like to have seen what he made of it if it were full length. Regardless, he covers a lot of ground here in a short time frame and it's pretty much all good.



Proper Lo-Fi is one of my choice cuts from Clarence Park, so I imagined this to be a re-tooled version of that. And it is sort of, its the "ravier brother" all right, chopped up from here to London and back. It's a pretty good track to start off with, but like so many others before it the break sealed the deal. From there on it only gets better, the last minute or so is pure synthesized heaven to me.



In the middle we have the perplexingly titled 820689. It's another short one, but in the vein of the interludes from Clarence Park. It has some very interesting sounds and while it's not the floor rattlers from earlier on the EP it is still certainly an interesting listen to go with that interesting title.



I can't go posting the whole EP, so instead I'll let it show itself out with the final track; Mother McKnight. It's another little ambient bit with little growls and clatterings in the background to keep you on your toes. Aside from a couple pure ambient bits on Clarence Park I haven't heard Clark do much of it. And if this track is anything to go by he certainly should do more, because this is lovely.



Knight Night,
- Claude Van Foxbat

Eccojams

So I'm apparently late to this whole 'Vaporwave' thing. It's a 'micro-genre' that's already in decline. It's a shame really cos I dig the vibes and visuals for the scene. So I thought I'd share probably my favourite example of it. A little cassette tape called Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. I. Now, Chuck Person is really just an alias for Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never fame, you may recognise some of the cuts on here from his youtube channel SunsetCorp.

click for big (1,003px × 596px)

now unfortunately because it's a half hour mix on both sides A & B, and because I've run out of soundcloud time I'm having to upload it to YouTube of all places. Butbefore that I'll leave you once again with a couple of bits I've posted before from OPN's Memory Vague that just so happen to be on this mix too! Enjoy.





In Red,
- Claude Van Foxbat

Deadbeat's Beats [Soundcloud Players broken as of 2020)

Hello again! I'm making more of an effort to not let there be big periods of downtime in between posts (and when unis not kicking my arse), and after having the weekend away I needed something quick and easy to share with y'all, so I thought why not my partner in rhyme Deadbeat Demon AKA Earl Grey. Tracks after my reworked version of his soundcloud av.

Kicking things off is a tasty number that reminds me of both Modeselektor's Green Light Go & Kavinsky's The Crash/Flashback combo in equal measure.I had forgotten about this one actually, s it was a nice surpise to run into it again.

Fortune. by The Deadbeat Demon

And just as I've reworked his av, he's been doing some reworking of his own take for example his re-fix of Björk's Play Dead.

Play Dead by The Deadbeat Demon

And topping it all off is a mix of other tracks he's done that I dig. Can't really say much more about them than that, so I'll let the tunes talk and leave you all to enjoy the sounds! don't forget to check out all the demon's tracks over on his soundcloud for more hippity hop goodness

Sweet & Sour by The Deadbeat Demon

Park by The Deadbeat Demon

Fist of death by The Deadbeat Demon

Like Last Time,
- Claude Van Foxbat

All Is Full Of Love

I'm feeling particularly arty tonight, so I slapped on my records as usual and got to work. But then while browsing my folders of inspiration for material, I found my Chris Cunningham files again. The man is responsible for some of my favourite music videos of all time, and looking over his concept sketches for this video I just had to watch it again. I've already covered the three big videos he's directed - Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy and Windowlicker as well as Squarepusher's Come On My Selector. And I thought it was high time I covered his other famous piece; Björk's All Is Full Of Love

It's a stunning display, especially considering it's from '99, the CGI is brilliantly well done and still holds up fairly well to modern standards, I expected nothing less from Cunningham after his work with AFX and Squarepusher. It helps that the accompanying song is fantastic too, it's a different mix to the one included on her album Homogenic and dare I say it a better one too. Enjoy.



