Monday Uncertainty

Another week and I feel the same once again. Let's not dwell on feels and instead songs. Songs that will be coming up as per us after the bit of art.

Betty Goodwin - Moving Towards Fire (1983)

Taking a trip back to the 1990's again with Everything But The Girl again. I think I might have said before that the album's aged pretty well, which *might* not be entirely true. The Drum & Bass parts hold up great for sure, but parts of it (and this track in particular) are mid-to-late 90's in audio form. But to be honest who doesn't like to indulge in some of that every now and then?



I've not posted anything from Felix in a long time. A bit of a shame really because after Daft Punk he's the one responsible for me getting serious into the wide world of electronic music. I'll admit He Was King has a couple really duff moments on it but I adore most of it; I saw one review complain it was Felix trying (and failing) to recapture the glory days of Kittenz & Thee Glitz but I don't see it that way, to me this is Felix revisiting the inspirations that led to the Glitz sound one last time, with an extra 8 years of experience.



Yet another reminder of things I need to pick up again. I've been out of the loop on all things Simian Mobile Disco for a loooooong time now. So in an effort to spur me on to actually check them out again I am going to post one of my favourites from Temporary Pleasure.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Stop The Presses

What's this? Me keeping to a schedule for the first time in a while? well I never, what's gotten into me? Well it just so happens that I have a render going again so I have no excuse not to do some writin'.

Alexander Liberman - Time (1952)

Honestly today is gonna be a pretty mixed bag, I've just let shuffle do it's thing while I've been keyframing. First is Stenchman's partner in grime Suspect, proving once again that dubstep doesn't have to be about big room warbles. (Please excuse the poor choice in image for the video from the uploader!)



Rex The Dog made an appearance again, with another remix included on his debut LP. Thanks to the album format they're a little shorter than the original release but that doesn't bother me too much, and in a shocking revelation I actually like this one more than the remix of The Knife's Heartbeats on the same LP.



And finally another visit to Junior again. While I was looking up this tune on a whim I found out there's an instrumental version floating around, which seems weird to me because Anneli Drecker always nails it whenever she features on Röyksopp stuff. And even if you weren't a fan, there's plenty of breaks in the tune without her to get your fill of that synthy goodness.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Feelin' Things

It's Tuesday, so its a little early to be 'aving midweek blues but I'm going to give it a bloody good go anyway. So here's me selection if you're in need of something to feel to, enjoy.

Jean Fautrier - It's How You Feel (1958)

Which wouldn't be complete without a contribution form my favourite synth wizard Daniel Lopatin. Normally I don't really jive with drone, but between Oneohtrix Point Never and Tim Hecker I may have to stop saying that. OPN's especially tickle the cyberpunk side of me.



In that same vein, Massive Attack's 100th Window would be adapted into a full moody neo-noir hacky thing if I had my way. It sounds silly to describe it as 'cinematic' but it does kinda make sense when you consider 3D did some film score stuff around the same time. Much colder feeling than Mezzanine, but I absolutely adore the sounds on show here.



Keeping it cinematic for the finale, Kenji Kawai's score for the first Ghost In The Shell movie from '95 is dark ambient perfection, fitting seamlessly with the atmosphere of the film's visuals. One of my two favourite pieces from the OST; I love Floating Museum from the spacey intro to the final choral climax.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Back On Tracks

Hello! Slightly late again but good news! The decorating part is done so now I can go back to being a full time tune vendor. Starting off this week with some things I've found on my soundcloud feed. This one caught my ear first because I don't get much hip-hop/trip hop stuff on my feed most of the time, and second because I'm 99% sure that the beat up to the first minute is the same sample as Massive Attack's Blue Lines (which would be Tom Scott's Sneakin' In The Back).



Hot off the heels of last time's Bebop remixes post; I decided to check in on DJ Vadim again. And there I found this lovely reggae infused number. Yet another reminder I need to catch up on my lists more, because this is supremely my jam this Monday.



And a quick browse through Nightmares On Wax's reposts gives me many a tune to pick from. This one here is giving me Morcheeba come Little Dragon vibes. And so completes the chill trinity that I need while rendering and whatnot today. Hope this sees you Monday through as well!



-Claude Van Foxbat

Forever Late

Eyvind Earle - Late Afternoon (1994)

Oops it has been slightly longer between posts that I would have liked again. Not much new to report; the paint arrived and we got a wall done, I'm still abysmal at decorating. Anyway back to the music side of things. Starting off with some more Bebop remixes, this time from a couple of blokes from my neck of the woods with a surprisingly exotic name putting a downtempo spin on Forever Broke.



