Spur of the moment post, but yesterday it was Mother's Day here in the UK, so don't get all worried that you haven't got her a gift or anything if you're in the US or elsewhere! I have a bunch of relevant tunes, but here's three that really shine.
Ivan Shishkin - Rain In An Oak Forest (1891)
Funkateers Chromeo were pretty much a given on this list. This tune was long a favourite from Fancy Footwork and I used to use it to intro people to Chromeo cos I think it shows off what they do really well in a pretty short timeframe.
I remember the Bloody Beetroots from back in my bloghopping days when I was listening to more electro than was probably healthy. Whoda thought that their first album would actually have some pretty sweet non-dancefloor stuff on it, including this one that's got more than a tint of Justice's Valentine to it...
And finally, tune I've held off posting for a while cos it's actually massive. Like Timeless, Goldie's sophomore LP Saturnz Return is opened with Mother, an hour long epic that goes from classical to drum & bass and back again. It takes up almost all the first CD of the album and my 320 rip is a whopping 138 MB, To save on bandwidth have this resampled to 192kbps version.
Just got to the first bit of time off since the start of this year (and even then I still have work to do). Waking up late with no responsibilities other than some video editing which I like doing anyway is pretty sweet, as usual here's a slice of my daily soundtrack.
Jim Rosenquist - Tosca (2009)
Kicking off with another bit of MF Doom's Special Herbs Instrumental series. I've only just begun to get tired of it and should really grab some more instrumental goodness, but there are some that stay just as sweet every time, see below.
Onto deeper stuff now. My love for OPN is well documented sure, but I've been digging the FRKWYS EP revently. A collab between minimalist veteramn David Borden, James Ferraro, Laurel Halo, Samuel Godin and of course Lopatin himself taking part in some live Jam sessions. By far and away the highlight is the last track, an awesome demonstration of their skills coming together.
And finally the original penultimate track from Psyence Fiction. It's a bit of a break away from the usual trip hop vibe, but with Thom Yorke on the featuring credits and that almost post-rock build up it's a pretty spectacular way to end the tracklist for sure.
Like most of you I've grown to love certain imprints over the years. Brainfeeder, Boys Noize records, Ed Banger and Mouseville are some notable examples. One of my favorite new labels though is "Other People", born from the ashes of Clown & Sunset, this is one source you need to keep on your radar. Started by Nicolas Jaar this white hot label is more of a subscription label right now. For $5 a month every Sunday they drop some of the freshest tracks around. Yes there are some notable full lengths like Darksides's Psychic and some samplers but track for track this is the best thing out right now (in my opinion obviously). Let's take a look why and learn about the heavy hitters of the label....
Nicolas Jaar: One of my favorite producers of all time, this guy can really do no wrong. From his stellar set from Sonar Festival in 12' to his groundbreaking Essential mix, everything he touches turns to gold. It's his brainchild so most of the artists on this label follow in his slow-burning, Spanish infused, micro house footsteps.
Valentin Stip: Aside from Jaar, French artist Valentin Stip has but out a great deal of the releases from Clown & Sunset. His Angst EP was one of my favorites from last year warrants your time.
Acid Pauli: Acid Pauli got his big break when he dropped the track "A Clone Is A Clone" which sounds as great as something Jaar would have released. Nico returned the favor and unleashed Pauli's track "La Voz Tan Tierna" on the world during his Essential Mix on Radio one. Unlike most of the Artists on the Other People imprint Pauli has a full length out now.
Vtgnike: Pronounced Vinage Nike, this Russian producer is almost the black sheep of the Other People Family. Left field Juke music is his speciality and he really has nothing out right now. His first track "Untitled Juke" was released in the Don't Break My Love sampler and was the strongest out of the album. His drops April 2nd but it's available to stream now and it lives up to the hype.
Darkside: Ooooooh man Darkside.....Nicolas Jaar and guitarist Dave Harrington make, mind bending, psychedelic rock/house fusion, I don't think I need to say anything about this group or their EP Psychic other than if you haven't heard it yet stop whatever your doing and dive in.
90% of Other People and Clown & Sunset releases are free to stream on soundcloud so go dig deeper and get hooked, this really is the bees knees people.