The first remix on offer is from a bloke called Guy Sigsworth. It takes a more subdued route to the sounds while retaining a similar structure. I actually didn't realise how muted this mix is compared to the original until I played them one after another, but the chorus and ending sections feature a beautiful explosion of electronics onto the scene, reminding me just a little of Clark's The Autumnal Crush. I don't have a problem with that - a thing I really enjoy when making art is watching different peoples approaches to the same thing; an object, feeling etc. so these remixes go down a treat.



Björk's interest in the world of experimental electronic becomes more pronounced towards the end, starting with this mix from a duo called Funkstörung. It's fairly by the numbers for experimental stuff, to me it resembles Tri Repeatae era Autechre, especially when the melodic streak running throughout gets it's own break around 3:13 or so. I wasn't too fond of this one to begin with, but like so many other tracks before it, upon revisiting it I found something within it that I loved, in this case that break I just mentioned. It's fleeting, but after the break is gone the track stays special, everything after it and through to the end is just golden.

And finally, Plaid. After guesting on their LP Not For Threes, Plaid and Björk have had a pretty tight relationship. I've said before that Plaid are very hit and miss for me, but there's no sign of misses here. After giving the basic melody their unique sound treatment for that intro, you're thrust into a sparse soundscape with only a rolling beat and Björk's vocal stylings for company. And aside from some sparkling synth lines dotted throughout and some squelchy pads added during the chorus about halfway in it stays largely the same. I get the feeling this mix is meant to be more about her vocals anyway, they are slightly higher in the mix than anything else, and no other mix has had the same approach. Saying that, I love their interpretation of it, and I think it's a fitting end to the EP.

Björk · björk : all is full of love (plaid mix) - 1999

And of course, I can't just write all that and leave all of you to go find the video yourselves could I? Well here it is, it really is a phenomenal video and is definitely worth your time.



Artificial,
-Claude Van Foxbat

I'm So Spooked

Hey guys, I'm not dead! after a brief break from University and returning from a fantastic night out on the toon in Newcastle, I not only have time to post, but have things to post too! today's offering is bits from a mixtape I knocked up for a friend relating to a certain holiday approaching, Enjoy!

I already had the perfect opener lined up in the offering from the Cornelius EP that is unlike anything else put out there by the usually electric-centric duo The Bloody Beetroots. I thought it served well as an introduction to what I called rather unimaginatively The Spooky Tape.



I of course followed that up with their church based banger from their debut LP Romborama, it would have been rude not to. listening back to it with that in mind reveals all kindsa spooky goings on in the track right down to the thermin-esque whining bits in the background, and of course a healthy dose of the organ. As one person so nicely commented on my Youtube upload of this track "No more Castlevania remixes for me!".



I can't go around dropping videogames into the mix without including everyone's favourite 1980's inspired electro dealer (alongside the 'Vinsky of course) Danger. The intro just nails that old school feel and wouldn't sound too out of place in a low budget slasher horror from about 30 years ago. Do yourself a favour and see if you can ffind that video on youtube where someone synced this tune up to bits from The Terminator it's class.



I desperately needed a slightly more downtempo number to spice up the tape's structure, but it still had to be electronic. I found the answer in an underrated bit from Teenage Bad Girl. This track has always been a favourite of mine from Cocotte, it was a nice break from their usual repertoire, and I as moe than happy to see them carry the slower paced break tradition on to Backwash.

This gap allowed me to get a bit creative; see this friend is wanting to expand her music horizons and explore more electronic stuff. I ended up playing the safe choice on the actual mixtape and put Röyksopp's The Fear in. However for you fine people I'm going to treat you to my original choice in The Knife's The Captain, a beautifully haunting song that Olof from the duo describes as "What I imagine the Alps to sound like".



Saying that I did choose to put on one of Broadcast's weirder sounding tracks afterwards. Coming back to Pendulum was an experience all right, that off kilter sound, the unrelenting beat during the chorus and of course the lovely tones of Trish Keenan. Between all that it had certainly earned its place on the mix. That and to bring it back around to less electronic oriented stuff to finish it off.



