Clashing Again

Time for my bi-monthly return to binging on electroclash and pretending it's still 2003. So enjoy a big 'ol dump of what I've had on for however long its been. Kicking off with ADULT. Don't often mention them when I do these, but I really should more often, here's one that I'm pretty sure is in the dictionary if you look up electroclash.



Lest we forget Felix Da Housecat who is partially responsible for me going diggin' in the electroclash scene as it is. I really wanted to put Tiga's remix up here but it's not embeddable for some reason? Miss Kittin's verses remain the quintessential version anyway, and I was treated to an extended mix I hadn't heard before from the man himself.



ANd also let's not forget the slight evolutions in sound over time. I love me some punky techno electroclash don't get me wrong, but I also adore the more sedate after the dancefloor lullabies that came later. Miss Kittin is also involved with a lot of those too, and this one is by far and away my favourite mix of the lot.



-Claude Van Foxbat

The Latest (Soundcloud player broken as of 2020)

Apologies again for the dry patch, it's been a busy week! BUT good news is me and Adam actually got done our pet project so expect to see that soon! And more good news is that I've been keeping tabs on music so I haven't had to scratch the barrel for this one. So, to make up for that enjoy the latest from Abbrev. Reminds me a lot of Tri Repeate Autechre this one actually, and that's a very good thing indeed. I had the same idea of using misprinted tickets back n uni but nothing ever came of it so I gotta respect that. I'll be sure to mind the gap next time (pun not intended).



-Claude Van Foxbat

Wise From Your Gwave (Soundcloud player broken as of 2020)

Let the days catch up again, apologies cos it's been a busy weekend but on the plus side me and Adam are meant to be sortin' out out pet project again later today so you got that to look forward to. In the mean time have a cross section of the latest tunes from our writing pal Evan.



-Claude Van Foxbat

It's Grim Up North

Someone must have an eye out for me, you should all know by now I'm a big fiend for trip and hip hop but also me home county of Yorkshire. Well last night I got dropped a line and it ticks all those boxes, so it goes without saying that there may be some slight bias on display here. Let's get stuck in.

Joseph Mallord William Turner - Richmond, Yorkshire (1819)

If you're not from 'round here you won't know that up north has a bit of a reputation for bein' a little rough round the edges since all the industry up and went. It's been a bit of time since I've heard that sentiment set to audio, but the Ceiling Demons do it very well here, between The Streets and LSK I thought I had my fill but this 'un here's doing it for me. The proper norvern vocal contributions on offer won't be for everyone, but I dig 'em and they should hold up well in future unlike Mike Skinner's bars about Nintendo 64's on Original Pirate Material.



Now onto the meat of it. Nothing about the smooth instrumental above could have prepared me for their latest offering. It's much more aggressive than Even If, the metallic flourishes and the shelf wobbling basslines combine to make a fittingly menacing industrious feel. Reminds me a little bit of the more violent parts of Massive Attack's Mezzanine.



I will certainly be keeping an eye out for 'em in future based on what I've seen, I'm always down for hearing more local producers, should spice things up rather than me just namedropping Nightmares On Wax and Soft Cell. I've only just missed 'em in town a couple nights ago too, but I'm sure they'll come back through again soon enough.

You can find more Ceiling Demons on:
Twitter
Soundcloud
Spotify
Bandcamp

-Claude Van Foxbat

Runnin' Behind

Nicholas Roerich - Sadness (Two In Boat) (1939)

Oh wow it's been a lil' while hasn't it. Suppose I should rectify that and apologise for the gap for I have been the saddest boy lately. With that in mind les get into some tune. You weren't expecting some Felix Da Housecat now were ya? Kittenz & Thee Glitz gets pretty mellow in parts, and to my surprise I hadn't posted this surprisingly R&B bit so here ya go.



Bit of a departure now as we revisit BoC country. Y'know if you asked me to pick a single favourite Boards song, I don't think I could do it. BUT what I could do is tell you individual parts of their discogs that I fall madly in love with every time, and that's where Kid For Today comes in, specifically at 1:09 which might have a tad to do with it being the same sounds as on Olson



And leaving y'all with another mellow cut from Röyksopp's Junior. Coming back to this one it feels like it could've gone either way and just have easily fit on Senior as well, which I suppose is fitting and all seeing as it's carefully placed near the end of the LP.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Last Minute Updates

Jacek Yerka - Last Minute (2000)

Oh crumbs, I let the days sneak up on me again. Ah well, I'm a little busy today too so let's see what I can muster up in about half an hour or so. Shamelessly putting up more from my hometown hero Mr. Evelyn again, to be fair it's been a long time since I put it up and it well deserves another round.



Long time since I mentioned Locust Toybox too, I still mean to his last LP, the first one he's actually put up for a price. Not that I blame him either, we had about 10 years of free tunes and it was high time he got a lil something more than just the occasional donation.



