I have a areal soft spot for The Knife's debut Hot off the heels of her original band Honey Is Cool Karin and her brother Olof make a indie tinged record with simple synths that's upbeat in places but also has hints of their future work à la Silent Shout, as heard here in the sublime opener, Neon.
Ellsworth Kelly - Spectrum Colours Arranged By Chance III (1951)
I'd long forgotten about this one, there's a bunch of good remixes on Locust Toybox's Remixes And Other Crap. From the title and metadata comments it seems Firth didn't care for a lot of the work on it, but they are quite nice to listen to every now and then. A reminder that you can get all of Locust Toybox's releases for free (and legally) over on this page
James Rosenquist - Myth And Technology B - "Above" (1982)
This tune was a surprise for me going into First Album, I couldn't find a preview of it anywhere on the internet. I was reluctant at first, but not too long after my first listen I knew it would be a long standing favourite; its a brilliant example of how well The Hacker's production merges with Kittins lyrical contribuions.
Back in the day I downloaded this tune from some blog that probably doesn't exist anymore, it didn't have a remix credit so for a long time I just assumed it was the original mix (I still hate people stapling (Original Mix) on the end of things mind, because you don't need to if you credit remixes correctly). But that was a long time ago, sometimes I miss the days of blog trawling for the latest electro fix. Things have changed since then though, but I don't regret it for a minute, cos without that I probably wouldn't be writing this right now.
Rex The Dog's debut is nothing short of stellar, there's hardly a bad tune on it and the production overall is just quality, he's kept mum since though with only 2 EPs released since around 2008 (check out his latest Do You Feel What I Feel) Here's track 3, from the charming The Rex The Dog Show with a nifty vocal sample scattered about it, it won't disappoint.
long time illustrator for Gorillaz and Tank Girl Jamie Hewlett's style is easily spotted. I love almost all of his work but it's a shame his website is so barren, cos I'd like to collect some sketches for my flash folder when I need that inspirational kick. Here's one of the few decent sized examples I've managed to scrounge and a lovely remix from D-Sides.
Long time listen of mine, Silent Shout holds the spot as one of my favourite electronic albums of all time, everything from the visual direction to the sounds themselves are just perfect. I've held off posting the title track and album opener for a long time because I didn't feel like I could say anything new about it, I still can't, but it sets up the entire aesthetic and is a solid intro to the cold and haunting vibes of the album.
AFX's compilation of his early work released on R&S Records in 1995 is by and large straight up Acid stuff he was doing in the early days before the beat butchery he's known for today. There is however, a special lighthearted number hidden away among the tracks, and that is the very first installment of his long running Analogue Bubblebath series. It sounds even more upbeat when shoved up against tracks like Dodeccaheedron, and while not amazingly complex like his later work it has a real charm to it that makes it still shine today.
Another short lived project, I wrote about the awesome b-side Rhythm a while back. The A-side, while not as good IMO, crops up a lot when you go lookin' for the engineers and seems to be the most popular of the two sides. Despite being produced by DJ Rap, nothing more ever came out of Engineers Without Fears, which is a shame cos their sound was pretty sweet indeed.
More from the short lived Games project now. Before being revamped as Ford & Lopatin they released theThat We Can Play EP that I wrote a little bit about before. It's a love letter to the hlf remembered early electronic sound. Most of it wouldn't sound out of place in the era it's emulating, though this one has more of a Kavinsky-esque feel to it for sure.
Late Night Tales is a series I've always admired from a distance. Getting people to arrange a compilation of their favourite nighttime tracks is a brlliant idea, and one I'd love to chip in with if it weren't for their tradition of including a cover by the compiler on every release. Anyways, the latest one from or Norwegian pals Röyksopp doesn't disappoint, a fairly eclectic collection no doubt but there's something in there for everyone. Check the minimix and see for yourself.
And a shorter video preview, but this one actually lists most of the tracks, normally I'd tag the minimix myself but there's only a couple missing from the vid.
Bibio making a comeback in my playlists in prep for his new LP dropping soon on Warp of course. This got me listening to his previous and wouldn't you know it the same thing's happened again, a track I was meh on has made itself known, and I'm kicking myself for not giving it full attention before. Bibio's cut up beats are spectacular on this one, with my favourites being round abut both sides of 4 minutes in before the calm sets in. Check it.
Taking a moment away from student housing headaches to share some more tune with you, Daft Punk's relationship with Italian producer extraordinaire Giorgio Moroder goes back further than Random Access Memories, here's a cheeky cover they did to close a live set at the Rex Club in Paris way back in '97.