Rounding off my selection is Ghosts from Ladytron. After listening almost exclusively to their debut 604, which is a record infused with the vibes of the 80's mixed with contemporary house, jumping to 2008's Velocifero was quite a shock. The electrics may not be as pronounced (minus that droney intro & outro), but the quality is still there and I'm kicking myself for not checking the rest of their discography sooner.



That'll do for now, but how about you make your own halloween mixtapes and share them with friends? it's a fun little distraction, and I've already given you a few tracks to get started with so get to it!

HALLOWEEN EDIT: One of our lovely readers by the name of Sulphites dropped by with their own spooky tape to share, you can find it over on their blog.

Boo,
- Claude Van Foxbat

THE RETURN OF EVIL STEREO

I realize this is highly unorthodox, seeing as that I technically don't work here anymore, but I never got my privileges taken away, so SCREW THE RULES, I HAVE MUSIC.

Formerly known as Evil Stereo, Randy Westbrook returns as SILVER AGE SCIENTIST in this unofficial and unauthorized compiled LP of all his unreleased material ranging from 2010 up til now! The Perfectionist features all of his best works that 'weren't good enough' to release, and took a backseat to his career as a professional video game player. Get it while it's hot!

Official statement from Randy:

My asshole friends decided that since I wasn't ever going to release all my music, that they would do the whole "Death of the author" thing and release them all for me. Welp. Here ya go."

TRACKLIST:

Intro
Atom Kids
Bomber Change
Reed Richards is Useless
Freeze Ray
Rogue
Blaxploitation
West Coast Avengers
Night of the Sentinels
Comets
Gwen Stacy (Bonus Track)

Download link for full album: http://archive.org/details/SilverAgeScientist-ThePerfectionist2012Lp

Now, some MP3s for right away.

BLLAAAAAH bad formatting, but I gotta go. Toodles.

A Very Warped Epilogue Five: The End

    Previous Part                                                                                                       The End   

So, this is it. One year and a bit, and with a boatload of posts behind me, It's finally time to close the door on Warped. Can't think of a better tribute to a label that's a legendary icon in the electronic world than that. There's still a bunch of stuff I haven't covered (Like Squarepusher's 1998 Jazz record Music Is Rotted One Note) so feel free to check the depths of Warp's back catalogue for yourselves! But before I go, I thought I'd give out one last smattering of tracks, just for old times sake.

Click for huge (2,000px × 1,111px)

A couple more from the Warp20 (Unheard) Compilation now, starting with Boards Of Canada's stellar contribution: Seven Forty Seven. That absolutely sublime opening is just unreal, and not long after I got my hands on this comp I found out that that same opening had been used previously by the Boards on a rare compilation tape floating around the the internet. It's simply titled Audiotrack 6A, and is vital listening, both as a compliment to the finished Seven Forty Seven and just to see how far Boards Of Canada have evolved in time.



Imagine my surprise when I look up the tracklist for (Unheard) and find a Broadcast track that had slipped under my radar. I had heard demo tapes from their last LP put out by James Cargill not long after vocalist Trish Keenan's death, but this would be the first new material I had heard from them since. The chance to hear something new from one of my favourite voices in music was just amazing. It comes in the form of a cover of Nico's Sixty Forty, judging by the sound it's from the Tender Buttons era, with Keenan on top form as usual. There's a couple hisses on her vocal track like the pop filter was missing from the mic when they recorded, normally that would put me off slightly, but in this case I actually think it really compliments the track. A fitting finale for the band.



Long before Clark became my de facto supplier of melodic noise, he was already releasing LPs with warp under his full name, Chris Clark. His debut from 2001 has some real gems on it,including one of mine and fellow writer Here's favourites; Lord Of The Dance. I just love every little thing about this track: the beats, the melodies, and even that flute that just drops into the mix about a minute in. It shouldn't fit with the sounds there, but it just settles on down and makes it work.