And seeing us out is Stenhman's remix of DJ Shadow's Scale It Back, Stench recently put out 3 compilations of what he'd selected as his best tracks in certain genres, this one appeared in the Best Of Downtempo one and it was a solid choice indeed.

Philestine · DJ SHADOW FT LITTLE DRAGON - SCALE IT BACK (PHILESTINE REMIX)

Monday Blues 2: Trip Hop Boogaloo

Vasily Polenov - Downpour (1874)

Back with more downtempo things for yer ears, trying to not make it and out and out sadfest as I might've done in the past but we'll see. Starting off with an early bit of Zombie Nation circa '99, this one was always a highlight for me as I'm sure you aware I a fiend for anything trip hop to start with, and doubly so when there's some vocoder goodness n there too.



Mr. Scruff and his penchant for jazzy sounds now. Adored this one for a long time, my favourite parts is where the tune gets slightly more upbeat sounding during the breakdowns which is a nice little twist on the usual formula. Also as a reminder I need more Scruff in my collection once again.



Finishing off with Martina Topley-Bird. This one in particular has been quite popular as of late because it's been sampled a whole bunch. Haven't heard much form her in a while, but between Her solo career and extensive work with Tricky I think we'll have enough to tide us by. Here's Sandpaper Kisses.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Weekend Service

Roy Lichtenstein - Alka Seltzer (1966)

Back again for the weekend edition. Things are still mighty downtempo so I apologise if that's not your bag but that's just The Person I Am ATM™. Starting off with more Cornelius soundtrack stuff, I haven't actually seen the accompanying movie yet but the sounds are on point as usual.



More of the slower parts of E-Z Rollers' Weekend World again, the jazzy sound of the whole LP goes excellently with either the Drum & Bass or the more Trip Hop style sections. Nightfall is probably my favourite example of this cos both the production and the vocals absolutely nail it.



And finally another from my fave moody melody makers Portishead. Haven't posted this one before, it's a lot smoother than a lot of Dummy but the bassline will still give your shelves a good old wobble. There's a bit of tracklist weirdness too, if you pick up the album on vinyl this tune simply isn't there for whatever reason.



-Claude Van Foxbat

End Of Week Entertainment Scenario #1

John Atkinson Grimshaw - Boar Lane, Leeds (1881)

Back again with the regular rundown of tunes, keeping it to a theme lately things are staying kinda blue (and not in the rude sense neither). Here's the bonus version of UNKLE's Unreal instrumental, this time with Ian Brown of Stone Roses fame over the top of it.



After namedropping it recently I couldn't help myself from putting Protection up again. I still need to track down the single version with all the other alternate mixes but the original is still very nice indeed. do yourself a favour and look up the video if you haven't seen it too.



Also gotta give a nod to Vangelis' soundtrack work for Blade Runner, which has it's own reputation already but s extra special for me because it's an intersection of two of my biggest interests; Cyberpunk Sci-Fit and lush ambient synths. And it's about time I brought it out again.



-Claude Van Foxbat

TV Sounds

Florin Ciulache - Facility Line (2003)

For the first time in a while we have a pot tied together with a theme! As the title and art would suggest this time its all about tunes on the tele which gives me a bit of room to natter about them. Starting with Cornelius and the opening theme to Ghost In The Shell Arise, which is on the whole a lot more electronic than previous GITS soundtracks. It wouldn't sound amiss on some Beats or Future Garage compilation or something like that, it's a gorgeous listen and I am in love with the sounds on offer every single time it comes up.



I've overlooked the soundtrack parts of FlyLo's Ideas... .RAR until now. The Lotus has always had close ties with Adult Swim and two tunes included on Ideas ae the opening and closing themes for an entire season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The opening track is deliciously smooth and features both the show's cast and FlyLo himself on the vocal front.



The closer on the other hand is an entirely different beast. Featuring that rough round the edges feel that's at least partially inspired by Mr. Oizo, Chasing Apples does an excellent job of displaying FlyLo's versatility if nothing else. I only wish it were mastered a bit quieter because it makes me jump every time.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Unexpected Delight

Auguste Herbin - Friday I (1951)

Trailed into work only to find they'd cancelled my shifts and not told me. So now I have a free couple days, right after I said weekends would be tricky from now on. So Gonna make up for it sharpish by sharing some tunes on the quick, starting with Clark.



More EBTG again, but only because out of the lot of the remixes this one is pretty close to the top for me and totally not because I'm still all about Tracey Thorn as of late, I promise.



And finally the title of the post! More early FlyLo circa 2006; a lil' bit of foreshadowing of his more jazzy tendencies that would become more pronounced later, as well as an eraly appearance of frequent vocal collaborator Laura Darlington.



-Claude Van Foxbat