One of my favourite internet people David Firth has been awful quiet lately, he's set off on another travelling jaunt around Europe this time. Shame because he'd just revived the excellent Waller FM podcast on Fat-Pie. Still while we wait there's other pieces by him to digest, take his Locust Toybox work for example. Enjoy.
Röyksopp's live shows rarely disappoint, the one EP they've put out of a live show is pretty much golden all the way through, fittingly titled Röyksopp's Night Out, a 40 minute trip through their discography up until The Understanding with a cheeky Queens Of The Stone Age cover towards the end. Here's an alternate mix of Poor Leno that has so much more energy and bonus vocoders than it's studio counterpart on the Poor Leno EP.
Daniel Lopatin - Still From Memory Vague (Computer Vision) (2009)
Another Artist / tune maker combo this time from Ambient mainstay Oneohtrix Point Never. He's moved more into sampled based stuff recently, here's a bit from the Rifts (the original 2009 edition, not the recent 2012 re-issue). Like BoC, I just adore the old vintage sounds that make up his sound. Check it for your daily dose of analogue synth.
Another from the archives, vocoders are till the best thing ever to my ears, and this is by far the finest example of it from Vitalic's catalogue from his amazing debut OK Cowboy reminds me a little of some stuff from Bag Raiders if I'm honest, definitely check it out if you missed it the first time.
I've fallen into that pit again of having no schedule and staying up to the wee hours because I can, only this time with more games of Cards Against Humanity. One thing stays constant like, and that's audio accompaniment.
We'll kick things off right away with a couple tracks that have been scratching my hip hop itch. Number one is long time Aesop Rock producer Blockhead with the original instrumental version of Daylight from Aeosp's Labor Days album. I tracked the instumental down after diggin' that track, Aesop's is all fine and dandy,but this instrumental is far too sweet to pass up.
Next is a group I recently came across when exploring Nightmares On Wax's label. The Deadbeats don't seem to be that popular, which is a shame because their stuff is very sweet indeed. Here's the track that introduced me, sweet as is, that special moment when that beat slams in around 1:15 sold it.
And bringing us to the final two, I had to pay my hometown hero the Wax man some service. Here's a long one from my highly recommended LP of his Smokers Delight, I just love the little guitar flourishes throughout. And the shelf wobbling bass doesn't go amiss either.
And finally, standout chillout piece from the Knife's soundtrack to Swedish thriller Hannah Med H still a favourite of mine to this day, it's got more in common with their first self titled LP and Karin's old band Honey Is Cool than their later work for sure. The last quarter is pretty much perfection, completely nails the sound.
Another bit from Apparat, this time with added assistance from Berlin dwellers Modeselektor, together making Moderat geddit? Anyways, they do have a particular way with sound which is only amplified when they collab, this tunes just as striking as Useless Information and just as intense perhaps even more so. It has a killer main melody and Apparat on the vocals to boot. Well produced and with pleasant noises. What more could you want?
Chris Cunningham - Still from New York Is Killing Me (2010)
Apparat really made an impact on me with 2008's Walls, being only familiar with his remix work for people like Boys Noize the sounds on the LP came as quite a surprise, orchestral tinged 'IDM' style number in the vein of Venetian Snares' Rossz Csillag Alatt Született or The Flashbulb that have a great deal of power behind them. Here's an early standout.
Another art/tune combo this time, I've mentioned before Goldie's moved back into graffiti. Back in the day he was involved with Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, their styles are quite similar now with Goldie adopting stencils into his freehand work as opposed to his old wildstyle tags, though compared to Robert's stuff Goldie definitely has more of a Blek Le Rat vibe going on with his stenciling style. Anyways, enjoy another bit from Goldie's landmark self descriptive debut. Timeless
Got into mix taping again. I know, I know, but I did a little bit more mixing on this one than before, so I feel comfortable calling it that. After giving the Miss Kittin's brilliant Radio Caroline Vol. 1 another listen, I've decided I like the idea enough to take it into my own hands, so here's a 'what I'm listening to' basically. I didn't want this to feel bare, so I've put some art in there too, it's a it rough around the edges but that's because I've re-used it from an old graphic design project. Tracks and links after the art!
Tracklist:
Golden Boy With Miss Kittin - Nix (Or, 2003)
A:xus – When I Fall In Love (Stryke's Acid Dub Techsture) (When I Fall Remix Project, 2000)
Misstress Barbara - Never Could Have Your Heart (Misstress Barbara vs Barbara Brown Vol. 1, 2002)
Mount Sims - Later On That Night (UltraSex, 2002)
Felix Da Housecat - Silver Screen Shower Scene (Thin White Duke Remix) (Silver Screen Shower Scene EP, 2002)