There's a much earlier highlight for me on the LP, and it's the unassumingly titled Bricks. Like Lord Of The Dance before it, it wastes no time cutting to the meat of the track. there's no intro, no steadily paced bulidup with eventual payoff, it's just there. It helps that the track itself is pretty great throughout, showing off plenty of that unique style that Clark is known for. That is to say, pure abrasive sounding noise waves that have a melodic streak in them, lovely stuff throughout.

Another LP I missed was Squarepusher's Hard Normal Daddy which he dedicated to the Chelmsford rave scene, simply 'cos by the time I'd got it, we'd long since passed it in the dates for Warped. It gets a lot of mixed reactions, I'll admit there are a few track I don't necessarily care for, a lot that are really long (6-8 mins mostly). Regardless there is still quality on here, as demonstrated by the opening two tracks, Pusher's Jazzy vibes are much more pronounced on these two compared to his previous releases, starting off with Coopers World.



Rounding off the LP is the one track from it that is in constant rotation by me, Beep Street. The album may have it's less than amazing moments, parts of it may be too long, but what it did give us in Beep Street is quite possibly one of the finest Squarepusher tracks ever made. The track serves as a nice introduction to new listeners as it introduces all the things that make that iconic 'pusher sound.



Drawing things to a close for the final time now, I thought I'd end it with a track I've had sat around for a while, also from the Warp20 series, Leila's sublime and beautiful cover of Aphex Twin's Vorhosbn. True to the style of Drukqs, Leila has recreated the main melody lines from Vordhosbn, a typically AFX experiment in drum programming, on a piano. It's amazing how simply taking the beats away and slowing the tempo slightly can have such a massive effect on the track's feel. Leila more than did justice to the original here, and I can think of no better note or track to end on than this one. So, for the last time, Enjoy.



Warp ∞,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Sit Up Straight

So my good friend Earl Da Grey AKA The Deadbeat Demon finally dropped his beat tape that he's been working on for a while. It's been a long time coming and I've loved the last couple tracks he's put out, and I knew from the preview that it was going to be pretty damn good. Check out the preview after the pic!

And just because, I'll hit you up with couple other tunes from the tape that I think is pretty swell. Guys on a roll lately when it comes to hittin' my sweet spots for hip hop, and I can't wait to see what he comes up with for our little collabo. For now though this is more than enough quality to keep me going.

Deadbeat Demon - Ice Cream

Deadbeat Demon - Filters

Find More Deadbeat Demon At:
'Good Posture' Beat tape
Soundcloud
Bandcamp
Twitter

What's The Dealio?
-Claude Van Foxbat

A Very Warped Epilogue: Part Four

    Previous Part                                                                                                       Next Part   

The end isn't too far away now, but I couldn't just let these last couple of AFX releases go unmentioned. Join me now as we take a slight step back to 1995 in this penultimate edition of Warped, and look at the work of the Aphex Twin towards the end of his first analogue period, before going fully digital for 1996's Richard D. James Album.

Heading the attack have an EP released under RDJ's often used AFX moniker; originally released as a two part vinyl release in 1995, it was given a lovely CD re-issue by the folks at Warp. It sounds entirely unlike the stuff he was making under Aphex Twin at the time, and in fact I think it's closer to Richard D. James Album than ...I Care Because You Do in terms of sounds.



This next one I loved for a long time, it has a lot of sweet melodies in it alongside the now expected beat butchery we know the Twin for. It caps off this EP in impressive fashion with another anagram-ed title no less; my absolute favourite moments being the peak in sound round about halfway through where it sounds like the synths are being pushed to their limits and might just explode at any minute.

Unfortunately I didn't pick up Donkey Rhubarb in time for the first round of Warped, my reasoning being that it was a short EP. In hindsight though, I do recommended you check it out, the Phillip Glass remix/orchestration of Icct Hedral is something a bit out of leftfield but is most definitely worth your time. Amway, onto the stark raving mental title track: the opening is like condensed happiness, and then the acid style beats and bass roll in and it's a whole 'nother track.