Lets keep it local, in fact getting even more local to my hometown. I've always got time for N.O.W, who if you've been following us for a while is one of my all time favourite producers of chill things and holds one of the few coveted spots on my 10/10 albums list. Here's a crash course in why Smokers Delight is on there.



One last stop on the Damon Albarn feel train for a while with one of the finer parts of D-Sides. Probably bending the definitions of 'electronic' a bit again but I've had this one on far too much recently to pass it up. Enjoy while I return to decoration.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Decoration

Taking part in the great British springtime tradition of deciding to redecorate a room. And as always it's a clusterfuck and potentially not worth it, but we're too far in now to turn back so gotta grin & bear it. Time for your fill of music because 2 days has gone once again.

Avigdor Arikha - Tubes Of Paint In Their Drawer (1985)

Hot off the heels of the last post, keeping it real with another hip hop piece from the E-Z Rollers' Weekend World. Some of y'all will recognise this one (and I certainly do) as being the theme/menu tune for GTA 2 back in '99. Not that that cheapens it in any way, all these years later and I still adore that organ.



In that same vein, FlyLo's unreleased instrumentals are scrithcin' me itches once more. Shame they all tend to be pretty short, but I would happily fork out a couple quid for a compilation of all these short numbers in future.



And finally, a moodier trip hop come post rock bit from another favourite Swede of mine. Haven't heard much from him since he went full freelance, but then again I haven't really been looking either. Nothing like picking out wallpaper to the moody vibes of a tune meant to accompany Slaughterhouses and orginized crime though.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Ch-Ch-Changes

Apologies for the slight lateness again, it's been a whirlwind couple of days; ilictronix is now coming to you from the shiny sleekness of Windows 10 and I had to spend a little while tinkering with drivers and programs for compatibility's sake. Anyway, back to music: my man Celadon City finally put out Earth: OST and I have been giving it a listen on this surprisingly sunny Valentine's day morning.



It's chock full of the gorgeously smooth Celadon City sound we've come to expect, intermittently sprinkled with ambient pieces that take a few cues from Boards Of Canada, and wouldn't be too out of place on a LP from The Flashbulb (Heartsday, I'm looking at you). Currently I have Greenlands on loop (and probably will for some time to come). I'm absolutely in love with the distortion going on, it feels like my speakers are going to burst and wash me away in a sea of sound. Think a slightly smoother Analog Worms Attack or LA-era Flying Lotus and you're almost there.

if it's tickling your fancy, you can pick up the LP on Hush Hush Records' bandcamp, iTunes, Bleep or Juno Download.

You can find more Celadon City on:
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Down

Patrick Caulfield - Braque Curtain (2005)

It's probably a good thing that I got that guest post lined up a couple of days ago because unfortunately I am still in perma-downtempo mode. At least I can meet y'all halfway with my favourites from A:xus, I'll forever love his breed of house.



The Damon Albarn trend continues too, this time with the first ever released single from Gorillaz back when. Containing all that lovely dark hip hop / trip hop infused sound that was present on the debut LP. 16 years on from it's original release and it's still up there for me.



Speaking of the early 00's, here's another one that takes me back. I always really liked the small bits of trip hop kinda things sprinkled throughout the mostly Drum & Bass Weekend World LP, and would love to have the Rollers tackle more stuff in that vein. The downtempo take on Walk This Land is a solid example of this for sure.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Ravey Spice’s Top 5 Underrated French House Classics

Somethin a little different today, last night long time bud of the blog and ex-writer Joe, now making things & curating his netlabel HexMania under Ravey Spice reached out to us with a list of some less than known French House stuff from the turn of the 2000's. Naturally as lictronix was founded on a love of french house I jumped at the chance. And now I'm gonna let them take it away!

Nicholas - Goldelectric [20000st, 2000]

Nicolas Lemercier, under the alias "Heartbreaker", was one of the men responsible for the stone-cold classic that is "You Are My High" (along with Jeremie Mondon aka Demon). He also released a handful of solo EPs on Demon's 20000st label under the mononym Nicholas. "Goldelectric", from 2000's Haberdasher EP, is absolute genius. That little reggae break gets me every time.