Been meaning to get myself round to pickin up audiosurf for a while now, its a game right up my alley and luck would just have it that I scooped it for peanuts thanks to the Humble Bundle crew. It's been a real treat for the eyes and ears, here's what I used for my first few sessions.
Purely from an alphabetic standpoint AFX went first (and also is the namesake of this post). This suitably acidic number is pretty easy going for the most part until it drops those sequenced claps every now and then which properly ups the intensity.
Keeping it alphabetical, another relic of my early 2000s listening history with a remix of A:xus' When I Fall In Love. Like AFX it was pretty easy going for the most part thanks to it being Deep House and all, but it was an excellent showcase of the visuals, and I gave the tune it's first proper listen in about 3 years (which I'm in love with all over again).
Another appearance from the Salt City Orchestra folk. Might not be as much of an instant classic as their remix of Marshall Jefferson's Mushrooms I posted a while back, but it sure is a funky spin on the moody musings of the Sneaker Pimps. There's some good basslines in here, the mix certainly lives up to its name.
Canadian Jaques Greene graced Chicago with his presence last night, and destroyed Primary Nightclub. Even though Greene is with the famous Lucky Me collective my expectations were pretty low. With only a couple of strong singles and a brief EP I had no idea what type of music he would spin.
One of the grandfathers of the Chicago footwork scene Dj Traxman opened up and schooled everyone on the history of the scene while throwing in great juke house and acid tracks.
Greene was next up and played a little of everything from Clams Casino to A$AP Fergs work remix and great future garage tracks in between.
I even got to meet the guy!
All in all it was a great set and I'll be following this name as it becomes bigger and bigger. If your a fan of SBTRKT then you'll absolutely fall in love.
Hey guys, it's Nite. I apologize if this post seems a bit random/short. I had intended to do either an album review or a record label post initially. However, my Stepmother just passed away this past Sunday, so I'm not really up for doing that post at the moment. Instead, I'm going to post a bunch of tracks that I really like. So yeah...Enjoy.
As I used to say s long ago, sometimes shuffle just gets it right you know? Case in point: I've been slaving over this awful presentation I have to do, and keeping me sane was a frankly brilliant selection of mellow tunes courtesy of random chance, check some of my favourites out below.
Robert Del Naja - Peace At Last (Fire Sale Edition print, 2013)
Felix's last album got a pretty mixed reception but did it ever shine in parts. The closer gives me vibes like the opener to Virgo Blaktro & The Moviedisco did, with a little bit of Analog City from Kittenz & Thee Glitz. I think it closes the LP beautifully.
Another visit from my hometown hero NOW now, with something a little older I can't believe I've not posted before. Finer is one of the few tracks with vocals on Carboot Soul but that just makes it sweeter. Guest Sarah Winton really shines here, I should really look into her stuff one of these days.
And finally, UNKLE breaking their usual trip hop sound on their debut LP with a downtempo instrumental piece that actually isn't vary chaotic at all and brings the album around to it's finishing couple tracks. Like the Alpinestars' Partisan Song, there's nothing else on the LP that sounds quite like it but it's a solid addition to an already quality album.
New OPN announced pretty recently, as part of a new EP coming out of his called 'Commissions I' coming your way on record store day. Listened to it a couple of times and I gotta say I'm digging it. The swooping synths are a far cry from his Juno-60 arpeggios of Rifts but I am loving the new direction as of R Plus Seven with those little bits of noise poking through every now and then to unnerve you a bit. Not for everyone sure, but if you're into ambient at all, this here is good listening.
Tracklist of Commissions I is:
A1 - Music For Steamed Rocks
Composed by Daniel Lopatin for Witold Lutosławski's Preludes at Polish Icons 2, Sacrum Profanum, 2013
A2 - Meet Your Creator
Composed by Daniel Lopatin for Quadrotor performance at Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase, 2012
B1 - I Only Have Eyes For You
Composed by Harry Warren and Al Dubin (Remick Music Corp). Cover commissioned for the SONG1 Happening installation event by Doug Aitken at the Hirshhorn Museum, 2012
Long time pal 'o mine shot me a message a while back saying he was jonesing for the stuff we used to jam to circa '07-'09. Luckily I have everything from then stashed away on corners of my HDD and shot them over to him. It's weird to see my taste change over just a few years, especially when I look back at my posts on here, but enough remenissin', time for the tracks!