Of course, it wouldn't be an Aphex Twin EP without the token downtempo number. This is Donkey Rhubarb's (which is also another animal + food combo), and it's among my favourites. It has a real lo-fi sound to it that I don't think is present on any other AFX tracks from around this time, normally I'd hate that kind of thing being all about quality an all, but it really does work in this tracks favour.




Finally, we end with the Ventolin Remixes EP. And true to AFX's signature way of taking the piss, all but one of the tracks sound absolutely nothing like the original, abrasive monster that is Ventolin. These practically original tracks are actually quite good, an early favourite of mine being the 'remix' by Cylob: a nice number with a lot of contrast between the rolling beat and the light sounding synth that is introduced later.



Playing us out is the Probus mix, which isn't actually the name of the remixer (there's no credit for it, I'd assume it was RDJ himself), a slice similar to the more downtempo bits on ...I Care Because You Do. It plays out similar to Cylob's mix, albeit with a more distinct AFX touch to it throughout.



Right, bloody hell that was a fairly long one wasn't it? Only fitting considering there's only one or two more posts to go before I'm done with Warped forever. It's been a long time coming, but join me next time where we may close the book!

Armadillo Risotto,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Train Tracks

I like trains. They're alright, but up until now I've never had a reason to take them every day. Until now. I managed a few days before I couldn't cope anymore and enlisted the help of my ever trusty headphones. And that's where it comes into its own, the train journey now becomes your own personal music video.


Of course, I can't mention train soundtracks and music videos without dropping the most infamous example of it. The Brother's prolific video for Star Guitar was certainly present in my mind the first couple times I took the train, and it was only fitting that it was one of the first to accompany me on it. It felt fitting to use the original stone cold classic, while I do love Shinichi Osawa's electro-fied version, I had to give the Chems their run for the video alone.



It had been a while since I'd given Skream's debut a listen again, It's bloody quality stuff to this day, as a lot of earlier dub is. One of the standouts to me was the closer that just happened to come up after Star Guitar, it's filled with little flourishes in sound that are just great. And that constantly rolling bass lurking in the background of the mix doesn't go amiss either.



Just over halfway there and shuffle steps things up a bit, with a dollop of new school house from Rex The Dog. I love this track because it's a bloody perfect example of drop-teasing done correctly. Unlike tracks where you get 5 minutes of buildup for 30 seconds of payoff before another five minutes of build (looking at you there, Deadmau5), Rex teases you with snippets of the main hook before delivering in spades and heading effortlessly into breaks. It's really something.




I just couldn't leave Shinichi hanging though, after all The One is pretty class. So as we pull into the station this little number comes on; the closing track to The One, filled with all the good vibes and electro warbles that the rest of the LP has, all based around that one loop. I always get it and The Patch mixed up, they are quite similar 'cos they're both are based around a loop, the difference being I listened to The Patch to death and had forgotten all about Ami Nu Ku Tuu so that was a nice surprise!



And finally, giving me an upbeat start to my day was a long forgotten track from UK indie kids The Go! Team. Get It Together joins the exclusive club alongside Chris Clark's Lord Of The Dance of tunes I have with playful wind instruments in them. While that whole part of the track is pretty sweet,the real highlight for me is that amazing breakdown at the end (2:45) that completely changes the feel of the track and infuses it with some vinyl scratchin', hip hoppin' goodness.



Right, and now m'off to go book my ticket in preparation for doing it all again tomorrow! I'll catch you again somewhere down the line.

De-railed,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Another Late Night

Actually having a schedule again has mad a big difference for me. No more am I going to bed at 3AM, and I kinda miss the late night aesthetics. But that doesn't mean I can't hit you up with some of my favourite accompaniment for the wee hours!


A bit of a wildcard this one, BoC don't often do remixes but when they do it's the same standard of quality you'll find on their LPs. Boom Bip is given the whole Campfire Headphase treatment on this one, unfortunately as good as it is, and given the sheer popularity of BoC, it is actually quite hard to come by in any quality above 192kbps so apologies in advance.