Wuz - Wuz [Disques Solid, 2002]

Speaking of Demon, remember the time he and Alex Gopher joined forces and made an incredible album as "Wuz"? The title track is pretty much perfect. If I had to explain the French house sound to an alien, I'd just play them this.

Kojak - Stupid Jack (Trouble Men Remix) [Pro-Zak Trax, 1999]

In my opinion one of the most underrated outfits of the "French touch" explosion, Trouble Men had some real bangers. Their remix of Kojak's "Stupid Jack" remains an all time fave of mine. Big-ass kick drums and an irresistible groove. I still drop this one whenever I do a house set.

Mike 303 - Supervixens [Blackjack, 2000]

Mike 303 is probably best known as one half of Superfunk (who had a minor hit with "Lucky Star" alongside Ron Carroll), but he also put out some brilliant solo material. "Supervixens", from his Boogie Starz EP on the excellent Blackjack label, is an absolute blinder.

Nekbath - Think Twice [Grand Prix, 2001]

Not much to say about this one except that loop is fucking gorgeous.

Sunday Service

Apologies for the slight delay with this 'un, some things happened and I got carried away. Today's sesh is gonna be back to the chill side of things because that's what I'm feelin' ATM because of things that happened, more after some art fer yer eyes.

Edward Hopper - Early Sunday Morning (1930)

Been diggin' Thievery Corp's Saudade LP once again; the albums a bit of a departure from their usual trip hop modus operandi, instead opting for a return to a Bossa Nova style sound. The whole album is very relaxed, with perhaps some hints of sadness given the LPs title. This one comes with the added bonus of feeling extra cultured with the french lyrics.



Had a little chat with Evan a while back where we discussed our favourite Gorillaz songs, and as it turns out we both have a penchant for the more downbeat side of the project. I got around to getting the bonus tracks for main Gorillaz man Damon Albarn's solo effort Everyday Robots the other day and was quite surprised to be treated to another of Albarn's downtempo experiments.



And finally some Boards Of Canada. It took me a while to get me hands on this one back when, the Hi Scores EP I picked up came just a card sleeve with some Braille on. Everything You Do Is A Balloon takes a little while to get going for me, but once it does it earns a spot in the top of BoC's works.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Waitin'

Back to waiting again, but with nothing going on I can keep to the two-day post schedule (it used to be three you lucky buggers). Though don't hold me to that, sometimes things change and I will miss a post day or more than likely I've gone out for the day. But I made it this time so lets see what I have to get to ye.

Nicholas Roerich - Waiting (1927)

I promised myself I wouldn't post anymore Hotline Miami stuff because I like to go for a bit 'o variety (and it's appeared in our hype machine tags). But I'm afraid I'll have to break that promise one last time bcause I am absolutely in love with Voyager; theese are the type of sounds that made electronic music as a whole be so fascinating back when I was a wee bairn.



Not been all lush synthwavy vibes tho, I dug out some MF Doom instrumentals to scratch me never ending hip hop itch. Have a look for the Special Herbs compilations if this kinda thing is your bag, As always they have excellent sample choice and it's always nice to have more instrumental ammo.



Speaking of samples, Rex The Dog has been a big part of me recent listening. That and the slick synths on the chorus bits are an absolute treat to listen to, if yous in need of an audio pick me up, this should do you for.



-Claude Van Foxbat

February: We Made It!

Oh boy 2016 is just keepin' on rolling. Welcome to the month that I can never spell consistently and will probably avoid mentioning from now on. Let's check in with what's happening on Soundlcloud, our man Celadon City has yet another teaser track from his upcoming LP, this time it's track #2 that premiered just a day late because now it's named after the wrong month. Also this post should be a reminder to me to check out the full thing when it comes out in about 10 days.



It's been a while since I've mentioned fellow Writer Evan's stuff, but his latest wave of sounds hot off the heels of some new hardware is pretty sweet. One of his old tapes came on as I was typing this out and the kid has certainly come a long way, here's hoping it stays that way for many more years to come.



And finally I made the rounds to see what some people are up to, turns out there's some new Vibert I hadn't heard (with eye-burning artwork too). Had no idea what it'd be going in as Vibert could be doing all sorts. This time though it's back to the slightly off kilter hip hop sound with samples sprinkled throughout that Luke clearly has fun making. And it's equally as fun to listen to, so that's another one I have to chalk up on the ever-growing list.



-Claude Van Foxbat