Robert Del Naja - Peace At Last (Fire Sale Edition print, 2013)
I remember MSTRKRFT's follow up to the classic The Looks getting panned a lot on release. Must've done a number on the lads 'cos that's that last LP we've had from them. Granted Fist Of God isn't as solid as it's predecessor, but I'll be damned if it doesn't have a sweet opening track.
Felix was a longstay in our circles, I'd use him alongside Daft Punk's Discovery to introduce people to house with 2001's excellent electoclash infused LP Kittenz & Thee Glitz. As above, this is a tune from the follow up to that album, but unlike the 'KRFT, this one's one of Felix's more popular tunes.
And to finish, Alive 2007. I don't even need to say much here, it's probably one of the best live albums ever and it captures the vibe brilliantly. Would've liked to hear more studio stuff from them that sounded like this, but I suppose they owed disco a lot after the success of Discovery so I can't blame 'em.
Took the weekend off as usual, thought I'd post again to make up for me absence. No real theme today, just some tunes I picked out I've not heard in a while, prep yer ears after you get your usual dose of eye candy below.
Takashi Murakami - Chaos (1999)
Put away Netsky's debut for a long time, only so many times you can hear them fourteen tracks without getting sick and his newer stuff has taken a backseat. Still I'm a sucker for pitched down vocals (hence my love for The Knife and such), and I'd forgotten this one completely.
Imagine my surprise when flicking through a professional video magazine for research and I see Tellier's video for Look listed. I've seen it before, it's 4 minutes of rotoscoped butt walkin'. If I can find me a job when I get out of University that lets me do that for cash I don't think I'll ever doubt my choices again. Oh yeah, the tune's pretty sweet too.
Also looked into Pfadfinderei, the collective responsible for all things Modeselektor and Moderat. Which led me back to long time pal of them two Apparat. I really need to pick up more of his stuff, I adore Walls and it's lovely blend of atmospheres, but after the new Moderat record I'm itching for more.
Poor PC's had it's work cut out for it today, rendered a whole bunch of video and had to chuck out most of it and start again. Not all bad mind, while I'm waiting I go off for a brew and let the tunes ring out, here's some I'm feeling today.
An old one from Stenchman here from around 2010, even so I only got around to picking up the (free!) album its on last year. Really long too, clocking in at just shy of 8 minutes. The Stench keeps it interesting though, that sample that gives the track it's name is tactically scattered throughout.
Classic Calyx here with a tune from the Catapult EP, that tune might be the highlight but every time this one comes up I fall in love with that intro all over again. Moving Shadow's reputation was well deserved when they were dropping tunes like this on a regular basis, and offering mix CDs at your local record shop for 99p was a masterful move.
And finally what may soon become my favourite remix of Blame. Posted the Grooverider mix not too long ago and soon after debated whether I should have posted this one instead, like Decompression that intro is pretty special and is a prime example of late 90's/early 00's drum & bass.
Hey guys, Nite here. Sorry for the late post, I had to do a really asinine mid-term that ended up taking hours upon hours to finish. Anywho, I noticed that Claude posted a challenge about being stranded on a Desert Island, and you could only bring one CD's worth of Music with you. Given that I listen to a lot of different artists, this was actually pretty challenging narrowing it down to 70 minutes worth of music. Still, I think I put together a good list, but I'll let you be the judge of that. So, without further ado, I introduce to you my personal desert island playlist!
Update: Grooveshark is long dead, thankfully Nite walked us through each of their track choices, so while the playlist is dead you can still look up these tracks individually if you would like. Apologies for the inconvenience. -CVF.
1. Planet Funk - Ora il Mundo e Perfetto
This track is just italian electronic perfection. The tune itself is pretty chill, adding nice, relaxed synths on top of a soft beat, coupled with italian lyrics by Giuliano Sangiorgi. Definitely one of my favorite tracks from Planet Funk for sure.