Apparat's Walls lends itself well to late night endeavours, this track in particular was especially memorable as even though I could barely hear it with the volume turned low, most of it was still perfectly listenable, especially after that cacophony of sound is released around 2 minutes in.




I've long since fallen out of the dubstep scene, but I still love the older styled stuff, especially when it comes to remixes. Like Skream's brilliant rework of La Roux's In For The Kill, this one is one of my favourite dub remixes. I haven't heard of Various before, probably because they have a really vague name, but this remix is class; chilled out vibes with smatterings of vocals from the original dropped throughout, works even better on a low volume.



Autechre made a surprise return to my collection when I checked out the Warp20 (Unheard) Compilation. I thought their techno experiments ended not long after Incunabula, but apparently not according to this unreleased gem. It shares a lot of melodic and structural qualities with Incunabula, and that album is one of my favourite examples of ambient techno so this new addition goes down a treat.



That'll be all for now, I'll be dropping more quick selections when I can, I'm trying to spice things up in terms of variety so stay tuned. Until then just have a gander at these fine music pieces.

New York, Lower East Side,
- Claude Van Foxbat

A Very Warped Epilogue: Part Three

    Previous Part                                                                                                       Next Part   

I don't even know how I managed to miss this one out of the main coverage, but at least I'm giving it the go-over now. Along with Richard D. James Album, this EP ranks high in my list of all time favourites by the Twin, once again, like with WIndowlicker with a lot of credit going to Chis Cunningham for his legendary video for the title track.


So what is there to be had here? well quite a lot actually, to the point where it's officially labelled as a 'mini-album' to fit within UK chart criteria for EPs (30 mins and under). It wastes no time in kicking things off with the spectacular bombardment that is the title track, which I'm sure needs no introduction, but I'll give it a go anyway. Like Windowlicker, there's not really a lot of insane beat tampering going on as you'd expect, but at the same time it's the complete opposite of Windowlicker in terms of sound. That was morelaidback and smooth, this is straight up in your face abraision.



The EP turns things 180 for the second track (frequently mislabeled as Film), introducing us to probably one of the lightest tracks outside of the Selected Ambient Works volumes that AFX has ever done. There's no introduction it just dives right in with all the elements already there, but each is just fantastically executed, that drum work and the light 'n airy keys just sound so right together.



I have an interesting story with this one, whenever I heard it I always thought "that's a neat idea" and then skipped it, thinking the entire track was based around the titular bouncing ball-esque sounds. It wasn't until I listened to a live bootleg that I heard the track in full, and that break at around 1:30 just absolutely blindsided me. On the strength of that I gave it a full listen and the rest of it is just quality, I'm still not a huge fan of that intro though.




Something unusual for an AFX EP next, it's a reworking of To Cure A Weakling Child from Richard D. James Album by RDJ himself. I have a similar taste for it as Bucephalus Bouncing Ball, the intro is OK, but the break and everything after 1:20 is downright spectacular, thanks to that updated rendition of the original's melody.



And finally, playing us out is another chilled number in the vein of Flim. Unlike its earlier counterpart, most of IZ-US is based around one melody rather than the back and forth exploration on Flim, but it's short enough and structured nicely so that it works. The ending of it, and with it the EP is a bit abrupt, but like a lot of AFX material released around this time, it's not about flashy endings.



Of course, I couldn't just have all that build up and then leave you hanging without the video could I? no, unlike the EP itself, we're going out with a bang with the infamous visual compliment to the main mix of Come To Daddy. Enjoy.


Stop Making That Big Face!,
-Claude Van Foxbat

Hip Hop Grab Bag

It's that time once again, where I go trawling through my files for listening/sharing purposes. I was tracking down Boards Of Canada's early and rarer works when that hip hops itch needed to be scratched once again. And I decided the only cure was a little bit of everything, in the vein of my older pick 'n mix styled posts. More words and music after the art, as usual.


Now, Boards Of Canada. Usually ambient electronic tunes right? well, back when they were signed to Skam Records, they donned the name Hell Interface for a couple remixes on a couple of compilation/sampler type dealies. Much like AFX, BoC took the opportunity spread out genre wise with the new name, leaving their techno infused ambient vibes behind for this one. And because of that we get a sweet techy sounding rework of Midnight Star's Midas Touch.



Mr. Scruff is a mainstay of mine for chilled out hip hop vibes, Keep It Unreal has some real quality on it, especially during the opening half. A lot of it seems to be overshadowed by the (admittedly brilliant) Get A Move On, so enjoy the track immediately after that: Midnight Feast. It's a slow moving number fitting of it's title, with some smatterings of piano throughout, not unlike Krush's Song 1 I put up not too long ago.



A brief turn to the upbeat before we dive back into mellow vibes, Mehdi's earlier works are pretty special themselves, his unique brand of hip hop/electro melding that I thought was underused on Lucky Boy is out in full force here, and it's terrific. The samples are well selected and brilliantly executed throughout, the break at 0:45 being the highlight of it all for me.




I mentioned the hip hop bits spliced between the D&B on the E-Z Rollers Weekend World before, there's only a couple so I got worn out on them for a long while. After I gave them a rest for about 5 months, this popped up again on shuffle, and it was fresh once again. It captures that hazy lounge feel very well indeed, not something you'd expect from a largely D&B record, but it works incredibly well both on the LP and by itself.



And lastly, the opening cut from Tricky's debut Maxinquaye. If we're talking hazy atmospherics, this one is the undisputed king. From the moment those beats come cascading in, backed by those swooping synths until the end, it just doesn't stop. Of course, the vocal stylings of Martina Topley-Bird play a big role in the atmosphere as well, as she almost whispers through the verses. A real classic, and probably the best stylistic example of trip-hop there is.



Drop Hazard,
-Claude Van Foxbat

You Can Ignore My Techno?

So I've posted some Orbital tracks a couple times over the past few weeks, and I've noticed a curious trend: Every time I've posted a track of theirs, our lovely Hype Machine page that's meant to archive everything we post for the fine people there to listen to, has completely missed them out every time! So today I'm going to do a little experiment, to see whether the old Hype Machine just doesn't like Orbital.


Starting much like every week does with Monday as we trek through Orbital's classic Brown Album. Now I love me some contrasts in my tunes, and they're on this album in spades; opening with that organ-esque synth before the unrelenting rolling beats come in is just fantastic, especially when it all falls away for that magnificent bass filled break at around 1:20.



Similarly, remind is another favourite of mine, as just like in Monday, you're greeted by a lovely 'n light intro, but it's not long until that fades, leaving you with straight up techno. The lightness returns in a break around the three and a half minute mark, but doesn't last long before it's swept away among that sea of spectacular squelchy 303s.




Bringing things back a little bit to their debut, the Green Album, we have a few more prime examples, my favourite two being the live tracks packed in. The first, Chime is an Orbital staple I'm sure I don't need to introduce. True to it's reputation, it is pretty sweet indeed, there's some fine basslines throughout and of course the usual 303 affair we've come to expect. Classic.



Immediately after you're treated to another slice of techno goodness, and the mixing together of the two tracks is pretty special. What follows is a slightly more laid back approach to the usual tech sounds. That is until about 2 minutes in when some more drums come into the mix as does a crunchy guitar-esque synth. but then it's gone just as soon as it appeared, and we're back to laidback territory, they act almost as extended breaks because they just make that eventual explosion of sound that much sweeter.



Right, let's see if the HM picks any of that up! I've given them plenty of opportunities in this one, so I'm looking forward to what gets archived, keep F5ing that page for any signs of Orbital.