2. Le Knight Club - Palm Beat
Ah yes, Le Knight Club. Anyone who knows their Daft Punk history would know of Guy-Man's side project with Eric Chedville. Le Knight Club has had such a profound impact on my musical tastes, it would be downright wrong of me not to include them on my list. This track always helped me groove out whenever I needed something to lighten the mood.
3. Active Child feat. Mikky Ekko - Subtle
Active Child is a wonderful synthesized electronic group I discovered back in 2011, when Adult Swim was just beginning to do the Summer Singles Program. I listened to their track, Hanging On, and immediately got addicted to it. The rest,as they say, is history. Anywho, they recently released an EP within the last few months, and this track managed to shine out above all of the rest (not that the others were bad whatsoever). Definitely worth a listen for sure.
4. Frou Frou- Let Go (Mt. Eden Remix)
Now I'm sure most people here know Frou Frou. The original Let Go track is absolutely beautiful and one of my personal favorite tracks from them. This Remix from Mt. Eden, however, absolutely blew my mind out of the water. Yes, it is a bit dubsteppy, but not really like the warbled junk you'd expect from Skrillex. It simply takes the original track, and vamps it up with rough electronic vibes and drum beats, making it amazing to play on the dance floor.
5. Roosevelt - Around You
This track has a wonderfully faded feel to it that is reminiscent of Washed Out. It's laidback,yet groovy. If you like Washed Out, you'll love this.
6. Starlit Everglades - Taiko Lover
Man this track is just... I can't really describe it in any other way than "ethereally beautiful". It's the kind of track I like to listen to at Night, when I can look up and see the stars. I don't say this often, but this track is utterly gorgeous. This is easily one of the best tracks I've listened to in a very long time.
7. Cassius- How Do You See Me Now? (Le Knight Club Remix)
Again with the Le Knight Club stuff, I know. This track, however, is just downright funky. Fun fact: This track was put on the Japanese version of Waves II as a separate, unmixed tune. Why do Japanese releases get all the good stuff? Grr...
8. Modjo- On Fire (Modjo's DYRT Edit)
It's Modjo. Not only that, it's a great Modjo track that was remixed by Modjo themselves. Do I need to say any more?
9. The Wings- Invisible (Floating Points Remix)
While I find the opening of this track to be a bit awkward, this tune as whole is absolutely wonderful. I discovered this gem on Bonobo's Late Night Talesalbum,and just fell in love with it immediately. One of the better downtempo tracks out there for sure.
10. DJ Koze- Amygdala (feat. Milosh)
Dj Koze has always been on and off for me. Some of his tracks I really like, whilst some of them are just...meh. This one, however, definitely clicked with me. The eerieness of the vocals and the track itself somehow had a rather beautifully chill tone to it.I think I've listened to this track around 200 times now, it's that good. 11. Boards of Canada - New Seeds Not gonna lie, I fucking LOVE BoC. They're absolutely brilliant, and I'm still kicking myself for not discovering them and Royksopp before last year.It should come to no surprise then, that I have a BoC track on here. To me, this was their best track off their latest album, which is definitely worth a listen if you haven't heard it already.
12. H-Foundation - Slayin' the Dragon(Klartraum Remix)
Gotta thank Soma's 20 years compilation release for this one, otherwise I'd never would have listened to this piece of chill techno bliss. clocking in at an impressive 11 and a half minutes, it's obviously the longest track I have on the list, and also the last. This tune takes you on a journey of sounds, and makes you want for more when it's all done. I felt that this would be a great way to end the little list I had going.
Overall, this list hits around 69 minutes, so you can totally burn it on a CD and have it on you, should you ever get stuck on an island and whatnot.
Feel free to let me know what you think about the selection I put up here. I'd love to hear your input!
Got talking to Adam about albums that you don't hear about and are real underrated. In doing so I dug out my music circa 2003 and found a ton of chillout records that I dug when I was an early teen. But then I went a lil' deeper, got on that old school garage vibe again and picked out some tunes I've been jamming to for nigh on 15 years or so. Tunes after the pic as usual!
The Designer's Republic - Designs for Wipeout 3 (PSX)
First is what probably still stands today as garage's finest example, it's not even by someone from the UK and we invented it! Armand Van Helden's remix of the Sneaker Pimps' Spin Spin Sugar is just well done through and through. That bassline is still sick to this day, though I'm used to it mixing into other tunes like Double 99's RIP Groove which always throws me off a bit.