Sine Off,
- Claude Van Foxbat

Tetra

Hi there C2C's album is finally out, needless to say that I was pretty excited to get my hands on it. It's pretty much a flawless album, except for Down The Road that I still find awfuly average and I don't even understand how they could chose it to be their first EP, that song's incredibly weak compared to the rest of the album. If you like melting pots, you'll be served, because it's filled with influences from Gospell to Jungle, Jazz to Hip Hop, all this with great voices. Voices you say ? Half of the tracks include featurings from people such as Derek Martin or Olivier Daysoul. The Cell opens the album, and from what I've heard it's also their opener when they do a live, more than understandable, the progression is amazing.



Happy, the more than well named song, features Derek Martin's golden voice in a very Gospel influenced track that'll make you enjoy a long train trip like nothing else.



Delta on the other hand is more than actual, beat juggling, scratching, samples coming from everywhere... I don't like rating songs, but this deserves 11/10.



Olivier Daysoul's been on my little list of voices I love since his track with Hudson Mohawke, Joy Fantastic. I didn't know what to expect, that song could have been heading in a lot of different directions, they decided to keep it "classic" and it works, god does it work.



Last C2C song I'll post today, Arcades, from Down The Road EP, but also on this album with F.U.Y.A. and Down The Road. You probably heard it a lot, but this time it comes with a video!



My little bonus, because I know a lot of you've been waiting for The Magician

The Magician · Magic Tape 25

Tracklist:

Plastic Plates - Things I Didn't Know (AMine Edge & Dance Remix)
Waze & Odyssey - Love That Burns
Ladyhawke- My Blue Eyes (Jacques Renault Remix)
Vanilla Ace - Vanilla Sky
Sohight & Cheevy - Travel Anthem (Moullinex remix)
Walker & Royce - Little Things (Eli Escobar Remix)
NTEIBINT - Time (Fabrizio Mammarella Remix)
Kill The Hero - Surrender (Shazam Remix)
Two Door Cinema Club - Sleep ALone (Beataucue Remix)
Hot Chip - How Do You DO ? (Todd Terje Remix)
Jonas Rathmans - W4W


Enjoy!
-Here

You Can't Ignore My Techno

Bringing up Warp's unique take on tat early 90's techno sound got me listening to other tech stuff I have from around that time, mostly 1993-1992. Warp's "Electronic Listening Music" as they call it is undoubtedly my favourite, but it's nice to see the roots and progression within the genre, and how it relates to the electronic scene as a whole today.


Opening the proceedings is a tune I only just barely remember from my youth (mostly because of the mental music video). I forgot about it for a long time, until I was looking at samples for Orbital's Halcyon + On + On and looked it up on YouTube. The tune itself hasn't actually aged that badly, the production on it is still top notch and holds up unlike some of the older 'anthems'.



And I can't go mentioning that sample without posting the incredible Orbital track. like Autechre's The Egg/Eggshell mixes, one's more dancefloor based, and the other's a bit more sedated. I'm never quite sure of the two versions of Halcyon I like more; the On + On mix is a spectacular example of Ambient Techno, but the original makes brilliant use of some samples that are a lot quieter in the other mix. But I've already Posted On+ On, so this time original version wins!.




Slowing things down as we draw things to a close we have the legendary Underground Resistance with an incredibly smooth number from their debut Revolution For Change. The sounds laid down in those first 30 seconds or so are golden, they're absolutely incredible for 1992 and the introduction of that bassline not long after is just fantastically done. The Resistance's reputation is well deserved,and this is as good a demonstrator as any.



lastly, we have a group I discovered one day while discogs hopping. While I'm not a massive fan of their name, they do have some pretty good tunes. The LP I took this from, Colourform is mostly made up of slower paced, ambient-ish stuff with a few moodier tech stuff thrown in for good measure. It doesn't have that ethereal quality of the straight up ambient tech, nor is it as fast in terms of percussion, but still manages to create that calm atmosphere in a style that's refreshingly different.



And that concludes our adventures through the world of early 90's techno, it's a shame there's no real equivalent in sound these days, but there's certainly more than enough of it to go around.

Just For A Short While,
-Claude Van Foxbat