And of course the album everyone had a copy of those days (even my dad), Moby's Play. The follow up 18 is arguably better, but the slew of singles from this one and the licensing of pretty much every track on there means it's here to stay. Not that that's a bad thing mind, the tunes are all pretty good for the most part, not like anyone's not heard them at this point anyway.
I'll be honest, mid to late 90's trance is a real guilty pleasure of mine, chalk it up to a trip to Ibiza when I was younger when it was at the height of popularity. Ripped from one of the few CDs from my old collection to survive those years, enjoy this audio time capsule back to the pre-millennium: ATB remixed by Sigum.
Sup everybody, Earl here after days of complicated decision making with a(by no means definitive) list of tracks that i would take with me should i find myself stranded in a desert with a CD player. And since my collection of music is quite vast, much like my fellow writers, picking out just 70 minutes proved to be a task, but without further ado, i present to you "Earl Greys 15 Essential Tracks To Listen To Should You Ever Be Stuck In A Desert For A While" (With Blurbs!)
M- Flo ft. Monday Michiru - A.D.D.P. - The first time i heard this song was long ago when i was only a reader on this blog, but it introduced me to a side of Japanese music that i wasnt even aware of, its been a couple years now and i still listen to A.D.D.P. religiously
Raw Man - Beautiful - One of the most accurate titles of all time, Raw man has been a huge inspiration on me musically and is definitely my favorite solo act to come out of the late 90s/early 2000s french house movement
Theophilus London ft Dev Hynes and Solange - Flying Overseas - I bought this track on amazon a couple years ago before a trip to Jamaica, it always brings back great memories, not to mention Solange Knowles amazing vocals.
Pharrell ft. Jay-Z - Frontin - Modern classic, Frontin is one of those songs that never gets old for me because Pharrell is a genius.
We In Music - Grandlife - Earlier i mentioned Raw Man was my favorite french house artist and this is a large part of the reason why. Grandlife is my favorite house track of ALL TIME (insert kanye here) and Raw Man, along with Play Paul created this masterpiece of a tune, i own this on vinyl, it sounds great.
Nujabes - Imaginary Folkore - I was introduced to the music of Nujabes through the series Samurai Champloo back when it debuted on Adult Swim in 2005 and from the moment i heard "battlecry" my life changed, Nujabes is a large part of the reason i got into producing hip hop music and the way he flips a sample is legendary. This particular song is my favorite from him for reasons i cant explain, its more of a feeling. RIP
Bonobo - Kiara - One of the best songs from one of the best albums i have ever heard, to get the full experience you have to listen to the intro before it however.
High Contrast - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Originally i was going to use "made it last night" but it was too long(thatswhatshesaid) The music of High Contrast started my love affair with drum and bass music and the intro to this song is one of the best.
Erykah Badu - Didnt Cha Know - According to my mother, i came out the womb with an appreciaton for the music of Erykah Badu, and while i do love all of her material, this is my favorite from her by far for one reason. J Dilla killed this beat, its basically a two for one
The Smashing Pumpkins - Rocket - I Love this band. I Love this album. I love this song. Enough said.
Megadeth - Tornado of Souls - Dave Mustaine inspired me to pick up a guitar when i first heard this band years ago. He Shreds. SHREDS.
Daft Punk - Voyager - My musical idols and my favorite song off of Discovery.
Azari and III - Into the Night - this song encapsulates a lot of the things i enjoy about house music, a groovy beat, great vocals, and the words "gotta get up" in repetition. whats not to love?
Flying Lotus - Tea Leaf Dancers - Like the Nujabes example above, i was introduced to Flylo by Adult Swim because "Massage Situation" was a song used in the earlier bumps, this song, off the same EP(Reset) has become a favorite of mine because its vibe is unmatched
Toro Y Moi - Minors - It was hard to pick which toro song i was going to use for this, in the end i chose minors because it was short. Yup. thats what im ending with.
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All in all it was a great set and I'll be following this name as it becomes bigger and bigger. If your a fan of SBTRKT then you'll absolutely fall in love. 
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